Country singer Parker McCollum says the traditions that shaped his own childhood on Texas ranchland are the ones he wants to hand down to his two young sons.
McCollum, who welcomed his second son with wife Hallie Ray in July, recently spent several days at the family ranch with his oldest boy, 2-year-old Major. In an exclusive interview with OutKick OutDoors, McCollum described bringing the toddler along while he worked.
“I was taking him with me to kind of, you know, just do some ranch stuff,” McCollum said. “He can’t really. He just kind of stands out there and pulls grass out of the ground while I’m working or whatever.”
Major isn’t old enough to be much help yet, but McCollum says he recognizes the moment because he lived it himself as a boy.
“I remember those days so vividly,” he said. “My dad would get me out of school early on a Friday to go down to the lease or the ranch or whatever, and we would let it rip all weekend. And a lot of times it was just him and I. To say that I look forward to doing that for him and with him is an understatement.”
A lifetime around hunting and ranching
Hunting has been part of McCollum’s life since early childhood. In a 2022 interview with NRA Country, the Texas native recalled going bird hunting with his father around age 8, carrying a single-shot .410 shotgun, and named his dad among his favorite hunting partners.
His attachment to the outdoors took hold even earlier than that. In a 2024 interview with Audacy, McCollum remembered crying as a young boy when his father and other relatives left for hunting trips without him because he was too young to tag along. Once he was finally old enough, he said he was hooked.
That upbringing wasn’t limited to deer season. McCollum spent summers working cattle, branding steers and helping run his grandfather’s ranch alongside his cousins.
Slowing down on purpose
Now, with a music career that keeps him on the road and two small children at home, McCollum says carving out unhurried time outdoors has become harder — and more necessary.
“There is nothing I love more than sitting in a tree in East Texas or South Texas or the Midwest. Even if you don’t see a dadgum deer,” he told OutKick OutDoors. “There’s just something about it that’s so good for your soul.”
He said family trips to the ranch are deliberately unstructured.
“Our whole intention was just slowing it down and turning it off and just spending time as a family, and no agenda,” he said. “We wake up late and cook breakfast, and hunt in the evenings, and crockpot dinner, and ride around.”
McCollum hopes that pace, and the habit of stepping away from everyday demands, is what sticks with Major and his younger brother, Rocker, as they grow up.
“Don’t ever get so busy or worried about other stuff that you forget to do this.”
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