HOW IT STARTED
It didn’t start in a boardroom.
There wasn’t a team of marketing experts sitting around a table trying to create the next outdoor brand. There wasn’t a big pile of money behind it, either.
It started with something a whole lot simpler: a love for God, family, the outdoors, good food, football, and the stories that come with all of it.
For me, some of the best moments in life have never been the expensive ones. They’ve been the mornings when the alarm goes off before daylight because somebody wants to be in the woods before sunrise. They’ve been standing beside the water waiting on a cork to disappear, feeling a fish hammer a bait, smelling smoke rolling off the grill, watching football with family and friends, and sitting around telling stories that somehow get a little better every time they’re told.
Those are the moments that stick with you.
And somewhere along the way, I realized something:I wanted to share them.
Where “Dadgum” Came From
If you spend enough time around Southern folks, you’re eventually going to hear somebody say it.
“Dadgum!”
Maybe a big buck just stepped out.
Maybe a bass threw the hook right beside the boat.
Maybe you burned the first batch of wings.
Maybe your football team just gave up a touchdown on fourth-and-20.
Or maybe you just tasted something off the grill so good that “dadgum” is about the only word that fits.
That’s what I wanted this brand to feel like. Not corporate. Not fake. Not somebody pretending to be an outdoor expert who has everything figured out.
Just real people enjoying the things they love.
And that’s how Dadgum Outdoors began.
More Than Hunting and Fishing
At first, it would have been easy to make Dadgum Outdoors another hunting or fishing page. But that never felt big enough.
Because the outdoors isn’t just about killing a deer or catching a fish. It’s about who you’re standing beside when it happens.
It’s about fathers teaching sons and daughters how to cast.
It’s about kids learning to sit still in a deer stand.
It’s about buddies giving each other a hard time at hunting camp.
It’s about coming home empty-handed and still having one of the best days you’ve had all year.
It’s about firing up the grill after the hunt.
It’s about tailgate food and college football on Saturdays.
It’s about passing down traditions.
And most importantly, it’s about recognizing the Creator who gave us all of it in the first place.
That’s when the vision became bigger. Dadgum Outdoors wasn’t going to be just hunting. It wasn’t going to be just fishing. And it definitely wasn’t going to be just BBQ.
It was going to be a place where faith, family, hunting, freshwater fishing, saltwater fishing, cooking, football and Southern outdoor life could all meet around the same campfire.
Built for the Next Generation
There’s another reason Dadgum Outdoors matters to me.
We’re raising kids in a world where it’s incredibly easy to spend hours staring at a screen.
Scroll. · Swipe. · Watch another reel. · Then another. · Then another.
Meanwhile, there’s an entire world waiting outside.
There are fish that haven’t been caught.
Trails that haven’t been walked.
Sunrises that haven’t been watched.
Deer stands that need another generation sitting in them.
Recipes that need to be passed down.
And stories that haven’t happened yet.
Dadgum Outdoors wants to be part of changing that.
Let’s get kids off the reels and give them something real to remember.
Take them fishing.
Take them hunting.
Teach them how to cook.
Throw the football in the backyard.
Let them get muddy.
Let them miss a fish.
Let them make mistakes.
And when something finally goes right, celebrate it like they just won the dadgum Super Bowl.
Because one day they’ll grow up. And chances are they won’t remember what video they watched on their phone that Saturday afternoon.
But they’ll remember the first deer they saw with Dad. They’ll remember Mom helping them reel in that fish. They’ll remember Grandpa’s grill smoking in the backyard. They’ll remember Friday night lights and Saturday football.
They’ll remember who was there.
The Stories Matter
That’s ultimately what Dadgum Outdoors is about.
Stories.
Not just ours. Yours, too.
Your first buck.
Your daughter’s first fish.
Your biggest redfish.
The bass that got away.
The BBQ recipe everybody keeps asking you to make.
The hunting tip your grandfather taught you.
The tailgate tradition your family hasn’t missed in twenty years.
Because the outdoor community has always been built around people sharing what they know. One generation teaches the next. One fisherman helps another fisherman. One hunter tells another hunter what worked. One cook gives somebody else a recipe.
And somewhere in between all the joking, storytelling and friendly arguing about whose football team is better, a community gets built.
That’s the community Dadgum Outdoors wants to become.
And We’re Just Getting Started
Dadgum Outdoors may have started as an idea, but the dream is bigger than a page, website, podcast, shirt or logo.
The goal is to build something people feel like they’re part of.
And probably a few stories that begin with: “You’re not gonna believe this…”
Because around here, you don’t have to own the biggest boat. You don’t have to shoot the biggest buck. You don’t need the fanciest grill. And you definitely don’t have to be an expert.
You just need to love the outdoors, appreciate the people you get to share it with, and understand that some of life’s greatest blessings happen when we’re willing to put the phone down and go make a memory.
That’s Dadgum Outdoors.
Faith at the center.
Family beside us.
The outdoors in front of us.
And memories being made every step of the way.
We’re Built for Bucks, Bass & BBQ—but we’re here for something even bigger.
We’re here for the stories.
We’re here for the traditions.
We’re here for the next generation.
And we’re here to remind people that sometimes the best thing you can do is get outside, fire up the grill, wet a line, climb into a deer stand, turn on the game, gather the family and enjoy what God’s given us.
That’s how Dadgum Outdoors got started.
And dadgum it…we’re only getting started.