Ep. 114: Answering Your Questions, Part 22
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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.

Welcome back to the podcast, everyone. It is officially October for a lot of places, some seasons, some new seasons are kicking off and that's exciting. All this, all this knowledge that we get throughout the year, you get to put into action during hunting season. So that's what I get excited about. And I also get excited about checking the male satchel. Normally I call it the male sack, but for some reason today, satchel just sounds, seems fancier.

So we're going to go to the male satchel today and answer your questions. There's a lot of good questions about elk hunting. There's, I mean, just as many questions as I got, I got testimonials, people sending pictures of, well, here's one right here from Gerald Baker. He says, Remy, this is my first archery deer. This is all you. Learning the tactics, understanding how to practice with my bow, understanding the wind, understanding how animals think, even skull boil. Learned it from your podcast.

great picture of a really good whitetail buck here. Congrats, man. A lot of good stuff coming in from people using tactics to harvest their first elk. I was pretty stoked on these. So we are going to head to the male satchel and start answering some of these questions. First question, this can be like rapid fire right here, comes from Tyler. He says,

Do you recommend 10x42 or 8x42 binoculars? I would say 10x42. I feel like they're a little bit more versatile, a little bit more magnification, especially for Western hunting. Now, one thing that wasn't recommended in here or asked about in here, 10x50s are not bad. I actually just got a pair of

Um, vortex UHD 10 by fifties, and I'm going to be running those on this next hunt, um,

The nice thing about the little bit wider field of view is you've got that magnification, but then you've got that wide field of view. So you can cover a little bit more with your eyes at the same time. Also a little bit more light gathering, low light. The only downside when you start to get into the 50 mil objective is the whole set of binos becomes bigger, heavier. You need kind of like a different bino pack. Um,

I would say that's really the only downside. But my standard go-to binocular would be 10x42. It's universal. It's easy to recommend. It's good for a lot of different scenarios. And then if you don't necessarily hunt open stuff, you can still use them in timbered situations as well. 8x42s, though, can be really good if you like that. So that 8x42 is going to give you a larger field of view. So you can actually see more...

in one glance. Um, it's really good, especially if you're hunting a little bit more timbered country, and then you do have those long spots as well. But I would say gold standard on binos is the 10 by 42s. And then, you know, kind of newer into the world of binoculars is getting just a little bit bigger with the 10 by fifties. I'm just, I kind of like that option for a little bit wider field of view, more light gathering. So those are my suggestions.

Okay, this question comes from Kyle. He says, thanks for all your info, Remy. We just wrapped up my first elk hunt. Day one, got in real close to a bull that we didn't know was there and he hissed at us. Day three, ended up calling in a moose in, but we didn't have a moose tag. Day five, we had one fired up, got on him three times inside 60. It was both our first times elk hunting, so I know we fouled it up.

It was still amazing. Anyways, my question is about reading sign. How do you know how old it is? We had some snow a couple days before our hunt, so tracks in the snow we knew were recent, but what else can we look at? Okay, there's a couple things that I key in on when it comes to sign. I was working in some places in Africa and got to spend some time with some people that are just incredible trackers. I actually got to follow some actual Bushmen on

uh, tracking and it's like what they see and what they know is some incredible, it's like just an incredible skill that I think is, it takes a lifetime of learning. I think sometimes the idea of tracking for most hunters is, is kind of like this like mystical art that never really gets talked about or, or, or I just don't think there's many people that are real good at it, but I think most people aren't really good at it because

Um, it takes a lot of practice and that's something that I've learned over the years is to be a good tracker, to, to really be able to read sign. Well, you need to spend time analyzing it and, and, and understanding what it looks like, but a few just like basic things. Um, obviously scat how, like when I come up on elk crap or deer crap or whatever, um, I generally mush it. I generally will probably even touch it. Um, and,

You know, you can tell like something really fresh is the color of it, the viscosity of it. Like if it looks wet and slimy and shiny, then it's probably pretty fresh. If you break into it, it's like kind of looks fresh on the outside, but then you can tell it's more dried out. Then it's a little bit older. If you don't want to use your boots, use a stick. But just prodding scat actually tends to be something that I find myself doing a lot to see how fresh it is.

