
Two brothers unpack the hunts, failures, builds, and public land fights that shaped their outdoor lives.
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A
This is Legends of the Wild presented by Field and Stream. Let's get into it. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Legends of the Wild. This one is extra special to me. So this guest is somebody that I've looked up to literally my entire life, probably wouldn't be doing any of the things that I'm doing if it wasn't for him. Through my entire childhood and all the way until now, like, he's always done cooler than I have, but, man, I've just tried to, like, you know, walk somewhere in his shoes and do other cool things and we've done a lot of cool stuff together. So today on the show, I've got my brother, older brother Josh, soholt with me today. So thanks for hopping on with me.
B
You're welcome.
A
Yeah, I mean, that was not understating that, like, you know, like our entire childhood, like, you're four years older than me. So I got to be like the little tag along kid for all this stuff and like, because it was a big enough age gap, like you got to do like some of these hunts and different things with dad and whatever like before me. So I got to watch all this stuff and like, really, like, light a fire in myself to like, want to go do all those same things. You know, it's like this constant chase which happened to turn into a pretty cool life. So.
B
Well, that is quite the introduction and quite frankly one that I took me back a little bit, so I'm going to have to kind of catch up with that. But thank you. That was, that was quite something to hear from your brother, you know, and you certainly have no shortage of amazing things that you've done with the life that we've been given thus far through the process. And it's been absolutely awesome to be able to join up and do a lot of these things together that we're mutually interested in and also through various projects, we've done make a difference out there surrounding this life in this space and the issues that come along with being in this space. But yeah, thank you for having me on the show and appreciate, you know, having such a fun little brother to hang out with and do all these things with, through life and learn from each other and watch, watch you do incredible things within the industry. It's been awesome.
A
Well, I thank you back. You know, I think the, one of the coolest things to me about kind of both of us, like taking these kind of like parallel paths, like different styles of things like going through, but parallel paths within the same space. I think the Funniest thing to me was our dad going, you know, kind of confused, like, about both of us. About like trunks. Yeah. Like, why, why are you, you know, couldn't understand quite.
B
It's justifiable. Yeah.
A
I mean, true.
B
Yeah.
A
But like, he couldn't quite understand the path, you know, and both of us, like, over time have been like, well, it's his fault. Like, it was, you know, I mean, it was every weekend, every, whatever, any chance, like we were out doing something random with him in the woods or a slew or in a, you know, pheasant field or whatever. So it was, I think it was surprising to me that he was so surprised about the types of things that we wanted to do growing up or like, for a career.
B
Yeah, yeah, certainly, certainly. I mean, the sounding board to us from both sets of parents was the world is big. Go have adventures, do anything you want to do. We're very fortunate in how supportive of a family we had coming up through growing up. And you know, I know mom says a lot of the time she's like, oh yeah, we told you all, you know, the world is out there for you. And then you all took us up on it. You know, it was surprising that we then, you know, chose these paths of some pretty epic adventures in any way we can plug into them and learning new things all the time about the natural world and connecting with it. And it's been exciting a lot of times. Sometimes it's dangerous. Most of the time it's fun. Sometimes it's super brutal. Yeah. But at the end of, you know, all of it, we have a story and I think it's fun to have different stories than. I played golf on Thursday and watch football on Sunday. And not that I'm like knocking, you know, that process within someone, but I've always, and I know that you are 100% on board with me with this is I've always wanted different stories than that. The repetition and consistency of it was never going to work for me. It would have to be a little more sporadic, a little more out there. Yeah, that's what we do. That's what we do.
A
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B
Yeah. So I guess my answer to that question, I used to get it a lot, you know, with the shop. People would ask you, like, how long have you been doing this? Or My answer has always been, I don't ever remember life without it.
A
Yeah.
B
And, you know, it wasn't the only thing we were up to, but I think it was just in there, you know, And I know that dad presented it all, you know, being when. Because I. I was. I could. I can remember when he was bow hunting before he started again after the. After the store opened. Yeah. But I remember going with him when I was, you know, 4, 3, 4, 5 years old, having him, you know, pull me on a sled through a shelter belt to go dump crack corn on the ground up by Aberdeen, you know, and then climbing around in the tree stands in Wisconsin, Going out for like an afternoon to kind of, you know, we might walk a field or two, but mostly kind of road hunt around and just check stuff out and maybe shoot a pheasant. Right. This was kind of every time it was available. And then also on the fishing side, you know, the doing the trips and. And then going to the river every now and again or going and throwing the boat on the water somewhere and catching some fish. Yeah, Those things were just as much a part of my life as breathing air, you know. And so several moments of time, I would say, elevated my attraction to it. Going duck hunting for the first time. You know, I. I really like to pheasant hunt and I like watching the dog work and all that stuff. And I really had a fun time pheasant hunting. Did it a lot both with dad and then just when I was in South Dakota still living there without, you know, fortunately he lend me the dog when he didn't feel like going that day or whatever.
A
Yeah.
B
But the first day of duck hunting, that was really a hook for me. Like, it took me to just totally another place I completely lost focus of anything that was happening in school that year. I got a hold of a small library of duck hunting books and a couple of magazine subscriptions and would spend most of my school day reading that, like on my lap. But just something around that just grabbed me so hard. I think it was kind of bringing the marine aspect into the hunt. Was very cool for me. I like, you know, I just. I love adding the water in with the hunt just because I like that habitat. And that got me. And then shooting my first bull elk with my bow at Seven yards when he was at full bugle was another. Like, if I was at risk of doing nothing else before that, I was cooked at that. Like, that moment happened. I more or less just lost conscious control of any direction my life was going to take after that. And it was going to be about pursuing moments like that. But, yeah, that guy was like fully bugling at seven yards when I turned the arrow loose. And yeah, my life was never. Direction of life was never the same.
A
Yeah, you know, we've talked about that quite a bit. Like, just in hunting camp and whatever about. There's these moments, like when you spend time outside, especially when you're just getting into. Whether it be a certain species that you're chasing or like a certain style of hunting, that's archery, or. But when you're like, all in the universe will be like, here you go. And it'll just hand you these things that feel so easy in the moment and so, like, you could almost not do anything wrong. And that thing was going to happen. And that usually happens early on in the. Some people call it beginner's luck, but it's like this gift to completely set hooks in you to want to do that thing over and over and over again.
