Transcript

Travis Bader: [00:00:00] I’m Travis Bader and this is the Silvercore Podcast. Join me as I discuss matters related to hunting, fishing, and outdoor pursuits with the people in businesses that comprise of the community. If you’re new to Silvercore, be sure to check out our website, www.Silvercore.ca where you can learn more about courses, services, and products that we offer, as well as how you can join the Silvercore Club, which includes 10 million in North America wide liability insurance to ensure you are properly covered during your outdoor adventures.

[00:00:43] I want to take a moment to remind everyone that in addition to the Silvercore Club, we also have an ever expanding line of online training programs created by industry experts that is absolutely worth checking out! And for those who haven’t done so yet, make sure to check out the Silvercore YouTube channel where we have tons of free content and giveaways. So like comment and subscribe and join in the fun.

Travis Bader: [00:01:09] Well, you asked for it, and here it is. In this episode, Paul and I cover recent events as they relate to hunting during COVID. We take a stab at answering your questions. It turns out both Paul and I have a lot of opinions and as such, we weren’t able to address every question.

[00:01:25] Don’t worry, keep listing as we plan to answer more questions in future podcasts. All right, Silvercore Podcast is back, and I’m doing a remote podcast with Silvercore’s sealgair Hunter extrordinair, Paul Ballard. Paul, how are you doing?

Paul Ballard: [00:01:44] I’m doing all right, but I think you’re making, making a bigger deal. I just like the sealgair and that’s it, we’ll leave it at that. Hunter extrordinair, that that will be in my memoirs written by somebody else after I’m gone, if I ever achieved that. But I’m trying.

Travis Bader: [00:01:58] I think we’ll have to give that made into a t-shirt for our next hunting trip. We’ve got some really exciting announcements from the provincial government as it relates to hunting and fishing.

Paul Ballard: [00:02:10] Well, the most important thing I believe is that the limited entry hunting appears to be going ahead.

Travis Bader:[00:02:16] Oh, it’s a full go. Yeah. The, what do they say about that one? They said limited entry hunting is open, but.

Paul Ballard: [00:02:24] Please try and hunt close to home and that, that’ll be good. If you live in the lower mainland and your intended game is Moose or perhaps Thin Horn Sheep or something of that nature, little hard to stay close to home.

Travis Bader:[00:02:37] Yeah, definitely. And I think they also have a no refund as well if things get worse with COVID. There’s no guarantee. So.

Paul Ballard:[00:02:45] Yeah, no, it’s funny that we’re hemorrhaging money to so many things. But your poultry, little six bucks. I don’t know. I can live with it though, for the excitement. I, I have faith, I have faith. We’re going ahead

Travis Bader:

[00:02:56] As do I. Now I’m looking on their website right now, fishing and hunting COVID 19 updates. So this is the most up to date information put out by the province and fishing and hunting has been named an essential service. So, if I look at it, essential services are those daily services essential to preserving life, health, public safety and basic societal functioning. They are the services British Colombians come to rely on in their daily lives.

Paul Ballard: [00:03:24] Well, I honestly believe if I couldn’t hunt, I would die. So, you know, I put hunting right in there with, with eating and breathing as far as I go, in my day to day. It’s good that they put that forward.

[00:03:38] I mean, I believe there’s always sort of a, a, I dunno, a suggestion that people are, are doing this to feed their family. Yes, I do feed my family game meat, but that’s not the sole source around here. There may be people who do live in more remote areas that are able to access a variety of game species close to home, and it’s legitimately how they do feed their family with. You know, with bird and red meat, you know? So.

Travis Bader: [00:04:07] Yeah. With the rules that they put out, they say orders and guidance for fishing and hunting. Only fish and hunt with members of your family or others you’re living with. Okay. Guess, that’s an easy enough one

Paul Ballard: [00:04:21] Well you and I’ll have to get married then I guess.

Travis Bader: [00:04:23] I guess so. Have to move in and start living together.

Paul Ballard: [00:04:27] Well, the thing is you do end up living together when you, when you do go on these hunts generally right here, you’re sharing a tent space. You’re sharing, you know, the, you know, the outdoor kitchen space and everything else. Man, if we look at some of the other rules about the current COVID situation, social distancing that’s going to be there.

[00:04:49] Generally when you’re hunting, you’re not sitting right on top of each other. Perhaps you’re going to share a blind, but I think most of us tend to spread out so that we’re covering more of an area. The fact that parties within your hunting group have maybe not traveled outside of the country, none of them work in, in an old folks home or an extended care facility or something of that nature.

[00:05:09] Not working in Mission Institution or, or some of the other places where we know we’ve had large outbreaks. Also, it’s not going to happen until the fall. And then as we’re starting to hear rumours that we’re going to start opening up, herd resistance, that’s not the right word.

Travis Bader: [00:05:28] Herd immunization.

Paul Ballard: [00:05:29] Herd immunization could very well be coming well into play and be recognized before, before we are going off hunting this fall. So I think, six bucks now well-spent, we’re likely going ahead on it. They’ll have to wait and see.

Travis Bader: [00:05:45] So the next tip they say is stay two meters, six feet from other people you come across. That’s easy.

Paul Ballard: [00:05:52] Yeah, and if you do bump another party that you’re not familiar with in the bush, you perhaps want to, you know, just make it clear, you know, stand there. And generally that’s what we do, it’s always uncomfortable to get too close. Deaf people, of course, you want to whisper.

[00:06:12] I’m, I’m, I am trying to make light of this and I do totally appreciate the, you know, the seriousness of the whole pandemic that we’re suffering in, and not to make light too much, but.

Travis Bader: [00:06:24] Well, the reason I’m going over this is because I think it’s important that people understand, yes, you can go hunting, you can go fishing, but there are certain responsibilities that we have to make sure we adhere to if we don’t want further rights restricted or the opportunities taken.

Paul Ballard: [00:06:40] Correct. And the, and that is, you know, that is the, the, I guess keystone who all this, what holds it together for us is if we do show good faith and compliance, we’re going to do well. We had to shut down our Chilliwack Fish and Game shooting range or the portion of the range because when, as soon as this all began, we started just to try and watch how people were behaving and the, they weren’t staying far enough apart.

[00:07:08] Yet, a real success story I can give you is all up the Chilliwack River Valley, which I spend time almost daily up there, are fishermen, anglers, I shouldn’t say fishermen, but anglers and, and clearly they are all maintaining their social distance. It’s, it’s kind of unusual. It’s not like the spring Salmon run in the fall when you see everybody, you know, full contact fishing.

[00:07:31] But you know, the Steelhead that they’re fishing for now, Cutthroat, Rainbows, Bull Trout, you can see that people are not on top of each other like you, you typically see in the river. Another sport, you know, that kinda goes hand in hand with this is golf. I, I live on you know, the edge of a golf course out here in Chilliwack, and I’m watching.

[00:07:51] And when it first started, when they closed the golf course, then they open it and they were restricting people to one person to a cart, twosomes only there was no threesomes, foursomes. And now I’m looking out, now they got two people to the cart, they’ve opened it up, to foursomes. The people seem to be pretty good.

[00:08:09] They’re not touching the flag. They’re bumping the ball off of a sort of a cylinder that extends from the cup. You know, there’s ways around this and there’s ways that if we want to pursue what we enjoy and we give, give a little bit, you know, to comply, we’re going to be able to continue to do what we wish.

Travis Bader: [00:08:27] And you know, when we first heard about these, I should back up a little bit. It was the BC Wildlife Federation that really went to bat or hunters and anglers across the province and were in communication with the authorities to, essentially help facilitate this.

Paul Ballard: [00:08:44] Well, and you know, BC Wild- WF is our voice. You know, the, the Wildlife Federation speaks on behalf of the resident hunter in BC, and really no one else does. When, when you talk about any changes to regulations, we are the representative of, of that, that entity, the, the resident Hunter.

