Her first-ever elk hunt. On public land. On opening day of rifle season. And she lands a 6×8 bull.

Overview

The Wild Race star Jessica Ann grew up whitetail, turkey, small game and predator hunting in Wisconsin. She added waterfowling to her list of passions a decade ago. When she got bariatric weight loss surgery in 2020, she set a goal for herself: Go on an elk hunt and, in Jessica’s words, “don’t die.”

Traversing the steep Idaho terrain and taking down a massive bull checks that goal off Jessica’s list. But that’s not all. By the age of 30, she’s made a name for herself as an outdoorswoman, hosts her own hunting show and runs a nonprofit to teach kids safe and ethical hunting practices from a young age.

In this episode of The Slayer Hunting Podcast, Slayer’s Bill Ayer and Tommy Sessions talk with Jessica Ann about landing her TV show, starting The Wild Race Foundation and, of course, that wild first elk hunt.

Connect with The Wild Race’s Jessica Ann:

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The Full Story

Listen to Episode 13 of the Slayer Podcast or read the full transcription below:

Bill Ayer (00:00:00):

Hey all. Welcome to the Slayer Podcast. I’m your host, Bill Ayer owner of Slayer Duck Calls, a company founded on family heritage, unrivaled quality craftsmanship, and an uncontrollable obsession for hunting. Let’s get to it.

Tommy Sessions (00:00:13):

All right, everybody. Tommy Sessions with Slayer Calls back with another podcast. It’s been a little while. We had Elk season and Bill kind of had that extended elk season. If you heard our last podcast, he was on his way to New Mexico and we’ll kind of let him sum it up because honestly, I haven’t heard about this New Mexico hunt yet. And so I’m kind of going to use this time a little bit too to hear about it. But the main focus today is we have a guest, Jessica Ann, and she is kind of an all around hunter, and if you check her out on Instagram, Jessica Ann Outdoors, you’ll see everything from waterfowl to big game. There’s some upland on there. She has some pretty awesome stuff that she’s working around and with. And we’ll just let her kind of kick that off. So Jessica, welcome to the podcast and if you can just give us a little bio and quick introduction.

Jessica Ann (00:01:09):

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you guys for having me. So, like you had said, I am very much, I would say, more of an all around type of hunter, outdoorsman, outdoors woman, I should say. And so I have always, I grew up in this industry. My grandfather started the SCI Foundation here in Wisconsin, so I started very, very early with my roots in our family. Just really working with nonprofits, working with various different organizations and companies, and seeing a totally different world than just having the hunting and fishing getting introduced. I actually work full time, two full-time jobs as a nurse right now to afford these fun dreams of mine. Yes, I’m actually using my lunch break right now. I technically work noon to nine central standard time right now from home. And then I work a couple nights a week at the hospital as a travel nurse.

(00:01:59):

So all to compensate an amazing dream and goal of mine. So I am the founder and co-producer of our TV show, The Wild Race. Season one was on the Pursuit Channel, so we just finished third quarter. And so all of our episodes are now getting aired onto YouTube, which is super exciting for more accessibility. And then we also just actually became officially a 501c3 nonprofit for the Wild Race Foundation. So lots of fun things to talk about, but just like you had said, I am super eager to hear about Bill’s recent trip to New Mexico.

Bill Ayer (00:02:37):

Trip to New Mexico was interesting. So I picked up the tag last minute, I think two weeks before the muzzle loader season. So it was after archery.

Jessica Ann (00:02:46):

Okay.

Bill Ayer (00:02:46):

I decided I was going to archery hunt during the muzzle loader. So very little e-scouting, very little information. Joe McCarthy, myself, we got in the truck and took off right after our elk season here in Idaho. Man, I mean, I did everything you shouldn’t do for an out of state hunt, right? We talk about e-scouting and preparation and all that. Joe, he was down for Hunters for Hope down with Corey Jacobson, helping him with a hunt. And he literally left camp, got to my house at, I think about one in the morning. He slept in his truck. I don’t know why he didn’t knock on my door.

Tommy Sessions (00:03:25):

It’s Joe.

Bill Ayer (00:03:28):

Yeah, he didn’t want to wake us up. So then, it’s four o’clock in the morning, I go out there, his Jeep’s here, and I’m like, I look in there and he’s sleeping. I knock on the window. I’m like, “Hey, what’s going on?”

(00:03:39):

He said, “Oh yeah, let’s go.” So he throws the stuff in the back of my trailer and we hit the road. And so we get there and I’m thinking we’re going to hunt high desert, right? I get there and we are in a high desert, but it’s like 6,500 feet. And then I’m looking at the mountains next to where the mountains that we’re going to go up to. And it’s huge. Just huge, dark, dark timber. And so we start scouting, I think we had one day to scout. It was a five day hunt and we started our hunts at 10,000 feet. So here in Idaho, you get to 9,000 feet and you’re kind of at the tops for the most part. Most of our hunting’s 6,000 to 7,500. And so all of our hunting where we were scouting was starting at 10 and we were going up to 12,000 feet.

Jessica Ann (00:04:25):

Oh my gosh.

Bill Ayer (00:04:25):

And I’m in decent shape, but there’s very little access to where we were hunting. We actually went into a wilderness area, hiked about six miles back into there. So anyhow, the altitude really was taking it out of Joe and I just trying to get acclimated. But long story short, we ended up getting to the bulls every single one of those days. Just couldn’t close the deal. The elk were pressured I think for most of archery season. So we got within the 50, 60 yards of bulls every day. We just couldn’t get to close the deal and get a shot on one. So it was a lot of fun.

(00:05:04):

Being in bulls just, that’s part of the deal of the excitement, right? And seeing new country, it was probably some of the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen. Just the tallest, biggest Aspen grows I’ve ever seen in my life up at like 12,000 feet. It was amazing country. Saw a big, old mountain goat it was almost half tame. We drove by, it just sat there. Yeah, just beautiful country. We’re in elk and just being somewhere new. And the great thing too is we extended the elk season another week, so that was cool.

Jessica Ann (00:05:36):

That’s awesome.

Bill Ayer (00:05:37):

The hunt was October 12th, what was it, ninth through the 12th or something like that. And the bulls were still bugling, so that was pretty cool.

Jessica Ann (00:05:44):

Oh my gosh, how awesome.

Bill Ayer (00:05:46):

Yeah.

Tommy Sessions (00:05:46):

You better listen back to the other podcast Bill and take some Joe’s advice on e-scouting. You were there.

Bill Ayer (00:05:53):

Yeah, yeah. Also, high altitude training. Man, I should have put one of those oxygen deprivation masks on or whatever and did some training down here. Cause I’m telling you, I’m 51 years old. I’m in decent shape, but man, it took it out of me. Once I was at 11 five, 11,000 to 11,5000 I was like, it took three times longer to recover.

