The Hunting Stories Podcast
The Hunting Stories Podcast
Ep 097 The Hunting Stories Podcast: Jules McQueen
From the curious beginnings of a 17-year-old discovering the thrill of the hunt to leading Carbon TV's innovative digital presence, Jules McQueen joins us to weave a tale that traverses the raw beauty of the outdoors and the screens that bring it to life. Our conversation peels back the curtain on how Jules turned her vision into a hub for hunters and outdoor enthusiasts alike, where the authenticity of fishing lines and hunting trails reigns supreme. She shares her insights into cultivating a community where youthful initiation into hunting is not just encouraged but celebrated, drawing on her own untraditional entry into the sport.
There's an emotional pulse that beats through every hunter's story, and in this episode, you'll journey with me as I recount the first arrow I released into a mule deer, a moment wrapped in exhilaration and solemnity. We swap tales of camaraderie under the Texan sky, laughter echoing through the woods, and misadventures that turn into treasured memories. Jules and I reflect on the power of capturing these moments, preserving the essence of friendship and thrill of the hunt through the lens of a camera, a sentiment that resonates deeply within the heart of every outdoorsman.
Wrapping up our chat, we explore the surprisingly common values between hunters and non-hunters, advocating for a dialogue that bridges understanding across the divide. I open up about my year-long journey without meat, an experience that shifted my approach to food and the hunt. With the spirit of unity threading our conversation, we extend an invitation to listeners to discover the plethora of stories and adventures waiting on Carbon TV, where the outdoors is not just watched, but felt.
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Howdy folks and welcome to the hunting stories podcast. I'm your host, michael, and as usual, we got a great one for you today. Today, we're actually connecting with the CEO of Carbon TV, jules McQueen. Jules is a busy lady and a general badass, and she took some time to share some of her favorite hunting stories with us today, so I want to thank you, or send a thank you to Jules, for taking her time to spend it with us. Beyond that, guys, make sure you check out our Instagram. We have a large contest going on right now, giving away a bow, arrows, broadheads, some peak refuel, just a whole bunch of stuff. I haven't even calculated the value A Mountain Tough Fitness membership, all sorts of things. Go to Instagram it's the top pinned thing and register there. But yeah, let's go ahead and kick this thing off and let Jules tell you some of her stories. Thank you, all right, jules, welcome to the Hunting Stories podcast. How are you?
Speaker 2:I'm wonderful. Thank you so much for having me on. This is exciting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you for being here. I know we had to reschedule a couple times. I had some surprise events on my birthday and that's when we scheduled the last time to record, so I apologize for kicking the can down the road, but thank you for rescheduling with me.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, that's a very good reason to have to reschedule no-transcript with like 10 friends. So it was a good day.
Speaker 1:And the wife really treated me nice, so that's what counts.
Speaker 2:That's amazing Good. I'm glad it was a good day.
Speaker 1:Cool. So let's do this. Jules, why don't we let you introduce yourself, so the folks know who they're hearing? Some stories from today.
Speaker 2:Of course. Yeah, I'm Jules McQueen. I'm the president and CEO of Carbon TV. That's how most people know me. I have been in the outdoor industry for about 20 years, give or take. Maybe 15, 18, somewhere around there. You know, I left it for a few years to pursue other you know things, other careers, but always came right back to the hunting industry. So I've been around for a while. I've been known as a TV producer, television show host, multiple TV shows over the years and now I have the greatest job in the world I get to do Carbon TV?
Speaker 2:I mean, could it get any better? It's just incredible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and for those who don't know, carbon TV I mean it's Netflix, but for hunting and fishing and just outdoors lifestyle, and it's great because a lot of things that you can't even put on YouTube you can put on Carbon TV. So you get the real, unedited version of all of these things and it's great. And there's podcasts and videos and all sorts of fun stuff. I guess I never asked you this before, jules, but was it your brainchild or were you just part of like a group of people? Maybe you could tell the story of how it all got started.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wish it was my idea, but it wasn't. No, carbon TV was kind of ahead of its time. We started off as a media conglomerate. We were a carbon media group and Carbon TV was just a small section of that company. They were creating some original content, some video content in the outdoor space and then, around 2017, there was an acquisition from a public company of Carbon Media and they actually pulled Carbon TV out of that acquisition. And that's when I came into play, but before that, I actually aired my content on Carbon TV.
Speaker 2:So, I had been airing on the network on Sportsman for I think nine, nine seasons and had a very successful run there. Everything was incredible. But then I kind of, you know, saw that the future was digital, so pulled everything off the network, moved over to digital on Carbon TV and saw a ton of success there. So I knew Carbon as a producer first before I ever worked for the company. That's cool, yeah, which gives me a lot of insight, you know. That kind of helped me to understand what the producers are looking for and how we can be helpful.
Speaker 2:So, um, yeah, I I came into the business on that side 2000, late 2017, 2018, early and, um, they actually just brought me in as a consultant, you know, as the company was transitioning to be a standalone OTT network and I kind of oversaw operations, you know, reworked the company structure a little bit and then escalated up to become the president within six months Wow, right after that. So it's been an exciting run. But I think, you know, I really owe that to my years and years of being in the field as a producer, um, you know, and just really kind of understanding what that looks like from the producer standpoint.
Speaker 1:Gotcha. That's super cool. And then as far as hunting, have you? Have you hunted your whole life? Was it just something that your parents got you into, or how did you get into hunting in general?
Speaker 2:No, I'm not from a hunting family, or how did you get into hunting in general? No, I'm not from a hunting family, actually.
Speaker 1:Me either.
Speaker 2:It's incredible, and I think that's why I'm so passionate now about projects or organizations, or even foundations that are introducing young people to hunting, because that was never given to me as an opportunity. Nobody ever thought, oh, maybe Jules would want to get into hunting because I was a little girl, so they just assumed I would want to do other things.
