← Legends of the Wild, A Field And Stream Production | Hunting, Fishing and the Outdoors
Legends of the Wild, A Field And Stream Production | Hunting, Fishing and the Outdoors
Episode 0 - Introducing Legends Of The Wild
00:53:32
In this special introductory episode of Legends of the Wild, host Sam Soholt - outdoor photographer, conservation advocate, and passionate hunter - kicks off Field & Stream’s newest podcast series with an inside look at his journey and what listeners can expect in episodes to come.
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- [00:01]
Jack Welch
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- [00:31]
Narrator
This episode is brought to you by Netflix. Becoming the most valuable sports franchise in the world doesn't happen without risk. A man who's willing to bet it all and the players ready to make their own luck. America's Team the Gambler and His Cowboys is the story of the 1990s Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones impact on NFL history. Featuring interviews with iconic 90s players and more. Watch America's Team the Gambler and his Cowboys August 19th only on Netflix.
- [01:02]
Sam Soholt
Welcome to Legends of the Wild, the podcast where we chase the stories that live beyond the trailhead and bring the wildest tales from the backcountry straight to your ears. I'm Sam Soholt, hunter, conservationist, and a guy who believes best moments happen where the map runs out. Each week, I'll sit down with legendary outdoorsmen and women musicians, athletes and everyday folks who've lived incredible stories of in wild places. From epic hunts and big wins to close calls and quiet moments under the stars, these are the stories that keep us heading deeper into the wild and remind us why we fight to protect it. This is Legends of the Wild presented by Field and Stream. Let's get into it.
- [01:46]
Co-host
Yeah, I think to jump in just to say, I think this has been a lot of years in the making. Sam, I've started following you at least a decade ago, if not more. I think I stumbled across a guy fixing up an old early 90s school bus and full disclosure, I think I was a little bit jealous. Like, who is this guy? I. I wanted to be doing it as well. And so getting to watch the whole transformation, getting to watch you, you know, fix the school bus up, hit the road. It's been amazing to see where you're at now. I think that what you've built and where you've been is really set up to make it like why we want to have you on on a podcast. And I think that, you know, I started at Field and Stream a year and a half ago and I think the most exciting thing about being there was, hey, how do we, how do we get Field and Stream up to date. How do we modernize this? Who. Who are the voices in the outdoors that we want to lead the charge on that? And I think that unanimously across the board on our team, when your name got thrown around, everybody was like, absolutely, yeah, Sam Soholt would be awesome. I think that you're the man moment. You've got to experience a lot of cool things. I'm curious if you've ever, you know, groked or chad GPT yourself.
- [02:55]
Sam Soholt
I have not indulged in the AI anything about myself. I try to try to avoid that as much as possible.
- [03:03]
Co-host
Well, that's probably fair, but I think I. I got to jump in. I. I said, who is Sam Soal? It said, A nomadic outdoor photographer, videographer, and public land advocate, he converted a 1993 Bluebird school bus into a mobile hunting camp. Traveled across public lands to promote conservation. Originally from the Dakotas, Sam earned a business degree and an MBA from North Dakota State University before turning his passion into a career in the outdoor media Pro staff for brands like G5 and Prime Archery. Working for them for nearly a decade, Sam keeps his personal life relatively private. Online college athlete through weight. Through the weight.
- [03:43]
Sam Soholt
Yep. Through weight, disc and hammer. Yeah, I'm a little bigger back then.
- [03:50]
Co-host
I was, I was too. I was like 225 back in college.
- [03:53]
Sam Soholt
Yeah.
- [03:53]
Co-host
Try to keep it slim now. That's.
- [03:56]
Sam Soholt
That's a.
- [03:56]
Co-host
That's a pretty good write up right there. So I'd love to know, like, from your perspective kind of with that journey. I didn't know you had an mba. I like, love to know that. How did that, how to get an MBA turn into hitting the road in a school bus taking pictures?
- [04:11]
Sam Soholt
Yeah. So, you know, I've kind of been. My whole career has been made on just saying yes to things. You know, it started way back when just saying yes to jumping in on the track team and wanted to attract me when I was really little. Decided when I was like seven that I wanted to be a thrower. I wanted to throw disc and shot put for some reason. And so from middle school until, you know, five years of college, I threw disc and then shot put a little bit in high school and then just disc and hammer at college. So it kind of my entire life has been just trying to chase the things that I want to chase, and that included, you know, continuing my education while I was in track and field. You know, I could have triple majored, but instead it made more sense to get a master's degree because I could do it in the same amount of time. And then I, you know, I've been telling people for a long time that I kind of retired right out of college. It I was finishing my master's degree, I got an internship with Midwest whitetail because the fall before, I had started archery hunting. And I was so fired up because I shot a couple different deer within 10 days of each other. And so I was just, like, riding this, like, adrenaline rush that I have never felt before. You know, first time archery hunting, shoot a little two by three. And then, you know, a week later, I shoot like 130 inch, 10 point, and I am just like over the moon. And so I cold called cold. Emailed every. I think I probably even sent an email to field and stream at the time, But I would literally was finding any contact I could find in the hunting media industry and was sending messages and emails with my resume saying, hey, I'm a got a master's in business. I am passionate about the outdoors. And a guy named Bill Winkey sent me a message back and said, hey, we're always looking for interns. And so he was just. One more time. All right, say yes, let's do this. So that snowballed into a career. So I worked at Midwest Whitetail, moved to Colorado, My older brother, who, you know, helped kind of guide me into the outdoors a lot, as when we were growing up, because he was always four years older and always had, you know, he could drive and, you know, so we did all sorts of stuff growing up together. He started a backcountry hunting store, archery pro shop. And so, you know, it went from me knowing how to duck hunt and archery whitetail hunt, to having a much broader skillset, like across the west, like, you know, like throwing into the fire. All of a sudden, I'm back country elk hunting. And so that led to meeting a sales rep and saying yes to a job and moving to Montana. And that led to meeting a guy in a coffee shop and him trying to hire me to go film a bear hunt in Alaska and saying yes to that. And then that led to an opportunity to go film for the coast guard Alaska and living on Kodiak island for five months. Wow. And so this entire. It was never really a lot of big decisions, but my whole career has stemmed from just being kind of open and seeing these doors open in front of me, these opportunities, and then just jumping through the door as fast as I could. And it just led one thing to another. And the show filming for the coast guard led to filming for a bear hunting show on the history Channel that only did one season, but that ended up leading to meeting somebody who hired me for my first professional photography job job. And it just, like, it just kept snowballing it into more and more of a career. So I have. I have literally never had a real job since I left college.
