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Johnny Ryan Deer Stories
208 Plays2 years ago
On this episode Drew sits down with the notorious So Cal killer Johnny Ryan. They talk about what it took for Jonny to shoot his first deer and how it almost went way wrong. Then Johnny tells the story of his So Cal monster and how Fish and Game was working to try and bust him for something he didn't do.
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Transcript
Introduction and Prayer
00:00:07
Speaker
You are listening to the Tricer Podcast, where we talk all things hunting, gear, and the great outdoors. Before we begin, let's start things out right and put God first. Lord Jesus, I thank you for Tricer, and I ask that you can use this podcast as a way to bring joy to all of our listeners. We lay Tricer and this podcast at your feet. Amen.
Podcast Intro Critique
00:00:30
Speaker
All right, Johnny Ryan, what do you think about that intro? That's horrible. It's horrible? Yeah, I don't know. I feel like... I don't think that guy's a hunter. I think he wasted 50 bucks.
00:00:45
Speaker
I'm going for like old, tiny Bill Dance, right? Like 90s, like calling fishing with Bill Dance. We got to swap these. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know. I'm just going to roll with it because everyone hates it and I think it's funny. So we'll see how it is. But anyways.
Johnny's First Deer Hunt
00:01:01
Speaker
Went over to Johnny's house, everybody Johnny Ryan. He's a local San Diego guy who kills deer. Not in San Diego, though. No, he's never killed deer here. I just pass here, no. He passes. So we're just going to do what we did on the last podcast. We're going to go through. We're going to have you talk about the first deer he ever killed. And then we're going to talk about your favorite deer. All right. Well, let's go. First deer. Should we get the antler? Yeah, grab that rack.
00:01:31
Speaker
Alright, I've got the rack. This is the big horn off of my first deer. The dogs ate the skull. That's all I have left. But if you're starting, you have it easy, dude. We had no idea what we were doing then. There wasn't really anyone to talk to. There was no YouTube. There's not a whole lot of info out.
00:01:53
Speaker
Paper tag days is all over the counter. We buy our tag the day deer season started We go and sit up on until we've looked for deer tracks once we found deer tracks We would just sit down like we knew they were coming back
00:02:06
Speaker
And I never came back. We wouldn't hang out very long. We didn't have fucking binoculars. We didn't have good packs. We didn't have anything. We were quail hunters. It just picked up a rifle. Just something like Walmart real quick. I'm going. There was a year where I got my gun boresighted and was like, I'm good. I never even shot this on a bunch of paper. We just didn't know better. And yeah, so I probably went through like four or five years without even seeing a legal buck. We'd sit there until we got cold and then go quail hunting.
00:02:36
Speaker
And them what? So I hooked up with Bryce. We were doing some scouting.
First Success and Legal Concerns
00:02:41
Speaker
We were off at super, super secret road in San Diego that nobody hunts. And me, him, and his dad, they went on one side of the ridge. I went on the other. I had a G13 and a D16. What's a G13? It's a San Diego antler list, but you're allowed to shoot a spike up to three inches. So I was borrowing my friend's rifle. It's a fixed four power Mossberg .30-06.
00:03:03
Speaker
bolt gun, and I watched this deer come in for like a mile. I'm like, oh, it's a doe. It's a doe. And I hid it in a brisket, and I did not buy her again. I sat there and watched it bleed for like five minutes. And then it finally started to tip over, and I saw it had horns. I was like, oh, I effed up.
00:03:23
Speaker
And I had nothing to measure it with. It was real close to three inches. And so I get the deer butchered, get it in my backpack, and I'm coming out. And shortly then after, I had every fucking game warden in San Diego at my truck.
00:03:38
Speaker
And they were all taking turns measuring it. So how did they show up? You called them or they just randomly got lucky? No, one guy was coming down the road. I saw him in his car and like dipped out behind an oak tree, let him drive past. And I'm like, I'm in the clear. And I got on the road and started hauling ass up to my truck. And another game warden was coming down the hill. He's like, well, how'd you do? Like, well.
