In this episode of A Hunter’s Legacy, Dustin from South Dakota shares how deer hunting shaped his life from a young age, starting with rifle hunts in the shelter belts of East River country and growing into a deeper passion for archery, land management, and raising the next generation of hunters. What begins as a conversation about South Dakota whitetail hunting quickly turns into a story about family, loss, and the kind of lessons only the outdoors can teach.

Dustin talks about growing up around deer camps, losing his dad at 14, and figuring out how to keep hunting by knocking on doors and learning the land for himself. From shelter belt deer hunting near farmsteads to river bottom and CRP setups along the James and Vermillion River country, he breaks down how South Dakota deer move, bed, and survive in a landscape far different from the timber most hunters picture.

We dive into:

South Dakota shelter belts
How rows of trees, spruce cover, and farm country create whitetail habitat.

Permission and access
Why respect, timing, and real conversation still matter when asking to hunt private land.

Archery over rifle
How his hunting style shifted from rut rifle season to bowhunting mature deer.

EHD and herd changes
What flooding, drought, and deer loss did to local populations and management decisions.

Passing it on
Why hunting with his wife and kids now means more than chasing the biggest buck.

This is a grounded conversation about South Dakota deer hunting, whitetail hunting tactics, and the deeper reasons people stay connected to the land. If you care about deer hunting stories, river bottom whitetails, mobile hunting, CRP setups, rut movement, and building a legacy outdoors, this episode of A Hunter’s Legacy will hit home.

Want to be a guest?

Ready to share your hunting legacy? Apply here.

Like what you’re hearing?

Hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. New stories drop every week.

Follow A Hunter’s Legacy:

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

Youtube

Website

Share the show with a buddy who lives for cold mornings, heavy packs, and quiet woods.

Tanner Carey grew up in upstate New York with deer hunting in his blood. From watching his dad’s headlamp come out of the swamp after dark to sitting alone in a cherry tree at 9 years old, his story is rooted in family, hard country, and learning the long way. This episode follows that path from old apple orchards and hemlock swamps to public land hunts across the country.

He talks about killing his first buck with a bow at 12, why his dad made him learn independence early, and how those lessons shaped the hunter he is now. Along the way, Tanner opens up about hunting pressure in New York, the shift from private ground to 90 percent public land, and the moments that still stick with him most, including one unforgettable buck recovery and one sketchy public land encounter in Kentucky.

We dive into:

First buck memories
How a 12-year-old bow kill became one of Tanner’s core hunting memories.

Upstate New York terrain
Why hemlock swamps, apple orchards, rolling timber, and small dairy farms shape local deer movement.

Public land lessons
What changed when he left home ground and started learning wind, pressure, and access the hard way.

Mobile hunting shift
How saddle hunting, seat time, and adapting on the fly changed his whitetail hunting approach.

Passing it on
Why getting his daughter ready for her first youth deer season now means more than his own tag.

This is a grounded conversation about family, mistakes, growth, and the kind of deer hunting that keeps calling you back. A Hunter’s Legacy stays true to that story with real talk on New York deer hunting, public land whitetail hunting, and mobile hunting tactics.

Want to be a guest?

Ready to share your hunting legacy? Apply here.

Like what you’re hearing?

Hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. New stories drop every week.

Follow A Hunter’s Legacy:

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

Youtube

Website

Share the show with a buddy who lives for cold mornings, heavy packs, and quiet woods.

Boaz Koski grew up in the thick, wet timber of southwest Washington, where 50 yard shots felt long and the rain was just part of the deal. In this episode, he talks about what shaped him as a hunter, why he left Washington for southern Idaho, and how fatherhood is changing what success in the field looks like.

From tagging along at four years old to running his own ridges at 14, Boaz learned early that hunting is bigger than antlers. He shares two bear encounters that still sting, the Roosevelt bull that walked away because the shot was not right, and the mindset shift that comes with trying to raise boys who know what public land means.

Now in Idaho, he is adjusting to open desert views, mountain country, and new animals, with whitetail hunting and deer hunting taking center stage alongside coyotes.

We dive into:

Washington to Idaho shift
Coastal timber and constant rain traded for desert heat, snowdrifts, and big country.

Deer hunting across species
Blacktail habits, first Idaho whitetail, and why mule deer still calls his name.

Thermals and tight quarters
How wind, thermals, and thick cover shape every move out west.

Public land pressure and etiquette
What 20,000 acres looks like when rifle season turns into a hornet’s nest.

Hunting as legacy
From a four year old with toy binoculars to a wife starting to get curious.

It’s a grounded conversation about whitetail hunting, deer hunting, and learning the terrain, from rainy Washington timber to Idaho mountain and desert country, told the way A Hunter’s Legacy was meant to sound.

Want to be a guest?

Ready to share your hunting legacy? Apply here.

