a hunter's legacy by Mitchell Fox

Every hunter has that one story they wish they could take back. In this episode, we're pulling the most embarrassing moments from the A Hunter's Legacy archives and putting them on full display. No filters, no excuses, just hunters being honest about the dumbest things they've ever done in the field.

Jackson grew up on a family farm in Missouri watching his dad carry out the Bone Crusher, a Remington twelve gauge that had dropped more deer than either of them could count. He started tagging along before he could carry a gun, sat through three seasons as a passenger, and then on one random school morning looked out the back door and saw six deer feeding fifty yards from the house. He snuck to the truck, grabbed the guns, got on the deck, and shot his first deer at eighty yards. It hit the doe in the back end and dropped her where she stood.

Every hunter has that one story they wish they could take back. In this episode, we're pulling the most embarrassing moments from the A Hunter's Legacy archives and putting them on full display. No filters, no excuses, just hunters being honest about the dumbest things they've ever done in the field.

Michael grew up in central Missouri watching his grandfather pull into the driveway with one-fifty and one-sixty inch bucks draped across the hood, wishing he could be part of it. His dad never hunted, but his grandpa taught himself in his thirties and passed everything down to Michael the moment he was old enough to sit still. By fifteen he was hunting solo with a bow, tagged his first deer on opening day, and spent the rest of that season stacking meat in the freezer. Then his grandpa took him turkey hunting, and something clicked that never let go.

Every hunter has that one story they wish they could take back. In this episode, we're pulling the most embarrassing moments from the A Hunter's Legacy archives and putting them on full display. No filters, no excuses, just hunters being honest about the dumbest things they've ever done in the field.

Kendall grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida fishing canals behind his house with a thirteen foot alligator living just downstream. When he was ten his family moved to Colorado and everything changed. He had no hunting family to learn from. His grandparents were from England, guns were foreign to them, and hunting was not part of anyone's plan. Then a Tom Miranda bowhunting show came on after his shark fishing program ended, and that was it. He spent the next fifteen years building one of the most diverse hunting resumes you will find on any average joe in the country.

Robert did not grow up in a hunting family. His dad was a hotel guy, not a hunting guy. But a neighbor across the street in suburban Colorado named Mr. Rodriguez changed everything. Robert watched him hang elk and deer in the garage, cut his own jerky, and live a life that Robert could not stop thinking about. That was the seed. It took years before he had the land, the time, and the tools to act on it. When he finally did, he skipped the compound, skipped the rifle, and went straight for something most hunters never touch.

Samir Suleiman grew up hunting with his father outside of Washington DC, knocking on farmhouse doors and chasing whatever was in season within a two hour drive. By the time he was nine he had his hunter safety card and his first deer. By twelve he had an eleven point buck on the wall that he still has not topped. When his family bought 105 acres in Virginia, he was hunting before and after school, dragging does down mountains and calling neighbors to help load them into the truck before his dad got home from work.

John LaMarca didn't grow up in a hunting family. Nobody in his house hunted, nobody handed him a rifle, and nobody showed him how to read the woods. At 18, he decided he wanted to hunt, walked into the Maine timber country with a borrowed shotgun and a pair of used wrestling shoes, and figured it out the hard way. It took him four years to kill his first deer. Today he's a registered Maine guide, the director of engineering for a precision muzzleloader company, and one of the more well-rounded woodsmen you'll come across in the Northeast.

Patrick Miller grew up in the foothills of the Appalachians in northwest South Carolina, where deer were hard to come by and nobody in his family really knew how to hunt. He was ten years old when he convinced his dad to pick up a rifle and give it a shot. What followed was years of sitting on ridges, hunting doe days only, and learning almost everything the hard way without a mentor showing them the ropes.

In this episode of A Hunter’s Legacy, Andy Keller joins the show from northeast Oklahoma to talk about the kind of deer hunting that gets passed down, not bought. From riding along with his dad and grandpa as a kid to raising a young family of his own, Andy shares how whitetail hunting shaped the way he sees the woods, the harvest, and the responsibility that comes with both.