Tommy Sessions (00:06:15):

Yeah. Looked like Bane off of Batman out there training.

Bill Ayer (00:06:19):

Yeah, seriously.

Tommy Sessions (00:06:20):

So that leads this in, Jessica, I just saw on Instagram that you had Idaho land public or Idaho public land bull this year. And it looks pretty… For a first bull. I mean, come on, seriously.

Jessica Ann (00:06:37):

It is. Yeah.

Tommy Sessions (00:06:38):

I’ll let you explain because I don’t know what the words are because it’s like, well, and you could probably hang it up and be like, Yeah, I’m good.

Jessica Ann (00:06:46):

Yep. So it was wild. So I actually did not expect to actually, this whole experience, the whole trip, everything that I had planned for this hunt, it had been a dream of mine. I actually, back in 2020, I had bariatric weight loss surgery, so I lost 150 pounds. And on my insurance application I put that I wanted to be able to, one of my goals to lose my weight was to do an elk hunt. And I in parentheses put “and don’t die” because I knew the amount of physical strain that would put on my body and I was definitely not in the shape. And so having that surgery, having these crazy amazing lifestyle changes that I made for myself to benefit myself, be a better person and a role model for my patients and for the people around me, it was really amazing to see that transformation in myself and kind of chase this dream of mine to officially have my first bull.

(00:07:41):

So this trip, I was actually originally going to go with an outfitter and a guide, which is why I put in for this specific tag. I did not know that I was going to pull this tag. I was very shocked when I had drew this tag. I mean Southeast was in Idaho. It was actually a bannock zone, if you know that area Bill, in the bannock zone. So I ended up deciding not to go with an outfitter guide and a good friend of mine, I thought, how awesome would it be? One of my best friends lives in that area, the black foot Pocatello area. And she had said, How cool would it be if you as a female and another female did this together, and she kind of helped you? Cause I knew that I had done research and done my own preparation, but I just knew that for myself, for one for safety for two, just knowing that area.

(00:08:29):

This other individual, her name is Brooke, she knows that area like the back of her hand. So she had said let’s do it. She’s actually a law enforcement officer there, which was really awesome. So she got sworn in while we were there. So it was a really special trip. And so of course pulling this tag, got the draw results, went in, prepped for it. We had opening day for that hunt, which was October 15th on Saturday. So we got into town, I want to say I worked back to back both jobs, didn’t sleep for three days and then we drove across country, didn’t stop, from Wisconsin. I think it only took 23, 24 hours, which is actually the fastest. Typically I have issues on I-80 going back and forth. So it was actually a really nice smooth ride. Got in, scouted on Friday. I saw some really, really nice bulls.

(00:09:17):

I was not anticipating whatsoever. We kind of came up with a few different game plans. My friend, she had been keeping out and keeping track of stuff earlier. And unfortunately, as much as I personally want to come out and scout as earlier as possible physically, my work schedule didn’t allow that. So she did a lot of the scouting and kind of helped out with that part. And then when we got there, we tried to come up with a couple different plans and we ended up, she said, Let’s do, there’s either, which again, still my body has not been through as much physical strain as an elk hunt. And Idaho is very, very different country than Midwest hunting. So I just remember her saying, we can either do this slow incline hike up to, it’s like six miles, or we can do this pretty intense fast incline type of hiking through some pretty bush whacking, thick, thick timber.

(00:10:08):

And I was like, well, once we spotted some bulls, I’m like, actually let’s do this two and a half mile hike. So of course, like you said, nothing goes as planned. And I remember that morning vividly, or the night before Brooke had said, “It always happens when something doesn’t go right, that that’s the days, those are the hunts that actually things end up turning out in your favor for some way, shape, or form.” And so I remember forgetting two of my much necessary needed layers underneath for if weather was coming. It was just one of my jackets that I had and one other thing that I forgot behind. And so I immediately was like, okay, this is how today’s going to go. So packed everything, started going out, and let me tell you our timing wise, because she was like, “Oh yeah, it takes me about 45 minutes to do this hike.”

(00:10:57):

Again, my body has never… It’s different. The day of, the adrenaline, everything, it’s different. So we went out there, it was gruesome. I remember getting to where we planned to go, and all of a sudden she told me, obviously I put two and two together. We saw a couple mule deer come off of one of the ridges. And that was really first sign of life. I was just like, okay, we’re actually seeing life here. I thought I just did this two and a half, three mile hike for nothing. Body was just really, again, this is just coming from somebody who grew up in the Midwest who’s never hunted out west. So bear with me. So I just remember her telling me, well we obviously missed our window to try to get in position to try to potentially either stalk on some of these elks that are in this area.

(00:11:46):

So we decided to, she’s like, “We can either turn around and go home and start again tomorrow morning, or we can do this additional four and a half mile hike going ridge over ridge over ridge through some pretty rough terrain and get to this area where I want to sit and glass.” And I was like, “All right, let’s do it. That’s what we’re here for. We’re doing it.” So we toughed it out. I can tell you my hip flexors were hurting so bad. I couldn’t even lift my legs over logs and sticks and everything. I was hurting so bad. I was pretty much relying so much on my trucking pulls and my boyfriend behind me physically pushing my pack up a few times because I was hurting. And it was nothing that I thought I could prepare myself for. It was just very, very different.

(00:12:34):

So we got up and it was probably an hour before shooting light ended to be honest with you, and saw a bunch of cows, started getting really excited, started hearing a few bugles, which was, I’ve never, believe it or not, ever, ever heard an elk bugle in person. So even though they’re away and not as close as I would’ve dreamed of for an archery season, obviously this was for rifle season, it was still really awesome to hear them bugle. So I was just waiting, there was probably, I’m not even joking, 20 some 30 cows. And I’m like, there’s got to be a bull around here. And I’m just waiting and glassing and all of a sudden I hear there’s more bulls over on the other side. So my friend Brooke, she’s like, “We got to go there. We got something over here.”

(00:13:20):

So I’m not joking you at this point. I was in so much pain and I definitely had plenty of mental breakdowns. My one cameraman was down below me and my other friend Brooke was on the top side of the mountain, literally almost carrying me across this entire slate rock just dragging me. I’m falling and slipping and falling. My adrenaline is pumping. And she’s like, “There’s a huge bull, we have to go right now.” And I’m like, “I can’t even breathe.” And I’m like, “I can’t even breathe.” And she’s like, “I don’t care. You need to move.” And she’s like, “No.” And I was like, “I need a minute.” She was like, “No you don’t.” And so I’m just running and I end up getting set up on my spotting scope and he was about 300 yards away and I was shaking so bad and I was just, my heart was racing.