[00:09:03] There’s lots of representation from you know, the indigenous folks, guides, Outfitters, and if guides and Outfitters are well-represented, we need to be represented as resident hunters. It is, it, you know, it’s very important that we have them in our corner and they’ve done a great job to support us.

Travis Bader: [00:09:21] We’re pretty thankful for that for sure. So here’s the next tip they say, they say, and this is an order and guideline, so I don’t know which one, these all fall in, if it’s an order or a guideline, but- do not share vehicles with individuals outside of your family or others you are living with.

Paul Ballard: [00:09:40] It gives good justification for those that don’t own a, an ATV to buy one.

Travis Bader: [00:09:47] Exactly. Or buy two.

Paul Ballard: [00:09:49] So now you can, you know, it’s a lot easier to distance if you’re on your own machine and somebody else. So you know, so do your travel, get to wherever you’re going, and then then climb on that new side by side, but you get to put the dog in the passenger seat instead of somebody else.

Travis Bader:[00:10:04] So I guess talking about traveling brings us to the next one. Fish and hunt locally. So what does that mean?

Paul Ballard: [00:10:11] That, that really is tough. I mean, now what is local? I, you know, you live in an area where you can drive for five minutes and you’re in a fantastic Waterfowl area. With some limited opportunities and permission, I guess you could go Blacktail hunting out there where you are.

Travis Bader: [00:10:28] Yes.

Paul Ballard: [00:10:29] Come the fall season. Lots and lots of easy access from where I am at this end of the Valley, for Blacktail, Waterfowl, Upland, in the form of Grouse for sure. And if you could ever get the permission, of course, there’s tons of farmer’s fields that have Waterfowl Pheasant and the like, but there’s no Moose.

[00:10:50] There’s no open season on Elk, so I guess you’d be looking the Harrison, well, that side of the, the other side of the Fraser up into the pit, those areas where, but that’s only two or three bowls, that are available by limited entry in that area. So staying local, yeah, they, you know, I mean, if it satisfies you for the game species that are there, but what if staying local to you means.

[00:11:18] You’re in an area where the Mule deer population is very low, and your option is only to take one Mule deer. Going back to the sustenance thing, that’s not a lot of meat to support the family.

Travis Bader:[00:11:30] Nope.

Paul Ballard: [00:11:30] So I don’t know if that’s realistic or not. We have to go back to, are the people that are writing these bits of advice, are they familiar with what it’s actually like to hunt? Because often I find, when I’m being regulated. I’m being regulated by, you know, and not to demean anybody or anything, but by somebody who works in an office who is probably much more akin to writing policy than they are to actually going out in, into the weeds and, and seeing how we are and how close we are, how we interact.

Travis Bader: [00:12:01] See I, I look at it and I try and put myself in the mind of the person writing the policy. So when they say fish and hunt locally, what exactly are they trying to achieve? And I’m guessing you don’t want, logically, to be introducing Coronavirus, COVID from one community to another community.

[00:12:20] So that’s, if that’s your big concern and I can isolate to my vehicle and simply get out to crown-land and maybe I got a tidy tank on the back full of fuel, if I can drive back and forth across the province and not have to interact at gas stations or with other communities. Is that still hunting locally?

Paul Ballard: [00:12:38] Right, yeah. And I guess, yeah, okay, revisiting what you just said, true, if you remain completely self contained from the time you leave your doorstep, travel over how many given miles and then arrive, so you’ve got fuel of your own, you’ve got food of your own. Yeah, that’s true. I guess it is that one stop in a, in a, in a fuel up situation.

[00:13:02] If somebody is a, what is it, an asymptomatic carrier, they pass money across the counter, they, they touch the gas pump and the next person comes along who’s a resident of a small community that doesn’t have good medical facilities or is an older person, an elder from the indigenous band that may be in the area.

[00:13:20] Yeah, you’re right. I guess we have to be thinking in those terms and what we’re, what we’re taking away. So many people that hunt though, you know, they already live in a, in a rural area, so they’re going from one small area to another. Maybe you look too, at those small businesses that are in there that kind of do rely on the fact that people from other places coming in to buy fuel.

[00:13:45] I know that there’s so many places where I travel through on, on the places I like to hunt because there’s some kind of specialty bread that I want to pick up that you know, enhances the hunting experience. I guess we just have to readjust and refocus and see where we’re at once the season opens or comes closer to being open.

Travis Bader: [00:14:04] Definitely fingers crossed on that. And the last three that we have, these are pretty common sense as it is, but these are really common sense. Wash your hands often, especially around communal areas such as boat ramps, gates, et cetera. Yeah, wash your hands. It was pretty straight forward.

Paul Ballard: [00:14:19] Or carry, you know, like get ahold of some hand sanitizer and make sure you get a little bottle in your pocket. Make sure that you carry with you, you know, disinfecting wipes or something of that nature because there’s not necessarily running water everywhere that you go.

[00:14:32] Good biodegradable soap and a little bit of water at the lake, maybe that’s the thing to look at too. A small bottle of camp suds, jeez, is that a trade name I shouldn’t give away? But I love that stuff, makes my hair soft. Oh, you don’t worry about that.

Travis Bader: [00:14:48] Hey now. So, you know, talking with DS Tactical, Martin there, and he says, we’ve gone from being Western Canada’s premier tactical supply store and overnight we’re now Western Canada’s premier sanitizer.

Paul Ballard: [00:15:05] You know, one day they’re selling body armour. The next day they’re selling paper to protect your life, so.

Travis Bader: [00:15:11] Yeah.

Paul Ballard: [00:15:12] Strange state of affairs, isn’t it?

Travis Bader: [00:15:14] Next one we’ve got is follow all travel advisories and self isolation requirements. Sure. Follow all municipal first nation community, provincial and federal closures, example, arcs, infrastructure, et cetera.

Paul Ballard: [00:15:28] Yeah, no, it’s interesting because you know, our connections within BC parks, our friends that are there talking to them, they are really working hard to come up with an idea as to how they can reopen the parks. And they are realizing that, you know, that’s, it’s so critical for the mental wellbeing of, of, of the citizens of this, of this great province to be able to access this.

[00:15:52] How are they going to do it? How are they getting introduced or reintroduce people to the parks? And so, you know, stay tuned as far as I can understand from them, that stuff is coming and nobody is dragging their feet on that.

Travis Bader: [00:16:06] So ladies and gents as of today’s date of recording, we’re doing this on April 27th that’s the current state of affairs for hunting and fishing and BC.

[00:16:16] And if you have any other questions on that, by all means, just email Silvercore and see what we can do about finding some answers.

Paul Ballard: [00:16:23] There should be another podcast or two down the road.

Travis Bader: [00:16:26] So do you want to get into an AMA, the ask me anything?

Paul Ballard: [00:16:29] Yes. Yes.

Travis Bader: [00:16:31] I was surprised by the questions that we got back. I was expecting, I should say the level of maturity from the people that follow us is quite high in the depth of some of these questions is really, really had me thinking so.

Paul Ballard: [00:16:46] You want to start with the first one?

Travis Bader: [00:16:48] Do you want to read it off?

Paul Ballard: [00:16:50] Yeah. Now that I’ve just lost it here. Travis M from Eastern Ontario says, I’ve really been enjoying your podcast, well thanks Travis. You always have interesting guests and present useful information. My question is, what do you think the best way, as of course it blanks out here, the best way to get more young people into the shooting sports or hunting? Firearms related hobbies can get expensive quickly and it poses a challenge to young, new shooters. That’s a great question Travis.

Travis Bader: [00:17:22] Yeah it is.

