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12 | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | www.huntresslife.com
Tiffany Lakosky:
From Bucks to Booties for Baby
By Judy Erwin Branham
Tiffany Lakosky - Deer harvest - Gun
www.huntresslife.com | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | 13
W
hether “The Crush” is a metaphor for the natural love between Lee and Tiffany or for their
way of harvesting game, it has become a popular icon not only for their TV show but
also for their newborn baby boy known as “Baby Crush” until his recent birth when they
revealed his given name as Cameron Lee Lakosky. Contests on social media revealed the
people’s choice for “Baby Crush’s” name according to their Facebook page:
	 “Your responses were amazing and while it looks like Cameron Lee was the most popular re		
sponse with Marcus Lee second, we may just take these last few weeks to decide and will let you all
know! Thank you for being the best and most supportive fans, you have made this special time in our
lives even more amazing!”
	 Running into Lee and Tiffany at the 2015 ATA Show became a special conversation about baby
plans, hunting plans and arranging a later phone interview to talk about Tiffany’s life and how she be-
came a huntress. During the interview we talked about how she and Lee met, her shopping techniques,
what life will be like after baby Crush is born and much more. Her sweet disposition and fun-loving per-
sonality made for a wonderful laid back conversation where she revealed her fondest wishes for their
son’s future and how they plan on including him in everything they currently do without slowing down
their schedule; raising him to learn the outdoor lifestyle. She also shared her desires for encouraging
other female huntresses.
Golden Moose Awards
	 We began talking about the Golden Moose Awards which had just transpired in Las Vegas during
the Shot Show 2015. “The Crush” won the same awards they had the previous year for Best Bird Hunting
and Best Deer Hunting film categories. Their awesome bird hunting footage showed their black lab,
Tank, running slow motion through a body of water away from Tiffany after she gave him a command.
The low position of their camera man along with the slow motion tactic gave pause to the audience as
Tank ran towards the camera joyfully splashing water everywhere. Seeing his excitement and her joy in
the clip gave pleasure to all watching. It was a natural hunting moment and a well-deserved award.
Benelli
	 Lee and Tiffany joined forces with Benelli last year which she described as an awesome partner-
ship for them as they were able to launch Benelli’s new Over/Under 828U Shotgun. This is a huge deal
for them;
especially for Lee as he was an upland hunter previous to deer hunting. Tiffany explained with pride:
	 “You know what is funny for us now? I am sure it will be ten times more exciting when we
actually have a baby, but for us the biggest thing about winning the award for best bird was how I was
so excited we used Tank, our first Lab. He’s four, and I was so excited to see this, I’m just so proud of
him! We worked so hard with him, and they work so hard when they’re out there; it’s like at the Gold-
en Moose Awards, I wish I could bring him! He is so well trained and will hold anything if we gave him
the command. He literally would have picked up that trophy and held it! It would be hilarious. We have
another female Lab, her name’s Mattie May; she’s two.”
Question: Do you have any special plans with the new Benelli Over/Unders; perhaps certain game that
you are going to go after?
They are definitely taking them Pheasant hunting.
	 “The gun is absolutely beautiful, but the main thing about being partners with Benelli is they tell
us, “We want you to use them,” she explained.
14 | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | www.huntresslife.com
	 With a beautiful gun like the Benelli a person
hesitates to take it out because not desiring to scratch
it; however Benelli tells Lee and Tiffany to “take it ev-
erywhere; we want you to Duck hunt, Pheasant hunt,
goose hunt with it…we just want you to use it”. They
plan on pheasant hunting next year and according to
Tiffany, Lee says, he wants to duck hunt next year also.
http://www.benelliusa.com/828u-shotgun
Wally
	 Tiffany shot a 190 inch buck on New Year’s Eve
2014 while 7 ½ months pregnant! Her initial reaction
was quoted on Whitetail Overload’s Press Release on
January 2nd, 2015:
	 “What a way to end the year. Lee, Baby Crush
and I closed out 2014 with a BANG!
http://whitetailoverload.com/tiffany-lakosky-shoots-
monster-190-buck-new-years-eve-pic/
	 Her largest buck harvest to date, she had been
hunting him for three years. She and Lee think he is eight
years old! They named him Wally due to his “wall” of
tines. They scored his 23 scorable points at 190 inches.
What a hog! Congratulations Tiffany! You go girl!
Inquiring Minds Want to Know: What Tiffany Carries in her Day Pack
	 Tiffany shared she carries the normal items such as: binoculars, a range finder; all those normal
items. However, she explained while hunting in Iowa they hunt all day but do not necessarily stay in the
same stand all day.
	 “If we hunted all day long we would kill ourselves by the time the season’s over because we
hunt every day from August15th through January 10th. Normally we are not out all day long, but a lot
of times we are moving stands and all of that, trying to check trail cameras, trying to figure out where
we are going to hunt that afternoon. Even during the rut we have specific spots for our morning stand
and afternoon stand, so a lot of times we are down for an hour or two and then we are back in the
stand, especially during the rut.”
	 As far as what Tiffany takes out there every time; she described her daypack items:
	 “Well I think all of us are attached to the cell phones anymore. When you are at our house if
you are not texting Lee back he thinks you either shot one or you are not where you are supposed to
be. So all day long we text, “What do you think? Well, what about the deer? Did you see this one yet?
Has one come out yet?” So your cell phone is your life line anymore. And really, to keep you out there
all the time for 8 or 9 hours a day, of course I always have my cell phone.”
	 Tiffany also always carries a buckeye for luck. She is superstitious about items for hunting; if she
has something that has brought her luck previously she always carries it with her. This year she had
her friend’s daughter’s lucky horseshoe in her bag, she had shot her first Elk with it. Tiffany ended up
shooting the biggest deer of her life with it in her bag. Now if they go on a trip somewhere Tiffany buy
some trinket and give one to Lee and one for herself and it’s kind of a joke, she said.
Tiffany Lakosky - Elk harvest - Archery
www.huntresslife.com | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | 15
Her Love Story
	 Interesting Facts about Columbia Heights, Minnesota: the 2010 census shows 19,496 people;
3.52 sq miles; Hwy 47 and Hwy 65 run through the city; and it is a suburb of Minneapolis. Tiffany shares
about their romance:
“Yes, we grew up in Columbia Heights, Minnesota and I used to hang out with one of Lee’s sisters, he
has five of them. I met him a long time ago and we didn’t start dating until we were in college.”
Question: You took a long time to become friends then?
	 “Oh yeah!”