Levi from southern Pennsylvania came into hunting without the family background most guys lean on. No mentors, no hand-me-down rifles, and no one at home who really knew what to do when he killed his first deer. In this episode, he tells the story of learning deer hunting the hard way, from borrowed shotguns and orchard sits to gutting that first doe by flashlight with his mom watching and gagging beside the Chevy Traverse.

In this Iowa deer hunting episode, Sam Beavers sits down with Mitchell Fox to talk about growing up just west of Des Moines, learning from his dad, and getting hooked on whitetail hunting in the kind of country that can make even simple access a challenge. From sleeping under a tree stand as a kid to watching his dad shoot a 172-inch buck right beneath them, Sam’s story feels like the kind of hunting upbringing a lot of Midwest hunters understand.

His first shot on big game is something he still thinks about today.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It ain’t every day a food plot guy from Southeast Missouri gets the mic, but Callie Grubbs has a story worth hearing. Born and raised in rural Missouri, Callie started like most. Plinking cans, tagging along with his dad, and chasing deer with a beat up old Martin bow and mismatched arrows. Today, he’s neck deep in habitat work, running operations for a food plot company and helping hunters across the country build healthier soil and better herds.

Before he ever pulled a trigger, Dustin Daniels was wrapped in a sleeping bag with his grandpa, watching the woods wake up. These days, he’s building his own muzzleloaders, hunting with a .54 caliber cap and ball, and passing the same tradition to his son one misfired round and muddy drag at a time.

In this gritty, down-to-earth episode, Mitchell Fox sits down with John Padgett from Georgia. He’s a woodsman shaped by riverlines, traplines, and the kind of Southern upbringing that’s getting harder to come by.

From throwing decoy bags bigger than him as a kid in Erie to running a waterfowl guide service in southern Ontario, Hunter Libra has packed a lifetime of hunting grit into just 27 years. The path hasn’t been easy, and it sure as hell hasn’t been boring.

She didn’t grow up in the stand. Never had a mentor walk her through it. Just saw her dad get hooked on bowhunting and figured, “Why not me?”

Some hunters grow up in it. Jonathan McCormick grew into it by accident. A simple favor for a neighbor, a garage full of euro mounts, and one big question changed everything. That moment pushed a North Carolina kid into the heart of the Rockies, and years later he is still chasing the lessons hidden in those mountains.

He’s killed over 20 of North America’s big game species. No sponsors. No shortcuts. Just grit, maps, and a fire that won’t quit.

What do 39 turkeys, two alligators, and one very unfortunate cactus have in common? They’ve all tangled with Knox Guajardo—an eight-year-old Kansas hunter with more stories than most grown men.

Kayla Harrod isn’t out to impress anyone. She’s a part-time nurse practitioner, full-time mom of three, and a bowhunter with a Mathews bow and a dream. Based in Central Arkansas, Kayla grew up in the woods—literally in a backpack on her dad’s back during early hunts and never left. Now, she’s passing it down to her kids, hunting solo, and chasing her first archery buck with raw determination and zero shortcuts.

He’s edited film for Realtree, worked the grind with Midwest Whitetail, and built one of the largest Facebook hunting groups around—but Cody Huhn’s still sleeping in his car, running on ramen noodles, and hunting with whatever gear he can piece together.

Some stories remind hunters why the woods always have the final say. This week, Michigan bowhunter and entrepreneur Tom Spisz sits down with Mitchell Fox to talk about lessons learned from business, black bears, and getting turned around in the dark timber.

She didn’t grow up around guns, blinds, or whitetail stories at the dinner table. In fact, she didn’t even start hunting until her late 20’s. Just a  20-gauge, a dog named Luna, and a stubborn drive to figure it out herself.

There’s something about the first time a Minnesotan hits the Montana ridges—it humbles a man quick. For Peter Herzog, that move west wasn’t just about chasing bigger bulls—it was about building a life from the ground up.

She’s lived in eight states, fought wildfires in the Rockies, and worked inside some of hunting’s biggest companies. In this episode, Lexi sits down with Mitchell to talk about the long road from wildland firefighting to bowhunting, burnout, and rediscovering purpose beyond the industry grind.