Speaker 2:So it would have changed the course of my life if that had happened earlier for me. But my parents didn't hunt. Nobody in my family hunted. So I got into it on my own when I was 17, 18. I had already moved out, I was living on my own and um went through my hunter safety course by myself and decided that you know I wanted to give it a shot and killed my first deer by myself.
Speaker 1:you know just kind of got into it. Was there any like catalyst or was it just like I'm going to hunt, I'm going to just pick it up, or was there like something like for me I was eating a lot of barbecue and I got invited and I was like you know what? I should probably feel what it's like to harvest an animal on my own.
Speaker 1:You know what it's like to take that life if I'm going to eat all this meat and I just sort of fell in love with it. Was there anything for you or were you just like let's try this?
Speaker 2:It was more of that for me. I don't know if maybe I saw some photos, you know, or something crossed my path in some way. It kind of sparked that inside of me, that curiosity, and I believe that the majority of humans maybe not all of us but there's something ingrained in us deeply, you know, historically, where you know all of our ancestors had this in them. So there's something that's that's curious about that, even if it's not something we were introduced to at a young age, and for me that's what it was. I just thought, well, this is interesting and different and, um, I really loved being outside. So my whole thing was this lets me spend time outside.
Speaker 2:It's a hobby, but it's also, you know, valuable in a lot of other ways, and it made me feel good as a person. So as soon as I started hunting, I realized, okay, if I can find a career path in this and this is before really any other women were moving into the outdoor space publicly. There were a lot of women holding jobs in the outdoor community, in the hunting community, but it was more behind the scenes back then, it wasn't as public, but for me it was okay. This is going to let me spend a lot of time outside and get to do what I want to do, what I'd love to do, and so I just very, very quickly, very rapidly, started moving into the industry and trying to find a way to work and create a living by being outside and working in the hunting community.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I've talked to a lot of people about this, obviously, and I think you're the first one that didn't have, like some kind of outside influence some person in their life that was like you know, whether they were six years old when that person introduced them to hunting, or whether they were 30 years old that person introduced them to hunting. But it's super unique that you went out there on your own and tackled it because it's daunting, especially as an adult.
Speaker 2:You're like oh man.
Speaker 1:I've got so much other stuff going on and now I have to learn how to hunt. Hunting is not easy.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of mistakes that you make when you don't have a mentor and a lot of my friends I would say all of my friends who hunt they had somebody in their life. A good example. Obviously, everyone knows Jana Waller is my very best friend and she tells stories about you know her dad bringing her up in a you know hunting household and I'm actually close to Jana's dad. He's an amazing person and, you know, I wish I had had that. My dad hunts now and we've actually hunted together twice.
Speaker 2:Oh wow, it's amazing. Yeah, it's like you know, as an adult, I get to experience what that's like to walk through the woods with him, and it's really special every time. So, you know, it really has helped me feel more connected to people who were introduced to it in that way.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. That's a super cool, like unique uh origin story for hunting. So thank you for sharing that. We're here to hear some of your favorite hunting stories, so why don't we dive into that? Jules, why don't you set the stage for for your first story and let's just jump into it?
Speaker 2:Okay, so first story would be um, you know, I think for a lot of people, you know, we, we are connected to the first thing that we do, the first animal of its kind or the first of the species. And, um, one of them that's really special to me, uh, was my very first mule deer. You know, a lot of times people will ask you if you could only hunt one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Speaker 1:And I mean I?
Speaker 2:it's a hard question to answer because, gosh, do I love elk hunting? Yeah, I do, I love it, and you know I love turkey hunting. I'm a fanatic. I've got my Grand Slam, you know I love all of them. But there's something about archery mule deer that really just made me fall in love all over again with hunting, maybe because it was my first experience Western hunting, um with archery and um. So I think it was probably about eight years ago somewhere around there. Um, I went on my first. Well, I think it was my first archery mule deer hunt. Um, no, it wasn't my first time going after them.
Speaker 2:Now that I think about it, I had tried to hunt them before but, I was in Nebraska and we were filming an episode around it and it was just one of those hunts where there were so many close encounters and so many just almost. You know, just you're so close and I, you know, one time I stalked in too close to a deer and the grass was so tall I couldn't see it, and it was one of those rookie mistakes where it's like keep the distance between you a little bit.
Speaker 2:So you actually know what you're doing, you know, and just you know, I, I remember you know, walking away from that stalk and just going. Oh man, you know I won't make that mistake again.
Speaker 2:Um well, on the I think fourth or fifth day of that hunt, the mule deer had just shed their velvet, and so a lot of this dark red color, and it was just so beautiful, this burgundy antler that you would see walking through, and we spotted this deer and I had to kind of run backwards away from where it was, to get some distance between me and it, and um, he, he kind of crossed up and I had a camera, got you know, behind me and um, we arranged it at 40 yards and I drew back and I, clean, missed, and I, my heart was broken, you know, just like one of those like how did I?
Speaker 1:miss it.
Speaker 2:He's just standing there. But the beautiful thing about mule deer is they're really curious and you know when it's. I sensed that arrow just going right over its back. It kind of bounded away about 20, 25 yards. So now is it six, between 60 and 65 yards. Um, I had already reloaded another arrow and it drew back and I thought, okay, I'm just going to give it one more shot.
Speaker 2:And I kind of just held a little high right about where his ear was and it's almost like life slows down in that moment and you watch the arrow go and there's a big arc to it and it landed, you know, and it landed good, hit him good, and the feeling of disbelief and all of those years of trying so hard and making those mistakes, um, you know, and and we ended up I put another arrow in it. I had to restock up to it again and, and you know, it was an emotional thing because then then I thought, okay, well, now you know, here he is and he, you know, and I've hit him, but he's gonna suffer too if I don't get another arrow in him. So then you've got that pressure and it's on camera, so I know that everyone's going to be able to see this and I had this overwhelming mixture of emotions at that time. It was, you know, oh, I can't believe it. This is incredible.
