The N1 Outdoors Story

What is N1?

Cody Queen:…N1 Outdoors folks, Josh Wells. Josh Wells, how are you doing?

Josh Wells: Doing great, guys. Thanks for having me today.

Dave Morrissey: Absolutely. Why don’t you give us an idea of N1 is all about and how you got involved.

Josh Wells: Well, N1 Outdoors is a family-run, very close-knit company. We got started with just a few guys, family guys. We’ve all got kids we like to take hunting and teaching general things about life in the outdoors. We enjoy hunting together and we said, hey, if we’re going to do this, why don’t we try to make a little money out of it and start a business.

That’s how it got started, and we thought N1 was a great brand that we could use to incorporate hunting, fishing and outdoors all N1. That’s how we came up with the name. It took us several years to flesh out ideas about slogans, logos and things like that to get the brand off the ground. And now, we’re in the stages of just trying to get out to the masses so we are a recognized brand in the outdoors industry.

That’s kind of how we got started. Just family guys hunting together, fishing together, camping together, things like that.

Dave Morrissey: Absolutely. What is it that you guys do well? What is it that you offer hunters and fishers that maybe someone else doesn’t?

Josh Wells: Well, I think more than anything else, we’re just ordinary guys. So, whatever your ordinary guy that does not own massive amounts of land or the beneficiary of a huge trust or something like that, we’re that guy.

So, we hunt public land, we have small properties that we have to go get permission to hunt, we’ve got to find places to take our kids to introduce them to the outdoors.

So, overall, I think we’re very relatable to a majority of hunters, fishers, conservationists out there. And, we can give some insight into what they’re dealing with and offer a platform to engage in those things. That’s what I think we have mostly in common with everybody.

Dave Morrissey: You make a good point. I think part of with the outdoors is it’s becoming more and more private as lands keep getting segmented off and people are not having that access to it and it becomes harder and more expensive for people to just get outside and enjoy some of the pursuits that people like to do.

There’s hunting, fishing, whether it’d be hiking, biking or canoeing. I mean, there are a lot of commonalities there where these properties, these areas are just not as available as they used to be and I think it takes a bit of effort and a bit of ingenuity to still have access to those and be able to enjoy the outdoors.

Josh Wells: Absolutely, and like anything else, guys, having access to places to go enjoy the outdoors takes a little bit of planning just like this radio show takes a little bit of planning ahead of time to make sure it works correctly.

Dave Morrissey: We actually do not plan this radio show.

Cody Queen: Not at all.

Dave Morrissey: You’ve never listened to the show obviously or you wouldn’t think that we planned this.

Josh Wells: Okay, my bad. Maybe not the radio show.

Cody Queen: Actually, Josh, I found your number on a scratch of piece of paper and I just called you. I know the thing you’re saying, like you want to do more… you don’t have a big trust fund, you don’t have a bunch of money, you just go out there having fun and you don’t have the money to, pretty much, waste or if you would want to call it waste, for a bunch of that you want to do.

Mineral licks for deer

Could you tell us about how you make your own mineral lick? I saw that on Twitter. It’s actually because it’s a pinned tweet, making your own mineral lick. Actually, I’ve never thought of doing that before.

Josh Wells: I’ve got to start with just giving you guys the background on me. I started out in college as a biology guy. I was going to be the next best wildlife biologist and one thing led to another and I wound up doing accounting which is completely different.

So, I get into the science of the outdoors and I got a new property hunt this year and I thought, well, let me do something that’ll help the deer herd. So, I actually did a little research and said, what’s the best thing you can do for a deer herd that’s small and has the most impact and what I found was, given them a mineral supplement. Something that equalled to what you could go and get, a multivitamin, or let’s say, a lady that’s expecting a child goes and gets a prenatal vitamin.

The recipe

That is basically what I’m doing for the deer herd with the mineral licks. It’s real easy. You can go to your local farm and feed store and get the same thing that you would feed to some livestock to supplement their mineral intake.