- [07:31]
Co-host
That is incredible. What the photography part did.
- [07:34]
Ceedee Lamb
You did.
- [07:35]
Co-host
Were you doing that in college? Like, where. Where did that. Where did that knowledge and that love for that come?
- [07:40]
Sam Soholt
You know, the love for, like, the content creation side started when I was really little. I was making, you know, my parents had an old vhs, like, video camera, and I would make, you know, film my buddies rollerblading in the driveway and different stuff like that. And so I always had like a. At least. And I loved the idea of what you could do with a camera, but I never actually learned until way later in life. So I wasn't doing any photography in college. My parents made a deal with all three of us kids to if we didn't drink till we were 21, we could pick out a shotgun. So my older brother Josh, I still remember the day we went to Shields and he picked out a shotgun, didn't drink till he was 21. And then I decided that rather than get a shotgun, I was gonna get a professional video camera so I could film our hunts. And, yeah, so the camera was gonna cost more than the shotgun my brother got. And so I ended up splitting a professional video camera with my parents. And my dad thought that was the dumbest thing. That's crazy in the world. So I got this camera for my 21st birthday, but I had no idea how to use it. So it just sat on the shelf. You know, it busted out every once in a while and have it on auto. But then when I got that internship, I was able to take, you know, a very nice video camera down and film deer hunts in Southern Iowa. So my, like, trial by fire education came from whatever it was. 110 days, you know, morning and night in the Whitetail woods, learning video production and. And then that stemmed into the photography side of things because DSLRs were just coming online. You know, when I moved to Colorado, I. I traded the bow I had bought for to work at Midwest Whitetail for a gun, which I then sold and bought a dslr. And then that led into the photography world. So it's been just bartering and trading and selling and just, you know, getting all the tools I need to make it happen.
- [09:29]
Co-host
That is wild. When in that process did you start picking up steam? Did you start, like, realizing, like, hey, this is not just a short term thing. This is something I think I can do for a long term, you know.
- [09:42]
Sam Soholt
When I moved to Montana from Colorado, you know, I had still been creating videos and stuff, but I moved to Montana and I was broke, broke, broke, broke, broke. I was a sales rep. I was getting paid only on commission. I'd borrowed money from my parents to make it up to Montana. I'm currently in Montana while we're recording this. And I actually was telling my wife that we were driving down the street and I was like, I had a panic attack right here when I moved here because I had gone into a gas station and grabbed a Mountain Dew off the shelf and put it back. Because I was like, no, I can't afford that right now.
- [10:13]
Co-host
Wow, that's a very core memory right there.
- [10:16]
Sam Soholt
Oh, man, it. Like every time I drive past that place, I'm like, yep. That was when I, you know, like, that was like. It really was a turning point, though, because it was right after that that I. I met a guy, randomly, struck up a conversation with him, and he hired me for my first, you know, like, filming. Filming job after Midwest Whitetail. But it really took a while to build up steam. It wasn't until, you know, after I'd kind of finished, my first big break was getting the job with Coast Guard Alaska. So filming for the Weather Channel, flying around on helicopters and search and rescues and, you know, filming the Coast Guard. And then just. I just figured every job led to the next one. And so the final, you know, that job, because I was on Kodiak, I met the casting director for a show called the Hunt, which was on the bear on the History Channel. And So I filmed 30 Days of Brown bear hunting on Kodiak to finish out my time up there. And the final hunt that I filmed, one of the guys that was on the hunt, he was just a friend of the client. He happened to be the PR guy for Remington Firearms. And he was like, hey, like, I had shot a bunch of photos of those guys on their hunt together, and just because I was, you know, love shooting photos at the time and was, you know, trying to do it professionally, but, you know, was not on the photography side. And he was like, hey, we do these new product seminars and the writers show up and they have to, you know, try to shoot the new guns, take photos, do all this stuff, but they. They always go home with a bunch of bad photos. He's like, I'd like to hire you to show up and shoot photos of all these writers Using the product so that when they go write articles, they actually have good images to use. And so that was my, you know, that was my next big break. That was my first big break into the photo world and then just tried to continue that. Like, every job leads to the next. So the first seminar I went down, I met 40 writers and editors of these hunting and shooting magazines. And then I would always follow up, you know, and just like, hey, it was great to meet you on that trip. Here's my information, you know, that kind of thing. Well, it took a while, but I kept getting invited on these new product seminars. And then I met an editor named Mike Scoby who is still in the industry, and I was on new product seminar. Well, they had a photo shoot with Joe Rogan. They were doing a cover shoot in British Columbia on a moose hunt. And I had left the new product seminar the week before, and I got a phone call from Scobie and it was him and Ben o'. Brien. And they were like, hey, we're doing this trip in British Columbia. We need a shooter to go up and shoot a cover photo for this article we're doing. Do you want to go? I was like, yes. I mean, it was. Again, it was just like, yep, say yes to everything. And so the following week, I flew to British Columbia and I was, you know, spent a week chasing moose with Rogan and Ben o'. Brien. And Rogan ended up shooting. Yeah, yeah. So Rogan ended up shooting a bull, I think on day five of the six day hunt or whatever it was. And then we had, you know, Ben had a real, like, distinct image that he had in his head, like for the COVID shoot. And it was not the one we ended up. That ended up being on the COVID but we wanted to shoot a bunch of different possible samples. So if anybody listening to this, the photo of Rogan holding the moose quarter over his shoulder from that would have been 2014. That was really, like the biggest, like, stepping stone for me. That really catapulted my. At least my name when it came to photography kind of into the space.
