Ep. 103: Answering Your Questions (LIVE), Part 1
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As a guide and hunter, I've spent thousands of days in the field. This show is about translating my hard-won experiences into tips and tactics that'll get you closer to your ultimate goal, success in the field. I'm Remy Warren. This is Cutting the Distance.

Thank you guys so much for coming. I'm pretty excited because this is if you listen to Cutting the Distance podcast, this will be the first one where I've actually had other people on it besides myself just talking. So thank you guys. This is like a first for me and I'm pretty excited about that.

So for those listening to the cutting the distance right now, we're at the, we're at the Pope and Young Club convention in Reno, Nevada. It's the 60th anniversary this year. And there's some incredible animals. A lot of the one, the exhibit thing that I've been looking at the most is the mule deer. Oh man, just some nice mule deer, some good elk. And yeah, it's pretty cool to get so many bow hunters here together. So I'm going to open it up and I just want to do kind of like an

Any kind of questions and answers, any questions you have about anything. I mean, my specialty is bow hunting, Western big game hunting, public land hunting. But I mean, if you've got a question, I'm sure I can find an answer for you. I'm not going to tell you it's a right answer, but I think most of them are pretty correct. So I want to open it up. Let's maybe start with somebody that came the furthest. What's who's come from? Where's the furthest that somebody's come from Atlanta? That's pretty far.

Welcome to my hometown of Reno, Nevada. Except right now, I said this the other night, we're in Sparks. So if this is like, if you're having a bad experience, blame Sparks, not Reno. Do you got, if you have a question or anything, if you don't, don't feel the pressure to open it up for us, but just curious where some other people might be. I have one. Yeah. Based on your experience, which Western state is the most friendly to non-residents?

Which Western state is the most friendly to non-residents? From the standpoint of sharing their tags. From the standpoint of tag availability or... That's on residents specifically. Yeah, I mean, that's a really good question. I think it just depends on...

the way that you look at it. I mean, like my home state here in Nevada, I think is really good because they have dedicated non-resident tags. So whereas some other states you're in a pool, but you can only draw a certain percentage where it's like, Hey, there's tags allocated to non-residents, which I think is pretty cool because there's a sheep tag that you know is going to go to a non-resident where many states you might apply and say, I'm applying in a non-resident pool. They can draw up to 10%. You're in the same pool as everyone else. And

you're out and it doesn't matter if the first three people, three units got a non-resident, your choice might not ever even get looked at. And so I kind of dislike that approach. Now, when it comes to maybe planning a hunt, uh, States that offer over the counter tags, I would say that's really, you know, amicable to non-residents. So, um, for elk, when it comes to elk, you know, you've got Colorado, which has probably the most over the counter opportunities for non-residents between archery and rifle seasons. Um,

Then there's one often overlooked state, and I mean, I hate to just put a certain state on blast, but

as a non-resident to California, there's actually some really good hunting opportunity there for just looking to pick up a tag and do a Western big game style hunting. It gets often overlooked. There's a lot of hunters, but there is the opportunity to buy two over the counter deer tags. And there's plenty of public land, plenty of wilderness areas. There's some tough hunting, but there's some good hunting as well. So anywhere that there's those kinds of opportunities, I feel like those are, those are pretty good to non-residents. Now, when it comes to, um, residential,

like saying, Hey, there's some non-residents hunting here. We're going to, you know, give them a show around and, and open the doors. Um, I think that, uh, well, I don't know what state would probably be the best if anybody has says like, Oh, my home state's that I think you hear in Nevada, we're pretty, we're pretty welcoming to non-resident hunters for a couple of reasons. Um,

Um, one is, you know, you've got your own tags. Those aren't, you aren't taking them out of our resident pool or anything like that. We've got special tags for you. But the other thing about that is we know that a lot of our tags are, we have no over the counter tags. It's all draws. And we know that non-resident dollars, most of you are buying a hunting license to apply here and you are never going to hunt here.

you know, you're just applying and getting points. And so that funds everything that we do as residents that funds our water projects that funds our other things. So it's like, Hey, you finally got a tag suite. Um, I know I've run into other people that have run into like resident hunters in Nevada and they're like, yeah, we'll show you around. And you know, like come check this out. Um, so I think that that's, you know, I, it's a little,

sales pitch for my own home state, but I think that it's pretty good because there are other places I've gone as a non-resident and they see an out-of-state plate and you're immediately getting your tires slashed and whatever at the trailhead and that happens to you. Yeah. Any other questions? Or I can just start calling on people. So we'll do a format of like say your name maybe if you want and where you're from. If you're incognito, nobody knows you're here, then just don't say it. Make up a name. John Doe.