And, it consists of 2 parts of trace minerals, one part of salt, stock salt, mixing salt, it’s just a bag of salt basically, like what you pour in a swimming pool. It’s 1 part dicalcium phosphate, which is a calcium supplement. And, it’s one part of more or less an attractant. It’s dried molasses and that’s what helps to help them smell it right off the bat.

They’ll find it the night after you put that lick out and the timing is important with this too because, again, as I said, the science is important to me.

The benefit of the deer minerals

Right now, the does are pregnant. They are needing a huge calcium boost because they’re starting to produce milk, lactate, in their bodies, they need that extra calcium. They also need calcium for the bone structure of the young fawn that is growing inside of them.

Also, the bucks, they need the same thing. People don’t realize that bucks use 40 percent of the calcium used to build the antlers every year out of their own bone structure.

So, starting off the young with a good healthy bone structure in a deer allows them to produce a larger antler size later on in life. And, just to kind of relate, the deer that we normally think of in the Midwest, they have much bigger antler size relative to our deer. And, we have the same deer here because they were implanted here.

Here in Georgia, whitetail deer are not native. Most people know that. Some people may not. So the genetics of our deer are the same as Wisconsin deer. The genetics haven’t changed over the last 20 or 30 years. The difference is minerals and food.

So, if you can supplement the mineral here that they get naturally out of the ground in Wisconsin, supplement the protein here that they get naturally from the large soy bean, corn, other grain field that they feed, you would expect to grow a deer comparable to what is in the Midwest and that’s the whole thought of it.

Cody Queen: And I love how you’re into wildlife management. I just talked to Grant Woods here, today. I don’t know if you know him. He’s from GrowingDeer.TV. He is a great wildlife biologist, he has a great YouTube channel. He does everything online and he was saying thing with the whole ‘early minerals helps in the long run.’ And, it’s great how you’re doing your own thing and trying to do it as cheap as possible and almost like in a fun way. I feel like I can do this with my son and he would have fun. Almost like a little science project or something.

Josh Wells: Yeah, absolutely. I brought my oldest son along with me to do this and he had a blast doing it and he was asking all kinds of questions. That gives a teaching opportunity to the kids.

Dave Morrissey: I think that a huge part of it too is that these large deer not being just a final product that walks up and is delivered to you on a silver platter. It’s something that you kind of know, yes, this is something that actually takes some work. There are inputs that go into this and there are costs and resources that go into this and being part of that whole process is really cool.

Cody Queen: Alright Josh, I want to thank you for being with us today and we’re going to share N1 Outdoors on our Facebook page. And, we’re going to give out as much information as possible on what you guys are doing. You guys are doing a lot of cool things, you guys are posting all kinds of good stuff. So, I just want to thank you for being on the show.

Josh Wells: Any time, guys. I enjoyed it.

Dave Morrissey: Thanks, Josh.

Cody Queen: That was Josh Wells from N1 Outdoors giving us plenty of information, great information from making mineral salt licks to helping you out with the deer.

How and why we got started

Cody Queen: Welcome back to Coastal Adventures. I’m Cody Queen joined by Dave Morrissey. We’re here talking with the N1 Outdoors crew. Make sure you go to their social media, all platforms from Twitter to Facebook, give them a like, give them a share, give them a re-tweet, give them whatever. They’re doing great, they’re posting great pictures, giving great advice, you might want to check them out.

Right now, we’re talking about the main man, Giles Canter. Giles Canter, how are you doing?

Giles Canter: Doing great, today, guys. How are y’all?

Dave Morrisey: Excellent! Like I said, we just got to talk to Josh and hear a little bit about the company, but what is it that you would say that anyone is doing and what it’s trying to do in the market for a lot of people out there trying to do stuff? What is it that you guys are all about?

Giles Canter: Sure, that’s a great question. When we first had the idea for N1 Outdoors, we really wanted to be different than everything we were seeing out there and what we found that was, maybe, missing in the market is, for us, we all grew up with a little bit different picture of what the outdoors was.