- [13:41]
Co-host
I remember seeing that photo and not knowing it was yours. Honestly, I saw the photo and then I think you posted something after, after a certain time period, you know, whenever I connected the dots and it was just like, oh, that is so stinking cool. I mean, of all people, I think that you, like, you're very deserving of that. You're authentic. You're in that space. And so for that to be your moment to, to catapult you to the next level was really cool. It was fun. It's fun to watch you grow from there, too.
- [14:09]
Sam Soholt
Yeah. The career after. I mean, just like, as I continued to meet more people in the industry, it was like people just decided, like, okay, he can shoot a good photo. There's a lot of photographers that are way better than I am, but I have just prided myself on developing relationships with people in the space that they know that I'll be there and I'll produce good work and. And deliver on time and, you know, do the things that need to be done to. To tell the story the right way.
- [14:35]
Co-host
Yeah. Well, it's definitely been your mo. I mean, around. You know, I've. It's interesting. I was thinking today, I think, that I've been getting to work with around you almost three. Three years now. Never met in person, I think that. But I feel like I've known you forever. Like, you. You just. You have that personality, and you're one of the most trusted guys in the industry, and I think that saying yes and working hard and delivering has paid off. I'm curious. You know, you were growing up, you talked about you and your brother Josh, and I know y' all had a bunch of fun adventures together, but who. Who were the guys for. For y' all growing up? Who were Yalls, outdoor heroes?
- [15:12]
Sam Soholt
Uh, you know, like, we. We grew up duck hunting. You know, my dad upland hunted. He archery hunted way back, and then kind of got us into the upland game. And then Josh got invited on a youth duck hunt, and then that just turned into, like, all in. So some of my, like, one of my biggest, like, group of heroes was the Duck Commanders. I mean, the Duckman of Louisiana was. That was. It had, you know, 23 of their VHS tapes and multiple DVDs after that. I have a. It's literally, I haven't have a. Don't have a spot to hang it up, but it hung in my room for 15 years, 20 years. I have a signed poster of those guys. You know, I just, like, I think. I don't remember. I must have sent a letter or. I don't think they had email. Like, they didn't have an email at the time. I think I sent a letter to him, like, hey, I'd love a poster or something. And they just mailed me a poster and signed it. And it's. You know, it says, cut them. You know, cut them, Jack. You know, Phil Robertson.
- [16:11]
Co-host
But what a tough loss, losing Phil.
- [16:13]
Sam Soholt
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
- [16:15]
Co-host
I mean, I think that from the hunting to the family Man, I mean, he, he made his way into everybody's kitchen and den. I think he, he grew a whole generation of waterfowlers. I mean, that's, I think that's the, you know, the exciting thing about Field and Stream and talking about growing this. You talked about your brother getting invited on a youth hunt. Like it's just one, one little trigger that can domino something, you know, And I think about the impact that you've had in the hunting space. Like, what if Josh had not been invited on that youth hunt, you know?
- [16:43]
Sam Soholt
Right. Yeah. I mean, it could have changed the entire trajectory of everything that we've done. You know, everything from, you know, public land tees, you know, probably wouldn't exist if that didn't happen. You know, the project surrounding the duck stamp and raising money for that probably wouldn't exist. Yeah, there's just.
- [16:59]
Co-host
Tell me a little bit about, about the public land tees. Like, what is that? How did that, how did that get started?
- [17:04]
Sam Soholt
Yeah, so when you were watching me, you know, build the school bus, the whole purpose behind the bus was to use it as a billboard to raise awareness about public land issues. And so at the same time, you know, we've been talking for quite a while about starting like a kind of a lifestyle hunting brand, you know, just merch style stuff. And it was the perfect time to tie it to conservation funding. So we launched Public Land tees in the fall of 2017. And since then, five bucks from everything we sell we donate back to different conservation initiatives. So that's everything from access projects to habitat projects to, you name it. We have earmarked funds for different stuff all over the place, you know, nwtf. We donated for sage seedlings out west. So that helped everything from turkeys to wild sheep. And donated to a project through RMEF that helped open up, you know, they bought a chunk of private, and it opened up access to like 26,000 acres of public through a project we call Stamp It Forward. We have raised. Oh, I think I had the number off the top of my head. We have bought thousands upon thousands of duck stamps over the last six years. Then 100%, almost 100% of that obviously goes into wetland conservation. So we've, we try to find, you know, we've been working kind of with in the long conservation groups. But our goal is to always find like creative ways to raise money for these organizations and for these projects that the organizations might not be able to do just simply how they're structured. So we get to, you know, we're wild west we get to kind of do whatever we want. So it's been a fun eight years now of just coming up with different ways to make things happen.
- [18:42]
Co-host
Yeah, I. I love following along along on the duck rock. I think we got some fun stuff in store for that this year, and it's been fun being a part of that. I was bummed when you tore your Achilles last year, but I think you made a stuff for the season. Yeah, for sure. Do you. You still got after some deer hunting in a. In a boot last year. Right.