Uh, when it comes to tracks, you know, when there's no snow, a couple of the things you got to kind of think about. So the first is whether it's snow or whatever, kind of think about the time of day and the, um, and like what the weather had been doing, uh,

throughout the day. So when I'm looking at like an elk track, right, let's say it's in the morning, a couple of things you want to think about. Well, generally in the morning, there is some moisture on the ground. So you can kind of look for the way that the sheen changes the color of things. So like if the water has been moved or if it's like the ground seems kind of dry, but there's in the toe area where the dirt's lifted up, it's, or sorry, the ground might seem kind of wet, but where the toe area is

might be lifted up and is drier underneath. That's, you know, generally something that's pretty fresh. Deciphering like, okay, there's tracks in the ground, but they're really buried in the ground. Think, okay, well, maybe that was the last time it rained when the ground was softer or when it was wet. And now they've dried out. They could be

pretty old. One thing that I will do also is I'll feel the track. So like, I like to feel the edge of the track. So if there's a track in dirt or mud or whatever, I kind of feel the edge and feel like, let's say there's a track going through some fresh mud and I go, okay, how does it feel? Like in what time of day is it? If it's later in the day, then that track will have dried out a little bit. So if I hit the edge of it and it starts to crumble, then I know, okay, that's going to be a little bit later. And what I like to do is I like to compare it to my track

like, at that moment. So I make a track and I say, what are my footprint doing at this point? So that's like something that shows you here's a timestamp. This is right now. And then you can kind of tell like, how is, would this degrade over that time from now? So one thing that I've done in the past is like had tracks, let's say I watched an elk or something go through an area and

And then I see those tracks and I go analyze it. And then just, I keep going back and looking at them over time where I've got a good indicator. It's a good way to teach yourself how to understand and read sign that's on the ground. Like understanding how that track degrades over time, how it breaks down.

can be a really good skill. Another, another thing that I think, um, kind of gets overlooked is like the sheen of what they might even call like a pockmark. So when, when you're tracking something, this is just, I'm now I'm kind of going into tracking, which might not be the same as looking at sign, but I'm like what I'll do when I'm tracking something now, I'm just taking a tangent, but I like it. It's fun. Um, sometimes what I'll do, like, let's say we've got a wounded bull

And I'm tracking it and you kind of like lose tracks. What I do is I get down on the ground and I put my head there and I look over the ground and you'll see like the pockmark where it's not even actually a track, but it has a different shine because when you put pressure on dirt and other things, it actually changes the way that all that.

like the dirt is sitting in there because now it's compressed and it has this like weird shine to it with the right light. And I've actually found bulls following these, these like shiny pock marks. It takes a little while to kind of figure out what you're looking for and then knowing where to look for a track. So what I'll do is if I've got two good tracks, I'll get like a stick. I'll break it for that bull stride. Right. And then I will, or a trekking pole. I make it the length of the stride of the one side. And then I,

from the last track, I put it in that track. And then I know what distance should I expect to see that pockmark where the tracks have disappeared. And then I can keep doing that from area to area to kind of help until I can find tracks again, completely a tangent. But I say that to say that sometimes figuring out the age of sign is just kind of experimenting and just like really

spending a lot of time understanding it and like how it's going to degrade over time. Now with elk, this is the awesome thing with elk. A lot of the time you can actually smell their presence or where they've been. So one, one really good indicator of when elk have been somewhere recently is using your nose. I even like, we'll go to,

a rub or something now rubs a good way to a really easy way to tell like how fresh a rub is because you look at it you know oh is it fresh well you can pull off the branches you can say okay is this branch still like the other branches that are on the tree maybe this rub was really fresh is that sap really pitchy or has it dried out are the um the bark curls that have come off are those super dry or are they still wet take your knife or a stick and rub it on a tree and make a

a comparison and say this is just like that this is fresh so within this amount of time now if there's uh dried branches and you go nah that's probably last week if the whole thing's real dry you go oh shoot that could have been last season um so that's a good way to kind of also decipher sign and then when you get into elk notice the sign that's around when you know that there's elk there and it kind of helps you say like okay this is how fresh something might be

I hope that kind of explains it. That might just be like five podcasts of just like understanding tracks and sign, but tried to do a good rundown quick. This comes from Rourke. He says, Hey, Remy, new elk hunter here from Michigan, but just moved to Colorado and went on a week long OTC elk hunt. Definitely improved over the week by finding more slash fresher sign each day when moving areas, but couldn't seem to lay my eyes on elk.