B
Gifts curse, right?
A
Yeah.
B
This is debatable on the direction of that.
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe. Yeah, that's probably a good. You know, depending on how you look at it. I like to choose that it's a gift.
B
No, I like that.
A
But there's definitely.
B
Depends on what's happening.
A
Yeah.
B
You know, that day, that moment there.
A
Right.
B
Period of your life. Right. So.
A
Yeah, so. So back before, you know, you release this arrow on a bull at seven yards, but you. You consciously made the decision to, like, go west. And I remember that it was like, you know, all through high school, I mean, you were like, hopping in the red pickup and hunting however many days you could. A week, you know, before school, sometimes after practice, whatever it was. Then when I got old enough, I got to tag along quite a bit. Like I was. We never got to cross paths in school, but I remember, I think I was probably in eighth grade when mom and dad turned us loose. And we're like, oh, yeah, you can go with your older brother now. And I remember that one fall like it was just us in an old F150, just, like, roaming around. I mean, really just out there shooting stuff. I mean, mostly ducks and pheasants, but like, anything we could go chase.
B
Yeah, anything that was in season and available, we were very excited about. Yes. Yep. And Then mom and dad were not so excited about some of those things we'd bring home.
A
Yeah, for sure.
B
I mean, you don't need to bring it. I mean, you gotta bring it all. Maybe don't. Maybe don't shoot that in the first place.
A
Right.
B
We gotta do something with it now.
A
Yeah, well, you know, it's all part of the learning process. Right. You know. Yeah. So. But yeah, so I remember like, you know, obviously both completely ate up with it. But then I remember you like deciding like, well, I'm going to go to school. And it was either going to be, I think it was either between Montana State in Montana or Wyoming was like, I'm one of the two. I'm going to go and learn how to elk hunt. Was pretty much it. I mean, go to college, but.
B
Yeah. Yeah. And it probably means I like shouldn't have gone to college, you know,
A
potentially.
B
But, you know, but yeah, my main. And it's not uncommon. It seems like that's how I do things. So when I want to learn something, I, rather than like learning it, I just like to basically throw myself into it real time. Yeah. And then learn as I go. I do that with jobs, I do it with builds, I do it in hunting. So I basically force myself into the space that I'm interested in and then I absorb the learning by being there and doing it. And so I wasn't consciously thinking about that at the time. I just was interested in, I mean, not only elk hunting, but adventure hunting in general. Like the next step of. All right, this is cool. And a lot of that comes with the amazing opportunity that our parents gave us. Just to be turned loose. Like right, here's a box of shells and a tank of gas and a truck and 500 square miles that you can choose from today. Yeah. And go ahead, you know, that's fine. You go, go work it out. You know, I mean, not everybody's parents did that, you know, I would say very few anymore. They're just like, well, yeah, of course you got to go figure it out, you know, 14, 15, 16, just like out on the country with a pickup and a shotgun, you know. Yeah. And whatever direction you chose and whatever you decided to get yourself into or trouble you got into or adventures you got into, they were all yours to choose and all yours to work out. And just the confidence in life, in all around life that came from being that independent and just self dependent on what you were doing, it lends itself very well in a lot of aspects of life. But it was just like the Extension of that, like, okay, I've already done all this where I leave town. It's comfortable. I'm. I'm in a truck. I'm not going any more than a mile, usually away from the truck. I've experienced all these things. I've kind of gotten to the point where it's like, what else is out there? So I hit that stride at 19, you know, and not unlike a lot of people, but it was definitely like, elk. Yes. I really wanted to get an elk, get into that world. The dynamic of calling one of them in seemed amazing, but above and beyond that was just. That seemed like the next logical, giant adventure that I could throw myself into to then carry me into the next step someday. Which, as it turns out, it's kind of hard to find beyond map country archery, elk hunting. Yeah, you can find it. But it's. The time and effort investment is high. Yeah.
A
Yeah. Was there any. Was there any, like, shows or articles or books or anything that like. Like, had you more curious about that, or was it simply, like, okay, just. I just need to figure out what's the next thing. What's the next. Like, what's a stronger hit of dopamine that I can take in this line. Was there anything like that? It was that.
B
It was. It was the progression of the craft. Yeah, Right. I think, like, as a macro goal that I sort of surround that sort of in the back of my mind all the time is my personal toil. Like, my most interested part for me about all of this is trying to become the most efficient hunter of all things. Every. Every discipline, every implement, every way of doing it in not a specialist, but I want to be of the very. Like, just as a personal goal. I'm not saying that I've attained this or I'm anywhere near it, but, like, my general direction is I want for myself to be the absolute best at all craft hunter of a very limited tier of people at the top. And that's always been my whole goal with it is I want to be insanely excellent just for myself, not to prove to anybody else what I'm up to or look at how great I am at this. That is not. It's not where I come at this from. It may have been when I was 17, but anymore, I don't care if anybody else sees it. Just for me, just my path. I just, as a macro, go shooting to be the. One of the best generalist hunters of all time, of all species, having a full understanding of the entire game. Everything you could put in your Hands to take it.
A
Well, I've heard you say it. I mean, you've told me this a ton of times. It's just like you want to talk about becoming a better hunter at different things. It takes like, if you want to be a better elk hunter, you need to go do other things as well. Because, you know, knowing how to read the land and the sign when it comes to say, mule deer is going to help you in addition to what you've learned with elk hunting and vice versa. Everything you learn in elk hunting is going to help you with mule deer hunting, but also being able to like, go hop in a duck blind and pull in a, you know, flock of mallards, or go out and spot and stalk antelope out on the prairie. By figuring out how to do all of these things really well, you can kind of step into any scenario and have an idea of what to do. It's, you know, kind of a similar, like, analogy would be there's a lot of people that will just put in for points and put in for points and put in for points and put in for points, and then 20 years down the road they'll go have one good hunt instead of getting an over the counter tag and actually learning how to elk hunt or deer hunt or whatever it is every single year and get better at it. And you might not kill one every year, but you're going to go out and you're going to learn that craft so much better. Whereas if you go get in the woods, you have no idea what you're doing because you've sat out for 20 years, or, you know, you go hunt once every 10 years, the experience you're going to have is a completely different one than if you're able to kind of immerse yourself from all angles. At least that's the way I see it.
