EP 228: John Bair and Hunt Expo 2022

And people just gotta come. I mean, they gotta come to the Expo. You know, you've been on both sides of this. Tell us a little bit about the conservation side of it. Yeah, when John says sold in a room, it's over. Anything to do with Western big game.

Welcome to the Epic Outdoors podcast, powered by Under Armour. Hey everybody, Jason Carter, Adam Bronson, Chris, coming at you from Southern Utah. Chris is always at the keyboard. Makes me feel comfortable when you're there, Chris. If you're not ever gonna be here, let us know, and we probably just quit the podcast altogether, you know what I mean? Well, we wouldn't even start one. I mean, that's comfortable is an understatement. We wouldn't even be doing one. We didn't even be doing one. Hey, Bronson, look around this little room here. What's different? Chris has got Wild Kingdom in here. He's bought a new place, so he sold his old place, and in limbo, all of his dead stuff showed up in here. We've got a lot of different species in here, most of which are actually muleys. I actually have a bedroom in the new house that's got elk and a few deer in there, but all

the stuff that I was like, wanted to put up, and elk doesn't fit in here. Be careful. You know, Jason's wife, Jana, I mean, he starts surrounding himself with all his deer and all that, and she made him take some home because I think the statement was, if they're all around you, your heart's going to be there and not at home.

Yeah, she, well, for the most part, where your animals are is where your heart is, and your heart should be home. Right? So, be careful, Chris. Mackenzie could see that, hey, you're surrounded by all these loving, awesome mule deer. That's where your heart is. Oh, you might want them home. I still got a few at the house. Okay. Well, these are the big ones, though. I'm just saying, I know your collection. These are your best. That's a good-looking bear, by the way, Bronson. Do you remember that? Oh, yeah. We were there. Yeah. Ten-four. Freaking smashed it in Montana. Dark chocolate. That isn't a milk chocolate bearer, that's a dark chocolate. I don't know. Well, what do you call it, Chris? Dark chocolate? Yeah? What do you mean? What would you call that? I don't know. It's got a little red tint. I've just always called it chocolate. I don't think it has. Maybe a little cinnamon chocolate.

Do you like dark chocolate? No. They say it's actually healthy for you. Um, it's growing on me. Is it? I used to hate it when I was a kid. I don't like it. It means you're becoming an adult, boss. There's a reason it's the last one in the bag. Those all get left, and there are all like 15 little The candy bars are all dark chocolate at the end. Yeah, those ones, I don't like Milky Way. I'm not a fan. No. I think, anyway. Whatever. Done with that. Whatever. Halloween candy. Well, what are we going to talk about today? Here we are mid-January. We're having a little bit of snow today, but it's been a long time since. We've had some. We sure need more, but... Big flakes here and there. Yeah, so, anyway. Big flakes. Well, anyway, so yeah, well, I guess it's just that application timeframe, and we've got the Hunt Expo coming up.

Those are five dollar tags, Bronson. You put in five bucks for anything and everything that you want to apply for, and it's a separate draw, basically, here in the state of Utah. It doesn't take into account your points or anything else. It's above and beyond. Yeah, that's right, and they do that before the regular draw deadline will come out for you, or be deadline due for Utah. That's right. It was a mouthful. So, in other words, if you drew a hunt expo tag, boom, you could pull your application in Utah and amend it, and go about your merry way, go hunt one of them, and then you don't do points for that species in the regular draw. But, they are changing it. Last year, remember, the expo got canceled, so they waived the in-person validation. This year, you've got to apply online.

Not going to be any paper applications anymore when you get there. That probably took too much time. And hey, it is the 21st century, for heaven's sake, We've been out of freaking legal papers. Hopefully, there's some kiosks there. Yeah, so we've got to do it online, and you do have to validate in person, or they will not be entered in the draw. So, if you're applying online, if you remember doing it last year, and you're doing it this year, you've got to come to Salt Lake and validate your application in person, or they're not going to be entered. In person. Do you remember us checking the draw results? We've talked about this before. Bubble jet printers. Oh, yeah. On the division windows. Yeah, kiosks outside them. Not even kiosks. That was way before kiosks. No, on the window. Everybody would be standing in a group wondering who drew.