Some stories don’t start in the woods—they start with family, hard work, and a few twists life throws along the way. Forrest Been of Arkansas knows that better than most. A husband, stepdad, veteran, and roofing contractor, Forrest has lived a life built on grit and balance. From learning the ropes of trapping alongside his grandfather to competing in family squirrel hunts on Thanksgiving mornings, his hunting roots run deep.

The story of Brett Morris isn’t polished—it’s built on cracked boots, busted arrows, and a stubborn drive that never lets up. A blue-collar construction worker from the Midwest, Brett has balanced long days on the job with even longer sits in the stand, chasing deer, turkey, and anything else that calls the woods home.

Some stories start with blue jeans, old rifles, and lessons from Dad—and Levi Mason’s is no different. Growing up in west-central Illinois, Levi tagged his first turkey at eight, his first buck at ten, and never looked back. These days, he’s balancing life as a husband, father of two girls, Regional Director with the National Wild Turkey Federation, and a land professional helping folks chase the same dreams he’s lived.

Some kids grow up playing video games—Clint grew up as his dad’s “live trail camera,” sitting in a tree stand before he was even strong enough to pull a bow. In this episode, Iowa native Clint shares the stories that shaped him as a hunter, from shooting his first deer with a bow at just nine years old to tagging along on northern Minnesota bear hunts with a VHS camera in hand.

Some hunters chase trophy racks. Chris Cannon chases stories worth telling. Hailing from southeast Tennessee by way of Georgia, Chris has been bowhunting since he was a kid—pulled into a tree with a rope by his dad and learning the ropes from his Uncle Jimbo. Over the years, he’s built a reputation not just as a skilled hunter, but as a storyteller, cameraman, and content creator for mom-and-pop hunting brands across the country.

It started with a poor country boy chasing squirrels in the Louisiana woods and turned into a lifetime of chasing big game across the country. Roy Withers grew up in the swamps, running coon dogs and deer hunting, eventually finding a way to fund his out-of-state hunts by pulling century-old cypress logs from bayous and turning them into bar tops and furniture. His stories weave through public-land giants, the politics of hunting along the Mississippi River, and the gritty reality of growing up without a hunting mentor.

Some stories smell like fresh-cut hay and sound like a gravel road under old tires. This one’s got both. Rusty grew up in the hills and hollers of southwest Missouri—working hayfields at five years old, chasing turkeys that scratched through cow manure, and hunting deer long before camo came in brand names. In this conversation, he shares decades of grit, humor, and lessons learned from farming, law enforcement, and a lifetime in the outdoors.

It started with a youth pastor’s crossbow—but for 20-year-old Gabe Foley from Southwest Ohio, that was just the beginning.

He used to live for the rut and sunrise over a flooded cornfield. These days, he’s building a media brand, raising a family, and still keeping one foot in the woods. In this episode, Corey Hillebo of Slater, Iowa, opens up about the shift from hardcore hunting to real-life balance—why he stepped back from waterfowl, how bowhunting still calls his name, and how fatherhood and farming redefined what matters.

What happens when a Missouri banker trades a nine-to-five for a life chasing Canada geese? In this episode, Chase Tripp sits down to share how he went from commercial banking to working full-time at a small-town gun shop—all to get closer to the outdoors he loves.

Randy Woolum has seen it all. From running bird dogs across the Midwest to hauling in monster walleye on Lake Erie, his stories come laced with grit, humility, and a lifetime outdoors. Raised in a family that depended on hunting and fishing for supper, Randy cut his teeth trapping groundhogs, running a cur dog after school, and later coon hunting to help pay for Christmas.

Brandon Sewell knows the sound of boots hitting the desert sand and the feel of a bowstring in his calloused hands. After 20 years of service in the U.S. Army—with tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond—he’s now staring down retirement and dreaming about the Texas whitetail woods he’s been away from for too long.

What started as a spring break hog hunt in Florida back in 2013 turns into a story about lifelong friendships, wild hunts, and the raw passion that runs deep in the Florida woods. Derek Watson from Dade City, Florida, joins the show to swap stories that span everything from chest-deep hog chases to 151-inch Florida bucks.