B
Oh, I think that's absolutely on target. And I would add to that by saying a lot of this acumen is a muscle that you strengthen or weaken, like pitching or any other athletic skill
A
set,
B
being able to mentally stay with it when your adrenaline is going through the roof and perform in those moments with accuracy. I think that if you truly want to be just like an epic big game hunter, let's call it, you need to small game hunt so that 100 to 200 times a year you are positioning yourself to take the shot. Yeah, that repetition of over and over and over and over. I mean, I can tell you this too. It's even beyond that, like my acumen for ambush shooting deer or anything of any sort with a bow all came from bow fishing. Yep. I mean, that's where the talent set came from. It was you could jump in the boat and go into a back Bay and 50 to 100, whatever, however many times, 20, 50, 100 times in a morning, you see your prey coming into range. You take a dialed approach to how you're going to do it. You come to full draw, you aim, you release your arrow, and it goes good or bad. Yeah. But being able to just repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. Practice, I think it's a giant aspect to talent with anything else for sure. Especially tree stand hunting. I mean, yeah, if you want to become just an absolute weapon, you know, of a tree stand, Go bow fishing like five or six times a summer. And by the time that deer comes walking underneath you, you're going to have your process down to complete lock. I mean, complete subconscious. This is just how I do it.
A
Right.
B
And then you can. Then your focus can be elsewhere and actually be a little more in the moment. And your chances of acquiring the animal, I think, go up exponentially.
A
Yeah. I was actually going to say so. Last year was one of the first years where I didn't shoot my bow as much as I usually do. I wasn't as dialed. I wasn't, you know, like, there's a lot going on, you know. But had I only had one opportunity all season on a really good deer, and I blew it. And it was because I hadn't been working on that muscle, and it wasn't just like, okay, I'm all, I'm at full draw 30 seconds before I was on this opportunity. In the past, I would have been there. I would have been there. I would have been positioned. I would have been ready. And that deer is done. And last fall, I just wasn't there. Whether that be the headspace or just not enough practice, not enough reps, it just didn't come together. So it's just, you know that all that stuff is a good reminder to just try to stay on top of it. Whether you're crunch for time or not. You know, it's to benefit yourself and for respect for everything you're trying to shoot. Like, be ready.
B
Yeah. And I think it's like also being in the game with it. You know, I think there's something to be said for target shooting, but for the way that my mind works, it has to be real. I have to be in the field pursuing something for that. For that have any effect.
A
Yeah.
B
It. I can't do it at a target line. So I think some people can. And like, I'm envious of that, but it just does not work for me. Yeah. At all.
A
And that's usually why I try to do an archery antelope hunt every year. Because even if I don't kill one, I go spend three, four days just like, literally just scraping myself across the ground in an effort to sneak up on something. But, like, it's just like sharpening before the season. It's like that last honed edge, like going into it, because, man, it's a primer, man, you're so. It's so. It feels so easy to sneak up on everything else after you've scared like a hundred antelope in a few days.
B
Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure.
A
Yeah.
B
All of a sudden you. Yeah. Totally different set of skills there, so that's great.
A
Yeah. Okay. So you go to Wyoming and then one of the projects that I remember, and it led to, like opening a store in Colorado. But one of the projects you had worked on was creating a business plan. Basically create a colliding, like outdoor, like general outdoor recreational wear. Skiing, snowboarding, you know, hiking, climbing, with hunting apparel. Like, you had put together like a business plan for that. You would talk about that a little bit. I mean, you had. You did it. You know the details more than I do.
B
Sure, sure. Yeah. Tyler. Tyler and I kind of started chatting about that business potential, you know, when we were out in the field. He was my college roommate, business partner, hunting partner. We, you know, just got into all kinds of stuff together, but. And still my partner with botun school.
A
But yep.
B
Yeah, at the time this was, I think we started 2002, started in college, graduated in 06. And at the time there was, I think Badlands Backpacks was the only company really on the market that was building things for mountain hunters specifically, you know, for backcountry anything. It was just that there was no clothing systems. There were no. Everything was garbage, basically, or just not. Not purpose built for that. It was all purpose built for sitting around, staying warm.
A
Yep.
B
You know, none of it was made for moving. And the only companies that were doing that were all the outdoor companies, you know, the Mountain Hardwares, North Fiesta, Patagonia, whatever. They were the only companies doing that. And so basically, to gear yourself up for a mountain hunt, you would go to an REI or something of the, like, you know, that type of retailer, buy all of your technical system stuff, including most of the time your pack, and then figure out camo to kind of go over it. I just bought like at the Time and you know, an XL long sleeve T shirt that. Yep, I would wear nice stuff underneath. And then that just went on over the top everything all the time. So our thought was that, well, wouldn't it be cool if we could combine have a website that would just simply combine kind of the top end hunting aspects of the gear set with then also all of these soft sport really cool technical wear that you really kind of needed for these adventures. And we could have it all in one place so you could buy, you know, your elk calls right next to a quarter zip that actually made sense for the activity you were going to do.
A
Yeah.
B
So yeah, that was the initial idea. And then we found that at that time nobody would give you a online dealership without having a brick and mortar store. Sure. And so then we did that. So yeah. Ended up in Fort Collins, Colorado based on various life's direction and started going in at the time a bow shop here was for sale that we went in negotiations to buy. Buy Y didn't come to the middle. That's fine. We sort of ended negotiations with that company and then just started our own thing Y and that was the birth of Gannett Ridge hunting equipment which was a basically that vision in a brick and mortar store. We also had a website and by then that was 2010, those companies all started to really emerge and hit the market. And so we were actually sort of at the perfect moment to then bring all of this really cool new technology that was hitting the hunting market. Pairing it up right next to a archery counter pro series archery counter and a gun counter. And with all of this super high end, really cool stuff that was purpose built for the job all sitting underneath one roof. Well before that was something you just saw.
A
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I mean this store like the store that you guys created coinciding with like the immersion of First Light Sitka and everybody like Badlands creating clothing. But like everybody in that space all of the sudden having a technical hunting clothing. I mean talk about like stars aligning as far as like when to pull the trigger on that. Yeah, it's pretty sweet to.
