You two practically dated at a bowshop, right?

Lee: ​We did! We knew each other as kids in Minnesota. I have five sisters and one brother. Tiffany was friends with one of my sisters, but we were too young to even think about dating at the time. When I went back to the University of Michigan to earn my second degree in chemical engineering, Tiffany was starting college there herself. Between classes, I was working at a local archery shop and she’d come in and hang out with the team. Everyone just fell in love with her, including me. Pretty soon, she was fletching her own arrows right along with me! 

You’ve both had a lion’s share of success, hunting game all over the world. What keeps you chasing the next one, and doing all that work in the offseason?

Lee: To us, it’s not about one specific trophy. Sure, it’s incredible in the moment when you harvest a big animal, and it’s an awesome feeling to provide your family or less fortunate families with pure, organic meat. But it’s all part of a bigger mission of conservation and wildlife management. The challenge we enjoy the most when it comes to whitetail is getting the deer to reach their full potential through proper land management methods. There’s a tremendous amount of good done for the entire population’s overall health and livelihood when we’re strategic in choosing which deer we harvest. It’s a year-round pursuit and there’s always something new to do and learn. We love every minute of it!

What sort of preparation goes into a successful hunt?

Tiffany: ​There’s a lot that goes into a 30 minute tv show that viewers never see. For western and international hunts, you’ve got travel logistics, gear packing and transport, communication challenges, tough terrain, and high altitudes that require you to be in top physical shape. The list goes on and on. At home, it’s working the farm, shooting our bows, sighting in firearms, putting up and checking trail cams, hanging and moving stands, setting ground blinds, making sure our guests are set up, etc. That’s just to name a few of the many things we do each day to prepare for a hunt or trip, and they’re all done with film crews and photographers close by. At the end of the day, it’s you vs. a wild animal and mother nature. That’s tough enough, so we do everything we can to put ourselves in a position to achieve success. When we’re not successful, we learn something new and apply that knowledge the next time around.

Any advice to would-be hunters who are intimidated by the idea of getting started?

Tiffany: ​Great question and one that we get a lot. For would-be hunters that are intimidated, we’d recommend starting off not hunting. Shoot your bow, go to the range, and start by enjoying and being confident in that process first. Then maybe go out without a weapon and just experience the world waking up from a tree stand. It’s truly magical. Watch and study the wildlife. Read about their behavior and patterns. Study trail cam pics. Then go out with a seasoned hunter to observe the experience through them. That’s typically enough to convince someone to go out on their own. Once they do, they’re hooked.