Red Letters & Whitetails Podcast

Welcome to the Red Letters & Whitetails Podcast! One episode 12, host Steven Crawford jumps into 1 Peter 2:23-25. These verses tie together great with "Good Friday"; the day that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. Christians love to talk about the resurrection, and rightly so, as it is the greatest ending of the greatest true story every told. However, we don't talk enough about Good Friday and everything Jesus endured for us that day as he was mocked, betrayed, beaten, and ultimately crucified. Steven does a deep dive into Good Friday and why such an awful day just under 2,000 years ago is now deemed as "Good."After that, Steven is joined by Matt Lehr, the podcast host of the "Mobile Hunters Dojo" and avid whitetail hunter. They discuss the trap a lot of passionate hunters fall into, which is an identity crisis, when we tend to tie or identity and value to our success in the whitetail woods. Matt also shares his story on tagging a 200+ public land buck this past fall in Illinois; a true monarch of a whitetail!This is an episode you don't want to miss!! SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY! LIVE FOR JESUS Y'ALL!

Welcome to the Red Letters & Whitetails Podcast! On episode 11, host Steven Crawford jumps into the Gospel of Mark, where he does a deep dive into Mark 8:34-38. This is a well known verse where Jesus declares, "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever wants loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." As true, bold Christians we must deny ourselves and our own selfish desires each day, and take up our cross and follow Jesus. It's easy to get caught up spending all of our energy seeking pleasure and our own selfish and worldly desires, but remember whatever we gain or achieve on the earth is only temporary. We have to be willing to make our pursuit of God more important than the pursuit of pleasure and worldly success. Live for Jesus now, and you will know what it truly means to live life to the fullest and have peace that you will have eternal life with Christ. After a discussion around the Letters in Red, Steven is joined by Matt Campbell; an avid deer hunter from Mid-Michigan to discuss the issues around Michigan's doe management problem, and herd management in general. Back in September, an article written by Chad Stewart was widely circulated in Michigan that called for Michigan hunters to harvest more anterless deer this upcoming season. Matt and Steven dive into this article and the harvest report numbers from years past and discuss ways we could potentially change the narrative and shift the culture a tad here in Michigan. This conversation was a lot of fun and you don't want to miss it! SUBSCRIBE, LISTEN, AND ENJOY! LIVE FOR JESUS Y'ALL!

Welcome to the Red Letters & Whitetails podcast! On episode 10, host Steven Crawford does a deep dive on John 14:15-17, and what it means to "practice the presence of the lord." Sometimes when we are going through difficult times in life, we feel far away and disconnected from God, but he is ALWAYS with us. Practicing being in his presence (because we always are), can help us get through difficult times and situations.After the Red Letters portion of the podcast, Steven talks about his 2023 deer season and recaps whether he hit his goals for the season. It was a challenging season, but one of his best yet for many reasons! SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY!!

Welcome to the Red Letters & Whitetails podcast! On episode 9, host Steven Crawford jumps into the Gospel according to Matthew, where he does a deep dive into Matthew 18:21-35 "Jesus tells the Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor." In these verses, Jesus tells the story of the Master who forgave his servant his debt, but afterward the servant didn't forgive another servant the debt owed to him. What Jesus is trying to teach is the power of forgiveness and the consequences of living in unforgiveness. If you live your life for Jesus, you NEED to forgive people of their wrongdoings. How can we expect our father to forgive our sins if we cannot forgive others while here on earth?After a discussion around the Letters in Red, Steven is joined by his good friends Jack Shull, Blake Ledger, Sam Hogan, and Calvin Beeke for a Pre-Rut Michigan Round Table! All the guys have great stories from this year as Sam, Calvin, and Jack have all already filled tags on GREAT Bucks. They tell their stories from this year, go into a discussion of late October vs Early November, mock scrapes, hunting the rut, what their plans are the rest of bow season, and much more!! SUBSCRIBE, LISTEN, AND ENJOY!

Welcome to the Red Letters & Whitetails podcast! On episode 8, host Steven Crawford shares the big news and his life!! Kaely and Steven were baptized on October 1st, and after Steven shares his experience he dives in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." When Kaely and Steven were baptized, they became new creations in Christ; their old selves have passed away, and they are now reborn in the image of Christ! After diving into that verse, Steven turns his attention to the whitetail woods now that it's October!! He discusses the cold front coming in the first full weekend of October; deer are going to be on their feet with temperatures dropping 25+ degrees and drastic wind direction changes! With the huge temperature drop, this would be the weekend to squeeze in a morning hunt to see if you catch that buck heading back to his bedroom a little bit later than usual. Also, be focused on corn and acorns!! Deer will be on the feed this weekend after this crazy warm front.SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY! LIVE FOR JESUS Y'ALL!

