My name is Matt Dale, founder of Dale Outdoors. The outdoors has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. I started hunting at 8 years old following behind my dad's footsteps, shooting a .22. The first animal I ever harvested was a rabbit. Hunting was in my blood; in my bloodline as generations of Dale's had hunted and fished all over the Appalachian Mountains.

 

I took my first deer at age 12. It was just a half-grown doe but needless to say I was hooked after I pulled the trigger on the old Marlin .30-30 and watched as the deer dropped in its tracks. I shook so bad my dad had to help me down out of the tree.

 

Well many years have passed since that first small doe but the love and passion for deer hunting never went away. I still am passionate about pursuing the whitetail deer from September to January every year, and with over 150 whitetails since that first deer, I never have grown tired of hunting those cold frosty mornings. Whether it's with a bow, rifle, shotgun, or muzzleloader, I'll be out there in the deer’s world.

 

Fishing has always been a big part of my life, too. My "dream" from the time I was 12 ‘til I was 20 was to become a professional bass fisherman. Fishing tournaments and maybe have a Saturday morning TV show was something I dreamed about. Of course life takes you in different directions but the love for bass fishing never left. I also love to fish for stripers, walleye, trout, and crappie. There's something special about being on a mountain stream catching the rainbow trout. I love it still today.

 

Although I enjoy deer hunting and fishing I guess my main passion would have to go to the wild turkey. Although I didn't get into turkey hunting ‘til I was 17, turkeys have always been a big part of the Dale household. My dad was a great turkey hunter so I was always around calling and even went with him turkey hunting as a kid. My first turkey was a jake I killed in the fall season when I was 12.  But the love for turkey hunting wasn't there yet; my mind was on bass fishing.  Many times while dad was out turkey hunting I was bass fishing and pursuing and learning more about bass. I was familiar with turkey calling and could even call fairly well as a kid.  However, when I was 18 it all changed like a light switch that flipped when the gobbling fever got a hold of me. I wanted to learn everything I could about hunting turkeys. My dad taught me a lot especially when it came to the woodsmanship of it.

 

It just came natural to me I guess. I began to learn more about this bird that was driving me crazy it seemed in the spring.  As the years came and went and the turkeys begin to come into shotgun range I became a good turkey hunter in my own right.  Today, the turkey is still my favorite game animal to hunt.  There is nothing, in my opinion, like being out in the spring hardwoods, hearing the gobbles on the ridges and seeing a strutting gobbler coming through the timber.

 

In 2008, I started learning about uploading on YouTube and editing. I started posting some hunting tactic videos. I wasn't trying to get any following or "fans" I was just trying to learn media, uploading, and editing. From year one people begin to watch and subscribe. I begin hearing reports of success hunters began having by watching and learning from the content I was posting. So as seasons came and went and I posted more turkey hunting content, it seemed that my niche was turkey hunting. Now over 10 years later I honestly can say I've had hundreds of people who have e-mailed and commented on Facebook on the success they’ve had; many taking their first Gobbler after years of trying.

 

I am an educator, instructor, and a mentor I guess you could say. The theme of the YouTube page is "Passing the Knowledge" and that's exactly what I will continue to do. Many kids and young people today have no fathers, or grandfathers, or someone who hunt, or can teach them about the outdoor lifestyle. Thanks to media and places like YouTube, now they can learn from someone like myself. That's the main objective, passing on what we all love!