All right. Well, anyway, that's what they're doing in person, forcing you to come be together at the Expo, which is good. We're going to be there, going to have a giant booth, and we got the best of the best for the last couple of years, Bronson. Because of COVID, people haven't been able to showcase these trophies. We got multiple 250-inch plus deer. It's disgusting. Yep, that and for the first time ourselves, going to be having a pile, stacks We're going to have a bunch of optics on stacks of optics there, so plan on stopping by and seeing us, making a great deal with you, take some optics home with you to prepare for this year's hunt. Piles. Yep, you bet.

All right, well, anyway, let's, you know, speaking of the expo, we got old John Bear. He's pretty famous here in Utah. He's the auctioneer. You guys hear his voice anywhere and everywhere when it has to do with hunting, auctioning, things like that. And, I don't know, he doesn't run the place, but it kind of feels like he does, doesn't it? Well, he likes to think he runs the place. Of course he does. When you have a mic, you can say what you want. There's a mantle of authority that you feel like you're in charge. He's fun to visit with. Let's give him a holler and just see if he's ready to rock and roll here February 10th.

Hello. Hey. Well, how are you? You got your voice warmed up, boss, or what? Oh, man. I'm telling you, it don't need to warm it up this month. If you smoked, I wonder how deep you could go. Yeah, how low could you go? Well, you know, when you live in casinos for a month during January doing all the shows, you don't have to smoke. Everybody smokes around you. Well, I guess that's your therapy. That keeps your voice in shape. I thought they'd be moving. I thought they'd be moving. Yeah, I don't think it's a positive. I mean, it's, you know, I didn't, I kind of forgot smoking was a thing until, You know, you walk into the casino, and there's guys smoking. And your clothes are like that for the whole trip. Whether they're clean or dirty, they're already dirty. Yeah, it's, you know, it's, you know, you gotta come home and haul everything to the cleaner.

Well, we were trying to tell people that you're pretty famous, but nobody's believing us up there at the Hunt Expo. Well, no, there's no fame here. I'm just the nerd that gets beat up in the hallway at Shawshill by the Epic Crew. Oh, that did happen. That did happen. Hey, tell us about some of these tag prices. Of course, you're... I was in Reno, and I was watching you in action. Carefully avoided eye contact in the auction, so I don't get called out. Adam likes it when you call him out. No, I don't. Because I don't have a mic, I can't fight back. You're helpless. He's got the mic. He's got 1,500, 2,000 people. You know, he's got their attention. You're just down there trying to eat a creme brulee or whatever they've got you for dessert, you know? Well, there's only so many people you can make fun of and know that they're gonna take it right. Bronson, you can jab him a little. Yeah.

Bronson can take it. I'm here to tell you though, not everybody can, you know. Have they lit you up? They don't like it. Oh yeah, they don't like it. You know, some feel offended if you don't mention them, and some feel offended if you do. So, you just kinda gotta... Ride the metal. Hey, John, I'm just telling you, I'm secure enough in myself, as well as our relationship, as hunters and gatherers in this industry, you don't need to make me feel good on a mic. You don't. I'm just telling you, you don't need to call me out anymore. I'm not good. I'm not really known for making people feel good on the microphone. I'm telling you, but you don't need to give me a shout out to think, I gotta make sure Adam knows I like him, and I noticed him in the room. You don't need to do that. Just go about your business. But hey, how about the freaking Rocky tags in Reno? My gosh. Holy smokes.

Well, you know, for years, it was, you know, if a tag sold high, you knew somebody had seen something, and they were watching a deer, an elk, or sheep. I think this year, there were some guys that just decided they wanted to go hunting, and they didn't care how much it cost them. And I don't know that all those had to do with a big animal. I think the Wyoming tag, you know. 305 when it's normal. Yeah. 125 or 130 even high years, you know. But yeah, you're right, pinned up. We didn't get a see-in person, didn't get a sit-down, and people didn't get a drink-in person and show how big a man was. They were all the big men and boys and women they were, and in front of it, John Baer, so they were ready to do it. They were some penned up bidding excitement. You know, we had that room in Reno stuffed with 2,000 people, and you couldn't take their money fast enough.

