Right On the Mark – EP17 – Kyle Crickenberger and Coyote Contests

Right On The Mark 0:00
Right On The Mark Episode 17, recorded July 2021, featuring Kyle Crickenberger starts right now.

He is hunted all across America and around the world. rifle, pistol, shotgun, crossbow compound traditional, he uses them. He's an outfitter, an award winning outdoor television host and founder of America's only organization fighting to protect every hunters lifestyle. He's brash, he's bold, he's humorous, and a bit hothead. But when it comes to all things God family country and hunting these keys mark and he's right on the mark.

Keith Mark 0:44
Hi, this is Keith Mark and I got my sidekick with me again today Josh Ishmael cam and, and I'll tell you, I'm kind of excited for today's show him actually Josh is you know, I'm excited every day I get up you make fun of me because I say it's the greatest sun sunrise I've ever seen in the greatest sunset. And that's kind of how I see the world but

Josh Ishmael 1:02
I only see the sunsets. Laughter.

Keith Mark 1:06
Okay, Joey Chestnut. Laughter

You know, what's exciting for me today is we're just talking to just a fellow Hunter. I mean, this is like the campfires that you and I and Shawn shared for many, many years with when we were filming McMillan river adventures and I love just hearing what our fellow hunters are thinking from all over the country. And we're going to talk to one of our Hunter Nation friends from Virginia, the awesome state of Virginia, home of George Washington, you know, Kyle Cricken burger is his name, '

Josh Ishmael 1:38
An average joke. I mean, like you'd kind of put it as average Joe but loves coyote hunting, nighttime coyote hunting, they have very good pro coyote hunting laws where you can do it at night. You can do thermals, you can do it at night vision, whatever you got to do just to get the job done.

Keith Mark 1:54
Yeah. So I'm really curious to see what's going on in Virginia in the hunting world. And we'll just talk to rank and file guy it's gonna be fun about it. I love it. Alright, stay tuned. We've got Kyle Crickenburger, just a hunting fool from Virginia, and he's gonna be right on the mark here in just a second.

Right On The Mark 2:13
Right On The Mark is brought to you in part by Hunter nation. Hunter nation defends all of our traditional American values, God family, country conservation, and our hunting lifestyle. Join the unified voice of the American hunter by visiting Hunter nation.org today.

Keith Mark 2:31
All right, with no further ado, I want to introduce hunter nation friend of ours Kyle Crickenburger from Virginia. Welcome to Right On The Mark Kyle.

Kyle Crickenberger 2:42
Hey, how you doing? Thanks for having me, guys.

Keith Mark 2:44
You know, I'm just I'm intrigued with what my fellow hunters are thinking about all across the

You know, back when we were filming McMillan river adventures on the outdoor channel, I would spend 150 to 200 nights a year, all over this great country sitting around campfires, and just talking to hunter sharing hunting stories, bitching about things that they thought weren't going right in the country or in the hunting world or otherwise. And, you know, basically just just kicking it. And that's what we're hoping we can do with you today. So here, you've got some pretty good hunting stories, all the way back to when you were the old age of two and a half when you started hunting. Is that true?

Kyle Crickenberger 3:30
Yes, sir. That's correct. My, my dad had me in the woods when I was two and a half years old. And he used to wrap me up in the blanket and take me down in the deer woods. And I've been infatuated with with hunting, you know, at a very young age and was a big deer and turkey hunter most of my life. And then as I became a teenager, I transitioned over into the predator hunting and the coyote hunting world and really dived into that deep and I guess you could say that I was intrigued with it from the aspect of helping out the local farmers and, you know, hunting coyotes because of how elusive you know, they were and it was it was just it was a new, you know, exciting challenge as far as is hunting. And... I've been doing it for quite some time now, I guess you could say for close to 15 years

Keith Mark 4:25
Awesome.

Kyle Crickenberger 4:26
It's a it's a fast pace board and it's very fun.

Keith Mark 4:30
Yeah, it is and you know, you know, predator hunting, it gets kind of a bad rap. You know, I think there's so many people outside of the hunting world that look at coyotes and look at bears and look at Fox and look at, you know, other predatory animals as little cute, cuddly stuffed toys. And so when they hear hunters talking about we need to manage the bear populations or we need to manage the wolf populations or we need to manage...fill in the blank of a number of these, you know, predators, and you have these people that are like, "Oh my gosh, why do you hunt those, you don't eat coyotes, you don't eat wolves." And they just don't understand the North American model of conservation. And you mentioned earlier that one of the things that, you know, kind of drives you as you realize that you're doing a great service to your local farmers and, and livestock operators, right.