It's funny. I'm JD from central Oregon. Does your optics set up change much from the beginning of the season to the end or do you primarily stay with the same? Yeah. So my optics set up, it really, yeah, it does change a lot. So I kind of tailor my optics to the hunt that I'm doing at that time. There's a few reasons for that. One is weight savings and two is like every hunt has kind of its own optics set

Uh, I would say like a certain thing that the optics you're going to make better. So if I'm, for instance, let's say I've got a, an over the counter general area elk tag and I'm archery hunting and it's a back country hunt. My optics is just pretty much just going to be my binoculars, uh,

or and or a super small light spotting scope because i'm not necessarily interested in trophy potential i'm just saying like here i'm looking for an elk i'm gonna have to go light and fast i'm in the back country i don't want a lot of weight um and i don't need to really pick apart a certain animal now if you're saying hey i drew a nevada uh early season archery deer tag

My optics package is going to change from binoculars, a high-power spotting scope, and maybe even a high-power set of binoculars because it's going to be a super glassing intensive. Glassing more country is going to lend to potentially finding more animals. But also I might be wanting to check out –

what exactly does that buck across the Canyon look like? I don't want to have to walk over there and find out because I'm going to say, that's not exact. It doesn't have the forks that I'm looking for. It doesn't have the width that I'm looking for. It doesn't have the age that I'm looking for. And I want to be able to tell that from my glassing vantage and cover a lot of country with my eyes. Spring bear hunting is another great example. Spot and sock spring bear hunting, big open country, super optics intensive. I don't mind adding that extra weight for optics on those kinds of hunts. And then there's certain hunts where it's like,

man, I'm not really picking them apart. I, I can, it's maybe like denser country, or I might be doing more still hunting and I lighten or increase the amount or types of optics that I'm using based on the hunt. Um, one, one thing that I've found like super helpful that I've kind of incorporated into a lot of my hunts, especially back country type hunts, I'll have, uh, maybe a higher pair power pair of binoculars around my neck, like a 12 by 50. And then a small, like, um,

I can't remember what it is, like a 13 to 33 with a small objective lens, spotting scope, super lightweight. It's like, it's in my pack. I can use it for verification and for most things, but I got a little bit of that weight saving. And for me though, I'm carrying a lot of camera gear too. So my pack isn't like, if I didn't have, if I wasn't filming, didn't have that, any need for extra like,

I've got all the stuff on my back and I don't have extra camera stuff in there. Then I would probably always throw in better optics as well. But for me, it's like, I'm kind of doing a delicate balance between carrying camera gear and then also, um, you know, needing the right tools for the right hunt. Who's, uh, anybody here from the Reno Tahoe area? You got any questions? I guess one of my questions for you, I mean, I know the first episode I watched with you and you had that depredation tag. Yeah. I had that.

very difficult and you're successful. It was a hard time, huh? Yeah. Yeah. He's asking about, um, I ended up getting a pretty big velvet bull out in Nevada on a depth tag. And what that was is essentially they're trying to say, get rid of the elk here. Um,

And I think, I don't know, when I got that tag, they gave you a letter like, there are no elk. You won't see any elk. Shoot the first elk you see, please. And it's like, yeah. And I was like, well, the first elk I saw was a 383 bull. And then I kept looking for that 383 bull. And six days later, ended up finding it again, which is pretty incredible. But just really thick country. Not a lot of, not a lot of, I mean,

you know, there there's definitely elk there and there's, but you know, now it's completely different too, because there's quite a few different depth hunts in the state. And there's, um, some that have been going on for a while and issuing a lot more tags and other things, but that's probably one of those hunts that I'll always remember as being very fortunate that I was able to take such a good bull and a velvet bull, which I was kind of like set my sights on it. This might be my only opportunity to get a velvet bull. So that's what I was really looking for. Um,

And it just ended up working out. So that was pretty cool. One question I did have is about, I'm sure you're aware, like early archery season for bull hunting. It's very difficult because we don't get to hunt the rut. You know, in some areas you might catch the beginning of the rut if you're lucky, like your 081 tag. They just started bugling towards the end. But like in those earlier hunts, like 06171, where they start like August 16th and then you got two weeks, it's pretty difficult.

And a lot of places, you know, a lot of places have a lot of water. What would your advice be to us archers and those kinds of things? Yeah. So for those, for those archery hunts where it's in a sea and there's a lot of States that have those like limited draw archery tag in great elk units. And you're like, man, this season's really too early to hit the rut. And I've got a bow in my hand. You know, so there's a couple of things. The first thing I do is kind of play on that,

what are these bulls doing pre-rut so you got to think about before you even get to that so like i step in the unit let's say it's that august first season you know like well what were they doing i like to know what they're doing up until i get into that area so what are they doing in the summer so you think about okay elk behavior those bulls like what are the big bulls doing right now because you you waited your whole life to draw that tag you want to make it you want to make it happen

So those big bulls are going to be bachelored up, you know, and what they're doing is they're one, you know, from spring until through summer growing their antlers. And so they're focused on that growth, that the energy that an elk produces,

puts into antler growth is the same as the energy that a cow does to produce a calf. So you think about it, it's like it's growing a baby on its head. And what's it going to need? It's going to need a lot of fuel. It's going to need water. It's going to need some security, but it's mind's completely focused on feeding and growing, feeding and growing, because it's just, it's craving those nutrients. It's craving those minerals. It's craving growing those antlers. And

And so you're going to think about, okay, where are those areas where that elk can do that? Because you're focusing on what do those animals need now? Now, as it progresses from summer into that season, what starts to happen? They start to shed their velvet. They start to split off from those bachelor groups.