Paul Ballard: [00:17:24] One of the, they’re there, you know, for, for youths specifically, we’re seeing The Maple Seed program now, of course, COVID is, is affecting all of us coming together. But watch as things open up again and, and watch for The Maple Seed Project coming, locally to you, which is volunteers that will show up at the range. It’s all based on the relatively expensive use, inexpensive use, pardon me, of rimfire ammunition.

[00:17:53] The principles of marksmanship are put forward, excellent volunteers involved in that very, very qualified people. And we see that it’s, it’s made its way out from, he’s calling from Eastern Ontario, it’s made its way out to from Ontario here to BC and I’m looking very much forward to watching it in action and, and hopefully being a part of it.

Travis Bader: [00:18:14] Yeah. Maple Seed’s a great program and for anybody listening, it’s not just restricted to youth’s.

Paul Ballard: [00:18:20] No, that’s true. Another thing though, we still have to look at, there’s the army air cadets, sea cadets that still have like an air rifle program. They don’t necessarily a shoot centrefire, rimfire like they used to when I was a kid. That’s really where I cut my teeth in competitive shooting was as an, as an army cadet, but that was like 1970, 72, 73, 74 but

Travis Bader: [00:18:44] And you were using converted 303’s?

Paul Ballard: [00:18:47] The

Travis Bader: [00:18:47] Converted to 22 and then the FNC1 A1 for your.

Paul Ballard: [00:18:50] That’s right. The long branch 22, single shot long branch 22 with a micrometer sight on it. Shot DCRA, BCRA with that, we actually got the ant shoots, like you said after, well I mean, I shot Bren Guns as a cadet, a 13 year old kid, I shot a Bren Guns and you know, so it was.

Travis Bader: [00:19:09] It looked like you turned it back.

Paul Ballard: [00:19:10] Yeah. Yeah. No, you know, I’ve experienced, I won’t forget, but you know, cadets is an opportunity. Most gun clubs have a youth section. I know at Chilliwack Fish and Game that we have a junior 22 program for not much money. A kid can get involved in that. Some of the trainers, instructors in that are, are, established or very competent, competitive shooters that you can take a kid forward in the sport and.

Travis Bader: [00:19:41] I’m looking through some of my notes I made on that one and you’ve covered a number of them, Wildlife Federation, BCWF they have youth programs. I think they got a little bit of heat lately cause they had an ad up on social media that didn’t really reflect the changes once COVID came in and they forgot to take that one down. But yeah.

Paul Ballard: [00:20:00] You know, it’s, it’s always troublesome to me that we have to eat our own. People look at an ad, and sure, it was maybe produced back in December and this wasn’t an issue in December and you know, the message is being put forward maybe in a, as a, one of hope for when this is, this is beyond us and that’s where we’re going to move towards.

[00:20:21] But it’s not in the immediate or in the immediate or in the moment. So, you know, grow up and, and look past that. Recognize that’s what it is.

Travis Bader: [00:20:29] Now I’m looking at getting people into, getting younger people into the sport of hunting and firearms, and those are two kind of separate things, but they’re also conjoined.

[00:20:41] A lot of people equate hunting and firearms as one, one thing, but really they are kind of two different branches that one side will share the hunting side will share firearms. Firearms might not have any interest in hunting. So I’m looking at it, if you want to encourage young people to get into hunting activities. Take ‘em out camping.

Paul Ballard: [00:21:02] Yes and, and fishing. Hunting season is typically colder, wetter, more miserable. But camping in the summertime when fishing season is on that, that segways quite nicely into the hunting.

Travis Bader: [00:21:15] That’s the gateway drug right there.

Paul Ballard: [00:21:17] Oh, totally and I always found when my kids, when they were young, it wasn’t going out in the boat and you know, dragin’ terminal gear for big salmon all day, you know, where you only allowed, you know, two or three Springs, whatever the case may be, go to a little pothole somewhere, you know, and worm and float, you know, something that’s going to bring on lots of action, little Rainbow tiddlers all day. And that, that really, you know, sets the hooks, so to speak, for their interest.

Travis Bader: [00:21:43] It does.

Paul Ballard: [00:21:45] And then once they get a little bit older, take them up, you know, driving around the log and roads for while you’re Grouse hunting. I still remember taking my, my son when he was about four, was the first time I ever took him Grouse hunting, a lot of fun, you know, getting to see.

[00:22:00] He says, what is it, Grouse anyways, dad? And I said, well, it looks like a chicken. And he goes, really? And we were in the Okanagan and we were driving around and there was some Chucker’s that were coming out, you know, we could see. And he goes, is that a Grouse? And I go no, that’s a Chucker, not quite.

[00:22:15] And we saw something else, and I think there were some Partridges, some grays. And I said, that’s, those aren’t Grouse. And we come around the corner and where, I had a little Ford ranger at the time, and right on the road is a Covey of about 10 Ruffie’s. Big Covey, just like, Oh, we’ve hit the goldmine. And I go, those are Grouse.

[00:22:36] And he goes, no dad, those are chicken. And that was one of those moments I had, I mean, it started it for him, but for me it was just like, Ugh, I’ll never forget that. No, dad, those are chickens so.

Travis Bader: [00:22:52] They are chicken like.

Paul Ballard: [00:22:53] Chicken like, gallinaceous.

Travis Bader: [00:22:55] Gallinaceous.

Paul Ballard: [00:22:55] Gallinaceous. The great struggled with word for those takin the Hunter safety course.

Travis Bader: [00:23:00] So important for people to know what a gallinaceous bird is. Now I, and when it comes, when I say camping or hiking, or short stints out in the bush, but essentially instill a love for nature and their surroundings. That can be done with foraging, and you don’t even have to be a pro forger.

Paul Ballard: [00:23:19] No.

Travis Bader: [00:23:21] Or a pro camper. You don’t even need a lot of money to go out and do that if you want to spend a few hours just in the local mountains.

Paul Ballard: [00:23:25] Man, no kidding. I, you know, it’s funny because I know that your lovely wife, Tiffany and yourself are doing the foraging thing, and my wife is out here pointing at some stuff in the garden. I go, you know, we should probably bring Tiff out here before we dig all that stuff up because she might make a salad out of that for you that you’re going to enjoy.

[00:23:44] So we’re, we’re now going to knuckle under. I, you know, the odd, I’m a Berry picker, there’s no question about that. that’s, you know, I forage for berries, but I’m ignoring those leafy greens that are down there too, that are in abundance. And as you say, a Hunter, a gatherer, that’s, that’s, that’s where we come from. You know, that’s really getting back to, to the ground. And I like it.

Travis Bader: [00:24:06] You know, I had zero interest in foraging and a number of years ago, we were in the Sierra Nevada mountain range with renowned hunter and chef, author, Hank Shaw. It was me, him, and my wife, because my wife was really into it, so I was spending some time with him and, it is so much fun. I mean, he took us out.

[00:24:27] We’re looking for Porcini Mushrooms and I thought, great, we get to go there and look for Mushrooms, it’s like a giant Easter egg hunt. And it turned out I was actually really good at it. And as we’re going through, he’s pointing everything out and

Paul Ballard: [00:24:41] Like a pig looking for truffles!

Travis Bader: [00:24:43] Totally! He’s pointing out all these different plants. Oh, there’s a wild Onion. There’s some wild Garlic. Oh, you can cook this up with, and he knows all the Latin names for it and just all around you, there’s food. And from then a light bulb went on and I’m hooked. I love it.

Paul Ballard: [00:24:59] It’s a skill that we should really take advantage of because there ya are, sitting in a hunting blind and you may be able to come back and make dinner that much better for the crew just because you took the time to pull up a couple of roots that were, were near you and with no damage to the environment by doing that, as long as you’re being respectful of what you take, don’t take it all, leave enough so that it can propagate.