Kyle Crickenberger 5:28
Absolutely, I think what tends to happen a lot of times with predator control, or, you know, predator management is, is you you get anti hunting groups or organizations that they, they believe that predator management is not a necessary tool, and that it is more about killing, than hunting. And that is just so far from the truth. And, you know, that's, that's just kind of what I, what I'd like to talk about today, you know, just just try to inform people that, you know, aren't aware of the importance of predator management, you know, and why, why it is a necessit.

Keith Mark 6:14
Well preach, brother Kyle, you're here around the Right On The Mark campfire, it's a area that you're hitting the all the points right on the head of the nail. I mean, tell folks why predator management is such an essential part of managing all wildlife, whether it's the rabbit population, whether it's the deer, the elk, depending on the state you live in the moose, the antelope, the grouse, so on and so forth. We'll talk about that for a second.

Kyle Crickenberger 6:40
Sure, well, I mean, you know, to cover, you know, in a nutshell, what we have in Virginia, I would consider the coyote here, you know, our apex predator, as far as our game animals, you know, and if they aren't being managed, or or hunted, you know, the populations are just going to continue to grow. And that's when you're going to start finding more livestock attacks, you're gonna start having more coyotes move into urban areas where there has been documented, you know, pet attacks, or, you know, where children had been attacked, you know, shoot more human encounters, you know, that they have no natural predator, you know, outside of humans. So, it's our responsibility as conservationists and hunters to manage that species of animal, just like we, you know, manage the deer population, the wild turkey population, you know, the quail population, so on and so forth. You know, it is it is very important, you know, that we don't just manage, you know, the prey species, but the predator species as well.

Keith Mark 7:52
Right on and I agree with you, let's give the listeners just a little bit of a lesson about the coyote population in Virginia. Of course, I live in Kansas, we've had coyotes forever. Josh did some looking online, how many counts we have in Kansas?

Josh Ishmael 8:09
Like 300,000

Keith Mark 8:10
300,000, counts and cans were overrun with him. And, you know, we have to consciously on my farm, get out and do our predator management, responsibility and shoot coyotes. Now in Kansas, we can also hunt at night. And so we take that obligation seriously. But at this point, if you would, if we took a year off of hunting coyotes in Kansas, that population would explode to numbers that would just be impossible to get the genie back in the bottle. So when did coyotes give or take first make their way into the Commonwealth of Virginia?

Kyle Crickenberger 8:48
The late the late 70s, early 80s, you know,

Keith Mark 8:53
Are we talking in the 1970s, and 80s, are we talking George Washington? 1700?

Kyle Crickenberger 8:58
No, no.

Keith Mark 9:00
Wow. 1980 1970 you start getting coyotes. And Josh, how many? What's the population in Virginia now?

Josh Ishmael 9:09
Well, 50,000 is what the DNR sets.

Keith Mark 9:12
So your DNR says there's about 50,000 coyotes in your state. So in a span of roughly 50 years, they've gone from nothing to 50,000. That's that isan incredible explosion of the coyote population in Virginia.

Kyle Crickenberger 9:28
It is and you know, that is we have never our DWR has never actually done any scientific studies to any extent to really know if that 50,000 you know, figure is even accurate. So we truthfully don't know what what the population is and to be quite frank, myself and a lot of the other coyote hunters here in Virginia, believe that, you know, that number is in fact much larger than that, for the simple fact that, you know, we are the guys that are in the field all the time. And I understand that, you know, every state now has an agency and they have their biologists that do, you know, their studies and their scat samples, you know, a middle trap a few coats here and there, but you just can't collect real hard data from from small studies like that, you know, if, if you would, if they would be willing to take the hunters that are in the field for five days or nights a week, you know, from year to year, and, and take some of their input some of their data, you know, that they would see that the numbers have been on the rise for the last 15 years, you know, just at a rapid rate, and

Keith Mark 10:49
Giving them the benefit of the doubt at 50,000. And if they're wrong, and you're correct, and your fellow hunters that are in the field regularly, put that number, something considerably higher than 50,000. Well, obviously, the state of Virginia needs to be concerned about managing that population. You agree?

