Back in 1998 I had the hunting bug bad. Not only did I have the hunting bug, but I was also consumed with trying to get into Outdoor Videography. I would spend countless hours in the stand with my video camera, then come home and get on my computer researching the outdoor programs and production companies.

One night I popped into a local chat room, NCSportsman.com, and met a fellow my age with the very same ambitions. He went by the screen name “ballistic”. It was kind of strange because we were about the same age and had the same desires. The only thing different was that he was about to go to work with a show called Outdoor Excursions. The even stranger part of the story is that everytime we entered the chat room, he and I would be the only ones in there. No one else ever popped in.

The chat room meetings eventually turned into the exchanging of phone numbers and we began to make weekly calls and our friendship became even stronger. I soon came to know ballistic as Chris Douglas.

His stint with Outdoor Excursions eventually came to an end. During this time I had picked up a job with Outdoor Moments and was filminging in NC, VA, & SC. This was good experience for me, but I wanted to see more of the country. I wanted to get out to the Midwest where the “Monster Bucks” were.

During the summer of 2002 Chris was hired to produce a new show called Whitetail Adventures. This opened the door for me to go to work with him. It was a great time. We got to go to a few camps ( Texas, Mexico & Canada) together during the season and our friendship grew even stronger. Eventually Whitetail Adventures closed shop, but that didn’t stop our friendship. I went to work with Bass Pro and he went to work with Jim Benton Outdoors and Tom Miranda, but we still kept in close contact.

In 2007 Chris called and asked if I would be interested in doing some work for Tom Miranda and I didn’t hesitate in saying yes! Once again Chris and I were back working in the same camp. This time we were not only hunting in North America, we were also assigned hunts in Africa and New Zealand also.

It’s hard to believe that 12 years ago I met him in an internet chat room and today we are like brothers!!!! Our families even spend a week together each summer at the Outer Banks for summer vacation. Our wives say we are worst than women when it comes to the phone because we usually talk hours on the phone each week!

Chris, thanks for the friendship! I can’t wait to see where our future takes us!

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