Leno is Kool
On November 30 of 2005 I had an invitation to do "love sick moose calls" on the Tonight Show.
It was a hoot to see if I could impress Ed Asner.
Those city folks had never seen or heard a love sick cow moose calling the bull.
I took a metal bucket and a squeeze bottle full or water on stage. Jay Leno asked me what I was going to do to impress Ed, and I told him I was doing a love-sick cow moose call.
He then asked me what I was going to do with the bucket and water bottle, and I told him that a love-sick cow moose bawled and peed, and that was what I was going to do.
I made a couple of long passionate bawls and squeezed the water into the bucket. The stage manager had the bucket "miked" so it was easy to hear it.
Needless to say, those city folks were astounded at such a display of talent. I did impress Ed and won the competition hands down. I thought Ed was going to fall out of his chair.
It was the first time that I have ever seen Jay Leno at a loss for words.
I had a kool time in Hollywood. They treated me like some sort of celebrity. I was picked up in a long shiny black limo and stayed in the Universal Sheraton. It was an all expense paid trip.
I have had many ask me what kind of a dude Jay Leno was. They asked if he really was a regular guy or some high snooting big shot.
He came down to my dressing room before the show and spent a good 45 minutes talking and just taking time to get to know me. You would never have known he was some one as high up in show business as he is.
He has never forgotten his roots and still considers himself to be just a regular guy.
Just so you know, he is everything in real life as he is on TV.
I gave him an autographed copy of my book and a moose shoulder blade that I used for scrapping brush, to call in the big bull moose.
He, in turn, sent me a copy of a picture of him and I ,that was taken on stage.
I also met Howard Dean( big deal huh), and Felicity Huffman from "Desperate Housewives".
After the show, the driver opened the door of the limo. I looked inside and said,"Wow, I think I could get at least four in there!" He said, "Why no, Sir, that will hold at least 15 people."
I said, "I'm not talking about people, I'm talking about bagged moose."
He was astonished, and asked,"Why would you want to put bagged moose in there?"
I looked him in the eye and asked, "Have you ever tried to pack one of those big critters on your back?"
His reply was, "Well, I guess not."
He was relatively quiet after that, but did take me on a side trip through Tensile Town. He was excited to show me the side walk with all of the hand prints of the stars. I responded with a statement of how those hand prints weren't anything compared to a big grizzly track in the mud.
I have also been asked how in thunder I managed to get an invitation to be on the Tonight Show in the first place.
I suppose just being in the right place at the right time.
A few years ago I was attending a conference of The North American Moose Foundation, in Park City, Utah.
Just for a joke my friends talked me into doing a moose call on stage. It was a ridiculous event that left the crowd rolling on the floor.
When the Tonight Show was looking for someone to do a moose call, they called the Moose Foundation. The Moose Foundation gave them my phone number, and I got a call. Simple, huh?
I have a picture of me and Big Dog on my web site, www.shadowmountainoutdoors.com if you would like a peek.