Question: So your hunting mentor basically was Lee?
	 “Yep, still is.”
Question: How did you get started in hunting? Did your family hunt; your dad or mom?
	 “No, actually I 100% grew up in a non-hunting family. It’s not like we were against hunting,
we just didn’t hunt. We grew up fishing up north in Minnesota, that’s where I’m from. I actually didn’t
start hunting until I started dating Lee. At the time he was working at an archery shop, so to see him
I would have to go up to the archery shop and hang out with him. Then I started like fletching arrows
and he’d put me to work when I was up there. After about two years into the relationship he asked,
“Do you want to learn how to shoot a bow?” and I was like, yeah that looks like a lot of fun. It wasn’t
like it is now; a woman can walk into an archery shop, pick up a bow and be able to shoot it, but back
then it wasn’t like that for women. It was fortunate he was a bow tech and grew up to be tinkering with
all that stuff. So he ordered a bow for me and had to short string it and had to put different cams and
limbs on it because of my short draw length. To this day he still sets up all of our bows and for many
people actually. He’s a bow tech and he just loves it.
	 I just remember I loved to be up there shooting while he was up there working. I would be up
there shooting all the time and I shot with a lot of the pro shooters there. That went on for a couple
of years and then I still never hunted. He was still hunting and I was a flight Attendant at the time. He
would be like, “I’m going to Kansas for three weeks”, and I would be like, “I’m going somewhere for
two weeks, have fun!” We’d see each other when we came home. So it was another year or so after
that he said do you want to try hunting? And I was like, oh, I don’t know if I could shoot anything. He
said that’s okay, if you don’t want to that’s fine. You don’t have to shoot. And then we were out there
and the first night out three bucks came out, and the third one I was finally ready to shoot it and it took
me that long to get my composure together and my bow together, the yardage and everything, and I
like smoked it and have been hooked ever since!”
Archery
	 Do you have a specific Archery company you use?
	 “We have been partners with Mathews for a long time and actually that was from years ago be-
cause it was hard to find a bow for me. He always said you are not going to shoot anything I wouldn’t
shoot myself. Back then they had kid bows and then they had adult men bows. And Mathews was
actually the first that came out with a bow that went down to my draw length and was a bow he would
shoot too. We have stuck with them from the very beginning.”
16 | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | www.huntresslife.com
	 Do you ever shoot traditional archery?
	 “I have never shot traditional. Lee used to
but Lee is more into being able to shoot a far dis-
tance. We practice every day at 100 yards and he
shoots even farther than that. I can’t get more than
100 yards out of my bow. I wouldn’t be opposed to
shooting traditional by any means, but I just never
have. Of course Lee grew up shooting traditional
but once he got his compound he hasn’t turned
back.
Fred Eichler does both traditional recurve and
compound which is pretty amazing but there are
not a lot of people who do that.
	 When we have our nieces and nephews
over and we have the Genesis bows here I’ll shoot
at the target and Lee is like, “Tiffany, look where
your sight is and look where you are shooting,”
and I totally miss the target. It’s hard to pay attention to that. It’s a totally different ball game I know. I
never had to do that so I would probably be horrible at it. I guess that even our bowfishing bows are
compound now.
	 We bowfish for Carp, Alligator, and Gar; I think we are going to go on a bowfishing trip this year
for big Alligator and Gar. We have actually hunted gator before with our bows, but we pretty much do
everything even when we are not filming our show. It is what we do for fun, it is what we enjoy to do,
you know?”
Camo
	 “We are with Realtree and have been with them from the very beginning. And actually that’s
kind of how we got our start; it was David Blanton who put Lee on the back cover of Monster Buck’s
10 DVD.
	 As far as my hunting clothes I wear Under Armour. And they have been awesome because ev-
ery year they are like, “What do you guys like, what do you not like for women and men?” And we go
through each item and they make the changes; which is awesome because they actually listen to us.
Plans for Baby Crush
	 “In all honesty we will start turkey hunting right away in April. My due date is actually March
20th. I will start turkey hunting in April and we whole heartedly plan on totally having him in the blind
with us with our bows and shoot a turkey with him out there. It’s like already he’s been all over the
world. I’ll tell you, I’ve had the best years of my life while being pregnant.
	 In May we have a bear hunt to Vancouver Island; he will be only a couple of months old and
we will have to get him a passport right away, but my mom will be going on that trip also. The main
thing about us is we are so lucky with all the hunts we do because all the places we go are all so wel-
coming. People would flip out if we did not have our baby along. They would be mad at us. Oh yeah,
he’s already a number in a hunting camp next year and everyone is planning on him being there. Lee
will be there, my mom, and we have one camera man who has a wife who can help watch him too
while we are hunting. So we are definitely planning on hunting the exact same as we always have just
taking him along with us. My mom is the only family who lives here in Iowa with us. Lee’s sisters have
never been on any of our hunting trips so they will probably really enjoy that.
	 All of a sudden it occurred to me I have to have him, and I am like wait a minute, this has been
really nice so far, and I’m not so sure about giving birth. Six and ½ weeks to go, he already is our
whole world and lots of people are very excited to meet him. It has definitely been a blessing for us
and has worked out well, and it’s something we enjoy doing.”
Tiffany Lakosky - antelope harvest - Archery
www.huntresslife.com | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | 17
Baby Crush won’t be Gun Shy
	 “We have had Tank in the blind with us shooting turkeys and that’s one thing I think that is so
fun already being pregnant with our little boy. I found out we were pregnant in Argentina, so he is
definitely not going to come out gun shy because we shot 800 thousand things over there already. My
whole early season and everything he has been with us for all of our hunts and I think we are already
starting the hunting tradition with him, you know? And it’s funny, during season here he would move
so much more when I was hunting. I was 71/2 months pregnant when I shot my last deer and every
time I would see a big one you could just feel him move and he could just feel my excitement, you
know? He has gone to sleep with the sound of turkey calls and duck calls. Lol! Even now we will be
going out shed hunting with my mom and the dogs.”
Domestic Qualities
	 “I love the garden; you see, we are so different because for the last ten to twelve years we are
on the road so much, very rarely are we actually home long enough to do a bunch of stuff like that.
Especially this year with now having a baby, we plan on growing a garden which was never done be-
fore, which is funny because we plant like 800 acres of food plots. I guess that’s a big step; we have
never had our own garden because we are not usually home to take care of it. But I love the garden.
	 I love to run outside and am doing a half marathon in July that I am looking forward to. I also
love to cook when I am actually home but when we are busy my mom cooks a lot for us.”