I've never seen anything like it. You know, I've been part of some pretty big auctions, but that one... That was pretty wild. That one was impressive. Were you able to retire off that one, John? No, you know, people always see you up there, you know, you wear a tux, you're selling. They paid me a couple hundred bucks to do the auction. So, I did not retire on it. A couple hundred bucks. Well, and all it does for us guys sitting down there, I guess we'll call us normal blokes, sitting in the audience, is you get your wife looking at her and saying, what are you doing wrong? Yeah. Right. I mean, you're not supposed to take your wife to those. How come you can't buy one of this? What's going on? What's going on in our life? I thought I made a good choice. Yeah, I thought I made a good choice. Do you like your house? Do you like your car? Okay, that's enough.

Well, you know, we get, I don't know, it's, you know, that's a whole other topic, but you see guys that have worked hard their whole life, that have been successful in business, and they love to hunt. They don't care how much it costs them. And, you know, there's a lot of people that don't like that. Jealousy is an ugly thing, and yet people wear it so proudly. And the first thing I hear when I get home is, you know, how do you deal with all those rich jerks and that? Well, actually, a lot of them are pretty good guys. You know, most of them work their guts out to get to this point in their life. And I'd much rather them spend their money on hunting than anti-hunting or something else, Because there's a lot of people that make those donations to the anti-hunting groups. And I love to see the money in the industry. I love to see people spending it on conservation.

And I'll never be able to buy one of those tags. I mean, I felt pretty important the day I dropped $1,500 for a Parker antelope tag. I was going to say, I knew you bought an antelope tag, so you did qualify your statement good. I did, you know, I did. And now those tags The guys that I felt like I spent big on at $1,500 or way more than that. But, you know, if those animals are worth something, people are going to find a way to protect them and grow more of them. So, speaking of which, you've been on both sides of this. Tell us a little bit about the conservation side of it. You've seen how good the money's used and whatnot, different projects and things. So, it kind of helps you rally behind it a little bit, too. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you know, and every time, you know, you can get on Facebook, Instagram, whatever.

Anytime the Division of Wildlife makes a decision that somebody doesn't like, they'll say, oh, it's all about the money. They just want more money. So, if somebody gets on their, you know, gets on the computer and looks and sees that the Division's cut 100 tags off their favorite unit, and they're not going to draw, they'll say, oh, it's all about the money. Well, they just cut tags, Which cost them money, so it's not all about the money. You know, on my days in the wildlife board a long time ago in Iraq, never at any time did we make a tag decision on whether to cut or add permits on money. It just, you know, that's not how it works. But, when we sell these conservation permits, you know, I've had people say, well, why do we let people call in? Why do we have, you know, programs set up as some of the big ones where people

You can bid online. You know, that doesn't seem fair. You should have to go to the event and bid in person. And I think, well, I guess I can kind of see why they would want you there at the event. It makes the event better. But if we're going to sacrifice a few of these tags to the money gods, I think we owe it to everybody involved to get maximum. They're going to make money. Maximum dollars. What's they're for, to make money for the big species or not?

And yeah, we've all seen what some of these internet the last couple years, I mean, you could make an argument you don't even need to have a banquet. And we want banquets because we like to sit around and see each other. If it was only about the tag, you don't necessarily need the banquets. Yeah, the last couple years have kind of taught us some of that. There's something about being in there and high bidders looking at each other. Yeah, for certain tags, I will. I will say that. The big sheep tags, no question. Yeah. You know, when you got the Montana tag and you got half the time the guys that are They're bidding on it, or sitting in the room, and they don't want their buddy to know they're bidding on it.

So, they're bidding online. They'll sit there with their hand down, and they got their phone under the table, and they're bidding online, and they don't want their buddy three tables over to know that he's running them up. We've been there. Not us personally, but clients. You know, but it's, you know, you think about it, how much money has those, have those permits raised? It's huge. It's huge. And that's why Utah, and I'll just pick on our home state here a little bit, here in Utah, we do more habitat work, more acres than the rest of the world combined. And it's because we sell more tags than the rest of the world, and that's how we fund it.