- [19:01]
Sam Soholt
There's. There's very few things that'll keep me away from the whitetail woods, and a ruptured Achilles was not going to be one of them. Tore my Achilles full rupture in June surgery a year ago. And then, you know, just rehabbed as much as I could. And then when November. When November came around, you know, I was out of the boot, you know, on flat ground and being able to, you know, walk and stuff. But in order to protect it, I was like, I gotta like, I'm keep wearing the walking boot if I'm in the woods. And so I had like, I was like, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna hunt for five days. So I took, you know, my wife and my daughter with me and like, I would hunt either a morning or an evening and then just be back and like, make sure my leg was doing fine. Um, but yeah, I ended up killing the deer on day four and got to give it a boat ride out so I didn't have to drag it or, you know, pack it out because that wasn't going to happen.
- [19:52]
Co-host
Yeah, that picture epic.
- [19:54]
Sam Soholt
Oh, man, it just. That one will. I will never forget it was just like snuck in there and got one on the ground and then to. To drag it over to the boat at least, you know, drag it a hundred yards instead of all the way back out and get it in. Take it out on the water was pretty special.
- [20:09]
Co-host
Yeah. I definitely want to get into kind of what you're. What you're excited about on. On the podcast, on hosting it. You know, why. Why you picked Field and Stream? I think there's a lot of places that you could do this that you. Tons of people would love to have access to you and so I'd love to know, like, what does Field of Stream mean to you? Like, was there a piece of that growing up that it sticks out to you and then kind of the. What the goals are for it?
- [20:36]
Sam Soholt
Yeah. So, I mean, growing up, Field and Stream was always the big one. Right. I mean, there was lots of publications. You know, it was growing up in a time before, like, the real digital age. You know, everything was magazine, so it was. But Field and Stream was always the one that was like, you know, that was the pinnacle. I was like, the peak. And then everything else kind of like, followed Field and Stream. Obviously, you have very, like, niche magazines that did a very good job. Wildfowl, you name it, a whole bunch of them out there. But, yeah, Field and Stream just covered all the topics, and so you got to read about all these adventures, and the COVID art was always cool. And, like, I mean, it was just. It was such an iconic thing that had been around for so long that when the opportunity to be the host of a podcast for a Field and Stream, you know, it's a pretty amazing honor to be. To be the one where you guys want that. Me to be the voice of that. But for me, I think the most fun part about doing this podcast is going to be getting to talk to and, you know, share experiences with all of these people that I've either have met in the past, but, I mean, above and beyond that is people that I've wanted to meet forever, you know, So I think we're going to have a ton of fun with this thing. And I. I'm a fairly curious guy, so I'm excited to go, like, explore these people's lives. And obviously we're going to tell some hunting stories and fishing stories and, you know, stories about being in the wild. But, like, way beyond that, I want to, like, dive into, like, how people balance, you know, all the time in their profession and then still, like, figuring out ways to go do the things that they actually love to do where it doesn't feel like a job all the time.
- [22:15]
Co-host
Yeah. I'm actually really curious to ask you what hunting season, first year with a kid and a torn Achilles. It was different, I would assume.
- [22:27]
Sam Soholt
Yeah, last fall was very different. My wife and I talked a lot. It's like, of all the times for that injury to happen, probably the best timing it could have ever happened if it was going to have to be that way, because it really forced me to slow down because recovery on that industry or that injury is incredibly slow. And so it allowed me to be way more present with a new baby in the house because I tend to get a little psychotic when it comes to hunting season. I get. I'm a. I'm ate up with it all the time. So when it. When it comes. Season comes around. I knew I would. I know. I Would have been finding excuses to go, like, spend more time in the woods than I should be. And it really. It allowed me to be way more present and see lots of little moments that I may have missed in those first few months. So I. I feel blessed in a lot of ways where that it happened to me. Yeah.
- [23:21]
Co-host
It's funny. Nature and powers that be sometimes make what's supposed to happen happen.
- [23:27]
Sam Soholt
I mean, absolutely. Yeah.
- [23:28]
Co-host
I think about, like, for me, kid number one, I still put the hammer down and I thought I had it figured out. You know, I think I duck hunted 52 days that first year. And then kid number two came and I hunted three. You know, it was. It was just different there and there, you know, that was my. A lot of. That was my identity. And so trying to. Hey, that's not. That's actually not my identity, you know?
- [23:51]
Sam Soholt
Right.
- [23:51]
Co-host
Just a thing that I love to do. So.
- [23:53]
Sam Soholt
Yeah. Yeah.
- [23:54]
Co-host
I'm gonna give you some rapid fire questions if. If you're cool with it.
- [23:58]
Sam Soholt
Love to do it.
- [23:59]
Co-host
All right. I think you kind of told us the first one that I had on there. I was gonna say, what's the one moment that made you fall in love with photography? I guess not. No, the Joe Rogan thing is not what made you fall in love with it. Is there a moment?
- [24:12]
Sam Soholt
I think. I think the first time I fell in love with photography was when I had seen really cool images of, like, night photography, star photography out there, just kind of online and in the world and whatever. And when I finally had a camera that could take photos like that and figuring out that, like, little thing, I mean, as simple as that is to me now, like, to go out and shoot a really cool photo at night and, like, tell a story. When I figured that out, it was like, click. I was like, I'm in. I'm in forever. Like, I can. I can finally figure out, like, I know, like, I can go and take photos of these scenes that I see in person and get to experience, like, I can capture those with my camera and start to figure that out and, like, learn how to use the tool to actually, like, come home with an image that represents what I saw in my mind and my eyes, like, actually out there in the field. So that was it. That was like, when I finally got good enough with the camera to do some of those things, that's when it was like, yep, I'm in for sure.
- [25:13]
Co-host
That's cool. That's actually crazy. I had a similar experience. I fell in love with photography and I'm. I've always I'm the same soholt wannabe. Like I'm not like, you know, I can't do the school bus. Not a good photographer. Like I love these things and I think that's why I followed you so hard. But I was actually in outside of San Francisco at the Silver Lakes with my family. My, my dad was a dentist and he had this telephoto lens for literally taking like back then they would like take pictures of people's teeth. Yeah, I had it and he had gotten this button to do long exposure. Like it had a cord to it. And we started doing long exposure of the stars and it, and it's my dad brother and I like blew my mind, you know. And yeah, you know, years later and tons of Fujifilm. My dad was probably like I should not have shown those guys that. But um. All right, back into the question. So what is the. I've wanted to ask you this for a long time. What's the craziest adventure like breakdown story you had with the school bus?