	 “You know honestly what I love to do most when I am home, I love to clean.”
	 Question: So you are domestic, and it’s born and breed in you?
	 “Oh yeah, 100 percent! It really is. My mom and Lee’s mom were stay at home moms and
that’s what we were raised with. I take pride in having my house clean and we are having guests
over. Fortunately I have a mom that can help us out when I can’t do it.”
	 Question: Do you and Lee both cook?
	 “Lee grills and I cook. But Lee is a chemical Engineer so if he decided he wanted to be the new
Julia Childs he could totally do it. If he decided he wanted to be a gourmet chef, 1000 % if he put his
mind to it he could be a gourmet chef. I think that is what I admire most about him, it doesn’t matter
what he is going to do, he is going to do it right and he is going to do it good. He definitely makes me
step my game up,” She said with pride in her voice.
	 Question: Do you guys eat a lot of home cooking?
	 “Oh yeah, when we are home that is how we eat. Like I said, I cook venison a lot, but my mom
mostly cooks; like last night we had venison tacos. We own property with six different partners and
we also have guests come and hunt with us. We don’t take hunters but between our partners and us
and our landowners my mom and I do all the cooking during hunting season. This year was the first
year, because we had a lot of guests, she actually said I need one of you to shoot a deer because we
are out of deer meat. It was funny because that was the first time all the Elk was gone and we had
already eaten the deer early on. So we of course obliged her and shot a deer and had it processed.
Yeah, everything we eat is venison, elk, or turkey. My favorite was a couple of years ago we went
goose hunting and it made the best jerky ever. We were out in Montana and I am like, we have to get
back out there to get some more jerky; those boys ate that for weeks. A lot of people don’t like goose
but I think it is delicious. It is how you cook it just like anything else; hamburger can also be bad if you
cook it wrong.
18 | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | www.huntresslife.com
	 We have my mom do a new recipe every month on our website and last month she did taco
venison pie. It’s like now I don’t even like the taste of beef because we are so used to eating venison.
You get used to it and it is way healthier. The wildlife eat corn, beans, alfalfa, clover and turnips on
our farm.”
http://thecrush.tv/news/crush-kitchen-recipe-venison-taco-pie
The Crush TV Show
	 Question: Your TV presence is just wonderful the way you tease back and forth with Lee, it’s just
good homey Americana…just good TV.
	 “Well, I appreciate that, you know the thing is, it’s not made up and we always try to be re-
spectful to one another and if you film us 365 days a year you are going to see some of that stuff.”
	 Questions: Your personalities show through, you are just the sweet American gal, everything
you’ve told me just all falls together. I can see your show is such a good example for younger people
wanting to hunt. Some of the shows are a little too gory for me. The younger crowds are drawn to dif-
ferent things, and I’m kind of old school and drawn more to the homey, laid back family oriented type
shows and I am not drawn to the newer younger verbalizing they do with game.
	 “That is why we show what we show; we try to always be respectful to each other and to the
animal that we are hunting. I’m younger and I don’t like to see that, so there are certain things we
make sure we never show on our TV show. Hunters, if they are out there having fun that is great. You
try to be respectful, it is definitely not for everybody and I can respect people not liking hunting as that
is their choice, but I feel like hunting is also our choice to be out there doing what we are doing. I also
respect they do not want it shoved in their face, you know?”
http://thecrush.tv/
Tiffany on Setting an Example
	 “It’s interesting how one person sets an example and others come along and say, it looks like she
is having a lot of fun, maybe I ought to try that, you know? It kind of opens the doors to try things they
might not necessarily have tried before,” says Tiffany Lakosky of the Outdoor Channels TV show “The
Crush”. Ironically she seems to be the one setting that example for other female hunters these days.
Many women such as Eva Shockey have good things to say about Tiffany:
	 “Tiffany was the first person in the hunting industry to welcome me with open arms when I was
getting started years ago. Not only did she make me feel welcome, but since then we have become
great friends. She has been inspiring to me and so many other female hunters over the course of her
career; the hunting world is lucky to have her,” Eva stated.
	 Tiffany’s mom stated:
	 “There are so many areas that I have pride in Tiffany’s accomplishments. Probably what I’m
most proud of though is that she still is just Tiffany. No changes with all that they have been awarded
in who or how she is. She has stayed true to herself and believes totally in what she and Lee do and
how they live. She is a kind and loving person and so very grateful for everything they have. I have
two granddaughters, so I am super excited to add a grandson to our family! Grandchildren are the
best gift in life!!! They bring such pure joy to my heart!”
www.huntresslife.com | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | 19
Favorite Hunting Choices – Climbing the Ladder of Success
	 She hesitated thinking…”That’s a tough one because we came from Minnesota without a dime
to our name and literally I have to hand it all to my husband, he created just a dynasty down here of
property, partners, land, deer; I mean it’s pretty amazing with what we started with and what we have
now, so my favorite game to hunt has definitely got to be deer in Iowa; however, we love Elk hunting.
You know how they say there is no place like home, but we love it when we get to go Elk hunting
too. We have Elk hunted in Colorado, Yukon, Mexico, and Montana last year. It is like turkey hunting
where the enjoyment will shake you to your core.
You should try to do it sometime if you have nev-
er done it.”
Iowa- Home Sweet Home
“We love Iowa, they still have the Bethlehem in
the yard at the schools and still say the Pledge
of Allegiance in the morning, and it is just so nice
and still kind of unaffected by a lot of the happen-
ings of the world.”
	 Question: What kind of things do you en-
joy? Shopping with girlfriends or your mom?
	 “No, I really don’t, I love it when we are
finally home. Any shopping I do is up in a tree
stand on a cell phone; it’s Amazon and I have it
delivered to our house. But for me the closest place to go shopping is like an hour and a half away,
so by the time I drive an hour and a half and shop for an hour, then drive an hour and a half, back I’m
like, Oh my gosh, I could be outside or I could be helping Lee on the tractor…there are so many other
things I would rather be doing than being in a Mall. I used to enjoy it a lot but now my favorite thing is
going shed hunting this time of year every day. I love just being outside; it is a joy.”