You know, I was talking to, we had dinner the other night with some nice folks from, I think it was South Dakota, and they said, one of the Dakotas, and they said, you know, our governor wouldn't sign the budget until they got a million dollars for habitat work, because we just can't function without like a million dollars for habitat work, and it was a huge thing. A million dollars is a lot of money, but here in Utah, we have raised many, many millions of dollars for habitat work. And if we go to the governor and say, listen, we've got a product, you know, we need conservation help, you know, we've raised all this money. Well, we've raised so much money, we can leverage that now and say, look, we have the expo, we have all this kind of stuff, we're doing all this economic development for the state of Utah through hunting, fishing, and the outdoors. You got to help us out. Well,

You can do that, you know? Well, and then the agencies, BLM, which stands for the Bureau of Land Management, and the Forest Service, leverage their money too. You know, you can make $4 million stretched to $10 or $12 million when you start getting agency money involved with PR funds and or agency funds. So, yeah, great program. Nice to be able to do some things. It is absolutely, you know, and if you have, If you have, you know, that money in your coffers, we raise it, you know, at the expo, we raise it through conservation permits. You can get a lot of things done. You can sit at the table with the big players like the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, all these. And you can get a lot of things done. I mean, if you go sit down at the table and start making demands, and they say, well, what are you going to bring to the table?

You got six bucks. Well, you're not gonna get very far. Right. You know, but it's, you know, is it a rich man's game? No. Does it take some rich men willing to play the game for the rest of us to benefit? Yeah, it does, and I'm glad there's a lot of them that are willing to. It does not hurt. I don't think it hurts. Hey, I'm applying for these five dollar tags. You know what I mean? Yeah, there's another pool of money too that gets this drips now and get a dump in. You know, and I'll tell you this, you know, and for years there's always haters that, you know, get on their little soapbox. We don't know where the money goes. We don't know where the money goes. Look around. That is the biggest crock on the planet. Conservation permit money and the expo permit money, and people mix those up all the time.

There's the 200 expo permits, and then there's, you know, a couple hundred, however many, I don't know how many there are this year. Conservation permits, they're very separate. They're totally separate. But that money is the most audited money on the planet. Every year, it goes through committees on how you can spend it. It has to be kept in a separate account. I mean, it is the most looked-at money on the planet. It is. Well, I remember when I was president of Utah Fanaz, there was a lot of checks and balances in there. I would have to sign a habitat project, transplant project, as well as a DWR representative, usually the director's office, somebody in there. Yep. And then, you know, you go through, I've sat through meeting after meeting where all the conservation groups, all the DWR and Habitat people in there, and they allocate those funds.

And then there's stuff that comes throughout the year, but there's nothing that I could ever write a check for, unless it was from the 10% that our organization got to keep for marketing it. But the 90% is all, there's such a, so many statutes and rules on how it's Check some balances there. Yeah, there's a lot of people that I guess just maybe not informed if they're making the statement they don't know where the money goes. Well, there's a lot of reports out there ad nauseum. You can read about how a dollar spent, you know, on that. Well, let's be honest, some people don't want to be informed because you can't get on Facebook and throw rocks if you really know what's going on. You know? Let's talk about something positive. Let's do. Let's talk about something positive. How'd you like SHOT Show, Jason?

The shot show was good. The positive thing, there was less people there. The negative thing is a lot of those people that weren't there had COVID. Wow. Hey, it was nice. We got to go into booths and talk to people that otherwise would be slam busy with a line of people waiting for them. Just, you know, rows and rows and rows of technology. Are we talking about Utah technology or are we going down that road? Every kind of technology is a shock show. And then you walk across the street, and there's, you know, we had SCI there. I got to go to both of them, and it's just, yeah, it's awesome. It is. There's a lot of stuff out there. There's a lot of change, and a lot of smart dudes making cool products. It is. It's awesome. Yeah, we're staying on top of it. A lot of good Second Amendment supporting red-blooded, hard-working Americans that are very smart and have a lot of ingenuity.

You know, when it comes to the tactical stuff, it's amazing what they're coming up with. I can't believe how many gun manufacturers there are. Hundreds, like hundreds. And how many that you don't even have ever heard of. Yeah, and they're selling legit high numbers. Oh, dude, they got him. Yeah, it's impressive. It is. So, yeah, we've got Dallas Safari Club was pretty good. I don't get to see as much of that one, because I just fly down there, do the Weatherby auction, run around, see a few friends, and take off. We didn't make it to that when I heard it was off, you know, as far as attendance. I thought where we were coming off of a quiet year that it would be slammed, but it was, I mean, no question it was off. I heard some of my buddies down there say it was great, and some say it was a little slow. And then, Reno, Sheep Week, the auctions and that were insane.