(00:14:09):

And she’s like, “Do you see him?” And I was like, “No.” And she’s like, “Right there.” And I’m pretty sure as she said verbatim, I died and came back to life. I never in a million years, I remember when she first, we were prepping for this, I’m like, I’m not asking for a big bull. I’m just asking for something that’s legal, something to put meat in my freezer. I used the last of my venison. I have no more meat. So I need to be able to provide for my family and I need to be able to accomplish this goal of mine. And so I just remember there’s no way, there’s just no way that all this, the mental breakdowns and everything, the hard work, the physical strain that I put on my body and I pushed my body further than it’s ever been pushed before.

(00:14:50):

And I ended up taking, it was about a 300 yard shot at him, shot him. It was definitely probably a very fatal shot, but just in case, cause they are hearty animals. I took a second shot, he went down not even 20 yards from where I shot him and laid on a giant big old piece of rock, perfect for us. And so we celebrated, lots of emotions. Super. It was just an awesome experience. Brooke that took us, her dad actually pulled that tag 12 years prior to that opening day. And he was unfortunately unable to fulfill that tag cause he was put into the hospital and then passed away. So the day before that hunt opened was the 12th anniversary of her dad passing. So during our exit interview, I kind of donated and dedicated that bull and that hunt to her father.

(00:15:46):

Because, and I told her, I was like, “Regardless of what you believe in,” I was like, “that’s your father. That’s him there. That’s him being there, supporting you, showing you what you love to do. Me accomplishing everything that I dreamed of.” And I was like, who goes out on public land opening day and shoots a bull, a six by eight bull and gets to have that type of a story to come home with. I don’t think I will ever have a hunt like that ever in my life. And I will be totally fine if I never shoot a bull bigger than that because that is a once in a lifetime bull. And that was a once in a lifetime hunt. It was a really, a condensed version. It was probably the most challenging mentally, physically hunt that I will ever put myself through. But it’s also addicting.

(00:16:31):

I literally turned around, I was like, “I can’t wait to come back and chase elk during archery season now.” So definitely a lot more prepping needs to happen as far as preparing my body. But I can tell you that I was also very fortunate that the snow was not yet on the ground. So that also worked in our favor. It started snowing. I think it had a pretty big snowstorm that came that Saturday after we left the following week. So we were very fortunate for that. I think that helped a lot. But once again, I think everything just kind of happened and it all happened for a reason. So I’m very grateful for it. I can’t tell you the amount of gratitude I’ve shared with everyone that truly made that happen. I mean, you look back and you don’t think all the work that you put into, all the blood, sweat and tears of preparing, of researching, e-scouting, whatever it is that you do.

(00:17:24):

I can’t tell you how many Randy Newberg videos I watched on e-scouting to prepare myself. And Corey Jacobsen was pretty much in my sleep every day between my boyfriend and I, whether it was on a podcast, on our truck or on TV. It was just constant. And it was just doing our best to be able to research and to educate ourselves. So that one, first and foremost, to be safe out there and to be prepared, but two, just to be able to curb as much of that learning curve that we can to get all this amazing knowledge from these people who are just amazing in this industry to begin with. So it was…

Tommy Sessions (00:18:01):

Yeah, let’s pull back and dissect that a little bit because I mean, an amazing hunt, an amazing experience, great friends, great people. You’re a traveling nurse, had you ever been to the area that you hunted?

Jessica Ann (00:18:16):

So yes, actually that specific area is actually what made me fall in love with Idaho and become an Idaho resident and move and pick up my life and moved out to Idaho. Born and raised Wisconsin, came out there, was invited to actually waterfowl hunt of all things. I fell in love with Idaho because we got invited by a group of people that absolutely love to waterfowl hunt, the Down Feathered Waterfowl Co., and she is now my best friend. And so her and her husband and a friend of theirs just passionate about it, just decided to get out there. And they invited me on social media and said, “Hey, why don’t you come out, let’s show you Idaho. Let’s show you how to waterfall hunt.” And I can tell you the first thought at 10:00 PM looking at my phone, I’m like, “There’s waterfowl in Idaho?” I was just [inaudible 00:19:01] the Midwest.

Tommy Sessions (00:19:01):

No, there’s none. There’s no big game, there’s no waterfowl, there’s no fish, there’s nothing. It’s dried up.

Jessica Ann (00:19:08):

Yeah and I was like, what? And I can tell you hands down to date, that is the best waterfowl hunt and just…I did. Honestly, when I came there, I came there, we did a three day hunt and it was the most banger hunt ever. The first day we had an eight man limit, all drake mallards, absolutely beautiful. We ended up getting, well, we drew straws for the band, but I ended up winning for that. So that was really awesome to keep a band of Drake mallard from that hunt. So that was fun. The second day it was a combo goose, Canadian goose and duck hunt and we ended up eight man limit also for that, which was awesome. We ended up getting a quail goose and then the last day was just Canadian goose hunt and we ended up with a goose band.

(00:19:53):

So three days back to back and it was all in, anywhere from Pocatello all the way up to American Falls, Idaho Falls area. So just on that whole eastern side of the state. So being in that area, really fall in love with that area, really scouting and doing a lot of prior type of hunting before I ended up moving and becoming a resident specifically in Ada county, in Boise area. I picked over there because of the hospitals and whatnot that had assignments open for me. But where I fell in love and where I was most comfortable was on the eastern side of the state.

Tommy Sessions (00:20:28):

Nice. All right, so you kind of had an idea of it. And so when you went into this 2020 surgery, because I kind of want to go back to that because you’re a female that has never killed an elk, you kind of don’t, I mean you know hunting and you know what to expect a little bit, but at the same time you don’t really know all of what to expect until you’re fed it in a fire hose. And my wife, for one, she wants to start archery hunting this next year. She knows a little bit because she’s seen some videos, whatever, she’s gone hiking with me. But at the same time, it’s not the same game until you actually do it. What kind of advice do you have for, and not even just females out there, but maybe younger hunters or older hunters or people that just have never done it and they’re like, yep, next year’s the year I’m doing it.

Jessica Ann (00:21:20):

Honestly, my biggest piece of advice is research and really finding quality people and quality, just like we say in healthcare, right? Finding incredible and reliable sources. You want to be very careful what you’re researching online. So make sure that it’s credible. Two, get into the gym and do those stair climbers with a pack on your back. I don’t care who you are, I should have been doing that six months ago. Definitely did not start six months ago. So that’s something that I think tremendously would’ve helped because like I told you, everything else in my body felt good. It was my hip flexors, it was moving and doing those… You know very well because that’s literally, this is your backyard being here. Yes, we have rolling hills, but it is nothing. We do not have the terrain that Idaho has and then you add the elevation on top of that.