The main question is how do you plan a route through the area you want to check out? Do you stay on top of the ridge, mainly on the trail, once in a while checking off trail for sign, or do you just brush bus the whole day to stay away from hunters? Elk weren't vocal in Colorado the second week. Seems...

Due to pressure and heat. The last day of hunting, we were finding fresh rubs and droppings and ended up within 150 yards of a bull. We were half a mile off trail in thick stuff. Once in a while doing cow party calling. My brother broke a stick and this bull started going crazy, bugling at us. Even cut off my bugle. But the second time I bugled, he seemed to shut up because I was too aggressive. Chuckle and rake. Definitely caught us off guard laughing.

That's a great question. So, you know, it really depends. Like, here's the thing. Trails are really good to access areas and ridges are really good ways to cruise and cover country. So if I'm just like, I just need to get somewhere and do something, I'll probably be on a trail. But generally when it goes to like, hey, I'm trying to get in and try to find elk and I'm not finding them in these particular areas, I'd say majority of my time is spent off of a trail. Very rarely do I spend my time hunting on a trail.

Now ridges is, that's a different story. Like I do travel those ridges because, um, one of the things that is good about a ridge is you can kind of cover both sides and broadcast your sound. And it's also an area where elk will bed. But I have found like in those areas, like especially over the counter type areas where there might be a lot of hunters. I try to find the places that are difficult to get into. And that's generally some thick holes, um,

I've killed some of my best bulls in those thick spots. It's tough sometimes to get shot, but it's also, they do come in closer, tighter. That's what I like about hunting that thick stuff. I like bush stalking. So it's just a way that I like hunting. I think that's one thing I was going to mention on the podcast. I hate the word still hunting because it's so, I talked about it before, but I think we're just going to from now on call still hunting bush stalking because it just makes a lot more sense because you're stalking through the bush. Yeah.

And so...

all my friends from New Zealand will be like, yeah, that's what we call it. Like, yeah, that's what we should call it here. So we're starting a revolution. We're changing it. I don't know what guy, a guy that hunts in a tree stand started to call it still hunting, or he's like, I don't know who started that. That's another tan. But, um, so I think getting, getting off trail is good. Um, like, like you said, you, you found that bull a half a mile off the trail and that thick stuff you were doing the cow calling party and you got a bull to bugle. So

I, it could have even, if I was just guessing when that happened, it might've been a middle of the day kind of thing. It could have been that bedded bull scenario that I talked about a couple of weeks ago, or even just in the evening when they start to get up and move around again.

Um, so that's a good, that's a good way to find elk. But if you need to cover country, you're like, Hey, I don't know even where to start. Maybe getting on a trail and getting into accessing some spots and then going, okay, from here down back here a little ways that the crowds have kind of calmed down. Now I can start cross countrying going over to the next Canyon up that next Ridge and moving around off that trail, um, like away from the trail would be kind of the way that I would hunt it personally.

Next question comes from Tony says, Hey Remy, I know you've touched base on taking kids out a few times, but wanted to know if you had any good tips on taking older people out. I started getting my dad into Western hunting a few years ago. He hunted back in Wisconsin when he was younger, but he's not quite used to hunting the big West. He's gone on a few of my deer hunts, but mostly hung back at camp because I hike a lot. Uh,

He pulled his antelope last year and was able to get him a pretty decent buck, but I feel like I might have pushed him a little too hard getting on it. Love the podcast. Looking forward to every Thursday.

That's a great question. You know, actually, as a professional elk guide, I have a lot of experience taking older gentlemen out. It's one of those things, man. It's like when I first started guiding, it seemed like it was all guys that were in their 70s and they show up at elk camp and they're like, OK, I want, you know, I've been waiting my whole life to go on an elk hunt.