Welcome to the Red Letters & Whitetails podcast! On episode 7, host Steven Crawford is back for part 2 of a 3-part series talking about how to balance family, work and the outdoors with Nate Griswold- a friend an avid Michigan public land hunter.Before the discussion with Nate, Steven shares some big personal news, then jumps into the gospel of Matthew, where he does a deep dive into Matthew 18:15. This verse goes like this, "If your brother or sister in God's family does something wrong, go and tell them what they did wrong. Do this when you are alone with them. If they listen to yo, then you have helped them to be your brother or sister again." This all ties back to be a Loving person in God; by not avoiding what needs to be said, you are showing love. When you are avoiding what needs to be said, you are showing the opposite of love. If someone you love is doing something wrong, do you really love them if you aren't calling them out on it?After a discussion around the Letters in Red, Steven and Nate discuss balancing family, work, and the outdoors. Something we can all strive to be better at! Nate is married with a 7 year old son and 10 year old son, so his hands have been tied for quite a few hunting seasons now, and he has learned how to prioritize what is important during whitetail season and still finding time to spend in the great outdoors chasing whitetails. This was a great conversation that would be great for any father, or expecting father to listen to!SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY!!

Welcome to the Red Letters & Whitetails podcast! On episode 6,  host Steven Crawford kicks off part 1 of a 3-part series talking about how to balance family, work, and the outdoors with co-owner of Latitude Outdoors Kevin Leach. Before the discussion with Kevin, Steven jumps into the gospel of Matthew, where he does a deep dive into Matthew 6:14-15. These verses talk about being forgiving to others who have wronged you, in order to be right with God.  In these verses, Jesus declares "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Powerful words to live by. If we are continuously asking God for forgiveness of our sins, are we also continuously forgiving others who have wronged us? After a discussion around the Letters in Red, Steven and Kevin discuss balancing family, work and the outdoors. Something we can all strive to be better at! Kevin has a 20 month year old daughter at home, so last year was his first full hunting season trying to balance having a child, along with maintaining a quality marriage, and still finding time to enjoy the whitetail pursuit in the fall. This was a great conversation that would be great for any father, or expecting father, to listen to; Kevin also talks briefly talks about what's new at latitude outdoors and what we can expect from them this fall as hunting season approaches! SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY!!Latitude Outdoors website: https://www.latitudeoutdoors.comLatitude YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/@latitudeoutdoors

Welcome to the Red Letters & Whitetail podcast! On episode 5, host Steven Crawford jumps into the Gospel according to John, where he does a deep dive into John 8:7. This is well known verse where Jesus declares "He who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." We are all guilty of judging others in one way or another, and Jesus declares multiple times in the gospel that we must refrain from doing this. We are eager to call out other peoples sin, but we usually do it before we look in the mirror and deal with our own sin.After a discussion around the Letters in Red, Steven is joined by Carl Ream of Foxtrot Hunting to talk all things Self Filming, including a couple of their favorite self filming stories. They also discuss planning, prepping, and scouting for out of state hunts and Carl's favorite time to do some preseason scouting! A lot of great info here- and make sure to head to Foxtrots Youtube page and follow them on IG for some great whitetail content! LISTEN AND ENJOY!! Foxtrot hunting IG: https://www.instagram.com/foxtrothunting/?hl=enFoxtrot YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@FoxtrotHunting

Welcome to the Red Letters & Whitetails podcast! On episode 4, host Steven Crawford jumps into the Gospel according to Matthew, where does a deep dive into Matthew 10:34-39. It is in these verses where Jesus declares that he did not come to bring peace, but rather division. Jesus was so bold in his faith that he knew that his teachings and sermons would bring division and cause an uproar during his time. As Gods children, our faith is constantly being tested, and we can either turn away from God, or be bold in our faith even knowing that our boldness will likely cause division within our own families, friend groups, and other relationships in our life.After a deep dive into those verses and how we can apply them to our life, Steven discusses the importance of summer glassing and how it can help you pattern your target buck(s) for this upcoming fall. By taking multiple nights to glass, you can not only pattern bucks to figure out where they are bedding, but also figure out where the doe bedding is located using your binoculars and maps. We all know come November, doe bedding = bucks. Summer glassing can be absolutely vital for fall success. LISTEN AND LEARN MORE!SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY!

On episode 3, host Steven Crawford is joined by good friend and fellow Christian David Droge. We jump to the Old Testament in this episode- The first half of the podcast they go into a deep discussion that revolves around Proverbs 13:20, "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm." We can probably all look back at our lives at some point and remember a time when we were hanging around the wrong group of people that eventually affected our lives in a negative way. David and I discuss how to constantly be paying attention to the people you are spending a lot of time with, and if they have you turning toward God, or running away from him.The second half of the podcast David tells the story behind his Michigan buck kill last year in early November. After his story, we discuss summer preparations that we are doing to get ready for the upcoming whitetail season including food plot prep, trail cam preparations, and a little discussion around mock scrapes!LIVE FOR JESUS Y'ALL! SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY!!