The attendance might have been off just a little bit because of COVID, but all my buddies that were outfitters out there said they did good business. We're real happy. Safari Club, I felt like, was pretty good. Shaw Show, obviously, the attendance was down a little bit, but still a lot of fun. What do you think the Expo is going to be like, moving to that one? What's new, or what do we think we'd expect there? Here's my prediction for the Expo. I like it. I like it. I like it. I think we're gonna blow the doors off with the Expo. Do you? I really do. You feel it's brewing? You feel just the missing out and everybody's coming to play? The fear of missing out, you can only tolerate that so long. And people have just gotta come. I mean, they gotta come to the Expo. I just talked to the guys and made sure I had the right number of vendors. Right now, we are set up.

They're sold up on the floor for 468 vendors, and they're all sold out with a long waiting list. Wow. You know, and we got- How does that compare to the last build-out? Do you have an idea if that's up? Yeah, I think it's up. I think it's up every, you know, they find ways every year to move things around and get more vendors. The building's only so big, but yeah, that other wing keeps growing over the years. Well, we're going to have to talk to Spencer and tell him we need a bigger building, so.

Where are you going to do that at? Where's that? I don't know. I mean, where do we build it? Cedar City? I don't know. Yes. Bring it. If they build it, they will come. So, Expo's going to be awesome. We got... I'm here to tell you, I have never been more excited about the Expo, and it all boils down to one thing. What? I get to be the emcee Wednesday night and introduce the legendary Die Hard Cowboy. Hey! Love it! Yee-haw! I'm more excited about that than anything else. Yeah, we're excited. Didn't we talk about that a few weeks ago, Chris? Like, a week and a half. Chris has been keeping it quiet. Well, it was a while back. He got the gig, we'll call it that. Is that the official welcome back party? That is the official welcome party for everybody. Now, you know, and then we have, there's a couple other concerts going on.

Land Co is the big one on Saturday night, and I told him, I says, you know, I only have so much sway at the expo. I'm just the monkey on the microphone when it all comes down to it. But I told him, you got to swap those concerts. I want Chris Saturday night. Bingo! That's right! Yeah! Land Co can open up for us. I want Chris Saturday night, and I'm still working on it. So, Chris, you got to stay flexible. Yeah, we'll stay flexible for sure. Well, other than that, because that is a highlight, and it's new for us, and we know Chris, hey, we can get his autograph any day at work, but other people, now we're going to get that chance. I'm thinking I want it right now. Chris, come here. I want one of them. Side my hat. Side my hat. He's good. Chris is awesome. I'm so excited to have him and his band there to play Wednesday night.

Then, Thursday night, we're doing something a little different. Instead of having the welcome back party like we usually did then, we're having more of a banquet type thing where people can come. We've got a bunch of games. We've got some stuff like that that people can buy tickets to. Just kind of a, you know, like a chapter style banquet. But I don't believe we're going to have an auction there, just a bunch of games, kind of have a fun night, have a good dinner. So, Friday night, well, Friday during the day, we have a pretty big auction. Yeah. And sell a bunch of tags, sell a bunch of cool stuff there. My buddy Barry's gonna come up and help me out with that auction. And then, Friday night, it gets pretty serious. Friday night, Saturday, yeah. Friday night is when things start to get pretty serious.

I think we got about 50 big tags we're gonna sell in the auction Friday night. I expect you guys to be there with your hand in the air, Adam. Be there, boss. Yeah. I'll like that. You better find me. Find me and find me often. I will, I will. You know, and then we have Marcus Luttrell, lone survivor, is gonna be our keynote there. Friday night. Friday night. And yeah, we're gonna have the big auction. So, Saturday night, The auction's not quite as big, maybe 30 items and 30 tags, and then we're having the Lanco concert after that. So... They got a speaker that night, sometimes that's like a TBA, almost a last minute. That's a... Yeah, I don't think so. If there's a speaker Saturday night, I don't think so. And the governor's gonna be there Friday night for a few minutes too, just to welcome Adam there to make sure he knows he's appreciated. Hey, I got a picture

I heard of him last year in our booth, before he was governor. You know, he went to North Sanpeete High School, just up the road from where I went to high school in Manti. And that's our rival high school. So, me and him always throw a little shade back and forth about that. He's a North Sanpeete Hawk, you know. Hawk, huh? Versus a Templer. Versus a Templer. Versus a Templer, Samantha Templer, you know. And then just down the road, you got the Gunnison Bulldogs. Bulldoggies. Yeah, there's a prison in Gunnison now, right? The Gunnison prison. I says, you know, they build the prison in Gunnison, the warden and all the guards live in Manti, and North Sandpeed makes sure there's plenty of inmates. You laugh, but that's true when you finish. Whatever, we'll leave it at that. Turf hours, I love it.