Speaker 2:But also this devastation, this sadness that comes over you in that moment, where it's like, okay, but he's hurting and it's my fault, you know, and, and so there's just so many emotions that happened through that. So I ended up getting that deer and he was just beautiful, but I still afterwards, had this sense of pride and disgust, right, and and I think that anyone who's really honest with themselves and has, you know transparency with themselves about how they really feel in that moment. There is, I mean, I don't know very many people who only have one single emotion about it, so I ended up that is the truth.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you were to say it was just nothing but excitement, well I mean, but you're also taking a life and you know that's a very serious thing, even if you've done it multiple times.
Speaker 2:And so I always had kind of this, you know, sense of not remorse but just emotional connection to that deer, maybe because he was my first mule deer. So I actually went and anyone who's seen, you know, seen me either in person or the things that I do I have a very big tattoo on my right arm of that deer and when I, when I went into the taxidermist or to the taxidermist, to the tattoo artist taxidermist, tattoo artist when I went in to get the tattoo, I was just going to get a really small one, you know, just kind of in memory of this deer, kind of, you know, because I felt so connected to it and they talked me into getting it big on my arm, which was my first visible tattoo, getting a big on my arm, which was my first visible tattoo, and I love it so much because it has opened the door for conversation that you wouldn't believe to the non-hunting community, cause they see someone who looks like me. Obviously I don't look like a normal, you know person who would be hunting.
Speaker 2:And I've got these antlers tattooed on my forearm and a lot of people over the years have said, oh my gosh, that tattoo like what in the world? And it allows me the opportunity to then tell my story about the connection to life and the connection to hunting and and how we take that very seriously and for the rest of my life I get to look at that on my arm in memory of, you know, the life that I took.
Speaker 2:And of course there are, you know, dozens and dozens of other animals that I've taken, that I haven't memorialized on my arm.
Speaker 1:You'd run out of forearm, that's for sure I would definitely do it.
Speaker 2:But you know, but there's something about kind of presenting it to the world in that way where it's something I'm proud of and I'm something that you know that I still feel connected to after all those years, and I think that that tells a beautiful story of how most people are who hunt. You know, we really are deeply connected to the animals. You know we have reverence for them and so much respect for them and so much respect and, um, you know, I just I think when anytime people talk about, you know, hunting stories or their first year it wasn't my first year, it was just my first meal there, but um, yeah, I just I never get tired of looking at it on my arm.
Speaker 1:That's, that's awesome. That's a very cool story and you've hit a couple of things there that sparked up some things in me, like the emotion. I killed my first elk with my first archery kill at all this year and you know, in the moment everything slowed down and I shot and it broke and it hit it right where I wanted it to. It was kind of quartering towards and I had just pure excitement and like I don't know if you know who Jermaine Hodge is, but he's a fair amount smaller than me. So I shot it and we're calling and he's like you got it, you got it. And I just pick him up and I'm like yes, and then later I'm like oh no, but they're like well, he was kind of quartering two, maybe the shot was a little far back.
Speaker 1:And we're talking about it while we're waiting and all of a sudden I just hurt this animal and it's just this rollercoaster of emotions. It's two hours of waiting and I felt every emotion you can think of, like and it was awful and it was great at the same time. Fortunately, we found him 100 yards away. He probably expired in 30 seconds. But those two hours of emotions where it's overwhelming and it's one of the things that I remember more than anything from that hunt Was just like how much it meant and not just excitement, you know.
Speaker 2:just there's so much to it, so that's very cool. Yeah, I think that a lot of people can relate to that. You know the mixture of emotions, especially if you're there with somebody you care about, you know that amplifies everything that we feel.
Speaker 2:If you're there with your best friend or you know a sibling or a parent, or even just you know anybody- I think, that you know, you just kind of um cause, then you have witnesses, you know, then you have somebody there to experience it with you and um, and it can be a very emotional rollercoaster.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. What's funny is the people I was with. I'd met them all in that camp. I'd never met any of them face-to-face before, but now we're all best friends, like, we text every week and we're like hey, like if you don't have that bond there already with the family member or the close friend, it creates that bond. So it's a very cool situation. And you're Mule. Deer hunt is amazing. It's funny that you got too close.
Speaker 2:That's not a problem I've ever had, but I believe it know they were like a mile away from me and the closer I would get to this deer, I would look through and I would look over at the guys and and pretty soon they were, like you know, giving the what are you doing?
Speaker 1:You know you're kind of and you know it.
Speaker 2:Just really in the, in the moment, I was excited and then, sure enough that you know, he stood up and um was out of there so fast and I thought, okay, well, now I know, you know, make sure you know where he is before you just start walking in.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, I've screwed up some stocks that way as well and had people laugh at me. So, but never from getting too close, it's from doing some other stupid things but, all right. Well, let's move on. Jules, what else do you got? Uh, transitions are always a little funny when it goes from story to story, but what are the stories that you bring for us today?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think one of my other favorite hunts that I think about all the time um, you know, like we were saying, when you have somebody in the field with you, who you love it, just every experience is better, every you know. The meals taste better, the scenery is more beautiful.