She grew up bouncing between gravel roads and suburban sidewalks—now she’s hauling a bow across state lines, chasing longbeards, and building a life on her own terms. In this episode, Mitchell sits down with Georgia Klink, a gritty and grounded hunter out of Missouri, who’s carving her path in both business and the backwoods.

Some stories don’t start in the woods—they begin in the dark corners of a prison. Robert Loper, a retired correctional officer from South Jersey, opens up about the 20 years he spent working in a maximum-security facility, the mental battles that followed, and how bowhunting quite literally saved his life.

A six-point buck? Sure. But a public land caribou in Alaska with a bow? That’s the kind of grit this episode brings. Don Goode, a former Army logistics officer turned stay-at-home dad and entrepreneur, joins the show from Kentucky with a backstory that’s anything but typical.  Don didn’t pick up a bow until his Army days—and now he’s ready to hunt bucks with a trad bow and chase elk tags in the Rockies.

He once got stuck in the mud so bad it took him an hour and a shotgun to dig himself out. That’s Cray Weirich—an Iowa boy who’s as handy with a wrench as he is with a bow. Born and raised in the farmland of southwest Iowa, Cray now balances work, marriage, and muddy waders while still chasing whitetails and flushing pheasants any chance he gets.

He grew up listening to hunting stories whispered over coffee before sunrise—stories that sparked a fire. But Josh Grace’s path into the woods wasn’t paved with privilege. When 9/11 shut down firearm season on Florida’s military reservation, his dad handed him a $90 youth bow from Kmart and said, “Figure it out, and I’ll take you hunting.” That moment launched a lifetime of public land grit.

In this episode, Mitchell Fox sits down with Iowa native Taylor Harris for a raw, heartfelt, and often humorous look into the life of a true blue-collar hunter. From crushing bows to missing does—six times—Taylor shares unfiltered stories from the timber, lessons learned through years of bowhunting, and the highs and lows of building a legacy on the land.

In this episode, Mitchell sits down with Nick Miller from western Kentucky—an ironworker-turned-safety guy with over three decades of bowhunting stories. From growing up in Illinois hunting the Shawnee National Forest to getting run over by a deer (yes, really), Nick brings sharp humor, hard-earned lessons, and a whole lot of nostalgia. The two swap gear opinions, rant about hunting changes over the years, and share stories about missed shots, memorable bucks, and passing the passion down to the next generation. It’s raw, real, and feels just like a good deer camp conversation.

Robert Worley joins the show to share over four decades of hunting stories from the same Ohio farm he’s hunted since he was 10 years old. We dive into his journey from growing up in a small town chasing squirrels to chasing big bucks through cut-up cornfields and fence rows. Robert also opens up about contracting Alpha-Gal Syndrome after a Lone Star tick bite, changing his hunting and eating habits forever. From DIY stump grinding businesses to elk hunting out West, and even a few laugh-out-loud moments (including nearly taking out a neighbor with an arrow), Robert’s story is all about adapting, perseverance, and keeping the hunting spirit alive no matter what life throws at you.

In this episode of A Hunter’s Legacy, we hear the story of a bowhunter, Seth Spire, who waited six years for an Iowa tag—and made it count. From a perfectly timed cell cam photo to a last-minute change of plans, everything lined up for a 170-class buck.

In this episode, I sit down with longtime friend and Southern Iowa native Lance Porter—a commercial agronomist, farmer, and bowhunter with deep roots in the hunting world.

On this episode, Mitchell Fox welcomes his first live guest—Mitchell Kearns, a longtime friend and Technology Director with the Iowa Small Business Development Center. The two discuss how they met through LogIQ Hunt, Mitchell Fox’s startup focused on helping hunters. They dive into what it takes to launch a business, the challenges of balancing work, family, and hunting, and how the outdoors has shaped their lives.

In the debut episode of A Hunter’s Legacy, host Mitchell Fox introduces himself and explains the vision behind the podcast. He shares his background growing up in the flat river bottoms of North Central Iowa, where hunting was more about party pushes than bow stands. Mitchell talks through his journey from shotgun seasons to becoming a bowhunter, all while juggling a full-time job and launching his hunting app, LogIQ Hunt.