Kyle Crickenberger 11:09
Absolutely. You know, and and this is one thing, you know, a couple, a couple points that I would like to, you know, cover just, you know, give some people some background, you know, if, if predator management was not an important asset, in why would each state and government agencies be spending millions of dollars every year on predator control and management? You go out West, you have government agencies, you got USDA flying choppers, for coyotes, you know, they're bringing in state trappers, you know, they've got to every state has a, you know, a budget set aside for for predator management, including, you know, Virginia.

Keith Mark 11:52
You know, he just hit the nail on the head on a very sore subject for me, Kyle, it makes no sense to me, because what that does is that takes the coyote or whatever predator animal that we're paying good, hard taxpayer dollars for people to shoot out of airplanes or, or helicopters or a poison or to trap when that puts that coyote or the wolf in the in the liability column. Whereas if with solid conservation practices, where we encourage hunters, like the state of Utah put a bounty on coyotes one year, because they weren't managed, there wasn't enough hunters doing their management responsibility. They had to encourage hunters to get in the field and shoot coyotes. So they put a bounty on coyotes, which would cover some of the expense involved in in that endeavor. And it was highly successful, they were able to reduce the surplus of coyotes in their state to a manageable level, which in turn helped all of the prey populations. It's just unconscionable to me that we would pay taxpayer dollars to do what I guarantee you other hunters would do, if they were allowed to or incentivize to do it.

Josh Ishmael 13:15
They pay $500 a deer tag that just Shawnee Mission Park just right over by us they hired snipers to come in and shoot deer and we would have paid $500 per tag for the opportunity, they would have made money off it

Keith Mark 13:27
Listen, I want to get into a couple of other subjects with you. But we got to take a quick break. We're gonna come back when we come back. I want you to tell our listeners, I want you to tell them a hunting story. I want them to know you're legit. If we were sitting around the campfire and you pulled out one of your two best hunting stories, Kyle have them ready when we come back from the break. When we come back with Kyle Couric and Berger, one of my fellow hunter nation members, predator hunter deluxe from the great state of Virginia, stick around.

Right On The Mark 13:57
Do you have the spirit of the wild? If so you need to check out TedNugent.com. For everything related to the nuge. You'll find the latest in concert news and Ted's take on everything hunting rock and roll and America. You can shop his entire catalog of albums and find new music releases. Not to mention you can book your own hunt with Ted through his Sunrise Safari hunts. And big news. Ted Nugent has been named the national spokesperson for hunter nation. So join Ted Today and join Hunter Nation. And then check out TedNugent.com.

Keith Mark 14:35
Welcome back. All right, Kyle, I gave you a break to think about it. Our listeners want to hear you swap a hunting store with them. What do you got?

Kyle Crickenberger 14:43
Alright. You know, I've got I've got so many memorable hunts, you know, whether they're, they're coyote hunts or deer hunts. I guess you could say, one of my most memorable coyote hunts that I have is probably one of the the first coyotes that I ever got to see killed with thermal imaging, which is infrared I'm not sure you know if any of our you know, listeners are familiar with that type of equipment, but infrared or thermal imaging is available to see differentials between heat sources. You know, a lot of hog hunters down in Texas use this equipment a lot of coyote hunters across the nation use this equipment in back in 2011. I purchased a it was called a FLIR ps 32. And it was a thermal monocular. And at the at the time, the equipment was obviously nowhere near as advanced as it is today. But it was, you would see this black and white image. And it looks like an old Nintendo game, almost when you would look through this viewfinder. And me and a couple buddies had gone out to a local farm here that we have in Bedford County, Virginia. And we called up some some coyotes with this thermal imaging gear. And it was so neat to be able to watch how these animals worked into the call and actually came to us because up until that time, we had used spotlights with red filters that was kind of the standard. And it still is a standard for night predator hunting across the nation, especially down in some of the southern states like Texas, and, you know, typically all you can see with that spotlight is the eye-shine of the predator. So you know, you weren't able to, you know, decipher body language, you weren't able to see if he was you know, checking when and where he was going and you lose him in the tall grass or you know, the brush or whatever. And it was, it was so neat to be able to watch the mannerisms and the characteristics of how these predators you know, would would work their way into this pray. distress call. And anyway, we ended up calling in this coyote that about ran up to our feet at ran up the gun barrel, and a good buddy of mine shot it. And we got over to it. And we were just, we were we were blown away at how fun and how action packed you know that that style of hunting was. And I'd say that's, that's what really got me hooked into the coyote management in predator hunting. And I'd say that's probably one of one of my most memorable hunts just just because that's that's where it all, that's where it all started.