And then they're kind of doing this thing in between where they're, they, they just spend all this energy growing, but they're just about to hit into the rut and elk are completely different from deers where they grow their antlers. And then they pretty much start rutting very shortly after.

So there's going to be this huge like bulk up phase, you know? So the way that I think about it is they're going to bulk up for the rut. And that's why when you notice like during the rut, it's like cows and are kind of run by these like satellite bulls and they do all this expending energy, expending energy because they just don't know any better. And those big mature bulls,

They're like, I'm going to beef up. I'm going to wait my turn. And then I'm going to like that old adage, like the young bull runs out and like, I'm going to go get a cow. And the old bull is like, I'm just going to walk down there and take them all. So, you know, he's, he's really like left this summer feeding cycle split off from the herd. Cause he's like, Hey, now these are my enemies, but,

But he's like, I'm going to bulk up for the next one. And so what I tend to find is a lot of people lose those big bulls in that split timeframe between the rut and between the summer feeding. And what I've found is they kind of like those bulls split off and they're very close to where they're summer feeding because they already know those patterns.

but they've gone into a more security pattern as well. So they're still hitting those same kind of summer feeding things. And that's where that summer scouting can play off really well on those early hunts. So where you've seen them, where they've got a really good high quality food source where they can bulk up before that rut, that's where you're going to find them. They aren't probably going to be with those cows checking those other areas. Another thing they'll be doing is

possibly, you know, like finding that spot where they've got that water source. But like you say, you know, sometimes there's water everywhere. Sometimes there's no water. So water source could be a good way to focus in on another thing that they need. Um, but really focusing on that food source, um, and

and like thinking food minded. I think a lot of people forget about that early archery season elk is like, they're still focusing on food because your mind's like, they're going to start running, focusing on the cows and some will, they'll be cruising and checking things out, but they aren't going to be, you know, like if you find a big basin where there's a lot of action, yeah, you might start seeing some, you know, some bulls coming in, but you'll notice like in Nevada and some, some more arid places, I feel like things progress a lot quicker than maybe some of the more mountainous places where it's

where it's like they do that, and then all of a sudden it goes from no rut to rut. I'm sure you've realized that. It's like there's no big bulls out, and now all of a sudden the big bulls are bugling, and it seems early or whatever. But I think it's because it's more of a density thing, like higher bull-to-cow ratios, and that kind of pushes the activity or progresses the activity a little bit faster, in my opinion, where you go to somewhere mountainous like Montana, Colorado, whatever, where they've got water and everything, and they've got herds of 900 cows.

And it's like everybody can kind of get a cow. So that rut action doesn't increase at the same rate that it does in a more arid place where there's bull to cow ratios, maybe like 20 to one and where they have to fight harder to get those cows and there's less resources for those bulls. Yeah. We've got a question from the Pope and Young page. Oh yeah. What's your workout regimen and preparation for hunting season?

Yeah. So, I mean, it depends on the year for the most part, the scouting is the workout for the hunt, you know, and then, and then pre scouting would be looking for shed antlers. And then, and then before that would be chucker hunting and, and small game hunting. So my thing is like, I love to train by doing, and it's just getting out and being in the field, but

On like years like this where it's completely, I'm, you know, I wasn't able to, normally I'm spending three months in New Zealand hunting and guiding and doing whatever, or, or you going on other hunts and being in other places, but,

So, you know, I just the same train by doing putting on a weighted pack, getting that aerobic activity and just like building up that muscle memory for what I'm going to do. And then to do in a short amount of time, I just increase the speed and the weight. So it kind of mimics that fatigue that you might get later on by carrying that heavy pack up a hill if you don't have a hill on.

an incline on a treadmill, a stair, what a stair climb or something where you can kind of mimic that muscle memory and those movements, uh, that you're going to create out in the field. Number one tips for archery, antelope hunting, spot and stalk. I mean, number one tip for archery, antelope hunting, spot and stalk has to be, you have to focus on like,

anything that I hunt, you got to focus on what are they strongest at? Like, what is their defense mechanism? And then how do I trick that with a pronghorn? Their defense is their eyes. So anytime you can, you say like, Oh, anytime you can fool their eyes. Well, how do you do that? Um,

I actually tend to not necessarily hunt for antelope. Like you can go out spot and sog antelope hunting in the flats and see a hundred thousand antelope in a day. It doesn't mean anything. You got to trick their eyes. And if you, if they can see you coming from a long ways away, it's no good. So there's a few things that I do first. I actually look for

antelope habitat where I know that it's broken enough that I'm actually going to be able to trick their eyes. And there's going to be fewer antelope in there because they kind of feel at disadvantage, but I'd rather hunt those areas where I know I can find a buck, I can watch him and I'm going to be able to get a stock. And by doing that, I've been extremely successful spot and stock antelope hunting. Um, last year was the first year that kind of messed up my record, but, um, I generally had this thing. I was like,

I would go out and I would give myself one day and I just, and oh, the other thing is pretty much chase every antelope you've got an opportunity at. That's another good tip. The other thing I would say is,

Is like if it is super flat, it's just a lot of crawling because, you know, you can you can kind of be under that perceived. You don't want to seem like a predator. So being like under that threshold of perception. And so I kind of keep telling myself this like over and over, like go slow enough, low enough that like they don't perceive you as a threat. You're just something else out there.