[00:25:22] It’s all there, but we’re kind of diverting though, getting back to the youth thing, and it was interesting what you started by saying, there’s the shooters and then there’s the hunters. And one of the important things is I say too, and I do both. I am, you know, into the sports shooting side of things, but I do love, you know, firearms, as it relates to hunting.

[00:25:44] We can’t be against one or the other group. Just cause you shoot, you can’t be against hunters, you know, saying well you know I love firearms, but I would, you know, I think hunting is wrong.

[00:25:55] You can’t be that way because the intertwinings of the firearm thing, you’re hurting yourself by saying that. You need to be tolerant of it, accepting of it. You don’t have to participate, and that’s the important part. And I go off.

Travis Bader: [00:26:09] Where I was going with the foraging and the bush, instilling a sense of the outdoors, instilling a sense of, of nature, and then getting them involved with cooking and their food.

[00:26:20] Understanding where that food comes from. So if you want somebody to be interested in hunting, I mean, where’s the interest there for a young person, if they’re used to watching TV or playing video games or getting everything in very short, in full bites. To sit out in a hunting blind and start them off right there.

[00:26:37] They’re going to be bored to tears, but if they actually have an interest in where the food comes from, that naturally leads into the hunting side as well.

Paul Ballard: [00:26:45] You know, and it’s interesting how we’re approaching things in 2020 here. We like to deliver it, as you say, in small bites. If you could walk your youngster 20 feet from, you know, the trail head, pick up a, an arm full of stuff and just.

[00:27:02] Turn around at that point, head back to the camp and start either, you know, the frying pan gets up in it and the connection is there. As attention span and maturity develops and they can go further and longer, it develops and, and yeah. You, yeah, keep it light. Keep it interesting. I see a lot of guys, are taking their kids out with, you know, game boys, I don’t know about game boys, probably I’m dating myself.

[00:27:29] But whatever the, the current, electronic devices. So when they’re, yeah they are sitting in the blind with, you know, either earplugs in, so it’s not making any noise. The kid is able to keep themselves a bit amused because man, it’s hard for some kids to sit there and stare at a lot of nothing.

Travis Bader: [00:27:45] Totally. Well, the last point on this, at the, that Travis M brings up is it can get expensive quickly, and I really, really like to emphasize it doesn’t need to be expensive. I mean, you go on social media and you see everybody in the Gucci kit, the Gucci gear, but you don’t need that hunt. I mean, how many animals have been taken in blue jeans, flannel shirts, and 303 British’s.

[00:28:12] Right? It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to get into the, into the sport. I remember my first tent was a tarp. And I would just set that up with the ground sheet and that’s it.

Paul Ballard: [00:28:23] Absolutely. And I, it’s too bad, I mean, the boys Scouts and other organizations, which were the way to go for kids, you know, because, you know, the group would raise money.

[00:28:34] They would get group tents and group equipment to be able to share. I guess the interest in those sorts of things is waning in 2020. I mean, rock solid back in the sixties and seventies, I took with me to the army reserves most of my outdoor skills came from what I learned in the Scouts.

Travis Bader: [00:28:52] Yeah.

Paul Ballard: [00:28:53] How to stay dry, how to stay warm. You know how to stay, you know, entertained and happy and, and build a secure shelter. That goes back to when I was like a teen and early teen or preteen in some cases with the Scouts.

Travis Bader: [00:29:07] I still remember that. How do you stay warm? Remember the acronym cold. You remember that one?

Paul Ballard: [00:29:12] No.

Travis Bader: [00:29:12] Keep clean, avoid over heating, wear loose layers, stay dry, right?

Paul Ballard: [00:29:16] Yes, okay.

Travis Bader: [00:29:17] Going back to being 12 years old, same program.

Paul Ballard: [00:29:19] Somebody had it more articulated then by the time you were around or you’d remember those. But it is funny, you talk about, Oh, we’re going to digress here, we’ll save that up for an equipment podcast I think that we’ve got in the, in the mixer.

Travis Bader: [00:29:33] I agree. Travis M, I think we’ve spent enough time on your question there and if there’s anything else you want to answer, just shoot us an email. I got one here from Bonnie S it says, will the Silvercore National Pistol shoot be delayed due to COVID? And the answer, Bonnie is, I hope not. Right now we’re reaching out to our affiliates and ranges across Canada.

[00:29:56] We’re working with them to find COVID responsible ways to continue to shoot. We don’t have a crystal ball, but if it needs to be delayed, we’ll delay it. We understand that people want to participate, they need to go to the range in order to do that, a lot of ranges are closed. So right now we’re playing it by ear.

[00:30:15] It’s still got, it’s around the end of summer is the final date. People are going to the range, they’re shooting some targets, they’re having a range officer thats there sign it off and confirm and they shot them as per the rules that are on the website. They mail them in and they can win, they got Drummond Shooting supplies is come up with some steel targets. Dlask Arms, a Carbon Fiber, 10-22 barrel. Kent Outdoors and Poco Military

Paul Ballard: [00:30:41] Good stuff.

Travis Bader: [00:30:42] Yeah. They got the Canadian Maple leaf engraved Glock 19 Gen 4. Reliable Gun, they got a Smith and Wesson. I mean, these are all just free shoot, go, go, have fun, shoot the targets. Of course there’s kit.

Paul Ballard: [00:30:55] Yeah. I mean, what other match can he get into for that price?

Travis Bader: [00:31:00] I know.

Paul Ballard: [00:30:00] And with those kinds of rewards and prizes coming back, no, it’s, you stay the course folks. Hang on. I mean, you know, I’m not telling you how to run things, but if worst case scenario, we can’t get back to shooting soon enough a couple of months of extension on on that.

Travis Bader: [00:31:16] It’s not going to hurt anyone.

Paul Ballard: [00:31:18] On the program. No.

Travis Bader: [00:31:18] And then just gives us more time.

Paul Ballard: [00:31:20] More opportunity to get in there.

Travis Bader: [00:31:21] Cause we’ve got, course Silvercore’s giving away kit, hats, clothing, stickers, swag, courses, and we’ve got some new kit that’s being made. So it might even play to the benefit if it’s extended a little bit, they get some extra in the latest, greatest Silvercore swag. Okay. Bonnie, I hope that answers your question. You have the next one there, Paul? 

Paul Ballard: [00:31:38] I got one here from, A. Campo who I think I actually know who this person is, I think I do. Any advice or recommendations on GPS tracking devices versus old fashioned maps.

Travis Bader: [00:31:53] Take it away. Paul.

Paul Ballard: [00:31:55] Well, of course, when you say old fashioned, that’s me. I go back to that whole boy scout thing and, I have never met a map or compass that I didn’t like. I’ve never met a map or compass that ran out of battery power. I never met a map or compass that, that if I trusted ever lied to me. The only person that ever lies to you about a map and compass is you.

[00:32:20] You get fooled. We are in a technological age where people want to see colours and movement and lines and get direction from an electronic device. I think you know, my advice, if you’re looking at a GPS, make sure that you have the map and compass and the ability to use it fairly well before you get totally reliant on the GPS.

[00:32:47] The way they, they absolutely eat batteries. They, you know, so you have to carry sufficient batteries to keep the things running, you have to understand that little tiny screen is not always the easiest thing in the world to interpret. You know, larger scale, you know, one in 50, one in 250, 1000 even, maps can be a lot easier to get your feel of things from. I don’t know, that’s just me.

Travis Bader: [00:33:13] Learn how to do a resection.

Paul Ballard: [00:33:15] Right? Yes. You know, how can you, how can you lay out a couple of lines and draw them back on your map to pinpoint exactly where you are? I like GPS when it’s dark, there’s no question. Moving into a hunting area on foot has never been better than to be able to follow the arrows on your GPS and sneak back into your blind.

