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Wild Stories, Wild Life: A Conversation with Danielle Halverson
306 Plays9 days ago
This week on the Tricer Podcast, Drew talks with outdoor adventurer and influencer Danielle Halverson for an in-depth conversation about her unconventional path in the hunting world. Danielle shares how she started guiding hunts right after high school, her experiences traveling the country, and her journey from Wisconsin to guiding in Texas and beyond. The discussion explores Danielle's rise on social media, the impact of technology on outdoor pursuits, and her deep passion for hunting, hound dogs, and self-reliance. Listeners will hear wild stories from the field, including tracking mountain lions and moose hunts in Alaska, as well as insights into the realities of being a woman in the hunting industry. Tune in for a candid, inspiring look at a life defined by adventure, grit, and a love for the wild.
DANIELLE HALVERSON
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/danielle_halverson
TRICER USA
Website – https://tricerusa.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tricerusa/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/tricerusa/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@tricer6985
#Tricer #TricerTripods #WesternHunting #ElkHunting #BackcountryHunter #outofstatehunter #huntingpodcast #huntinglife #womenwhohunt #outdooradventure #huntingstories #backcountryhunting #mountainhunting #alaskahunting #moosehunt #lionhunting #hounddogs #selfreliance #outdoorlifestyle #hunttoeat #publiclandhunter #texashunting #wisconsinoutdoors #wildlifeadventures #socialmediaoutdoors #gritandadventure #huntingcommunity #passionforthewild
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Transcript
Introduction to Tricer Podcast
00:00:01
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.
00:00:17
Speaker
We lay Tricer and this podcast at your feet. Amen.
Danielle Halverson Joins as Co-host
00:00:22
Speaker
Well, you're listening, me and Danielle Halverson are doing a pod together. I'm excited to get on the pod for the first time. i've been trying to do it for Almost three years now, but finally finally wrangled her down. Finally got her.
00:00:33
Speaker
She's home for once. Danielle, are you doing?
Danielle's Background in Hunting
00:00:37
Speaker
Pretty good for the next 12 hours, and I'm going to leave. Good for the next 12 hours. I know. it's like ah you I travel a lot. You travel a lot, a lot.
00:00:46
Speaker
I try. You try, which kind of a cool gig. How are you, like 25? 25?
00:00:52
Speaker
I just turned 28, but thank you. Just turned 28. Just turned 28. And how long have you been like hardcore doing this? Since I graduated high school. So this is my 10th year, 11th year.
00:01:07
Speaker
Really? You've been going that hard like the hunting, like traveling around doing for 10 years? Yeah. Wow. I thought it was like more like you kind just took off and you've been, so it's been a long time you've been doing and pursuing it.
00:01:17
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I started out guiding right out of high And then I got into the film work media side of things. And then started doing it all for myself. So what were you guiding? Mule deer down in West Texas, actually.
00:01:30
Speaker
Oh, really? are you So are you from Texas? No, I'm from Wisconsin. I just did a job. You're from Wisconsin. So you moved to Texas and started guiding mule deer in West Texas. Yeah, I guided down there for the whole season. And then I'd come back up here and then I started traveling.
00:01:44
Speaker
So low fence stuff down there then. Yeah. That's what they consider it. It's really just like, you know, like the cattle fences. Yeah. Low fence. So in Texas you have two things. You have like what do we call high fence wrenches and you drive, it's pretty crazy. Like you drive down a road and there's like literally an eight to 10 foot fence on both sides of the road.
00:02:01
Speaker
They do know all the animals intermixing. They don't want them property. They're buying bring them in. And they have what's called low fence properties, which are down like West Texas. Um, And there's giant ranches where they're essentially, it's private land.
00:02:15
Speaker
Yeah. But the ranches are so big, the animals aren't leaving anyway because it's just these gigantic swaths of land down there. Right um down kind of by the border down there? um It was actually in Rankin, Texas. So like an hour and a half south of Midland Odessa area.
00:02:29
Speaker
Okay. nowhere Kind of where like the mountain range starts. It goes down into Texas. or Sorry, down to Mexico. Oh, I got you. Okay, okay. Oil
Viral Success on Social Media
00:02:36
Speaker
fields over there? Yeah, lots oil fields. Oil fields everywhere, right? Oil fields and deer hunting.
00:02:40
Speaker
oil fields, deer, and no people. It's great. they have odd out on that property too, or just? mede Never really ran into any. I had heard at one point there used to be a bunch down there, but who knows?
00:02:53
Speaker
Have you killed an odd out? I did. i killed one in April down in the Texas Hill country, actually. Oh, you got one this year? yeah Yeah. I got one on public land in New Mexico back when it was easier to draw.
00:03:08
Speaker
um down there. Now the tag's so hard to draw. i won't even say the unit because the only applying for it. You can't apply as a group. We drew it as a group like 2017. Went down there. It was probably to this day one of my favorite hunts i've ever done because it's just like big country and glassing, which is like what I want.
00:03:22
Speaker
And lots of animals, right? And trying to find them. But no joke, I was in Africa this year And I'm glassing like, there's an odd ad. And the we don't have odd ad here. I'm like, I'm telling you right now, that is a Barbary sheep odd ad, whatever you want to call it. There's an odd ad sitting on this guy's ranch. And he goes, let me call the owner. He calls the owner. He goes, oh man, no way. Those the neighbors. They must've got on my property.
00:03:41
Speaker
was like, can shoot him? there's a good odd ad. And he's like, no, you can't shoot him. So I saw an odd ad in Africa this year, South Africa, which is random as heck. Well, I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure they're originally from some country in Africa, aren't they? No, I think they're like North. I'm going to butcher. I think it's like a Northern country above Africa.
00:03:59
Speaker
Okay. So that would Like one of those stands up there, one of those one of those Middle Eastern countries up there. But it's somewhere like Northern Africa, that area. So I don't know. If anyone knows the history, just tell me I'm an idiot. I just know it.
00:04:10
Speaker
They're not from South Africa. I know that. It'd be something have like Ash Chat GPT.
