Okayest Hunter ®

Deer season is almost here, and now is the time to turn months of scouting into a solid hunting plan. In this episode of the Okayest Hunter Podcast, we dive into the final weeks before opening day and discuss what serious whitetail hunters should be doing right now to increase their odds of tagging a mature buck. We cover trail camera placement, identifying fresh rubs and deer sign, accessing hunt...

Most hunters dream about owning hundreds of acres. What if you only needed 2.8? In this episode of the Okayest Hunter Podcast, we're joined by Jimie Deegan to discuss one of the most overlooked strategies in whitetail hunting—targeting tiny parcels that everyone else drives past. From killing mature bucks on properties smaller than most backyards to finding overlooked permission ground, Jimie Deeg...

What if the biggest mistake in deer hunting isn't your setup, your gear, or your scent... but simply refusing to leave a spot that isn't producing? This week, Eric sits down with Anthony Heller of Deer Vane to talk public land whitetails, mobile hunting, mock scrapes, cell camera strategy, and why comfort zones keep hunters from finding better deer. Anthony shares the unbelievable story of a 171"...

Summer scouting kinda sucks. It's hot, buggy, full of ticks, and half the time you're wondering if you're learning anything at all. So this week we're breaking down what we're actually looking for when we're out there suffering through thick cover, creek crossings, and mosquito swarms. We dig into buck beds, water access, rub lines, trail crossings, trail cameras, and how to gather useful intel wi...

How much practice does saddle hunting actually require? More than most of us want to admit. This week, we sit down with Martin Ringeisen with the Mobile Hunters Expo team to talk saddle hunting, putting in the reps, one sticking, gear organization, avoiding common mistakes, and why practicing in your backyard might matter more than buying new gear. We cover: • Saddle hunting mistakes we’ve all mad...

What happens when hunting becomes more than a hobby? In this episode, Eric sits down with Eddie Boyer of Rags to Ridges for an incredibly honest and vulnerable conversation. Eddie shares his journey from prison life to discovering purpose through hunting, public land, faith, photography, and the outdoors. What started with hunting magazines behind bars eventually turned into a complete life shift...

Mike Cascini joins the Okayest Hunter Podcast to break down the side of archery and bowhunting most people completely overlook: the mental game. From target panic and self-doubt to elite-level performance psychology, this episode dives into how mindset impacts everything from shooting tournaments to punching tags. We also get into deer camp stories, New Jersey hunting culture, performance under pr...

Brad Zima joins the podcast for a long-form conversation about deer camp traditions, fatherhood, hunting culture, public land, stoicism, and why hunting feels like it’s about a whole lot more than antlers. We talk about ego in hunting, raising kids outdoors, respecting wild game, the loneliness creeping into modern life, and why community still matters now more than ever. From Wisconsin deer camps...

Levi Kary from the Western Territory podcast (from the Okayest Podcast Network) jumps in to talk spring bear hunting in Wyoming, what it looks like hunting bears, and why hunting out West isn’t always what you think. We get into baiting setups, close encounters, tag strategy, and the reality of hunting in grizzly country. Check out the Western Territory Podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/...

Jordan Leitsch isn’t coming at hunting from some polished highlight reel. He’s lived some real stuff. We get into his background, losing a leg, clawing his way back, and still choosing to get out there. We talk about what actually matters in hunting, why most gear is solving problems you probably don’t have, and how your mindset either helps you or ruins your season. There’s also a good chunk on f...

Most hunters spend way too much time trying to prove they’re right… and not enough time asking what they’re missing. This one turns into a solid conversation about staying curious in the deer woods. We get into the idea that the moment you think you’ve got it figured out is usually when things start going sideways. From hunting pressure and thermals to scouting, trail cams, and even turkey hunting...

Turkey hunting has a way of pulling people in deeper than they ever expected. This week we’re joined by Paul Campbell to talk about how that obsession starts, the strange beauty of the wild turkey, and why the bird carries so much history and meaning for hunters who take the time to understand it. We get into youth hunts, early season stories, the heritage behind turkey hunting culture, and Paul’s...

This week we sat down with Sam Jonas and Randy Johnson from the Wisconsin DNR to talk about the stuff most hunters don’t think about until it affects them. We get into what conservation actually means, why hunter numbers matter more than most people realize, and how wildlife management decisions really get made. From wolves and predator management to the funding model that keeps conservation runni...

