Listeners Have a Lot of Questions, and Waddell Has Answers, and Some Questions of His Own
DENVER (June 3, 2026) – Join Host Michael Waddell as he sits down for some “Straight Talk” and listener Q&A with his son Mason and Bone Collector Marketing Manager Ryan Wakenigg. The topics covered in this captivating and personaly revealing podcast range far and wide, touching on such things as the “natural spirituality” that develops from a life lived in the Great Outdoors, motivations and sentiments regarding hunting and the definition of hunting success, Wonderful Weenie the Adventure Dog, Waddell’s first Eagle on the golf links, and hard lessons learned from sleeping in. It’s Michael Waddell himself who is the guest of honor on this special episode of The Michael Waddell Podcast, presented by Spandau Arms and in partnership with Folds of Honor, Cigars International and Poncho Outdoors. Admittedly, all those who enjoy outdoor pursuits, especially those who hunt and fish, at first glance appear to have similar motivations for participating; however, upon closer examination it becomes clear there are many different approaches and opinions that can divide the hunting and fishing ranks. With that in mind, Waddell spends significant time during this podcast making a well-reasoned and impassioned plea for his fellow outdoorsmen and women to reach common ground for the benefit of the community.
To help make his point, Waddell shares a particularly poignant and formative story from his childhood, when a friend came to stay for the weekend at his house: “One particular morning,” started Waddell. “I’ll never forget it. It was Friday, it was after a football game. One of my dearest friends in the world, Keith Elliott, was spending the night. He was a country boy, lived on a dairy farm, but his dad didn’t take him hunting a lot. My Dad [did take my friends hunting with us], but at that particular time my friends and I liked so many other things too – dirt bikes, playing in the ditch, Hot Wheels, building forts, going fishing, frog-gigging, catching lizards, catching snakes… When I had a buddy come over, in those early ages of 12-13, my idea of having a friend over wasn’t to go hunting with him. My idea was to have somebody spend the weekend so we could do some of these other things together.”
“Sometimes it was more fun to go squirrel hunting, maybe go rabbit hunting or flush up a covey of quail rather than sit for four hours in a treestand on a cold day. Second of all, when you’re 12 or 13, what’s very valuable is sleeping to 9 or 10 o’clock, maybe sleeping to lunch, and getting up and watching Looney Tunes and the Tasmanian Devil, Bugs Bunny, The Smurfs, all these different cartoons that come on Saturday mornings, and sitting their indulging yourself on Froot Loops until your Momma turned around and ended up cooking another big, healthy brunch or lunch that sure enough would stick to your ribs – maybe grits and eggs, bacon, some country ham, maybe some tomato gravy with some big ol’ cathead biscuits – those are memories I had.”
“So this particular time, Keith Elliott spends the night with me on Friday night. It was cold, late in October, and I remember it like yesterday, and my Dad approached us both that evening and said, ‘Hey, Boys, do you want to go hunting in the morning? I’ll take you all.’ Of course we said, ‘Yes!’ What a great start to the weekend. Get up, go spend a couple hours in a treestand and then come back and, in my mind, ride dirt bikes all day, go fishing, run around and do whatever a young man could get into and pretend he was Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer for a day.”
Later that night, realizing that the next morning was Saturday, young Waddell was beginning to have a change of heart, but his friend Keith was extremely excited. “Well, two hours before daylight,” continued Waddell, “my Dad turns on the light. He didn’t come in there, ‘Hey, Big Buddy, do you want to get up?’ He turned on the light and said, ‘Boys, it’s time to get up! Let’s rock and roll! We’re going to get a biggun today!’ Well, immediately, I grumbled and groaned and, looking back on my hunting with Dad, the 7-8 times we’d been out prior to that I hadn’t even seen a deer, so I thought, ‘My Mom’s home; I know she’s going to make a big breakfast; and I know my buddy Keith will be back soon and we will go enjoy the rest of our Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer pretend-to-be’s.”
“Well, Keith goes hunting; I sleep in. I knew that I’d made the right decision because it was so cool and crisp yet I was warm with a big, thick blanket pulled up over my head. I heard the truck pull out and I thought, in my mind, ‘Keith isn’t going to see anything. Dad isn’t going to get anything either.’ So, I slept in. I was solid with my decision. They were the idiots. I was the smart one. I’d wake up, smelling the bacon, visit with Mom, and get up about the time they got in.”