- [26:14]
Sam Soholt
Oh, you know, I got pretty lucky. I, I tend to be paranoid about over maintenance. But as, as far as like breakdown stuff, I was, I was just taking off on a, I was going to do a month long tour with the hunting public guys on a spring turkey tour. And I drove from North Dakota down to. I think I went and stayed at my parents in South Dakota. I was like broke up the trip cause I went and met up with Air in War Britain in Missouri and then we were heading all the way down to Tennessee to, to chase turkeys. And so I left like you know, four days or five days before I was going to be in Tennessee. Well, I got, went to Sioux Falls, went to Missouri and then I left Missouri to go start to go to Tennessee. And I think I slept, yeah, I slept in a Walmart parking lot. And then I woke up the next morning, I turned the bus on and I was letting it warm up. I went into Walmart to get breakfast and I came back out and the bus was off. I was like, hmm. So then I turned the bus back on and the low coolant light came on and shut off again. And I got out and looked underneath and it was just green fluid everywhere. I mean like gallons of green fluid. And I was like, oh boy. Like this is, you know, this is going to be a problem. So I went back into Walmart, I bought coolant and I, I filled it back up, filled the radiator, got it like started it back up, the light went off and then I got out and I'm just watching, like, I'm just watching it drip out. So then I, like, I ended up. I'm trying to think. I called a whole bunch of people. Nobody wanted to touch it because it's an old school bus. And I was like, well, I'm just gonna drive a little bit and see how fast it's leaking. And. And so then I, I went back into Walmart and I bought like, I don't think about like six of those five gallon jugs of water and coolant and then came back out, made sure it was topped off and I took off and started driving and I made it all the way to Tennessee, just stopping every, I don't know, 50 miles or whatever, make sure I wasn't going to blow it up. I had a little thermometer gun to make sure I wasn't overheating and it wasn't beeping at me and the coolant light wasn't on. And I drove it for three weeks with a leaking radiator hose, just blowing coolant all over the place. So bad for the environment. So I apologize for that. But I found a, I found a shop in a small town while I was just driving across Kansas. Like, I just, I was like, I gotta find somebody that can work on this. So I've called like a farm shop. And I was like, hey, I've got an old school bus. It's a 1993. It's got a Cat 3116 and Allison transmission. And I am leaking coolant from somewhere and the guy goes, I got the same motor in my truck, bring it in and so I pull it in and this old greasy guy comes out and opens the hood and checks it out and he's like, he's like, oh, here's a leak right here, no problem. So he, you know, jumps in there, dives in, takes the hose off, reworks. It didn't actually have like the part to replace it, but just like took the metal line, cut it, put a rubber line in between to make it work. And I've never, I've never changed it. I've never had low coolant ever since. But it was like $108. But yeah, I drove it for three weeks just praying I wouldn't blow up on the road.
- [29:26]
Co-host
I want to buy one even more now. I mean, the fact that like you were able to do that with it leaking, that's incredible.
- [29:35]
Sam Soholt
Sometimes you just gotta, you just gotta send it.
- [29:37]
Co-host
You still have the bus?
- [29:39]
Sam Soholt
Still have the bus? Yes.
- [29:41]
Co-host
What do you use it Much, you.
- [29:43]
Sam Soholt
Know, I don't use it nearly as much anymore. You know, it's still registered, insured and all this stuff and typically gets out on a hunt, maybe two a year. Use it for some different events and that kind of thing. You know, there's probably gonna be a time coming up here soon where it needs to go down the road, you know, I need to pass that torch and I don't know the best way to give it away or raffle it off or auction it or you know, whatever and do some big money raising thing for conservation. But it's, it's probably time to, to have somebody else be driving that one around waving the flag.
- [30:15]
Co-host
I think a group of 19 year olds probably need to find their way bus, you know. Yeah, agreed. Some mother is like, oh, I hope that's not my kids. Yes you do. Yes you do. So I'd love to know a couple easy ones. This is an easy one. Favorite piece of gear you'd never leave home without. You're a gear guy, Liz.
- [30:35]
Sam Soholt
I'm sorry, I am a gear guy. Yeah. I'm trying to think of something that like I'd never am without a good headlamp.
- [30:45]
Co-host
Ooh, that's good.
- [30:46]
Sam Soholt
I mean that's like I'm trying to think there's all these other, you know, there's all the little other gadgety things and you know, essential like fire starting kit and all that stuff. But man, without a good headlamp like.
- [30:57]
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- [31:15]
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- [31:50]
Jack Welch
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- [31:58]
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- [32:28]
Sam Soholt
Yeah, it gets real hairy, you know, in a. In a hurry.
- [32:31]
Co-host
Oh, I've always got a headlamp in my backpack. We were actually just in Africa, and one of the places we were staying, once the sun went down, you couldn't see, and me and my wife say, I can't. You know, my phone's not bright enough. And I was like, who's making fun of the guy with the headlamp now? It works. All right. So what's the toughest hunt you've ever had? A photograph or film?
- [32:55]
Sam Soholt
Hardest hunt I've ever been on was a stone sheep hunt in northern British Columbia. Yep. And it was. It was a comedy of errors on our part. Ended up my pack was roughly 80 to 85 pounds, and we hiked about 120 miles over 12 days. Dang. Yeah. I lost 18 pounds in 12 days. Yeah. And we didn't. Probably.
- [33:19]
Co-host
She going, I gotta hear more on this. So. So 10 miles a day, 89 gallons.