Community Service Done “The Crush” Way
	 “In July I am doing a marathon after the baby is born to get back into shape. As far as com-
munity service, straight up not really. We don’t have a schedule that is good for that, just a straight
up volunteer. Now this summer I might. There are some things I would like to do to help around the
community. We help in a lot of other ways in our community, but normally we are not home enough
consecutive days to plan that into our schedule. We donate a lot of items to our local 4H and our local
Hunter Safety Classes, and the Mayor of Salem looks to us for a lot of donations and a lot of things
we do for our community and our Police Department. We have also taken a couple of kids hunting
that have had cancer in the past but a lot of times our schedule isn’t great for that. When you think
of the number of appearances we do normally we would be going to Harrisburg right now which is a
nine day show. So you have a day on either end of that for travel, two days if we take the bus; so your
talking two solid weeks out and by the time you get home it would be right on the ball straight up to
Pheasant Fest and NWTF and all those shows. You really only have a day or two home before each
time you’re right back out on the road.
	 I still feel good and as long as I feel good they say that is probably why I have had as good of
a pregnancy as I have because I have stayed active and doing the same things I have always done
and the more I move the better I feel. And they say it will be easier to come back right after I have
the baby.” (Well, we now know she and baby Cameron are both doing fine. He was born March 26th,
2015 at 4:43 p.m.; weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz, and was 21 inches long)
Tiffany Lakosky - Deer harvest - Archery
20 | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | www.huntresslife.com
	 I would say marathons, donating to 4H, Hunter Safety Classes, local Police and community, tak-
ing sick children hunting and more is great community service. Tiffany’s humbleness about these ac-
tions made it seem like it is just part of their everyday lifestyle and was not considered doing anything
extra. It just seemed an everyday way of life to them. Great work Lee and Tiffany!
Tell me something nobody else knows: Life’s Trials
	 “A lot of people don’t know I had open heart surgery twelve years ago and I had a stroke, that’s
how they found out I had a hole in my heart. It was a little hole I was born with that never closed up.
And we were at the ATA Show seven days after my heart surgery. A lot of people don’t know about
that, that’s kind of crazy”.
	 Question: That is something other female hunters will be interested in because it shows how
tough you are.
	 “That is contributed back to my mom, my toughness,” Tiffany said.
Mom Crush
	 Tiffany’s mom discovered she had stage 4 breast cancer in October 1994. Most people would say
that diagnosis would change your life forever. Her life would really change ten days after hearing that
news her husband, and love of her life died suddenly in their living room from a massive heart attack at
the age of 47.
	 “Cancer seemed like a small hiccup compared to dealing with the loss. Four weeks after bury-
ing my husband I had a mastectomy, then 6 months of chemotherapy and then 12 weeks of radiation.
I am cancer free today and blessed in so many, many ways,” Tiffany’s mom described this trial in her
life.
It is understandable why Tiffany describes her mom
as tough.
	 Question: So your mom does hunt some?
	 “Oh yeah, my mom shot a great buck with
her cross bow this year, she shot a turkey last year
(2014) on Mother’s Day, yeah she goes out. That
meant so much more to us than either Lee or I
shooting one.”
Kindness from “The Crush”
	 Question: You guys take so much time with
everybody that comes through the line. You are re-
laxed and pleasant, and you look right into people’s
eyes and let them know you care about what they
want to ask you. I am really appreciative of that as there are some celebrities who rush you through.
	 “Well, those people are who allow us to do our job and so if people want to take 30 seconds or
they want to take 5 minutes with us we are going to give them that time because: A: We enjoy listen-
ing to what they are talking about and B: They allow us to do what we do. They are basically our boss
so we try to be as gracious as we can and we know we are super fortunate to be able to do what we
are doing and we don’t take it for granted.”
www.huntresslife.com | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | 21
Encouraging Other Female Hunters
	 Question: What would you tell a young female hunter to encourage her?
	 “When people are in line and they say, I am so nervous to try it, I say just go ahead and try it
you might like it. I think so many people are just kind of scared of the unknown so I am like, “Just try
it, look at me, I never tried hunting and now I am a diehard hunter.” So it might be something that is
life changing. Look at my mom, she had never hunted before until she went down here in Iowa and
now I look at the confidence it has given her, the comradery with people it has given her; you guys
just try it, take a chance you might like it.”
	 Question: You are such a great role model for other female hunters, are there certain things that
you are particular about being in the eye of the media? Or what means the most to you reference being
a role model to other female hunters?
	 “Yes, actually the way I dress, I always think, would I want my little girl to see that? So anytime
I am on film it’s like, what I might necessarily wear to the beach normally or what I might necessarily
wear bowfishing might not be the same thing. But I realize that there are a bunch of little girls looking
up to me and I take it very, very seriously. Anytime we are out, even at concerts and stuff I always try
to conduct myself in a way realizing that there are people watching, especially now when there is so-
cial media. A lot of times we might be on a date or something but I am still going to be dressed appro-
priately because there are so many fans out there and so many people watching all the time that I just
don’t want to be taken in the wrong context. So I have always tried to conduct myself with that in mind
thinking, okay, if my mom were here would I be wearing that? If the answer is no then I do not do it.
We have always tried taking that seriously, and
Lee is no different. Years ago on our show they
deleted all the swear words and we thought
was that really necessary? Yes, there are kids
watching let’s delete that out. Obviously we get
some of that stuff sometimes because we film
all of the time, so we make sure that does not
enter the show. Our film guys are so great that
they never portray us in a light that we do not
want to be portrayed in.”
What is the Weirdest Fan Question Ever?
	 “I have more things people say to us
rather than a question they have asked. I
remember one time I actually got offended
by this because I do take pride in saying that
Lee and I plant every one of our acres. We
work our entire farm, we set all of our own tree
sets, more so him than me; I help him, but we
do everything. We don’t have a bunch of people working for us; we work our butts off day and night.
I remember a couple of years ago there was kind of an older guy and he said, “Can I shake your
hand?” We had a big line of people and he kind of did it across the people and I shook his hand and
he was like, so you do have callouses on your hands and your hand looks old, and I was like, really?
You know what these hands are, they are working hands. We don’t have somebody else doing all our
stuff, these are hands that actually every morning and every night get dirty and we work. It struck me
so funny about that because I was like, what do you think my hand would feel like? Do you think I just
sit at home and eat Bon Bons all day long? Lol So I have more weird things people say to us than
questions they ask.”
22 | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | www.huntresslife.com
Concluding
	 Tiffany is an everyday down to earth person with a sweet persona. She has risen from a humble
background with her husband, Lee, to create their dynasty of a Whitetail Deer farm in Iowa. Their life-
style is a dream life to most hunters in America. Although they have a line of jewelry, apparel, DVD’s,
books and novelty items they sell, their life parallels most American’s with family, friends and co-work-
ers. While in the limelight with their TV Show, The Crush, they remain everyday people enjoying living
their dream. Life’s trials, joys and hardships affect them similarly as other hunting families. The only
difference is they work from home outside in diverse weather conditions doing something they both
enjoy. Their fortunate lifestyle is not taken for granted, but greatly appreciated by both of them.
