we’re heading down to Shelbyville, Kentucky and Allen Bullman, Slate Media Studio. Allen, welcome to the show.
Thanks, Bruce. Appreciate you guys having me on.
Hey, you got quite a loft there and in the warm-up, we were talking about all the things you do. So why don’t you kind of let the folks know what you do for your day job? We know, you know, via social media you’ve had successful hunt already this year, and kudos to that. So take it away, sir.
Yeah, I’m the owner of Slate Media Studio. I do a lot of videography, photography work, Facebook marketing and promotional items. I own a hat company called Kick Ass Caps, also, where we do leather lasering braiding caps.
Big Buck Down – Allen Bullman – Slate Media Studio
We do a lot of hunts, produce a few shows in the industry. The one show that we’ll be talking about is called The Game with Matt Jennings and Steven Tucker, that killed the world record buck. So I But do quite a bit…I’ve been in the industry for, I don’t know, ten years. I used to own Working Class Hunter. I had that show for four years. We were on the Hunt channel, we were on the Pursuit channel. This past year I handed that off to those guys to focus more on a career in the industry versus actually having a show, doing some freelance videography, hunts, more advertisement, graphics work, logo work, things like that.
And also, I’m affiliated with Treezyn Camo – https://treezyn.com/ with Cobb Sanders, and Tina Kane, Brad Thomas, Cody Nixon, all of those guys over there. I help them with some branding and product development, and do a little of graphics work for them. So I’m in tune with those guys quite a bit. We have a weekly conference call and I’ve been very successful with that. So pretty big things in the works with that group. We’re getting in some big box retailers, that’s coming up. Gander Outdoors and some fairly big things happening in the Treezyn compound. So we’re really excited about that.
And just amazed, very blessed, you know, definitely God has blessed me and given me that, you know, the opportunity. I love what I’m doing. I couldn’t ask for anything, you know, else. My wife is getting ready to open up her first retail store. We’ve got another retail store going in. So just a lot of good things, a lot of good things. We’re very blessed right now.
Well, you’re quite the entrepreneur and quite the deer hunter as we’ll find out shortly in this episode of Whitetail Rendezvous.
Hey, folks. It’s 9/11. Allen, your thoughts about 9/11?
My thoughts on 9/11. I was actually, I’m, you know, did packaging pretty much most of my life and I can remember, I was at work that day. They had like a little small room with the only TV in it and they all called all the management group in upstairs when the first plane hit. And it’s definitely sobering, humbling. It’s a touchy situation.
But, I look at it from a different perspective. At that moment in time, all of America loved America. Race, religion, or anything, everyone loved each other. Everyone pulled together at that time. So, you know, we can only hope tht with everything going on in the world that we continue that. And that’s why we need to constantly remember what happened then that when these things happen with the schools and everything else, it has nothing to do with guns and stuff like that.
we’ve got to make sure that we are standing as one
It’s the people that are behind it and we’ve got to make sure that we are standing as one and loving each other and at no cost, no matter what we are, what color, race, religion, anything else, that we’re all humans. And we definitely need to pull together in times like this.
And thanks for mentioning that. So folks, I know you’re going to listen to this later, but, you know, I just wanted to take a moment and remember. And for all those first responders and their families, some of those guys and gals didn’t come home from work that day. So, thank you.
So Allen, let’s go and talk about this hunt that’s zipping around the internet and that’s how we got together on Instagram. I saw that deer and I said, “Wow, that’s a great story.” And I’ll be having a lot of these stories this fall and winter. So let’s talk about it. Let’s set up the story and find out why you were even hunting, and then we’ll go through the hunt itself.
Okay, yeah, sure. I do some freelance filming for some guys and I then I do this with the TV show and produce the TV show The Game, that’s going to be new this year. I did some teaser stuff in Tennessee with those guys a couple months back. And Matt had called me and said, “Hey,” this was like last Wednesday. He calls me up and he says like, “Hey, I don’t have a camera man for this up and coming weekend.” Had a death in the family, wanted to know if I could actually come and help.
I’m like, “Yeah, sure.” loaded up, got in the car, took off, and I was there for him and helping him out. We got in, got a little bit late getting in there to get set up. And you know in Kentucky when it’s 90 something degrees and humidity is miserable, we’re pouring in sweat. We have to do a hanging hut stand. So we’re going in there, we’re having to have to hang the camera set to be able to film. We get in there, and you know, it’s a pretty neat set up, but we’re in real tight. We only have the opportunity to probably shoot 15 yards, 20 at the most.