00:03:59
Speaker
I got one, but I might be in trouble. He's like, what do you mean? He's like, well, let's get you straight. And yeah, it was the, my stomach was not so whole time like, yeah, they were saying you have to measure this radius and that would have put me at
Tricer 80 Tripod Review
00:04:16
Speaker
three and a sixteenth inches.
00:04:18
Speaker
And you're just like, no, you got to go straight. They put me real close to three inches. They're like, you're good. And then started talking shit. Like, who are you going to take it to the taxidermist? Row, row, row. Like, this is my first year. Like, I didn't get home till I felt good. Then actually the next day I shot a fork in the same spot.
00:04:36
Speaker
But that was deer number one. I think the first year we got binoculars. They're helpful. You should use them. Yeah, I know a guy who's big on stabilized binoculars for sure. This is long before the stabilized days. What year is this? I don't know. The tag's floating around here somewhere. Like 2012? Probably 10. Yeah, I think Jay was born. So 10 or 11. And then
00:05:02
Speaker
My favorite deer's gotta be that local one behind Drew. Before I go on that, we should talk about this tripod real quick because it's in the middle of the tripod before we switch over. Okay. Tricer 80 is the fully standing tripod. I like to. I just hunted with that in Arizona. Seven eighths legs, one inch legs, inch and eighth legs in the bottom. It is the most stable tripod you're going to get for backpack hunting with 33 ounces. Got the LP pan head on top.
00:05:30
Speaker
This is a rad set up. What did you think about the tripod? Tripod was bitching. I didn't have any complaints. I went from a completely different pan head and it took me, it was about a 20 hour learning curve for me. You could figure out how to use it. Well, it was, I would, yeah, it was just a learning curve. It was user error, but one day to- You were from a pistol grip. Yeah. Which is kind of like more like- For binoculars, it's fine for, this would be better for a spotter and stuff.
00:05:56
Speaker
But yeah, I liked it. It was, yeah, just a learning curve. Screw with it in your yard for a half day and you'll be fine. Don't do what I did. So once you figured it out, though, you're bitching. You're bitching, it's smooth, ready to go. Yeah, everything, just moving it with my nose.
Hunting in San Diego: Challenges and Stories
00:06:10
Speaker
Yeah, so I just set it up, yeah, like that. So I'll actually just get the tension just right. And then I'll just move it with my nose, all my binoculars, all right.
00:06:19
Speaker
that I can go, you know, get this tension here, move it up and down, all with my nose, and I'm not, I don't want to go, stop, look behind it. You're not having to grab it and move it around. It's a legit panhead for sure. But yeah, I thought it was funny that you had a hard time with it, because it's- Yeah, it was just a learning curve. It's a pretty simple point. Yeah, I'll be out in the next day or two, so. Yeah, archery. Yeah, archery sucks. Don't do it. Yeah, I've been, we've been out, I got out two days this week. First day I got out, we got down two deer.
00:06:47
Speaker
Actually, my kid lost them out, which is kind of cool. They're actually fun and stuff. Found two deer. They were ways off. They were does. Didn't see anything else after that. A lot of sign. And then yesterday I got out and we were just socked in until, like, 8.30. And we ended up piking out around 9, just still hunting out. There was something at home, hanging out with the kids. So it is what it is, man. I tell people all the time, you can kill deer in San Diego. You can kill deer anywhere. You just got to find them. It's easy here. You just got to find them.
00:07:15
Speaker
I think our success rate is like six to 8% here on the rifle tag right now. Is it that low? It's not. Well, I'm not helping it. I just, I'm just a watcher now. I got some people lined up. I want to kill this year though. So hopefully, hopefully they mess up. Yeah. So should we go to the big one or what? Yeah. Is it a good story? You got a long one on it. Yeah, I like it. All right. So should we get the big one in there? I mean, this is,
00:07:41
Speaker
Man, I can't, I don't want to put him down. Let me see if I can get him up, get up on there real quick on him so we can see. There he is up there. So just so everyone knows.