B
Yeah, yeah, we were able to hit that. But yeah, it was a pretty cool ride for a while. And the lifestyle of that was good and bad all at the same time. It was because Tyler and I were partners and we were able to kind of pick and choose when we worked and really one guy could handle it. And so then in the fall, I mean one thing you'd never ever see was both of us there at the same time. Right. So I mean, 50% of the time from basically when all. When Antelope opened August 15th, we didn't Antelope hunt hard because that was so busy in there then.
A
Yeah.
B
But as soon as elk season hit, as soon as September 1st hit, basically it was one of us or the other until Christmas. Yep. And so hunting truly in the field half the season with the motivation of a shop and all of the cool gadgetry sort of spurring along the experience, though, that was a series of years of intense learning and a ton of really wild and cool experiences based on not only our self motivation to do those things, but also the motivational push from doing it professionally and having. Wanting to have cool stuff to talk about for the rest of the year. Yeah, it was kind of the perfect storm.
A
Yeah, I remember. I remember like, because I moved out to Fort Collins for about a year and. And got to hang out with you and work at the shop basically the whole. Basically all of 2012 pretty much. And I remember, like, you know, it's just kid in a candy store. Right. Like, I've never seen any of this stuff because I grew up in South Dakota and so I had not been. The only western hunt I had been on was with you and Tyler when for years you've been like, you should get a bow. You know, you should archery hunt back home. You should get a bow. You should get a bow. And then I drove out from college and archery hunted or I didn't archery. I just came out and hung out with you and Tyler and I basically like drove back home straight to the Shields parking lot and went and bought a bow
B
and then had an amazing deer hunting.
A
Incredible first year.
B
Absolutely crushed. I mean, talking about stars aligning.
A
Yeah, it was. Yeah. Literally drove home, bought a bear. Lights out two package from Shields. I think it was like 299 bucks. Set of arrows, a target. I was just telling the story to someone I was hunting with the other day. I dialed in the 20 yard pin. I actually never moved my sight. I just. It just was on at 20. And so I shot at 20, shot at 20, shot at 20, shot at 20. Went to the range one time, shot one arrow at 30, one arrow at 40. And I was like, oh, that's pretty good.
B
Yeah. So.
A
And then.
B
And to interject, because you had shot everything else, you know, all coming up, right? Like, yeah, you could do that. It's not ideal, but yeah, continue.
A
Yeah, I was not. Yeah, but like, exactly like it was. I could figure it out. I could wing it, you know, like, it was Close enough where I was like, oh, I can just aim a little lower, a little higher or whatever, be fine. Mostly because I had no idea how to change anything. And so I. Yeah. That fall that I started hunting. Hunted a lot, actually. And then you. You and I and a buddy were all in hunting camp, and I shot a deer at like 20 yards. A little forky, but then like 8 days later, killed 135 inch 10 point at 40 yards. I had no business shooting that far, but again, here you go. Yeah.
B
Forever wouldn't. Yeah, right. And wouldn't consider making another choice at that moment of your experience. You know what I mean? It was just how it was supposed to be, like you said.
A
Yeah. But being at the store that first. The year I was out there and like, I think I was, you know, borrowing your clothes, but got a backpack and got an Everly stock pack. And I remember that all three of us were like, we were trying to eat. Like all the rage was the lightweight stuff. Right. It was like, go as light as you can, you know, like, try to put together a pack where it's like, before food and water. You're at like £16, like, with pack included or whatever it was. And then I think all of us went hunting with that setup or a setup like it. And we were like, I think it's gonna be okay to carry a few extra things because we all went out and froze our asses off.
B
Or.
A
Or, you know, like, you're just like, this isn't. That wasn't right. You know, but then you get to, like, do these iterations of, like, the perfect setup, and you just start to. You start to figure out, like, what works for you. And that was the coolest thing, is just like being able to, you know, have access to like, the whole big Agnes catalog and be like, okay, like, you know, a 30 degree bag. You won't die if it's 30 degrees. But you won't be comfortable.
B
Nope. Sure won't.
A
Yeah. So just learning all that stuff. But it was. It was cool to watch you guys run that store. And for anybody listening or watching this, if you're an archery hunter and you go to a dealer to do all of your stuff, if you're in the west, do not wait until August to go do all this stuff, because everybody else does. And the. Both shops, they will hate you for it.
B
We will.
A
Yeah. Yeah. But just that one, that one season that I was in there, man, August was bananas. Just trying to.
B
It's crazy.
A
Yep.
B
Yeah. It's absolutely nuts. And it Happens every year. You know, I'm. I'm going hunting this year and two weeks before they're starting archery.
A
Yep.
B
Okay. Yeah. Yep. I know. I always felt, I always felt a huge responsibility in those sales to make sure that I had them absolutely dialed out as much as I possibly could.
A
Yeah.
B
You know, and I always felt like I needed to give it that for the animal because you're not going to stop anybody from doing what they want to do.
A
Yeah.
B
But I could sure try to do my job the best, absolute best shake that I could. I mean, out to sort of knowing the spacing between pins. Yeah. You know, and actually aligning everything out so that it was, it was going to be on pretty close. Within a pie plate, you know. Yeah. Just to give hopefully some honor to the animal on whatever choice that person decided to make.
A
Right. But it was a lot where people were like, oh yeah, go on opening day, you know, and It'd be like August 20th or whatever. So, yeah, I watched, I watched Hugh and Tyler dial in a lot of bows. Like, you know, and it's the one nice thing about selling a, you know, a pro line and a main line of a certain brand. And then kind of the same setups for arrows across the board. You kind of, you know, like, okay, here's the, here's what the drop is going to be. So like you said, you can like get it closeish, you know, at least to start for anything longer than 20 yards. But man, what a cool, I mean like, what a cool like crossover of a shop. And I know that, you know, people in Fort Collins and the surrounding area like loved it. And if anybody wants to see the, the shop doesn't exist anymore. But you can go watch all the old YouTube videos of 24 year old Sam and 28 year old Josh talking about gear in the shop on the Gannett Ridge YouTube channel. So
B
yeah, yeah, I definitely back on.
A
I've.
B
I need to log back on there someday and figure out if YouTube owes me some money.
A
Probably. Yeah, he probably should.
B
I probably should.