(00:22:08):

So preparing and practicing with your breathing and because that’s a big thing too. I remember Brooke looking at me as soon as we got over to the other ridge and she’s like, “You have to control your breathing.” And so controlling your breathing with adding the adrenaline, adding the fact that I just scaled this mountain side, like falling on my face over and over and over again and really just practicing. Regardless of what type of trip it is, how far you’re going, if you’re putting your gun in a case, no matter what it is, always take it out and always shoot it and practice. No matter where I go, it’s just always habit. I spend at least a couple hours or an afternoon or whatever it is, going to a range and just making sure that nothing changed on my site, my gun’s good to go.

(00:22:51):

I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve learned through all of my hunting. And we definitely did that when we were at Idaho. There’s a small place in Soda Springs that we went to. They had a nice little range there that we got to go and do some practice with, which was really, really nice. So yeah, so definitely getting to the gym, doing lots of resistant bands with your hip flexors, doing lots of abducting and adducting your muscles, really practicing on the stair climbers and putting that pack on your back and because nothing is going to mimic an actual elk being in the back of your pack or just that weight and then you’re adding the terrain, you’re adding the adrenaline, all these factors that you can only control so much, but being out there is still different. It’s different in a good way, but it’s also, for me it was definitely a culture shock.

(00:23:40):

So I think those are my biggest pieces of advice and making sure, I think, and utilizing e-scouting as much as possible so that if you are like me and you can’t get out there for weeks prior to scout, if you can e-scout and really just pay attention to your terrain, pay attention to those north facing, south facing slopes and the time of year and the weather and the winds. All those things that take into consideration no matter what you’re hunting, you can really narrow down a lot of things for your type of your plan to go out for your hunt regardless of the time that you have. As much as you want to be out there and prepare much more in advance, sometimes it’s not possible for the people that are traveling to and from.

Tommy Sessions (00:24:23):

Awesome. As much as I would love to talk about elk hunting all day, every day, you’ve got a big involvement in waterfowl world and so I do want to drop into that a little bit. And you talked about coming to Idaho and shooting all the birds that are gone now, because we don’t have any, but it seems, I mean obviously your first elk, right? But then it seems like your passion or what is, you kind of background in is game birds in general.

Jessica Ann (00:24:53):

Yep. Yep.

Tommy Sessions (00:24:55):

So how did you get involved as a woman or a huntress or whatever you want to call, how did you get involved in the outdoor world for that? It’s kind of a big step. It’s the minority.

Jessica Ann (00:25:08):

Absolutely. So specifically, I mean my father and my grandfather are the big hunters in our family. I have two brothers, my younger brother does hunt, but he got more focused into football. So my dad got stuck with me, so I felt like I had pretty big shoes to fill. And so with that being said, my dad is actually not a bird hunter whatsoever. And I actually did not start bird hunting until I was in my early twenties and I just turned 30, so just less than 10 years now. And I have become so addicted and so passionate about it. It’s so fun. And I think that it’s so different than what I grew up on with whitetail hunting, Turkey hunting, small game hunting, predator hunting. It’s a different type of hunting altogether. My grandfather actually, my dad, I remember the first time I told him I was going to start bird hunting.

(00:25:56):

My grandpa was the bird hunter, he was the one that loved waterfowl. He’d go down to Argentina, he would go travel all over the world and he also loved to upland game hunt. And so it was really amazing to kind of see that come full circle of all places in Idaho. Idaho has always been a special place in my heart and always will continue to be because of that. So yes, I loved waterfowl, but Idaho waterfowl is just a different beast. It’s a different passion, it’s a completely different experience all together. And then I actually, I don’t know if you saw too, but I actually got my first pheasant in Idaho as well for one of our recent events that we did. And so getting into this world altogether was a very, it was natural to me in the sense, like I said before, my grandfather was part of the SCI Foundation and so he actually had a non-profit foundation and with that, completely separate from SCI, he really was passionate about giving back to the communities that he would travel to.

(00:26:54):

His focus specifically was South Africa. So I did a huge South Africa trip in May. My first five episodes of season one were all South Africa and so we did a lot with the communities there. We donated all of our harvested meat, we did all that type of stuff. And so I took that foundation and I grew it into my own dream. And so I not only grew up with whitetail hunting, but I developed this love for waterfowl hunting and it’s been really amazing to see, not only here what we have to offer in Wisconsin, but in Idaho and other states, but the types of different birds that are available and that you can really just chase after. I think it’s something that you can never fulfill. My dad says it’s very similar to Africa hunting, deer hunting, you get a deer, you get a bull, you get elk, whatever you can tag out and that’s it for the season. Unless you have various other tags.

(00:27:43):

Duck hunting, you could get your limit that day and you could go out tomorrow and get your other limit. It’s a continuous thing and it’s camaraderie, right? It’s the relationships that you build and the memories that you build in the blind that I really, really love. I can tell you that some of my favorite memories of duck hunting and waterfowl hunting together are in the blind with these people and the people I’ve met. And so getting into specifically waterfowl hunting was a challenge for me because I still tell people that I’m not the best duck caller. And so I know that Jennifer had gifted me an amazing, beautiful Slayer call and it’s definitely something that has been really fun to kind of learn and to work with. And so being a female in this industry, I can tell you has its own challenges because no matter who you are, I feel like you have to work twice as hard to gain that respect because I feel like there’s just stigma no matter who you are with certain things that you are expected to do or aren’t supposed to do.

(00:28:42):

And so you’re fighting against that. And so at the end of the day, I always just tell people I’m just here, all I ask is for respect. I’m not perfect, I am not an expert, I am not a professional. I am just so passionate about what I do and I want to share that with the world. And I’ve been given an amazing platform to do that. To have a TV show, to have the social media platforms that I do really allows me to share that and then use that as a benefit to be able to help other people, specifically kids. And so going off of everything that we’ve all done and that my passion with the waterfowl hunting has gone, I’ve actually developed this recent nonprofit. So that was what I was telling you about, the Wild Race Foundation Incorporated. So that’s officially a nonprofit, which is a huge, huge, big accomplishment for us.

(00:29:36):

That was a big thing to be able to obtain. And so with that, we’re able to take kids not only locally but all over the nation, we’re able to give them resources and give them opportunities to be able to be successful in this industry so that they learn how to be ethical hunters, they learn about conservation and they learn about safety and education at whatever age that they start with. We really try to target an age that we can prevent them from going out there and making bad habits. So how many times have you gone out there and a landowner, farmer says, “Nope, sorry you can’t hunt on my land. Cause the guy previously ruined that for me.” I can’t tell you how many times that’s happened. So if we can teach these kids how to be ethical hunters, how to be able to learn the basics of not only getting out there and prepping for hunt and harvesting and hunt, but how to be good outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen. That’s what I’m passionate about. That’s what I want to be able to build within our community and be able to make a difference in. So we started this year with these crazy ideas of doing these youth events all over the nation. And so we started with Wisconsin, we took six kids for waterfowl hunting. We did a whole safety day. So we taught them, well, one of the kids didn’t have their hunter safety, so we help kids get their hunter safety if they don’t have it, we then take them and we do firearm safety education day. We have a whole safety day where they all come together, we review the firearm safety, bring the dogs in. We have a dog trainer that comes and we teach them how to safely hunt and work with dogs. We also teach them and practice in different types of lines.