- [33:25]
Sam Soholt
I lost. Yeah, I lost 18 pounds. The pack was way too heavy. We. Let's see the. The adventure like, it was all filmed for a show. We ended up taking a jet boat upriver to be part of the show. We did the last hour of the jet boat ride to camp at twilight and after dark, which, if anybody has ever run a river, you don't run a jet boat upriver after dark. And on the way out, we went through what's called Jewel rapids on this river. And it was way scarier in the daylight than it was in the dark because of how dangerous it really was, you know? And then the morning we were supposed to leave, the outfitter rolled his four wheeler off the bank down to the river and almost killed himself. And then we hopped in the float plane and went to the next camp and we got there and stayed overnight. And then there was supposed to be an Argo trail that would take us to the like, the spot we were going to camp and glass for sheep. Well, this Argo trail was, you know, several years old, so it's all growing over. So we, we pack up the Argo. You know, there's only two people in the Argo, so it's, you know, the guy that's hunting and the guide and they're trying to get this Argo up this trail and we're trying to find the trail. Well, we left the cabin that morning at like 6:30 in the morning. And we didn't set up our tents in the wrong location until midnight. So we just followed this Argo and walked, you know, like all the way up into this thing. And then we just. The next day we had a food drop or maybe two days later we had a food drop and they dropped the food in the middle and a couple of the guys went out to grab it and they got charged by grizzly bear and. And then we made our way around, you know, like, didn't get, you know, it was just a bluff charge, but still like got to film a grizz just go sprinting that these two guys were out going to grab the food. And we ended up getting weathered in. We ran out of food and fuel and then so we spent, you know, like basically a day and a half in the tent eating like a, a cliff bar. And then the next day the weather broke and they dropped food on us again. So then we were trying to leave. So now we're carrying an extra 10 pounds a piece on the day. We're just trying to get out of there. You know, we're going through boulder fields and stuff. And you know, it's boulders the size of Volkswagens that are shifting as you're walking on them. And it was just, you know, I think we used up all of our luck on not getting injured or having something really bad happen on, you know, what should have been the luck in finding a big old ram. But now I have this cool story to like, to tell though. So that was, yeah, that was certainly an experience.
- [35:55]
Co-host
I think that those are the adventures that make you really, really appreciate coming back home.
- [35:59]
Sam Soholt
Yes. Yeah.
- [36:01]
Co-host
And that's a lot of the reasons. I mean, I'd love to know like for you, like, what, why do you go on these adventures? Like what you've been on a lot. You've done a lot of really cool things. Why, why are you, why are you still going?
- [36:12]
Sam Soholt
Man? I just, it changes me every single time I go on one. I come back a different person. You know, I think we all get very comfortable in our daily lives. You know, you get into a routine. You know, home is very comfortable and easy. And so without going and doing these things that really push a person, I don't think you appreciate it as much as you would if you go and do the hard things. Because when you come back and you have a hot shower and a soft bed, it's like, oh, this is the most comfortable thing I've ever done. And it's just, you have to have those moments of like you're just frozen or you're wet for days on end or you're, you know, whatever it is, you have to go do hard things to appreciate everything else.
- [36:55]
Co-host
Yeah, no doubt. Al's actually on a, on a cold trip in the Panhandle last year. And we all get out of the tents and, you know, we're trying to get the fire lit up as quick as we can. And this songwriter guy named Ben Roberts was on the trip and he came out dead silent and he got by the fire and he wasn't whining as much as the rest of us, said, ben, how was your night? He looked up and he said, God abandoned me in my sleeping bag last night. It up, it's like the most perfect, like, okay, good. You froze your ass off too. I think going into the podcast, I think you are very involved in conservation. You're very aware of what's going on. Like what, what are the main issues right now that people that aren't paying attention, like what, what are they, what are, what are they missing? What are, what do people need to know? And is this some of the stuff that they'll get on the podcast?
- [37:52]
Sam Soholt
Yeah, I mean, definitely early on here because it's so time related, we're going to be talking about some conservation stuff. So what's going on in the country right now is a potential land grab that's public land sell off, which, you know, there's people from all walks of life and all industries that are trying to fight it. Basically right now there is a senator from Utah that it has put in a proposal in a bill. It just got. Yeah, it just continues to change and evolve. But the original was trying to sell off up to 3.3 million acres of public land as part of this budget reconciliation bill. And basically the breakdown on that is he added in Massive royalty cuts for oil and gas industry with to the tune of about three and a half to $4 billion a year. And the sell off of the public land is a way to offset this loss of royalties. But the problem with selling land is it's a one time deal. You can't sell it ever again, you can never get it back. And the way that the legislation is all set up, it's a bad deal for everybody because there's already legislation in place that deals with the sale of public lands. If communities need to expand and they need to sell a small parcel to have housing or have infrastructure or whatever it might be, there's legislation in place for that. And the money from the sale gets reinvested into more public land or more access, well, this would be, the money would go back into the general fund. So we would never ever see a return on it. So that's why everybody's, at least in my public land algorithm, online, my echo chamber that I see, it's why everybody's so fired up about it and why everybody is speaking up about it. And so we actually have, we're currently have a lot of unity like across recreational user groups. So whether you hunt, fish, camp, bike, hike, you know, you name it. If you spend time on public land, you have probably seen this and if you haven't seen this, it's, it's time to get involved and time to speak up about it. I'm pretty passionate about it, so I get real fired up about this kind of stuff. And you know, the podcast will not all be about conservation. We're going to talk about a lot of things, but it's definitely, you know, one of the, one of the threads that keeps my career going. And so I'm going to, you know, have people on and talk to people about it and help people, help educate people about the fact that, you know, we're all owners of this amazing resource and we need to protect it.