A
Yeah. It's just been collecting views for, you know, a decade though. Yeah. Okay. So then, you know, you guys were still running Gannett Ridge, but then at the same time. So I ended up, you know, buying a bus, which stemmed from you guys talking about buying a school bus and using as a like marketing tool or a traveling bow shop for the, you know, Gannett Ridge. Cause I remember way back at the time Laramie didn't have a bow shop anymore. Their shop had closed. And so you guys had Kicked around putting together a, like a mobile shop to go up there once a week and work on people's bows. And um, I was the one dumb enough and had enough time. Like I, I was not, I was not married or had kids and so I was able to do that project. But then stemming from that, you and I started Public Land Tees. And since then, if any of you have gone to publiclandtees.com and bought a shirt or a hoodie or a sticker pack or whatever, all of that has been built, packed and shipped from Josh's garage or basement. So, yeah, you know, round of applause for the thousands and thousands of items that have gone out the door thanks to you doing all the back end logistics stuff.
B
Yeah, for sure. And you know, it's, that was, it worked well for me to be a part of it in that way. So I think the separation of duties of that business works out for both of us.
A
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Well, it's, it's, I mean it's still cool to me that when I see a notification come in that we get an order or whatever, like I, I know that it's being taken care of and going out and like there's just something cool about that. I mean, you always called it like punk rock apparel basically, you know, because we're like a garage band out there, just, you know. Yeah, it's been a pretty, I mean and to be totally honest, not to toot our own horn, but like the amount of money that we've raised and given back or organized through match donations and wherever it is is for a two man operation, selling T shirts is pretty phenomenal.
B
Yeah, yeah, it rivals a lot of very successful, not profits. Yeah.
A
And you know. Yeah, it does. And we have, you know, we have made it a priority to donate a lot of the money that we make on the shirts to conservation, you know, and then in addition doing projects surrounding the duck stamp and you know, one year we put together, we sold $125t shirt and people were able to get a membership to five organizations and you know, to, through doing projects like that, we've been able to raise and donate and give back. It's like, you know, $300,000 plus on the backs of, you know, everybody who has rallied and supported everything that we're up to. So it's pretty cool that there's enough people that care and to know that if they go and buy something from us, it's like, oh, this is conservation. You can actually wear and know that the money is going to be donated to some project that we earmarket for, so.
B
Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. You know, I think almost. And sometimes more than your vote, you know, your dollar is voting where you're putting your money is anymore sort of the changes you want to see. So I know. I'm very proud of it, and I know you are, that the efforts that we're putting forth professionally in this world are hopefully making the natural world a better place, you know, place that has given us just an insane amount of joy, adventure, therapy, you know, all of it, all of the many of the cool aspects of life, you know, we're granted through those spaces. And to be able to throw a meaningful amount of money back to it, to hopefully sustain it, is a big deal, you know, Feels really good.
A
Yeah. I mean, especially now when it seems like they're trying to light fires in every part of it that we want to protect. So it's, you know, we'll continue to just do our best to raise awareness and raise money and give back and try to fight, you know, to protect these things for future generations, because it's never going to. The fight against it and for it is never going to be over. And so, you know, as long as we're able to keep doing it, we'll keep doing it.
B
That's right.
A
Yeah.
B
And it, you know, it doesn't seem to matter which party is in office. There's always public land fights that exist.
A
Exactly.
B
And it kind of rises above one party or the other, you know, to this policy fight that you continue to be a part of.
A
Yeah, yeah, we've talked about it, you know, at length. It just seems like regardless of who's in office, what administration, whatever, it's just the pendulum has started to swing too far both directions. And I think what causes the problem is that. And so when you have one side and the pendulum swings so far, it's not even conservation anymore. It becomes simply preservation, which is not good for anything. It's not good for habitat, it's not good for access, it's not good for any of those things that we fight for. And then when it switches, when the vote switches or the control switches, then in the pendulum swings so far the opposite direction to complete deregulation. You know, forcing things through that need to be, you know, way more thought out. It's just we're caught. We're caught in this. Everybody who, like, just wants to have it be kind of in the middle and keep moving forward and keep things getting a little bit better. We're just caught in like this crossfire of back and forth.
B
And I think, you know, for logical animal and plant management and responsible multi use.
A
Yes.
B
And I think, you know, those are probably as good as we could hope for.
A
Yeah. And if we could get to that and kind of maintain that level, I think everybody would be happy.
B
Right. And it's just when it goes way out on one end of that or the other, things get sticky, you know. Yeah.
A
Yeah. So in addition. So we were running public Land Tees together, you and Tyler were still running the shop and then ultimately decided that it was like you'd been doing it a decade. So it was like, all right, it's time to, you know, go do different things. And so instead of just like going off into the darkness, you know, closing the shop doors and selling the shop and whatever, you guys decided to turn it into actually something useful for people who are DIY and want to be hands on and created botuneschool.com so talk about that and how that has helped people.
B
Yeah. I mean, when we started Gannett Ridge, Tyler and I were 27 and neither one of us had kids. And 10 years later, at 37 each and we both had two. Yeah. And the world was different, you know, shopping was different. The writing on the wall was there just aren't going to be that many more little guys, period.
A
Yep.
B
And we were certainly that. And I'm sure it's true of any retail, but you have to get to one of two points. Either you have to get to the point where you're doing well enough that you can hire people to do the day to day customer interaction for the most part and then you become a manager or you get really angry and can just be a grumpy old man yelling at people all the time. And I know that everybody who hunts has been into one of those shops, you know.
A
Yeah.
B
That guy just, he never hit the threshold of hiring the people.
A
Yeah.
B
You know, you just hang at this level and it kind of just became apparent. But we were, we were kind of going to hang at that level unless we had a massive restructuring or gigantic influx of. Of investment. Yeah. Neither of which we thought was a good idea or something we had the energy for still. So yeah, it was time to go be dads and go to the next step of life. So yeah, instead of just foregoing that mountain of knowledge that we acquired through tuning boas and figuring that out, we. I came into the office one day and I said, I'm just going to record everything that we do and I'm going To put it on YouTube. Because we had a YouTube. We have the YouTube channel. Yeah. And Tyler said, well, if you're doing that, let's just do an online course. Okay. Yeah, sounds good. And so that was the birth of it. Right. Right there. So over the course of whatever it was six, seven months of, in the middle of everything else we were doing, we filmed a comprehensive everything you need to know about tuning a bow from pulling it out of the box, restringing it, adding all the accessories, and taking it all the way to Broadhead tuned. That's what Botune School offers.