But the camera, I really can’t…it’s a large tree, you had to kind of get in behind it. You can’t really see over your shoulder. I’m telling them, I’m like, “Okay, if this is gonna happen, you’re probably gonna have to sit down to shoot this deer that comes in just so I can film over your shoulder.” It was really tight. But, for the situation and the quality of the deer that was coming in, you know. We were at Ridgecrest Outfitters, Chip Wade https://www.guidefitter.com/ridgecrest-outfitters-chipwade and those guys down there. And they just do a phenomenal job because what they end up doing is, they don’t pressure.
I just don’t want the pressure of the deer.
They only let so many hunters in. And he’s like, “I only want enough hunters to pay for my lease. I just don’t want the pressure of the deer. I wanna build, you know, big deer and things like that,” which is really good and why he is one of the premier outfitters in Kentucky because you know you’re gonna go there and you’re gonna sit and you’re gonna see good quality and it’s not been pressured. It doesn’t have 60 or 70 hunters coming in there every week. And it’s just a good opportunity with those guys.
We’re sitting there and this storm decides to roll in, which we’re thinking, “This is a good thing because it needed to cool off, maybe get the deer on their feet.” But as you all know, rain and water does not mix with camera equipment. So, we’re worried about how this is gonna do. I’m taking my backpack, putting it underneath the seat. Luckily, I had a rain fly for the backpack. I’m pulling it over the camera.
“It’s a shooter. It’s a shooter.
We’re just kind of sitting there talking. Rain finally kind of lets up, stops, take the camera off for a little bit of interviews. Things were sitting there, thinking, okay, these deer are still not coming in. Where are they at? Maybe this storm has kind of gotten them a little bit settled down for a while. About an hour before dark, Matt says, “Hey, there’s a big body of deer coming across.” And there’s like a three-foot creek that runs across between the wood line and where we were sitting. He’s on the other side and he’s coming across, and the next thing I know, he’s like, “It’s a shooter. It’s a shooter.”
So it’s coming through. It’s coming in fairly skittish and stuff. And luckily, because the wind swirls in that area, we had two Ozonic http://bit.ly/ozonics units out and definitely the Ozonic units helped us. Had one facing behind me, one facing in front of Matt. But this deer definitely knew something was up.
He comes in, comes in really slow, and he’s coming in and out of the woods. And he’s trying to circle us at this point and he’s sitting about eight yards. And he comes in this one little open and it’s the only open that I’m gonna have an opportunity to film and I’m like, “Matt, you have got to take this deer now.”
I think this deer was kind of looking up, kind of looking back at us. He tries to draw on this deer four different times with it standing in this little gap. He’s having to sit down so I can film over his shoulder and I’m like, in the end it takes one more step, puts his head behind some trees, and I’m like, “You have got to take this deer now or it’s not gonna happen.” So he draws back and makes a really good shot on this deer. It doesn’t really run off, but it kind of goes off slow. We’re like, “He’s definitely made a very good shot on this deer. Everything is good.” We’re sitting there high-fiving each other, post interview, thinking this deer has got like 7, 8-inch brow tines
Oh my goodness.
Yeah, it scored in the mid-40s, 140. So it’s definitely, it’s a very nice deer. And this deer is out velvet. Some are in velvet, some are out. So we’re sitting there talking and whatever and he’s looking over my shoulder at this point and looking at that cornfield that. Luckily, I’ve got my Treezyn so nothing can see me. I’m kind of, you know, hidden back in there. But I’ve got a lot of sunlight and stuff on me. But definitely, the camo definitely helped me from that respect. He’s watching this deer and he’s like, “Okay, there’s a big buck in the field behind you eating on the corn.”
He’s gonna call Chip. He sends Chip a message and see if we get the green light on me having an opportunity to see if we can’t double up. I’m like, “Okay. We can make this happen.” He’s on the other side of the tree. The camera is on my side, so I’m gonna have to self-film this deer. He’s getting ready, he’s gonna hand me his bow. He gets the green light. He’s gonna hand me his bow. His bow is left-handed. I shoot a bow right-handed. So I’m like, “Okay, this isn’t gonna work.” I grabbed his release. I’m used to shooting a thumb release and he has a wrist strap. I put it on the wrong hand just because I’m not used to that. And I’m like, “Okay, that’s not gonna work.”
So I’m having to switch hands with it, still get the camera on it. This deer is starting to walk in, turn around, not only is this bow left-handed, it’s probably two and a half to three inches longer and [inaudible 00:13:01] than what I’m used to shooting. Luckily, it’s got a steady form on it which I think played a huge role in this. This deer comes walking in. He says, “Hey, I’m not gonna tell you what to do,” he said, “but there’s a bigger deer behind it and he’s up there eating in the corn.” I said, “Okay.”