Speaker 2:Um, and one of my favorite hunts of all time was with, obviously, jana Waller, my best friend. Um, we have hunted a lot of different things together over the years and, um, we went to Texas um, a couple of years, two or three years ago and we hunted on Blake Barnett's property down there and he also has a show on carbon and it was just such a good time because we all knew each other in the industry and um, so, jana and we Jana and I, we we split up, you know, to hunt different blinds, but then we would also hunt together. You know, at times, and, um, I think it was the very first day we were there, jana ended up shooting this really beautiful deer that they had actually been calling it Jules Buck, because they were like this is what Julie's going to take for sure, you know. It's just they assumed it would be kind of in the area I would be hunting. And she shot it on the first day and she was like I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry I killed your buck.
Speaker 1:The last thing you have to do is apologize.
Speaker 2:You know, I mean it was just so, but then because she had already shot you.
Speaker 1:You know, we got to hunt together a little bit, which was really fun, and um, it's actually on one of the episodes of skullbound chronicles of her show I think it was last season or the season before and I'll try and look for it and put it in the show notes so people can watch it it.
Speaker 2:Um, I can send you a link to it. It was. It's just such a fun episode and there's one scene where it's me and Jana. We're sitting in the blind together and we just couldn't stop laughing and you would think we had you would never spend time together and like, oh, this is our one time to catch up, but we're together all the time. So you know, we. But it was something about being in the field together and just watching the deer we didn't even shoot together and just watching the deer. We didn't even shoot. You know, I didn't shoot a deer with her there with me. We were just glassing all of them and watching and talking about them and and reliving past experiences. And um, we, um, we did end up shooting Javelina together, which was really cool. Um, you know, just kind of stalking up and both of us shooting, and um, and.
Speaker 1:I actually archery or rifle for this hunt.
Speaker 2:Rifle, okay, and um, oh, my gosh, we just we had so much fun and the photos and the video from that trip that were documented. I still go back and just look through those pictures and I feel so happy, you know, just remembering the. You know all of the laughter and the moments and I did end up shooting a really great deer on the last day. Blake was in the blind with me, he filmed it and and the celebration. You know Jana just being so excited for me and me being excited for her and that camaraderie, and you know I know so many people can relate to that because you know a lot of people go hunt with their best friends and I think that that is a core memory in life.
Speaker 2:You know, even if neither of us had shot anything, you know just sitting around the fire at night and talking, and you know laughing and the travel getting there together. You know just all of the above. It wasn't about the animals that we took on that trip. It was just kind of some time in the field together where, yeah, we're still working and we were still creating content and we were still doing what we're supposed to be doing. But you know it was one of my favorite memories of all time, even all of the other things I've ever been able to do. I've been very blessed.
Speaker 2:You know I've been able to do a lot of really cool stuff, but that hunt with her was special because it was with her and you know, um, uh, over the past so many years most of my hunts have been documented.
Speaker 2:So you've got a camera guy, you've got camera equipment, you've got responsibilities. You have to kind of, you know, do things. It's a lot of work in the field and you know, I can kind of see both ways where it would have been really fun for us to just be on that trip and having fun and hanging out, but to be able to go back and relive those memories. You know, I'm I'm very passionate about people who document their experiences in the outdoors to share with others who maybe don't have those experiences, and so that's one where I was actually really happy that it was being documented instead of you know us just off, you know, having a good time, because I think a lot of people got to see our friendship, you know, and the reasons why we've been friends for so many years. We just are so very connected in that way. But also, anyone who knows Jana you get to see when you watch her show or just know her at all, you get to see what true passion for the outdoors is.
Speaker 2:It's not like she flips a switch when the camera comes on and now she's a different person. She's like that all the time, like a hundred percent. She's all in head first, excited about every single thing that's happening in the field. She's stopping to look at everything and she's documenting things. And you know, spending time with somebody who's that passionate about the outdoors can only enhance it for yourself.
Speaker 2:And so you're going to walk away feeling a little more in love with nature. You know when you spent time with somebody like that. So, yeah, I really walked away from that hunt feeling, you know, not just loving her more or loving you know the location where we were, it was just kind of okay, this, it all. Now it kind of refreshes that memory. This is why we do what we do and why we're so, we work so hard and we're so passionate about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I love that story. That's uh, it was making me think about why I even started the podcast. I've I'm a newer hunter only been doing it for like eight, nine years at this point. Um, and the first seven years were not very successful, but I still fell in love with it and I think it was going with the people that I was going with and remembering the stories. Like, I can't remember what I had for dinner three nights ago, but I can remember every detail of like every hunt I've ever been on, which maybe is why I've started this podcast, because I love sharing those moments, sharing those experiences, sharing those relationships and and I enjoy like feeling the way that other people do when they have those same things and they're able to tell those stories to me. So it's a very cool story. Like it, the hunting is almost the backdrop to what is the more important, which is the, the relationships that we have when we're hunting. So that's, that's great. I love that story.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the stories that you tell afterwards, you know I. That story, yeah, and the stories that you tell afterwards, you know I. I think that, um, by nature, all humans and every culture, we're storytellers Some some tell it through um.
Speaker 2:You know music, some people tell it through art, some people tell it through video, um, but essentially we're all storytellers. You know our, our ancestors, thousands of years ago, sat around fires telling stories and passing down traditions, and you know telling stories that their parents had told them and you know I think that it's really cool that in the hunting or outdoor community we're still doing that, literally sitting around fires telling stories, and I think some of the greatest moments that most people have at any hunting camp or fishing camp or camp in general just going camping. You don't even have to be you know, out there hunting or fishing.
Speaker 2:It's just being outside sitting around a fire and telling stories and laughing and sharing experiences. I really think that that's what it comes down to you know, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1:You know. It's funny you say that that, like, humans are storytellers, cause I would say maybe a fifth of the people that I've had on my podcast go. Well, you know, when I'm talking to them about having them on, they're like I'm not really a good storyteller and I'm like you know what I bet you'll do? Fine, I was like, let's do it, I'll record it. And if you don of every single episode, people just get into their stories and they start telling them and they have a great time and that's all there is to it. And there's been no episodes I've held back because everybody ended up doing a much better job telling stories than they thought they would. So you're right, I think that it's human nature to tell stories. Only one person I know is a bad storyteller, and it's my hunting buddy.