A
Yeah.
B
And put that up and started selling that course in perpetuity on online. So you can. Yeah, go to botuneschool.com and that's us. And it will give you the most concise, in order lesson on how to do everything on your own bow that you could ever hope to find.
A
Yeah. I mean, because when you guys got into the bow shop, like, was there more than one, like, technician school or was it only PSE that was offering it? And so you guys went to Arizona and, like, actual. Actually got, like, archery tech certification. Like, there wasn't a lot of resources for that.
B
No, no. And I think most manufacturers had some program. Sure. PSE seemed to be the most available to jump in, even if you weren't a dealer. Right. And so, yeah, we went down and did the long weekend with them and became technicians. There's again, came back a little bit. They did a really good job with everything they could do in a day and a half with 30 people in the room.
A
Right.
B
You know, you just.
A
You're in a CrossFit certification.
B
Yeah, it's, you know, it's a.
A
That's not me making fun of CrossFitters. It's me making fun of the certification process for opening a jib.
B
Yeah. So it's. It's a heck of a lot more information than you would find in. In those types of courses. And it's right there forever. You can replay it, go through the whole thing. It's.
A
And then can people time.
B
It's more in depth.
A
Can people get more or less an archery certification from taking it or. Yeah, that's what I thought.
B
So we have basically questionnaires at the end of each module. You go through the modules and get through the questionnaires and you become an archery technician.
A
Sweet. Yeah. Which I. I know has helped a ton of people. I mean, one for people who, you know, have aspirations to go work at a bow shop or, you know, even to want to learn, like, if they're going to be working for an archery company. But two, I mean, there's just a ton of people who like doing it all on their own and they've built their own little home architecture archery shop. And rather than just going in and, you know, trying to piece it together on the YouTube videos that don't cost anything or whatever, like being able to go A to Z with the same people that are talking about each step, like, makes a big difference on like being able to retain that knowledge. And so you're not just like, oh, you know, here's how you reserve a string from so and so. And here's how you tie a D loop from this person. And to be able to go through and understand all that is, is pretty cool to have it all in one spot. So.
B
Yeah. Each step in the exact order. Yeah. Of efficiency that we found through doing I don't know how many thousands of bows, you know, the course of a decade. Yeah. But it just. Yeah. Directly to the point in every way we could possibly do it. So that all the information you need to know, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I know you've helped a lot of people get jobs in both shops and also start boat shops. Right. Taking the course and then gotten a better understanding of what's up and just feel a lot more confident and comfortable to go do. Yeah.
A
I was gonna say you've gotta take a ton of pride in that.
B
Yeah.
A
Like, and, and knowing that like those people, if they went through the full course and did it, you know, the whole thing that they're gonna actually know, like, okay, I can tear a complete bow all the way apart, put it back together the right way, tune it again. And so whoever ends up with the end product is actually going to go shoot. Well, that's, that's very cool.
B
Yeah. You know, an awful lot of it is just instilling the confidence to try it.
A
Yeah.
B
You know, like this is okay to do. This is not. You know, and just those small little confidence things through the process. It's a huge part of it.
A
Yeah. Yeah. So speaking of like tearing things down and building them up, so obviously like, you know, the, the bus project happened and I did the, like the main part of that build, but then we got to do a four wheel drive van together and do a whole build out on that. And I think the, I mean, that was a super fun project because we got to take a Chevy express passenger van all the way down to bare steel on the inside and build it right back up into like this legit hunting Rig which is now out there in the wild out there, you know, shooting turkeys and hunting all over the place, which is really cool to see. The, the. We gave it away through Onx Maps, Onx Hunt, and the original person that won it ended up selling it because he had, he had one kid and another on the way. And he sent me a message. He's like, man, this thing is amazing. He's like, but I'm just not gonna, I'm not gonna be able to use it. He's like, are you gonna be mad if I sell it? I was like, it's not ours anymore. Do whatever you want.
B
Thanks for asking permission. But, you know, we figured it was 50, 50 whether the winner would keep it or sell it.
A
Yeah, I mean, I was pretty sure, you know. Yeah, it's pretty good odds that, you know, whoever wins it is be like, oh, well, I'll just make a little money and move, go on with my life. But the guy who bought it actually sent me a message and asked me a bunch of questions about it. And so I answered the best that I could. And then next thing I know, I get a picture from him that he had bought it last spring. So a year ago. And then like after that, I think they hunted like eight or nine states and killing turkeys all over the place. So it was cool to like take, you know, take a vehicle that's not really supposed to be doing what we were doing with it and take it all the way to awesome. I mean, like the most purpose built, like hunting van probably that's ever existed.
B
Yeah, I, I think we can claim that.
A
Yeah.
B
Yeah.
A
And then. Which, you know, I think led both of us to realize, and not that we didn't realize before, but kind of like building stuff. And so I've been slacking on building stuff lately or a vehicle or working on anything, but I want to talk about the little bit of a project that you've got going, going on. And, and I think the coolest, the way, the best way that you've described this is when you're a kid, you build a fort, and then you, you know, might be out of the chairs and blankets and pillows and whatever when you start and then you get a little bit older and you're outside and you build one out of sticks, and then you get a little bit older and you build, you know, it's like you build a tree house, you know, and then it's just progressive.
B
We're.
A
We're not done building forts. They just get cooler and more expensive. So why don't you tell everybody about the fort you've got going right now?
B
Right. So I thought it would be kind of fun just sort of mash together sort of just like the shocking size of the bus.
A
Yep.
B
In with the same package as in a way the capability of the van.
A
Sure.
B
And because like the bus project is awesome. But it definitely. School buses have limitations on where you can take them.
A
Major limitations. Yeah.
B
Yeah. And so you just. That was a lot of the van build was we no longer have the limitations of where, you know, we don't have to park a couple of miles off of a blacktop and then also hope that the weather holds.
A
Right.
B
You know, because they're just not capable off road. They're just, they're school buses.
