Tyler Toney of Dude Perfect is one of the most recognizable faces on YouTube.
But after building a 61-million subscriber empire, the bearded stuntman is looking to the outdoors for a quieter path forward.
In this exclusive, unfiltered Hook & Barrel Magazine cover story, the born-and-bred Texan trades Dude Perfect’s massive 50,000-square-foot Frisco headquarters for the Texas Hill Country sun.
From the high-stakes launch of Dude Perfect Outdoors to the truth behind plans for a permanent Dude Perfect destination, Toney is ready to redefine the values of the modern outdoorsman.
READ MORE: Steve Harvey Hooking Kids on Fishing and Brighter Futures
Finding the Modern Outdoorsman on YouTube
No disrespect to outdoor television, but the modern outdoorsman isn’t watching like they used to.
The fact is, this generation that came up watching short-form videos on the internet isn’t sitting down on Saturday morning to spend an hour with many of the traditional personalities. Most don’t watch television at all.
Instead, they’re watching a bunch of YouTubers teach their Gen Z intern how to clean a dove for comedic effect. The time-tested message of hard work, camaraderie and conservation remains the same. It’s just being delivered in a way younger generations relate to.
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“The modern outdoorsman is someone who’s adapted to modern technology, while still upholding those original values of what it means to be an outdoorsman and a conservationist at heart,” says Tyler Toney, aka “Beard,” the de facto front man for Dude Perfect and the engine behind the group’s latest venture, 'Dude Perfect Outdoors'. “He’s using technology in ways that can relate to more people and capture a bigger audience.”
Dude Perfect Outdoors might not be the hunting and fishing shows we watched as youngsters on Saturday mornings. And that’s exactly the point.
The newest project from Dude Perfect aims to introduce hunting and fishing to a new generation, showing kids who grew up on screens the beauty of the outdoors.
The irony of a group of guys who made their careers on YouTube trying to get people off screens isn’t lost on Toney.
As Tyler explained to Hook & Barrel, Dude Perfect want their viewers to stop watching and go outside.
How the Biblical Values Shaped Dude Perfect
Dude Perfect can afford for their viewers to put their phones down. Since launching in 2009, the group has amassed over 61 million YouTube subscribers, building one of the largest creator empires in history with movies, a national tour, merchandise and two generations of fans.
The first generation started with a 2009 viral video called “Backyard Edition,” where Toney and his four partners—Cody Jones, Garrett Hilbert, and twins Coby and Cory Cotton—performed basketball trick shots with increasing difficulty. They begin with a simple no-look shot and finish by hitting a basket on a moving truck from a rooftop. To date, it has more than 45 million views.
“Because of the way that the five of us grew up, and the Biblical principles that we try to live our lives by, it's fine for a kid to watch.”
The group gained worldwide fame for their online stunts, breaking the world record for the longest trick shot twice—first from the third deck of Texas A&M’s Kyle Field, and then in 2023 from the top of the Las Vegas Stratosphere, an incredible 856 feet.
The next generation of fans—and now its largest—is the children of the people who watched their videos in college.
“We didn’t set out to make videos that 4- or 5-year-olds would enjoy,” Toney admits. “But it just so happened that because of the way that the five of us grew up, and the Biblical principles that we try to live our lives by, it's fine for a kid to watch.”
How Tyler Toney's Love of the Outdoors Started
For Toney, who was a Wildlife Ecology major at Texas A&M, the outdoors seemed like the perfect vehicle.
“I grew up hunting and fishing in the Texas Hill Country, learning from my two grandpas and my dad and my uncle. And I realized what a valuable experience that was for me growing up,” he says.
“Things like hard work, being able to deal with adversity and fixing things on the fly, or that nature isn’t fair. And now that I’ve got three boys, this platform seemed like a great way for me to be able to share that with them.”
But don’t expect Dude Perfect’s usual loud, irreverent antics on their outdoors channel. The content—only a handful of videos so far—feels almost like a behind-the-scenes look at what the guys do when they’re not being Dude Perfect.
Not that their on-screen personas aren’t genuine, but the guys you see in Dude Perfect videos still seem like college kids making backyard trick shots. The men in Dude Perfect Outdoors videos are grown-ups, more of who they are when the cameras aren’t rolling.