Speaker 2:He's awful.
Speaker 1:He's just terrible. That's why he hasn't been on the podcast yet. Um, when we're in person telling our stories, he'll start and then he goes two or three sentences and goes ah all right, I screwed it up. Michael, you tell the story and I'm like all, right all right, I'll tell the story. So it's the only person. Maybe he's not human, I don't know, but uh, in general, in general, humans are natural storytellers and I think it's a big part of what makes us human.
Speaker 2:So yeah, and for the most part, people aren't there to judge your stories. You know they like. For example, while we're on the topic of storytelling, which is you know what this is all about, you know I give a lot of speeches, so I keynote I. You know I travel around, I speak, you know to audiences, and one of the first things you learn when you are you know I travel around, I speak, you know to audiences, and one of the first things you learn when you are, you know, in that world is people have a good story. So you have a good story. If you just kick it off with a bunch of data and facts and you know information and statistics, you're gonna lose people so fast. But if you have a really good story, you've got them.
Speaker 2:you know they want to hear everything about it because now they're connected to you mentally and you know physically like there's just something about hearing a good story from a person and feeling connected to them and now it's like oh okay, tell me, tell me what you're here to tell me about, now that I feel connected to you, so you know it's easy to remember moral of a story, right it's?
Speaker 1:not easy to remember the moral of the statistics.
Speaker 2:Someone just rattled off so yeah, I know exactly.
Speaker 1:I can think of one person off the top of my head that I've seen him present twice and every time I'm like stop telling me stats. I was like you're so smart, you're too smart. Tell us a story about why this is applicable. Maybe I'll tell them that someday, but for now I'll keep it to myself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, actually. So I just gave a. I gave a speech for the Wild Sheep Society in BC and I told this story. I'll tell. I'll tell it here, since you know we're all telling stories.
Speaker 2:I'll tell it here, since we're all about telling stories, perfect One of my favorites and it's a story that is true, first of all, but also I feel like there's just so many great elements to it and this is why I always kick off my speeches with something like this. So my dad he lives in Oklahoma and he's a retired military, just an awesome guy. I've only hunted with him one time. Well, I hunted with him this past year a little bit. We went out a couple of times, didn't shoot anything. But the only other time I had hunted with him was like 20 years ago, which is a long gap of not going out in the field together.
Speaker 2:But over those years my dad has become more of a hunter. He lives on a beautiful property in Oklahoma, big wheat farm. You know he's out there all the time. He knows what deer he wants to shoot that year. You know he's getting to be a really good hunter. So he, three years ago, was super fired up about gun season opening in Oklahoma and he was texting me and calling me just like oh, one more day.
Speaker 2:You know it's almost here, I can't wait. I've seen this huge, it's great buck. I just want to shoot this buck. You know I'm super excited.
Speaker 2:And so I was at work, I was at our headquarters at Carbon and and I knew it was opener for Oklahoma gun season. So I've got my phone sitting there and, sure enough, my dad calls my cell phone so I excused myself from the meeting. I get up, I walk out of the room, I take his call and he's so excited and he's just like Jules, I got him, I got the big one. I'm like, oh my gosh, dad, that's so exciting, Tell me the story I want.
Speaker 2:So he's like, he came in, perfect, he walked in just where I thought he would. You know, I made a great shot. He just went down. I knew it. I got him. I can't believe I got this deer. And I said, dad, I could not be more excited. And at this point he had already taken the deer back to his barn and you know that's where he called me from. And I said, dad, I want to see a picture. Like I can't wait to see a picture of this deer. And he's like, oh, hold on. And so he starts fumbling around on his cell phone and he puts me on speaker so he can access his camera, which I was more impressed that he did that than he shot a deer Like. Honestly, he's not the most accepting person.
Speaker 1:So the fact that he could take a photo of his on the phone was very impressive to me.
Speaker 2:So he puts me on speaker and he takes a photo and as he's sending the picture to me, he says he's a 180. Jules, I can't believe I got this deer. And I'm like, oh my gosh, dad, holy smokes, it's a 180. Are you kidding me? And so I put him on speaker and I'm opening the photo that had just come through to my phone and I'm like zooming in on it and I said, dad, who's there with you? Like who scored this deer for you?
Speaker 2:Cause I mean, you know, I'm pretty good at scoring deer. I'm questioning this one 80 thing that you're talking about, dad. Well honey, I don't need anybody here to score him for me. I've got him hung up on the scale, he has 180 pounds. Oh God, and that is how my dad scores deer and I thought this is the most brilliant thing ever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that makes sense.
Speaker 2:Cause he weighs 180 pounds. And so now I'm like I know how I'm going to start scoring all my deer, cause that's what my dad taught me. So you know, and now it's like every year he could tell me how much his deer weighs and that's what we score it.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I could have sworn you were going to tell us like a mountain goat story or something, because you say you tell the story all the time at these conferences. But that's too good and that's like a really pure way of thinking about deer. Right, you're not worried about the antlers, it's just like it's 180 pounds, 180 pounds Maybe, yeah, he's a 180.
Speaker 2:And I'm like, who scored that deer for you, dad? Because I'm pretty sure not. And then this last year he shot another really great and I'm not discrediting the deer, I mean they're really good white tails that he shoots. And he shot one this year and sent me a picture and it's a beautiful deer. And this year and sent me a picture and it's a. It's a beautiful deer and he doesn't have a mounted or anything. So I had him do a euro mount and I've actually got it hanging here in my office and oh, that's cool and I don't have one of my deer hanging up.