And they're like, but I can't walk or can't go very far. And it's just like, oh shit, what do I do now? You know, and I, over the years kind of developed some ways to hunt effectively with people that might be older or have trouble getting around. It's not that they can't do it. It's just that

I kind of found like I started hunting when I first started guiding people like that. It was like, all right, we just go. And then by day one, I burned him out. And I was like, well, now the rest of the week is, is shot. Um,

You can choose your tactic based on the ability of the person that's with you. And I say that when you're taking kids out, I say that when you're taking maybe somebody that's older out, I mean, or maybe somebody that's not in great shape or whatever, you just got to hunt to the tactic, like create a tactic that works and can be successful for the people that you're with. So let's say it's somebody that can't, you know,

you know, they can get going, they can do it, but it's just like, it's not a lot of, it's not a lot of hiking. Then I changed my tack to like, maybe I'm going to glass a little bit more. Maybe I'm going to pick glassing spots that are real close to a road where I can access, I can pull up, I can hike through this little knob that's like

a hundred yards away and I can glass. And I'm going to, we're going to spend our energy going after something like once we've identified something that we can go after. Whereas if I've got a guy that's in really good shape, I'm just going to, I'm just going to bust country. I'm going to get back in there and I'm going to be in places that you can't see from anywhere else. That's just the way I'm going to do it. Now it's a guy that maybe, um, you know, you got to take it a little bit slower. So you got to kind of think, well, what tactics can we do?

like you say, you know, I mean, sitting in stand hunting, it can still be effective. Uh,

If it's elk, you know, there's the opportunity to potentially hunt wallows. There's the opportunity to kind of go to travel areas or even just like walk flat logging roads that are really timbered and kind of still hunt those out when it comes to elk. When it comes to antelope, you know, you can kind of adjust your tactics being like, okay, let's get into a spot. Let's set up a blind. Let's sit in this water hole and wait or whatever. So you got to just adjust those tactics based on the people that are with you. And I think that in the long run, like they'll just have a more,

They'll just have a better experience about the whole thing and they'll still find success. My buddy, Mike, I mean, I'm not saying like, you know, drive around and hunt, but I am saying like my buddy, Mike always says this thing. He's like, we had this guy that had needed like a permit to hunt from a vehicle. Right. So he just was disabled enough that he couldn't walk around and that happens. And there's a lot of people it's like, you should still be enjoying the outdoors, no matter your, your level of activity, right.

And, uh, he was kind of feeling bad. He's like, man, I just wish I could get out there and go hunt elk and climb the mountains and do all this. And my buddy, Mike was guiding for me. And he looks at me, he goes, look, man, he's like, you can't shoot him from the truck. If you're out there walking around. And it was kind of like the joke of the week. Well, at the end of the week, this guy shot the biggest bull in camp and.

a giant mule deer one of the biggest mule deer we've ever killed and it happened to be a mule deer that i was watching like miles in the back country and ended up like hiking like we were still even hunting this buck you know we parked and hiked and whatever and this buck ended up like for the rut moving down lower country and mike found him off of a road so like there is ways to hunt

for the people the way that you can not like you can't, you aren't going to kill a bull in an easy spot if you're always hiking to the hard spots. So that's something to kind of keep in mind when you've got somebody that maybe doesn't have the mobility or the energy to just keep hiking all day, every day. Just something to think about.

And it's fun to say, like, can't kill them from the truck if you're out there walking around, which is actually true. Because I think there's been many times I've complained, like, man, I've never had an easy elk. I've never had an elk that's like within even a mile of a road. And then, yeah, when I think about it, I was like, well, I've never even hunted within a mile of the road. Like it's always, they're always just elk back and I'm always back in those places.

holes as places and that's where I kill elk because that's where I'm hunting so something to think about food for thought

This is just another testimonial. It comes from Kevin. He says, Hey, Remy, my brother had a Nevada bull tag and the bulls were pretty quiet, except at night we heard your podcast about silent bulls. So we changed up our tactic and Cal called a nice six by six into 22 yards. He made a good shot and wanted to say thank you for all the information you give us. It's an awesome bull, man. Congrats. Like that's what I like to hear. See some of these tactics working for people. And that's, that's,

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He says, Hey Remy, super big fan. Love all the meat eater and solo hunter stuff and all around Remy content that you put out. Super informative and entertaining. 100. I like that. I was wondering if you might have the time to answer a question. I know you've answered it before, but can't remember which podcast it was, but I'm trying to figure out what arrows you use. I've been playing around with some builds and I'm tossing up between six millimeter and five millimeter and the cost difference, uh,

P.S. I'm from Canada, so the micros and FMJs run a little pricier, unfortunately, but want what's best in the end to be most effective in the field. Thanks again, Kevin.