00:07:53
Speaker
When you're in Montana and Colorado, you might be like, oh, that's not a big deer. In San Diego, that's as big as they come. You'll go a lifetime without seeing a deer that big. That's a huge buck for San Diego, for our bucks. When he shot that buck, people were sharing it. They didn't even know him. People were like, dude, this guy's shot. Dude, this guy's shot. It's actually, show that picture below me and Jason. Oh, yeah. You just throw that up in front of the camera. Oh, pull it down? Yeah, it's just under the mount.
00:08:22
Speaker
I was the one that went viral. Yeah, this picture went viral in San Diego. This is, what was this, like 2016 or 17 or something? 2018? I don't remember. The tag's on the back of the mouth. It was the year I shot my first buck, so.
00:08:36
Speaker
Yeah, so they scored, what, 131 and 112. So those two bucks were, I mean, everyone in San Diego was talking about them and they didn't even know Johnny or Jason, and they were just talking about these bucks and how huge they were and showing pictures of their, look at my friend's friend's shot. It was pretty funny. It was a cool day, no. So, yeah, we found mine first, the 112. Jason actually found it.
00:08:59
Speaker
We took Jay and his daughter out. We're trying to get up on this ridge to look at some new country. And with like two four-year-olds really quickly, we figured out that was impossible. And I'm like, well, I've always wanted to glass this one hill. We were picking apart the hill in the middle of the day, and Jason saw it first, but it was inside of Sumac.
00:09:16
Speaker
And so the whole hill was still, and the one bush was just going crazy. He's like, what's going on here? And we were just watching the bush shake. And he's in the middle, just shaking his head. And he popped out. And we're like, holy shit. I didn't know he was a little crabby for. We just saw the big three. And I was like, I want that, real bad. And we kept scouting and found Jason's buck. And so that opening morning came. And he's like, I don't know what I want to do if I want to go. Because we have three real big deer found already.
00:09:45
Speaker
Oh, so you found him, when you found him, you were scouting? Yeah. Oh, so you couldn't kill him? No. But we hunted each of them with a bow, without a handful of stalks, didn't get him killed, then had to wait for D16 to open. Which was like three weeks later, a month later. Yeah, I'd go and watch him, this one a lot. I'd find him almost every day. He's close enough to home. But the other two were bigger. And so that opening morning, I hunted this different deer. And we're on the same mountain. And Jason was on the other end of the peak, a couple miles away.
00:10:14
Speaker
And he killed that one, the 131 four by first light. And on the way to retrieve it, he found the matching set to the deer from the year before. So another big hawking four by set, that big deer. We got that one out and he's like, what are you going to do? I'm like, dude, I'm going to go kill that four by three and jet it across the county. And right before that shooting light, he popped up and
00:10:38
Speaker
I got him dead, but it was canyon to canyon. I had no light left. I had like 3% cell phone and no headlamp. And dude, I was tearing, like he, I stoned him too. I just could not get to that side of the hill. I couldn't find it in the dark and ended up having to leave.
00:10:57
Speaker
I told Howard and Steve the next day, I'm like, hey, we're going to go look at this one place. And I get him to the ridge and take a picture of the hillside at first light. And I'm like, hey, guide me to that bush. And they're like, what? I dumped a big deer there last night. I have to get over there now. And yeah, he was right where he was.
00:11:16
Speaker
Then all the fun started. People thought we shot the deer together. I guess they found some gut piles in the state park. So Fish and Game was going to the taxidermist every other day and they were pulling hairs out of our cape and they were trying to CSIS to the gut piles in the state park.
00:11:33
Speaker
Ultimately, that's how I met Travis, was that buck. Oh, Rusty Miele's? Yeah, he freaking messaged me like, you care if I share this? I'm like, dude, if you have more girls following you than fish and game, go for it. We became friends after that. Yeah. And then there should be a few more big ones there, but I like to.