Baby Crush is Here!
	 Welcome “Baby Crush!” We are all looking forward to watching you grow into a young man and
seeing what life has in store for you. Here’s wishing the best to the Crush family and their future endeav-
ors.
(Photos courtesy Tiffany Lakosky)

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Judy Article Review 4-29-15

  • 1. 12 | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | www.huntresslife.com Tiffany Lakosky: From Bucks to Booties for Baby By Judy Erwin Branham Tiffany Lakosky - Deer harvest - Gun
  • 2. www.huntresslife.com | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | 13 W hether “The Crush” is a metaphor for the natural love between Lee and Tiffany or for their way of harvesting game, it has become a popular icon not only for their TV show but also for their newborn baby boy known as “Baby Crush” until his recent birth when they revealed his given name as Cameron Lee Lakosky. Contests on social media revealed the people’s choice for “Baby Crush’s” name according to their Facebook page: “Your responses were amazing and while it looks like Cameron Lee was the most popular re sponse with Marcus Lee second, we may just take these last few weeks to decide and will let you all know! Thank you for being the best and most supportive fans, you have made this special time in our lives even more amazing!” Running into Lee and Tiffany at the 2015 ATA Show became a special conversation about baby plans, hunting plans and arranging a later phone interview to talk about Tiffany’s life and how she be- came a huntress. During the interview we talked about how she and Lee met, her shopping techniques, what life will be like after baby Crush is born and much more. Her sweet disposition and fun-loving per- sonality made for a wonderful laid back conversation where she revealed her fondest wishes for their son’s future and how they plan on including him in everything they currently do without slowing down their schedule; raising him to learn the outdoor lifestyle. She also shared her desires for encouraging other female huntresses. Golden Moose Awards We began talking about the Golden Moose Awards which had just transpired in Las Vegas during the Shot Show 2015. “The Crush” won the same awards they had the previous year for Best Bird Hunting and Best Deer Hunting film categories. Their awesome bird hunting footage showed their black lab, Tank, running slow motion through a body of water away from Tiffany after she gave him a command. The low position of their camera man along with the slow motion tactic gave pause to the audience as Tank ran towards the camera joyfully splashing water everywhere. Seeing his excitement and her joy in the clip gave pleasure to all watching. It was a natural hunting moment and a well-deserved award. Benelli Lee and Tiffany joined forces with Benelli last year which she described as an awesome partner- ship for them as they were able to launch Benelli’s new Over/Under 828U Shotgun. This is a huge deal for them; especially for Lee as he was an upland hunter previous to deer hunting. Tiffany explained with pride: “You know what is funny for us now? I am sure it will be ten times more exciting when we actually have a baby, but for us the biggest thing about winning the award for best bird was how I was so excited we used Tank, our first Lab. He’s four, and I was so excited to see this, I’m just so proud of him! We worked so hard with him, and they work so hard when they’re out there; it’s like at the Gold- en Moose Awards, I wish I could bring him! He is so well trained and will hold anything if we gave him the command. He literally would have picked up that trophy and held it! It would be hilarious. We have another female Lab, her name’s Mattie May; she’s two.” Question: Do you have any special plans with the new Benelli Over/Unders; perhaps certain game that you are going to go after? They are definitely taking them Pheasant hunting. “The gun is absolutely beautiful, but the main thing about being partners with Benelli is they tell us, “We want you to use them,” she explained.
  • 3. 14 | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | www.huntresslife.com With a beautiful gun like the Benelli a person hesitates to take it out because not desiring to scratch it; however Benelli tells Lee and Tiffany to “take it ev- erywhere; we want you to Duck hunt, Pheasant hunt, goose hunt with it…we just want you to use it”. They plan on pheasant hunting next year and according to Tiffany, Lee says, he wants to duck hunt next year also. http://www.benelliusa.com/828u-shotgun Wally Tiffany shot a 190 inch buck on New Year’s Eve 2014 while 7 ½ months pregnant! Her initial reaction was quoted on Whitetail Overload’s Press Release on January 2nd, 2015: “What a way to end the year. Lee, Baby Crush and I closed out 2014 with a BANG! http://whitetailoverload.com/tiffany-lakosky-shoots- monster-190-buck-new-years-eve-pic/ Her largest buck harvest to date, she had been hunting him for three years. She and Lee think he is eight years old! They named him Wally due to his “wall” of tines. They scored his 23 scorable points at 190 inches. What a hog! Congratulations Tiffany! You go girl! Inquiring Minds Want to Know: What Tiffany Carries in her Day Pack Tiffany shared she carries the normal items such as: binoculars, a range finder; all those normal items. However, she explained while hunting in Iowa they hunt all day but do not necessarily stay in the same stand all day. “If we hunted all day long we would kill ourselves by the time the season’s over because we hunt every day from August15th through January 10th. Normally we are not out all day long, but a lot of times we are moving stands and all of that, trying to check trail cameras, trying to figure out where we are going to hunt that afternoon. Even during the rut we have specific spots for our morning stand and afternoon stand, so a lot of times we are down for an hour or two and then we are back in the stand, especially during the rut.” As far as what Tiffany takes out there every time; she described her daypack items: “Well I think all of us are attached to the cell phones anymore. When you are at our house if you are not texting Lee back he thinks you either shot one or you are not where you are supposed to be. So all day long we text, “What do you think? Well, what about the deer? Did you see this one yet? Has one come out yet?” So your cell phone is your life line anymore. And really, to keep you out there all the time for 8 or 9 hours a day, of course I always have my cell phone.” Tiffany also always carries a buckeye for luck. She is superstitious about items for hunting; if she has something that has brought her luck previously she always carries it with her. This year she had her friend’s daughter’s lucky horseshoe in her bag, she had shot her first Elk with it. Tiffany ended up shooting the biggest deer of her life with it in her bag. Now if they go on a trip somewhere Tiffany buy some trinket and give one to Lee and one for herself and it’s kind of a joke, she said. Tiffany Lakosky - Elk harvest - Archery
  • 4. www.huntresslife.com | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | 15 Her Love Story Interesting Facts about Columbia Heights, Minnesota: the 2010 census shows 19,496 people; 3.52 sq miles; Hwy 47 and Hwy 65 run through the city; and it is a suburb of Minneapolis. Tiffany shares about their romance: “Yes, we grew up in Columbia Heights, Minnesota and I used to hang out with one of Lee’s sisters, he has five of them. I met him a long time ago and we didn’t start dating until we were in college.” Question: You took a long time to become friends then? “Oh yeah!” Question: So your hunting mentor basically was Lee? “Yep, still is.” Question: How did you get started in hunting? Did your family hunt; your dad or mom? “No, actually I 100% grew up in a non-hunting family. It’s not like we were against hunting, we just didn’t hunt. We grew up fishing up north in Minnesota, that’s where I’m from. I actually didn’t start hunting until I started dating Lee. At the time he was working at an archery shop, so to see him I would have to go up to the archery shop and hang out with him. Then I started like fletching arrows and he’d put me to work when I was up there. After about two years into the relationship he asked, “Do you want to learn how to shoot a bow?” and I was like, yeah that looks like a lot of fun. It wasn’t like it is now; a woman can walk into an archery shop, pick up a bow and be able to shoot it, but back then it wasn’t like that for women. It was fortunate he was a bow tech and grew up to be tinkering with all that stuff. So he ordered a bow for me and had to short string it and had to put different cams and limbs on it because of my short draw