And that I've had a lot of success doing that. It's a lot of work. Your neck will be like, I tracked it one day and I crawled six miles and I couldn't figure out why I had like the worst headache in my life and my whole body hurt. And I was like, Oh yeah, I crawled six miles. But in that day I snuck on two antelope and shot a really good buck. So it was like, okay, cool. You know, but when it doesn't work out, you know, then you got to do that three or four days in a row that makes it tough. So then you might want to start looking for that more broken terrain. Um,

And then there are other tricks and tactics, decoys. I haven't had a whole lot of success with decoys in my life. But, you know, every once in a while, I mean, I've had a buddy, I gave him one of those cow, like a cow shield kind of thing. Like, here, use this, you know? He's like, they were just using it to cross those big wide opens behind Antelope. And there's a

Boone and Crockett buck out there about a half a mile away, saw that cow decoy charged them and his wife shot it at 20 yards, you know? So like that doesn't really happen for me, but that's also a good tactic. Yeah. So you're, I know how busy you are. Everybody here can imagine how busy you are. What's your archery practice routine like, how do you find time and what do you focus on when you do have the time? Yeah, that's, that's a good question. Um,

For me, I mean, well, I'm sure like with most bow hunters, I just, I love shooting my bow. So I pretty much anytime that I am, even during the season, like when I'm hunting, I'm always practicing shooting, um,

I've got a 3D target that I normally shoot at, and I'm fortunate that I can shoot kind of like, I mean, I can just walk out and climb a mountain behind my house and start shooting. So I get a lot of that angle practice. I get a lot of that. I kind of do a little bit of everything, but I'm mostly like, if I'm practicing, I'm mostly shooting at 3D targets. I like to kind of

getting that perception, that headspace of like, I'm here hunting and like my practice is based on hunting. So I don't do a lot of shooting at spots. I don't do a lot of shooting. I just shoot at an animal for not even for a score, but for like, what would be an ethical kill? Um, get those angles, like the quartering away, quartering to, um, up and down left and right sideways. The one of my, and like anytime I, uh,

past hunting season if I have a miss or whatever I really replay these things in my head and I then try to recreate the things that I find a weakness in in the field so one thing that I've noticed over the years like if I like keep track of like okay man I

there's this hunt a mule deer hunt or this hunt i remember there's quite a few and i was like okay i missed that animal or this this went wrong and i found that there's actually like one position that i was really bad at and was shooting downhill like wow kraut like in a semi crouch squat position because your muscles are all going real weird but that's like the most natural like

you sneak up from above something. I mean, every like the best stocks are sneaking in from above and then you draw back out of sight and then you rise up. Well, as you're rising up, I don't want to be full fledged, skylined, let him see me. So I'm always kind of like just barely over the rise, half squatting, drawn back. And I tend to miss those shots. And so

And so those are like, okay, then I start, that's like the majority of the way I practice now is those ways that like those really awkward, uncomfortable things that I encounter in the field, as opposed to just flat ground shooting, um, or shooting at a specific thing. I like to like build in hunting practice with that archery practice. And then, um, you know, out on the road, whatever, uh, if I'm out, like even during guiding season or whatever, um,

or in camp, I take those rubber blunt tips and I just like to rove, like shoot pine cones, shoot things like the things that I've learned about the way to practice as a kid with my recurve. I'll do that with my compound bow in hunting camp or in a back country setting. Like, Hey, I don't want the first time that like, you know, you just knock the dust off. It's like, yeah, I'll be out there midday seeing like a rock across the Canyon and just send it, you know? Cause it's just like,

yeah, it feels good to get that shot in, in the field where you're at and know that like, Hey, if that was a deer there in the middle of the day, cool. I could have made that shot. So kind of like constantly, constantly practicing in those situations. Do you practice with the tips that you hunt with? Yeah. So, I mean, a lot of it, it depends on the, how well tuned my bow is, you know, I've had bows in the past. It's like, once I get the broadheads on, I can't get the field tips to fly. Right. And then I've got most of my bows though. I get to tune where it's like,

it's pretty negligible, the difference between my broadhead and my field tip. But most of the time, yeah, I always make sure that I shoot with those broadheads and I like to, I tune to my broadheads. I use fixed blades a lot just because some of the places I hunt, you can't even use mechanicals and I just don't like, I mean, it's just personal preference. Like a lot of the, I like to,

hunt all kinds of different terrain and I don't want grass or something. And I like to be able to shoot through whatever I'm aiming at, whether it be grass or an elk or whatever. I just always want there to be on the other side of whatever I'm shooting at. Um, so that's, yeah, I shoot with the broadheads.

