When 49 Winchester isn’t out on the road, odds are their frontman is out in the great outdoors.
Isaac Gibson of 49 Winchester stopped by the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast to talk to us about why the band doesn’t do pre-show rituals, the story of how Luke Combs bought a t-shirt from their website, how many years it took for 49 Winchester to go “full time,” how their band name came to be, hunting trips that he’s gotten to go on because of his music career and much more.
The lead singer for 49 Winchester is very grateful for his music career, and he couldn’t help but bring up some of the cool experiences that have come with it. Much of the “extra curricular” things he’s gotten to do thanks to connections through the music world have revolved around hunting, and that works out great for Gibson:
“My real passions outside of music have always been hunting and fishing. I want to spend as much time as I possibly can doing those two things when I’m not on stage. And now I’m fortunate that I get to do it in a lot of cool places across the world. That’s always what’s on my mind. On the Uber ride over here, I was checking trail cameras.”
That’s a telltale sign of an avid hunter, in case you didn’t know.
Isaac Gibson went as far as to call hunting an “obsession,” and he tries to completely immerse himself in the activity as much as he can. One example of that is a remote hunting trip that he went on in 2024, where the set up was only accessible by helicopter, and there was no regular road access.
He described the excursion as the coolest hunting experience of his life:
“Moose (hunting) in Newfoundland, Canada last year. I got to go on a moose hunt. It was great. (A moose) is a big, big critter. They’re huge, and for someone that’s grown up in Appalachia hunting white tails, and the biggest animals you see are bears that might weigh 300 pounds… to see a 700 or 800 pound deer that’s six and a half feet tall at their shoulder lumbering towards you, it’s an adrenaline rush.”
I can only imagine.
Gibson says that he thought he was calm when he took his shot, but watched back the video of him taking down the moose and his leg was “kicking like a chihuahua.” But he still brought the beast down, and if anything, it was good training for something he’s got his eyes set on for 2025. Gibson is scheduled to go hunting in Africa next August, and there will be plenty of sizable animals out there as well.
He knows that more than anyone. Gibson told us he reads a lot of books about old, golden-age, big game hunts by Ernest Hemingway and Peter Hathaway Capstick. And if you ask me, he could turn is moose hunting story into a book of his own (or at least a chapter of a book), especially with all of the “49” signs from above:
“The one that I wound up taking down in Newfoundland, we first spotted him out and hit him with a rangefinder – I’ll always remember – it was 749 yards. We called to him and he ended up coming in to about 200 yards, and even at 200, I was like, ‘This think looks like it’s the size of a Tahoe.’ I ended up shooting it at 249. I let it get one yard closer than 250.”
That’s one of the more extreme hunts that Gibson has been on (the most extreme part of it may have been field dressing and hauling the moose out of there).
For the most part, Gibson’s hunts are more peaceful, and usually focus in on white-tail deer. He’s usually posted up in a deer stand, and unintentionally does a lot of creative thinking while he’s waiting for a big buck to walk by:
“I write songs when they fall on my head. I feel like those are my best songs… I’ve written some great songs in a deer stand.”
It’s funny that when Gibson is focused on country music, hunting is on his mind. And then when he’s actively hunting, musical opportunities tend to present themselves. Quite the cool dynamic for the 49 Winchester frontman if you ask me.
Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t add that Isaac Gibson skipped out on the afterparty following 49 Winchester’s recent two-night stay at the Ryman Auditorium for… you guessed it, the perfect hunting opportunity:
@whiskeyriff Check out the full Whiskey Riff Raff podcast available now. @49 Winchester #whiskeyriff #whiskeyriffraff ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff
You can hear Isaac Gibson talk more about his love for hunting and being outdoors by downloading the podcast on Apple Podcasts by searching “Whiskey Riff Raff” or by clicking here.
We’re also available on Spotify and wherever else you can listen to podcasts.
Cheers, y’all.