length. To this day he still sets up all of our bows and for many people actually. He’s a bow tech and he just loves it. I just remember I loved to be up there shooting while he was up there working. I would be up there shooting all the time and I shot with a lot of the pro shooters there. That went on for a couple of years and then I still never hunted. He was still hunting and I was a flight Attendant at the time. He would be like, “I’m going to Kansas for three weeks”, and I would be like, “I’m going somewhere for two weeks, have fun!” We’d see each other when we came home. So it was another year or so after that he said do you want to try hunting? And I was like, oh, I don’t know if I could shoot anything. He said that’s okay, if you don’t want to that’s fine. You don’t have to shoot. And then we were out there and the first night out three bucks came out, and the third one I was finally ready to shoot it and it took me that long to get my composure together and my bow together, the yardage and everything, and I like smoked it and have been hooked ever since!” Archery Do you have a specific Archery company you use? “We have been partners with Mathews for a long time and actually that was from years ago be- cause it was hard to find a bow for me. He always said you are not going to shoot anything I wouldn’t shoot myself. Back then they had kid bows and then they had adult men bows. And Mathews was actually the first that came out with a bow that went down to my draw length and was a bow he would shoot too. We have stuck with them from the very beginning.”
  • 5. 16 | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | www.huntresslife.com Do you ever shoot traditional archery? “I have never shot traditional. Lee used to but Lee is more into being able to shoot a far dis- tance. We practice every day at 100 yards and he shoots even farther than that. I can’t get more than 100 yards out of my bow. I wouldn’t be opposed to shooting traditional by any means, but I just never have. Of course Lee grew up shooting traditional but once he got his compound he hasn’t turned back. Fred Eichler does both traditional recurve and compound which is pretty amazing but there are not a lot of people who do that. When we have our nieces and nephews over and we have the Genesis bows here I’ll shoot at the target and Lee is like, “Tiffany, look where your sight is and look where you are shooting,” and I totally miss the target. It’s hard to pay attention to that. It’s a totally different ball game I know. I never had to do that so I would probably be horrible at it. I guess that even our bowfishing bows are compound now. We bowfish for Carp, Alligator, and Gar; I think we are going to go on a bowfishing trip this year for big Alligator and Gar. We have actually hunted gator before with our bows, but we pretty much do everything even when we are not filming our show. It is what we do for fun, it is what we enjoy to do, you know?” Camo “We are with Realtree and have been with them from the very beginning. And actually that’s kind of how we got our start; it was David Blanton who put Lee on the back cover of Monster Buck’s 10 DVD. As far as my hunting clothes I wear Under Armour. And they have been awesome because ev- ery year they are like, “What do you guys like, what do you not like for women and men?” And we go through each item and they make the changes; which is awesome because they actually listen to us. Plans for Baby Crush “In all honesty we will start turkey hunting right away in April. My due date is actually March 20th. I will start turkey hunting in April and we whole heartedly plan on totally having him in the blind with us with our bows and shoot a turkey with him out there. It’s like already he’s been all over the world. I’ll tell you, I’ve had the best years of my life while being pregnant. In May we have a bear hunt to Vancouver Island; he will be only a couple of months old and we will have to get him a passport right away, but my mom will be going on that trip also. The main thing about us is we are so lucky with all the hunts we do because all the places we go are all so wel- coming. People would flip out if we did not have our baby along. They would be mad at us. Oh yeah, he’s already a number in a hunting camp next year and everyone is planning on him being there. Lee will be there, my mom, and we have one camera man who has a wife who can help watch him too while we are hunting. So we are definitely planning on hunting the exact same as we always have just taking him along with us. My mom is the only family who lives here in Iowa with us. Lee’s sisters have never been on any of our hunting trips so they will probably really enjoy that. All of a sudden it occurred to me I have to have him, and I am like wait a minute, this has been really nice so far, and I’m not so sure about giving birth. Six and ½ weeks to go, he already is our whole world and lots of people are very excited to meet him. It has definitely been a blessing for us and has worked out well, and it’s something we enjoy doing.” Tiffany Lakosky - antelope harvest - Archery
  • 6. www.huntresslife.com | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | 17 Baby Crush won’t be Gun Shy “We have had Tank in the blind with us shooting turkeys and that’s one thing I think that is so fun already being pregnant with our little boy. I found out we were pregnant in Argentina, so he is definitely not going to come out gun shy because we shot 800 thousand things over there already. My whole early season and everything he has been with us for all of our hunts and I think we are already starting the hunting tradition with him, you know? And it’s funny, during season here he would move so much more when I was hunting. I was 71/2 months pregnant when I shot my last deer and every time I would see a big one you could just feel him move and he could just feel my excitement, you know? He has gone to sleep with the sound of turkey calls and duck calls. Lol! Even now we will be going out shed hunting with my mom and the dogs.” Domestic Qualities “I love the garden; you see, we are so different because for the last ten to twelve years we are on the road so much, very rarely are we actually home long enough to do a bunch of stuff like that. Especially this year with now having a baby, we plan on growing a garden which was never done be- fore, which is funny because we plant like 800 acres of food plots. I guess that’s a big step; we have never had our own garden because we are not usually home to take care of it. But I love the garden. I love to run outside and am doing a half marathon in July that I am looking forward to. I also love to cook when I am actually home but when we are busy my mom cooks a lot for us.” “You know honestly what I love to do most when I am home, I love to clean.” Question: So you are domestic, and it’s born and breed in you? “Oh yeah, 100 percent! It really is. My mom and Lee’s mom were stay at home moms and that’s what we were raised with. I take pride in having my house clean and we are having guests over. Fortunately I have a mom that can help us out when I can’t do it.” Question: Do you and Lee both cook? “Lee grills and I cook. But Lee is a chemical Engineer so if he decided he wanted to be the new Julia Childs he could totally do it. If he decided he wanted to be a gourmet chef, 1000 % if he put his mind to it he could be a gourmet chef. I think that is what I admire most about him, it doesn’t matter what he is going to do, he is going to do it right and he is going to do it good. He definitely makes me step my game up,” She said with pride in her voice. Question: Do you guys eat a lot of home cooking? “Oh yeah, when we are home that is how we eat. Like I said, I cook venison a lot, but my mom mostly cooks; like last night we had venison tacos. We own property with six different partners and we also have guests come and hunt with us. We don’t take hunters but between our partners and us and our landowners my mom and I do all the cooking during hunting season. This year was the first year, because we had a lot of guests, she actually said I need one of you to shoot a deer because we are out of deer meat. It was funny because that was the first time all the Elk was gone and we had already eaten the deer early on. So we of course obliged her and shot a deer and had it processed. Yeah, everything we eat is venison, elk, or turkey. My favorite was a couple of years ago we went goose hunting and it made the best jerky ever. We were out in Montana and I am like, we have to get back out there to get some more jerky; those boys ate that for weeks. A lot of people don’t like goose but I think it is delicious. It is how you cook it just like anything else; hamburger can also be bad if you cook it wrong.