- [40:14]
Co-host
Yeah, I think there's been something really fueling about. It's so hard to find common ground. I think, you know, we're all, we've all struggled with that since COVID Everybody's got a million things going in different directions and somehow Covid made us all busier, you know, but it's been really nice the last couple weeks to be like, hey, yeah, we've all got something we agree on. Everybody that loves the outdoors, like, hey, we don't want this. We don't want this for our kids, our grandkids. This is not in anybody's best Interest. And so seeing the community come together, as frustrating as, as what we're up against, as frustrating as it is that, that Mike Lee wants to sell this stuff, I think seeing the community come together. And so I'm curious, you know, as you talk to people on the podcast, as, as you've seen the community like, you know, I think we've got to find more of these common ground issues to all get to all get around and get on board. And so I'm excited to hear about some of the people that you're going to have these conversations with. One, one question is, who are some of the people that we can expect to hear on the podcast? You, the types of people, like, things that we're going to be talking about if there's anything there you want to share.
- [41:24]
Sam Soholt
Yeah, so we're going to have, you know, I've got a few guests lined up. We've got people like Randy Newberg, Ryan Callahan, you know, both obviously very vocal in the conservation world. Jason Matzinger, who's done, you know, decades of, you know, conservation films and high end media type stuff. And you know, I've been lucky enough to spend, you know, 65 days in the field filming him personally. So, you know, I'll get to talk to a lot of my friends and tell their stories, you know, people I've spent a lot of time with in the field and have, you know, shared interests with, but also going to be able to talk to people, you know, from the country music world because Field and Stream is so tied into that space now with, you know, who's running the show. So we're, you know, there's going to be, you know, but I want to like, the goal of this whole thing is to talk to, you know, people who have in some way shape or form kind of changed the trajectory of, you know, the space that they're in. And I think that that's the really, the goal that I have with it is to communicate and tell these people stories who have spent time, you know, decades on end doing this stuff. And whatever industry they might be in, they have changed the course of that industry.
- [42:34]
Co-host
Yeah, that is awesome. I think I've got anything you think we need to touch on that I haven't touched on. I definitely like have some other things I'd love to, you know, like touch base with you. I mean, if it's something that can be used or not used. I mean, I think one of the things I definitely wanted to pick your brain on, like everybody and their brother right now wants to Be an outdoor influencer. If they hunt or fish. I mean, I, like, I can't tell you how many people I've had, and I'm one of those guys that probably has $3,000 worth of equipment and I've never put together a finished product for my of the self hunt. I've been able to film other people. I've been able to work on other sets, produce and direct on that. But the self hunt film is hard.
- [43:17]
Sam Soholt
Yeah.
- [43:17]
Co-host
And you've done a really great job of that. Like, did somebody teach you that? Did you learn that as you go?
- [43:24]
Sam Soholt
Yeah. The self trying to self film is just a pain in the ass. There's no there. There's no way around it. I can't tell you how many days that I have carried camera gear into the woods and like, basically never touched it. But the one thing that has driven me to continue like actually shooting the photos or taking the video clips or doing, you know, like actually documenting the process is there has not been a single time that I have gone back through photos or video that I have shot and been like, why did I even take that? Because when I go back and look at all this stuff, it puts me right back in the moment. And so what fuels me to do it and is to. I like to share it with other people, like my experiences and stuff. But it's really selfish for me. Like, I love being able to go back and have these memories because that, it puts me right back in there. I can almost smell it. I can almost taste it. You can almost like you put yourself right back in that moment. And I think that's what's truly special about like, not just creating content to create content, but documenting an experience that you're having.
- [44:33]
Co-host
Yeah, I think that's changed for me on like, social media has kind of been like, like, I. I just got a. A photo album from my grandfather and it's a ton of him and Nash Buckingham. They were, they were best friends, they hunted together. And I'm like, holy cow. I just found a full photo album of Nash Buckingham original photos. I'm so glad that my grandfather did that. I've got old 8 millimeter photos. I've got a bunch of cousins that are like, man, you're putting on Instagram and you're doing Facebook. I'm like, yeah, I want to save this. And I like, I want, I want my kids to see it. I want my grandkids to see it. And it isn't like the nostalgic lane. And I think that's what like, one of the fun things about Field of Stream is like, we want to keep the nostalgic alive. You know, Ben Weffer, our founder, talks about, he calls it new stalgia, like bringing the old old to new, but. But honoring it. And yeah, it's a. Not a better way to do it than through that. Is there a dream hunting destination that you. That you're wanting to go to?
- [45:26]
Sam Soholt
You know, I've been, I've been to a lot of cool places to film, but I have never personally gone and hunted, like Northwest Territories, you know, Northern bc, Stuff like that. Like, that country is wild and untamed and I'd love to go actually have my. My own hunt up there.
- [45:46]
Co-host
All right. I'm actually going to fire these at you quick. I keep getting off this track. All right. Bow or rifle?
- [45:52]
Sam Soholt
Yes.
- [45:57]
Co-host
Cheating.
- [45:58]
Sam Soholt
It's not cheating. I. Whatever I can get a tag for.
- [46:01]
Co-host
All right. That's fair. Favorite state to chase public land whitetails. This. This is probably going to get you in trouble. Somebody's going to be like, oh, you're. You're ratting on my state. But I'm curious.
- [46:10]
Sam Soholt
I'm gonna go. You know, I'm gonna go back when I was Iowa, when I was an intern. Man, it's just. Yep. Amazing.
- [46:17]
Co-host
What's more satisfying? Perfectly timed photo or a clean double lung shot?
- [46:24]
Sam Soholt
I've always been more of a trigger guy than a camera guy. Like, I'm always. I'm always weapon first, so. All right. A clean. A clean double lung. Yep.
- [46:33]
Co-host
All right. Morning hunt or evening hunt?
- [46:36]
Sam Soholt
I'm a morning guy.
- [46:37]
Co-host
All right. Who packs better snacks, you or Josh?