So this deer, this first deer walks up and comes to the edge of the cornfield. It’s sitting there and just dead stops. And I’m like, “Okay,” this deer is trying to win but luckily with the Ozonics it cannot figure…it knew something was up, but it can’t figure anything out. And I know if it could smell where the other deer was that Matt had shot earlier or what it was. But it stands there and then all of a sudden, it takes a 180 degrees and turns and goes back the other way and there’s no shot at all even on that deer.
The other one doesn’t, it’s up there eating so it doesn’t even see. And it finally starts to work its way. And at this point, I am shaking.
I am tore up. Buck fever has set it.
I am tore up. Buck fever has set it. And I’ve killed quite a bit of deer. I mean, last year I killed three bucks in three different states in a week and a half. That buck fever and stuff, it never goes away. You never stop. If you enjoy this as much as we do and have the passion that we do, it definitely… I was literally shaking. The bow, Matt’s like, he goes, “I thought the deer was gonna hear the arrow rattling in the bow.”
I’m like, I am tore up at this point. This one big deer, for me, I was [inaudible 00:14:38]. This other deer that’s even larger and then coming in, so it comes in, he’s getting ready. I’ve got the camera on this opening. He’s getting ready to step out of the corn. He takes one step out, I draw back, all he’s got to do is probably take two more steps and he’s out in the open, perfect shot, 25 yards, broad-sided, everything’s good, and he dead stops in the exact stop the other deer does, and he sits there.
I sit there, bow drawn, with this left-handed bow, that I could pretty much put the string behind my ear at this point because it’s so long. And I’m holding this bow back, I know, for at least two minutes. Matt said he didn’t even hear me draw back. He come around the corner and I’m like, “Okay, this deer is probably gonna turn and go the same way this other deer did.” I said, “I’ve got one opportunity.” So I have to squat down on the stand to shoot underneath this slim and I’ve got one little shot, he’s a wall hanger.
I ended up putting the shot right there at the front of the shoulder and when I make the shot, it sounded like a cinder block, like it’s just gonna hit this…it hit his shoulder. I’m like, “Oh, I did not make the shot that I needed.” This thing hit his shoulder. It almost knocks the deer to the ground. It takes off running. Runs for just a minute and we didn’t hear anything. We figured it just walked off. So at that point, I’m like, okay, hoping I made a good shot but I’m not sure. Let’s go back to the hotel, it’s a lodge, to make sure that we can review the footage.
We went back and had dinner. At that point, I am nervous. I’m like, it had been raining. I’m like, “We’re not gonna find this deer. But we’re gonna give it our best effort. We’re gonna get in there and try to get on it.” So we go, leave the [inaudible 00:16:40] quite a few hours, I think four or five hours. We go eat and review footage. And it looks like it’s a good shot, but it’s really hard to tell because it’s behind the slim.
We get back in there, find out where I actually shot the deer, the arrow is sitting there, we go to it in the beginning, walk up there, 60, 70, 75 yards, there the deer lies. Biggest buck of my life. We’re high-fiving each other. It was just an amazing experience at this point, and just blessed with the opportunity with those guys to be able to get up there and do that, and double up and use a left-handed bow and just everything. And then we go for look for Matt’s deer and we kind of have a hard time trying to find Matt’s deer. Can’t find it.
We call On Track K-9 with Lance Brantley
We call On Track K-9 with Lance Brantley http://bit.ly/LanceBrantley those guys to come in and kind of help us find the deer. We did. It’s a successful hunt for both of us. It’s just an amazing story. Just blessed to have that opportunity to kill such a quality animal and harvest those beautiful deer. Just, it’s amazing the fellowship that we that weekend was just phenomenal.
One thing that hunting and shooting bows, the ones I have, to switch up and go left hand and when you can’t find the peep sight right away, I know that. How were you able to do that? What skill sets do you have to be able to switch it up like that and make a killing shot on a trophy buck?
One, I’m left-handed. So I think that kind of helps. But I shoot right-handed and I’ve always shot right-handed. But I shoot a gun left hand. So I can switch dominant back and forth. So that played probably a pretty good role in there. Also, having the steady form on that bow allowed me to lock that bow in. So that created that third anchor point which keeps that bow from torquing.
Even though it was a longer draw for me, with having that steady form, it kind of locks it in up against your forearm and so it’s in position no matter what. So, no matter whether I’m holding it, Matt’s holding it or whatever, when you’re holding on that handle and you’ve got that steady form up against there, you have got it at the correct angle, the correct everything. The only thing is just making sure you don’t have enough string pressure.
I’ve been shooting ATA for quite a few years, had the opportunity to come in about three years ago, come in fourth in the state of Kentucky. So I definitely…me and my wife shoot quite a bit and been very successful in shooting bows. So I think with all of those things come together, played a huge role in that area.