Speaker 2:I have my dad's deer hanging up and you know it's just so. It's so nice to later in life, be able to connect with with him in that way that's amazing it's.
Speaker 1:It's cool like he you hunted before he did. You've gotten him so into it that he's like anticipation, texting and calling, just getting ready for the season, that he's gone that gung-ho into hunting as well. Do you think that is that that's because of, maybe, what you do for a living and he's just like loves the connection that he has with you? Or do you think that, like that's a nice little addition but really he's just fallen in love with hunting itself?
Speaker 2:A bit of both. He is, um, you know he was in the military for so long and, you know, finally retired. I think he just didn't have time. He may have hunted when he was younger, you know, but I don't think it was ever a huge thing for him. Um, but I think now he's obviously very proud of me and what I do. He's proud of his other daughter, jana Waller. Obviously they stay in very close contact and I think it does kind of inspire him, you know, to kind of do more and be more into it. But yeah, he just it's really cool to see him kind of moving, know moving into it a little more. And my mom started hunting too. So you know now I am from a family who hunts later in life, which is kind of cool that's amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've only killed one whitetail ever and I uh I killed it a public land in texas and I had to backpack it out, so I couldn't tell you if it was a 180 141, I couldn't tell you, tell you what it was. But if I ever shoot a deer again, I'm going to make sure to find out the weight and send you it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just bring a scale with you, string it up, weigh it, and that's that's what we're going to call it, I think that's awesome. I think more people should do that. Right, I mean like him. He doesn't. He's not having it mounted or anything. He's there for the meat. He's a meat hunter. And yeah, so for him that body weight is a really big deal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, you can even measure the. Does that way, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:That's cool. That's a great story. It took us such a spin that I did not expect it to end that way. What other stories do you have for us Jules?
Speaker 2:Okay, another great story, jana might get mad at me for telling this one, I'll tell another.
Speaker 1:Jana story, even though I just told you, perfect. When someone else gets angry at you for telling a story, it's probably the perfect story to tell.
Speaker 2:I know she never gets mad at me, but she might. So we over the years we've always done this wall tent turkey camp in Montana. Jason Matzinger puts it on with his closest friends and you know I've gone a few times and janna, you know, has gone quite a few times and she, she, somebody started calling it can't be roll because, like no one, no one really ever kills very many turkeys, you know, because it's a really tough hunt for people who he hunted in montana.
Speaker 2:It's like spot and stalk turkey hunting you spot, you like, glass them up a mile away and have to hike you know, like you put a lot of work in on these birds and as turkey fanatics, you know we're just like. It's worth it.
Speaker 2:You know I'll hike five miles for a bird Sure, and so I was out with Jana and um, we found this group of birds. We glassed them up, hiked our butts off to get to them. Jan and I both, you know, had tags and there was a camera guy with us and I had already shot my Grand Slam at that point. So I have, you know, one of everything, and the one thing I hadn't shot was a bearded hen. And in you know, a lot of states, it's totally legal If the beard is over, I think, three inches.
Speaker 2:you know a lot of States there it's totally legal If the beard is over I think three inches. You know it counts as a legal bird. So, um, I wanted to take this bearded hen that was in the group and so we belly crawl up to this ridge and the birds are right there. I mean just literally right over the edge.
Speaker 2:And Jana, like I was saying, she's so passionate and she gets so excited about everything in the field and she is hardcore, you know, like if there's an animal there like, jana is probably going to get it. And I said there's a bearded hen in the group and she's like, oh my God, ok, cool, on the count of three. Well, there was no one. Two, three, jana stood up and shot the tom that was in the group and all the birds scatter and leave and start running, cause I'm like, what have you done? What happened to the one, two, three, jana, and she's like I got so excited, I'm so sorry, and she just has been apologizing for years for, you know, not counting to three. But you know I forgave her pretty quickly and you know, so she killed this.
Speaker 2:It was a beautiful time and it was just a really pretty day. It was nice and sunny and warm and, um, we have some really great photos from that day too, where we considered it our bird, you know, even though you know Jana got a little excited and pulled the trigger without saying anything. Um, you know, I, as we were taking photos and we carried that bird out and we hiked back to camp together and and I kind of felt like I had got, you know, filled my tag too, cause I got to at least witness it and be there with her. So you know that was, that was really special, that was cool.
Speaker 1:That's a funny story. I've, I know, plenty of friends that would do the exact same thing.
Speaker 2:So that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Boom, pull the trigger you don't even care yeah, and that that mountain spot and stock turkey hunting, that's no joke. That's what I did on on tuesday for my birthday and I had my bow in one hand, I have. I'm not a very good mouth caller, so I use a slate or a pot call and then I also have like, uh, these like foam decoys, decoys.
Speaker 1:So I've got my bow on my bow hitch if you're familiar with the bow hitch and then I'm holding my decoy in my hand and then just like two fingers holding the slate call and then my other hand calling, and then, if anything happened, I just threw everything down and grabbed my bow and I went like six miles into the mountains, you know a thousand feet of elevation. Uh, I got into them, but it was just so windy I couldn't really hear anything. But yeah, that that mountain, miriam, turkey hunting is it's no joke.
Speaker 2:It's tough and they're cliff divers. They will jump right off the edge of a cliff and you'll never see them again. You know as soon as they get a sense that you're there. We've had so many just nosedive off the edge and you know nothing you can do about it. We've been to miles for turkeys and.
Speaker 1:I bet, I bet you know you said something about glassing for them. I was like I never thought about glassing for turkeys before, so maybe I should try that. That being said, it's like a thousand feet down cross the river, a thousand feet back up if I were to glass anything in the spot that I do turkey hunting. So it's a lot of work, but it might be worth it if it comes to the end of the season. Yeah, worth it if it comes to the end of the season.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is. You know, for those of us who love turkey hunting, it's worth it. You know, and I think people who don't turkey hunt kind of look at us like we're crazy people, you know, like why would you do that for a bird? And then you get the ones who say, oh, there's 30 of those in my mom's backyard.
