The Marc Smith Podcast

The Four Corners doesn’t give anything away easily.

In this episode of The Marc Smith Podcast, Marc and Travis sit down to recap another unforgettable trip into the Four Corners region, where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet—and where the weather can change the entire hunt in a matter of minutes.

Torrential rain, dangerous conditions, and unpredictable weather turned what was supposed to be another opportunity in the field into an unsuccessful hunt and an unpunched tag. But as Marc has learned on previous trips, success in the Four Corners isn’t always measured by what comes home in the cooler.

Once again, some of the greatest moments came through the people. Marc shares the experiences, conversations, and time spent with locals that turned a difficult hunt into memories he won’t soon forget.

The conversation then turns closer to home—and further into the past—as Marc talks about one of his favorite uncles, Gerald.

After Gerald passed away, Marc inherited a vintage Sako chambered in .25-06, a rifle carrying far more value than anything found on a price tag. Marc talks about Gerald, what the rifle means to him, the process of refurbishing it, and his anticipation of finally putting it back to work during the upcoming Texas hunting season.

Sometimes the tag gets punched.

Sometimes it doesn’t.

But between unpredictable mountains, unforgettable people, old stories, and an old rifle getting a second life, there’s a lot more to bring home from a hunt than an animal.

Sometimes the hunt begins before you ever draw the bow.

In this episode of The Marc Smith Podcast, Marc looks back on a season he didn’t expect to have. With seemingly no options on the table, he was suddenly awarded three highly coveted tags — mule deer, bear, and elk. What followed was the beginning of a season full of opportunity, old memories, and a return to something familiar.

First up: mule deer.

Marc had located this buck weeks before opening day and found him again in the same area the evening before the opener. After a 65-yard opportunity sailed over the buck’s back, the hunt could have been over. Instead, Marc stayed patient and trusted his setup. In the final minutes of legal shooting light, another opportunity developed at 42 yards — and this time the arrow found its mark.

The result was Marc’s third-largest mule deer, taken on opening day exactly 25 years after his previous opening-day mule deer success.

But there’s another piece to this hunt that made it special: Predator camo.

For years, Predator was Marc’s camouflage of choice. A sponsorship relationship later required him to hunt in Badlands, but with the terms of that relationship changing, this season gave him the opportunity to return to Predator. In a very literal sense, Marc was able to get back into his own skin — and immediately found success.

This episode isn’t just a kill story. We reminisce about the hunt, the missed opportunity that came first, patience when the plan seemed to fall apart, the significance of returning to familiar gear, and the unexpected blessing of going from no tags to three incredible opportunities.

One tag is filled.

Mule deer down. Bear and elk still ahead.

And Marc is just getting started.

🎙️ The Marc Smith Podcast
Faith • Hunting • Family • Lessons from the Field

“God is good.”

#MuleDeer #MuleDeerHunting #Bowhunting #ArcheryHunting #PredatorCamo #WesternHunting #HuntingPodcast #TheMarcSmithPodcast

Marc Smith heads into the Four Corners in pursuit of a black bear—but this hunt becomes about far more than filling a tag.

In this episode of The Marc Smith Podcast, Marc recounts his experience bear hunting on reservation land and reflects on how his walk with Christ has begun changing the way he approaches the outdoors, relationships, and opportunity.

Marc is still a serious hunter. The preparation, pursuit, and desire for success haven’t disappeared. But hunting is no longer the highest priority. As his identity becomes more firmly rooted in Christ, he’s learning to ask a different question when doors open:

“How can I serve the people God has placed around me?”

That shift becomes especially clear through Marc’s relationship with a fellow hunter whose political views differ significantly from his own. Instead of allowing politics to determine whether they could stand together, their shared faith in Christ gave them common ground—and eventually genuine brotherhood.

It’s a reminder that the Body of Christ can reach across divisions the world tells us should separate us.

Through that relationship, service, fellowship, and a willingness to put faith first, another door eventually opened: an opportunity for Marc to pursue a black bear.

The hunt ultimately ends with Marc successfully harvesting a young black bear, but the harvest is only part of the story.

This is a hunting story about faith before success, service before self, brotherhood beyond politics, and finding your identity in something greater than what you accomplish in the woods.

The Marc Smith Podcast
Faith • Hunting • Brotherhood • Experience

Subscribe for more hunting stories, conversations from the field, and discussions about following Christ in the outdoors.

#TheMarcSmithPodcast #BearHunting #BlackBear #FourCorners #ChristianHunter #FaithAndHunting #HuntingPodcast #PublicLandHunting #Brotherhood #FaithFirst

After building a life on the back of the bowhunting and competitive archery, and taking a very long break of target and field archery, Marc and Travis are ready to be “Totally Archery Challenged”.

On this Episode they discuss Marc’s early journey in competitive archery and the community that built them.

Ultimately they are ready to get back in the saddle and get back into the community building sport of target and field archery.

It’s going to be a challenge, but they are ready for the journey and their next course in life.

On this episode of The Marc Smith podcast Marc interviews grandsons, Mason Bennet and Carson Smith.

They discussed favorite hunts, their early beginnings as hunters and outdoorsman, and of course their faith in Jesus Christ.

In this episode of The Marc Smith Podcast, we take a step back and reflect on the experiences that come from chasing wild turkeys. Turkey hunting has a way of teaching lessons that go far beyond the hunt itself — patience in the woods, learning from mistakes, and understanding the rhythms of the land and the animals that live there.

Rather than focusing on tactics or statistics, this conversation looks back on moments from past turkey seasons and the lessons those experiences leave behind. The spring woods have a way of humbling even experienced hunters, and every hunt — successful or not — has something to teach.

Turkey hunting isn’t just about the harvest. It’s about slowing down, paying attention, and learning from the encounters that shape us as hunters and outdoorsmen.

If you enjoy thoughtful conversations about turkey hunting, outdoor life, and the lessons learned in the field, this episode is for you.

Salt is known for its preservation power and light shows the way for all to see. There are epic people in our lives that are great examples of not only would it takes as a person to maintain and preserve people in relationships, but also be great examples of how to live and show the fruits of the spirit through their everyday actions.(Gal 5:22)

On this episode, Marc interviews Brother in Christ, Hunting Partner, Son, Husband and Father

Mr. Luke Hatch.

Throughout their years together, Luke despite his age, has been salt and light for Marc in all of his ways in the home and in the woods.

Luke is a highly skilled woodsman with supernatural wisdom and performance in the deer woods.

Keep an eye out for more of these ”Salt and Light” episodes in the future, as we interview great disciples in Christ and hunters that display that it takes more than knowledge and equipment to be successful on this planet.

Beginning in the 1500s hogs have made their way from the East Coast to the west. Leaving a large path of destruction and ecological imbalance in their wake. On this episode, Marc and Travis discuss this formidable opponent on their hunting property. Origins, destruction, and harvest techniques make for good conversation on these incredible beasts of burden.

On this episode, Marc interviews, long time, friend, brother in the faith, and East Texas hunting legend Jon Paul Hatch. Jon Paul has been the salt for Marc that has preserved his love and relationship with the ETX woods and the light that has always shown as a beacon and pointed Marc in the right direction in faith and family, no matter how close are far apart they’ve been.

Join Marc and Travis Smith as they discuss what a few #hunters will ever admit.

If you spend enough time in the woods and pay close enough attention, you will see things that you cannot explain.

2020 or go down in history for them as one of the strangest and most #unexplainable years they may ever live.

If #Bigfoot is not real, then what was it?