A
No. And the, the amount of time that I spent like hopping out and either dropping the side by side off the trailer or hopping in a buddy's rig and like scouting a location to park the bus. Because in my mind I was always like if I crash the bus or if I tip the bus, it, it's the only one that exists. Like if I ruin it, it's over. So you can't get it stuck or tip it over on some two track or whatever and then that's the end of it. So it was a lot of just like front country parking.
B
I feel like if the bus. I think I would have tipped the bus.
A
It's possible. Yeah.
B
Like I've thought about that like fair amount. Like if, if it ended up where, you know, you had stayed in Colorado and we had done all this together like. Yeah. I feel like that thing is. That thing's rolling over on a logging road somewhere. Yeah. And I'm, I would be the one driving just.
A
Well, we about got there in the van.
B
Yeah, just about did it in the van and twice.
A
Yep.
B
Was it twice?
A
Well, I guess just once. We almost rolled it the second time in Nebraska was very close to it could have gone way worse.
B
Oh, I forgot.
A
Well, we'll tell that story in a second. The only, you know, the only time I, the only time I was close to have to being really effed in the bus was I Actually the first year I had it, I went and filmed our buddy Tom Jensen on an elk hunt in the Black Hills. He had drawn like basically once in a lifetime rifle tag and went out there and filmed him. And the last day it, it had snowed like 4 or 5 inches but it was just that like heavy wet snow. So it was just, it was just rain. And when I'd Pulled it up on the map. I was trying to go north and then cut east and start heading east again. And the road that I was on, like, thank God, the bus tire, like I was. There was enough crown in the road where I could just ride the crown, but I was pushing like 4 to 6 inches of mud slush and like it kept getting worse and worse and worse and worse. And like I could tell like if I continue down this one, like I'm gonna end up in a ditch somewhere, like real bad. And I was, then I was pulling a trailer and I had to do like a 78 point turnaround and then go back the way I came and, and made it out of there, thank God. But I think after that I was like, yeah, more scouting on where I'm going is going to be necessary.
B
But yeah, for sure. Yeah. So what I landed on was a Stewart and Stevenson LMTV 1078 cargo truck. Yeah. Not a lot of people, unless you're in the service are familiar with what that is. But it's the most relatable thing I can say that most people understand is basically America's version of a Unimog.
A
Right.
B
So 48 inch tires by 20 inches wide. It's the bed.
A
B.F. goodrich, if you're listening, you know, might need to talk to you about tires at some point.
B
Yeah, exactly. All the pictures will be very tire heavy because the thing is, is all tire giant, but it's a mine, is the 4x4. They make a 6 by 6 as well. Yep. The 4x4 is like £18,000 gross. I. And the 6 by 6 is £30,000.
A
Oh man.
B
So I took a look at those weights and I said, okay, if I do stick it, which is improbable. Yeah. But if I do stick it, trying to get a 20, 18,000, 19,000 pound machine out, like that's a major project. You know, trying to get a 30,000 pound machine out of somewhere, that's a total nightmare. Yeah. And so I decided to go with the 4x4, but it's a deuce and a half, so payload's not an issue. And I'm building a 17 by 8 foot habitat on the back of it and then getting the cab redone. But I am, I have the floor platform welded and done. The framing is done. I'm in about 7, 8 insulated. And then I can start putting exterior sheeting on. I have a lot of the interior sheeting completed, but yeah, making some progress on that. I would most likely have a drivable usable vehicle Right now. But I, you know, in following footsteps with my brother, tore my Achilles in December. Yeah.
A
Apparently, I was just gonna bring that up. Apparently, it runs in our family, just the two of us.
B
Yes. I also would like to note that mine lasted five years longer than yours.
A
Congratulations. I tried to get. I tried to get too tactical at the Vortex event, shooting handguns and pop mine.
B
And then apparently all I needed to try to do was just play basketball.
A
That's that same thing. Just.
B
Yeah. My relationship with basketball continues to be negative.
A
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, man, I couldn't. I was so bummed for you, like, after having just gone through it. So I tore mine. Whatever. A couple months before we had our daughter. And so I'm already frustrated, but it's a year. It's a year recovery on Achilles. And so I'm like a year and a half through it. And then Josh just sends me a photo and says, my turn. And I saw the photo came through of his ankle with ice on the back of it, and I was like, oh, no. Because, like, I. Everything I had felt for a year and a half, like, trying to recover from it, like, I had all of a sudden just felt it all again. I was like, ah. Like, it just sucks. But, yeah, you probably would have been quite a bit further along in the, you know, the. Whatever you're naming it, whatever. That build, if you have a name. Huhler. Yeah. You'd been a lot further along in the Uler build if it hadn't been for blowing up a leg.
B
Who is the Norse God of archery and skiing.
A
Nice. That's pretty sweet. I like that.
B
And that's. That's the purpose of that. That build. Honestly. It's a hunting rig and a family ski camp. Sweet is its intention.
A
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, it's. Yeah, I'm excited to see it. I haven't seen it in a long time. I used to be in Colorado, like, every month pretty much, but. And then kids. And then kids. You just don't, you know, you don't just pop in nearly as much.
B
I'll go the next four days. I'll wake them up.
A
Yeah, that's over. Yeah. But it's. It's going to be a pretty fun rig to see, like, when it's all finished up, you know, and. And I'm excited to see, like, what places you're able to, like, push that thing into, because it's going to be pretty wild.
B
Right. You know, I think the main thing is I'll learn a lot on diesel mechanics and systems. I Mean, it's. I had a friend of mine who's a veteran who is actually, you know, he worked on them. He's 100% familiar with the platform and it was really awesome. I had him go over and go through the whole thing because I really didn't know what I had.
A
Yeah.
B
And basically he crawled around and looked at everything and just went over and over and over about how shocked he was on how good of condition it was in. And so I. I was super relieved. Yeah. By that news. But I know that I'll have to lean on him a little bit with some learning and different things that come up because they're not. They're not really meant to be long distance travel vehicles and stuff. You know, we have a tendency to do that. You know, just take a vehicle that isn't really meant for a lot of distance travel and long distance traveling in it. Yeah, it's kind of our thing. Yeah.
A
It's a soholt thing.
B
Nothing new there, but it's. There's definitely. You know, these things are temperamental. Yeah. And so there'll be some learning there. But yeah, I it in watching film with them and looking at and driving the one I have around a bit, they. It doesn't seem like much stops them. I mean.
A
Yeah, for sure.