  • 7. 18 | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | www.huntresslife.com We have my mom do a new recipe every month on our website and last month she did taco venison pie. It’s like now I don’t even like the taste of beef because we are so used to eating venison. You get used to it and it is way healthier. The wildlife eat corn, beans, alfalfa, clover and turnips on our farm.” http://thecrush.tv/news/crush-kitchen-recipe-venison-taco-pie The Crush TV Show Question: Your TV presence is just wonderful the way you tease back and forth with Lee, it’s just good homey Americana…just good TV. “Well, I appreciate that, you know the thing is, it’s not made up and we always try to be re- spectful to one another and if you film us 365 days a year you are going to see some of that stuff.” Questions: Your personalities show through, you are just the sweet American gal, everything you’ve told me just all falls together. I can see your show is such a good example for younger people wanting to hunt. Some of the shows are a little too gory for me. The younger crowds are drawn to dif- ferent things, and I’m kind of old school and drawn more to the homey, laid back family oriented type shows and I am not drawn to the newer younger verbalizing they do with game. “That is why we show what we show; we try to always be respectful to each other and to the animal that we are hunting. I’m younger and I don’t like to see that, so there are certain things we make sure we never show on our TV show. Hunters, if they are out there having fun that is great. You try to be respectful, it is definitely not for everybody and I can respect people not liking hunting as that is their choice, but I feel like hunting is also our choice to be out there doing what we are doing. I also respect they do not want it shoved in their face, you know?” http://thecrush.tv/ Tiffany on Setting an Example “It’s interesting how one person sets an example and others come along and say, it looks like she is having a lot of fun, maybe I ought to try that, you know? It kind of opens the doors to try things they might not necessarily have tried before,” says Tiffany Lakosky of the Outdoor Channels TV show “The Crush”. Ironically she seems to be the one setting that example for other female hunters these days. Many women such as Eva Shockey have good things to say about Tiffany: “Tiffany was the first person in the hunting industry to welcome me with open arms when I was getting started years ago. Not only did she make me feel welcome, but since then we have become great friends. She has been inspiring to me and so many other female hunters over the course of her career; the hunting world is lucky to have her,” Eva stated. Tiffany’s mom stated: “There are so many areas that I have pride in Tiffany’s accomplishments. Probably what I’m most proud of though is that she still is just Tiffany. No changes with all that they have been awarded in who or how she is. She has stayed true to herself and believes totally in what she and Lee do and how they live. She is a kind and loving person and so very grateful for everything they have. I have two granddaughters, so I am super excited to add a grandson to our family! Grandchildren are the best gift in life!!! They bring such pure joy to my heart!”
  • 8. www.huntresslife.com | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | 19 Favorite Hunting Choices – Climbing the Ladder of Success She hesitated thinking…”That’s a tough one because we came from Minnesota without a dime to our name and literally I have to hand it all to my husband, he created just a dynasty down here of property, partners, land, deer; I mean it’s pretty amazing with what we started with and what we have now, so my favorite game to hunt has definitely got to be deer in Iowa; however, we love Elk hunting. You know how they say there is no place like home, but we love it when we get to go Elk hunting too. We have Elk hunted in Colorado, Yukon, Mexico, and Montana last year. It is like turkey hunting where the enjoyment will shake you to your core. You should try to do it sometime if you have nev- er done it.” Iowa- Home Sweet Home “We love Iowa, they still have the Bethlehem in the yard at the schools and still say the Pledge of Allegiance in the morning, and it is just so nice and still kind of unaffected by a lot of the happen- ings of the world.” Question: What kind of things do you en- joy? Shopping with girlfriends or your mom? “No, I really don’t, I love it when we are finally home. Any shopping I do is up in a tree stand on a cell phone; it’s Amazon and I have it delivered to our house. But for me the closest place to go shopping is like an hour and a half away, so by the time I drive an hour and a half and shop for an hour, then drive an hour and a half, back I’m like, Oh my gosh, I could be outside or I could be helping Lee on the tractor…there are so many other things I would rather be doing than being in a Mall. I used to enjoy it a lot but now my favorite thing is going shed hunting this time of year every day. I love just being outside; it is a joy.” Community Service Done “The Crush” Way “In July I am doing a marathon after the baby is born to get back into shape. As far as com- munity service, straight up not really. We don’t have a schedule that is good for that, just a straight up volunteer. Now this summer I might. There are some things I would like to do to help around the community. We help in a lot of other ways in our community, but normally we are not home enough consecutive days to plan that into our schedule. We donate a lot of items to our local 4H and our local Hunter Safety Classes, and the Mayor of Salem looks to us for a lot of donations and a lot of things we do for our community and our Police Department. We have also taken a couple of kids hunting that have had cancer in the past but a lot of times our schedule isn’t great for that. When you think of the number of appearances we do normally we would be going to Harrisburg right now which is a nine day show. So you have a day on either end of that for travel, two days if we take the bus; so your talking two solid weeks out and by the time you get home it would be right on the ball straight up to Pheasant Fest and NWTF and all those shows. You really only have a day or two home before each time you’re right back out on the road. I still feel good and as long as I feel good they say that is probably why I have had as good of a pregnancy as I have because I have stayed active and doing the same things I have always done and the more I move the better I feel. And they say it will be easier to come back right after I have the baby.” (Well, we now know she and baby Cameron are both doing fine. He was born March 26th, 2015 at 4:43 p.m.; weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz, and was 21 inches long) Tiffany Lakosky - Deer harvest - Archery