Ben Wellens with Midwest MTN drove down from the Appleton area with food in hand and a brain full of archery knowledge. What followed was a deep dive into bow tinkering, tuning setups, and why some hunters just can’t leave their gear alone. Ben shares how a mechanical engineer from northeast Wisconsin ended up restoring bows, building tuning rigs in his garage, and helping friends get dialed befor...

Trail cams, drones, crossbows… and the line nobody can quite draw. This one turns into a real-time gut check on hunting ethics—where tech helps, where it crosses the line, and why most of it lives in the gray. Callers jump in, perspectives clash, and somehow it all comes back to one thing: hunt your hunt, but know where you stand. Enter the Strut Season Sweepstakes for a chance to win over $5K in...

Shaun Ridderbush (Host of Camp Okayest) joins the show to share the wild story of the day his truck rolled into the river during a kayak tournament, and how walking away from it changed everything. We talk hunting, creativity, burnout, family, and why time in the woods has a way of resetting your priorities. A conversation about getting 1% better, finding stillness, and remembering what actually m...

If you hunt, fish, hike, bike, or take your kids to a local park in Wisconsin, there’s a good chance the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program helped make it possible. This week, we sit down with Charles Carlin of Gathering Waters and Team Knowles-Nelson to break down what the program actually does, why it’s wildly popular with voters, and why it’s on the verge of being completely defunded. We talk a...

This week on the pod, we sit down with Milwaukee radio host Elizabeth Kay for a conversation that’s less about inches of antler and more about everlasting memories. Elizabeth didn’t grow up hunting. No g💥ns or deer camp, but instead, city life, Bay View roots, and visits to the locker in Richland Center. Fast forward 13 years, a husband who “was practically born with a gun in his hand,” a German...

This one’s a little different. No guest this week. Just a candid, behind-the-scenes conversation about how the Okayest Hunter went from a half-serious idea, a couple bad logos, and some pretty average deer… into a community, a media company, and something that we believe means a great deal to a lot of people. We talk about the early days. The first deer that didn’t score big but meant everything....

Moving states is one thing. Moving your family, your career, and your entire hunting identity is something else entirely. In this episode, we sit down with Justin Synan to talk through the real story behind his move from Virginia to Kentucky and ultimately to Iowa. We dig into what actually drives those decisions: family, faith, frustration, opportunity, and the reality of chasing big whitetails w...

Laryngitis turns into an unexpected advantage as the conversation slows down and gets more thoughtful than usual. What starts as trade show chatter quickly becomes a grounded discussion about bows built for real hunting situations, not just spec sheets. Ryan Shutts from Bear Archery joins to walk through the thinking behind their 2026 lineup of bows like the Redeem, Alaskan Pro, Resilient, Adapt H...

In this episode, Derek recaps the scouting, access, and short-lived hunt for his 2025 WI public land buck.  Derek dives into the scouting process to find the location, the reasons he didn’t hunt this spot for 3 years, and the way he positioned and used timely intel from a camera to know it was time to get into the bedding area and make an aggressive move.  Although the access was less than ideal a...

So, this week we kicked this one off by wondering where you’re actually listening to us (dog walk? treadmill? treestand?… hopefully not on the can...). Then we bounce from ATA into “staying hunt ready” the only way we know how; half gear talk, half real-life chaos, and a little bit of “don’t pee into the wind” wisdom that absolutely belongs in a hunting handbook. We recap the feel of ATA this year...

New year. Same woods. Slightly better questions. This episode starts exactly how most seasons do for us: Drinks in hand, gear scattered, kids distracting us, and our brains still half-stuck in last season. From there, it turns into a wide-ranging, boots-on-the-ground conversation about what actually matters once the tags are filled and the pressure is off. We dig into postseason scouting, reading...

We hit record, crack jokes, and somehow end up doing a full 2025 deer season year-in-review with the crew—public land chaos, private land chirping, a perfectly-orchestrated deer drive, and the universal truth that the freezer doesn’t fill itself (unfortunately). You’ll hear: Tyler’s first real taste of public land deer hunting (and the humbling that comes with it) The Thanksgiving-ish deer drive t...