The Silvercore Podcast with Travis Bader

Casey Braam is a passionate hunter, angler, artist and conservationist. Travis and Casey discuss the meateater gnome shirt, Fenn's treasure, hunting in Haida Gwaii, bear hunting tactics and some deeper topics about life, death and what it means to "work for a living".

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What is The Silvercore Podcast with Travis Bader?

The Silvercore Podcast explores the mindset and skills that build capable people. Host Travis Bader speaks with hunters, adventurers, soldiers, athletes, craftsmen, and founders about competence, integrity, and the pursuit of mastery, in the wild and in daily life. Hit follow and step into conversations that sharpen your edge.

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So I'm sitting down today with
an extremely talented artist.

He's a passionate hunter, passionate
angler, conservationist, and even

though some people may have not have
heard his name, many people have

probably seen his work somewhere
in the hunting and angling world.

Welcome to the Silvercore
Club, Casey Braam, thank

you very much.

Good to be here.

It's awesome to be here.

We're in your studio right now.

This place is fantastic.

Yeah, we, uh, well we bought this house
in the spring of last year and this was

just studs when we got here, so this is
all new and I got to make it this space.

I needed it to be

so.

Well, when I mentioned at the beginning
here that many people have probably

seen your work, There's one very
popular piece of work that I think a

lot of people have probably seen, and
that would be the meat eater Nome.

Yeah.

So I remember, um, when I first saw
that like, this is, look at this cool.

No, he's got a unicorn and his backpack.

And I think meat eater used that as
their main thing for a number of years

when they first started, didn't they?

Yeah.

Kind of when they started becoming the
brand they are now rather than just kind

of the TV show and that kind of thing.

But they're the big brand they are now.

Um, it kind of just
happened, you know, and it.

Series of interesting events.

You know, I was interested in
their podcast for a long time.

Right.

And so I was, had had it on in the studio,
um, and in 2018 I was doing a drawing a

day every single day for the whole year.

Right.

I was gonna ask you about that one.

Yeah.

That's crazy by the way.

Yeah.

So it was a big undertaking, but it
was kind of, You know, I'd heard of ink

October where you're doing ink drawing
every day for the month of October.

It's kind of a thing on
social media in the art world.

So I thought, what if I take that and,
you know, expand it over the whole year?

I had heard people.

Say that like in October really
increased their skills or their

confidence in that medium over a month.

So I'm like, well, let's do it
for a whole year, every single

day, start to finish and then try
to still do all my other stuff.

But anyway, so I would have me eat
your podcast on, in the background each

day while I was doing that drawing.

And it was just kind of like, you
know, catching up on old episodes

and whatever, and, and they talked.

Steve Renell kind of painted
this scene in the podcast.

He said, if I was a painter, is
how he kind of prefaced the story.

Okay.

And he said, I would create this image of.

You know, a Turkey breathing and gobbling
in the early morning and creating like

the, the, the steam out of its mouth.

And it kind described
that in the way he does.

Right, Right.

Um, and so I hadn't started my ink
drawing of the day and I'm like, Well

that's an easy topic right there.

So I tackled it and drew it and posted
it on Instagram and me, or found it.

Did you tag me?

Yeah.

I was just like, Hey, you.

Listening to the media or podcast today,
um, and drew this, whatever, and then

it kind of just, they latched onto it.

They said, Could they use it
for their podcast tour poster?

Um, and then, yeah, I got a call from
Steve Vanilla one day saying, Hey, I have

this really weird idea, you know, and.

What do you think of a
known packing out a unicorn?

And it's like, okay, well
that's weird, but let's, uh,

let's figure it out, you know?

And, and so that's kind of how it all
started and then it snowballed into a

thing and, and yeah, I've done a number
of different images for them, including

mostly the known and a bunch of a few
other things as well, so that's crazy.

Yeah.

You know, I heard a, heard a rumor.

I don't know there's truth
to this, but I heard a rumor.

Have you heard of?

Finn's

Treasure Forest Forest fan.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah.

So the guy who found it said he
was wearing his lucky mediator

known T-shirt when he found it.

That's crazy.

Have you heard

that?

I've heard that, and I don't know if
it's like true or whatever, but yeah.

That's totally cool.

Yeah, that's,

that was what, like a $2 million
treasure that this guy forced him.

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

I'll just hide it in the woods somewhere.

And then I, I guess when he was
dying of cancer and then he got

curative cancer, but he had already
hid the, uh, hid this stuff.

That's right.

That's, yeah.

And it's full of like all sorts
of strange artifacts and, Right.

Yeah.

Anyway, so yeah.

Interesting story.

And I actually have another
guy that's been sending me

over the last like two years.

Pictures of all the stuff
he's accomplished in his known

packing out a unicorn t-shirt
cuz it's like his lucky shirt.

And so he's like, sends me a
picture of the big bull moose he

got the first year he got the shirt.

Oh, that's awesome.

And like, Like he just sent me a picture.

Today, I think of him
with his first bison.

He got the Copper River draw.

Oh wow.

And he got a bison and he's
got his shirt on and it's just

like, it's cool, you know?

That is neat.

Yeah.

It kind of impacted people and
I didn't really expect that.

I thought it's a goofy thing, you know?

But we'll do it.

So was Steve's idea

originally the

Noman?

Totally.

I think actually it was
like his brother's idea.

And he like kind of said like,
Hey, what if we did this?

And, and then it just snowballed
and we created all these

different images and yeah.

See I always

thought that was your idea that
you just came up with this.

idea.