00:04:16
Speaker
Dude, chat makes everything awesome. I had a homeschool mom on the podcast this morning and I was just telling her, like, my kid need learn that. Like, can just chat that thing, dude. There's no point anymore. They're so nice. It's
Technology's Impact on Hunting Practices
00:04:25
Speaker
so nice. he What's that?
00:04:27
Speaker
I talk to my chat GPT every day. He basically works for me for free. Yeah. So it's figuring you out, right? Oh, yeah. It has whole personality. maly Yeah, so Cody Rich is like, he's been ChatGTP since like before it was cool.
00:04:41
Speaker
And dude, like his can like, it's scary. It's scary. Like how it's like Terminator status on like, it has like his same mannerisms, everything now when it talks like it does things like it's like he can write a letter and it says just like Cody wrote it.
00:04:55
Speaker
It's crazy. They're so far advanced. And we're like just in the beginning stages of where this thing's going. right There's going to be all kinds of stuff out there. It's weird. It's one of those things like technology is like getting so good. Right. And then like, like even like SIG has a new stabilized spot that came out today, which is super sweet. um And then like, you know, I was in, when I was in Africa, we were using in Africa, you can, were using the infrared binoculars.
00:05:22
Speaker
Oh yeah. Right. they The ones you can see the thermal binoculars or thermal binoculars. And like you would be in the morning, you look up at a hillside that was just covered in trees and you'd see 20 animals in the trees. Just laying there.
00:05:33
Speaker
Yeah. And like technology is just getting so advanced and it was like, just kind of like this thing, part of me, like where I want to pull back from it. Like, like I'm going to, when I go to Alaska this year, we're doing this open site lever actions.
00:05:45
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Like no, no scopes, no, you know, no high powered rifles. I guess you could use a bow. It'd be just as good. But like, it's just something about the open side that seems a little more, even a little more classic than the bow right now. Like just doing that.
00:05:57
Speaker
ah and What's that? Up close and personal. Yeah. And just something cool. I mean, I'll tell you what you, you, like, especially you put a video together. You shouldn't deliver action. You're going to get 10 times the likes that you would get on a regular rifle.
00:06:10
Speaker
That wouldn't surprise me. People love lever action rifles right now. Like that's why I'm doing that whole Woodstock 30-06. People love seeing my Woodstock 30-06 now because it's like, it's funny that that's different compared to like, you know, a carbon. Like what are you shooting now? What's your rifle?
00:06:24
Speaker
You shoot big bores. You shoot big stuff though, huh? Yeah. It usually depends. Like with my moose and stuff, it was a, I shot a Ruger one it was a 300.
00:06:36
Speaker
yeah And then I actually shot both my axis and all dad with that same gun because I was doing the reloads with Barnes. So those were the ones I reloaded since that's what I'd be using the most. And I, oh you reload your own ammo.
00:06:50
Speaker
I did learn how to actually in April. Really? Yeah. Oh, hitchin yeah. I love reloading. I love Barnes. So I, I do the same thing. I shoot Barnes and most my guns and reload all my stuff. If there's something about it, i just had this conversation with somebody week and this week It feels different killing something with your own bullet, doesn't it?
00:07:08
Speaker
It's interesting. I always feel like I'm going mess it up somehow, but Dale talked to me into trying. So I gave it a whirl. I did pretty good. They were spot on, you know, everything died. So, so far, so good.
00:07:20
Speaker
So what are you shooting then? Like a 180 TTSX? It was... LRX. The LRX. Oh, okay. So like a heavier heavier one then? Like one said the 178 LRX it heavier than that?
00:07:31
Speaker
I want to say it was 195 LRX probably. I'm trying to think of all my my bullets. I know they have like ah they have two LRXs, like a 78, and I think a 195. So that's a big that's a big piece of copper flying down that thing. Nothing's really moving away from that. That's a great bullet.
00:07:46
Speaker
I love those copper bullets. Have you been enjoying them? Yeah, I think they work. I mean, I haven't had any problems with them. Every time I shot one, something died. So you're a girl. I thought you werere supposed to shoot like a 6.5 Creedmoor. Why are you shooting 300?
00:07:59
Speaker
Don't get me started on 6.5 Creedmoors. Atta girl. and
00:08:06
Speaker
I have no further comments. There you go. and um No, that's one thing I really like about Danielle. So if you follow us at all, like you'll see that we work with Danielle. Danielle's like one of our biggest influencers we work with.
00:08:17
Speaker
And I'm very particular, like when it comes to like working with women, I had this conversation with somebody this morning and I was like, I won't work with anybody who's out there. Like, just like, canned hunts, do my makeup, get pictures. Like i killed this animal, like their outfit changes when they kill something. Like I want to work with people who are,
00:08:36
Speaker
hunters i don't want i don't want to say huntresses because i hate that term as well like i hate that like i just like i want to work with hunters right whether you're a man or woman or whatever i want to work with like real deal hunters who are doing real things getting out there and and doing it and doing it for the right reasons i really do feel like you do that danielle i do my best it's you know i've tried to stay very humble about it i've taught myself how to do a lot of things on my own so i just if i don't know how to do it i figure it out very independent, very much out there getting it done. um and, and not doing, i mean, you do do some fun stuff. You get some cool opportunities, but like you are doing mill deer, you are doing, you're running lions, you're doing all that stuff.
00:09:14
Speaker
Everything, everything I can do. I fit in. So how did you start hunting? Um, okay. So I started actually my dad and my grandpa, well, take my dad grew up hunting with my grandpa.
00:09:26
Speaker
And when I was six months old, I guess he must've got stuck babysitting me for the day. And they started carrying me around in the woods in a pack, running hounds for coon and then going deer hunting, running, you know, rabbits with the beagles, everything foreign in between, setting traps.
00:09:41
Speaker
I got carried everywhere. And then i just never quit going. So you've been running dogs like forever.
Danielle's Early Hunting Experiences
00:09:49
Speaker
Yeah. I've had hounds since I, since I came into this world. Yeah.
00:09:53
Speaker
Do you still trap or do you only do run? Not really. There's not, there used to be a lot of money in trapping back like the earlier two thousands. But ever since the birds trade kind of went, you know, downhill, I'm trying not to swear here, but since the first trade went down, there's just not enough money in it unless you have a problematic animal to really just go, you know, kill something for no reason.
