6 Ranch Podcast

Ryan Pace and I have a lot in common. We're both from Wallowa County, with multigenerational ties to this place. We both went off to college, then joined the Marines, serving tours in the Middle East. And we both fought our way back home. Ryan served as an Intelligence Officer in the Marines, then worked at the Pentagon as an Intelligence Analyst. He's been a real lifeline to me over the...

Bjorn Skovlin doesn't shy away from hard work or adventure. He spent 13 years in wildland fire, 8 of which as a smoke jumper. During the off seasons, he spent his winters traveling, which included a stint cowboying on a ranch in Argentina and a trip through Southeast Asia that almost killed him. Now, Bjorn is a structural firefighter and member of Boise Fire's swiftwater rescue team. In...

Hannah Mabbot wears a lot of hats. She's the Hunting Operation Manager and guide for Hunt Oregon LLC, a large hunting ranch that offers just about any big game or upland bird hunt. She's a conservationist, serving on the board of her local chapter of the Oregon Hunters Association. On top of all of that, she also happens to be a model. Hannah and I cover a lot in this episode, from preda...

At twenty-five, Taylor Chism is already a legend. She grew up ranching, fought wildland fire as a hotshot, and is currently working as a helicopter pilot capturing big game for research. Taylor has some wild stories to tell. She's crash landed a helicopter, spent 3 days in a Mexican prison, and regularly jumps out of moving aircraft to tackle bighorn sheep. For Taylor, it's not about cha...

While spending time in one of my favorite places, Eastern North Carolina, I sat down with Pamlico Sound local legend, Captain Owen. Owen has the coyote hunting and tarpon fishing figured out. He, in fact, was one of the very first to discover tarpon fishing in the Sound and somehow managed to keep the method a secret for years. Owen also taught a high school class called Marine Occupations for 25...

I'm back in beautiful Pamlico County, North Carolina, joined this time by NASCAR legend, and now, rice farmer, Tommy Wheeler. According to Tommy, making cars go faster is all about manufacturing unfair advantages, whether through innovation or hard work. And that's exactly what he did as an engineer for NASCAR. Tommy worked as a team engineer, engineering manager and technical director f...

This week on the podcast, we're continuing our conversation with local historian, David Weaver. David is the Board President of the Wallowa History Center, and his knowledge of my home, Wallowa County, is extensive. In part 2 of our conversation, we cover early species migration, hunting strategies of the Nez Perce and early settlers, buffalo trips to Montana, and what life was like in the co...

History always starts with a question. For local historian David Weaver, that question takes us back to the mid to late 1800s. David is the Board President of the Wallowa History Center, and his interest lies in learning more about the relationship between the Wallowa Band of the Nez Perce Tribe and the early European settlers who came to Northeast Oregon. In part one of this two-part episode, Dav...

Many are called to go out west, whether to satisfy a desire for adventure, or live in vast country. Alex Mojcher is one of those folks. Originally from New England, Alex bought a KLR motorcycle and rode it west across the county camping and exploring as much as he could along the way. Now, as the Social Media Manager for DECKED, Alex is living the western dream. He's been practicing with his...

Jim Overstreet was born and raised ranching in Montana by a father who was widely considered to be the best cowboy around. Jim has been raising horses, cowboying, and competing in rodeos for 60 plus years, earning multiple titles in tie down roping. Now in his 70s, he's even roped in the National Senior Pro Rodeo Association and hasn't yet decided when to retire. Jim is also an accomplis...

The last time I had Kevin Harlander on this show, we discussed how to prepare for hunting season.  Since then, another archery season has come and gone and, today, we're going to look back. I truly believe that self-reflection is critical for improvement. If you don't reflect, you've missed an opportunity to learn from your successes and failures in order to become a better hunter....

Tyson Samples has been hunting elk as long as he could legally buy a license, bow hunting being his favorite method. In his day job, he owns his own welding and fabrication business and makes some unique and beautiful custom pieces. In this episode we sample homemade white-tail salami, and discuss my recent goose turned duck hunt, archery and why we love it, advice on calling bulls, and our lesson...

You might remember my guest today, Kevin Plew, from a previous episode where he told the story of being charged and attacked by a black bear. Besides surviving bear attacks, Kevin has been busy guiding elk and mule deer hunters and harvesting black-tail and waterfowl. Kevin has a knack for finding big mulies in places with very few deer. In this episode, we discuss mule deer tactics, common huntin...