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This is Brent Reeves from This Country Life. What makes South Dakota the greatest for pheasant hunting? With over 1.2 million pheasants harvested last year, South Dakota boasts the highest population of pheasants in the nation. In fact, you'd have to add up the total harvest from neighboring states just to get that many birds.

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Are there any bucket list hunts that you haven't completed yet that are still out there that you dream about? A bucket list hunt. That's a good question. I mean, there, yeah, there, there definitely are. There's, I think for me, there's like some adventure type stuff, some sheep and some like weird places. There's a lot of, a lot of the hunts that I've always wanted to do. I've somehow managed to go on them and which is pretty awesome. But,

But I, a blue sheep in Nepal is like something that I think would be pretty cool just to be in like a really high altitude and kind of see that country and the way that the people are there and just kind of like a crazy adventure. And then some, even just some like, just more of these places like mid Asia, there's some places I still haven't explored yet that I'd like to IBEX and stuff there. And, and some places in like Russia that I think are kind of remote and untouched, just some,

Just some places that you go and you're like, it's more about that place. So it could be, I mean, I'd probably just want to hunt a jackrabbit there if I could, you know, just like, just to go on that and kind of experience that place and see just like the culture around it. I really love going to like,

far flung places and just seeing like the coolest thing to me is like being in a place that's so different than where we're at and then meeting up with somebody that hunts or whatever and just realizing like we have the same exact passion. We've got like the same drive. We understand the same thing. We do things a similar way. Like it's just a really cool experience.

I don't know. It's like this. I mean, you talk about it, like it's a really cool connection with hunters. It's like, we all kind of do the same thing and we don't even know that. And like one thing that I thought was cool is like even starting guiding and then going international and guiding. And there's certain things that I picked up from certain people. And then there's things that I found. I just had nobody teach me how to quarter an animal, but I just found the most effective way to do it for me. And then I go to like,

mid Asia. And there's people that live off the land there and they quarter the animal the exact way that I do, you know, with a small knife and never have to break a bone or use a saw because they just don't have those tools. And you know what I mean? They could, they could essentially do the thing with a rock and it's like, well, they found the most efficient way to,

to do it. And somehow on my own, I found the most efficient way to do it. And it's like a really cool, like aha moment where you're like, whoa, this is a really cool experience that we kind of do the same thing and don't even know it's like in our DNA or something about it is like very, very familiar.

Um, whether you know the language or not, like you can, you know, connect over that fire and you're like, you've got, you like, I get you. I was like, one of my favorite, one of my favorite things is like, uh, last year I was in Kyrgyz or not last year. We just skip a year. We'll just pretend last year was like 2019, whatever, um, was in Kyrgyzstan and driving out there.

There's like these two guys and I was like, this is like three days in a car kind of thing. And we're like driving through this mountain pass and they stopped in the little village and he got like this breakdown old shotgun and we're driving up this mountain pass road and these trucker like fly across the road and his eyes got big and he slams on the brakes and gets out and he's like loading up that shotgun, like sneaking down the road, checker flush. And he shoots these trucker. And I'm like, that dude's straight out of Nevada.

Nevada. Like I was like, I know you, bro. Like we are the same person, you know? I was like this guy, he was just all about his checker hunting. And I was like, I've been there. Like, I know what it's like to drive dusty roads forever. And then you see a checker and you're like, hell yeah, run up. I mean, he was running up the mountain. Like I was like, I've been there. So it's just, uh, I don't know. This is fun story to tell.

Yeah. Other than a passport and some of the basics, what are like some quirky items or otherwise you found for those international hunts that are like, you got to have it? Um, uh, for any kind of like international hunt, that's a good question. Um, one thing I think is just like a, a good, uh,

a good strategy of how you're going to get like logistically planning ahead, like how you're going to get things back. So I found like, I use the Yeti Penga bags a lot because I know it's like water. It's like, it's a weird thing to think like, Oh, what's a really important thing. And just like having a, like,

durable waterproof bag is pretty important because it's like your stuff's going to be everywhere. You're going to have to get like maybe, you know, hide or meet back or whatever. So something that you can like freeze things and put them in, zip it up, you know, it's safe. Like nothing's going to leak out. You're going to get some airport violation, whatever. You know, like having that logistical plan of how to get things back. And then the other thing is definitely having a,

You like having that plan and then knowing that none of that plan is going to work out. Like whatever you do, just knowing that like, hey, things are going to go wrong. Like things are going to get lost. I mean, I've been on

some trips where it's like you know nothing showed up for however many days and like hey it didn't matter we'll just go out i'll just go hike like we'll do whatever um you know like having that mentality of like things are going to go wrong probably and there's nothing you can do about it just have a good time um i would say you know as far as like specific gear items i mean it's pretty much just my standard main hunting stuff one thing that i would do highly suggest is

if you're traveling and you're going to like, I've done a lot of like international DIY type stuff. And so I think that some of the things that I've learned maybe don't apply to everyone, but I think that are good tips. Uh, first thing, if your phone get an unlocked phone, um, and,

And then the first thing I do when I get in the airport is I take my SIM card out and I put in the SIM card from there. Because what happens if you like if you run into someone or whatever, it doesn't even if you're guided, like how are you going to contact like they can't call an international number, put a put a local SIM card in your phone.