00:11:54
Speaker
But besides that, that's those two deer. Yeah. Upcoming.
Future Hunting Plans
00:12:00
Speaker
The only hunt I'm looking forward to is Jay has an elk tag with my niece in Arizona. Go chase some lions. And then that's it. Yeah, so you guys are going over to Arizona on the cow tags? The cow elk. Yeah, I'm going to do the same thing.
00:12:16
Speaker
between our whole camp, five cow tags in Utah this year. That'll be fun. Yeah, I don't know. I think it's like an eight day season, so I don't know. Hopefully we kill a couple. I think we'll kill a few for sure. I don't know how much, how sore I am. I won't shoot him like next to the road, ideally, but it normally doesn't happen. Yeah, uphill. Uphill, like right by there, just roll into the truck, but I don't think it's gonna happen. Typically it's always a circus in there, but it'll be a good time. Hopefully Jay and Hailey get an elk. You got any antler tags this year?
00:12:44
Speaker
I have D16 for me. And then my boys have a Coosdeer hunt in Arizona. That'd be cool. So we're going to go over there and do that. You know the unit. We went over there. You know where we're going. Oh, OK. I didn't want you to do that one again. So we're going to go to that same spot. We're going to back back in like five miles into that deep part of that. Yeah. Make sure you got a sturdy tailgate this time. Yeah. Keep the wheels on the ground, Drew. Yeah. Yeah. I got stuck last time. And then I'm going to Mexico, you know, on Coosdeer in January.
00:13:13
Speaker
That'll be rad. So I'm gonna go down there. Sonora? No, down through the Gallus. Okay. I'm going with some friends I met through Tricer and they have a ranch down there and we hooked up. I'm gonna go down there and hunt and they said that you're sitting in water the whole time.
00:13:28
Speaker
But according to this guy, he said, I've hunted for 15 years. I've got 12 bucks over 110 and two bucks over 120. He said, if you're willing to sit water for 10 days, you're going to kill a big buck. So where's that little shit at? I'm excited for that. Oh, yeah. I don't know where that went. It's gone. Oh no. All right here. Yeah. Go kill that one.
00:13:52
Speaker
Yeah, this is a Rad Cruiser. Cruiser are like the coolest box, man. Especially they get the eye guards on and they get all cagey like this. I mean, that's a Rad.
00:13:59
Speaker
little buck. I mean, and they're just, it's my favorite deer to hunt, hands down. Like there's, I don't like, of everything I hunt, elk, deer, sheep, whatever I've done, the coozed deer is my favorite hunt. That's my cousin. Yeah, actually he has a white tail tag down there this year too. One of those Arizona units. So we're going to roll out there, do that hunt. He's never killed a deer. So I'm making them shoot the first legal buck we see. And then we're jetting from there back to California.
00:14:22
Speaker
finish up the rest of the week hunting here no somewhere else but yeah we're doing that one that's going to be fun Ty's going to meet us out in the california side so hopefully we kill four deer that week that'd be cool the cool thing about here too is there's just a ton of opportunity yeah you know where to hunt there's a lot of deer you know how i mean
00:14:42
Speaker
They're a good practice bug. You can find it, a lot of bucks you can find. The biggest thing for Kuzia for me is just you find them and then they disappear. You're like, I just saw that deer right there. I swear he was right there. And then you wait on him for two hours and you get frustrated to stand up and the deer stands up and runs off. It's like he was, you're looking, you're glossing at him with $3000 binoculars and he's hidden. You can't see him.