Welcome to the Red Letters & Whitetails podcast! On episode 2, host Steven Crawford jumps into the New Testament and the Epistle of James to go over two of his favorite verses of the Bible- James 1: 2-3, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." We all go through trials every single day, and we can face them head on by leaning into God, or we can try to solve them ourselves and run away from God. After a deep dive into those verses and how we can apply them to our life, Steven goes into the story of his 2022 whitetail season, which was the most challenging of his life. Listen and hear why! SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY! 

Welcome to the Red Letters & Whitetails podcast! On episode 1, host Steven Crawford is joined by good friend and fellow Christian Tommy Enslen. The first half of the podcast they go into a deep discussion that revolves around Matthew 6:27, "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"  We are all guilty of worrying too much on a daily basis, and verses like these help you take a step back and appreciate what is truly important in life.The second half of the podcast Tommy and Steven share their Michigan turkey success stories. They discuss different strategies they've used in the past as we get deeper and deeper into turkey season and the birds become harder to kill. SUBSCRIBE, LISTEN, AND ENJOY!! LIVE FOR JESUS Y'ALL! 

On episode 73, host Steven Crawford announces the new name and new direction of the podcast. I don't want to give away the announcement in the show notes, so hit that play button!I will say this....I'M EXTREMELY EXCITED FOR THE FUTURE OF THE PODCAST! GOD IS SO GOOD! 

On episode 72, host Steven Crawford is joined by Vince Battiata of Chasing Public to discuss the challenges and successes of his first season back in Michigan after living and hunting in Tennessee for over a decade. Vince and his fiancé Audrey are hardcore public land hunters that get after it year around, and it was very interesting to hear his take on Michigan public land hunting and how it differs from what he was used to in Tennessee.Topics also discuss were regulation changes we'd like to see in Michigan, finding big bucks on very pressured land, how in-tune Michigan deer are to their surroundings, and MUCH MORE!ENJOY AND SUBSCRIBE!!

On episode 71, host Steven Crawford is once again joined by fellow Michigan hunter Mitchel Patterson as Mitchel shares his story of connecting with a stud Michigan buck during the late season in Mid-December. Mitchel and his brother Duncan put in a lot of hours last year knocking on doors for permission, and were finally able to secure permission on a small piece in southwest Michigan that ended up being a gold mine. After Mitchel's story, Steven finishes with a bible verse from Revelations 21:5 " And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY!

On episode 70, host Steven Crawford is once again joined by his dad as they recap their epic elk hunt adventure in Montana last month.  We recap the hunt by breaking it down day by day starting with day 1 that had 50 mph wind gusts and 12-14 inches of snow dumped, and finishing with the best hunt of my dads life on day 6 of the hunt!I won't spoil the story, you'll have to listen for yourself! SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY!!

On episode 69, host Steven Crawford is joined by his dad from their motel in MONTANA the day before their big elk hunt. We briefly discuss how deer season back in Michigan is going, but then we transition to talking about the elk hunt we are about to embark upon. This is a hunt of a lifetime for both of us and something we've dreamed about doing together for years. We discuss goals, what we are looking forward to most, and the challenges that await us!! I wrap up with a Bible verse from Romans 15:5 "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had."SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY!!

On episode 68, host Steven Crawford is joined by friend and fellow Michigan hunter Sam Hogan as Sam shares his story of connecting with an absolute giant 150 inch Michigan Buck he killed just a few short days ago! No, this buck wasn't killed on a well managed farm. Small permission piece with high pressure around it, or what I like to call "The Michigan Way!" This is a story that you don't want to miss! After Sam's story, Steven finishes with a bible verse from John 5:24 "Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life." SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY!!!

On episode 67, host Steven Crawford has multiple guests on for a round table of sorts with a few Michigan whitetail hunters to get the blood boiling as October 1st is THIS WEEKEND!! The guests include former podcast guests such as Jack Shull, Trevor TenHarmsel, Blake Ledger, and Vince Battiata. All the names mentioned above I'd put in the "stone cold whitetail killer" category. Each guest talks about their plans, hopes, and goals for the 2022 season, how they are approaching opening weekend, and two fo the guests already have killed mule deer out west and shared their awesome stories!Finishing with a bible verse from Colossians 3:2- "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY!!!Checkout fourth arrow products at https://www.fourtharrowcameraarms.comBecome a member of The Vitals live at https://www.thevitalslive.com/IG Handles for each guestVince - @chasingpublicBlake- @blakeledgerJack- @jack_shullTrevor- @trevortenharmsel

On episode 66, host Steven Crawford discusses his hunting season schedule, his new outlook on the upcoming season, and his 2022 goals.  Topics discussed include: -Schedule including Wisconsin in September, Michigan, Michigan Deer Camp, a NOVEMBER MONTANA ELK HUNT, and late season Ohio-Goals for the year; public land, private land, out of state hunt goals, and mindset goals-Having a more simplistic approach; hunt for yourself and nobody else-Finishing with a bible verse from Joshua 1:9SUBSCRIBE AND ENJOY!!!