And then you can order a pizza if somebody needs to, or you can do whatever you need. You know, you can actually call a hotel. You can make like, if something gets lost, your luggage gets lost. You don't have to call a 15th party over in a call center from an internet. You know what I mean? Just call.

called that airport directly and that makes a big difference um that's like the probably the single best tip i could ever give you is just like as soon as you get there get a different sim card and then you can make calls and connect with people and things will happen and you aren't like reliant on i hate that feeling of like oh i need somebody to do something for me you can just kind of like get it done yourself um so that's another little travel tip what about

What about gloves or gear for the crawling for antelope hunting? Oh yeah. Um, I've, I think knee pads are a great idea. I've just never had them with me. I don't know. Like, um, and yeah, gloves. Definitely. Definitely. Uh, one thing that I do, like, um, I've got some gloves that almost have that, like,

like plasticky knuckle guard and like moto gloves. Um, because you got to think about it. You're like crawling with your bow and other things. I also have a stabilizer on my bow that I kind of use as like a crawling crutch. Um, so I'll use that sometimes, but having some kind of like protection on your knuckles and then any kind of like, if you were able to, uh, put something over your knees, that always helps. Um, I generally do kind of like this modified, like,

I kind of, depending on where the animal is and whatever, I kind of do different crawls to not like burn out a certain, burn out a certain way. Like a modified crab crawl is always a little bit easier, like on your back, on your butt, scooting, then kind of crawling, then army crawling, throw the bow on your back and kind of move. And then that where you kind of like set the bow forward, squirm up and then grab the bow, set it up, squirm up. But I would say, yeah, I mean, there's like, I've got, I don't know,

well, one time I was just out there and I was like, man, my knees were killing me. So I just got some like, uh, cow patties and like strapped it to my knees. You know, I was like, so I thought, yeah, probably knee pads at work, but you know, sometimes you're like, it's hot. You don't even think about it. I've, I've like had them in my kit for years and actually never really used them. Cause I'm always like,

I don't know. It just escapes me or something, but I feel like they would be pretty good, like knee pads, elbow pads. But then I'm like, you know, being quiet and trying to do it. I don't know how well it works. So something like even just, even just an extra piece of material or something you can put over your knees or the side that you're using. I've done that a lot. Just take out like extra shirt or whatever, wrap it up, tie it around and kind of go. And that's kind of just the way I've always done it. What's usually your go-to gear pack if you're on a two to four day do-it-yourself trip?

Yep. Um, so my go-to I, I like, um, generally I always kind of have my pack is like what the same pack that I would use on a five day, seven day back country trip is the same pack that I'm hunting on day hunts. Most of the time, every once in a while, if it's like,

I'll, you know, like I know I gotta be running around a lot, um, and I'm pretty close. I'll use a lighter pack, but just because when I get in somewhere, I don't want to have to go back to the truck to get a pack frame. I want, I want that first trip back to have as much meat as that second trip is going to be. Um, so I always kind of have my, uh,

big kit on with me. Um, just, I use a stone glacier bag right now and then I just cinch it down, you know, make it smaller in there. I have obviously pretty much just the basics, a knife, uh, game bags, um, always have that kit for processing. So some kind of, I generally have some kind of P cord or something. If I need to tie something up, um, I always have a trash bag just for after the fact, like putting the meat in as a liner for my backpack. Um,

Um, then outside of that, I got my optics, which would be a spotting scope tripod. Um, obviously my binos on me and then, um, whatever food or whatever I'm taking in any kind of overnight. So if I'm, if I'm overnighting, I'll have my sleeping bag, sleeping pad, um, and then shelter system, whatever it is, whether it's a tarp or a tarp tent or something like that. And then, um,