And then, also, Saturday, during the day, we're doing the Sheep Camp drawing. It used to be the Full Curl Society. We renamed that, rebranded it Sheep Camp. And we got more tags than we've ever given away. People can come in by drawing tickets. And we're going to send, like, I don't know, 9, 10, 11 people. I'm not sure how many we are. Fifteen? I don't know. Thirteen? I don't know what it is. We're going to send a bunch of them sheep hunting, get them addicted. Yeah, or fuel the addiction they already have. We'll see. I know. So, yeah, it's going to be awesome. It's going to be a similar format. You guys sometimes usually still do an auction and a little bit of a program there. I think this year, didn't they, like, I bought my tickets a month or two ago to that, because you had to like pre-buy them,

and there was a set number or something, like $1,250 or $1,500. I don't know if that was just to, you know. I think what they've done also is I think they have done away with the awards and stuff. So, it's come in, get your tickets, throw them in the bucket, sit down. Yeah, sometimes. We drew all the names, try to shorten it up a little bit. Yeah. Because it's kind of that deal when we first started it, there was like two or three hundred people in a room, and now, you know, the fire marshal's giving us the side eye, like how many people you think you're going to stuff in there, you know? And I think that's why they did the ticket sale thing. But that's good, too. We're there for one thing at that point, and it's drum, yell and scream, or be mad at your buddy that won, and then go back to the exhibit hall. That's it. Go back and hang out in the expo booth, you know, the epic booth.

Yes. Well, we'll have to have you come by the booth while we're up there, and maybe with a hot mic or two ourselves. Sure, sure. We can definitely do that. But no, I'm telling you, the expo last year, you know, We did the online auctions. It goes okay. You know, things still sell pretty good, but you can only act excited looking at a computer screen for so long. Oh, yeah. I watched y'all last year, and you weren't having fun on any of the auctions all spring, but I mean, because yeah, you're looking at... You and Troy. And you think you sell it, and nope, then the thing clicks, and so then you're like, oops, sorry, nope, I didn't sell it. That came in late. It took a minute for everybody to get used to that. John, what I think, John is not really in charge when he has to do one of those, because the computer's in charge. Yeah, you know, you got a computer programmer controlling

your life, and it's... Yeah. When John says... No technology. Yeah, when John says sold in a room, it's over. All right? Yeah. But when a computer... Everybody can see it. There's no question as to, you know, who it's at, who it is, and all that. And, I mean, let's be honest. We're social creatures. We like to get together. It's fun. It's fun to It's fun to watch guys bid. It's fun to watch somebody come out of nowhere off in the back corner that nobody knew was gonna bid and just stir things up with a big bid. It's just, you know, it's a lot of fun. I like to do that to John every once in a while. I know, I know. Once, twice, and then just... You gotta tell your spotter, hey, when he says going twice, I want you to bid. I've done that once. Let me just give you a little help here, Adam. You're setting yourself up for heartache when you do that.

I've never lost a tag yet, so that way, doing it that way. See, and now that you've told me that, let me just tell you, if you want to know how to get the tag for the best deal possible, you got to get in early. And the second you see the other guy's hand in the air, your hand's got to be a half second behind. You chop him off. Yeah, you crush him. You come over the top of him, you hammer him, you make him feel like, it doesn't matter what I do, Adam is gonna get this tag. And he'll quit. Especially if he's one of those guys that jumps at like, you're asking for $2,500 or $5,000 more, and a guy jumps at $20,000, and then you hit him boom right after that, and he's like, alright, I can't play. Yeah, he's like, there's nothing I can do. But he jumped it to his max right then. Yeah, that's what usually. Yeah, they do. They jump it to their max.

And it goes quiet for a minute, and then they're upped, and then that's it. All I'm really doing by talking about this with you, John, is you're in your mind thinking, alright, I might have to light out and cut Adam off, but I'm really trying to reverse psychology this thing. When I do have a tag, is you're in the mood now to not linger these on, because Adam thinks he can jump in late, and so does everybody else. I'm going to sell some of these quicker. Well, one of these times, I'm going to have you sell it quicker to me, and I'm going to win. Because sometimes I've lost them when you're trying to be a good-hearted guy in the back room with a phone to his ear, you know, give him 14 hours to decide. I've lost them. Yeah, you can only, you know, once in a while somebody gets one yanked out from under him, but, you know, at some point you've got to move on.