00:10:18
Speaker
So you got going. um So I imagine like 10, 12 years old, you started hunting deer. think I was shot my first deer when I was six or seven because Wisconsin's different you could back in the day you could start real soon really soon now it's like if you can buy a hunting license here you could take your two-year-old hunting and they could shoot a deer during the Wisconsin right now yeah okay I never know where you are for me I feel like you were living in Idaho for a while but okay Yeah, I was in Idaho for like all all the winter. Idaho, Montana.
00:10:48
Speaker
Okay, gotcha. I'm always doing something. So you you're you're stuck in Wisconsin right now. ah just you can't ice fish. Were you just fishing were you just sitting there? I've been staring at my computer, editing my life away and not enjoying it very much.
00:11:03
Speaker
Nice. So you start hunting, kill your first deer.
00:11:08
Speaker
Now, it has to be a little bit like, was that a little bit strange? Like you're going to school I have to imagine the other girls are kind of like doing girl stuff. No offense.
00:11:19
Speaker
Well, and that was, you know, the time of, that was back during the times when it sounds weird saying that because I'm only 28. But that was back in the day when if you did anything outdoorsy and you hunted, you got, you know, made fun of by all the other girls and the boys and called every name in the book. It wasn't cool to be a lesbian back then.
00:11:35
Speaker
Yeah, right. Now you've been like a champion. but yeah Back then you get made fun of. That's what they would call it. And then, you know, you get up, you turn 18 and everything's starting to get normalized with social media. And now everybody wants you.
00:11:47
Speaker
It's weird. It's weird concept. Everyone wants you to be a hunter and do that stuff. Yeah. So you just kind of went through it. You kind of did your own drum. Do you have brothers? I have one younger brother. um You were like the one, you were like the hunter with your family. yeah I was, i was my dad's first son, you would say.
00:12:03
Speaker
So you went through all high school hunting. I mean, you didn't, you didn't take a break. Nope. Never. and How did you decide, like, i want to be a guide? Like, how did where did that come from? How did do you get Texas?
00:12:15
Speaker
Well, I don't really have a full answer on how I ended up in Texas. I just kind of started traveling and hunting and I ended up in Texas first, Idaho second, but Texas first.
00:12:27
Speaker
And I just got offered an opportunity like, hey, if you want to come guide hunts this fall, we'd love to have you. And I was like, okay, Sure. I mean, I figure it out.
00:12:38
Speaker
So you were, I mean, at that point, you even Western game hunted or done any kind of glassing or... i mean, I did a lot of glassing and I did a lot of deer hunting up here for whitetail, which... But totally different than Texas.
00:12:49
Speaker
Yeah, Texas is i went I don't want to say Texas is a lot easier because when it comes to like glassing and putting in hours behind the glass, it's definitely harder. Yeah. But... They also, you know, have feeders out and everything else. So it makes things a little bit easier to pattern versus... Oh, they're still running feeders down here ons on the low fence ranches you were on?
00:13:10
Speaker
There was a few protein feeders. I didn't like... I refused to hunt them just because only the small deer would go in there. But there were feeders, yeah. But you're still... But it's still open country. I mean, totally different than you're doing, not Wisconsin trees. You're out there looking for mule you're trying to figure it out, get it done.
00:13:24
Speaker
So what is that like? Yeah. here I am. I'm, mean, you figure most dudes going to do that hunt are, you know, 40 plus. What'll do. And Hey, here's your guide. 18 year old Danielle. five What are you five to what how tall are you?
00:13:40
Speaker
About five to on a good day. So, you know, what is that like? I mean, what is it an amic? Like, are you feeling good to prove yourself or are you just out there having a good time with them? A little bit of both. I only really had problems ever with one, one client and I hope he's doing well today. You know, if he's still around, he just was a really grumpy old man. And he didn't think that women belonged anywhere but the kitchen. So it was my fault that the deer weren't moving when it was 120 degrees out. That meant I didn't know how to hunt.
00:14:06
Speaker
That's how that went. But I mean, but you, but you got in there and you did it. That's my point. It's like, you got in there, you did it. You're got your guiding dudes. You're in there. You're in the thick of it. Probably the only lady on the ranch. I mean, at this point, except for the one in the kitchen, right? Like you're out there actually guiding, doing it, getting it done.
00:14:23
Speaker
Yeah, the only one. it was It was an interesting experience. How long did you guide for? Two years. And then I started doing the media work. For the ranch? No, i went to i actually went to photography school in Missoula, Montana for a summer.
00:14:38
Speaker
And then I got offered a gig to film for a show on the Pursuit channel. And so I took that offer just to kind of like get more of my way into the industry and, you know, see how it worked, what was going on. And then from there, I just started doing my own stuff.
00:14:55
Speaker
when What channel was it? What show were you filming for? It was... gosh. What did they call it? I think it they called it The Way It Was. The bottom line, you're out there with these guys going on these hunts yeah and and learning.
00:15:13
Speaker
So you're just like... You're going to like a crash course and like, I want to hunt. I want to film. it's just It's very rare to find somebody who knows what they want to do at 18 years old, right? Yeah. And you kind of like... And honestly... I mean, you're talking 10 years ago now, eight years ago, i guess there was kind of like hunting influencing going on. It was like just starting kind of heyday, but like you're kind of ahead of your time, right?
00:15:33
Speaker
Yeah. That was back when like all the big ones were like me and Tiffany, Pat and Nicole, like just pretty much like the show ones, none of the social media stuff. yeah And I didn't even have social media until after I graduated high school.
00:15:44
Speaker
So I didn't know anything about it. I just thought what I was doing was cool. So I was posting pictures and then it kind of blew up it kind of blew up and started happening yeah I don't have social media at all anymore if you know that or not I did not know that I just so it's all run it's all run by Luke Duesenberry
The Balance of Social Media and Real Life
00:16:00
Speaker
and his wife Alexa Well, got the vibe that Alexa was on there quite a bit when I was getting a lot of so smiley face emojis when we would you know talk back and forth about different posts and stuff. So I figured it wasn't really you.