(00:31:13):

And then we put all the tools and things together and we actually also had a call seminar, which I don’t know if you know that Bill, but you guys had donated a call, a couple calls for our kids to be able to be handed out. So we had a mini calling competition and one of the girls had won the Slayer call and I can’t tell you the amount of excitement these kids had, just listening to them and having different people involved in this entire event go around to different tables and help these kids how to learn their new calls. They’re all beautiful acrylic calls that they got donated. And then put all those pieces together into what we call a mock hunt. And so we had the dogs with, we had different launchers out and the kids were shooting blanks out of their shotguns.

(00:31:59):

So they were practicing being in an A frame specifically for that hunt, how to stand up, how to work with the dogs, how to listen. Because I’m sure as you know, there’s so many different things that happen at the same time and safety’s a big thing and that’s when accidents happen when you take a kid out at 5:00 AM and it’s pitch dark out and they don’t know what’s left or right of them. They don’t know how a dog is supposed to act. They don’t know how that person’s supposed to shoot. So we teach them all these things. So come the day of the hunt, it’s no surprise to them.

(00:32:28):

It’s just like we practiced. And so then we were able to take these kids out and we took six kids. So we took three and three. And so it was super fun. Some of these kids got their first ever ducks and let me tell you, they are absolutely addicted. I have parents texting me pictures of their kids, not even that night, but the next morning going out by themselves with everything that we gave them, donated to them through our amazing sponsors.

(00:32:53):

And this one kid, he took a stool with his duck call and went and sat in the treeline and was able to get, he was goose hunting that night and then the next morning he was able to, he shot three teal and his mom was so ecstatic. She’s like, “He’s addicted. I love you but I also hate you because now I have to get all this duck stuff for Christmas.” And so she’s like, “This is amazing though.” And so from there it just literally blew up. And so it turned into, then we did a whitetail contest, very similar to that. We did an [inaudible 00:33:26] in Idaho that we did while I was in there for my elk hunt, we did a pheasant hunt. So that’s when I shot my first pheasant. But we have various different youth waterfowl hunts and we actually have one this coming weekend that we’re leaving to go to Michigan for.

(00:33:39):

So we’re taking, it was originally six, two kids unfortunately dropped out. So it’s now four kids. Very similar setup. So we have local companies, we really want to be able to promote local businesses and companies because we want these kids to be able to, wherever their home state is, wherever their home location and community is, to know what companies to go to, to know what vendors, what shops, what people are going to support them. So getting the small businesses and really not only giving them that opportunity to advertise for themselves, but also to be able to take part in this is amazing.

(00:34:13):

And they absolutely love being involved with it. And so it really brings the community together to rally around these kids and give them everything that they can be to be successful safely. And so it’s just been amazing to see this whole thing come apart. And then, because our first one was in September for waterfowl in Wisconsin, to really see throughout the year all the updates, all the text messages, everything that we’re getting from these families, that these kids are out there doing everything that we taught them and they’re doing it right.

(00:34:42):

And that to me is just what it’s all about. And so next year those kids can then be mentors for the next group of kids that we bring in and do the same thing with. So that is something that is like what we’re doing with Wild Race and how my passion of bird hunting and getting people addicted to bird hunting, but getting them all the resources and tools, because I’m sure you know it’s not cheap to start waterfowl hunting. There’s a lot of different things that you need. It’s not just a shotgun. It can be your calls, it can be the different blinds, it can be the decoys, it can be any different little thing depending on how you’re hunting, whether it’s water or fields. It takes so much. And if we can give them just a little bit to get them started and be able to give them that education, that’s what it’s all about.

Tommy Sessions (00:35:31):

I was going to say that poor kid’s going to be broke for the rest of his life. He’s done, he doesn’t have any money.

Jessica Ann (00:35:38):

Oh gosh.

Tommy Sessions (00:35:39):

He’s not going to have to worry about drugs though or girls. He’s just going to have hunting.

Jessica Ann (00:35:40):

Exactly, exactly.

Bill Ayer (00:35:45):

That’s awesome Jessica, man, keep up the good work.

Jessica Ann (00:35:48):

Thank you.

Bill Ayer (00:35:48):

That’s something that Slayer’s very passionate about is getting the youth or just anybody who has an interest in hunting, get them involved. Whether it’s a woman, it’s an old guy who’s 50 years old and has always wanted to do it but hasn’t or kids. So just keep up the good work. It’s great for our industry.

Jessica Ann (00:36:09):

Thank you. And I know you guys have had such an amazing part. I know Jennifer constantly reaches out to me and I was so excited when that girl she had, well because she ended up getting a call donated from you guys and then another call and so she was just all ecstatic. And I get voicemails, messages all the time from parents like, “We just drove all the way home with her listening to duck calling videos and practicing her calling the whole way. Thank you so much for that.” I’m like, “I’m sorry but you got to practice somehow.” And so it’s been really awesome to see them take pictures with all the things that they’re given. I do have to say I think that was something that I always was worried about. Do these kids understand the things that we’re doing, the things that we’re giving them?

(00:36:56):

I can tell you the amount of people that said, I never even, how long was it until I finally had an acrylic call? I didn’t have an acrylic call for the longest time. And so for these kids to have one or two acrylic calls that are absolutely beautifully crafted in their hand and that’s how they get to learn how to duck call, that’s just amazing. And to have them realize how amazing that is. I think I had shared it on one of the other podcasts that I had done and so the daughter, one of the daughters, the one that actually won the Slayer call, she had sent me a message on Instagram and said, “Thank you so much for this opportunity.” She was very thankful for the call. And she’s like, “I think for the first time ever I made my dad proud.”

(00:37:39):

And she’s like, “And I’ve been trying my whole life to do that.” And so that made me very cheerful because I know very well as a daughter what it’s like to do that for your father who’s got very high standards for you. And so it was very funny because the next day her father said something, very sweet message about her with her first duck that she ever shot when she was, I don’t know, I think 12 years old or no, not 12 years old, I think she was, gosh, she was young, six or seven with him. And then compared it to the picture that we shared from that event. And he’s like, “Thank you for making this happen and I think you got her addicted.” And he’s like, “There are so many proud dad moments that you have given me and I cannot thank you enough for that.”

