Parker McCollum is a proud Texan with a classic ranching and rodeo upbringing, who manages to exist on mainstream country radio as a singer whose life isn’t quite the truck-bed/field party revel that much of country music would have you believe. His music incorporates blues, roots rock, soul and folk rock, and his slow, sad country love songs show him to be a true romantic. Parker has been in the music industry since a very young age, selling out famous Texas venues such as Billy Bob’s Texas and Nutty Brown Amphitheatre, as well as playing for 73,000 people at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo in 2022; in 2022, he also received the ACM Award for Best New Male Artist.
When Parker isn’t writing or touring, you can find him out hunting or fishing. Between Parker’s writing and touring, NRA Country’s Lisa Supernaugh got a minute to speak with him about his hunts, his new song “Handle On You” and what he is up to next. Parker might go against the grain, but he is as real as it gets in his music and songwriting. If you want to learn more about him, his music and tour schedule, check it all out at parkermccollum.com. You won’t be disappointed in this young patriot and outdoorsman.
LS: Tell us about your first hunting experience. How old were you and who was it with?
PM: My first-ever hunting experience was bird hunting with my dad. I don’t even remember how old I was. I think I had to be eight. We went bird hunting and I got to shoot my little single-shot .410, which was pretty cool.
LS: When you go hunting, do you go out with your band? Other artists? Or is there someone else that is your hunting buddy?
PM: I hunt with my cousins a lot. Hunt with my dad a lot. My dad is probably by biggest hunting buddy. Hunter Redman, one of my best friends. Koe Wetzel, one of my best friends. Jake Murphy, one of my best friends. Hunt with them all the time. I feel like we all kind of have that same passion for it.
LS: You’ve said that George Strait is your idol, but if you had one person you could meet in history, who would that be?
PM: In all of history, dead or alive? Probably Elvis.
LS: You recently had a big elk hunt at the Aught Six Ranch in Colorado; tell us a little about that.
PM: The Aught Six Ranch was phenomenal. It’s low fence, free range. Perfectly managed elk on that ranch. There’s just no other place in the world like it. It’s the best elk hunting in the world and you can’t pay to hunt there. It’s friends and family only, so it’s very exclusive.
LS: Do you have a favorite firearm? If so, what?
PM: My favorite firearm is my lever-action .30-30. My grandad had one his entire life and the one I bought is my favorite gun I’ve ever had.
LS: What does freedom and the Second Amendment mean to you?
PM: Freedom to me is the ability to think and decide for yourself, to live the kind of life you want to live. And I think it’s so important at the very start of this country they put that amendment into place to allow citizens to protect themselves from a tyrannical government. I know it seems old-school, like that was a long time ago, but with the crazy world we are living in today, it seems more relevant and necessary than ever.
LS: What hunting adventure is next for you, Parker?
PM: My next hunting adventure will be bow hunting East Texas trophy whitetail bucking doe at our ranch in Crockett, Texas, and I cannot wait to go.
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