[00:33:36] Can, you know, you can, drop crumbs as you’re coming in and out of a good area. Also help you pinpoint and get right back on top of, you know, a downed animals that you’ve gone to get help for and, or telling your friends ready to come and meet you. You can give, you know, the, lat long to, to, to pinpoint where you are.

[00:33:57] Okay. All that is there, but I’m still saying without a map and a compass as a safety net is probably, you know.

Travis Bader: [00:34:05] And I think you nailed it. Safety net.

Paul Ballard: [00:34:07] Can we mention names of the.

Travis Bader: [00:34:08] Mention. 

Paul Ballard: [00:34:09] Like Garmin is a fantastic product.

Travis Bader: [00:34:10] I love Garmin. I’ve I got a 64S, I love it, its robust.

Paul Ballard: [00:34:15] Yeah and I think, I got a 64C, but it’s still all, it’s working great. And it sits there on the dash of my machine and I pull it off and I put batteries in it and I carry it around with me. I put it in the same pouch in my, in my day bag as the map and compass funny enough. You know, so.

Travis Bader: [00:34:32] You know what else everyone has with them? Mobile device and most modern mobile devices have GPS built into it that’s not reliant on a cellular network.

Paul Ballard: [00:34:43] Right. As long as you keep your phone on, it keeps track of where you are. Right. My understanding of the technology, if you shut the phone off, it’s not going to automatically find ya.

Travis Bader: [00:34:51] No. So the GPS will, if you’ve downloaded that, if you’ve downloaded the map ahead of time.

Paul Ballard: [00:34:59] Okay, so it’s always that little signal that’s going on in behind the, you know, the closed doors of your phone that gets you there, is it, or?

Travis Bader: [00:35:07] No, if you shut it off and turn it back on again, it’ll take a second to relocate you like any GPS would, you, if you’re out of wifi or if you’re out of wifi and cellular range, it’s going to not display the maps unless you’ve downloaded them. So for me, I’m like you, I like Garmin products. I’ve got a Montana on the side by side. I got the 64 or whatever the predecessor to that was, had that for many, many years and they work.

Paul Ballard: [00:35:37] If it’s old, I got it. You know, though, going back to A. Campo who asked this question. Think of another thing of the advantage to using your phone and that is becoming a member of the many, hunt apps that are out there and, you know, without getting specific into any one of them, unless you know, you, you know, the one that you want to identify, I think they’re all pretty darn good.

[00:36:01] You can turn on your hunt app on your phone. It tells you where you are, it tells you, what is the open season for where you’re standing, gives you warnings about closures or changes to the, the synopsis and regulations for, for that area. It’s awesome.

Travis Bader: [00:36:20] And that’s exactly where I was going next. And I don’t mind going there. Mark Stenroos in Alberta created a fantastic app called iHunter. And iHunter, one of the things that they have is, I think it pay a subscription for it every year. If you want to get all of their stuff, it’s like nine bucks a year, it’s cheap and they’ve got the public land overlay.

[00:36:40] So if you want to, even if you’re not into hunting and you just want to know where you can discharge your firearm legally, lawfully, there’s an overlay that’s tells you this is crown land, this is private property. So that’s useful.

Paul Ballard: [00:36:51] Yeah and that’s important because there’s lots of places, you know, we say hunt close to home or stay close to home. You know, the lower mainland has a phenomenal hunting opportunities. And for those of you in other parts of the world, when we say the lower mainland, that’s the area just outside of Vancouver, BC and up towards the Fraser Valley.

[00:37:11] What would in many cases be interpreted being an urban setting. There is plenty of, of wild areas and, and those specific areas, open or close to the discharge of types of firearms are going to be included in that overlay. You know, it’ll tell you, yes, you’re on public land, but you’re still within a no shooting area or no centrefire, single projectile area or something of that nature.

Travis Bader: [00:37:34] Want to move on to the next one there, I think we got AC Campo, was it?

Paul Ballard: [00:37:38] That was AC Campo, yep.

Travis Bader: [00:37:39] AC Campo. So I’m going to read one from NoahBrown1995 and I happen to know Noah Brown because he shows up at every Silvercore Club shoot. And I swear the guy’s got horseshoes hidden somewhere cause he happens to win fantastic prizes every single year.

[00:37:59] But he’s, he says “Just getting into hunting and making my decision on a pair of binoculars. My brother runs the Vortex Viper 10 x 42s which were great for him. I’m a big fan of the buy once, cry once mentality, but when you have optics ranging from $700 to $2,000 like their Razor for quality glass, how much is too much?”

[00:38:19] The bigger question could also be, where should I spend the big money and where could I be more frugal? So Noah, what I did since you’re mentioning the Vortex product is I just reached out to Mark Boardman at Vortex and asked him that. Mark comes back, says, hi, Trav, this is an awesome question.

[00:38:39] The Viper HD series is a fantastic option, provides incredible optical performance, but doesn’t carry the price tag of, say, an Alpha Razor class UHD. A person will want to consider the game they’re after, and the glassing techniques they’re typically going to employ. If you’re taking a casual look periodically sitting down and glassing for shorter periods or mostly confirming game and conspicuous things that may be game that you’ve already identified with your eyes.

[00:39:05] I might save some money and go with the Viper HD’s. Basically, do everything you need and more. In contrast, if you’re locking binoculars down on a tripod and glassing for hours, the true benefits of a Razor class optic will be realized. There is no question there are differences between each tier.

[00:39:22] At each tier, we want you to get the best optics available at that price point. If you go ahead with a Razor UHD, you will not be disappointed. You will, however, be spoiled for life, Mark. So that’s what Mark from Vortex says.

Paul Ballard: [00:39:36] Well, going back to what NoahBrown1995 says, you know he says, buy once, cry once. I like that, I’d never heard that one before. But I’ve always said, everybody don’t cheap out on on your glass. Don’t cheap out on the glass that goes on your rifle. But let’s go to the binoculars. You’re going to use your binoculars more than you’ll ever use your rifle glass.

[00:40:00] You’re going to use it in almost every application, whether you’re going, Grouse hunting or you’re gone for Sheep in the Northern Rockies, you need good glass. The point made in saying, how are your eyes gonna yeah, if you’re gonna use them occasionally, like for the, we have a great view out of our back deck here. So we have a couple of cheap pairs, and I don’t mean even cheap. They’re actually pretty good binoculars set here because all we’re doing is, Hey, let’s have a look at what kind of duck is that?

[00:40:29] It’s only 60 yards away, so that’s all right. We look for a couple of minutes and then back to the kitchen. But if you’re going to spend all day in a blind, on a hillside in a Valley bottom, you gotta, you gotta give your eyes that break and coated optics, high quality, you know, ground optics glass on there.

[00:40:49] It’s going to make all the difference in the world. You know, do you need the most expensive? If you can afford it, It’s, the answer isn’t going to hurt you. Particularly if the warranty is good, the armour on the body of the actual instrument is good. That’s probably a lifetime investment, you know? And one only buy, cry once, you know? I agree.

Travis Bader: [00:41:09] And with bino’s now, incorporating a lot of them, incorporating the range finding feature, of course it costs a little bit more, but if you’ve got the money, you can spend it. It’s kind of nice to have it all in one unit. I guess the downside is if one goes down, they both go down, but I haven’t had any of them go down on me so far. Knock on wood.

Paul Ballard: [00:41:27] No. The only binoculars that I’ve ever had fail were cheap ones. And what happened was fantastic hunt, Northern Rockies for, for Stone Sheep. We glassed with our spotting scopes up onto the Alpine climb for five and a half hours to get up and pulled the binoculars out, and they were completely filled with condensation from being close to my body.