(00:38:18):

And so that made me tear up. And so I said, I think I want to share with you what your daughter had said. And he had no idea that she had sent me that message. And so he’s like, at the end of the day what I realized and I shared when I was doing my pheasant hunt was the amount of, yes, this is for the kids, but the amount of families that are really getting involved because it’s not, these kids can’t get to where they’re at without their parents. They can’t work on shooting their shotgun or learning and getting a shotgun or doing any of this stuff if it wasn’t for the participation of the families that are also involved with this. So it’s really bringing so many families closer and the amount of fathers and mothers that have said thank you for giving me something that I can now connect with my son, my daughter with is just awesome.

Tommy Sessions (00:39:05):

So how does a kid, how do you find out about this or how do you get signed up? You have one in Idaho, you have one coming up in Michigan. Where do you go to find out as a kid or as a parent that wants to get their kids involved?

Jessica Ann (00:39:18):

So we definitely, we’re always up for new things. So if somebody reached out to us and said, “Hey, if you ever wanted to come out here, we would love, I’m really interested in doing this.” I’m that type of person that would absolutely love to set up shop somewhere and be able to do a hunt just to get that kid out wherever they’re at. But specifically we have not only our YouTube and our social media but our website and our email address and so on our website, www.thewildracetv.com, has all of our contests that we’re running, all of our past contests. You can see the pictures of the kids we worked with, the things that we’ve done as well as new things that are happening and new things that are coming. Social media @JessicaAnnOutdoors on Instagram as well as @InsidetheWildRace on Instagram.

(00:40:03):

So that has more of our TV show aspect type of followings. And then we also just started our YouTube channel, so that’s TheWildRaceTV and so on there we’ll also have all of our videos every Monday at 7:00 PM central standard time, a new video will drop. And so 13 episodes for season one. We did just sign a contract so season two is actually going to be on the Sportsman’s Channel for quarter two. So that was super exciting for us. So we’ve had some really exciting news all around. And I think I also, right now, just today we opened up our Wild Race Wish kind of contest, it’s not really a contest but the Wild Race Wish. And so being a nurse, working with, I’m actually primarily labor and delivery for seven years now. But I love working with kids obviously. And so we decided that we wanted to do something where we would take a kid who has a progressive disease, degenerative or malignant that’s putting the child’s life in jeopardy that has a hunting or fishing dream within the United States, we are going to make that dream come true.

(00:41:03):

So any child, anywhere, you can live anywhere in the United States. If they are nominated, there’s a form and there’s more contest rules on our website, again thewildracetv.com, that has all that information. So wherever we go, we want to continue to leave that footprint and make that difference with these kids but also within these communities because I feel like the network of people that surround us is just absolutely incredible when it comes to the outdoor industry. And I think people, once you open your eyes to that and you go into these communities, there’s just so much love and support and it’s just amazing to see.

Tommy Sessions (00:41:39):

Joe’s involved, like Bill said, he’s involved with some of that here in Idaho alongside Corey Jacobson and that. But, that’s super awesome to see those guys getting out there and then it’s great to hear that you’re doing that because I definitely see that kids get lit up in the field and it’s kind of, I don’t know, cliche, but one with nature type thing. And definitely that’s where the kids’ truest hearts come out and that’s a beautiful sight to see when they’re out there and they just, birds are working or whatever they’re hunting and it goes back to kind of, brings me back to my childhood of the same thing.

Jessica Ann (00:42:23):

Absolutely. And I think it’s great, just like you said, to during that youth waterfowl, to watch those kids. And again, so this weekend we actually got permission from a city to actually hunt one of the ponds in the city limits. So these kids are going to… When they told me this, that they set up this hunt on this pond and the city was all game for it and they were beyond excited to have this experience for these kids. It’s a loaf pond so it’ll be very interesting, very intense I’m sure. So we’re very excited for that. But to be able to watch these kids, get out there and watch them put in the work and then harvest their first bird, there’s nothing that beats that.

(00:43:07):

Watching them learn how to practice their calls. And like you said, I laid in amazement my first time hunting in Idaho and I remember they just kept telling me, ‘Jessica shoot,’ and I just laid in my layout blind just stunned. And I’m like, “I can’t.” This is a sight I will never probably see again. This is just, it’s beautiful. And just watching these birds just do what they do and just work above you is just incredible. If I can provide just a little bit of that and that glimmer to a kid and be able to give them that experience, like you said, that’s awesome.

Tommy Sessions (00:43:39):

How did this whole Wild Race start? With you, you said you had some lucky streaks or you had some breaks, but what guided you to go start an operation filming?

Jessica Ann (00:43:53):

Yeah, this has been a wild thing to be honest with you. So it started, like I said, this dream of mine for my grandpa. My dream was to always start a non-profit, but never in a million years did I think one, a TV show, let alone two, right now. I thought it would’ve been later in life truthfully. I was actually going to school for my doctorate in nursing to be a nurse practitioner and basically stopped doing that to pursue all this. So I still, like I said, work full-time as a nurse, two full-time jobs, and it’s so worth it. Started out doing, just sharing my love on social media and that just continuously grew and I just had a mass amount of support, which was amazing. I kind of built this little tribe and community within the people on social media. And then I actually reached out and I had a group called Run and Arrow that I did a couple of videos with on YouTube.

(00:44:45):

That was awesome, super fun experience. And then I got headhunted by a TV show that was on the Pursuit Channel. This specific show and gentleman, let’s just say we didn’t see eye to eye, we didn’t value the things in this outdoor industry and he didn’t value myself as a woman in this industry the way that I felt like I was able to contribute. And so with that, we ended up parting ways and because of that, the Pursuit Channel actually reached out to me specifically and said, ‘Hey, would you like to have your own show?’ And I was nowhere near that part. I mean I was just building my own brand. And so I kind of laughed at them and I was like, ‘Yeah, okay, how do you think I’m going to do this? I’m a full-time doctorate student, I’m a full-time nurse and now you want me to have a TV show full-time by myself?” I don’t even know where to start.

(00:45:29):

I don’t… And that’s the thing is I’ve never, I take pictures myself, but I don’t have the skill. I’ve always, from day one, hired out all of my talents. So my photographers, my videographers, they’re all hired out. I do do some self filming per se, but 99% of my stuff that you see on social media, because of the fact that we’re there to promote brands and give them quality content is all professional content that I hired out and that I paid for. And so it just started to build and this dream just kind of happened. And so all of a sudden I had this TV show that was going to happen and then Covid hit, my mom got diagnosed with stage three colon cancer and I was like, there’s no way, me in that position to be able to stop my life and not knowing what’s happening with my mom, not knowing what’s happening with the world, working as a nurse during that time, it affected everyone worldwide, but it was hard.