Like what you’re hearing?

Hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. New stories drop every week.

Follow A Hunter’s Legacy:

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

Youtube

Website

Share the show with a buddy who lives for cold mornings, heavy packs, and quiet woods.

This episode of A Hunter’s Legacy heads into the mountains of North Carolina with Cody Triplett, a rock quarry welder and heavy equipment operator who lives in small town Appalachia where Christmas trees outnumber crop fields and the hills are steep enough to make you think twice about every step.

Cody’s story starts with family. His dad passed when he was five, but deer hunting stayed in his blood, and his mom became the one who taught him how to read the woods. From sitting on the ground near mountain laurel thickets to killing his first buck as a kid with a shaky rifle on his mom’s shoulder, this conversation blends the kind of hunting memories that stick with you with the tactics that came later.

Cody breaks down how whitetail hunting changes in big woods country, why wind and thermals do not behave like the forecast in steep terrain, and how calling can turn a cold November morning into two bucks in two days. He also talks mobile hunting, milkweed, and learning when not to hunt, even when the season is open.

We dive into:

North Carolina Mountain Whitetails
Steep ridges, laurel thickets, and big woods deer hunting without much farmland.

Calling in the Rut
Grunt call, snort wheeze, and rattling when bucks are searching and bristled up.

Wind and Thermals
Why swirling air and thermal pull make stand choice more important than a forecast.

Mobile Hunting Lessons
Moving trees, scouting sign, and hunting bedding areas instead of repeating the same stand.

It’s a real look at deer hunting in North Carolina Appalachia, where the rut can be electric, the climbs are brutal, and the wins are earned. A Hunter’s Legacy stays true to everyday hunters and the stories behind whitetail hunting, North Carolina deer season, and mountain deer tactics.

Want to be a guest?

Ready to share your hunting legacy? Apply here.

Like what you’re hearing?

Hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. New stories drop every week.

Follow A Hunter’s Legacy:

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

Youtube

Website

Share the show with a buddy who lives for cold mornings, heavy packs, and quiet woods.

Mitchell heads to the Tennessee River valley of Northwest Alabama to talk with Will Greene, a farm kid who grew up chasing ducks and quail long before deer ever showed up on their land. Will didn’t kill his first deer on the family farm until he was 20. Now he hunts wide crop fields where 400-yard shots are normal and rifle season stretches into February.

They break down how agriculture shapes deer movement, why Alabama’s rut can span three months, and how northern genetics mixed with native bloodlines created one of the most confusing rut maps in the country. From the old buck-a-day limit to today’s three-buck rule, Will shares how pressure and parasites have changed the herd.

Will also runs tracking dogs that recover wounded deer others can’t find. Some tracks go miles. Some last over 36 hours. And sometimes the dogs don’t just find the deer… they bay it up.

This one dives into farming, long seasons, Kansas giants, Alabama hunting culture, and what decades in the woods will teach you.

Want to be a guest?

Ready to share your hunting legacy? Apply here.

Like what you’re hearing?

Hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. New stories drop every week.

Follow A Hunter’s Legacy:

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

Youtube

Website

Share the show with a buddy who lives for cold mornings, heavy packs, and quiet woods.

At 66, Marc Mansfield has worn a firefighter’s helmet, a barber’s smock, and a whole lot of busted-up bone screws. But long before all that, he was just a kid in North Georgia, building homemade ladder stands and chasing deer through hollers behind Lake Allatoona.

In this episode, Mitchell sits down with a man who’s seen more than most and somehow kept hunting through it all. He’s a life-flighted firefighter (twice), a father who coached his boys through sports and into the woods, and a lifelong archer who still refuses to pick up a crossbow. Marc talks about wrecks that nearly killed him, why baiting ruined Georgia’s woods, and why old does are way harder to fool than big bucks.

He also drops wisdom like only a man who’s earned every limp can. He shares how pain teaches perspective, how missing deer lingers longer than killing them, and how hunters and killers are two completely different breeds.

This one’s got laughs, stories, and some of the rawest truth we’ve had yet.

Listen in, share with an old-school buddy, and remember why we started hunting in the first place.

Want to be a guest?

Ready to share your hunting legacy? Apply here.

Like what you’re hearing?

Hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. New stories drop every week.

Follow A Hunter’s Legacy:

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

Youtube

Website

Share the show with a buddy who lives for cold mornings, heavy packs, and quiet woods.

He didn’t plan on wearing a suit. Didn’t set out to be a lobbyist. Just a Vermont kid who grew up in the same house his great-grandparents built, hunting close to home and figuring things out by doing.

Mike Covey worked steel, turned wrenches, ran a massive maple syrup operation, and stacked more deer than most people will see in a lifetime. Somewhere along the way, he got pulled into the fight to protect hunting, fishing, and trapping in Vermont… and never really got out.

