In this special episode, we welcome Troy Cribbins, candidate for State Representative, to the barn. Troy shares his diverse background—from being born in Myrtle Point and raised in Portland, to his career as a physical therapist with a doctorate and experience running and owning healthcare businesses. He opens up about his journey, including moving back to Coos Bay to be close to family, his current roles on the Bay Area Hospital Board and Coos Bay City Council, and the reasons he's stepping up to run for state office.

In this podcast episode, Matt and Trent discuss building hunters through skill and craft, focusing on woodsmanship as a learned "puzzle" of understanding animal behavior, terrain, and sign. They emphasize starting with fundamentals—food, water, shelter—then using tools like OnX to locate clear cuts/units, plan routes, and mark rubs, wallows, trails, and notes to build an experience-based map. They describe practical methods for Roosevelt elk: covering ground by truck/bike, glassing for fresh rubs, bugling every 200 yards to locate elk, listening for stick pops, and learning to judge freshness of tracks, scat, and scent. They compare Roosevelt vs Rocky Mountain elk behavior, stress constant wind-checking, and highlight mindset: don't overthink or talk yourself out of clues, accept the effort, and treat each attempt as learning, illustrated by a story of following cows that led to a close encounter with a large bull.

Trent and Matt discuss not listening to their own podcasts, upcoming travel for their last show of the year, and the approach of spring bear season in Oregon. They compare bear hunting to duck hunting as a social way to get back outdoors and talk about seeing more bears than in past years, concerns about overpopulation, and studies on bear predation on elk calves and deer fawns. They criticize wildlife policy being driven by public votes and advocacy groups, referencing Oregon's 1994 Measure 18 banning hunting bears and cougars with dogs and mentioning IP 28. The conversation shifts to discipline in dog training and parenting, arguing for consistent consequences and leadership. They share bear-encounter stories, cover spring bear tactics (coast vs Cascades timing, south-facing slopes, cameras, calling with fawn distress), and emphasize bear shot placement over caliber, discussing PRC cartridges.

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