No, it was interesting cuz
it was like, you know, Yeah.

He called me and it was interesting that
it was him calling me cuz he just had

this idea, you know, the company was a
bit smaller then and uh, he had maybe

a bit more control over that stuff.

He was just like, you know, I have
this idea of no packing out a unicorn.

And we did a few different
renditions of it.

Few, few different versions, you
know, sketches here and there.

Right.

Um, Yeah.

And then we finally landed
on what became the known.

Yeah.

Well,

you just came back from ua.

That's right.

And you were there for how long?

Uh, we were on the island for four days.

Yeah.

So you are, correct me if
I'm wrong, you're a fourth

generation hunter?

Uh, I'm, I started hunting when
I was 26 years old, I think.

Okay.

Or 27.

Okay.

So I was kind of a late
onset if you would, Hunter.

Sure.

and it like hunting kind of
happened in my family a little bit.

Like my grandparents immigrated
after World War II to to BC and

like hunting wasn't really that
structured here at that time.

And you know, so like my grandpa shot a
moose once and they can the whole thing.

And that was hunting.

That was the extent of hunting
in their family, you know?

And my dad hunted a little.

Um, just kinda like grouse and stuff
when, when we were kids, but then

I kind of started getting really
interested in it as I got older

and was like, Hey, let's do this.

And then when I started hunting,
it felt like, you know, finding

another limb that I didn't have.

You know, it's like, this is, this
is something so natural to me and

feels like what I should be doing.

So it was kind of one of those things
in life where you just step into it and

all of a sudden it's like, yeah, this
works and this is how my brain works.

And.

Were you, cuz I'm, I'm looking around in
your studio here, like, awesome pictures.

We got a goat, we got owls, we got
wolves, we got fish, we got bears,

we got, uh, moose and cougar.

I mean, very, very wildlife
themed for a lot of this.

Mm-hmm.

. Uh, did that happen after the hunting
or was that always kind of there?

It was always there.

Growing up I was obsessed with animals
and birds and, and, you know, My mom

tells stories all the time of like
when I was a kid, being able to,

Id like tons of different birds and
stuff, even when I was really young

and uh, yeah, I was kind of late.

Coming up as like, as far as
reading and math, I was always

really delayed in that stuff.

Sure.

Um, but I could like memorize
all the different types of birds

and, you know, it was good.

Oh, I drawing pictures and
that kind of stuff too.

Right.

You know, so I could, I had that
kind of knowledge but was never

good at, you know, the reading
and math and that kind of thing.

So, but that stuff's always been
there, that interest in wildlife

and, and it led me to go to, College
for ecology, um, at one point.

So then I worked in fisheries
doing different fisheries work

for private consulting companies,
really First Nations for a while.

And so then during that period, my.

Was a lot of fish.

Right.

Cause that's just what I was doing.

Right.

Whether I wasn't fishing, I
was working with fish hands on.

Right.

You know, and I would fish when
I was, you know, lunch breaks and

after work when I'm out in the
field in all these awesome places.

Right.

So, um, I would fish like a hundred days
a year or more because I'd be out there.

Right.

I'd be working out there.

And then in the off season from,
from work, I would still be fishing.

So just living the dream.

That's right.

Yeah.

And then honey kind of came into
the picture and my art did change.

Okay.

The subject matter kind
of changed a little bit.

Um, and I started seeing a lot
more of like game animals and

that kind of stuff coming into it.

Just as your interests change, you
know, it's kind of like I'm super

interested in fish and I did a ton of
fish and I get a little obsessed with

like certain subjects for a while,
you know, And my wife will even be

like, , are you only draw sheep now?

Or, you know, , You know,
like that kind of stuff.

And I'll get into it for a little
while and then I'll move on to,

so, And that's just kind of how it

rolls, so.

Well, you've done some work for a number
of different conservation groups too,

haven't you?

Yeah.

Um, Wild Chief Society of bc.

Right.

Done a bunch of designs for them.

Um, Rocky Mountain Goat Alliance,
done some work for them.

Um, yeah, so that kind of
is meat eater kind of got me

into all those realms as well.

You know, I think there's
kind of a door opening there

from getting in with mediator.

It's kinda like all of a sudden that
world starts to see you a little bit.

Mm.

Um, But also just being a BC guy,
getting on with different BC groups

and seeing that I'm involved and
interested in those things as well.

So isn't it funny how one thing can
open the door for you, like Meer

meat eater can help open the doors
to the different groups and right

those connections in the same breath.

Your artwork is opening
the doors for other people.

I mean that that known shirt and that
artwork that you have, people have

worn all over the world and people
have struck up conversations and been

introduced to mediator through your

art.

Yeah.

It's kinda neat how it goes
kind of full circle for sure.

A little bit.

Yeah.

tell me about how Duguay,

Um, it's a special place
in the world to meet.

I mean, we always went.

Growing up as kids, you know,
for like summer holidays, we'd

go there every once in a while.

Okay.

Um, and it's just a unique place
because, well, for a lot of reasons.

I guess it's an archipelago
right off the west coast of pc.

Um, And it's northern, but it also
has really warm water going by it.

Okay?

So you get these really interesting
weather patterns where you get like

these, this totally unique to the, on the
world, in the world climate, you know?

And so you get just like the
greenest forest you've ever seen

and, and the thickest kind of
jungley country you've ever imagined.

And cool.

And yeah, you get lots of cool
wildlife encounters and giant bears.

You know, they say don't hibernate.

