Keefer Brother's Wilder Minds

Three weeks on the road, deer hitting the dirt, and camp stories stacked from Missouri to Michigan. The Winchester camp brought all-day sits, tight setups, and the kind of buck action that turns a quiet timber into chaos. Rattling pulls, missed windows, clean kills, and a sweepstakes winner who brought the antlers—and the heat. Then we break down the tool that changed everything this season: therm...

The crew heads back to Deadwood, one of the most anticipated stops of the season, to kick off deer camp in the rugged hills of Ohio. Early mornings, long setups, and classic camp traditions set the tone as the team settles into the rhythm of the hunt. Between gear talk, setup strategy, and plenty of laughs, it’s the kind of start that reminds everyone why this week in November always feels like Ch...

Three bucks in fifteen minutes. One ghost in the autumn olive. A first archery kill on home dirt and a reminder that big bodies don’t come easy. We walk through the window we picked, the angle that sealed it, and the rattle cadence that actually pulls deer—quick crack, then silence. No concerts, no plastic bags—leaf noise, tree knocks, terrain advantage. This isn’t ego, it’s honesty. The father/fi...

Venison sticks, garlic curds in a bush plane, a legit natural gas leak at HQ, and the pre-rut plan from Michigan to Ohio to Missouri. We swap best-ever hunts (Strong Arm, Jumbo, the 182 in Iowa), talk Rage setups, cold fronts, corn coming down, and why burning a set for intel still kills giants. Also: exploding deer scent cans (for real), goose fever, and the new Rut Report Channel in the KB app....

Bush planes in, storms on the nose, and a bear-ransacked outpost to greet us—welcome to Manitoba. The kids take the mic for the Silsby recap: first northerns, first walleyes, and a beaver-dam giant that lit the drags. Broken boats, six-foot rollers, shore-lunch perfection, and a cabin visitor with flour on his paws. Ryder won’t put the rod down, Gunner invents the “Ooga Booga” cast, and Kylie gets...

Ryder kicks off deer season solo on the home place—one bolt in the quiver by dad’s orders. A 4-year-old eight strolls to 15 yards, the bolt flies, and the woods erupts. Then it twists: a bigger ten shows, then an even heavier buck. No second shot. Just a whisper-call with dad, a blood trail like paint, and a rite of passage sealed. “The ice has my heart, but the woods has my soul.” Yeah—felt that....

Back from the wild and straight into the studio — still thawing out and finding our legs after the coldest Dropped yet. Sleep came hard, miles came harder, and Alaska reminded us fast who’s in charge. This one runs on raw return energy: river miles that stripped weight and broke bodies, grizzlies that showed up uninvited, and gear that barely limped out alive. We talk what went right, what broke,...

Mike “Mikey P” Passaglia is one of the happiest, most grounded men you’ll meet — and one of the toughest. Chris sits down for a raw, long-form conversation with a man who’s built companies, lost them, rebuilt from nothing, and never lost his joy along the way. We dig into what it’s like to hit the bottom and start over, what resilience really means when the odds are ugly, and how a lifetime of cha...

We’re rerunning a foundational episode while the crew is dropped in Alaska’s Brooks Range . This “From the Vault” throwback is the origin story of Wilder Minds —why we built it, who we are, and the mindset driving everything from DIY Alaska to Ohio whitetails. Inside: the viral “cannibalism” headline (and the real hunter’s rite-of-passage conversation about hearts, ethics, and respect), a Yukon ni...

Tim “The Maniac” Sylvia is a mountain of a man with a story to match. From UFC heavyweight champ to slap-fighting giant, he’s lived it all in the cage and carried that same fire into the woods. We talk about his journey... the fights, the injuries, the comeback. And the side of him most don’t see: a die-hard bowhunter with a Maine drawl and a sharp edge for the truth. The stories hit every lane. G...

Weapon talk for Dropped sets the stage, but it turns quick—locker-room mornings that went sideways, forgotten quivers at the stand, and hunts wrecked by fried-chicken belly bombs. Then it’s back to the mountains. Sheep hunts that broke knees, fog that stole chances, and Brooks Range climbs that pushed us to the edge. Ryder’s birthday caribou on the first Dropped and the sheep hunt years later hit...

The rush has been real. In 24 hours we ripped down to Ohio, fed out twelve tons of corn, dropped in new capsule feeders, tested 1900’s “Bonnie and Clyde” attractant, and watched the herd hammer it like never before. Antlers are blowing up, crops are thriving, and the whitetails are telling us the program is working. But the real story? We’re launching the Keefer Brothers Basecamp. After decades in...