(00:46:23):

And so I decided that that was kind of my way of, what are you going to decide? Life is so short, with my mom, watching my mom go through that, watching my weight loss surgery, my life changing before my eyes, what are you going to do? And so I just basically said, this is my dream, this is what I’m doing. And so I know people tell me I’m crazy because I work so much and I literally do not sleep for days on end. But I don’t give myself a choice. I don’t give my body a choice because of the simple fact that this is a dream. And for me to achieve that dream, no one else, my dad’s always told me, my grandpa’s always told me, no one else is going to achieve that dream except for you. You have to put in the work and you have to be able to do all the dirty work to get to that dream regardless of what it takes.

(00:47:07):

And so I’ve been tested plenty of times, I’ve been burned, I’ve been stepped on, I’ve been kicked. But you know what? I continue just to continue this dream. And so having this show finally season one aired on the Pursuit Channel for third quarter this year was such a huge celebration to be able to fulfill that dream and to be able to see that through and then now have the Sportsman’s channel knock at my door and say, “Hey, do you want to come over to our network?” That was probably the most exciting email I got that day was to have the outdoor network send me an email, say, “Hey, can we talk?” That was very much of, are we really here? Is this really happening? Is all this work really paying off? And so every little step, every little day, it’s a new challenge. But that kind of started with the TV show aspect, but the nonprofit truly started, it’s always been a dream of mine.

(00:48:03):

I just never expected it to be like this. And so it has blown up and it has grown and it has been beautiful to watch just completely unfold to see. So like I said, we have Michigan this weekend. We have Missouri waterfowl in December, Kansas waterfowl in January. I want to say we’re supposed to do a Texas one as well in January for waterfowl. Lots of waterfowl. I always feel bad because I’m like, I should do more big game too, but lots of waterfowl. But honestly it’s such a passion and love for mine. So to get other kids involved into it, what better way, right?

Bill Ayer (00:48:37):

Plus there’s a lot of action in waterfowl.

Jessica Ann (00:48:39):

Exactly

Bill Ayer (00:48:41):

For kids to go out and sit in a blind for six hours is a little…

Jessica Ann (00:48:46):

It’s hard.

Bill Ayer (00:48:48):

But waterfowl, if you get on a good hunt, a good banger, it could be just a lot of action, you see a bird, you’re shooting, you’re seeing dogs retrieve the birds, you’re out there, the camaraderie with friends and other young folks. So I think it’s a great starter sport for…

Jessica Ann (00:49:03):

Absolutely. It teaches you a lot, right? Because like you said, between the dogs and if you are going to get out there and talk to landowners and you’re not hunting on public land, it is definitely an ethic and a skill and a different type of hunting that you have to be comfortable with. And having those conversations with those farmers and then returning the favor in some way, whether it’s cleaning up after yourself, helping out in the off season, doing something for them throughout the year, I think that makes a huge difference.

Bill Ayer (00:49:32):

Well I’m telling you, you’re super inspirational. Just talking as a business owner and getting Slayer off the ground and chasing a dream and, every day is hard and you just got to put in the work. I mean that’s just a life lesson, right?

Jessica Ann (00:49:45):

Oh, yeah.

Bill Ayer (00:49:46):

Whether you’re chasing a dream in the outdoors, whether you’re trying to be a nurse or whether you’re trying to be a dad. You have to put the work in if you want to be good at it and nobody else is going to do it, right?

Jessica Ann (00:49:59):

Nope.

Bill Ayer (00:49:59):

Who’s going to care as much as you care. And so I mean just listening to you talk just is super inspirational to me and hopefully to other people that are listening to this, if you have a dream, chase it and put the work in. That’s the bottom line.

Jessica Ann (00:50:12):

Absolutely. And I appreciate that. Like I said, this is something that is so near and dear to me and I don’t think that you would’ve ever convinced me four years ago to go days without sleep and work two jobs, but like you said, this is a dream. And the first couple years, whether it’s a business, whether it’s a TV show, whatever it is in life, the first few years are the absolute hardest. And that is what’s going to test you.

(00:50:37):

And if you can continue to persevere and push through that, I can tell you you’ll find out very quickly who your support people are and your support circle. I’m sure you know. So going through all these different things in life, it’s great to see myself evolve professionally and personally. And so like you said, I hope that this inspires other people to chase their dreams and that no matter what it is, my dad always told me, you can have anything you want in the world as long as you want it bad enough. There’s nothing that you can’t have and that you cannot achieve as long as you want it bad enough. And so you’ll make it happen.

Speaker 4 (00:51:12):

Even a six by eight bull.

Jessica Ann (00:51:17):

I actually have him in the guest bedroom. My taxidermy’s a little far out, so he was like, “Well, you can take his antlers back for now and then I’ll eventually need him back.” I’m like, “I’m going to take him home with me.” So I have to stare at him occasionally. So it’s insane. I try to explain to people out here that that is a once in a lifetime bull and what happened, public land, day one, opening day, six by eight bull, first ever bull. That’s never going to… That’s not something that happens ever.

Tommy Sessions (00:51:54):

Did you get a score by chance? Just curious.

Jessica Ann (00:51:55):

So we did a rough score, we did a rough score. It’s not the green score, right? Because technically I think you have to wait so many, so long after. But it was, I want to say 350. Yep.

Speaker 4 (00:52:08):

Yeah, I was guessing like 330. Cause I usually over guess I always take some inches off. But I was just looking at the picture online here, I was like, eh, 330 ish.

Jessica Ann (00:52:17):

I can’t even fathom. I think even the pictures I posted on social media, there’s a couple, cause I’m like, I don’t have ones of just me grip and grinning. The ones of me, first of all I’m exhausted, cause like I just laid there and just admired him and thanked him and was just taking it all in for so long. Cause I’m like, I cannot believe this happened. And it’s something that I will never be able to probably ever experience again. And I’m okay with that.

Tommy Sessions (00:52:44):

Wow. You’re going to go archery hunting and then you’re going to be, it’s just a new addiction.

Jessica Ann (00:52:51):

Honestly, archery hunting in itself, whitetail is addicting. I literally cannot wait. And so Matthews is my bull sponsor and so I have a two year sponsorship with them and I cannot wait to go out next year and chase them for archery season because I think that’s, in Idaho I think that’s going to be pretty amazing and pretty memorable too. And I think just being in there, hearing them bugle, being so close and that intimacy and that challenge in itself. Archery hunting versus rifle hunting, that’s a challenge. That’s going to be an amazing hunt.

Tommy Sessions (00:53:27):

Yeah. To see your passion and emotion about, I mean it’s a huge bull. It’s a great bull, but if you have a two by three bugling in your face, you are going to be like, Oh my gosh. That experience in and of itself is, maybe it won’t outweigh, but likely it could outweigh the emotions you had with this bull. It’s incredible. But that’s my opinion. I used to be [inaudible 00:53:58] waterfowl hunter, I would hunt 90 plus days a season. In Idaho we have a hundred and, I think it’s 107, it’s changed. When I was 18, it was like 95 days of that season I would be hunting waterfowl.

