DIY Sportsman - Sportsmen's Empire

Mini Shotgun Setup for Turkey

In this episode of the DIY Sportsman podcast, Garrett discusses what has become his favorite shotgun setup for specifically hunting turkeys. This is a gun he originally purchased for his wife, but after setting it up and making a couple of customizations, Garrett has been using it for all of his hunts as well. In the episode, Garrett breaks down the actual make and model of the gun, the choke setup, after market stock, pistol grips versus standard sporter style grips, sling mounts, and red dots compared to the standard bead sight. He also mentions a couple drawbacks of the concept that could be noteworthy depending on your preference. Check out the Sportsmen's Empire Podcast Network for more relevant outdoor content!

Mike Funderburk and Hunt Better

On today's episode of the DIY Sportsman podcast, Garrett sits down with Mike Funderburk out of South Carolina to talk about the Hunt Better platform. This new content platform puts a focus on teaching and preserving woodsmanship skills through livestreams, detailed video hunt breakdowns, and long format video conversations. Mike explains what initiated the idea, what people can expect, and where things are headed. In addition to talking about the Hunt Better platform, Garrett and Mike talk about hunting in the South and how it differs from the Midwest, what types of deer habitat features that seem to be common across the country, technology, challenge hunts, and how experience can often be one of the best guides for learning skills first hand. Check out the Sportsmen's Empire Podcast Network for more relevant outdoor content!

Planning Efficiency for Post-Season Scouting

In today's episode of the DIY Sportsman podcast, Garrett lays out a short and sweet planning method to help you scout efficiently as we get closer to early spring and prime-time for most post season scouting. It's key to remember what the main focus is for post-season scouting, what you can learn, but also what you can't. Then use the amount of available time combined with goals to methodically pre-plan routes and loops and adjust as necessary. It's an easier method to ensure you gather the most amount of good intel in the time you have available.Check out the Sportsmen's Empire Podcast Network for more relevant outdoor content!

Calling In-Season Audibles with Rendell Erik

On today's podcast Garrett speaks with guest Rendell Erik. He's been on the podcast now a few times to talk about scouting and hunt recaps. Based in Iowa, much of his focus is on finding and targeting the biggest and oldest bucks that he can find across a variety of public land pieces that he keeps tabs on. Today's episode is a little different. It's more about calling audibles, dealing with challenges, trying to make the best decisions on the fly as possible when plans A, B, and C blow up. Often Rendell Erik fills his tag earlier in the season before the rut kicks into full gear. This year, after sacrificing some of his season to scout and hunt with a good mutual friend of ours who had drawn a non-resident tag, he had to dig deep and hunt throughout the rut and even into the later gun seasons. He also saw more pressure this year than in years past, and had dry conditions and crop rotations that made early season patterns less repeatable than normal. This is an insightful episode because because it looks at how you can take a good mental approach and take the right actions when things aren't going your way. 

Alabama Veteran's Hunt Recap

In this episode of the DIY Sportsman podcast, Garrett recaps his recent trip down to Alabama for the second annual Veteran's Hunt put together by Spartan Forge. This event helped raise money for two organizations supporting vets as well as provide a fun hunt atmosphere for everyone involved. Prior to the actual hunt starting, Garrett had driven down from Minnesota to do a day of scouting and still hunting a vast area of public land, which ended up yielding deer sightings at close range and confidence for any potential future trips going back. Once the hunt started, Garrett paired up with a marine corps vet to hunt with. They ended up killing deer on back-to-back-to-back evenings, and Garrett describes some of the hunts in more detail which were a combination of pre-sets, hang-and-hunts, and still hunting in the rain. Camp camaraderie, stories, jokes, and food were top notch. Check out the Sportsmen's Empire Podcast Network for more relevant outdoor content!