  • 9. 20 | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | www.huntresslife.com I would say marathons, donating to 4H, Hunter Safety Classes, local Police and community, tak- ing sick children hunting and more is great community service. Tiffany’s humbleness about these ac- tions made it seem like it is just part of their everyday lifestyle and was not considered doing anything extra. It just seemed an everyday way of life to them. Great work Lee and Tiffany! Tell me something nobody else knows: Life’s Trials “A lot of people don’t know I had open heart surgery twelve years ago and I had a stroke, that’s how they found out I had a hole in my heart. It was a little hole I was born with that never closed up. And we were at the ATA Show seven days after my heart surgery. A lot of people don’t know about that, that’s kind of crazy”. Question: That is something other female hunters will be interested in because it shows how tough you are. “That is contributed back to my mom, my toughness,” Tiffany said. Mom Crush Tiffany’s mom discovered she had stage 4 breast cancer in October 1994. Most people would say that diagnosis would change your life forever. Her life would really change ten days after hearing that news her husband, and love of her life died suddenly in their living room from a massive heart attack at the age of 47. “Cancer seemed like a small hiccup compared to dealing with the loss. Four weeks after bury- ing my husband I had a mastectomy, then 6 months of chemotherapy and then 12 weeks of radiation. I am cancer free today and blessed in so many, many ways,” Tiffany’s mom described this trial in her life. It is understandable why Tiffany describes her mom as tough. Question: So your mom does hunt some? “Oh yeah, my mom shot a great buck with her cross bow this year, she shot a turkey last year (2014) on Mother’s Day, yeah she goes out. That meant so much more to us than either Lee or I shooting one.” Kindness from “The Crush” Question: You guys take so much time with everybody that comes through the line. You are re- laxed and pleasant, and you look right into people’s eyes and let them know you care about what they want to ask you. I am really appreciative of that as there are some celebrities who rush you through. “Well, those people are who allow us to do our job and so if people want to take 30 seconds or they want to take 5 minutes with us we are going to give them that time because: A: We enjoy listen- ing to what they are talking about and B: They allow us to do what we do. They are basically our boss so we try to be as gracious as we can and we know we are super fortunate to be able to do what we are doing and we don’t take it for granted.”
  • 10. www.huntresslife.com | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | 21 Encouraging Other Female Hunters Question: What would you tell a young female hunter to encourage her? “When people are in line and they say, I am so nervous to try it, I say just go ahead and try it you might like it. I think so many people are just kind of scared of the unknown so I am like, “Just try it, look at me, I never tried hunting and now I am a diehard hunter.” So it might be something that is life changing. Look at my mom, she had never hunted before until she went down here in Iowa and now I look at the confidence it has given her, the comradery with people it has given her; you guys just try it, take a chance you might like it.” Question: You are such a great role model for other female hunters, are there certain things that you are particular about being in the eye of the media? Or what means the most to you reference being a role model to other female hunters? “Yes, actually the way I dress, I always think, would I want my little girl to see that? So anytime I am on film it’s like, what I might necessarily wear to the beach normally or what I might necessarily wear bowfishing might not be the same thing. But I realize that there are a bunch of little girls looking up to me and I take it very, very seriously. Anytime we are out, even at concerts and stuff I always try to conduct myself in a way realizing that there are people watching, especially now when there is so- cial media. A lot of times we might be on a date or something but I am still going to be dressed appro- priately because there are so many fans out there and so many people watching all the time that I just don’t want to be taken in the wrong context. So I have always tried to conduct myself with that in mind thinking, okay, if my mom were here would I be wearing that? If the answer is no then I do not do it. We have always tried taking that seriously, and Lee is no different. Years ago on our show they deleted all the swear words and we thought was that really necessary? Yes, there are kids watching let’s delete that out. Obviously we get some of that stuff sometimes because we film all of the time, so we make sure that does not enter the show. Our film guys are so great that they never portray us in a light that we do not want to be portrayed in.” What is the Weirdest Fan Question Ever? “I have more things people say to us rather than a question they have asked. I remember one time I actually got offended by this because I do take pride in saying that Lee and I plant every one of our acres. We work our entire farm, we set all of our own tree sets, more so him than me; I help him, but we do everything. We don’t have a bunch of people working for us; we work our butts off day and night. I remember a couple of years ago there was kind of an older guy and he said, “Can I shake your hand?” We had a big line of people and he kind of did it across the people and I shook his hand and he was like, so you do have callouses on your hands and your hand looks old, and I was like, really? You know what these hands are, they are working hands. We don’t have somebody else doing all our stuff, these are hands that actually every morning and every night get dirty and we work. It struck me so funny about that because I was like, what do you think my hand would feel like? Do you think I just sit at home and eat Bon Bons all day long? Lol So I have more weird things people say to us than questions they ask.”
  • 11. 22 | Huntress Life Magazine May/June 2015 | www.huntresslife.com Concluding Tiffany is an everyday down to earth person with a sweet persona. She has risen from a humble background with her husband, Lee, to create their dynasty of a Whitetail Deer farm in Iowa. Their life- style is a dream life to most hunters in America. Although they have a line of jewelry, apparel, DVD’s, books and novelty items they sell, their life parallels most American’s with family, friends and co-work- ers. While in the limelight with their TV Show, The Crush, they remain everyday people enjoying living their dream. Life’s trials, joys and hardships affect them similarly as other hunting families. The only difference is they work from home outside in diverse weather conditions doing something they both enjoy. Their fortunate lifestyle is not taken for granted, but greatly appreciated by both of them. Baby Crush is Here! Welcome “Baby Crush!” We are all looking forward to watching you grow into a young man and seeing what life has in store for you. Here’s wishing the best to the Crush family and their future endeav- ors. (Photos courtesy Tiffany Lakosky)