Um, I do keep a small first aid kit in there, um, with kind of like the essentials. It's just one that roves with me. I kind of use it for everything. Um, and in that first aid kit, I always have a little bit of extra, not a lot, but I've, I always keep a fire starter in there and, um, and, uh, you know, like a spare lighter. And then I do now in my, in my day packs, I keep a

um, like a SteriPEN because my, like I, you know, I spent a lot of time hunting in Alaska, hunting in New Zealand where it's like, you walk, you stop, you drink, you don't feel, you don't have to think about filtering. You don't have to do anything. And so I'm just so used to that. Like, I don't like carrying weight of water if I can help it. Now desert hunts are completely different, but if I don't have to carry 20 pounds of water, like I'll drink, I'll dump my bottle and I'll just keep going. And then I'll find the next water source and drink out of it. So I started carrying that SteriPEN, um, because for the longest time, I actually didn't,

do anything to my water. And I never got, well, I got Giardia once. So after that, I was like, oh, I can't, I was curious to even, but it was stupid. I drank out of like this brown Elkoala water. My brother's like, dude. And I was like, I'm so thirsty. And it tasted disgusting. Like I knew, I just knew, I was like, this is, this is such a bad idea. But I was like, oh no, they call me iron gut. You know, it's fine. But it doesn't matter how strong your stomach is. You can't avoid it. Um,

Um, and yeah, and luckily I did have, uh, a Z pack with me. I don't know if that, I started taking it and I got better really fast. So, um, after the bad water incident, it took a couple of days for the water to kick, you know, when, as soon as I got sick though, I knew what it was. It wasn't like, cause I was eating mountain house. It was like a food poisoning, you know, I was like really sick too. Um, yeah. Yeah.

So that's about – and that's pretty much I think – oh, yeah, and then obviously water bottle. I don't do the bladders personally, but that's probably – I think I've just had really horrible things go wrong with the water bladders. So I always have like a couple big bottles with me and then maybe something to –

to like get out of a small water source, you know, like a smaller bottle or a collapsible bottle or something like that if I need to. And then, um, yeah, food. I always take like a, the wilderness athlete drink mix things just because, um, I don't know, man, I've just, you're out there, you're grinding, you're sweating. And if you don't have the right food, the right fuel, that's a huge portion of it is like just being mentally focused, staying in there, being able to just keep going day after day. So like,

You know, I know a lot of people cut weight on certain things. I don't really cut weight on like the stuff that's going to fuel me. So I'm like, I throw in like things that I like to eat and things that I know I'll eat and keep that energy up. And if it like gets heavy, I'll just eat it. So it's like, it's all good. Yeah.

She did push-ups, set-ups, workouts. I didn't know if it's just shooting your bow more consistently. It feels like it's a different muscle that you're using to be able to get that poundage up to where they can be able to help

Yeah, that's a great question because I know, I mean, my wife just got into bow hunting and it was a, it was kind of a, that was like our biggest concern and her biggest concern. So we started, we had, she had a bow, so she has like a hunting bow, but at the time she couldn't really get up to the poundage to shoot. So I got like, I guess it would be like a Genesis bow, you know, where it has like, it's completely adjustable. And we use that to kind of build her strength.

where it was like, okay, we could start gradually going. And I think a lot of it is the repetition of just being able to build those same muscles. One thing that I've found works really well for kind of like build, like for, because I think it's not only just the pulling back, but I think that you're pushing and your aiming arm has a lot to do with it because you get it back and it's like, okay, I got it back, but now I'm tired and I'm not steady. So one thing is like get a exercise ball, put it up on the wall,

And then hold it up there with your hand and you kind of do like figure eights in different motions like this. You'll be surprised how fast that arm gets tired. It's like a really like, you know, just moving like you do the whole alphabet, whatever. And that movement builds a lot of that same. I don't even, I'm not an exercise physiologist by any stretch of the imagination, but

but I do understand like bow hunting and that uses those same things. And so that was a really good way to help build that strength of, okay, I can pull it back, but now I can hold it steady and don't have to worry about, you know, like I burnt it. She burnt, you know, like her burning it all out on that drawback. Cause it's not just the draw. It's a lot of,

There's so much more than just being able to draw the bow back. Yeah. Yeah. And then you got to somehow work into the fact like now there's an elk 30 yards away, panic sets in. But yeah, I think that that's like a, that's a good way to do it. And then anything where you just building that same, that same motion really, I mean, there are other things you could do, other types of equipment you could do, but it really is that just repetition by doing it and that works really well.

- Do you enjoy hunting more with your friends

fellow hunters or by yourself? You probably do some of both. Do you have a preference? What, how does that, this is a good question. I mean, I do. So I really love when I get the chance to hunt alone. I mean, I do love solo. I really, we did the solo hunters. I like, I actually love hunting alone, but I also really like hunting with people. Um, I feel like as a guide, I get, it's like, I get to hunt with people all the time. So when it's my turn to hunt, I'm like, it's sweet to go out by myself. I was actually talking with Chris Denham about this, uh,

a little earlier today is just this, there's like this instantaneous decision-making when it comes to hunting alone. Um, and I think that it's super in like, it's, I'm just more effective. You're just more effective that way when you aren't bouncing ideas off of someone and you're kind of building your own hunting skills in a way that's like, it's on you. Um, so it's not like, you know,

You could go out and hunt with a guide or your buddy or whatever. And if they're kind of leading the whole charge you're doing, but you aren't, you might be picking up things, but you aren't necessarily learning in the same way that you learn when you, when it's all on you, when you made that decision, when you've got no one else to bounce it off of. And you kind of, you don't have to worry about, um, you know, my buddy sitting back there through the spotting scope, baking in the sun. I better hurry up on the stock. Like me, I'm like a very conscientious hunter when I'm hunting. I don't like to like,

I always, I always worry about the other people with me, you know? And when I'm by myself, it's like, no, I'll be as patient as I need to, because it's just me. It doesn't really matter. Uh, or I'll, or like, there's those times where it's like, I got to go real slow and I'm not worried about getting anywhere real fast. And then it's like, oh, I got to go and I got to run. And I'm not worried about talking and waiting. And there's so many stages that just like get condensed into, you're just doing it and you're going to learn a lot more. You're going to be a more effective hunter.