00:15:02
Speaker
Okay, they're they're fun. But yeah, my thing with them is find find the yellow grass and find the scrub oaks You'll find cuz you're typically it's like if you're seeing if you're seeing mule deer, you're not seeing cuz you're once you get like above like Three to four thousand. I feel like when you start seeing cuz you're in that yellow grass. It's so weird, too That's where I was just hunting in January another saga season up high
00:15:24
Speaker
All coups. Down low, all mule-y. But when I go up by Flagstaff, it's the fucking opposite. Up top, it's all mule-deer and you go low and it's all coups. Really? So yeah, it's really weird. I tend to, I never really see them together. I always see like, in the end of the year, we have a lot of both and it's like, it's always mule-deer and like, I swear like there's like this section where they might intertwine a little bit and it's just like, coups here all over the place. And for me, it's up high every single time. I get up to that yellowgrass with scrub boats, like,
00:15:50
Speaker
4,000 feet. I guess, you know what, I'm still, I'm going from probably six and seven down to four. Like, so we're still high, I guess. Yeah. Well, I'm, I'm letting sky islands, right? Mostly down there. Yeah. So it's like real low and then these mountains that shut up and there's good year on them. That's a, that's a cool habitat. Yeah, dude.
Supporting Local Businesses
00:16:08
Speaker
Anything else? What do we got? I'll give you my shit. Go to right to bear. They give you cool guns and go to the bow and arrow shop. They take care of you. It's better than buying online, support small business.
00:16:19
Speaker
And then, I don't know, my Instagram's Johnny Hunts, but I'm private. And if I don't know you, I probably won't follow you back. But check me out.
00:16:32
Speaker
Dude, like I just had all this weird shit, so I just private it up. Dude, my account is constantly getting sex spotted every day. I'm having to like delete, delete, delete, delete, delete. Yeah, I talk a bunch of shit on Newsom's page and Camilla Harris and the President's page, so I get a lot of weird liberals that try to follow me too that I don't even want to entertain. So, yeah.
00:16:58
Speaker
That's fun. Yeah, definitely go support Ride to Bear. Definitely go support bow and arrow shop. Two awesome things in San Diego. Support your local companies for sure. Small shops before you go to the big guys. And other than that, cool story, dude. That was fun. Thanks, Drew. You're the first son of a bitch that got me. Everybody's been asking me for a long time to do one of these. I told you, it's not a podcast. It's a hunting story, dude. It works. No, yeah, I got into it. I think that's a lot funner than doing a podcast and talking about the same thing over and over again. Just tell some hunting stories. People love a hunting story.
00:17:27
Speaker
Yeah, and also everybody that does big games, sorry, you got a tripod company. Go bird hunting, it's way better. I'm a bird nerd. Not ducks, they're weird people. I'll do it, but up on birds. Yeah, but buy one of my tripods and put a camera on it and then film the hunt. Yeah.
00:17:45
Speaker
Or maybe just don't film anything and do it because you love it. There you go. I know in dub seasons right now I need to go do dub. I know me and Jay need to go shoot. I haven't gone down. It's just two. He's been so good off for so long. Dude with the Euros, I haven't done dub season in probably five years, the opener. I'll go down there and shoot 500 Euros on a Thursday in July and there's no crowds. You guys hunt September 1st. You stay out there in July.
00:18:10
Speaker
Yeah, I'll probably go down. I'll probably go down next week. I typically wait a week or go down, you know, a few days later, just to get rid of all the clowns because they go down for one day and just I just can't handle. Especially this Memorial Day weekend, too. You get a lot more. Well, like, especially with me, like, I don't mind getting peppered myself. Like, I mean, I mind it. My kid, that's going to get me upset. I've got some explosions hunting with Jay when he was like two and three. There's a lot of really stupid people. If you go pick up your shit.
00:18:35
Speaker
Don't leave your shells. Don't clean your birds on a canal road and think the coyotes are going to clean it up for you. Yeah. Bury your shit or do it at home. There you go. Yeah. Don't
Conclusion and Sign-Off
00:18:47
Speaker
be a slob. Clean your shit up. I'll end with that. All right. There you go. That was cool.
00:18:53
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the Tricer Podcast. Do us a favor and like and subscribe on whatever platform you are listening on. Give us a follow on Instagram and Facebook at TricerUSA and go and check out all of our innovative gear at www.tricerusa.com. Until next time, shoot straight, have fun, and always put God first.