[00:41:52] They weren’t watertight and absolutely useless. I couldn’t make out the curl on the Rams that was there or that we were seeing, and it was just. It was brutal. It was heartbreaking to not be able to, after all that investiture of effort to get to where they were, for the things, I couldn’t get them to clear up fast enough.

[00:42:09] The weather was really bad, too, very, you know, Misty and rainy and in and out. But if I had have had a good pair of binoculars, I would have easily been able to pull them out, clearly identify the target that I was looking at, be it legal or not, spend the money Noah.

Travis Bader: [00:42:25] So Paul, do you want to take the next one?

Paul Ballard: [00:42:27] Yeah, so I love this name, the beautiful turbo snail. It must refer to their, their off road vehicle. The question is, I can’t find the hunting synopsis for the 2021 hunting season. Where can I get a copy? Well, be patient Grasshopper, because they typically don’t come out till July of the year, July of 2020.

[00:42:51] And it will be a two year synopsis that will go from 2020 to 2022. The current synopsis, which is the, 2018 to 2020 will be in effect until July. So that covers off the Bear hunting and Turkey hunting, which is pretty much the only thing that’s going to be open until that next Synopsis come out.

[00:43:14] The Synopsis will be available in a hard copy, typically available for places like the BC Wildlife Federation or your local hardware store, but also available online.

Travis Bader: [00:43:25] And online’s the ticket.

Paul Ballard: [00:43:26] And plug your hunting app because they usually have links right to the regulation. It’s there and it’ll all be updated and what you need. I do know that as far as the 2021 LEH synopsis is out and online, that came out a couple of days ago. And, get on it there my beautiful turbo snail.

Travis Bader: [00:43:47] So I reached out to Dawn Makarowski, I hope I’m pronouncing that properly. She’s a public affairs officer with Ministry of Forest Lands, Natural Resources, Operations, and Rural Development.

[00:43:58] Say that 10 times fast. And what she had to say, and this was a couple of days old, was, the 2020, 2021 Limited Entry Hunting Synopsis, this is only for the LEH lottery. It’s anticipated to be online this week, and you already nailed it there, Paul. It came online. Possibly today, she says, and it did come on that day.

[00:44:18] This synopsis is not being printed, online only for the LEH. So for the 2020, 2022 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis effective from July 1st, 2020 to June 30 2022 this one is usually online in early June of the effective date, usually being the operative word and printed versions are usually available in late June.

[00:44:42] This year the online version is expected to be available around the same time. This synopsis will still be printed. However, the date of printing is still under review. And so when speaking with other contacts over at FLNROD what is that FLNRO, what do they call it now?

Paul Ballard: [00:44:58] Forests, Lands, Natural Resources

Travis Bader: [00:45:03] Operations.

Paul Ballard: [00:45:05] Operations.

Travis Bader: [00:45:06] Rural Development. It’s a tongue twister.

Paul Ballard: [00:45:07] Where are ya Rob Wilson when I need ya. 

Travis Bader: [00:45:10]  I know, common Robbie. They’re saying that they are not their guesses as good as ours, but they’re not feeling like a printed copy is coming any time soon. So go online, look at the online one, and if you want something to carry in your pocket, either a, download it for free, keep it on your phone as a PDF document or check out iHunter. It’s got it on there.

Paul Ballard: [00:45:34] Yeah I think we answered the beautiful turbo snails question there.

Travis Bader: [00:45:38] I think so. And a fantastic name too.

Paul Ballard: [00:45:40] Yeah.

Travis Bader: [00:45:41] So I’ve got another one here. This one goes a little deep and I don’t know how far we want to go down this one, but maybe we’ll just touch in high level notes. This is NSFW gravy, not safe for work gravy. How can the firearms.

Paul Ballard: [00:45:56]  Is that what that is?

Travis Bader: [00:45:56] Not safe for work, yes. Yeah, someone’s got something they send you over and they got NSFW on it. It means like if you’re at work, let’s not open this one up.

Paul Ballard: [00:46:05] Oh, okay. Gotcha.

Travis Bader: [00:46:06] How can the firearms community bridge the gap with those who have no appreciation for hunting or target sports, how are we all gonna get along?

Paul Ballard: [00:46:16] Wow. Depth.

Travis Bader: [00:46:18] Not an easy question.

Paul Ballard: [00:46:21] And we struggle with that a lot. I often and on and have been,  a Canadian Firearms Safety Course instructor since 1994 and longer than a lot of people that are our listening audience have even been alive for. And I’m telling you, I talked to every one of those groups. I says there’s, there’s three groups, distinct groups out there in society.

[00:46:44] There’s the firearms enthusiast’s or those that are interested in it. There’s the fence sitters, and then there’s those people out there that are just not going to hear any part of it. And you can measure the success in bringing those anti-gun people over every once in a blue moon. But the most important people for us as the firearms or the firearms hunting community is to approach the fence sitters.

[00:47:10] And what we need to do is present ourselves as mature, dependable, law abiding individuals. We may have political views that that might be more to the right. I have to be honest with that. I typically find within the firearms community that our views are maybe a little bit more right wing, but not to the extreme and don’t take things to, to the extreme.

[00:47:34] Don’t present yourself as stereotypical. Don’t present yourself in a fashion, as I sit here with my camouflage shirt on, you know don’t present.

Travis Bader: [00:46:18] Yeah, and a bear rug.

Paul Ballard: [00:46:21] And a bear rug behind me. But don’t present yourself in a light that could be construed as negative. It’s just like what we do where we went back and you said there’s the BC Wildlife Federation promoting a program that’s coming up, and immediately people don’t look at the value of the program.

[00:48:03] They look at the pictures and say, Hey, that doesn’t promote social distancing. So, that’s what you’re kinda up against. You need to be positive. You choose your words that aren’t slang or misinterpreted, I mean, I know that a not safe for work gravy. I like it. Is talking about firearms specifically, but I go to something in the hunting community.

[00:48:27] The phrase that kills me, trophy hunting, trophy hunting is used by the anti’s or those that don’t hunt typically means poaching. They’re talking about, you know, something is shot and killed and left to rot and pictures taken and maybe antlers or horns chopped out of the skull of the animal. That’s not trophy hunting. That’s poaching.

[00:48:48] That’s what they’re saying is trophy hunting. Well it’s not, trophy hunting in the truest sense, an accomplished hunter is, you know selective, you know, acquisition of your target, taking all the edible portions with you in many cases, taking that a set of antlers or horns and proudly and reverently displaying them for others to see.

[00:49:10] My Bear is here with reverence. I ate the meat from that Bear. My family ate the meat from that Bear. I didn’t shoot that Bear just so I could put its hide on my wall. I knew that that was meat, quality meat for the family. I knew that that Bear was not part of a family group.

[00:49:32] It was not just a matter of taking it so that there was going to be hair and hide on the wall, which is in so many cases, what people intimate when they were used the words trophy hunting. They need to learn what poaching is, and we as hunters typically know that. Getting back to the shooting side of things, bumper stickers on your car, you know, that promote.

Travis Bader: [00:49:53] I don’t call 911.

Paul Ballard: [00:49:56] Right. I don’t call 911 or this fi vehicle protected by, you know, insert as applicable firearms company. You know.

Travis Bader: [00:50:03] Team honk and I’m reloading.

Paul Ballard: [00:50:05] Yeah, that’s right. Those kinds of things, not good. Many people that are fence sitters or anti’s, they look at a firearm as a thing of power. You know, you can tell definitely a person that’s never had a gun or used a firearm or been around them, you know, often talks about, Oh, if I had a gun, I, I’d kill those people that hurt those puppies. You know? Well, that’s not a thing to say.

Travis Bader: [00:50:28] No.