00:16:11
Speaker
but Yeah, I've never used an emoji in my life. I should tell her that. i'm like, oh gosh, you gotta like act like me a little bit. which I mean, I'm trying to be off. i could please I haven't been on social media since... March so I basically got off I have it on my desktop only so I go on there and I'll check on it and be like okay like maybe once a day I'll look at it for like a few minutes but I was spending like three or four hours a day on there because it's just like everyone's messaging everyone's talking to you and it's just like the way for everyone to get to you and I was just like this is not worth my time like I need to design products right not be on social media and just the negative stuff that I get like I just don't like it you know
00:16:47
Speaker
I'm right there with you. So, so I just said, was pretty funny. So made the switch, like my partner was like, what are you to And I'm like, what do you mean what going to Like, I'm just not going to do that. Like going to find something else and I'm busier than ever now, but like, it's weird. Like the company didn't fail when I'd stopped doing it.
00:17:02
Speaker
Right. And you feel like so tidy. You feel like you have to be on there and you feel like you have to answer everyone's questions and you have to do, you know, it's just, and yeah I'm such a better dad and husband because of it, like getting off of there.
00:17:15
Speaker
Not feeling glued to your phone all the time. Oh, like my screen time went from eight hours to four hours. That's crazy. it went like It's wild how much time you spend on there just doing nothing. Oh, yeah. Once you start doom scrolling, it's over.
00:17:28
Speaker
and so It took me a month to stop like clicking on, like going like and into scrolling to it. like you it's like I'm looking for it through my phone. Where is it at? It took me a month to get off of that.
00:17:39
Speaker
I even took YouTube off my phone now, so I don't have anything there. like I've been starting to read like real books. Okay. Like I do a lot of audible books too, but I also have like a real, real books I read now, get my glasses out, cup of coffee, down and read for an hour. you know, i always do the Bible, but like, I feel like it's like, man, we've got into this, like this system as a society where we just are on our phones all the time.
00:17:59
Speaker
Oh yeah. It's so bad. It's so bad. And I want to like, you know, this about me, like my favorite place to be is sleeping in the bed of my truck. Like it's like in the mountains. Right. And like not doing that. And I always joke, like, you'll know I made it when like, you don't know where I am.
00:18:13
Speaker
Yep. Like, you'll know I made it when I'm like in a, like a shack with like a wood burning stove and like, that's it. Like, that's when I know I made it. Like, and I'm not like, no one can get ahold of me anymore. Like I don't, I don't have desires of these giant houses or big fancy cars. Like you'll know I made it when I'm like just gone.
00:18:30
Speaker
gone no starlink nothing i start i know starlink goes everywhere with me now i'm like i'm buying a mini it's going to alaska with me it was on my bear hunt um bring it to i'm going to africa again bringing it with me there and i'm like that's when like yeah like right now i have to i mean i have the coolest job in the world i mean you might have a cool job than me but like it's my job is pretty cool i travel pretty much every week doing really cool stuff i'm turning down some of the coolest things in the world to do it um sometimes like some ah awesome it's been and uh But man, like I can't wait to the day where it's just like, I just get to disappear.
00:19:01
Speaker
Don't have to do it. Yeah, I feel that. Well, I don't like, I don't mind not being the face of Tricer, right? Like I understand that I'm the mustache, right? i understand that I'm like the guy, right? Like I'm the the innovator. i' the one that people want to talk to. If I go to a show that wants to be around me.
00:19:15
Speaker
yeah but man, like I'm trying to build a team around me right now with like all you guys and let you guys kind of be this family, this face versus just me. Cause that's exhausting for me. Like, I don't want to be like, I do a little bit of like in pictures of people now, but like, I don't want to be Eric. I go out with Eric and you're like, Oh, this is annoying. Right. Chester.
00:19:34
Speaker
And it's like, people were just like all over this guy. They just, wherever he goes. And like, I, I don't want that. Like, I don't want to be known. It's a weird feeling. It's a really weird feeling. Yeah, I've done a few, like, picture with me, like, and my my partners think it's so funny, like, and my kids think it's awesome, right? My kids, like, will be like, especially if go to any sporting good store, you go sporting goods store, people will walk up to you and talk to you, like, they're gonna know who My kids think it's the funniest thing in the world, right?
00:19:57
Speaker
And me, I'm like, I'm good on that. I don't want to be known. Yeah, no, I just want to come in and go out. Yeah. So you started doing, you went to photo school. I didn't know that. That's pretty cool. So you did. I'm actually, um i love photography. So I've got like a new Nikon I'm spending all the money on the lenses. I bought like a new $2,500 like ProLens, like the it's a 17-day.
00:20:17
Speaker
Money pit. Yeah. 17 oh dude so much more than optics 17 to 77 just like i really like in that range like i was gonna i have another one that goes from like 28 to 400 for like my filming but like i really like it 17 to 77 like in between and i'm really enjoying the photography way more than the video it's well and the thing is like i always enjoyed photography more than video too but nowadays video sells more than photography.
00:20:41
Speaker
So it's like, you can't really win, you can get way more creative with photography versus I mean, you can get really creative with videography too. but But some of the, you know, cool angles and everything else that are really captivating of what's going on or product just doesn't make sense on video.
00:20:59
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. I like the the simplicity of photography versus the video, right? Not having to be on. like i It's funny. like I was just out with Cody Rich last week. We went hunting all week, and they don't recognize who I am when I hunt because like you don't talk. and We thought you were be like talking more. and like and i'm like, yeah, because when i'm like I'm hunting, I just want to be alone and like be quiet. and like I feel like with video, you have to be on. right If we film all of our hunts, I have a video guide there every time I go on hunt now.
00:21:25
Speaker
With photography, it can kind of be my way to express. This sounds so lame, but you you can kind express yourself through photography and like kind of see things from your eyes. Like take, like, I like that side of it. Yeah. Like your own perspective to remember it with not having to explain everything that's going on 24 seven. Yeah. Oh, day six to haven't killed a bear.
