Oregon native Trent Fisher is a passionate hunter and filmmaker. In 2007, he, his brothers, and their friends founded Born and Raised Outdoors, a popular outdoor media company that shares the candid bowhunting experience.
Trent has generations of outdoor knowledge to share and reveals the real challenges and triumphs of hunting through his work. We’re thrilled to have him as our newest brand ambassador.
Archery in the Blood
Hunting runs deep in Trent’s family tree. His earliest memories revolve around archery, with his father playing a pioneering role in the sport’s development.
“My father was the one who actually invented archery shoots,” Trent says. His dad created targets by gluing cardboard together, cutting out animal shapes, and placing them in the woods for people to shoot at — an innovation that evolved into organized competitions like Total Archery Challenge.
Unlike many hunters who start with firearms, Trent started with a bow. He didn’t touch a rifle until he was about 16 years old. Before he was old enough to hunt himself, he accompanied his father on numerous trips, learning firsthand how to care for harvested meat and share it with family — lessons that established the foundation of his hunting philosophy.
From Chainsaw to Camera: A Logger’s Evolution
Trent’s connection to the outdoors goes beyond hunting.
“I grew up in the timber industry,” he explains. “My dad fell timber all his life. Grandpa fell timber. My uncles fell timber.” In the summer, the family often camped near job sites, allowing Trent to explore the woods while his father worked.
For 18 years, Trent followed in his family’s footsteps, working in the timber industry before making the leap to full-time content creation. The Oregon landscape provided the perfect backdrop for this transition, offering many different ecosystems from rainforests to high deserts all within driving distance.
“I've always loved where I live as far as being able to do anything just out your back door,” Trent says of his home state.
Showing Raw Reality in a World of Staged Hunts
Born and Raised Outdoors began in 2007 with a simple premise: share authentic hunting content that contrasted with the staged, theatrical productions dominating the market.
Using his brother Trevor’s dental school loan money, the Fisher brothers purchased their first camera. It was a far cry from today’s technology, but it was enough to start their journey.
"Our goal was to shoot elk with a bow and capture the real emotion of hunting," Trent explains. While balancing regular jobs, they hunted every day after work and throughout weekends.
Success didn’t come easily, but persistence paid off. After weeks without results, they harvested four elk in the final four days of the season, cementing their belief that anyone can achieve the seemingly impossible with enough determination.
This experience shaped Born and Raised: a brotherhood pursuing challenging goals that often seem unreachable, like taking down a 750-pound animal with a bow (or, as Trent calls it, “a modified stick”). The organization has since grown into a respected name in outdoor media, known for its unfiltered portrayal of the hunting experience.
Hard Work and Honest Living: The Fisher Family Way
Two core values shape all Trent’s pursuits: work ethic and honesty.
Teaching his children the value of hard work has always been his top priority, even as he went from falling timber to running a media company. "The harder you work, the more you climb up the chain," he believes, a principle that’s guided him since childhood and one he’s determined to pass down to the next generation.
The change from showering after work to before it (i.e., from physical labor to mental challenges) has only caused him to double down on his commitment to hard work. While cutting timber allowed him to mentally “turn it off” at the end of a long day, running a business means “you don’t ever get a chance to turn it off.”
Honesty is Trent’s second guiding principle, rooted in his Christian background. “Treat others like you want to be treated," he says. He believes in remembering where you came from and never looking down on others. "Everybody was in the trenches at one point."
Why MKC?
Trent’s partnership with Montana Knife Company developed through a connection with founder Josh Smith. “Once you know his story and once you hear the hardships that he went through as well, it’s so hard not to glob onto that,” he explains.
Trent approaches partnerships as friendships first and foremost. "All of our sponsors and partners, we're friends with," he says, noting that they share meals and attend each other’s family events. Josh welcomed Trent into his home during their first meeting, establishing a connection that goes beyond business.
When it comes to MKC products, Trent favors the Stoned Goat knife. Its lightweight design pairs with a longer blade that suits his elk hunting needs perfectly. “Elk are big animals,” he explains, and he appreciates that long, lightweight, multipurpose blades can complete various tasks, from skinning to breaking down bones to quartering.
New Adventures on the Horizon
Trent’s continued work with Born and Raised Outdoors focuses on capturing candid hunting experiences and championing ethical hunting practices. His recent visit to Montana to meet with Josh and the MKC team hints at exciting collaborations to come, possibly including a custom knife that merges his field experience with MKC’s high-quality craftsmanship.
As Trent says, his partnership with MKC involves “good people working together,” and when that happens, “good things will happen every time.”
Keep Up With Trent
Want to keep up with Trent’s outdoor adventures? Here’s where you can find him:
-
Instagram: @trent_bornandraised
-
YouTube: Born and Raised Outdoors
-
Website: Born and Raised Outdoors