You're good at what you do. We like it. Yeah, I appreciate it. It's a lot of fun. Jason's got his, Jason's bringing his Brinks truck up there, so he wants to, he's... I'm ready. I'm ready. I got the black card. Can you buy tags with bitcoin these days? I don't know. You know, we're probably going to have to move that direction one of these days. Yeah, you are. The value of bitcoin goes up and down so fast. By the time you buy the tag, and by the time the clerk gets over there to settle up with you, you may not have enough money in your account. Yeah, you might need to owe more. I don't know. My kid's telling me I'm missing out. I know, it's crazy. All right. Well, we're looking forward to it, February 10th to the 13th. We'll be there, up there in the country.

Well, yeah, like I said, we got, you know, 400 and, geez, it may well be 500 vendors. They'll probably find a way to fit them in there. Now, we got stuff for kids. We got stuff for everybody in the family. The taxidermy's second to none. We got great entertainment, the 200 permits. I mean, and we haven't done it for a couple of years. It's time to party, boys. You gotta be there. You just gotta be there. Well, I see if they can get, speaking of party, see if they can get some really awesome, you're a late 80s, early 90s high school dude, right? I'm guessing your age, basically. But late 80s, early 90s? What are you, mid-80s? How freaking old do you guys think I am? Come on. I think you're like my age. I think you're like 90. How old are you, Adam? You tell me and I'll tell you. Did you graduate in like

90 to 92. I graduated in 1991. Yeah, you're a year older than me. See? All right, very good. So, why don't you... Yes, I'm a proud Manti-Templar. I went to a Mormon high school with a Catholic mascot, yes. Hey, well, I'm a Bonacille Buckaroo, so how about that? Oh, there you go. I tell my wife that's just a more sophisticated cowboy, because she was a canab cowboy. So, I try to have that argument with her. But Anyway, why don't, you know, like the great relief pitchers in baseball, when they're getting called from the bullpen out, they have their song, Inner Sandman or whatever. We need, you need one of those when you take the shelf from our era. Pick one, pick one of your favorites. We'll probably know it and we'll sing along. But when you walk out to the mic, you need a walk-up song. You need like, it's time. He's taking the stage. Let's have it. Let's do that at the Xbox.

One that you choose. Yeah, yours. Yeah, don't... But don't... Are we talking like Guns N' Roses, some Poison, some... Yeah, like that. I don't want you to pick something like Hall & Oates or something like that, but you know... No Oreo Speedwagon, nothing like that. No, no. But let's have it, man. It's like the relief pitchers coming out there, you know, on the bottom of the ninth Yankee Stadium. I mean, it's time to rock. It gets a crowd into it. I think it would be a nice touch. Just think about it.

Might bring some more cash at the table. Yeah, I don't know. Hey, how big a thing are you up there? I mean, you run the show. I'm just a nerd that gets beat up in the hallway by the Epic Crew. No, you're not. You're underselling yourself. I think it'd be a good touch, and I think it'd get things in a frenzy up there. So, anyway. You know, Jana did tell me, though, she goes, you gotta be careful with what you say to those guys. She says, the first thing you do, like Jason bumps you a little bit in the hallway, and you turn around and look at him and say, you're gonna be careful. I didn't need more guys. She goes, you got to be careful. That reminds me of a story, but I don't know if we got time for it. But my wife's first, my wife and I's first real date when we got married, it was a group date. I just can't remember what we were doing.

