Round Here

Elijah Wilson and Chris Hacker sit down with Dustin "Bone" Ballance out of Lavaca. He works for AOG during the day, coaches the Lavaca trap team, is getting archery going in the school, and just started selling houses with The Heritage Group.

We get into finding his first buyers a house after looking at 36 of them, the "vacant" Van Buren house that should have stayed vacant, running a snow cone stand, 40 lawns and a firewood operation on top of a day job, how Elijah does a euro mount, the CrossFit workout that blew out both of Chris's calves, an arrow through a brand new Knight muzzleloader at Gellco, a gut-shot buck, and the bear that turned over Dustin's feeder a week after his dad told him it would.

Brandon Inge: theheritagegroup.co/agents/brandon-inge

Elijah Wilson: theheritagegroup.co/agents/elijah-wilson

Chris Hacker: theheritagegroup.co/agents/chris-hacker

Opening day of Arkansas deer season is right around the corner, so Elijah Wilson and Chris Hacker sat down with the first guy who came to both their minds when they thought about serious deer hunters: Jamie Carty. Jamie grew up just north of Mulberry, has spent 31 years working in rural water, and has chased whitetails across Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri.

Jamie talks about learning woodsmanship from his dad, a trapper for 50 years who once trapped coyotes off the runways at the Fort Smith Airport. The guys get into:

• Waiting on the right wind for a mature buck.
• Whether cell cams and onX are making hunters better or lazier.
• Why rattling and calling work so differently in the Midwest than back home.

Jamie also explains what all the growth since COVID is doing to rural water around Mulberry and Ozark, and why land buyers need to check on water before they buy. Plus the 190-class Illinois buck he still isn't over, and the Kansas hunt that convinced him his dad was still right there with him.

Brandon Inge: theheritagegroup.co/agents/brandon-inge
Elijah Wilson: theheritagegroup.co/agents/elijah-wilson
Chris Hacker: theheritagegroup.co/agents/chris-hacker

Grant Neal (General Manager) and David Neal (owner) of Rhodes Chevrolet sit down with Elijah and Chris to talk about running a car dealership that's stayed in the same family since 1934. They walk through the origin story, from Cabell Neal buying the Van Buren dealership during the Depression to David and Grant carrying it into a fourth generation, and get into what it takes to run a business with that many moving parts while keeping the same hospitality-first culture as dealer groups buy up the competition. The conversation shifts into hunting, with stories about elk hunting in New Mexico, first-time-in-the-stand memories with their own kids, and the trials of bow hunting. It closes out with a rapid-fire round covering favorite trucks, favorite local food, and what they hope Rhodes Chevrolet's legacy looks like 30 years from now.

Brandon Inge: theheritagegroup.co/agents/brandon-ingeElijah Wilson: theheritagegroup.co/agents/elijah-wilsonChris Hacker: theheritagegroup.co/agents/chris-hacker

This week the guys sit down with two of the region's top competitive anglers: Rodney Copeland of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, fresh off his first Toyota Series win on the Arkansas River, and Chris Jones of Bokoshe, Oklahoma, a two-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier who also took home Angler of the Year in the same Toyota Series division. Rodney and Chris have fished as tournament partners for years, and they get into what it's actually like competing against your own teammate, the mental grind of multi-day tournaments, and the story of the shad spawn that nearly carried Chris to a Bassmaster Classic win at Lake Ray Roberts. They also talk about the "Muddy Water Mob," the tight-knit group of Arkansas and Oklahoma anglers who've turned tournament rivals into a genuine brotherhood, plus a rapid-fire round and a rundown of the sponsors backing their runs. Elijah and Chris Hacker jump in with their own fishing and real estate stories along the way, including a boat deal off a listing appointment that's too good not to share.

Brandon Inge: theheritagegroup.co/agents/brandon-inge
Elijah Wilson: theheritagegroup.co/agents/elijah-wilson
Chris Hacker: theheritagegroup.co/agents/chris-hacker

This week Elijah sits down with Crawford County game warden Kurt VanMatre, also known around here as Mr. Green Jeans and the Possum Cop. Kurt is one of only 10 K9 officers in the state and works alongside his partner Ruby, tracking everything from wounded deer to poachers. He walks through how he ended up in Arkansas from Oklahoma, breaks down a fawn poaching case he cracked with a dragon dog, and tells the story of a bear trapping case in Chester that took him a full year to build. Elijah also breaks out his late grandfather's old game warden ticket books and tells the story behind Bucky, the deer decoy that got shot 16 times. They close out talking cell cameras, drones, upcoming hunting seasons, and how to report poaching if you ever see it.

Brandon Inge: theheritagegroup.co/agents/brandon-inge
Elijah Wilson: theheritagegroup.co/agents/elijah-wilson
Chris Hacker: theheritagegroup.co/agents/chris-hacker

This week Elijah sits down with Chris Hacker and Brandon Inge to talk archery, deer hunting, and what actually goes into being a real estate agent in the River Valley. Chris walks through his path from picking up a bow at 4 years old to turning pro in 2005 and spending 20 years running the archery department at Jayco Outdoors, including the story behind his 168 inch buck on Chaffee Crossing. Brandon talks about running the Heritage Group Land and Home Team out of Alma and what makes rural properties different to market. The guys also swap the worst home inspection stories they've run into, talk through what separates a good real estate agent from a part timer, and close out with a rapid fire round covering everything from favorite restaurants to what they'd buy with 10 million dollars.

Brandon Inge: theheritagegroup.co/agents/brandon-inge
Elijah Wilson: theheritagegroup.co/agents/elijah-wilson
Chris Hacker: theheritagegroup.co/agents/chris-hacker