We lit the Jetboil and went to work. Freeze-dried meals built in a Pennsylvania garage—not factory slop, but legit recipes designed for the backcountry. Ground beef and tallow. Sweet potato and sausage skillet. Even cheesecake. Every bite hit harder than you’d expect from a bag, the kind of food that fuels you when you’re burning 6,000 calories packing moose meat through miles of brush. We talk ab...

We sit down with Greg Walters from Winchester Safes and talk shop—how his family built a business tough enough to carry the Winchester name, and the kind of gear upgrades that actually make your life easier in the field. Then Chris unloads the story of the Kansas “controlled burn” that turned his 2500 HD into a rolling fireball. Picture propane tanks blowing, ammo ripping like a fireworks finale,...

This one’s all over the map—in the best way possible. We kick things off in Nashville, bouncing from dive bars to Kid Rock’s place, running into the Huffer Brothers, and watching a mechanical bull claim a fingernail or two. From there, it’s Prohibition history with Dutch Schultz, bootlegger tunnels, and a gun that somehow made it from a Maine bar to a New York City restaurant table. We break down...

We throw it back to a deep one-on-one with Brandon Calhoon — Michigan hoops legend turned rock star, songwriter, and the voice behind some of our most iconic outdoor tunes. From ripping AC/DC riffs at a high school pep rally to the wild ride of reality TV, Nashville grind, and life on the road, Brandon shares the raw stories behind the music and the moments that shaped him. This isn’t just an inte...

Planning for Dropped is a battle before the boots hit the ground. Flights booked. Gear stashed. Last meals savored. Casey checks in live from Canada while Chris and JB break down the gritty logistics and mental grind it takes to get ready for the wild unknown. We’re talking strategy born from 20 years in the dirt, a deep dive into the new DIY Alaska Hunt Academy that's rolling out with the app, an...

Casey checks in live from the heart of Canada’s waterfowl capital, where wildfires burn and millions of ducks fill the prairie potholes. Casey’s at a family wedding near Manitou Beach’s salty float zone while Chris breaks down what it means to hold deer through fall with smart feed and habitat management. Plus, a deep dive on how supplemental feed affects deer digestion and population—this is surv...

It’s curveball season—but the good kind. Chris and Casey load up the kids, brother, and dad for a fishing trip up north, but the wild doesn’t make it easy. The cabin’s taken over by a bear like it’s a 5-star resort, boats keep breaking down or getting lost, and storms hit the water harder than a freight train. The kids are seeing it all for the first time—wild moments, real lessons, and a whole lo...

This one digs deep into the fault lines of the outdoor community. The crew goes full-send on the divide in hunting—crossbows vs. vertical bows, public vs. private land, and the growing tension between tradition and access. They call out gatekeeping, ego, and the way jealousy and ego poison progress in the outdoors. Then it’s onto Alaska, ANWR, and a debate that could reshape everything: should unt...

It’s chaos season—but the good kind. Gunner just hit double digits, JB’s losing golf bets, and the Keefer crew is gearing up for an off-grid fishing trip with the kids. The nostalgia’s thick, the gear’s already been stress-tested by 10-year-olds in the garage, and the planning for Dropped is officially in full swing. Casey breaks down the upcoming DIY Alaska Masterclass—why it’s needed, how it’s b...

Graduation open houses turn into shirtless chaos, Darcy runs a covert chicken wing smuggling operation, and the boys recap a blitz of a trip to CMA Fest—racing Ross Chastain in a NASCAR sim, speakeasy cocktails at Snoop & Dre’s bar, and a surprise run-in with Holy Roller singer Sierra Ferrell. Also: a stranger in a thrifted “Rick Hawkins Lumber” hat turns out to be a Canadian country artist, t...

It starts with Casey’s wallet getting shredded on the roadside and ends with Chris almost plowing four acres by hand like a badger—all because of a book. Somewhere in between, a stranger named Doug shows up in Chris’ driveway, wanders into his garage, and delivers a drumset, a joint, a bottle of Listerine and a look of betrayal when Chris hands his goods to the cops.   The guys break down ske...

Professional bass fisherman  Dakota Ebare  joins the crew and nothing’s off the table—cheese rolling injuries, boat-breaking musky, and losing $150K in a single tournament. From Louisiana roots to world-stage fishing, Dakota talks about grinding through the early days, balancing passion with pressure, and why the real competition is always you vs. you.   They get into fishing etique...

Casey checks in from the grand opening of a new Bass Pro in Duluth and immediately starts itching for the North. Chris complains about turkey weather, JB’s running low on patience, and Casey ditches school with Ryder to double up on a brand-new permission property.   Then it’s off the rails: a full-on crash course in the wild world of bowfishing—from pyramid tank shoot-offs in front of massiv...