It was a big group, five or six couples. We got... Were you at least 16, Adam? Oh yeah, I was freaking, I don't know. Were you at least 16? Yeah, I was. I didn't know her until I was 21 or two, whatever I was. So anyway... So, it was your first date? Yeah, it was my first date outside of Monticello. So, I was scared. Okay, okay. But, she didn't know that two of the guys in the group, I already knew them. She didn't know that though. She thought, I'm a stranger, we're strangers, everybody's strangers to me. But I had been on a mission with one of them and his brother. I knew him well too. I don't know if you know the Yardleys from Beaver, Ronald and Richard. But, anyway. I do. I know who they are, yeah. They are. It was them. And they are like, they're like John Bear. Like, they, you can needle them, you can needle them, you can

Never needle them enough, because they're always going to get you back. And so, we were playing flag football on a date out in the park, and we started kind of trash talking and pushing and shoving, and my wife didn't know we knew them, and it reminded me what you said about Jana. You got to be careful talking trash to these boys out in the hall, but that was my wife. She was petrified. She's looking at her friends like, my date's getting in a fight with these two dudes on the football field that he doesn't know. And I was friends with them. She didn't know that, but it was a classic. So, kind of remind me, you're talking, you can't start talking trash to Jason to shot show, because somebody walks by and they think, that John Bear's calling some guy out over there, and pretty soon it's Chris. Well, he kind of was. He's got like six guys with him, you know,

he's got Josh standing in the back there. Oh, yeah. Josh is big enough to have grizzly bears with a bowie knife, so you gotta be careful. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, well, point takes, she's just, she's very cautious. She wants you to be, you're being seen and watched and all that, and if you You start trash talking. You got, you know, a lady walking by there and seeing what you're talking about. And we got to clarify, it's Jana Waller, and I've got a Jana. Jana Carter. Yeah, that's right. But my point is, he's keeping you in check. She's just making sure that, John, you know, keep up the persona, big man's the black cat. But I don't want to see you on the floor. Don't want to see you, you know, rumbling in the jungle.

You know, I don't blame her for worrying about me, but if there's five or six of you guys, and I got Jana with me, you're in trouble. I'll just say that right now. You're in trouble. She's a sweetheart, but she can deal with whatever she needs to deal with. Pull out that big bear hunting pistol. That's right. She'll pull out that Desert Eagle and go to work. All right, guy. Anything else we need to talk about? You know, I don't think so. Just, it's good to talk to you boys. It's always good to see you. I look forward to hanging out with you at the show, and it's going to be awesome. It's time to get out and have a good show and just move on. One last thing. Are you still out hunting coyotes much in the winter, or are you too busy this time here to do that much? No, I still try. Once in a while this time of year, I get out

and do a little night hunting during the week or something, but yeah, it's still my favorite Gotcha. It just seems I maybe see a little bit less of it, but it's probably because... Maybe you're just tired of social media. How many dead cat pictures can you post? I mean... You know, there's only... You know, yeah. Have you ever posted two or three pictures of the same dead dog a week apart? No. No. No. It happens all the time. No, we're not doing that. One of the things on coyotes is they all look the same, per se. You can't do that with a deer, even though some people do.

No, you can't do that with a deer. You can get away without the coyote. I guess if you need people to think you're that cool, that bad, then yeah, go ahead. You better do it. Yeah, but no. Well, we're gonna end on a positive note. But anyway, you're still out hunting and killing. That's awesome. It's good, man. You know, and that's one thing that hasn't changed through the pandemic is there's lots of free, clean air that doesn't require a mask while you're out on the mountain, so. I think we're gonna have to wear a mask up there. That's another question. I mean, most of these shows, you wear them for five minutes, and then as long as you have a drink in your hand, you're good. Well, in Reno, when you're out in the casino, they'd ask you to wear a mask, but once you walked into the show hall or into the banquet hall, we rented that space. That was our space. We didn't have to.

I think it'll probably be maybe something similar to that, maybe like where you apply for the permits, the city and the county might want us to, depending on which direction things are headed. But I think once you get in the show hall, that's our space. We're going to be fine. All right. Okay. Well, everybody, February 10th to the 13th, Salt Palace up there in Salt Lake City. Go to HuntExpo.com. You can get on there, register for the $5 tickets, anything else that you want to do. You can see the list of items on there to auction, and we'll see you up there. We're going to have a big 20 by 50 booth with some of the best critters in there, and the legendary John Barabee walking around. Don't forget the Chris Peterson concert Wednesday night, people. It's worth a trip. It's worth a trip. So, guys, you guys do a fabulous job. I love getting on talking to you. You're great friends.

I appreciate you always reaching out, and when I have questions about stuff, you guys are always there. Great job. Keep it up, and I love what you're doing. Thanks, John. We appreciate you as well. Okay. Looking forward to it. We'll talk to you guys later. You bet. We'll see. Talk to you later. Bye.