Keith Mark 17:44
You know, you mentioned, you know, hunting in the story was with one of your buddies, and it's so cool, because you didn't even pull the trigger. And you're telling that your buddy pulled the trigger, and it's still not the most memorable. You know?

Kyle Crickenberger 17:59
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Keith Mark 18:00
Do you? Do you mostly coyote hunt with your buddies? Or at least another buddy most?

Kyle Crickenberger 18:07
I've got, yeah, I have, you know, I've competed in predator calling competitions across the nations and I've hunted with, with hundreds of great guys, you know, across the country. But here in Virginia, I've got a group of local guys that we've hunted with each other for years. And, and that's what you know, hunting is is about at the end of the day, you know, I think a lot of people forget about the the camaraderie aspect of hunting and when when I'm 70 years old, you know, that, that those are the memories that I believe that you know, will be the most important to me is you know, time in the field with, you know, friends and family, you know, enjoying what I love to do.

Keith Mark 18:52
You know, it's funny that you say that call because that's really it. I mean, you know, everybody that we talked to on this show, and in the campfires that we've been around for years is it rarely is the most memorable event of somebody's hunting career, a trigger pole, or the release of an arrow. It's it's a story around, you know, this event. And it's funny that you say that one of my favorite coyote hunting stories myself, is we were filming a McMillan River Adventure show in northern Missouri as part of a coyote calling contest up there with a friend of mine who used to be the sheriff in that county there. And I'll tell you, I had never up to that point been involved in a coyote calling contest. But the camaraderie around that. I mean, when we got up there, you know, we entered it was early in the day and everybody got their things together in a way we went. But when everybody came back that evening, moms and dads and kids and grandmas and grandpas and they had a big wild game feed. I mean, it was truly like a whole community of people, family and friends that all got together. And and in the end, we were doing our predator management duties. People that only hunted once a year actually. And it happened to be in that calling contest. But still, they were part of this larger, you know, hunting family lifestyle community. So

Josh Ishmael 20:22
Can I ask how that tournament worked out for you?

Keith Mark 20:25
Well, it wasn't bad. We shot quite a few.

Josh Ishmael 20:29
You got disqualified for having a camera guy?

Keith Mark 20:31
Oh, yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah. We've shot a lot of coyotes, but they said because they considered our camera man as a spotter, which of course we didn't do it to win any which way we did it for the fun. But yeah, no, it was a it was a lot of fun. But the point is, there were some hunters in there. They were deer hunters, or they were turkey hunters. And they weren't really predator hunters. But they did it once a year to be part of that contest, which obviously certainly helped in that County's population management. And I hear and I want you to fill me in on this. I hear there some rumblings in Virginia where they want to do away with coyote calling contest, which I personally find that impossible to believe that the citizens of Virginia with your coyote population going up at the rate that it is would allow that to happen. But you know what, Kyle, I want to hear your take on that we come back after this break.

Right On The Mark 21:28
Hunter Nation has issued an Action Alert in response to organized efforts to ban predator calling contest in Virginia. Hunter Nation needs every hunter to log in and register your opposition to this ban. The comment period ends July 30. So hurry, regardless of where you live in the United States, your comments are welcome. So take action now and visit HunterNation.org. Today, scroll down to the hunter advocacy section or click the hunter advocacy link at the top of the website, you will be directed to the appropriate comment section of the Virginia Division of Wildlife Resources page. Anti hunting regulations like this hurt every Hunter. So make your voice be heard. Now, it's quick and hunter nation has made it as simple as possible. So log on now, and let your voice be heard and help protect hunting rights. Hunter Nation is committed to providing a unified voice for the American Hunter. And this is how you can help visit HunterNation.org today and click the Virginia action alert under our hunter advocacy section. Hurry, this comment period ends July 30.

Keith Mark 22:49
Okay, welcome back, Kyle. And I want to know, is there any truth to these rumors we're hearing here that the year for Virginia is trying to abolish coyote calling contest.

Kyle Crickenberger 23:02
Unfortunately, there there is a lot of truth to those statements. I was made aware of this, back in March, that our DWR wants to ban predator hunting contests in the state of Virginia.

Keith Mark 23:20
And what's the what's the lack of logic behind that Kyle?