Shane Brozowski, an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Technician and Blake Woestman, an electrician, have been friends since grade school. Growing up in Wisconsin, they've hunted their fair share of turkey, coyote and white-tail from tree stands, but were both unfamiliar with western hunting. A couple years ago, I advertised a learn to hunt course, and these two took me up on it. At the 6 Ranch Ou...

The legend of Claude Dallas; was he an old west outlaw living in modern times, or a coldblooded killer? In 1981, Claude Dallas shot and killed two state game wardens in the remote Owyhees of southwestern Idaho. He eluded capture for over fifteen months, was caught and sentenced, escaped from prison, and was recaptured again. Joining me to tell the story is my friend and frequent guest on the show,...

Very few hunters have as much knowledge and experience as Cliff Gray. For a decade, Cliff owned and operated Flat Tops Wilderness Guides, a massive outfitting operation guiding and packing into the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. At its peak, Cliff’s business ran 250 hunts a year, employed 20 guides, and owned 52 pack horses and mules. Cliff recently sold his guiding business to create educational co...

Ricky Forbes is one of the lucky few who found his passion in life and through hard work, managed to turn it into a career. The only catch, his passion is chasing dangerous tornadoes. Ricky is a a professional storm chaser, documenting the wildest storms on the planet through stunning photography and videography. For the past 11 years, he's witnessed some of nature's most terrifying disp...

This week, I’m joined by not one, but three fly fishing experts from across the U.S. Captain Lael Johnson moved from Topeka, Kansas to Seattle to become a fishing guide. He also founded the F•Y•S•H Foundation, an organization that promotes mental health by providing free fishing trips to trauma survivors, underprivileged, and at-risk people. My next guest, Jameson Redding, shares his passion for t...

Today, I'm joined by my little sister, Adele Schott, boss at the 6 Ranch, to share some updates on our business. Along with raising cattle, Adele has been running the business side of the 6 Ranch for a year now and is happy to announce that our Grassroots Beef Club is back. If you want to join the club and receive high quality, lean grass-fed Corriente beef on a regular basis, check out the l...

You could easily claim that Cole Hauter is an adrenaline junkie, though that’s not how he would necessarily describe himself. Cole learned to ride a motorcycle at the age of 5 and started desert racing when he was 11. He’s also been a white-water rafting guide for the past 7 years, often rowing a giant gear boat through Hells Canyon. In this episode, we discuss what it’s like to break both femurs,...

Josh Whi was born in South Korea and moved to Chicago at the age of 9. Now a U.S. citizen and first generation American, Josh has found his passion working in the firearms industry, both for Alpha Foxtrot and Paladin 33, and is doing some incredibly innovative things. In this episode, Josh shares his life story, from his childhood in two cultures, raised by traditional Korean parents, to his world...

Kainoa Delatori loves everything about archery season and is happy to share his knowledge with anyone who will listen. Raised in Wallowa County, he grew up hunting and steelhead fishing, with a turn at bull riding as a young man. Now, Kainoa's passion lies in archery hunting elk and mule deer. In this episode, Kainoa and I swap stories of our high school and college rodeo days, his favorite m...

I'll be the first to admit, I don't always like beavers. Of course, I recognize that beavers and fur trapping played a huge role in shaping the western United States. But I also don't like them cutting down trees on my property. That being said, I promised my guest this week, Ian Wilson, that I would keep an open mind. Ian is a huge proponent of beavers and their natural role on the...

I love tattoos and have been getting them for over 20 years now. My latest tattoo was done by Tim Biedron, an artist who recently moved to Joseph, Oregon and opened the only tattoo shop in the county. Tim is an extremely talented artist who's been tattooing in Chicago since the mid 90s. His style is unique and difficult to fit into a box. On top of that, he's an interesting guy who enjoy...

One year ago, Gary Shepard died for 15 minutes, then was brought back. So of course, I had to ask, what's it like to die? In this episode, Gary shares the story of his life. His childhood growing up hunting, trapping, and fishing in Montana. His time in Special Forces as a Green Beret during the Vietnam era. And his guiding philosophy, that today is enough. All you can do is try your very bes...