“Well, the one thing I didn’t think would happen, that Keith would be able to handle the .30-06, and I figured that Dad would sit Keith in Julian’s Stand [Julian was Uncle Morgan’s brother] and it was just east of the back field that we hunted, in a pine flat. No bait, and if you’re sitting in a pine flat there literally is no bait because there isn’t an acorn. We didn’t technically or tactically know a lot about deer hunting, nor did my Dad; we just knew that you couldn’t kill them watching Looney Tunes. You had to be out in the woods where they lived. I figured my Dad would sit Keith in Julian’s Stand because he told me he would. My Dad went on down to the Island Stand, which he thought was the hotspot. No trail cameras, we didn’t know what was out there, but based on the rubs we knew there was a new Milo Hanson world record out there somewhere lurking in the shadows of Booger Bottom.”
“Well, it turns out I was wrong, and to a degree, Dad was wrong,” continued Waddell, “because when they came back at about 10:30-11:00 that morning, I thought that possibly my Dad had just given Keith a brand new Kawasaki KX80. I thought that maybe Keith was running in – because I could hear him screaming and jumping for joy – because he was excited that Momma was cooking breakfast. I thought he was excited to see his old buddy, Waddy. We were about to hit it hard, go up to Uncle Morgan’s, go fishing, get after it.” But to Waddell’s surprise, what happened next would make Booger Bottom deer hunting history, and whether he’d like to admit it or not, the events of that morning played a pivotal role in the development of the hunter and man Michael Waddell would become.
The Michael Waddell Podcast is produced by Outdoor Sportsman Group and is available widely on Outdoor Channel YouTube, MyOutdoorTV, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and OutdoorChannel.com, to name a few.
The remainder of this episode is dedicated to listener Q&A, with the probing questions being submitted via social media. Mason proffers the various questions: Have you helped turn hunting into a money game? Why are DNRs burning woods [prescribed fire] in late March and April even though they know they’re destroying turkey nests? What’s your process for overcoming misses and being ready for the next opportunity? How successful would most “celebrity hunters” be if they had to do everything on their own? Have you had any bad experiences on guided hunts, and are there hunts you’d never do again? What’s your opinion on bowfishing? If you knew that you were going to be stranded on a desert island, whose music would you want to have with you? How did you master the art of elk hunting as a Southern guy? Of course, there’s much, much more…
“I know this podcast is different, but I’m glad that I’ve had the opportunity to share some of these things I feel so strongly about,” said Waddell. “I love hunting. I think it’s the best thing. I’ve seen it completely be the best counseling for folks who are struggling with a lot of vices, so I’m not going to be the guy who condemns a man or woman because of how they go about it. Now, if I see them doing something that’s very disrespectful or bordering on being illegal, I think they need to be led by love back on the right path. As for the way or how somebody does it, I could care less. I’m still selfish in the fact that I care about how I do it. If somebody wants to learn about it, I’ll tell them about what works and what doesn’t work and show them the joy of what happens when you do finally kill a deer with a bow and arrow, if you’ve never done it and have only shot them with a rifle.”
The Michael Waddell Podcast releases new episodes every other week.
Waddell’s story began in the backwoods of Booger Bottom, Georgia, where he grew up surrounded by nature, family and a love for the outdoors. A self-proclaimed “rowdy redneck,” his passion for hunting and storytelling led him to win a Realtree turkey-calling contest, which launched his career in the outdoor industry. From guiding and filming hunts to creating hit shows like Realtree Road Trips and Bone Collector, Waddell has become a beloved figure in the outdoor world.
About Outdoor Sportsman Group: Outdoor Sportsman Group is comprised of the world’s foremost media and entertainment brands for outdoor adventure enthusiasts. It includes four leading multichannel networks: Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel, World Fishing Network, and GAME & FISH TV, a dynamic new Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) channel dedicated to sports enthusiasts and outdoor lovers. Additionally, Outdoor Sportsman Group operates Sportsman Channel (Canada) and MOTV, the world’s leading subscription streaming platform created for outdoor lifestyle enthusiasts. The Group also consists of numerous established publishing assets, including 14 outdoor magazines such as Guns & Ammo, Game & Fish, Petersen’s HUNTING, and In-Fisherman, along with 20 top websites. Outdoor Sportsman Group also includes television production operations through Winnercomm. For more information, visit www.outdoorsg.com.
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