Kyle Crickenberger 23:24
Their their logic is is that it is bad optics for the sport of hunting. And they are afraid that it will be misconstrued that we are just hunting to kill versus hunting out of necessity or for a management purpose. And that is that is the logic behind wanting to ban the contest. And like I stated earlier, it just couldn't be further from the truth. And the big driving force, you know, behind a lot of this is is not just our DWR in their opinions of it. But you know, predator hunters and all hunting in general I would say is always under attack by anti hunting organizations and groups, you know, whether it's PETA or the Humane Society or Project Coyote so on and so forth. And we constantly have these organizations that you know, they'll preach one thing, but at the end of the day, they want to get rid of all hunting.

Keith Mark 24:38
That's right.

Kyle Crickenberger 24:38
And it starts at the bottom of the totem pole and it starts with the smaller what I would consider you know, minority groups of hunting being the the predator hunting or the Coon hunters or you know, certain small game, you know, hunting and that's where it starts and it's you know, it's so important for all hunters to understand that once these anti hunting groups get their foot in the door, they might not be coming for your particular type of hunting today, but they will be coming for it eventually.

Keith Mark 25:14
You know, you know, it just did a promo. You just said a promo for why I founded Hunter Nation in the first place. My whole thought, as I sat and looked over the horizon, trying to see multiple years in the future, and there's no way the anti hunters are going to be able to put hunting yes or no on a ballot. And when it's not gonna happen in our great state of Kansas, when they put is hunting a constitutional right. More people voted yes, it is a constitutional right than any other candidate or initiative that had ever been on a ballot in Kansas since statehood. So hunting is not going to be voted out by the populace. That's they know it, but you hit the nail on the head. If hunters don't unite, what they're going to do is they're going to do away with coyote hunting over here. And then they're going to do away with with a Lesser Prairie Chicken hunting over here, and then they're going to do away with teal hunting over here or dove hunting in Michigan or wherever it is. And then once they segment segment, the population, then they've got us in the problem is in the hunting world, if we're not in fighting over bow hunting versus gun hunting versus long range hunting versus crossbow hunting, total apathy is going to kill us because you know, I'm a turkey Hunter. I don't deer hunt. I don't really care if they ban deer hunting because I don't do it. Oh, you know, I don't coyote hunt. I don't care if they ban coyote hunting. I'm just a deer hunter. And all I do is sheep hunt. I'm a sheep hunter and miss. And that's all I do. And I don't care if there's no elk in Yellowstone, or outside of Yellowstone, whatever it is. And so, boy, I tell you between infighting and apathy, Kyle, it's, it's a heck of a problem. And as you know, I asked that question rhetorically about the coyote calling contest, because Hunter Nation has been actively involved with this issue in Virginia. Because we recognize that this is in fact anti hunting. That the goal here isn't anything short of trying to be an anti hunting piece of legislation. And so Hunter Nation right now is encouraging everybody out there, especially those in Virginia, to go to HunterNation.org. There's a link in there. It's we're right now in the comment period, where they're they're taking this under advisement. And we're asking you to go there, whether you're in the state of Virginia or otherwise, and put your comments in there. And let them know that no, we don't want you to ban coyote calling contest. I mentioned the story about Davies County, Missouri. And I promise you more than half of the people in that contest wouldn't coyote hunt if it wasn't for that contest. So look at what they did for predator management that day up there just there one time a year getting out in the woods. And if we don't have that, then again, 50,000 coyotes or whatever the real number is in Virginia, turns into 100,000 coyotes. Then, what do you got? You got a few less rabbits, you got less deer? And then maybe when these anti hunters start losing Chihuahua and spaniels, they'll, they'll listen?

Kyle Crickenberger 28:28
Absolutely, you know, and I think it's important, you know, for people to understand and realize that they're they're, the hunters across the nation, do more for conservation, conservation than any anti hunting group could ever imagine.

Keith Mark 28:49
I agree.

Kyle Crickenberger 28:50
And that's just the fact.

Keith Mark 28:53
Guaranteed fact.