00:21:44
Speaker
It's really hot outside. Let me say something stupid. Cause the camera's in my face. Ha ha. You smell bad. Everyone's farting, whatever. You know what I mean? Like I could do that side of it, but like photography side really neat to me. I'm really enjoying it. Um,
00:21:57
Speaker
I kind of want to get into some of the micro stuff, honestly. Like, I don't if you've ever done that, like the micro, like the bugs and stuff. i know this sounds People listen to this for like, what is this guy talking about? Like, dude, they have these lenses you can get like super zoomed in on like bugs and like all the detail.
00:22:09
Speaker
Yeah. That's really intriguing for like really close in on flowers and stuff. Like I'm really liking that side too, the close, close, close up stuff. We did a little course on that when I went to photography school with the micro stuff. And we'd use like those hundred millimeter lenses and get way in and get the detail of everything. And I'm like,
00:22:23
Speaker
I mean, it's really cool. I just don't know when it would ever be beneficial to my life. you know Let me tell you when would beneficial. It's when you're sitting on a glassing knob and there's crickets crawling all over you. And you're bored. And you're bored. Or there's a tick on your leg. Or there's like a bee landing on you. like We did a bee on Brad's thing.
00:22:38
Speaker
And like it's fun. It's something to do when you're just sitting there, right? You have the same picture of the same. like Dude, we saw on our bear hunt probably 200 two hundred lk and like one bear like we saw so many elk we have so many pictures of whitetail and elk and mule deer where did you go do that at idaho mountains somewhere so far somewhere up there between idaho and montana see this is what i'm bad at filming i forget i'm talking on yeah so anyway we're up there you're montana but it was um but it was just hot it was like the last week of may when it was like 85 degrees all week and miserable sorry i'm doctor barking I have three that do the same thing. This is the third podcast row that had dogs on it today, so don't worry. Barking in the background.
00:23:20
Speaker
Kaya, quit. Squirrel something outside. um not Yeah, I have a poodle who's a total psychopath, and he just barks anything. Oh, yeah, that's a poodle thing.
00:23:31
Speaker
Yeah, he's a tiny little guy. But anyways, the photography thing's been really nice. I really enjoy it. I like the filming, too. Like, i like my kids have... a lot of tags this year between september and november they have at least one tag a month uh elk and deer and so i'm always filming all those myself i might bring a filmer on the elk hunt just because it's a pretty good he has the statewide uh general deer tag for utah during the rut with the rifle it's a yeah it's a really good tag don i'll probably get a filmer for that hunt only because like i want to put a lot of focus into getting a big big
00:24:06
Speaker
But um I really enjoy filming it and doing it myself and getting those angles and doing that stuff and figuring it out and learning all the different stuff. Cause there's just so much more to it and getting to hang out with like Luke Duesenberry or be around like you and like there's skill to it.
00:24:21
Speaker
It's, it's always give me like two seconds. I'm so sorry. going to, I'm going to pause it. I'll pause it for a minute. So anyways, yeah, I'm really enjoying the photography stuff and the video as well, but more so the photography. I'm i'm really into it. My wife keeps joking that I'll probably be birding in the next couple of years, which I could see myself doing.
00:24:38
Speaker
just It's like, it's so quiet. Like, it's just, I feel like it's like, i don't know what it is about Tracer. Like, it just I have to be on all the time. Well, I got into, I think it's like an age thing, which you might be a little behind, honestly, because at some point in my life, like a three years three or four years ago, i just grew this like weird interest in birds. Did you?
00:24:57
Speaker
Everything about them, yeah. I feel like looking up every bird I saw, maybe it was boredom while I was hunting and there was nothing else out. So I ah used to carry like the bird, the almanac with me, like the birder guide, and like look at them up because you can see a bird and you look up what it is. i You probably have an app for that now, I'm sure. I'm not sure. I have like i still have the original that you open.
00:25:15
Speaker
That's what I had, yeah, the same one, yeah, like the something almanac or whatever, yeah. I don't carry it around, but have it. All right. So off of the birding, off of the filming, um you start taking pictures from the internet. And this is what, like 2018? Yeah, roughly 2018.
00:25:33
Speaker
eighteen And then things really blew up in like 20. twenty Well, i started to gain like a city following until 2019, 2020. And then covid happened.
00:25:46
Speaker
So everything was like so cheap to just, you know, run all over and hunt.
Expanding Social Media Presence
00:25:50
Speaker
Gas was like a dollar a gallon. So obviously i blew like all my money chasing everything. And during that year, i finally downloaded TikTok, which I was so anti TikTok. I hated TikTok because TikTok hated hunting.
00:26:04
Speaker
And I went and I made a video about my grandpa's last fish because we stole him from hospice, took him fishing and he caught you know his last fish that day couple days before he passed away. I blew up overnight. Like I had probably 40,000 followers on Instagram at this time.
00:26:19
Speaker
Woke up the next morning, had almost 100,000 on TikTok, had 80,000 on Instagram because people like went from app to app. And I was like, wait a minute, I'm onto something here. Like I have to take advantage of all of the sources of, you know, the platforms to continue to grow one I care about below, such Instagram.
00:26:40
Speaker
So yeah, I don't know. I learned it. You're still on TikTok. Yeah, they did try to take it from me one time. they yeah They banned me. fronting Yeah, for hunting, for dangerous activities and stuff. And I sat there on a, I was on a mountain in Idaho and i was like, how do I win this battle?
00:26:57
Speaker
Cause they took my account for me. Like I couldn't even get into it and nothing. So I found out how to email them and I emailed them and I, you know, I doubled down. I pulled a liberal card and I told them they were being, uh,
00:27:10
Speaker
I'll just say i told me I'm being racist against my Native American heritage because I am Native. There you go. The way my people used to live. And they sent me an apology and gave me my account back. That's one way to do it right there.
00:27:23
Speaker
i mean, I have a tribal ID. ah showed it to them. Got all my stuff back. and I was like, I mean, what do you do? Do you get access? So that's kind of cool.
00:27:35
Speaker
And I didn't realize that. do you get access to any, like any, uh, reses to hunt? If I went up to Alaska, I'd have a little more rights and privilege, like just on my islands. Cause it's still illusion islands.