B
They are pretty unreal.
A
Yeah.
B
So exciting.
A
Yeah. That's gonna be. Which leads us to, you know, like we've had our own YouTube channel, the Soholt Brothers YouTube channel for seven or eight years now. Something like that is when we changed the. Changed the name of it to Soholt Brothers. And we've done a fairly poor job at creating consistent content on. On there I would say. But I think both of us were having a hard time. Like neither of us really had the time to like be 24 again and go out and create like consistent hunting content. YouTube style hunting content. And so yeah, you know, it's just that there's a part of your life where you have that time, you have that drive, you have the like all of that. You know, it's like guys like the hunting public or Gone all season or whoever is out there. Like it's a group of young guys that are all working together on this stuff or young women, young guys doing these things and creating consistent content and we just don't have that time. So what we kind of came up with was we both like building stuff and it's things where we can like create projects that like I can do a project here and you can be working on Uler and. Or whatever else. We come up with.
B
But we're gonna kind of things stacked up. We'll get into other things later. But for sure. Yeah, but projects.
A
Yeah. You know, and I think the cool part about that is, like, I love watching builds. Right. And like, I also love working on builds. And so it'll be, you know, to be able to like, walk out in the backyard and like work on whatever it is for. You'd be like, I'm gonna go out, just work on this for like 4, 6 hours instead of like, okay, I'm going to get all my hunting gear together and then I gotta travel four hours and then film the whole hunt and put that together in an edit. I'm. I'm looking forward to. We're going to do a bunch of. The plan is right now to do a bunch of different styles of builds of different vehicles and whatever it might be and then kind of just send those out in the wild. Like, some of them will be just for us, but like, I kind of want to do it as like some of them will be like, build something and then like let a crew take it for a while and go use it and abuse it and show how that stuff like that can work out there in the wild and then whatever, sell it, give it away, whatever it is, but just start to be the ones that create cool hunting rigs on. On YouTube.
B
Yeah, absolutely.
A
Yeah.
B
No, I. We've talked about it and I think, yeah, it will be twofold. It will be great to have to be able to share the experiences of the build in the process of that. And also seeing what the young, hungry, adventurous group of people that end up being able to borrow this stuff, come up with. Right. You know, and. And see how. What their take is on it, what's their journey. Yep. It'll be a cool meshing of adventurous spirits, I think, you know, and it'd be fun to be a part of it in providing maybe a place to stay or a thing to utilize to get into the country they need to be or some other tool that will help them be successful and add to the rich nature of the adventure. Right. That'd be great.
A
Yeah. And I think, you know, I think some of this, like, desire to want to do more of this has stemmed from like the van ending up in the hands of the right person and getting those photos back.
B
Wasn't it like he bought it wasn't like a series of hours.
A
It was not very long. I'm have to go try to find.
B
Yeah, like, it was within a. Within 48 hours for sure. Or something. Where so fast he bought it, and there was a turkey hanging from it, and it's like, that's. Couldn't be more ideal, right? No, yeah. Couldn't be more ideal. Yeah.
A
So we want more of that. We want more of that. Yeah.
B
More of that.
A
We're like, something we crafted with our hands ends up out there in the wild doing cool stuff.
B
Yeah.
A
Yeah. So, you know, if you want to go check out any of that coming up, The Soul Brothers YouTube channel is where to find that. And in the meantime, we're just going to be continuing to, you know, kind of move through life, trying to chase as many adventures as possible. So I would imagine. I mean, there's more projects like. But we'll probably have to hop on again and record another one when the next project is live, so.
B
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely. Yeah.
A
So. Well, hey, Josh, can't thank you enough for, you know, just hopping in and whatever, kind of just bullshitting with your brother for an hour.
B
Yeah.
A
And I'm looking forward to actually getting together in person again, which won't be too long, and go, whatever. Catch fish or go chase something. I don't know what's next.
B
Something will happen.
A
Maybe both.
B
I like it.
A
So, yeah, if anybody wants to follow along with Josh, his Instagram is just Josh Soholt. Obviously, you can go follow along at the Soholt Brothers YouTube channel if you want to learn how to go top to bottom, A to Z on anything, archery, go check out boatuneschool.com and obviously, most of the adventures that if Josh and I are together, they're. They're shown through my stuff at Sam Soholt.
B
So.
A
Yeah, thanks again, man, for hopping on.
B
Oh, for sure. Appreciate the invite.
Date: May 20, 2026
Host: Sam Soholt
Guest: Josh Soholt
In this special episode of Legends of the Wild, host Sam Soholt invites his older brother, Josh Soholt, for a heartfelt and wide-ranging conversation. Together, they explore the roots of their outdoor obsession, their intertwined lives as hunters and builders, and the many projects that have shaped their careers—from archery shops to viral conservation apparel to ambitious vehicle builds. The brothers dive into nuances of hunting craft, “the Soholt way” of adventure, and the impact they're striving to make on public lands through business and advocacy.
Timestamps: 00:02 – 05:17
Timestamps: 08:10 – 17:59
Timestamps: 17:59 – 25:37
Total Immersion: Josh explains his philosophy of learning by jumping into new challenges headfirst, leading him west for college mainly to hunt elk and seek bigger adventures.
Developing Craft: Both brothers stress that true hunting and shooting acumen is a muscle built through deliberate, frequent game pursuits—not simply waiting for “big” opportunities.
Practical Training: Josh credits bowfishing and small game hunting for his development as a proficient archer.
Memorable Quote:
“If you want to become just an absolute weapon … Go bow fishing like five or six times a summer. And by the time that deer comes walking underneath you, you’re going to have your process down to complete lock.”
(Josh, 22:18)
Timestamps: 25:42 – 40:27
Timestamps: 40:27 – 44:49
Timestamps: 44:49 – 51:56
Timestamps: 52:07 – 66:09
Timestamps: 66:09 – End
“Something we crafted with our hands ends up out there in the wild doing cool stuff.”
(Sam, 68:42)
This episode is a celebration of adventure, brotherhood, self-reliance, and the endless process of building—be it skills, businesses, or forts—for the wild places the Soholt brothers love. Listeners are encouraged to dive into their own adventures and support conservation in whatever way they can.
“As long as we’re able to keep doing it, we’ll keep doing it.” — Sam Soholt (42:52)