Restless Native

I spent a few days out in Montana with Bergara and CVA's parent company, BPI Outdoors with team GoWild's Jacob Knight. We got to shoot a ton of guns (hey, free ammo!) and see some innovations from both manufacturers. We're in new territory in a post-pandemic world. These types of events may become more of the norm after 2020. We'll talk about that with Damon. Be sure to check out the new products:BergaraCVARestless Native is Brought to You By GoWildJoin the best community for outdoor enthusiasts. Download here.

I’m a sucker for a good entrepreneurial story. Toss in trying to build a company in the outdoor space?Now I’m hooked. Today’s guest is someone I met through the industry when he was first getting his company off the ground. Standing in a loud honky tonk dive bar in Nashville Tennessee, he outlined his plans to build something that would allow people to trade outdoor experiences. It sounded kinda crazy. Which in Startupland, is how you know you’re on the right path. Slade Johnston is the founder of Trips4Trade. Today, he’s going to tell us not only what it is, but the moments and milestones he’s had along the way, the hardest part of his journey, an entrepreneur he looks up to and why he’s so passionate about R3.Trip4Trade

Memorial Day is coming, which will officially kick off summer for most Americans. Millions of people will spend their summer camping and hiking. But today’s guest sees a gap in one audience. Earl B. Hunter, Jr. founded Black Folks Camp Too to focus on opening up the outdoors to more people, specifically, the black community. I saw a news story about Earl and his mission last summer, and he was kind enough to respond to my cold inquiry about his mission.He was recently a guest on my other show, Gearbox Talk, to talk about hiking gear. And on this episode, we’re going to talk about the challenges Earl saw, and how he’s conquering those challenges with Black Folks Camp Too.Website: BlackFolksCampToo.com

Sometimes I feel oversaturated with news about hunter numbers. They’re up, they’re down. And then back up again. Now Outdoor Life says we have no clue what they are. Whatever they are or aren’t, I think we need to do better. Even if hunting spiked last year, we have to realize there is some bubble happening here. Of course people hunted more last year, it was one of the only things you could do. How many times have I said that we were losing hunters to youth sports? And Netflix? Well youth sports were shut down last year, and there’s only so many rounds of your favorite show you can watch before you have to move or become part of the couch. There are some really interesting plays happening in the outdoor space. You have people like AJ De Rosa, Nic De Castro, Slade Johnston, Murielle Gaither, Adam Gifford, and my team at GoWild so many others, who are making strong tech plays to get more people outside. I hope that together, we’re building a strong enough community to avoid losing hunters when this bubble bursts. And just like the ammo and gun shortage, it will burst. We’ll either be prepared for it, and have handled it well. Or it’ll be 2016 over again, when the demand for guns slumped, a time the gun industry calls the Trump Slump due to it coming along with Trump’s win of the election, and then firearms companies started getting their butts handed to them. Today's guest is another guy who deserves to be among that list of people I mentioned. It’s Mahting Putellis, the founder of Hunt to Eat. He’s going to talk about hunter recruitment and retention today. And what he and his team are doing to help more people get outside. HunttoEat.com

Most of you probably know The Hunting Public, but do you know their story? Do you know why they decided to found their business? Do you really understand what they’re trying to do?I’ve really come to respect these guys, because I have first hand seen how they’re running not only their content, but their business. They’re not pay to play, swapping sponsors out nonstop and grossly creating sponsored kills. They are themselves all the time. That’s something to admire. We’re going to talk about all of that and talk about how Aaron feels about the culture of hunting. If you haven’t seen it, Aaron was recently on my other show, Gearbox Talk, too. Don’t miss that one. This podcast is brought to you by GoWild. https://youtu.be/xGkPflY9XWs

Check out the First Gen Hunter podcastRestless Native is brought to you by GoWild. Don't miss our new hat, the Thunder Chicken. Presale only. Limited run.

Do hunters have an access issue?  This simple question will throw people into fits. Some are hardcore public lands. Some don’t care. Today I have the founder of LandTrust on the show. We’re going to discuss public lands and the future of private. Nic De Castro has a very interesting take on the future of conservation through private access. We’ll also talk about LandTrust’s unique model. They’re growing rapidly right now, and Nic is a very sharp entrepreneur who has a strong vision for where his company needs to be. LandTrust websiteShopGoWild.com and use NWTF10 to save 10% and we'll donate a portion of our proceeds to the National Wild Turkey Federation.

The hook and bullet industry has been and is still living through some of the wildest times we’ve known. So today, I’ve got the head of one of the industry’s leading media organizations on the show to talk about it.Thomas MacAulay is going to highlight why you can’t find ammo, why it’s harder than you think to just “make more guns” and he’s going to talk about how his organization, the Professional Outdoor Media Association, is dealing with the pressure of a year that killed conventions and trade shows as we know it. Thomas has designed and is hosting what will be the firearms industry’s first show back amid the turmoil that has been the coronavirus. We’ll outline details on that at the end. Restless Native is Brought to you by GoWildJoin today. POMA websiteShooting Sport Showcase:https://professionaloutdoormedia.org/showcase-registration/

Today’s guest is one you’ve probably heard from many times over. But as always, I focused on asking a different set of questions and digging deep. This Restless Native is with the one and only, Remi Warren. You’ve heard Remi talk about stalking, hunting, archery and much more. But today we’re talking about community, societal expectations, hunting as a right, and how to avoid censorship. Remi is a TV show host, writer, photographer, videographer and just one of the best content creators in the hunting industry. I wanted to hear about his journey, where he started, and he delivers some fantastic advice on how to build your own portfolio and highlights how he just fought his way into the industry with brute force. It’s a great interview.Restless Native is brought to you by GoWildGearJunkie named GoWild the best social app for hunters. See why—join today.

However well you think you know firearms or history, or firearms history, today’s guest has you beat. I mean, probably. Today I have Logan Metesh on the show, and he has a degree in, is trained in, and makes his living in history. No, not like, he used to. That’s what he does for a living—talk about history. He found a way to tie his passion for American history back to the firearms industry, and today we’re talking about just how he did that, some amazing pieces he has seen, and how he is likely one of the only people to know what it was like to sit in the seat where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Wow. We also have some discussion around American’s seeming inability to have discussion. I ask Logan the big question of, is history doomed to repeat itself?Stick around for the answer. High Caliber History WebsiteHigh Caliber History Podcasthttps://youtu.be/Nq_i909s7fs