Jessica Ann (00:54:11):

Okay.

Tommy Sessions (00:54:12):

My buddy got me into elk hunting and I was like, “Dude, I can only shoot one a year. Why do I want to go do this?” And he was like, “Trust me.” It was a rifle season and he bugled a bull in for me and I shot it and I was like, “Oh that was pretty cool.” And then he’s like, “Now let’s go archery hunting” the next year, or a couple years later. And I was like, “Okay.”

Jessica Ann (00:54:34):

That’s different.

Tommy Sessions (00:54:36):

I’m addicted. I’ll never go back.

Jessica Ann (00:54:38):

See, and I’m very much that person that wants the challenge. I don’t want it just in front of me. I want the challenge. I want to be able to chase this thing and to be so close that I can literally hear it walking, breathing. I just love that, it’s so addicting. I can tell you from whitetail very, very addicting. But also it’s not as large as an elk and I’m sure that is, and they don’t bugle. So I can tell you I cannot wait to be able to chase them for archery season next year.

Tommy Sessions (00:55:16):

Yeah, that’s awesome.

Bill Ayer (00:55:17):

I’m ready to go again.

Tommy Sessions (00:55:19):

I know, it’s like when does the next season start?

Bill Ayer (00:55:21):

[inaudible 00:55:22] I got my fill, I’m good. And then a week later I’m like, I can’t wait for September.

Tommy Sessions (00:55:27):

Well right now, right now is November 1st, unit 39 in Idaho starts today or started because it’s dark here now. But…

Jessica Ann (00:55:36):

[inaudible 00:55:36] County?

Tommy Sessions (00:55:37):

And that’s the unit that I first shot my bull out of and I hunted that for seven years and this is the first year that I haven’t hunted that.

Jessica Ann (00:55:45):

Really? Wow.

Tommy Sessions (00:55:46):

Kind of personal reasons. Yeah. So I’m like man, I should have just bought the tag and went again.

Jessica Ann (00:55:57):

And now 39, that’s basically where I did most of my, when I was living full-time in Boise and working in Nampa area. That was for me my stopping grounds. I mean I had elk pattern and then of course life changed and I ended up taking a different assignment out of state. So it was wild. I was really bummed that the year that I was literally living there absolutely full time that I was not able to hunt a single day after spending months and months powdering these elk and mule deer. But that’s okay because again, at the end of the day it all paid off. I have a beautiful bull and an amazing memory to come off of it and I am just ecstatic. So definitely got asked a few times from a few people if I went to a game farm.

Tommy Sessions (00:56:50):

Yeah, there’s some around here but, oh man that’s awesome.

Jessica Ann (00:56:52):

And it’s something that I will definitely, I feel like I’ve officially for myself, my body, earned after everything that I went through with my personal changes in my life. So, very excited to be able to accomplish that.

Tommy Sessions (00:57:04):

Sure. No, that’s fantastic. Bill, you got anything else to add?

Bill Ayer (00:57:08):

No, this has been great man. I’m so glad you were able to come on here Jessica Ann.

Jessica Ann (00:57:13):

Absolutely.

Bill Ayer (00:57:14):

Your stories, you’re a breath of fresh air, I got to tell you, man. And I really appreciate you spending the time with us and I hope you have a lot more stories to share in the future.

Jessica Ann (00:57:23):

Gosh, yeah, absolutely. And like I said, I love that you guys continue to support us and what we do and what I do and these kids, you guys have just been amazing from day one and so I hope that continues going forward because I think that what you guys, watching you guys excel in the last year since we first talked has just been amazing. Seeing where you guys had started and where you guys are at now and this team that you guys have built. I think it’s just great to be able to support people, whether they’re people or companies or products, really seeing them be successful. It’s just really rewarding to watch. So congratulations to you guys as well at Slayer.

Bill Ayer (00:58:00):

Yeah, if you ever need anything for any of these deals that you’re putting on for the kids, just let us know. We’re always…

Jessica Ann (00:58:05):

Absolutely.

Bill Ayer (00:58:06):

That’s our way of giving back. We give back to Delta Waterfowl, to organizations like yourself. So anything you need, let us know. You need to come out here for a hunt. We could put something together, whatever. So just let us know.

Jessica Ann (00:58:19):

Yeah, I think that’ll be fun. And depending on where this, I always tell people that the connections and the networking and the people that you meet are the ones that are going to help you the most when it comes to making things happen for these kids. And so depending on these kids and what their dreams are and their wishes are, if it’s something that Slayer can be a part of, I would absolutely love that.

Bill Ayer (00:58:39):

Awesome.

Tommy Sessions (00:58:40):

One more question.

Bill Ayer (00:58:41):

Yeah.

Tommy Sessions (00:58:42):

We have, and I kind of ask everybody this, but we have shows coming up like we’re at the ISE show here. I want to say it’s February ish, in that timeframe over in Salt Lake, but do you have any shows like that coming up that people can look forward to come out and see you and talk with you or…

Jessica Ann (00:59:00):

Yeah, absolutely. As I’m sure you know, trade show season is crazy busy, so we are for sure going to be at ATA this year in January in Indianapolis. We’re going to be at the SCI show in Nashville, which is in February, shot show. And then I want to say as far as the other, I haven’t looked at all the rest of my stuff. I know I have a few things because I [inaudible 00:59:25] which I heard that you also do snowmobiling. So I grew up snowmobiling, but I also do a lot of ice fishing. And so one of my newer sponsors is Striker Brands, that does a lot of the ice suits, apparels for ice fishing. And so I know that I’m doing one of their ice shows in January as well. As far as the, I want to say that the Salt Lake was something that, I can’t remember if that was conflicting with the SCI though now that I think about that. But I know that there’s a few different ones that we will probably be adding to our calendar and I should probably add that to our website of a calendar of events of where we’re going to be so that people can continue to follow us and watch us.

Tommy Sessions (00:59:58):

Sure. Well if we meet up at a show or if we’re at the same shows ever, let’s get together and…

Jessica Ann (01:00:04):

Absolutely.

Tommy Sessions (01:00:04):

…Make another podcast.

Jessica Ann (01:00:07):

Yeah, absolutely. I’m game. You just let me know.

Tommy Sessions (01:00:10):

Cool. All right, well appreciate you coming on. Guys, go check out Jessica at The Wild Race. Go on YouTube. I know I’m going to go check out some episodes, get a little something new to watch and check out what she’s doing because I mean, kids in the outdoors, it’s what it’s all about. We all started there at one point. So check her out, Check out Slayer Calls and appreciate you guys listening in.

Jessica Ann (01:00:34):

Thank you.

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Her first-ever elk hunt. On public land. On opening day of rifle season. And she lands a 6×8 bull.

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