So there's just massive black bears there.

Um, Really?

Yeah.

So we just got back from hunting there
and I was just kind of recapping to

a different hunter friend of mine.

I'm like, You can't imagine
who's also never been.

I was kinda saying, you can't
imagine the bears there.

It's like, we went for four
days and I probably saw.

Well, we saw, I think six bears total.

Of those six bears two were
probably over 500 pounds.

Whoa.

And the rest were over 300 pounds.

Whoa.

So it's just like you don't see
bear quality like that elsewhere.

Like they're just big, healthy, robust
bears with unique diets and Yeah.

And really long season for
them to be finding lots of

food.

So, Yeah.

Friend of mine actually we're supposed
to be up, Um, Hunting with him in

the Yukon, but they weren't able
to, They, they have a draw for, uh,

Canadians that are non residency Yukon
that have an accompaniment permit.

Right?

Yeah.

And so anyways, so
weren't able to get that.

, uh, we're gonna be floating down the P
river and, uh, looking for some moose

anyways, and just helping out mm-hmm.

, even though you couldn't hunt it.

And then he got called out, he was
flying fire, putting out fires, and, uh,

kind of kiboshed our trip, but he was
talking about a HWI trip and the last

one that he was on, and he says, you
know, uh, his, his buddy was with him.

He ended up just sleeping in
his vehicle after day one.

There's just so many bears everywhere.

yeah.

And the bears are queued
into what's going on.

So if you don't know anything about Heide,
Tons and tons of sickle, black tails here.

Like they're everywhere.

Um, the yearly bag limit is 15, right?

You can have a possession of five.

So there's just like a ton of
deer and the management is.

Get rid of them kind of thing.

Possession of five deal.

Five possession of,
Yeah, possession of five.

Okay.

The, a limit of 15.

Wow.

So you can transport five.

Wow.

But you can get 15 in a year.

Wow.

Right.

So that's kind of the setup.

Um, Okay.

But yeah, the idea is to
get rid of deer, really.

I mean, they're, they're,
they're non-native.

Introduced and they've
changed the landscape.

I mean, people have also changed
the landscape there with Sure.

Really extensive logging.

But you know, the amount of deer there
is, it's a little bit bo mind boggling.

Like there's just tracks everywhere.

Like you step into the forest
and if there's a soft piece of

ground, it has a deer track.

Wow.

Like you just can't avoid it.

They're everywhere.

And, uh, Yeah.

So you kind of imagine this
world where there's so many deer,

but the bears are there also.

And the bears are really queued
into what's going on as far

as tons of hunters coming.

Local guys shoot lots
of deer all the time.

Mm.

Um, and the bears have
just got it figured out.

They've got dialed in,
they follow hunters around.

Like we've had that before where
we've had to scare off bears that

would just follow us all day.

Wow.

Waiting for us to shoot something so
they could come get a gut pile and.

There's lots of stories like it's a ra.

When you get an animal down,
it's a race to get there.

Like, you gotta make sure you
don't leave animals to die

long periods of time, right?

Cause it'll never be yours.

A bear will claim it first.

Holy crow.

So there's just a lot of bears
and they've got it figured out.

Um, like we are looking at, uh, you
know, the poo piles from the bears.

And it's like sauber, so
it's all that Purplely blue.

Yeah.

Um, but it's just fuzzy.

It looks like velvet antlers, you
know, it's just like full of deer hair.

Cause it'll just follow hunters
around, eat the gut piles and eat

up the whole hides and then, you
know, move on to the next thing.

So easy.

Yeah, it's really interesting and it's
just such an interesting dynamic and you

probably don't get that anywhere else.

You know?

It's really unique.

Um, I can't think of anywhere
where I've seen that.

And I've never

been there though.

Yeah, yeah.

No, it's really interesting.

Yeah, the size of bears.

And we saw a lot of Martin on this trip.

Um, so they also have Martin there.

They're really big, but they don't
grow the big coats, so no one really

bothers, trapping 'em there, so they
don't get their winter coat cause

they don't get a hard winter, so.

Right.

But yeah, really interesting
to see the Big Martin.

And we saw like, usually there's
Martin around but you don't see them.

Um, but on this trip, again, in four days
we probably saw six, you know, really.

Huh?

Yeah.

They're just kind of out
and about doing their thing.

And we'd see 'em in the early morning.

Yeah.

And in the middle of the day, we
saw one sleeping on top of a stump.

So that's not usual.

No . Like everything there is
just a little bit backwards and

it's, Yeah, it's really neat.

Yeah.

So, and you were there with.

Your father.

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah.

The two of you?

Yeah.

Yeah, just the two of us.

And um, yeah, we were just
camping in a wall tent and yeah.

So with all the bears there,
were you concerned about, We

were camping kind of right
in town in the campground.

We had electric, you know,
we had electricity and it was

pretty, pretty, uh, chill.

Um, that's not really my
style of hunting, but you.

To be able to spend that time with my
dad and kind of be like, you know, let's

just accommodate that a little bit, a
little more comfort, you know, And we

can just stay in town and we can go out
and, you know, have our days and yeah.

what is your

Stella hunting?

I really like back country stuff.

Um, well, it's hard to say cause I like
back country stuff for like, you know,

goat hunting and that kind of thing.

But I also like do a lot of day
trips just because of where I live.

It's all right here, you know?

Right.

So I can still be like the dad that
picks my kid up from school, but I've

just been hunting all day, you know?

So it's kind like . It's not too bad.