For example, my dad, he took me fishing when I was growing up. We also did some dove hunting. Now, actually, I love to bowhunt and that’s probably my favorite outdoor activity but, the three of us, Josh, Maston and myself, we all have just a different experience. So, what we found was that outdoor experience looks a little different for everyone and so, why try to fit all those experiences into one thing and dictate what that thing is to look like for someone.

So, we began to build around the idea of these moments outdoors and we call them N1 moments. It’s realizing that these moments look a little different for every individual. So, it might be a first fish, a first deer, a first buck for another person, a first turkey. But, all these moments look different, and for some people, it’s just all about the family time outdoors. It’s not necessarily a trophy animal or trophy fish.

So, those are the things we really want to focus on. And so, those are things, regardless the size of the animal or fish, that are important in the outdoor experience.

So, we just try to focus in on that and create products that bring to mind the moments and memories for people. And that’s kind of what we’ve been doing and it’s exciting. We’re having a great time with it.

N1 Outdoors products

Dave Morrisey: Yes, so, looking at some of your social media feeds, it looks like you guys… are you designing and creating your own products? 

Giles Canter: We do. We have an apparel line that really tries to drive home that point of the moments. But, also, what we try to do is create comfortable products that people like to wear, but also have very clever designs that, maybe, people haven’t seen before.

So, if you visit N1outdoors.com, you can look and see a lot of our shirt designs or things that you probably haven’t seen anything like before. And, that’s the intent behind it. We want it to be like that. We want it to be different and have people look at those shirts and say, “man, I haven’t seen anything like that and I want to wear that.”

So, once they do wear it, we want them to never take it off and so, we try to be sure that everything is extremely comfortable in a way that would fit an outdoor lifestyle.

Dave Morrisey: That’s awesome. From what I hear, you are somewhat local, you’re in South Carolina?

Giles Canter: That’s correct. Josh is from Dublin, Maston is from Conyers, and I live in Anderson, South Carolina.

Ideal outdoor experience: bowhunting

Dave Morrisey: Cool. You were talking about bow hunting. What is an ideal outdoor experience for you right now? Obviously that changes through time. Like right now, what’s your perfect day outdoors?

Giles Canter: I think I would have to say, although I do love all types of hunting and fishing, I do really love bowhunting.  And that’s kind of the three of us. We all really enjoy that and really, around the moments that we’ve had hunting together, and that’s really how the idea of N1 Outdoors was created.

But for me, a great day is probably an early morning hunt. I’ll take it whenever I can get it, I’ll go in the evening too, but I love the early morning hunt and a lot of bowhunters and deer hunters alike, they love the the rut.

It’s a great time of the year, but I really love the early season hunt. For us, it’s mid-September when it gets started in our area. And, I really love scouting before the season, and trying to pattern the deer and really getting in early before the guns start going off. That’s just what I love about it.

I love the challenge, I love getting close to a deer, whether I take the animal or not. I just love being close and the bowhunting experience kind of provides that for me.

Cody Queen: See, that where I think I differ from you since we live down here. When I lived up in Colorado, it didn’t bother me much when I was hunting mule deer, stuff like that. But, hunting down here in Southeast Georgia, hunting during early seasons, to me, is too unbearable with the mosquitoes. It’s way too hot down here and I applaud you guys for going out there and doing the work and having fun, because those bugs drive me nuts.

Giles Canter: Yes. Well, if you’re going to hunt in the lower parts of South Carolina, it’s August when they get started. I don’t know how they deal with that. I mean, it’s bad enough in September. You’ve got to put on your tough sleeves if you’re going to go out there and obviously, if you’re bowhunting, it creates it’s own set of challenges as far as scent control and things like that. You do have to be very careful.

But, I certainly enjoy the weather a little more in October and November, but I definitely like the early season hunt.

Turkey season strategies

Dave Morrisey: We’re creeping up on turkey season here right in the next couple of weeks. Are you going to get out there? Is that something that you do up there?