00:27:46
Speaker
Oh, so you're like native Alaskan. Yeah. Like Eskimo. Yeah. Oh. Yeah. wonder if you could i wonder but I wonder if you count as... You have the cards. You probably can because like we had that Unit 21 tag, Unit 2021. They shut it all down the natives.
00:28:03
Speaker
And i wonder if you can hunt that. I wonder if you can hunt polar bears too. if Okay. So from what I've gathered from my extensive focus, whatever, hyper-focus research, is that if I moved up there full-time, could...
00:28:19
Speaker
i could potentially hunt them on the coast. But that's about all I've gotten. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know if it's true or how deep it goes or if it has to be like a certain tribe up there.
00:28:31
Speaker
It's a lot of words that they make you read when you try to research everything. You know, it's all gray areas. They don't want you to. Because you can't like, you can't kill a polar bear anymore unless you're a native. You can kill them. You can't take them. So like I know somebody who just paid 45 grand to go kill one, take some pictures it and give it to the locals.
00:28:49
Speaker
Yeah. They can't do anything with Why don't you move to Alaska? and get your Do you have your resident license yet in ah and Idaho? No. Your lifetime? No. I'm still in Wisconsin.
00:29:00
Speaker
I haven't found a place there yet. well mean yeah i mean like you're like I feel like if I'm you, right like I'm going to move to Arizona next year. right We're going to move there just for tax reasons, God, California. Right. I'm going to get my lifetime license as soon as I can because like my opportunities go through the roof.
00:29:15
Speaker
If I'm Daniel Halverson, I can kind of like be like, no offense, like nomadic. Yeah. Like I spent, I'd spend seven months. You were probably in Idaho for seven months anyways, weren't you? At least. I do have an Idaho guide license for this year. so So why don't you get your lifetime hunting license? Like you like to spend the money, then you can, then you're a resident for all those cool hunts. they're So particular in Idaho because so many people like try to cheat the system. Well, Dan Staten just did it. He bought a house there, went and moved there for a year and bought his Idaho license.
00:29:42
Speaker
Yeah. Like if I'm you, I'm like, I'm not in Wisconsin or not. I'm living in Idaho. I'm like, I'm just live here for seven months and get my license. I probably should. I need to, I keep looking for places, but you know how everything is.
00:29:54
Speaker
No offense. While the California has moved into Idaho. So the price market went like, yeah, through the roof. You know what else would I would do too, if I'm Daniel Halverson and i can't talk my wife into this one, I can talk into Arizona, not this Alaska.
00:30:05
Speaker
If you're a resident in Alaska, you could go hunt doll sheep, goats and brown bear. Yep. Every year. and Every year. So like if I'm Danielle Halverson, I'm like, I'm taking, cause like, you know, the limitless guys, right? Like Colton and Justin, limitless outdoors.
00:30:21
Speaker
Um, I'm sure I've seen them. I'm not very familiar. You've seen their stuff. They killed giant bulls, giant bull moose. They ended up moving to Alaska, both of them. And now they're hunting doll sheep every year grizzly bear. Cause when you're a resident, you can do all that stuff without a guide and without a guide, it's 45 G's for a grizz 30, 35 for a doll, you know, 25 for a, you can, you can get a hundred thousand dollars in hunts for just living there.
Hunting Opportunities in Alaska
00:30:46
Speaker
Well, and honestly, if I didn't like hound hunting so much for lions, I'd probably just go move to Alaska, but, I, I like mule deer and mountain lions. You're like, you know, do sick of black tail though?
00:30:58
Speaker
I know. You get to sick of black tail. I'm just saying like, for me, like take a couple of years off. You're only 28 before you get hitched. And you know, you get, you go get your doll sheep, your, your goat and your, your grizz. Like I, that's me. I'm doing it.
00:31:11
Speaker
Well, that's what my, ah so my best friend Ash, they have a place up in Alaska actually. So they're Alaska residents too. Okay. Spend of the hunting season up there. And then they have a ranch down in Texas. So I get to like bounce around and then get their Alaska tags every year.
00:31:26
Speaker
That's awesome. Yeah, that's that's my goal. Like I would love to do that. My wife's like not Alaska. I'm sorry. Yeah, but you could just go over like ah summer. It has to be seven months. you have to do it legitimately. You have to to be, it has to be a legit seven months. So like yeah maybe at some point, you could just come visit.
00:31:41
Speaker
Maybe at some point I can just talk her into be like, Hey, we're doing it for one year. what was hoping, but she was just like, no way I'll do Arizona. Cause I have 15 points in Arizona. So like when I become a resident, i'm gonna draw some dope tags. Like I'm like looking like unit tens. I'm looking for some Kaibab deer hunts. Like yeah I've got some good points across the board in that state to go get some good animals killed.
00:32:02
Speaker
And I'm really excited. Like everything I'm putting in for right now, or just paying for points because I don't want to try and draw because I'm like, I'm going to be resonant. In 2027. So if I'm being from over there next spring, I'll be resident by 2027. So your points transfer when you change your residency?
00:32:16
Speaker
Yeah, I'll be a resident. So then I'll be a re then i'll buy the lifetime residency license. That way, if I do move to back to California, which probably will happen... in the next five years, I'll be ah lifetime resident there and here. And that's why I'm like, man, if I can just find a way to get my wife to do Idaho for a year and like Alaska, Alaska doesn't, you have to be there. You can't.
00:32:34
Speaker
Yeah. I don't think they do lifetime licenses. I mean, it's a way to do it. i mean, the same thing with like, i think Canada is like two years. Canada's hardcore. Like to get a deal. Cause like the dollars, the stone sheep is like 110 grand.
00:32:45
Speaker
It's so expensive. All the sheep are so expensive. It's so expensive. But if you're a resident Alaska, it's free. You go do it every year. know. And if you're a native, you probably could do it like three times a year and shoot whatever you want. I bet you. Probably. There's probably like hardly any rules.
00:32:59
Speaker
There's like no rules. I mean they go out there like that. That was my big drape with. them mean, no offense. I'm not trying to knock on your people here, but like, like the non-residents were going up there and shooting bull caribou and the residents are shooting calves and cows. Like oh yeah who's the problem here? Who's the problem guys?