You know, I can, I kind of
balance these things a little bit.

Um, Like this big bear, there's a
big, great big skull right here.

Yeah.

Um, from a massive black bear.

And you know, that bear was like, I
put the kids to bed and was like, you

know, let's go out hunting, take the
dog for a walk, kind of thing, you know?

And uh, yeah.

It's just cool being right here.

Like I can.

Drive out my door and be in good
bear hunting in like 15 minutes.

That's

a good sized

skull too.

Yeah, no, it's, it kind of falls into the
Boon and Crockett 100 kind of list and,

um, Yeah, no, it's a good sized skull.

You got those great big
cheekbones, and I don't think

the camera's picking that one up.

It's just gonna show us both looking
at, with admiration at skull.

Maybe

I should, You wanna pick it up?

Yeah, yeah, sure.

Yeah.

So yeah, it's a, it's a good skull and
it's, These, uh, yeah, really good orbital

bones and it has really good width so you
can kind of see the width is really good.

But he is a little short in the
face, so it doesn't quite score

fantastic, but it does pretty good.

So what was the story

on that guy?

Um, yeah, it was just like spring
bear hunting around here is a big

thing for me and a lot of people.

Um, so it was like, Kids are in bed.

It's seven o'clock, you
know, seven 30 or whatever.

I'll just go take the dog,
we'll go for a little run.

I'll throw the rifle on my back and
we'll see what happens, you know?

And ended.

Finding a lot of fresh signs.

So I got the wind right and then
I, you know, my way to hunt spring

bears is kind of like get in an area
where there's tons of sign, right?

Um, which is usually the hardest part.

Just find an area with lots of
good fresh, like super fresh

that day sort of sign right?

And then just slow walk into the wind.

Kind of still hunt almost.

And yeah, walked right up on this bear.

Shot him at.

L 15 yards max, um, and
15 yards on that guy.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

So he is, yeah, walked right up on him.

I had my dog with me.

She barked at him.

He didn't care, you know, he was
obvious like king of the mountain.

Didn't care about who was
there really, you know?

He looked right at me, looked
right at my dog, who's barking.

Put his head back down and kept eating.

I didn't care that we were there.

Like, okay.

Yeah.

Took, took the bear.

One shot, nice and close and rolled
down a little hill and then it was.

I think it was two o'clock in
the morning when I was home.

Cuz yeah, Big bears is
a lot of, a lot of work.

So it is a lot of work.

Yeah.

So especially by yourself and
Spring Bear, not as much fat.

Actually.

It was amazing.

So this bear had, I think I, looking
at my, I try to keep track of

all the yield from all my bears.

Okay.

So I had a lot of bears.

So it's kind of like, I like
to, I'm interested in, you

know, how much yield I get.

Right?

So I think I got 186 pounds
of lean, like bone out meat.

Um, And almost 90 pounds of fat.

Holy crew.

Yeah.

So, and that's on his spring bear.

So he had, That's crazy.

He had almost six inch, like, he
probably had four inches at his

shoulder and on his back end.

He probably had close to six inches
of fat on his back in the spring.

I think.

know we're gonna become a first spring

bear in the future.

Yeah.

Well, you know, I also get a lot
of spring bear that are as lean

as you could imagine, right?

There's no extra fat.

Like I got a decent bear this
spring, but the body was small.

And it had no extra fat and,
you know, that sort of thing.

So yeah, it's kind of a balance
of, you know, where they're

living and what they're doing.

But this guy had something figured out.

Yep.

The, uh, the golden rule is be where the
animals are and be when the animals are.

And you're, you're good.

Yeah.

Exactly.

No, it worked out.

And, uh, Yeah, he had a whole
bunch of bird shot in his back end.

Someone else had scared it away.

He'd had some, he'd had some run ins.

Yeah, he wasn't too far from
humanity, so I think he was

maybe visiting a few backyards.

Okay.

But, uh, how, How'd the meat taste?

Awesome.

Yeah.

Fantastic Bear.

Yeah.

It's a Bears always a
favorite at our house.

And, uh, I shoot two every year,
um, often both in the spring.

Um, I still hold one tank
right now, so I'm looking for

a fall bear coming up soon.

But

that's, so I do it as well.

Our kids love

bares.

Yeah, yeah.

Bear everything, you
know, bear everything.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We do roasts and, you know, all
the cool cuts like tongue and Yeah.

And, uh, heart and all that fun stuff.

So,

So you say you're looking
for a super fresh.

What are you looking for?

Um, like really crisp edge, edge tracks.

Um, Fresh, uh, graze where
you have no discoloration.

Even lots of the times when they're
grazing on like a heavy grass,

there'll still be water actually
wicking up the grass and just

beating outta the end of the grass.

Right.

And if it's been hours,
that won't be there.

Right.

You know?

So it's like, okay, that's really fresh.

And then there's like, yeah, scat
that's super fresh, you know,

like glossy and bugs are all on it
still, and you know, all that stuff.

So that's probably like the.

First signs I'm looking for.

There's other stuff like really fresh
trails where the grass hasn't sprung back.

But that's always like, you
know, it's hard to say if that's

yesterday or the day before.

Yeah.

Have you ever tried Googling,
uh, how to age bear scat?

No.

I've always just kind of like gone
by instinct, I think, you know,

Cause we have a ton of bears.

There's.

Yeah, I bet . Yeah, I
bet there is nothing.

There really

isn't.

Maybe somebody better at Googling
than myself can find stuff.

But there isn't a heck of a lot of good
information on, on aging bear scat.