Speaker 1:You know every time, every time, every time.
Speaker 2:Like. It's not the same thing, though we like things that are really difficult to get close to Yep.
Speaker 1:Yep, I remember. So every time I've ever walked out turkey hunting, people are like what are you hunting for this time of year? I'm like turkeys. They're like, oh, they're on that side of the road in the private. And I'm like, oh, I know they're in the private, I can't hunt over there. So they're always giving their advice, but you can't do much about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is one of the only animals where people are pretty open to letting you access their property and hunt turkeys. We've had a lot of people say oh yeah, it's just turkeys, go for it. Not a lot of people say that about their elk and deer. So turkeys are more like a community. We knock on doors and ask if we can go hunt their backyards.
Speaker 1:It's funny. You say that I started a TikTok account because I was like new audience, why not? And so everything I've posted with a deer on it blocked, banned. Everything I do with a turkey, no problem. No one reports me for turkeys, but any deer, any elk, no matter what one photo. It just immediately blocked every single time. I had to get my account back twice and I've only had it for like a month um so yeah, I think you're right about that turkey thing. People just don't care they.
Speaker 2:They don't consider it. You know which? I think I think it is considered a big game species. You know, in a lot of states maybe, I'm pretty sure, but yeah, a lot of people don't consider turkeys to be, like you know, a game animal. They just think they're the birds in the backyard, basically.
Speaker 1:Ben Franklin would be disappointed. I don't know if you know, but he tried to make it the country's national bird before they picked the bald eagle which would have been funny because they're a ridiculous animal. But yeah, yeah, cool. Well, jules, do you have any more? I'll listen to stories all day. I know I only have it for so much time, but if you have any more, I'll keep listening, or we could wrap this thing up. Up to you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean gosh. I have so many stories but they're all just like rambling around in my head. I have just been so lucky, you know, over my career, to be able to hunt all over and get to see these beautiful places and meet the nicest people and get to see these beautiful places and meet the nicest people, and I think that's one thing.
Speaker 2:If there's one message that I could put out there to the world in any way is people can think whatever they want about the hunting community, or industry as people call it, but it is filled with the nicest people that you will ever meet in your entire life and if you selectively choose the people who you allow in your circle, it you you make lifelong friends. In the strangest places you run into someone you know hunting the same unit as you and they're super helpful. Um, and this is for the most part, I know there's some people out there who are terrible and not great.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can think of a guy who wrapped up a wolf recently in Utah. Was that Utah Wyoming, wyoming?
Speaker 2:Wyoming.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I'm devastated.
Speaker 1:That was awful it was horrible.
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah, that has been the topic of conversation in our home. You know recently, and you know as hunters, this guy's not a hunter. That's not the same thing. You know as hunter this guy's not a hunter, that's not the same thing you know and you know we we respect the wildlife and have reverence for them and would never. You know, if that happened here and my boyfriend saw that, it would not have ended well for that guy yeah, no, I, I agree.
Speaker 1:and the fact that like he just takes it to a bar right, didn't he just take it to a? But like that's, that's the kind of hunter that you don't want to deal with is the yeehaw driving your truck, you know, just shooting out of your car at night, and stuff like that. But when you go into the woods, you know you can find amazing people. I can't think of how many times I've run into hunters, had conversations and then be like when the day's all said and done, we're at this tent, come by, we'll have a beer, and people take me up on it all the time. And there's amazing people in the woods.
Speaker 2:They're nice as people and you know they really care and they're helpful and you know, unfortunately, in this, you know, in the outdoor space, you know, we have this great community of, you know, content creators, for example, a lot of the people who have shows on Carbon. They're collaborating, they're going to hunt with each other, they're filming each other, they're, you know, cross promoting. Really, it's like, you know, all ships rise with the tide.
Speaker 2:And the more successful we are in general, each of us individually the better it is for everyone, especially if it's good messaging that you're putting out there and if it's positive. You know for the community and you know over the years. You know for the community and you know over the years. I've just been so blessed to get to go do so many cool things and you know to to see wild places that I never thought I'd get to see, and you know to not even not hunt, not even like the killing of an animal, but to look at them has been incredible.
Speaker 2:And I believe I got this lucky in life and the people along the way who have been there from the beginning are exceptional and brilliant and they really love wildlife and they love the animals and they invest back into it with their time or their money. You know a lot of people go out and volunteer, you know, for different projects for wildlife and you know volunteer, you know, for different projects for wildlife and you know, I think, that if the world mainstream could see that, could see what really happens in this bubble, in the outdoor community, like you were saying, being banned on TikTok for a deer or an elk video or something you know, if they really knew the backstory and you know the full transparency of why it is we do what we do, I don't think that we would have that censorship. I think that things would be very different if people knew the truth about how wonderful the people are and how good intentions they have.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, Absolutely. I agree 100%. It's funny whenever I find out someone's a vegan, I was like are you a ethical vegan or are you a just because it's cool? Vegan or dietary vegan? And sometimes, when you get to the ethical ones, you start having conversations with them like, oh, I didn't know all those things. So they've got their blinders on and they're just looking at what they think is right, but they don't bother to look what everyone else is doing and why they're doing it. And I think we have a lot of things in common with the ethical vegans when you break it down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's interesting. So, um, I actually stopped eating meat for a while and I didn't tell anyone that because of my role in this industry and I didn't want it to be misconstrued. I didn't want people to think, oh, she's a vegan now Like how weird is that? That's a little strange. Um, but a couple of years ago, just to see what it would do for my cause. I'm very into health and fitness and you know, I'm open voice about that for my entire career.