- [46:41]
Sam Soholt
I'm gonna go with me, but we have very different palates, so. Yeah, but I, I definitely always have snacks.
- [46:49]
Co-host
Are you and Josh pretty competitive?
- [46:51]
Sam Soholt
Yeah. I mean, like. Yes.
- [46:54]
Co-host
Yeah. Your brothers. I've got a brother. I was curious how you were gonna answer that. Yeah, like, we're friendly. We don't let people know, but yeah, I don't like losing to them. What's your walk up song for a bugling bull elk?
- [47:07]
Sam Soholt
Oh, man.
- [47:09]
Co-host
What were you. What were you listening to before you were throwing that hammer?
- [47:12]
Sam Soholt
Oh, man, I was. I've been a, you know, like alternative rock, so I've been a seether fan. You know, like that 2000s rock. Like I still listen to it every day. Oh, yeah, that's it, man. It's like, that's the stuff. So I don't know if I have a walk up song for bugling elk. Pass.
- [47:33]
Co-host
I think I would have to go With Rage against the Machine. Bulls on parade. There you go. Yeah, that was an old high school. Get ready, you know?
- [47:41]
Sam Soholt
Yeah.
- [47:43]
Co-host
All right. You can only take one thing in the bus for a week. I know the answer to this camera. Bow or coffee. You're taking your bow.
- [47:53]
Sam Soholt
Yeah. Yeah.
- [47:56]
Co-host
Okay. What does public land owner mean to you in one word? You don't have to answer that in one word. But what does public land owner. What does public landowner mean to you?
- [48:06]
Sam Soholt
I mean, public landowner is the. Is the essence of public lands. Like, we all own it. I think the. I think everybody needs to remember that. That our public. Our nation's public lands are held in public trust. And the federal government is supposed to be the steward of that land, but they are supposed to steward that land on behalf of us in our best interest. So we all own it. If you live in this country, if you pay taxes in this country, you are a public landowner.
- [48:38]
Co-host
I love that. If Field and Stream gave you a blank check, what project are you starting tomorrow?
- [48:45]
Sam Soholt
Oh, you know, I've had this idea for a long time to. I was like, rather than constantly jumping around and chasing different things, like, all year, which is, you know, fun. Like, it's fun to chase that dopamine like, the walleyes are biting right now. But I've had this thought to do a project where you just go. You just fish for a year, right? So, like. Like, when you're going to go spend time in the outdoors. Doesn't matter what kind of fishing you're doing, but, like, that's your. That's the project and document. No. No hunting. It would just be like, I'm just going to go. I'm going to go spend time with people who are good at this, and I'm going to get better at this, and I'm going to learn the ins and outs of this whole thing. And then the next year is like, I'm only chasing whitetails or I'm only deer hunting. Call it mule deer and whitetail. It's like, I'm just. You're the deer. And that's what I'm focused on. I'm going to think about it all spring, all summer, prepping all fall. And then the next one would be like, I'm western big game hunting. I'm going to go elk hunting. That's what I'm doing. And then just have it be like, you have one focus all year instead of, I am con. Like, I'm ADHD to the max. Like, and I get fired up about every hunt, but I feel like sometimes it's a detriment to like the experience because you're like, well, if I can fill this tag, you know, I'm not trying to rush through it, but it's like if I can fill this tag well then I can be chasing whitetail next week. Like, you know, and I'm constantly hopping around like, well, the ducks are migrating right now. Like spend, you know, why not just spend a whole year duck hunting again and chasing a waterfowl instead of thinking about it, then do an upland year, you know, and, and not, and not force it so much to be bouncing back and forth.
- [50:16]
Co-host
I love that idea. That's a really good project idea. I gotta assume that the year of fishing, like your heart rate starts having a much lower resting heart rate. Absolutely. In the year of hunting.
- [50:27]
Sam Soholt
Yes, a hundred percent.
- [50:29]
Co-host
The year of hunting is like, you know, talking. I feel like, I feel like I, I can, I can have a lot of like self talk during hunting season. Like, are you. No, I'm not gonna go tomorrow. I'm sick of this. Like I'm.
- [50:41]
Sam Soholt
Yep.
- [50:42]
Co-host
I'm not going to kill anything. Like, it's just that you're in the left and right and fishing's like, am I go outside? I'm gonna relax, I catch something great. If I don't.
- [50:50]
Sam Soholt
Yeah, it's still on something.
- [50:52]
Co-host
Yeah, exactly. I think you don't have to answer this one. This is the last one I've got on there. But if you could pass one law to protect public lands, what would it be?
- [51:01]
Sam Soholt
It would be a provision that would protect public lands in perpetuity. It would be. There can never be a bill brought to the table that basically, oh, this might be a two parter. Let me start this over. I would bring a provision that says we cannot sell our nation's public lands and we need to have, we need to invest in them so they are managed properly for the people.
- [51:29]
Co-host
Yeah, yeah, that's a great two part. I like that. All right, and then my very last question. What, what motivation or wisdom can you give to a 16 year old? Never had anybody teach them how to hunt or fish who really thinks that they want to go to the outdoors. Like what, what kind of encouragement can you give them?
- [51:50]
Sam Soholt
It's harder than it looks online. And if you go out, like filling a tag is not necessarily successful. Just going out and continually learning the craft is what success looks like. Don't get too wrapped around the axle on making piles or filling tags or filling freezers. It's just go and learn the craft. And know that you're going to mess up a lot and the more time you can spend in that shorter that learning curve is.
- [52:25]
Co-host
Yeah, that's great.
- [52:26]
Sam Soholt
All right, have a good rest of the night.
- [52:28]
Co-host
Thanks, man. You too. All right, bye. See you.
- [52:32]
Narrator
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- [52:41]
Sam Soholt
Yep.
- [52:41]
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- [53:01]
Sam Soholt
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