How do you get away from target panic
You mentioned, you know, how we all get excited. How do you get away from target panic, buck fever, whatever you wanna call it, and calm yourself down for that one second of release because I’ve had elk in front of me 10, 1 yards, bulls, bugling, I’m a basket case. And my arrow just bounces on the rest. It really is. The guide or whoever is calling me, is laughing their ass off. It’s something that happens. How do you overcome that?
I think if you’re a hunter like us and you enjoy it as much as you do, I don’t know that you’ll ever overcome it. If I ever overcome that shaking and that excitability and adrenaline rush, I need to lay it down. It’s not fun anymore.
It’s just more, to me, doing a lot of competition shooting, it’s just controlling your breathing because I can tell you right now, when I got ready to pull that trigger, I had to second-guess myself multiple times and had to slow my breathing down to make sure I was steady when I squeezed that trigger because you can get too excited and jerk that trigger and then it would’ve been over that deer’s back. I would’ve lost that opportunity.
Definitely, I don’t think that’ll ever go away, but it’s just pretty much on how we handle it and how we deal with it. Just trying to, I’ve always said to myself, “Just take a deep breath. Calm down and squeeze the trigger.” I can’t keep telling myself enough to just squeeze the trigger versus, you know, snatching or jerking.
It’s repetition, but I find it just amazing, you know, when you’re up in a tree, you’re self-filming, left-hand bow, you’ve got a quality deer, a mature buck in front of you. What a great story.
Yeah, it was definitely an amazing time, amazing story. And just having that opportunity was just phenomenal.
Now what’s on the docket for the rest of your season because I don’t know how many bucks you can take in Kentucky. Are you don’t in Kentucky or can you still hunt?
I’m done in Kentucky. I mean, unless you’re on one of the military bases, but you have to be drawn early for that. So as far as bucks go, I’m done. My focus in Kentucky will be on my wife, trying to get her on a good buck and try to get her on film, and just for us just to have for our personal use.
and then, I’ll be doing a lot of doe hunts because I do a lot of promo and stuff for the Hunters for Hungry. https://www.facebook.com/KentuckyHuntersForTheHungry/?ref=br_rs Kentucky’s Hunters for Hungry, we do a lot of donations. We typically kill about five doe’s a year between me and my wife, and donate to the hungry because it’s about 53% of the children population in Kentucky, we’re in the poverty state, stuff like that.
I’ve done a whole episode with those guys before and I think it’s very…us, as stewards of the industry, to give back, and this is a way where we can enjoy what we do, enjoy our passion, and give back in a way that really benefits our community. And the good thing about the Hunters for Hungry in the state of Kentucky is, all that meat goes, whatever county you kill it in it typically goes in that county. So it’s a local, which is really good.
And as far as what I’ve got on the docket, my sister is getting married next weekend, and then I am headed to Ohio to film Matt again. We’re gonna be up in Ohio hunting another outfitter. And then probably a few weeks after that, the end of October, first of November I’ll be in Kansas for a week, week and a half. We typically take a big trip and go to Kansas every year.
Killed a large in Kansas last year. And we’ve got some property up there that we have access to and so, we’re always excited. It’s a good trip for us. And then we’re gonna be headed to, first of December, I think we’ll be headed to Texas, doing some filming with those guys down in Texas on some hunts.
talk about the outdoors career
So if somebody wants to reach out to you and talk about the outdoors career, what you’re doing, your company Slate, how would they do that?
You can get me on [email protected] or Allen Bullman, just hit me up on Facebook http://bit.ly/AllenBullmanFaceBook or hit me up on Slate Media on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/slatemediastudio/. We’d definitely love to chat, help anybody out that I can. I do some photography classes and stuff like that here locally in town. But I’m always looking to definitely help excel anybody’s career. I want to everyone to succeed in this industry.
There’s too much negativity and I think we all should be kind of joined together and making sure, you know, no matter what size deer you kill, it’s your deer, it’s your choice. It should be your decision. And being able to share that by way of filming, by stories, by blogging, or any of that thing, I would love to be able to help anybody out that might be interested in the industry and wanted to understand how I got started and how I moved up in the industry. But definitely interested in helping any that I can.
So folks, this is gonna be a wrap for Whitetail Rendezvous and Allen Bullman, this morning. Allen, it’s just a joy to meet up with you. Hope we meet sometime at ATA or down the road. Love to hunt with you sometime down in Kentucky. Kentucky is on my list and I look forward to getting there.
With that, on behalf of thousands of listeners, we’re over a thousand downloads a day for Whitetail Rendezvous, so our brand is growing. Just thank you for taking your time this morning and being a guest on Whitetail Rendezvous.
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