Speaker 2:Um, you know I'm very healthy person. I just cold turkey, stopped eating meat and I didn't eat any meat for about a year and it did wonders for me. It helped me out in a lot of ways and then I slowly transitioned back into eating meat and for me it was. It made me be more mindful of what I was putting in my body. So I had to really think about things. You know, before I would just go stuff my face full of whatever was in the fridge, which is what I do now. But you know, it was a really good lesson and it helped me kind of relate to people who don't eat meat and I know a lot of people who don't just for health reasons, you know, and that's okay. But when I was doing that I thought, oh my gosh, if anyone found out that I am off meat for a year, there would be this negative you know feeling that goes with that.
Speaker 2:people would probably think of that in a negative way in this industry because you know, because of other people who are vegan, for you know, for other reasons, and it's unfortunate that just the choice to stop eating meat for a while made me feel like, oh my gosh, it's my big dark secret. Please nobody find out. I would go to banquet and just like pick around at the vegetables a little bit and think oh gosh, I hope nobody tries to feed me meat because my body can't take it right now, so, but anyways, yeah, there's a lot of you know it's an interesting conversation when it comes to ethical reasons or medical reasons.
Speaker 2:So I just I wanted to kind of experience that for myself and and I'm happy I did, but I'm also super happy that I stopped.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't think I can do it. I don't think I'm that. I don't think I'm that strong to give up meat. I'll tell you, I love vegetables, Like I'll have heaping servings, but I just I don't think I can get up or give up all my protein, my animal protein.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's really hard and you have to supplement your protein in different ways. But I mean again, I'm happy that I tried it out for a little while, but I'm also super happy that now my freezer is full and we don't avoid meat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome, Okay, Jules. Well, let's wrap things up. Why don't you tell the folks where they can find you if you want to share your socials, or where they can find carbon TV, and then we'll write off into the sunset here.
Speaker 2:Of course. Okay, so anybody who is not currently watching carbon TV? Um, we have taken steps to make sure that you know. There's no reason for that. It's everywhere. We distribution is very big, so no matter what device you're watching on or streaming or a connected TV, carbon TV is there and it's always free. There's no subscription. You don't even have to sign in to watch or listen to anything. It gives you the option to. So if somebody signs in and creates an account, there are features that are really nice. With that you can create playlists and favorite things and different stuff like that and continue watching from where you, where you left off. But you know, even if you're just watching on like a Samsung or a Vizio television, carbon TV is already there. So you just search for the app in the device. If you're on, you know a mobile, you know a phone, laptop, tablet obviously just carbontvcom.
Speaker 2:Carbon TV is really good with their social media. We have a great team in place who handles that, so it's a really great way to get familiar with some of the producers, because we reshare a lot of what they're doing in the field. Because we reshare a lot of what they're doing in the field. So I believe our Instagram is Carbon TV Media and we're also on Facebook and it's not hard to find there.
Speaker 2:I'm personally on social media not quite as much as what I used to be more quiet than usual just because I stay pretty busy in my day to day life, but I'm Jules McQueen. On all of the social media stuff and and people who are on there, you know I I do engage. You know I respond to people if they have questions. A lot of our producers reach out to me through there with, you know, ideas or suggestions or needing stuff you know, for the business. So I am active on mostly Instagram, not Facebook as much. But I do encourage everyone to go check out Carbon TV. We have just so many great shows on there and the producers deserve it.
Speaker 2:We have guys and men and women out there in the field creating amazing content of all different types, not just hunting and fishing. We branch out into other verticals like survival aviation homesteading cooking you know, so it's very family friendly, so very easy to stream lots and lots of different types of content for free all the time.
Speaker 1:Yep and podcasts, videos, everything it's super cool and then like live streams of zoos and all sorts of crazy stuff, so it's pretty great and I spend a fair amount of time on there. I try and get my kid off of YouTube and onto Carbon TV as much as I can, because I feel like it's better for his soul than what he finds on YouTube.
Speaker 2:It's absolutely ridiculous, it's true, it's much safer, for sure, and we actually create kids playlists. So we started doing that back during COVID COVID, actually, when people were staying home and their kids were out of school. My team went in and created playlists that were things that would appeal to young people, and that way they just click it and it starts playing and it will continue playing each different episode and they don't have to go through and try to find what they're looking for. So we try to make it easier for the young people too.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. I did not know that I'm going to have to go ahead and look for those.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:Well, jules, I'll put all the links to everything you just mentioned in the show notes so that people can find you nice and easy. Thank you so much for, first off, letting me join the Carbon TV family you can't find my podcast there but secondly, for coming on and telling us some great stories today. They were great stories. They weren't just look at this giant buck I killed. They were stories that were important to you and that's why I do this, so thank you.
Speaker 2:Well, I appreciate you being in our Carbon TV family. It means a lot to us to have you on the network, and thanks for having me on. It's been fun.
Speaker 1:All right, guys. That's it. Another couple stories in the books. Again, I want to thank Jules for coming on the podcast. Couldn't have done it without her. Very happy to be part of the Carbon TV family. Please make sure you check it all out. Links to everything are in the show notes. There's a ton of content on there, and you're going to see the guns, you're going to see the kill shots, you're going to see the things that other venues take off. So it's pretty cool. So thank you again, jules. I really do appreciate that To you listeners. Thank you, guys for tuning in. Again, we're doing a big giveaway. Please check out our Instagram. There's a link to that in the show notes. The number one pinned thing there is how you enter. Again, we're giving away a bow, arrows, broadheads, food, battery packs, all sorts of fun stuff. Again, thank you, guys. I appreciate you as we come up here on episode 100, which is when we're actually giving this stuff away. Now, get out there and make some stories of your own.