Like, is this an hour old?

Is this four hours old?

Is this a day old?

Yeah, but what am I looking at here?

Yeah, so I think for me it's
looking at like, yeah, it depends

on what they're eating, I guess.

But yeah, in the spring
it's all green, right?

Um, so if it's not discolored, if
it's literally still looks green,

then it's probably fairly fresh.

If it's really glossy and hasn't
dried out, that's an easy one.

I always step on every single one.

I see.

When I'm bear hunting.

You're one of those guys?

A hundred percent, yeah.

First of all, I, That way, you
know, that way I know if I,

I'm coming out of the trail.

Yeah, and there's a new one.

If it doesn't have boot print in
it, it happened while I was gone.

Yeah.

You know, there's that.

Um, plus yeah.

You see how soft it is when
you, when you step on it.

Right.

If it's, if it's at all firm, it's old.

Right.

You know, if it's really soft and
oozes out the sides, it's fresh

and if water comes out of it, yes.

It's really, really fresh, you know?

And so, yeah, that's kind of how
I've always learned to do it.

And just being around
bears, like if you're.

seeing bears all the time or hunting
bears a lot, you'll kind of just

start figuring out, you know, okay,
this is fresh and this is old.

Right?

And it's hard to describe it, but
that's kind of how I work through it.

As soon as

Spring Bear hunt, I'm close to the
lower mainland and was with another

fellow and came up upon a pile.

It was bright yellow.

It looked like banana, looked like it
just squished up banana inside there.

Yeah, yeah.

Cuz all the dandy lines had been
eaten and, And he said, Holy crow.

How fresh is this thing?

Mm-hmm.

, I'm looking at this like, I actually
haven't seen it, that bright

banana colored looking before.

Oh yeah.

But that's

fresh, right?

Yeah.

That.

anyways.

Uh, and then we looked to
her side and there's a bear.

Yeah, yeah.

Um, come back an hour later.

It already started to turn brown.

That's right.

Yeah.

It doesn't, doesn't take
long for the color to fade.

Mm-hmm.

. So, Yeah.

Especially when they're
on those greens or Yeah.

Daniel lines and there's
flowers out and Yeah.

It just oxidizes and then it's done.

You know, it changes.

So, Yeah.

So, With the artwork here, you're uh, I
was looking at some, uh, great pictures

of Steve McQueen that, uh, Fisher.

Yeah.

Brian, Brian Iska, the
Skin of Spade Lodge.

We've been doing some
fishing there with him.

Yeah.

And, uh, his son's drawing some
pictures of Steve McQueen and

I guess, uh, he said that you

taught him how to do that.

Yeah, so, uh, yeah, Fisher's their
son and he comes here for lessons.

He's super interested in.

And he, yeah, he just is
really excited about it.

So they actually pull him outta
school every once in a while and

he comes here once a week at least.

And yeah, we, we just kind of try
to work with what he's doing and

try to teach him new things and
how to see shape, um, young kids.

The biggest thing about teaching art
is like just teaching them how to

see stuff, you know, Cuz if they.

Anybody.

When I'm at, I teach lessons
at different age levels.

I did a artist in the classroom
program and I teach adult courses, but.

It's teaching people how to
see, to make it easier to draw.

Cause if they can't see simple shapes,
they just get overwhelmed by stuff.

Mm.

So yeah, it's when, when I'm
teaching, it's about like, yeah,

seeing simple shapes and being able
to convert that into something else.

So when I'm drawing or painting
something, I don't try to just like

imagine the whole thing happening.

Little piece by little piece, simple
shapes and then build from there.

So to teach kids that is like, how
to see those simple shapes and how

to turn them into something else.

That's, that's the basis

of it.

Yeah.

Where'd you learn how to do that?

Practice.

Yeah.

Just self-taught.

Yeah.

So when I was a kid, I just drew all the
time, you know, so if I wasn't outside

doing something, um, you know, fishing
or hunting a little bit or, you know,

we did a lot of mushroom picking and
blueberry picking and all that kind of

stuff growing up, gardening and all that.

So when I wasn't doing
that kind of stuff, it was.

I drew and I drew all the time
and I re, I still remember like

coming home from school drawing,
you know, like all summer long.

If it wasn't nice outside, I was
drawing all day, you know, And I still

have tubs of like stacks and stacks
of all of paper kept, not all of it.

It was like endless, endless.

But like I got sketchbooks and stuff
from when I was, you know, 6, 7, 8, 9,

10 growing up and stuff and holy crap.

Yeah.

And it kind of faded in and out.

Teenage years, you're kind of figuring
out what you're actually interested in.

But yeah, it always came back.

Well, what kind of, uh, turned me on
to you initially was actually Brian.

Mm-hmm.

. So he was on a previous podcast
and he was talking about SP fishing

and, and what it's all about.

And I was, uh, I'm still
pretty green at it.

That, uh, was extremely green at
that time, but I've been able.

Over the last few years, at least kind
of figure out a few of my different

casts and get the line out there.

And Right.

Actually caught my first steel
head this, uh, this summer.

Oh, nice.

Yeah.

Excellent.

Caught my first steel head on the
Squamish and then caught another one

and then, uh, caught into another one.

The, uh, all on the same day.

Yeah.

Excellent.

Yeah.

Cool.

Not too bad, but, uh, we're driving
to the airport and Brian says, You

know, Travis, you really should talk.

To this Casey guy.

Huh?

He says he's got a uh,
he's got an eye for things.