Kyle Crickenberger 28:54
We will we can't, we can't as hunters, you know, let that slip out of our hands and let these anti hunting groups you know, get a stronghold and start taking away certain styles, you know, or different species, you know, of hunting, and it's just imperative that we we all band together. And, you know, you don't you don't have to be a coyote Hunter. You know, if you're a deer hunter or turkey hunter elk bear doesn't matter. You know, we're all in the fight together. And that's what it's about right now is bringing people bringing the hunters you know, and the hunting community together to say, "Hey, you know, we're all going to fight this. We're not going to stand for what's going on. We're not going to stand for any legislation of taking away any type of hunting." You know, we we have a lot of deer hunters here in Virginia, and it's been a, a big sport here to run deer with hounds. I mean, it's it's been a tradition here in Virginia for a long time and I don't know if you know this or not, but hound hunting for deer has been under fire in Virginia for years. I mean, it's actually another one of the topics, you know, on the agenda that they're trying to get rid of here in Virginia currently as well. And I, I'm a deer hunter myself, but I still hunt. I don't, I don't participate in hound hunting tradition. You know, I didn't grow up doing it that way. But I believe that those guys have every, you know, bit as much right to hunt with their hounds is I do to get in a tree stand and hunt deer.

Keith Mark 30:35
Josh, what he just said, I'm going to paraphrase what he said, if you're not a member of Hunter Nation, go to HunterNation.org. Because everything that you just said, Kyle is exactly why Hunter Nation exists is to try to bring the hound hunters, with the turkey hunters, with the predator hunters and so on and so forth. And so yeah, please if you're not a member of Hunter Nation, I mean, the great CEO, President Luke Hilgemann is leading a charge of a grassroots army of hunters to make sure that the anti hunters don't cut us apart. And then cautious one little group at a time,

Josh Ishmael 31:15
Kyle's actually on fire on another topic of if you're a deer hunter, you should care about it because 54% of fawn deaths are caused by coyotes.

Keith Mark 31:23
And that's it 50,000 Imagine if, well, let's ask this question, because then you're gonna give me the answer to what's going to happen in Josh's scenario. So I personally believe that coyote calling contests are an integral part of coyote management, because it is not one of the more popular forms of hunting. And now of course, you've got guys like you and me and Josh, we're going to coyote hunt, no matter what, because one, I enjoy it. Two, it's very challenging. And three, I fully understand that every coyote I kill is helping my deer and fawn and Turkey population on my farm. So in your opinion, Kyle, if these anti hunters prevail on this issue, and they banned calling contest for coyotes in in Virginia, do you believe it will have an adverse effect on the number of people that get to the woods to hunt coyotes, in turn, is going to hurt the management of that species?

Kyle Crickenberger 32:24
Absolutely. I mean, you know, it does coincide with with deer hunting, you know, as the predator population increases, if they aren't being managed, or hunted, you know, the the fawn mortality rate is also going to increase with that, you know, the predation rate is also going to increase, you know, with the small game, you know, animals. I mean, it's, it goes back to this simple wildlife management, you know, and Conservation 101 and it's just very imperative that, you know, the hunters under understand that and even if you're not a hunter, you know, so right.

Keith Mark 33:09
You want to just see deer in the woods. You want to see deer in the woods, give us that number one more time, Josh, why the deer hunters there? And I'm sure there's a comparable turkey stat like this are certainly probably a comparable rabbit. Maybe a chihuahua stat. But let's give them the deer stat. Right?

Josh Ishmael 33:24
It was 54% of all fawn deaths were caused by coyotes,

Keith Mark 33:28
right? Think about that. That's it. 50,000 coyotes. They banned coyote calling contest, let's say they kill half of the number of coyotes in Virginia. Next thing you know they're gonna have 75,000 coyotes in Virginia, then what's that going to do to fawn mortality? It's going to be crazy. So listen, as we sit around this campfire, and we're about to close. Listen to Kyle, if you're in Virginia, no matter if you're a turkey hunter, Deer Hunter. You know, whatever. waterfowl Hunter, hey, support, all hunting, legal and ethical hunting, which certainly predator hunting is, coyote contests are, go to HunterNation.org. Get in the fight. Don't sit on the sidelines. This game is too important. Got to get in the fight.

Josh Ishmael 34:13
All right, before we leave, Kyle, I got a question for you. A lot of the people that are against coyote competition see the pictures of the the coyotes on trailers after the contest. Can you tell us why the coyotes are on the trailers?