00:33:16
Speaker
Hey, you know, I don't shoot small stuff. So I'm, I'm in agreement with you here. If you got to eat, it I get it. It's one thing. but there's a lot more meat on a big bowl. A lot more in a big bowl than like a swimming cow, but yeah, whatever. I mean, they won that one and ah wish we'd get it back. It was terrible for, I feel bad for all the outfitters that lost all that business and all the people doing that, but that's the way it So, so your TikTok starts blowing up, Instagram starts blowing up and then you're just like, I just want to this full You're already doing it full time as it was. You just weren't making um a living for it or?
00:33:47
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I was already doing it pretty much full time. And then, At the time, my parents, they finally retired, but they owned businesses. So I would sit there and do all their book work and paperwork on the back end, which sucked.
00:33:59
Speaker
It was horrible, but I could kind of have flexible hours, go do whatever I wanted, you know, overwork, leave for a week, this and that. So worked out really good. And then I finally just got to a point where I ripped off the bandaid and went and started doing it all.
00:34:16
Speaker
Full time. And so what does a year look like for you? What does this year look like for you that you just had? Like when I say year, was talking about August through today. thats That's a year. That's our our year starts in August, right? Last August. Last August. Yeah. Last year. What did it look like?
00:34:28
Speaker
So I went up to Alaska and I caught, I went to the Kenai Peninsula and I went salmon fishing, caught some salmon. That was an experience. I'm not much of, not much of an angler, but it was fun.
00:34:39
Speaker
And then I flew back up, went moose hunting, DIY moose hunt, shot a big velvet bull moose. nine days, brutal conditions, questioned my life a lot that week, but it turned out good.
00:34:52
Speaker
And then ah got back and i started prepping for whitetail a little bit, getting Stansmore set, powdering the deer, even though I hardly ever hunt whitetail deer in Wisconsin, I still do it.
00:35:05
Speaker
And I went out to the Crow Reservation in Montana in October and I shot my first pronghorn. And then i what did I do?
00:35:18
Speaker
Went out to Washington for a while for no particular reason. That was not fun. um And then i went from there straight to Montana and Idaho.
00:35:32
Speaker
And we just started chasing kitty cats. And after that, I got hit. like might Someone hit my truck actually in Wyoming in a parking lot. Really? I was like, I had to go get repairs on my truck done for like four weeks. It was going to take them. So I was like, well, i don't know what to do with my life now. Like I don't have a vehicle for four weeks. So I booked flight to Mexico and went to chase Baja Blacktail.
00:35:50
Speaker
Went to Mexico to Baja Blacktail. And you did a bunch of fishing. Yeah, we did quite a bit of fishing down there too. Yeah, that's right. I'll be down there in a couple of weeks fishing as well. Same kind of area. I love, love it down there. Yellowtail are top of my book for things to go angle for.
00:36:03
Speaker
So to let's talk about what's end with the cats. Cause like, you're kind of like obsessed with, Yeah. it And your friend, your friend, what's your friend's name? The big, the big cat chaser. Uh, Adeline Richardson. Adeline.
00:36:15
Speaker
Yeah. And she's like a big deal. Like I was talking to somebody recently like oh no, she's a big deal cat killer. Yeah. I don't, did we talk about that too at one point on like, don't remember who I talked to.
00:36:26
Speaker
and Maybe. I know I was with them recently and they're like oh no, she's like the real deal, like killer. So how'd you get hooked up with her? Well, so it was kind of random, actually. Well, I have a buddy in Wisconsin who runs hounds and like guides down in New Mexico and everything.
00:36:41
Speaker
And he's actually how I knew of her, knew who she was a couple years ago, because he would be like, oh, you have to like check out her stuff. Like, you know, just I didn't know who she was. I don't think she probably knew who I was.
00:36:52
Speaker
And so we had like followed each other back and forth. And then when I left Washington, i was staying at one of my girlfriend's house in Montana for a couple days. And Adeline reached out to me and she's like, hey, like,
00:37:03
Speaker
you're Montana. Are you busy? And I'm like, no, I looking for something to do. she's like, you want to come run dogs in the morning? And I'm like, yes, of course. Cause I had Kaya. Well, I still have Kaya, the one that keeps barking at squirrels.
00:37:15
Speaker
um And she was about a year old and she hadn't, you know, really had an opportunity to run cats in the snow yet because last winter she was eight weeks old. She was just a little thing. And so by law, she had to handle Kaya because I don't have a Montana home permit. So I just kind of rode along and You know, I was there and we would go out all night, start at midnight, cut tracks till daylight at 830 in the morning, dump dogs out, chase cats all day.
00:37:45
Speaker
And it just like kept going on and on and on. And we spent like four or five weeks together up there doing that. her um Her boyfriend, actually, he has an outfitter in Idaho. So he was he has dogs too. So he was running with us a lot. And then We got our buddy Ralph on a cat in Montana because he had a tag and a permit and everything. And he came and shot a pretty nice cat.
00:38:07
Speaker
And yeah, now I'm going to be guiding for them actually this fall in Idaho for bear. Really? Yeah. but So do you run dogs on the bears or no? Yeah. Dogs and bait.
00:38:19
Speaker
Dogs and bait. They can just spot and stalk too if they choose. But it's, I mean, it's doable. It's just stick timber in that area. So it's not the most, you know, ideal way to. Are you going to do get your hound license as well?
00:38:32
Speaker
Yeah. So with my guide permit, I have all the permits to run the dogs and everything like that. Oh, for Idaho? Yeah, for Idaho. That's awesome. And your dog is, how's your dog coming along? Really good. She's a feisty little thing.
00:38:43
Speaker
Is she? Sometimes, but yeah. And aren't the best aren the best ones ones the ones that die, right? That's what I've heard. Yeah. The best ones the ones that just can't give up. That's why I didn't take her out for spring there because I know how bears are and she sleeps in my bed every night. So I don't know.
00:38:58
Speaker
Cats kind of climb trees more bears in the spring. They like to walk and yeah, just, yeah.