Paul Ballard: [00:50:28] Yeah, we love puppies and it’s wrong that somebody would hurt puppies, but that immediate default to the firearm being, you know, the instrument to level the field or impose your will on other things and that are not on other things, but on other people, we should, you know, I struggled with that.

[00:50:46] I was a law enforcement officer for 35 years, carried firearms every day that I was on duty. And you know, so many people talked about. Well, that ridiculous statement. Well, you’ve got the gun here, so I guess it’s, you know, it’s what you say.

Travis Bader: [00:51:00] No, I think as you’re going on here, and I’m looking at my notes, I’m wondering if you took a peek at my notes before going on air here somehow from Chilliwack, because other that are great minds think alike, but I’ve got, but I’ve got.

Paul Ballard: [00:51:15] Oh, they do.

Travis Bader: [00:51:16] They do.

Paul Ballard: [00:51:17] Of course.

Travis Bader: [00:51:17] I’ve, I’ve got be a positive face for firearms owners. Yep. I’ve got enjoy your passion, share your passion with others, change the dialogue, and you’ve touched on a bunch of those points. How do we change the dialogue? Well, why being that positive phase by not having the stereotypical redneck bumper stickers and you’re right, it is, I would say something very similar to what you say.

[00:51:46] You have your firearm enthusiasts, you have your anti gunners and then you’ve got everybody else in between. And you know what? That’s the biggest audience. The anti firearms people are very, very vocal. The firearms people tend not to be as vocal or in a lot of ways, are there, are those in the community that are poor representatives for the whole community.

Paul Ballard: [00:52:09] Their hearts are the right place, their heart is in the right place.

Travis Bader: [00:52:10] Absolutely!

Paul Ballard: [00:52:12] But, but you know, not everybody is articulate or can put their point across in their, the way they speak that comes with so much passion that it’s almost detrimental to the cause. And I, you know, take a, take a breath, think about what you’re going to say and how it would sound. Walk a mile in the other person’s shoes.

Travis Bader: [00:52:33] There it is.

Paul Ballard: [00:52:33] And see how they’d be receptive to it.

Travis Bader: [00:52:36] I’ve got a point here. It says, understand this is, understanding and compassion, having compassion for other people because you nailed it on the head. For the people who do not like firearms is generally embroiled with high emotion and or fear.

[00:52:57] And for people who are firearms enthusiasts, the emotion might be different. And the fear, I would imagine, isn’t there, I should hope not, shouldn’t be afraid of these firearms. But putting yourself in the shoes of the other person who’s trying to argue and say, you shouldn’t own firearms, or people shouldn’t be allowed to hunt.

[00:53:18] Why are they coming from that position? And guess what? You’re probably not going to be the person who convinces them otherwise in your 10 minute, half hour conversation. So maybe being the most positive role model for firearms ownership or for hunting and showing compassion will help all those other fence, sitters, luck and say, ah.

[00:53:41] So I’ve heard some very emotional diatribe on one side and I’ve heard the other side presenting a very responsible view. And that’s one way, I think, anyways, to get the point across to those fence sitters.

Paul Ballard: [00:53:55] And yeah, and what you have to do is, you know, respect like you say, compassion is there. Typically fear comes from, and when I say ignorance, I don’t want the negative connotation of ignorance, like you know,

Travis Bader: [00:54:08] It’s just it’s not knowing.

Paul Ballard: [00:54:10] You’re ignorant, but ignorance is just, unfamiliar with.

Travis Bader: [00:54:13] Sure.

Paul Ballard: [00:54:14] You know, to learn the safety aspects surrounding proper firearms use. What we, what we do train people in order for them to get the licensing and, and what the impositions on people and the lengths that the, you know, I would say Joe firearms owner goes to, to properly secure their firearms at home.

[00:54:34] It really is often driven by what we might encounter in the media, you know, man charged with unsafe storage of a firearm because you know, someone broke in and stole his rifle. But what we don’t see in the media is how many million firearms not stolen because they were properly secured when the house was broken into and other electronics and things like that were stolen.

[00:54:59] But the firearms were not because they were in a vault or safe that couldn’t be entered. It sounds corny, but it’s true. We don’t hear that, and that’s what people who are in that anti or fence sitting position need to recognize. Not every firearm owner is looking to impose their will on others by using their firearm. In fact, very few are very, very few are.

Travis Bader: [00:55:24] Agreed.

Paul Ballard: [00:55:25] Microscopic portion of the overall ownership of firearms are those kinds of people and they are like the hunters that you know, we were talking about before, are poachers. They’re not firearms people, they’re criminals, if that’s the way they’re thinking. So it’s going to be tough.

[00:55:43] We’ve struggled. You and I, cause this has been a part of our life since we were children. We’ve struggled with it, we’ve matured in it. We have grown because we have both trained and dealt with so many people that had no knowledge of the subject matter until they came into it. And, and like I say, it’s, it’s something that I think about pretty darn regularly, pretty darn regularly.

Travis Bader: [00:56:08] And I think you got it with that ignorance thing, it, what a person doesn’t understand, they tend to fear, what they fear, they generally want to destroy. So help people understand by being that positive change yourself. And not to gloss over LE303.

[00:56:24] I’ll read this question, but we basically just answered it here. Says, you need to figure out how to get the 2.2 million firearm owners to stand up and say or do something or anything. And I think those 2.2 million firearms owners can stand up and say or do something at the very least, in how they comport themselves and how they present themselves in person online. And then from there, participate in the gun works and your gun groups.

Paul Ballard: [00:56:51] Yeah. Cause you’re, you’re not, doing any better for the cause by name calling. You know, if you’re being called a derogatory name because you own a firearm, we’ll then turn around and telling you somebody who is against firearms.

[00:57:06] They now have a derogatory name as a result. It just doesn’t work. It just, it creates so much ill will. There are people that have legitimately had their lives altered by gun violence. And I would never seek to cause them to change their mind as to, you know what it is. They are, they’ve lost a loved one.

[00:57:27] They’ve, they’ve experienced something, as a result of gun violence or the misuse of a firearm. And in every case, that person is a criminal, if that’s what they’ve done by a criminal act. But they can’t get past focusing on the object as opposed to the act. Right? You know, it’s the object. You know, firearms unfortunately started their life as weapons.

[00:57:53] We don’t even use the word weapon with regularity in teaching the firearm safety course. It’s not a word we, we refer to them as what they are, their firearms. That’s it. But the gun as a weapon can be so easily vilified, but the gun is not capable of thought or action on its own, it’s an object. It’s what’s in the mind of the individual that holds it.

[00:58:22] And that’s a really mature and informed way to look at it as well. I don’t know. It’s it. It is a tough one.

Travis Bader: [00:58:31] It is a tough one. Do you want to move on? We have K1S8N, or kiss Satan, I think is what it’s supposed to be. If I’m, if I’m tryin. How can I get into hunting? If I have no one around me that does it, how can I get into hunting if I have no one around me that does it? K1S8N.

Paul Ballard: [00:58:51] Well, I don’t know about kissing Satan, but, that’s a great question. So maybe if it was, you know, Pat the pretty kitty, I would tell you, if you want to get into hunting and you don’t have anybody around, there’s a couple of options.

[00:59:04] One is, when you take your hunter safety course and there seems to be somebody else that introduces themselves as, Hey, I’d really like to get into this, and I don’t know anybody else that’s interested, there’s your first person. There’s lots of people that get out there armed with information that they’ve gleaned from the net, talking to other people and it’s their first time, and I run into them all the time when we’re out in the field.

[00:59:32] My advice, don’t take on a Moose hunt by yourself as a novice. That’s not where you want to go. Spring Bear hunting done relatively close to a road, paying attention to all the advice that you could get off the internet is not beyond the realm of somebody who’s never hunted before to get into. You could start that on your own.