He's able to go out into nature and be
able to see things in a way that other.

Don't, and he's able to put that
into, uh, into art in a way that

he hasn't seen anybody else do.

And he was just going on
and on talking about that.

And what really intrigued me was
that whole concept of being able

to go out into nature and be able
to see things in a different way.

Mm-hmm.

. And you know, some people walk
outside and they'll see a tree.

Some people see a forest, some, some
people see a part of it, but everyone

looks at it a little bit differently.

And it's that, uh, that connection
with nature and being able to

increase that connection that I
thought would be a really interesting

thing from an artist's perspective.

Totally.

I think one of the things that I talk
about in art and wildlife and whatever is.

Like I was just talking about being
able to see things, how they are.

Mm-hmm.

You know, and not letting
your brain be lazy.

So when I teach art, I, I constantly
kind of have to hound people for not

just filling in the gaps, looking
at something and actually seeing it.

Okay.

Um, and cause you know, you use the
example of a tree, you know, you walk.

And you see a tree and your brain just
says tree, Tree and is done right.

And then it moves on to the next thing.

Your brain's good at that and
brains are super good at that.

Yeah.

And we wouldn't be able to function
if we didn't have that, but Right.

To be able to turn it into art, you
need to be able to stop and actually

see it for what it actually is and the
pieces and the real colors that it is.

And you know, like I look at this moose
painting behind us, it's probably not in

the camera, but it's all the whole thing.

There's not a touch of green it.

Three colors, you know, it's
black, orange, and white.

That's it.

Wow.

But somehow my IC is green.

You look at it and you see the green
and you see everything because your

brain's just filling in the gaps, right?

So to be able to just look at
it and say, You know, those are

trees and your brain's done.

But really if you truly look at it, it's
just all oranges and these awesome colors.

But, Yeah, these kind of surreal
colors actually, but your brain

just sorts of fills it in.

So to be able to go out in nature and
see that, it's interesting and it's cool,

fun to teach and show people that, um,
it gives them a respect for what they're

seeing, but also just an eye to see it.

So you're one of these rare
people who have become an artist

as a full time profession.

This is what you

do full time is Yeah.

I mean, sort of full
time, I mean, It's my job.

Okay.

Like if I have to have a job
that pays me money, this is it.

Right?

But I do a lot of other
things to like you.

Be my work, you know?

Okay.

So whether it's food acquisition
in different ways, um, you know,

gardening or um, hunting or fishing or
picking mushrooms or whatever it is,

like that's a big part of what I do.

Right.

Um, and you know, this house we
bought, I do a ton of work on this

house, so that's a part of my job.

I do a lot of the dad duties.

Sure.

So, you know, that's a big part of my job.

But yeah.

This is my, my paying.

Yeah, if you wanna put it that

way, how you make your livelihood.

That's right.

I like that.

It's a good way to be able to describe it.

So many people, what do you do?

Yeah.

And they describe their job.

That's

right.

Right.

Well, yeah.

Okay.

That's maybe one portion of things that
you do for money, but what are you about?

Yeah, and I think for me, the food stuff,
like getting food by other means is so

important and it's a part of how I make a.

you know?

Right.

It's not how I make my money,
but it's how I make my living.

Right.

You know, And so that's
really important to me.

Um, and it's kind of something
that I always grew up with.

We always had a big garden and
we always fished a lot, you know,

And so that was always really, I.

When I was a kid, it
was kinda like annoying.

So it was always a lot of work.

You know, it's like we gotta
go weed the garden or you

know, all this kind of stuff.

But as you get older, you kind
of really appreciate that work.

There's

a zen quality to it.

There is, and there's
something so natural about it.

And the food's better in the, you know,
and there's some, that connection to food

just changes your outlook in on the world.

I think it's like, okay, well this
stuff's important because that's

where my food comes from, you know?

But that disconnect that so many
people have, like, you know,

Here's my food and it's just there.

Right.

And I'm not saying we don't buy
food, we buy lots of food, but it's

just different when a lot of your
food is coming from something you've

done with your hands, you know?

You know,

with our kids, we've done the same thing.

We try and teach 'em an appreciation for
the natural environment, appreciation

for what it is that they're eating
and consuming, whether they're

wearing it or whatever it might be.

Right.

But like where it comes from.

Mm-hmm.

, because then you tend to.

Not wasted as much.

Yeah.

Particularly as a child.

Mm-hmm.

, you enjoy it more if you've been
in the garden, creating it and

helping it grow and, and Yeah.

Yeah.

When they were, um, quite young
actually, we took 'em to, uh, a, uh, a

friend of a friend and they had a farm.

We'd usually get a lot of our,
uh, our meat from their farm.

Okay.

Yeah.

And, uh, it was all, cuz we
knew what happened with the

meat and where it spanned.

Right, right, right, right.

And, uh, Anyways, he took him up there
for, um, a brookshire pig and figured

we'd slaughter it and butcher it up
and have them a part of that process.

Mm-hmm.

, I took 'em around the corner for, for
the slaughter, but, um, I figured, eh,

maybe a little young, they don't need
to be seeing this, but for the rest of

it and, you know, hanging it and getting
it out and butchering it up and Yeah.

You know, just dragging it through
the snow into the, uh, , the

big, uh, trail at leaves.

This is all a part of it.

This was a pig.

It was alive before and now it's dead.

Yeah.

Now we're gonna eat it.

Yeah.

And.