Intense Mountain Lion Hunt Story
00:39:05
Speaker
At least in that part of the country. Always have a stapler on you. I always have everything.
00:39:10
Speaker
So give us a, let's wrap this thing up. It's a good, it's been of fun podcast. Give us a, a crazy cat, crazy cat story. Oh gosh. Cause you're a crazy cat lady in theory.
00:39:22
Speaker
This was actually probably the craziest one that I've been on. ever and it was this winter actually it was the one that our buddy ralph ended up shooting because we didn't plan on shooting this cat so we had found its track a day or two before that never caught up to it it was an old track fresh snow cut the track dumped the dogs out on it they went four to six miles ish probably by the time we got around to them because we'd have to go you know through all the different roads snow everything um aaron which is adeline's boyfriend he had already gone up to the tree
00:39:56
Speaker
And the rest of us were coming because we're bringing Ralph in. You know, he's got the tag and everything. So we're just walking in casually, cats in the tree. We're thinking, okay, we're going to go see what it is, is what it is. All of a sudden, and the video went viral on Instagram and TikTok, actually.
00:40:12
Speaker
it busts out of the tree. we didn't know. Like, we're still walking up to, we're like 80 yards from the tree at this point, but we still can't see the tree or Aaron because it's so thick. It's right up like a riverbed creek. It busts out of the tree, runs right past us.
00:40:27
Speaker
Past Ralph, which he's a little bit behind us, he has the gun, but we're like, we don't know what this, like Aaron knows, but none of us can communicate. There's no service, no nothing. And we're bunch of dumb kids. None of us brought our walkie talkies or radios or anything.
00:40:41
Speaker
So we're all up in a, we don't know what's going on. Here comes all the dogs. They retree the cat down below us, like a hundred yards. And we're all standing and like, oh, like this is great for the puppies. Cause we had probably four, four to six puppies out. And then some adult dogs, we had dogs everywhere.
00:40:57
Speaker
And, you know, they're we're just kind of like, okay, we're going let tree it, see what happens. Go up to the tree. or Ralph goes down towards the tree. And I'm going, like, the long way through the creek. I don't know why. I don't think all the time.
00:41:12
Speaker
But all of sudden I hear him yelling. He's like, it's on the ground. It's on the ground. And I'm like, okay. Like, it's, you know, in, like, a den or a rock underneath the riverbed. And we're all thinking, like, okay, like, we need to get down there, obviously. Like, there's puppies everywhere. There's cats.
00:41:27
Speaker
Somehow the cat had fallen out. I don't know if it went to jump or it slipped, but it's on the ground and it's just like swatting dogs. Dogs are in its mouth. Like it's a disaster.
00:41:39
Speaker
Adeline, her little badass self's like trying to hit it with the antenna on the Garmin to get to let go of the dogs. I'm like, what is the plan with that? And, that you know, we're trying to like get everything back.
00:41:51
Speaker
We don't know what's going on. We're like, there's something wrong with this cat. like, what the heck is going on? It's like it had a broken back, which it did end up having a broken vertebrae. And it was, I mean, it was a big, it was a pretty decently big cat. And so we're like, okay, well like Ralph, we don't know tell man, you have to take this cat. Like this is your cat now. You're the one with the tag. And so this cat's falling out of the tree. It's broke its back. so it's just like back legs aren't working probably.
00:42:14
Speaker
Nope. It's just laying there and it's just attacking dogs. Going crazy. I got you. And all the dogs are on it. It's a, it, it was not and One situation. And so, yeah, he ended up taking that cat and it was, it was a long day. It was a really long day.
00:42:29
Speaker
And he went home and when he skinned it, he sent pictures and everything of like its spinal cord. Somehow, whatever happened, we couldn't see. it had hit the ground, must have hit just right on the rocks. And yeah, it broke its, it broke its spine or whatever the vertebrae things are called. I'm not a doctor.
00:42:47
Speaker
And so it couldn't move. Wild. and that was a Tom or, you know. As much as I hate to say it, it was a very big female and we don't like female, but it was one of those things where it's like, if you do it enough, it's going to eventually, I've never heard of anything like that happening.
00:43:03
Speaker
thought cathther is I've seen some wild videos. My buddy Johnny runs a lot there and in Montana and like those things will jump 30 foot out of a tree and start running before hit the ground. Like you hear a thing of a cat wreck and slip back. Seems like something had to go wrong pretty bad for that cat.
00:43:17
Speaker
Yeah, it was the craziest thing. Like we, none of us had ever seen it. You know, she's calling her dad who's had run ran cats since he was basically born. He's like, what are you talking about? Like, how is that possible? And we're all like, we don't know. Like we just know something crazy happened.
00:43:33
Speaker
But yeah, it was, it was a crazy day. it was, it was a lot. That's awesome. You are living an adventure, which is so cool to see and to just sit back and like be a part of in some small way. Where can we find you?
00:43:47
Speaker
Uh, well, hopefully no one ever finds me, but, uh, Instagram is just my name, Daniel. and Oh my gosh. I can't talk Instagram. Just my name, Daniel underscore Halverson, or i guess Tik TOK, same thing, Daniel underscore Halverson, but the cool stuff's on Instagram or Facebook, which is, you're not doing YouTube, right?
00:44:05
Speaker
No, I just don't have the attention span for it yet. i want to so bad, but to, I mean, you know how it is when you're out there and trying to enjoy the moment. Sometimes being on camera 24 seven is like the worst thing in the world.
00:44:19
Speaker
Yep. hundred percent. I get
Closing and Listener Engagement
00:44:21
Speaker
it. So go follow Danielle, Danielle Howerson, Danielle underscore Howerson on TikTok and Instagram. Danielle, I am appreciative of you. Let's do it again. And hopefully at some point we hunting we go hunting together somewhere.
00:44:32
Speaker
Yeah, I'd be down. Thank you for listening to the Tricer podcast. Do us a favor and like and subscribe on whatever platform you're listening on. Give us a follow on Instagram and Facebook at Tricer USA and go and check out all of our innovative gear at www.tricerusa.com.
00:44:50
Speaker
Until next time, shoot straight, have fun, and always put God first.