“If you look at some of the comments, it’s like, OK, this is a grown-up version of Dude Perfect, and it’s going back to that audience that grew up with us,” Toney says. “I’m not screaming as loud; it’s a chance to just be ourselves. It’s just a different piece of content, geared maybe toward someone who started out with us and is now 25-40 years old. It’s really cool to be able to see your fans grow up with you.”
Dude Perfect Goes Outdoors
Though Toney and his Dudes wouldn’t label themselves as icons of the modern outdoorsman, they’re merging new media with outdoor life in ways that haven’t been seen before. At least, not on the scale Dude Perfect is capable of producing.
Dude Perfect Outdoors’ first video, titled “Dude Perfect Takes Intern on First Hunt,” finds the Dudes taking their 20-year-old intern Jackson on, as the name implies, his first dove hunt.
Over the course of the video, Jackson warms to the peace of the outdoors and the camaraderie of the hunt. It’s an almost-heartwarming look at how the screen-struck intern gains a love for the sport, with some toned-down Dude Perfect humor thrown in.
“We’re doing it the same as guys like Jeff Foxworthy were doing back in the day,” Toney says, “I think it just looks different with things like trail cams and video.”
To be specific, one of the most memorable shots from DPO’s first video is from a camera mounted at the end of Jackson’s shotgun, looking down the barrel toward the shooter. As he fires, we see his body movements and, more importantly, his reactions.
The comedic highlight occurs when Toney teaches Jackson how to clean doves in the field, which feels more like an episode of “Fear Factor” than anything on the Outdoor Channel.
“It’s a little tougher when you can’t just go to the grocery store and get your meat pre-packaged, huh?” Toney teases as the young intern gingerly pries a breast plate apart. When the plate breaks, Jackson drops the bird as if it were about to bite him. The Dudes erupt with laughter.
“The cleaning was the worst part for me,” Jackson tells the camera. He’s rewarded for his bravery with a sunset cookout of dove fajitas and dove kebabs.
Why Dude Perfect Outdoors Is for Everyone
Dude Perfect relies on its relatable brand to attract younger viewers, showing that everyone can have fun outdoors.
“I think one of the things we’re trying to focus on in our early stages is some more simple, how-to kind of stuff,” Toney says. “When people watch a Dude Perfect Outdoors video of duck hunting, and a bunch of the comments say, ‘Oh, cool, I’d love to go duck hunting, how do I get into that?’ we want to provide the next step to getting them to become an outdoorsman.”
Toney points to duck calls—the subject of another of DPO’s first videos—as an example.
“A 12-year-old kid who wants to learn how to duck call doesn’t need to go spend $400,” he continues. “We should have a duck call that’s affordable, and Dude Perfect can provide that duck call.”
For now, Dude Perfect Outdoors is taking its launch slowly, releasing about one video a month, mostly during hunting and fishing trips Toney already takes. These trips include spiny lobster diving in Mexico, elk hunting in Montana and a big-game hunt in South Africa.
Tyler Toney Hints at Permanent Dude Perfect Destination
“It’s a chance to reset, refresh and just kind of get outside. Now, I’m just bringing a camera crew along,” he says. “One of my hesitations was if we’re having to go film and do pickups and stuff like that, it takes some of the fun out of it. It becomes a job. So, we’re taking it really slow. Next year, we’ll be focusing more on collaborations with other creators in the outdoor space.”
Regarding Dude Perfect productions, this summer the guys will be back on their Squad Games Tour from late June to early August, mainly in the Southeast and Midwest. There are also plans for a “destination” where fans can enjoy many of the Dude Perfect adventures firsthand.
“What does the Dude Perfect destination look like for families to come to? We should have some big news coming out on that soon... where people will be able to experience stuff they've watched us doing for 17 years.”
“Up until this point, the Dude Perfect brand has been very reliant on the five guys’ talent, so we’re looking now at what does the Dude Perfect brand look like beyond the five guys?” Toney asks rhetorically.
“What does the Dude Perfect destination look like for families to come to? We should have some big news coming out on that soon, on where people will be able to go and experience stuff that they’ve watched us doing in videos for 17 years, and do it as a family.”
Toney didn’t say “theme park,” but, well, if it sounds like a duck…