[00:59:54] Finding a friend that’s likeminded to get out there, that’s another help. The trouble is we tend to form a group of friends that we hunt with and we’re very reluctant to bring other people in there. We have a cohesive group. You and I hunt together. Good friends, Rob Wilson, Mike Welty. We were a group that came together.

[01:00:15] Not having been together before, but man, we just, we jelled. It was just, it was fantastic. And that happens. Now, everybody’s got something to bring to the table, and even neophyte hunters can come together and that bit of support from the other guy that doesn’t know anything to support you in what you’re doing.

[01:00:33] Just be careful when you going to get into this and you get to do it on your own or with somebody else that isn’t that experience. Look five times with those expensive binoculars that we talked about earlier. Make sure you are getting good in the off season at identifying the correct game species.

[01:00:50] Those are things now, Washington state, has a, a mentorship program and what they’ll do is those that are interested in becoming mentors. It’s called the Master Hunter program. So the Master Hunter might be involved in teaching the firearm or the Hunter safety course in Washington state. They have experience.

[01:01:11] They’re willing to take a new hunter under their wing and go out there hunting with them, help direct them to good, I shouldn’t say good areas, but into the area and how to, how to learn how to hunt basically. Now there’s resistance for that here because people would try and charge money. And charging money to do that is guiding and you can’t guide without a license, you know, that’s, that’s the problem.

[01:01:38] So if you’re, if you’re doing that, the Guides and Outfitters Association is, is all over, not wanting anything like that to happen. But in Washington state, the reward for the Master Hunter is access. It’s kind of like reduced odds on Limited Entry Hunting. The Master Hunter is now allowed to hunt in areas that are restricted to other hunters.

[01:02:00] They’re allowed access to their public lands down there that are managed by Washington State Fish and Wildlife, where other hunters aren’t allowed to hunt. Those are the rewards that that Master Hunter would get, and I would love to try and develop something like that here. I, I struggle with how do we present it and how do we get it forward that from a new hunter’s perspective, if you’re listening to this, say right, your, your MLA and say you know, is there any way that, the Ministry of the Environment would consider opening up opportunities for new hunters to get beyond just the Hunter education that’s done in a classroom.

[01:02:35] To het out there and sit in a blind or, or hike over a hillside with somebody that knows what they’re doing and that that person could be rewarded for that mentoring by having some advantage.

Travis Bader: [01:02:48] Now they do have Waterfowl Heritage Days.

Paul Ballard: [01:02:51] Yes.

Travis Bader: [01:02:51] Which is something we’ve, we’ve had in the past. I think I’ll have to check out kind of where that sitting. I think there’s some changes happening to that one right now. That’s one way to get into it. When I look at it, sure it’s great to have somebody else to go hunting with. But you can go hunting by yourself as well. There’s nothing stopping somebody from doing the internet research. Seeking out a mentor is very, very important.

[01:03:14] If you want to really speed ramp your, your hunting knowledge and experience, but you can take your time and go there and do it slowly. Now, if you’re looking for a mentor and you go online and you go to the hunting forums. You have to keep in mind that you will not be well received.

[01:03:30] If you say, Hey, I’ve never hunted, I don’t have a vehicle, I don’t have a firearm, but can someone take me out to their honey hole and show me whats up? Nobody’s going to give you the time of day, so you have to, you definitely have to approach it with humility. Gun clubs are one place, there’s no shortage of people in the firearms community that want to share their passion with others, but approach it with a humble confidence

Paul Ballard: [01:03:54] I like that. Yeah, that. Yeah, and just going in, don’t, don’t act like you know anything and just say, I, you know, I’m, I’m here to learn and be supportive. And, and one of the things that can happen too, is you get older guys that have maybe lost a hunting partner, you know, who, you know, through physical disability or just advanced age, they’re no longer hunting together.

[01:04:15] But, you have somebody who’s got lots of experience and enthusiasm, they could sure use a strong back and a hardy attitude to help carry that game back in out of the cut block to the truck or, or pack it over a hillside. That kind of an exchange is not unheard of either, I guess. You know, to be fair, if you take some time, you may very well find somebody.

[01:04:38] I just want to kind of, I don’t want to dwell on it in a negative sense, but when you say hunting by yourself, I still say going completely by yourself is not the best thing to do in the very beginning. You know, solo hunting is an experience you know, that we should all try it sometime in our life, but the solo hunting, hold on, you know, in your first.

[01:05:00] You know, a couple of seasons that you get out there, go with somebody else. It really is for, for safety, for outdoor safety reasons, and also just that, you know, sounding board of having somebody there to say, Hey, do you think that’s a Whitetail or a Mule deer? Are you sure it’s got four points? You know, those sorts of things.

[01:05:16] That’s probably more beneficial. Solo, hunting, if you’ve been doing this for a few years, if you haven’t done a solo hunt, you’re missing out. Man, the way you get tuned to your environment when there’s nobody else there to interrupt you. Fantastic.

Travis Bader: [01:05:31] But there is other types of hunting other than just big game like Rabbit.

Paul Ballard: [01:05:35] Oh yeah.

Travis Bader: [01:05:36] Grouse. Right.

Paul Ballard: [01:05:37] Yeah, that’s true.

Travis Bader: [01:05:38] So Jenny Ly, did a podcast with her a few weeks ago, and she said, I want to get into hunting. Took her hunting course, knew nothing. Vancouver urbanite, works in the IT software high tech world. Met two other people on the hunting course. They knew nothing, similar backgrounds. And what do they do? They all went on a fly in hunt. The three of them went for caribou, were successful.

Paul Ballard: [01:06:03] Wow.

Travis Bader: [01:06:04] And I’m not saying K1S8N here is saying I can’t go hunting cause I don’t know anybody. But I’ve heard that from other people before and I say, just get up and do it. I mean, it doesn’t mean you necessarily have to be successful.

[01:06:19] Go out there and do your research. Get out in the bush, go through the process, do your spotting. Take your time, like you said, make sure you’re in the right area, even illegal discharge area. It’s a right type of animal, it’s a safe shot, and if you’re a little bit unsure, stop, regroup. There’s always going to be another opportunity.

Paul Ballard: [01:06:41] Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. Lots of experience on fly in hunting trips, self guided trips, I believe some other people would call them as a resident hunter in British Columbia. I’ve, I’ve done over 15 different experiences in the Northern Rockies where, you know, we have been dropped off periods of time from 10 to 20 days to hunt on our own for Moose and Caribou, Elk, Grizzly Bear.

[01:07:08] Sheep, Goats, and it’s been a fantastic experience for me, and I think I would love to talk that over with people in the future on an upcoming podcast or in the same format that we’re going through here was, Hey, I’m thinking of going on a fly in hunting trip. What do I need to know before I begin? What equipment is appropriate?

[01:07:29] How do I approach an outfitter to get placed on either a fly in hunt or a jet boat hunt or a pack in horseback hunt? Those are some interesting topics in the, in the future.

Travis Bader: [01:07:41] So guys and gals, if that’s something that’s interesting to you, let us know. There’s lots of ways you can let us know. If you want to hear about it.

Paul Ballard: [01:07:47] Smoke signals and flags. We like that.

Travis Bader: [01:07:49] Send us a note. Let us know.

Paul Ballard: [01:07:51] Yeah.

Travis Bader: [01:07:51] And anyone else who we didn’t get to your questions, we will get to them on a future podcast. Stay tuned. Anyone else who has questions they want answered, write it in, let us know. Just let us know in the comments.

Paul Ballard: [01:08:03] Alright.

Travis Bader: [01:08:04] thanks. Paul was really good having you. That was a lot of fun.

Paul Ballard: [01:08:07] Alright.