Uh, it gives a far greater appreciation
and now that they're getting older and

they hunt and they fish and, um, I mean
our son, when he turned 10, all he wanted

to do was get his hunting license and,
um, when he was 11, he got his first year.

Mm-hmm.

and every meal we had, we talk about
that hunt and we talk about, and it is

just a very different connection to.

To your food and, and
to the rest of your life

actually.

Mm-hmm.

? Yeah, I think so.

And one thing that's really
interesting to me is.

, the whole death thing is really
interesting to watch kids go through

it, you know, whether it's, you know, we
raised chickens here a little bit and you

know, I grew up raising chickens and we
go to my parents who live here and go, you

know, help put your chickens and whatever.

All that kind of stuff.

And, and for kids that stuff is so normal
until they're told it's not, you know?

Right.

I think so.

Like, My daughter's six, she'll
wanna stay home from school to

help me butcher a bear, you know?

Mm-hmm.

. Cause that's like exciting and cool
and she thinks it's really fun.

Right.

You know, and it's something you can
do with dad and whatever, but she's

just into it and thinks it's super
interesting and, and like you said,

when when the food's on the table you
can be like, What bear is this from?

Or, you know, like that kind of thing.

And that's really cool.

And you can see that whole story.

She's come along on hunts and stuff
before too, and been there for the whole.

You know?

Yeah.

Like she watched the bear die.

She, you know, was there to drag it out.

I remember the first time she was
on a bear hunt that was successful.

It was like, you know, she was
small and it was raining and it

was all dead bracken in the spring.

So it was super slippery
and it was steep hill.

And so I'm dragging a bear in one
hand and holding her in the other

hand and dragging it down the hill.

And for me that's like such
a cool memory, you know?

She was just like, a lot of work.

It's still a lot of work,
but you know, she, she.

Kind of saw all the work that goes into
this food and how it all comes, you

know, how, how it gets to the table.

And I thought that that was so cool.

Yeah.

There seems to

be a, a disconnect between
life and death from mm-hmm.

as time goes on and people just buy
their food from the grocery store.

Mm-hmm.

, uh, when they co-op the
responsibility of the actual

killing of the animal to somebody.

, but they still want to consume mm-hmm.

the animal.

Yeah.

And you know, I, I've read some
literature on it and I don't know

how much of it's biased and how,
but they, they talk about how death

becomes a very closed door process.

Mm-hmm.

, uh, it used to be open caskets
were, were, uh, quite common.

Some cultures will have the, the
body on a bed for X amount of days.

Mm-hmm.

and people will come by and
view it and, and there's an

understanding that we're alive.

, we die that time in between.

We try and make the most of it.

Mm-hmm.

, um, when we started closing those
doors and that whole death process

becomes such a taboo thing.

Um, people are postulating that the
value of life is diminished and people,

people's value of other people's lives
and other animals' lives is, becomes

less because they don't, um, uh, They
don't have that understanding in the same

way that somebody growing up in a farm

might.

That's right.

And I think, you know, I
have other friends that have

also gotten into hunting.

Um, from even more of like a non-hunting
background and having the background

that I did, you know, where we,
we, we butcher, I, I raised meat

rabbits growing up as a kid and we
raised chickens and all that kind of

stuff and, and being there for that.

I wasn't complacent to death,
but I just understood that

it was part of the process.

Mm-hmm.

, you know, and other people were
coming in from a background that

didn't even have that aspect of it.

And they came into hunting and
the whole death thing was new

and a little bit uncomfortable.

The only other death experiences
they'd had was like people,

family members or pets, you know?

Right.

Which is different because it's
You have a family connection.

Connection, exactly.

So it's.

Well this is, this is different.

Mm.

You know, this is very
different from that.

There's kind of a means to an end, right?

Mm-hmm.

, And I don't, I don't wanna say that
that death of animals don't, doesn't

impact me, cuz it definitely does.

And as a hundred impacts
me more now than it did.

Um, . But yeah, there's
just a certain understanding

there where it feels natural.

Right.

What do you mean by that as a hundred now?

It impacts you more than it did.

Well, I

think maybe it's just getting older
too, and kind of understanding the, the

finite life that we live here, you know?

Mm-hmm.

, this, this kind of like flesh and body
form of us is not forever, you know?

Right.

And so for me it's kind of
like, yeah, like there's this.

Respect for the animal's life that I've
gathered as I spend more time with them.

Mm.

You know, like on a spring bear hunt,
I'll see a lot of bears, you know, and

I'll spend a lot of time watching them
or just looking at them doing their

thing or, you know, that sort of stuff.

So it's kind of like you, you grow
this bigger and bigger connection.

And as, as I've killed more
bears too, you kind of see each

bear and how individual it is.

They are, you know, extremely.

Each bear has, I mean, I look
at the skulls around this.

, you know, this one behind me, um, is
missing half of its bottom jaw because

it was in some scrap along the way, you
know, and you know, this one over here

has a broken orbital bone and different
ones had tons of scars on their face or an

ear missing, or you know, a toe missing.

There's just stuff happens.

Mm-hmm.

. And so they're all like,
they've lived their lives.

And the more I think about
that stuff, it's like, okay,

well maybe I have a bit more.

Emotional connection
to the life and death.

Interesting.

Yeah.

he had a, um, a friend one time, he
was talking about how death is the

only thing that gives life value.

Mm-hmm.

I said, How?

What do you mean?

Yeah, death's the only
thing that gives life value.

Right.

And he, well, think of
about it like money.

Right?

Right.

If there's a finite amount of
money, that money now has value.

Yeah.