But there's this really fun thing about hunting with people. So, like, I love hunting with my dad. I love hunting with my brother. I love hunting with – I really enjoy hunting with clients and taking people out. Like, there's a really cool experience in that too. So it is a mix. Like, it's not – you know, for me, hunting is not just one thing. It's not just doing it this way. There's so many just different facets that I love about it. Yeah. I came in late, so you might have already said this. What is your favorite animal? My favorite animal to hunt? I mean –

I was like, that's a, that's such a loaded question. It depends on the day. But, um, I, I think mule deer is like pretty high up there. Uh, I mean, people are like always like elk, elk, elk. And I love hunting elk. Like I am an elk guide. That's what I do for a living, but I love calling out. Like I almost, if someone was like, you get a pick,

you know, a hunt that you get to do. And I'd be like early season archery mule deer for me. But that doesn't mean that I get to give up calling elk for other people because I love that interaction of calling elk. I love tricking elk. I love like,

I don't know. There's those people that fly fish and it's like, I only fish with dry flies. When I'm like elk hunting, I only bugle. Like I only want to fight a bull. Like I just like, I love screaming back at elk. It's like the coolest feeling in the world. So I really love that. But I also really like the, I think that I personally think that one of the hardest animals to hunt

maybe in, I don't know, it's just like early season, mature mule deer with a bow, I think is one of the most difficult and challenging and like rewarding hunts because you get everything of those. And now I say that cause like, I really love sheep hunting, but you don't get the tags often enough. You know, it's like, I'm obsessed with sheep hunting, but it's more about the places. I love those mountain hunts. And I think deer is like mule deer, something where you can get that Alpine sheep type hunt every year. Um,

especially when it comes like early season bow hunting, like you get that experience and something that you can do all the time. And then just big mule deer. I like the way that they look. They're cool. But I mean, now if I was just to pick something, it's like, eh, it doesn't matter. It's unlimited, whatever. I'd be like, yeah, sheep hunting. Cool. Yeah. Go straight to the top. So, uh, but I like, you know, and then tar hunting in New Zealand is really, really, really incredible. I love hunting tar. Uh,

and kind of like any kind of mountain hunt really. So it's more of a place than a thing. Often does filming get in the way of taking a shot? Like 100% of the time. No, I mean, it's funny because really the self-filming over the years, like...

So it's like a challenge that I've really enjoyed. And I think it has made me a lot better hunter because a lot of the times I got to stock the same thing twice. So I was like, okay, the first stock I got in, now I got to go back out, grab my bow. Like I actually, the way that I generally do is I stock in with the camera, set the camera up,

crawl back because if I bring my bow up there, I'm not going to get the camera. You know, it's like, I learned that I have to do it the certain way. Um, so I, I stock in, you know, leave the camera, crawl back out, grab the book. This is a really hard to be quiet with two really big cumbersome things. I crawl back, get the bow, sneak back in. Um, so, you know, like,

like by doing that, I've got a lot of experience, like stock ends, like a lot of, I've, I've just become a better hunter, I think. Um, and over the years I've gotten, you know, I've gotten better at it and learned the things that messed me up. So I would say not as often anymore, but still, if something's going to mess it up, it's always that it seems like, um, cause when I'm hunting by myself, I'm like, dang, I'm pretty efficient. You know, now it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like I'm dragging a car around the mountains. And then, um, all of a sudden I just got

and I can just run around and do whatever I want. I'm like, oh, this is a lot sneakier. So yeah, I'd say most of the time it does. If something messes it up, it is probably the camera. And there are those times where I was like, man, I look back, I was like, the other day I was going through some footage and I could have killed this, probably would have been my best, one of my best mule deer with a bow.

And I just said not to shoot it because I couldn't get it in the camera. Like I just didn't have that. And I, and I passed it up and I was like, should I have shot that? Should I have not? But I was, you know, me personally is like, it's not about that. It's about, you know, me. I was like, I'm actually pretty proud of the fact that I stuck to something that I was trying to do. Because if I, if I said, oh, if there's a big deer or there's a certain opportunity, then I'll take that opportunity. I'll hit that easy button. Then every time I would do that.

And so I kind of had to like in my brain turn the switch on where it's like I'm either doing it or not. And by doing that, I think that I've got –

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