In this episode, Mike talks about eating bobcat, processing piles of deer, hunting through major injuries, and what happens when hunters stop paying attention to politics. He shares how showing up actually works, why local advocacy matters, and the moment he realized he’d become “the suit” he never thought he’d be.

This isn’t about trophies or gear flexing.  It’s about roots. Responsibility. And defending a way of life before it disappears.

Want to be a guest?

Ready to share your hunting legacy? Apply here.

Like what you’re hearing?

Hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. New stories drop every week.

Follow A Hunter’s Legacy:

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

Youtube

Website

Share the show with a buddy who lives for cold mornings, heavy packs, and quiet woods.

Eric Lochman grew up hunting the cold woods of Pennsylvania, where opening day meant tree forts, deer drives, and enough pressure to push whitetails into the thickest cover they could find. What started as kids being turned loose to “walk the woods” slowly turned into a lifelong understanding of how pressure, access, and safety shape the way people hunt in the Northeast.

In this episode, Eric breaks down old school Pennsylvania deer drives, how rifle pressure changes deer movement instantly, and why he no longer wants anything to do with organized drives. The conversation turns serious as Eric shares the story of losing a family member in a hunting accident, how it changed the way he views gun safety, and why crowded public land now feels more dangerous than ever. From orange requirements to overlapping seasons, it’s an honest look at how risk creeps into places hunters take for granted.

They also dive into access issues, trespassing, dealing with neighbors, managing a small reclaimed strip mine property, and the long game of habitat work in brutal soil conditions. From chestnut trees and food plots to trail cameras and boundary disputes, Eric explains what it’s really like trying to build something meaningful when pressure never stops.

This one is raw, uncomfortable at times, and grounded in reality. A reminder that hunting isn’t just about deer. It’s about responsibility, respect, and the people you trust in the woods.

Want to be a guest?

Ready to share your hunting legacy? Apply here.

Like what you’re hearing?

Hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. New stories drop every week.

Follow A Hunter’s Legacy:

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

Youtube

Website

Share the show with a buddy who lives for cold mornings, heavy packs, and quiet woods.

Daniel Davis grew up in the hills of central West Virginia, following his dad through steep hollers, creek bottoms, and big timber. Hunting there meant learning the woods the hard way. No food plots. No easy access. Just pipeline cuts, rugged terrain, and years of trial and error that shaped how Daniel hunts today.

In this episode, Daniel talks about being “turned loose” as a teenager, the trust his dad placed in him, and how solo bowhunting became part of who he is. They get into West Virginia hunting culture, why compound bows demand discipline, and how gun season pressure and neighboring properties make deer management difficult. Daniel breaks down how deer use benches, hollers, and pipeline crossings, how patterns change overnight, and why swirling mountain winds ruin even good setups.

The conversation moves through scent control, big timber strategy, declining deer numbers, EHD, and the divide between meat hunters and management minded bowhunters. They also swap gear mistakes, forgotten releases, and close calls that every hunter recognizes. It’s an honest look at Appalachian whitetail hunting shaped by family, terrain, and learning everything the hard way.

If you’ve hunted steep ground or learned the woods from your dad, this one will feel familiar.

Want to be a guest?

Ready to share your hunting legacy? Apply here.

Like what you’re hearing?

Hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. New stories drop every week.

Follow A Hunter’s Legacy:

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

Youtube

Website

Share the show with a buddy who lives for cold mornings, heavy packs, and quiet woods.

Weber Herbison grew up hunting the Mississippi Delta, where big woods, flat ground, and endless options give whitetails every advantage. He still hunts the same kind of country today, balancing life as a dentist with a season spent trying to outthink deer that refuse to play by Midwest rules. No funnels. No predictable movement. Just patience, trial and error, and long sits wondering where they went.

In this episode, Weber talks about starting young, learning the woods by following his dad, and how Southern deer force you to hunt differently. He explains why October is often better than the rut, how mature bucks avoid main trails, and why waiting on “rut magic” usually leads to empty woods where he hunts. They get into swirling winds, scent control, and why patterning deer in big timber can feel like chasing ghosts.

The conversation dives deeper into baiting in the South, does blowing up setups, and how bears and hogs completely change the game in places like Louisiana and Mississippi. Weber breaks down wildly different rut timing across the South, how deer personalities show up on cameras, and why some bucks live in tight pockets while others roam miles overnight.

This one is about adapting when nothing is guaranteed, trusting your reads, and sticking it out when the deer always seem one step ahead.

Want to be a guest?

Ready to share your hunting legacy? Apply here.

Like what you’re hearing?

Hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. New stories drop every week.

Follow A Hunter’s Legacy:

Instagram

Facebook

TikTok

Youtube

Website

Share the show with a buddy who lives for cold mornings, heavy packs, and quiet woods.