If there's infinite amount of
money, it would be worthless, right?

That's right.

Yeah.

Ah, yeah.

Good point.

Yeah.

And it kind of gives you a
motivation to think about this life

and what it means and, and yeah.

Time spent here, you know?

Totally.

Yeah.

So you.

You know, I, I, I seem to recall you
having some artwork in the airport.

Yep.

Yeah.

Um, you're working on
a mural right now, Are

you?

Uh, I'm not, I'm not working
on a mural right now.

I'm planning a mural, um, always,
I guess, planning a mural.

Right.

Um, so working towards, you
know, what happens next summer.

I don't have any big outdoor
murals booked for next summer.

Um, So I kind of don't know exactly
what's happening there, but you know,

there's, there's balls in the air, but
nothing kind of nailed down for next year.

Um, but yeah, I am working on another
indoor mural coming up and yeah, murals

are a fun and interesting project.

But

yeah, so, uh, a while back, it's
going back a while now, actually a

year maybe more, you created some,
uh, custom artwork for, uh, for a

Silvercore for a project that we've
been working on for the last few years

now, which is getting close to fruition.

Oh.

We'll be launching that hopefully
soon, so people will be seeing your

artwork in conjunction with some
of the, uh, uh, the endeavor that

we're doing for our club members.

Mm-hmm.

. And, uh, it's finally at a point
where I can start talking a

little bit openly about this.

Oh, good.

And realizing that it's, uh, we're
just about there to, to unveil,

so that'll be a lot of fun.

Uh, but if people wanted to check
out your artwork or purchase your.

How would they do

that?

Um, well, currently I have a
under construction website, so

we'll just kind of forget that.

That's, forget that, that's a thing.

Um, but Instagram and Facebook
right now are kind of, My biggest

means of connection with people.

Um, it's just kind of a natural
place to show your work and for

people to engage with it a little
bit and that sort of thing.

So yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, so if they wanted to purchase
something there, it's gotta wait

for the website to come back

live.

Yeah.

Or send me a message, you know, there
is kind of stuff posted for sale on

Instagram and that sort of thing,
so there's work available there.

I do take commissions.

I'm open for commissions right now.

I kind of turn that on and.

Um, but yeah, so that's kind
of the main means right now.

Awesome.

Yeah.

Is there anything that we
should be talking about?

I know we kind of, we talked
briefly about UA there.

You guys were obviously successful.

You guys both

limited out.

Well, we didn't limit out.

We took 70 year home.

So you, we, uh, yeah, I got
four and my dad had got three.

Um, But yeah.

Successful trip and, you know, good
memories made and all that kind of

stuff and meet in the freezer and, Okay.

Yeah.

So you're, you know, I've talked
to some people and they said, Ah,

man, there's so many deer there.

It just makes more sense.

There's a guy on the island for
50 bucks, he'll dress 'em all out.

Take care of your tear all for you.

Oh, yeah.

Um, that way you're back if you're
on a limited timeframe here.

Yeah.

And you're back out hunting again.

Yeah.

But I take it you guys

took care of it all yourself.

Yeah, we, I do everything, you know.

From the field to the table.

Yeah.

Um, all my butchering, wrapping,
everything happens here.

So yeah, I just like being,
I like the whole process.

I agree.

You know, when I'm out with my
dad and my brother hunting or

someone else, I'm usually the guy
doing the most of the cutting.

Because I just really enjoy it.

I think it's really interesting.

And oddly from an artist's perspective,
it's also very educational.

Um, Oh, it's interesting.

Like DaVinci.

Yeah.

So you're kind of like seeing the
way all the muscles connect and

you know, the way, you know, things
move around and Yeah, exactly.

So it's kind of like you're breaking this
thing apart and I, I am definitely taking

mental notes of like, Hey, you know, maybe
I've been drawing that wrong, You know,

now that I peel the skin off, this does
move different than I've been drawing it.

Stuff like that.

So I don't think about that all the time,
but definitely I'll just kinda like happen

upon something and be like, Oh yeah,
you know, like, that's kind of cool.

But yeah, you see DaVinci's, uh, diagrams
that is of like, just like insane.

Yeah, that was, that was pretty.

Standard protocol.

I mean, that's how you used to
learn how to draw people, you know?

Oh, was, did they?

Yeah.

You'd get cadavers and you, there would
be whole teams of artists that would

gather around in Renaissance Times too.

And like there's painting, Rembrandt
has paintings of it happening.

You know, you'd paint the whole crew.

There would be a big group of
artists and a couple doctors, and

they'd, you know, take someone.

Good Dutch artist.

Yeah, that's right.

Another good Dutch artist.

Yeah.

And so you kind of see that, you know,
that's, that's a way of understanding

your subject matter, but very cool.

Yeah.

Well,

is there anything else you should
be talking about before we look

at wrapping things up here?

Yeah, I don't know.

I don't think there's anything
really in particular, um, Yeah, no.

Awesome.

Well, uh, when your website's back
up, we'll make sure we'll have links

over to that so people can see it.

We will have links to your social
media, so they sounds great.

They can follow everything along there.

They can reach out to you.

Yep.

And, uh, they're gonna see some
of your work on the Silvercore

site in not too distant future

as well.

Excellent.

Yeah, that was a fun project.

Um, kind of a unique challenge
of like, Hey, take on these

things and Yeah, no really.

Yeah.

Awesome.

Yeah.

Casey, thank you very much
for being on the Silvercore

Podcast.

Oh, it's been really good.

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