Kyle Crickenberger 34:29
Yeah. One event in particular, a good friend of mine, Jason Groseclose. He hosts and has been hosting for a few years now an event here in Virginia called the Eastern predator calling championship and it's one of the largest predator hunting calling competitions east of the Mississippi River. And how the format of the hunt works is you can actually participate in this event in any state, east of the Mississippi River, there's rules and regulations for the hunt. And then there's a check in in Wytheville, Virginia, where all these participants will bring, you know, their coyotes. And there's, you know, there's there's bounties, and you know, there's different prizes for, you know, first, second, third play side side deals, and so on and so forth. And at the end of this event, we have, since day one of this contest, we have had a fur buyer on site that will bring in a 16 foot trailer, and he collects all the fur, whether it be foxes or Bobcat, and he skins these animals out, and he sells them, you know, at NAFA, so the furs are being utilized. And the reason that you'll see these pictures, floating around with, you know, a few 100 coyotes on a trailer is because that's actually the fur buyer, that is, is collecting all of the first to go in, you know, utilize it and skin all those animals out. And you'll see a lot of misinformation out there with a picture that, you know, the Humane Society or Project Coyote will put out and it will, you know, be something along the lines of, you know, "these 300, you know, coyotes were, you know, slaughtered, you know, by by one group of by, by five guys", and that's just so far from the truth, because that that is collectively, several 100 participants that have harvested those animals, and, you know, in the entire state or surrounding, you know, states, so we're talking hundreds of millions of acres, you know, it's not like, you know, they are decimating a population where there has been several 100 coyotes taken out of this one county, you know, it spans across, you know, the, the entire state. And at the end of the day, you know, what that is, is, is predator management.

Keith Mark 36:56
That's right. And you know, what that trailer signifies, that signifies that a number of hunters participated in hands on predator management, wildlife conservation, and that's living proof that it works because the more of those coyotes that get shot and managed, the population stays at a stable level which all the prey populations benefit from. So here's my question for you. Who's the most famous predator hunter in all time, Virginia history?

Kyle Crickenberger 37:29
I would honestly have to say, a good a good friend of mine, Benton Bowman is his name. And he's

Keith Mark 37:39
Well, Benton may have been a heck of a coyote hunter or predator Hunter. But do you know George Washington, was a prolific Fox Hunter. In fact, George Washington, hunted Fox nearly every day. And he kept a very copious diary and journal of the number of foxes that he saw and the number of foxes that he was able to take all via horseback and hounds. How about that?

Kyle Crickenberger 38:05
Really? I did not know that.

Keith Mark 38:07
See there now. Now that's something that you have to research and look into it, in my opinion. If George Washington, the founder of our nation, thought enough about hands on predator management, that he not only did it, he wrote about it, I sure think all the rest of you all in Virginia, and all across the country, ought to take it seriously and do it ourselves. What do you think?

Kyle Crickenberger 38:31
Absolutely.

Keith Mark 38:32
Well, Kyle, you've been a heck of a guest. I appreciate you coming around the cyber campfire witness and I tell you, you let me know when there's a coyote calling contest out there. And I'd love to come out there and participate in hands on predator management in Virginia. I've never hunted Virginia, I'd love to come out there and share a real campfire with you if you would have us.

Unknown Speaker 38:55
Yes, sir. Absolutely. My doors is open anytime. And if you guys ever wanted to come out here and hunt, you're absolutely welcome. And I just want to I want to thank you guys for giving me the opportunity, you know, to, to come on the podcast today. And you know, just just speak about what we've got, you know, going on here in Virginia, and what I want to also thank Luke for everything he's done with Hunter Nation as well and helping us fight this battle. And, you know, hopefully, the upcoming vote that we have going on in August that it's going to go in our favor, you know, and we're going to be able to continue, you know, to participate in legal hunting. You know, that's, that's our main goal. Yeah, just

Keith Mark 39:39
remember, just remember this, Kyle, if those brave patriots would have showed up at the Concord bridge, and looked around and there was three of them. We'd have been in big trouble. And one we're trying to ban things like, you know, this, this bad policy in Virginia that they're trying to pass the banned coyote calling contest and, and all these other fights that Hunter Nation's in the middle of if Luke turns around, and there's only two or three people that are behind him, hunters lose. So thanks for putting your name on the dotted line for Hunter Nation Kyle, I encourage you to reach out to all your fellow predator hunters and just hunters in general in Virginia, make sure they know that this is a fight for our lifestyle, buddy. And that if they're not members of Hunter Nation, they need to go to HunterNation.org and become part of this army. Thanks for coming on Kyle. And those of you listening if you stick around, Josh now have a little close and we'll be back here in just one second. Thanks again, Kyle. Happy hunting.

Kyle Crickenberger 40:44
Thank you.