Giles Canter: Yeah, that’s something I really enjoy and I will get out a handful of times. That season’s so short, but it’s really fun. I think the turkey hunt, for me, is just a great bridge between bow season and the deer season coming up. So, it’s a fun time for me also.

Dave Morrisey: Well, it’s not August in the South so, you got that going for you too, right?

Giles Canter: That’s right.

Cody Queen: Should you go out for turkey hunting, I think we all are, and you’re more of a bowhunting guy. What set-up are you going to use this turkey season?

Giles Canter: I do a little bit of bowhunting in turkey season, but I do, primarily, hunt with a shotgun. But, I like it both ways. I don’t mind running and gunning, but I do like hunting from a blind as well. I try to find a spot and pattern the turkeys and try to get a blind into a brushy area where I can see a good ways, but also be fairly concealed. But again, I’ll go run and gun and sit at the base of a tree with no blind… I just enjoy the experience. It really doesn’t matter to me there.

Cody Queen: Speaking of blinds. I want to talk about blind placement. Me and you were talking about that earlier and we were talking back and forth. What are some good blind placements for either whitetail or even turkey that’s coming up. And, the in and out exits like me and you were talking about? And, the whole controlling scent, trying to make it as minimal as possible. How do you try to set that up down here in the Southeast?

Tree stand placement and wind direction

Giles Canter: Sure. Like I was mentioning about turkey hunting, I do like to pick a kind of a covered area, or maybe on the edge of a pasture or clearing. But, as far as deer season and bowhunting, I really prefer the tree stand and specifically climbing stands. There’s a lot of ways to do that… ladder stands and lock on stands. 

I really do like the climbing stand and the reason I do is, I really like to climb pretty high. So, I feel like, and this isn’t for everybody, when you can get a little bit higher, that gives you a little bit of an advantage as far as your scent. At times, you know, you can have your scent blowing a little higher over the area as opposed to just close to the ground.

But, one thing I really feel is that wind direction and scent control is something that hunters, they make mistakes with that all the time. And I’ve done it too. You really need to be aware of where you’re hunting and what the lay of the land is, where deer typically bed down, where they feed. And, you need to pay attention to the wind direction, not just in the stand, but in the entry and exit routes.

So, even now, it’s never too early to start getting familiar with the property that you’re going to hunt and understand what the prevailing winds are in those areas, because when you come to your stand, it’s just as important as when you are in your stand.

So, if you’re blowing deer up on your way in, it’s not going to be good for your hunt. I like to take advantage of anything I can use to minimize scent. Whether it’s a ditch or creek bed, those are things that can be really helpful in getting to and from your stand and not leaving a lot of scent on the ground.

Those are the things that are good to think about.

Cody Queen: I don’t know if I told you, but up in North Carolina, me and my buddy run a farm and we have a field there. I’m not a field hunter, just like you were saying, I like to be in the trees. But, I do a lot of stands the same way and I hunt around this little creek. And, I walk through it to minimize my scent as much as possible. And, every time I get in there, I get something.

I don’t know if I’m doing something right, but I’m almost doing by the guideline that you’re doing and it sounds like really good advice to me.

Giles Canter: Yeah. Just try to pay attention. If you know where the deer bed and you know where they feed, and you can get somewhere where you can get them travelling in between those two areas without leaving a lot of scent, or without your scent blowing over those areas, being downwind of the dear that you’re hunting, you’re always going to have a little bit better chance at seeing deer and taking a deer, especially if you’re bowhunting in close. I mean, 20-30 yards shot… I don’t like to get much further than 30. So, that requires you to be careful about those things when you’re coming in and really pay attention to wind direction and how much scent you’re leaving on the ground.

Dave Morrisey: Well, in Cody’s case, I think hand-feeding them and keeping them from when they’re babies as pets in the house. That really helps your success rate a lot. I think that’s about all the time we have here. We really appreciate Giles for being with us here from N1. And, really wish you guys success and we hope to catch up with you guys soon.

Giles Canter: That’d be great. We appreciate you having us on.

Dave Morrisey: Alright.