Rooted in Whitetail With Chris Bee

At 10 years old, Chris Bee didn’t just tag his first buck, he started down a path that would define him forever. Most boys at that age have dreams of being a pro athlete or a firefighter, but after that first buck, there was nothing else that seemed plausible for Chris outside of being a whitetail hunter. For him, it was more than just passion for the pursuit—bowhunting was now a way of life and there was no shaking that.

Growing up, Chris continued to hone his skills as a bowman, eventually competing at the collegiate level and beginning his journey as a content creator. If you go back and watch the early video blogs of Chris at Michigan State, it’s easy to see how he got where he is now. Before the Alaskan moose hunt videos with over a million views, there was a young 20 year-old who was a decade into his dream and just getting started. Most college kids were going to class in between parties, but Chris was steadfast in his mission—understanding that his time was worth way more than any one night out.

At this point, Chris's insane work ethic was the sole reason he was starting to gain traction online. Every day was seen as a new opportunity to film a video, sharpen his craft, and seize every minute that was allotted in a day. As the Chris Bee name got out there more and more, his content style began to take a more defined shape. Chris didn’t want to create overly polished hunt videos that you’d see on cable television—he was going to show hunting at its rawest, realest form. This perspective is exactly what YouTube viewers were looking for, and after crossing 350,000 subscribers on his channel, Chris set his sights on an even loftier goal: creating a whitetail hunting haven in Iowa.

For Chris, Iowa represents the pinnacle of whitetail hunting. Moving there would be the fulfillment of a dream to hunt the species in its purest form with large, mature whitetails in unpressured environments. He describes Iowa as freedom—the open roads, gravel on the truck, and the anticipation of November mornings with the sound of a buck’s snort-wheeze cutting through the crisp air. Between the food plots, trail cameras, history, and strategy, this vision wouldn’t just be about big antlers for Chris, it would be about immersing himself in the complete whitetail story. That means getting back to work, by diving even deeper into this passion and coming out the other side with a clear understanding of the dedication it would take to pull it off.

It took years—you could argue decades—to make this vision a reality. What has it cost? Absolutely everything. In one way or another, every minute of every day since that first buck when he was 10 has been spent working towards these whitetail dreams. But last year, after all the sweat, all the sacrifices, and all the pitfalls, these dreams were realized. Chris officially owns and manages a whitetail property in Iowa, focusing his intense work ethic to cultivate the land and create a nurturing environment for the wild deer population.

It’s a labor of deep commitment that only flourishes if you put everything you have into it, and Chris’s track record proves he's up to the task. He knows every inch of this property, every deer that crosses the lines, and every track that appears in the soil. The videos he produces on this land seem especially personal, like he’s letting you into the greatest aspect of who he is.

Chris might have summited one mountain, but a new horizon has opened in front of him with his toughest ambition still ahead. He isn’t focused on building his personal legacy, but Chris sees his role as contributing to the growth and preservation of archery and bowhunting. He wants to use his platform to inspire, educate, and encourage people to chase their own dreams—whether that’s a 100-inch buck or a lifelong goal unrelated to hunting. That’ll take a lot of work, but we know Chris will give it whatever it takes.