Right On The Mark 40:45
Hunter Nation has issued an Action Alert in response to organized efforts to ban predator calling contests in Virginia. Hunter Nation needs every hunter to login and register your opposition to this ban. The comment period ends July 30. So hurry, regardless of where you live in the United States. Your comments are welcome. So take action now and visit HunterNation.org. Today, scroll down to the hunter advocacy section or click the hunter advocacy link at the top of the website, you will be directed to the appropriate comment section of the Virginia Division of Wildlife Resources page. Anti hunting regulations like this hurt every Hunter. So make your voice be heard. Now, it's quick and Hunter Nation has made it as simple as possible. So log on now, and let your voice be heard and help protect hunting rights. Hunter Nation is committed to providing a unified voice for the American Hunter. And this is how you can help visit HunterNation.org today and click the Virginia Action Alert under our hunter advocacy section. Hurry, this comment period ends July 30.

Keith Mark 42:06
Welcome back to Right On The Mark. And you know what, Josh? That's really refreshing, right? You know, we've had, you know, all kinds of crazy people here on the podcast from Ted Nugent and Michael Martin Murphy to Mark Geist and so on and so forth. But I mean, just talking to Kyle reminds me how important it is that just rank and file hunters step up and make their voice heard.

Josh Ishmael 42:28
And he's he's not with an organization.

Keith Mark 42:30
Nope.

Josh Ishmael 42:30
He's just a guy wanting to make a difference. He's making a difference.

Keith Mark 42:33
Yes, he isn't. And if you're listening today, and you're thinking, Well, I'm just one person. Well, you know, one person turns to two turns to, you know, 80 million if we're talking voting,

Josh Ishmael 42:44
right, you know, and if nothing else, he educated people on where the coyotes go, or I mean, it's not like they're just thrown away. They're being utilized. And in turn, they're helping the deer populations, the turkey populations, and so on and so forth.

Keith Mark 42:58
Yeah, it just seems crazy. To me. It's sinister, in fact, is the word that comes to my mind that there are forces out there that they know managing coyotes are a must if we're going to have healthy deer, healthy turkey healthy, all these populations, but yet they don't want to manage them. Right.

Josh Ishmael 43:18
Right, right. Well, just like you said, if there's no deer to be hunted, then why go to the woods. If I take my kids out, and they don't see anything? Why do they want to go again?

Keith Mark 43:27
Right? And you know, and I tell you today, and we ought to mention this. So a friend of the program passed away today. Somebody that came on as a guest for us, not three weeks ago, really one of the corner blocks of modern, you know, the American model of conservation, Val Geist. And you know, Josh, remember what what he said he said that the really the only thing that standing between the Second Amendment and its abolition is the American Hunter.

Josh Ishmael 43:59
Right.

Keith Mark 44:00
And so I think it's even worse than then sometimes we think, I think it's not just anti hunting. I think it's so sinister, that it's anti American, if there's no hunters, there's no need to have firearms. And then the next thing you know, what do we become? Something to think about? Well, very refreshing to listen to Kyle, talk about just how fun it is to, you know, and challenging it is to predator hunting, how important that it is that we predator hunt.

Josh Ishmael 44:31
And more importantly, to make your voice be heard by going to the Virginia website and let your public comment be heard.

Keith Mark 44:38
Right. I hope Kyle, when he hung up today that he calls five of his friends and tells them to call five of their friends to call five of their friends until they literally get an army of hunters in Virginia to let their voice be heard and make sure they don't get this just rotten anti hunting policy shoved down their throat.

Josh Ishmael 44:59
Uh hum.

Keith Mark 44:59
Well, if If you're not members of Hunter Nation, make your voice heard go to HunterNation.org. It's a must. Honestly, when we're in a cultural war for our lifestyle, I think we're in a culture war right now. For the soul of America. It boils down in my opinion, just to just the old fashioned good versus evil. This is like every Western we saw when we were kids, you knew who the good guy was from the start. You knew who the bad guy was from the start. And you rooted like hell for the good guy. And sometimes the good guy needed friends to join the posse and help defeat evil. Well, Luke, the CEO, and president of Hunter Nation needs you to join his posse become members of HunterNation.org make your voice be heard. That way we can crush these anti hunters in Virginia and everywhere else where they rear their ugly heads. Well, join us again next time we'll be "Right On The Mark" right here.

Right On The Mark 45:53
Right On The Mark invites you to like, share and subscribe today. The views and opinions expressed on Right On The Mark are not necessarily those of our hosts, guests or sponsors. Right On The Mark is produced at Hunter Nation studios, and is the property of Bow and Arrow Productions produced in conjunction with BLT Productions Copyright 2021