Josh Grace considered becoming a game warden, but one question changed how he thought about the job: if he spent his working days in the woods, would he still want to go there on his days off? Hunting was where he went to unwind, and he wanted to protect that connection.
In episode 8 of A Hunter’s Legacy, Josh talks with Mitchell Fox about a law-enforcement career, growing up hunting public ground in northwest Florida, and the unexpected circumstances that led him to pick up a bow.
Florida Roots and a Life Across the State Line
Josh grew up in Niceville, Florida, near Destin. At the time of recording, he lived just across the Alabama line and worked in Crestview, Florida, where he had spent his law-enforcement career.
He started in construction after high school before attending a nighttime police academy while continuing to work during the day. His career eventually included patrol, investigations, narcotics work, and supervising other officers.
Investigations stood out as a favorite part of the job. He liked spending time working through a case and helping people. Hunting and fishing gave him something different outside that work: time when he could step away from the demands of the day.
Waiting to Leave With His Dad
Josh’s hunting memories began at home. His dad’s friends gathered there before daylight, talking about where they planned to hunt. Josh remembers listening from bed, wanting to be part of the group heading out.
The hunters returned around lunchtime with stories, then left again for the afternoon. Long before he could participate fully, those conversations made him want to go.
His dad hunted with a shotgun and never became a bowhunter. Josh began by tagging along, then became more involved around age nine or ten. Public ground was central to the family’s hunting opportunities.
How a Closed Season Led to His First Bow
Josh describes hunting a military reservation near where he grew up. After the September 11 attacks, the hunting access his family relied on was initially shut down. Later, according to his recollection, archery hunting was allowed before firearms hunting resumed.
His dad bought him an inexpensive youth bow at Kmart. He was honest about his own lack of archery experience: Josh would have to figure it out if he wanted to hunt with it.
Josh practiced with the basic equipment he had and began going into the woods with a bow. There were missed opportunities and plenty of learning ahead, but the change in access had opened a different kind of hunting to him.
Five Years Before the First Archery Deer
Picking up the bow did not produce instant success. Josh recalls starting around 2001 and taking his first archery deer, a doe, around 2006.
He was seeing deer, but nerves and timing made it difficult to finish an opportunity. Drawing at the wrong moment or rushing a shot could undo the work of getting close.
That first success mattered because of the years behind it. Josh remembers the disbelief when the hunt finally came together. His experience gives newer hunters an honest picture of a learning process that can take longer than a highlight video suggests.
Public-Land Turkeys and New Country
By the interview, Josh had also expanded his turkey hunting. He had recently traveled to western Oklahoma with two friends and harvested his first Rio Grande turkey. The group took two birds during five days of hunting.
He compared that trip with the pressured Eastern turkeys he hunted back home on public land. In his experience, the familiar birds could be especially challenging. The trip gave him a new setting, a new subspecies, and plans for more travel.
Keeping Hunting Worth Coming Back To
Josh’s story connects a demanding career with the outdoor time he deliberately kept for himself. The woods remained somewhere he wanted to be, whether a hunt ended with a harvest or another lesson.
Hear Josh Grace’s full conversation in episode 8 of the A Hunter’s Legacy archive. For another guest who built his hunting experience around military-land opportunities and public ground, read Don Goode’s hunting story.
