I grew up in Northern Minnesota somewhere between Grand Rapids and the small town of Hill City. I was far enough away from the activities of city life so there were only minimal hobbies to pursue.

My parents kept a strict leash on me in the younger parts of my day. My dad loved the outdoors and taught me all his tricks and trades of fishing and hunting, although he was not a professional by any means. From time to time, Dad also known to us as ‘the Rockstar’, can still be found sitting in the front of our boat jigging a 6 inch shiner, leech, and crawler altogether on one hook. We just laugh. He says, “That is how you catch the big one”. After yelling and screaming at him to switch to what is working; I know now that he is actually utilizing 3 presentations at once, so if a fish is hungry for a minnow, leech, or crawler, maybe it will bite Dad’s hook.

Dad got me to where I am today in the outdoor world. Ever since I was old enough to fish or hunt, he was taking me. As I got older and developed my skills, it turned into me taking him fishing. I always thought I needed the most technological advanced equipment. Dad was there to provide me with everything, especially when he purchased our boat, which I can say has seen more water than he has known about. He was the one who taught me, “it’s not all about succeeding, it’s about having fun”, and that’s what Hang Loose Outdoors is all about.

As I found my passion for the outdoors through my parents and my friend Dan Neary, who I have known since my diaper came off; I have been following this passion. Let me say a few things real quick about Dan. Dan taught me a great deal about the outdoors. We would bicycle 3 miles on muddy logging roads out to Mt Ash Lake dock day after day and catch crappies, pike, bass, and dogfish no matter if it was raining or snowing. Let me add, him and my brother also whipped me with bulrushes and cattails when the fish weren’t biting, but that didn’t scare me away from the thrills of catching hogz.

Once fishing from the dock moved into fishing on Upper Red Lake during its crappie glory days, I found I needed money for gas and munchies. I started working at Ogles Foods during my high school years. Here, I met Adam Godfrey. Adam and I clicked in a day’s time and have been there for each other ever since. Adam taught me pretty much everything I know about ice fishing as all Dad and I would ice fish was Mt Ash with stick poles and bobbers. Let me say though, I remember how many fish Dad and I caught.

After high school I attended Itasca Community College and received an A.A.S degree in forestry natural resources. After that I transferred to Bemidji State University and graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree in G.I.S. For those of you who have no idea what G.I.S. is; G.I.S is making maps, working with informational databases, and performing spatial analysis. I mean, how do you catch fish or shoot deer without scouting and utilizing aerial photography, topographic maps, and 3D models?

During the Itasca Community College days, I met Randy Topper, Craig King, Randy Greniger, and Brad Nelson. During these days I started bringing my video camera out on fishing and hunting trips. Video footage was stacked up trip to trip for quit some time. One day, Randy decided to make a name for our crazy video taping group, ‘Hang Loose Outdoors’.

Yes, I am Hang Loose Outdoors…………