Uh, that's a good question. I mean, I get a lot of questions about arrows. I have talked about them on, you know, multiple podcasts, but I think sometimes like the gear stuff is always good for these Q and A's. Uh, it's a little bit just easier to kind of go through gear things when it's a specific question. I personally shoot. So I've shot a little bit of everything over the years. I now shoot day six arrows. Um,

You can pretty much only get them online and then through Solo Hunter has their own version of them as well. But right now I'm shooting the HD 275s and I shoot a four-fletched. Partially because I just switched to a four-fletched this year and I really liked it. I feel like it stabilizes my broadhead a little bit better, especially because I shoot all fixed blades.

Um, now the, the two 75 that I'm shooting, you know, that's the spine is spine for my arrow and it's heavy. It's a, the arrow I'm shooting right now is 11.8 greens per inch. I do have a pretty long draw. So, um, I've got like a 30 inch draw right now. I think the bow I'm shooting is 29 and a half just depends on the bow, but yeah.

So I've got a pretty long arrow. I shoot. So that arrow is what I would consider like a micro diameter shaft. I really liked the micro diameter shaft because it's like less surface area. So there's better return. There's less resistance and then less wind deviation. So if you're shooting and you know, you think about a thicker diameter arrow,

The wind's affecting it in a certain way. Less surface area means less wind drag, which just makes it move less in the wind. Everywhere I hunt, where I live, where I shoot, it's windy. So...

that's something to think about. I do like that micro diameter. Now here's the downside to a lot of arrows that are those micro diameters is, you know, your standard insert, your broadhead has to fit in it. So some arrows have like a, that deep six, which is just like a different threading pattern. I don't like that. I just, it really limits the amount of broadheads and options you can do. And to me, it's just, I just don't

I had that once and I just got away from it. I didn't like it. I don't know if many people still make that, but I didn't like it. But at the time, you know, there wasn't like a really good like out cert insert kind of thing. So that's why I started shooting the day six ones. Cause they had like a really good, so it's like an insert with an out cert collar. So it's kind of like a,

I guess it's not really an outsert. It's like over the arrow shaft, but then it is an outsert because it's got, it goes, you know, you can put a standard size, you know, threading broadhead on it.

a micro diameter arrow. And I found that the collar and everything is super strong. So I just have the aluminum ones. I have used the titanium ones as well. It's just, you know, they aren't cheap. It's kind of like, yeah, they're super, I mean, they're super, um, accurate. They're super straight. I think they're to the what? A thousandth, um, straightness. Um,

Yeah. And a hundred thousand. Yeah, exactly. So that's, that's what I like, but I do, I would say now I'm kind of more, I it's weird because I used to shoot bigger arrows and, but yeah, so now I do like, I do like the idea of a micro diameter arrow. I think that there's the benefits to it. I've only seen increase in accuracy and I've had a lot of pastors and it's a real heavy arrow too. So that's nice.

you know, you may, you can, you can choose different weights based on your whole setup. If you've got a short draw, I don't think I'd shoot an 11 grain per inch arrow. Um, but maybe, you know, you get, that gives you a little bit more kinetic energy. You're just gonna have a little bit more drop. So there's a lot of, there's a lot of different thoughts out there when it comes to arrows, but that's what I like. And I I've been shooting, I just switched this year to, to 125 grain broadhead, just to kind of, it gives it a little bit

For my setup, it's a little bit better and it adds a little bit of weight. So right now, this overall arrow, I was shooting about 610 grains overall. Now it's about 580, something like that. So it's a pretty solid setup. And man, it just blows through elk and other things. So I've got a moose hunt coming up. It's like a perfect combo for that. The perfect combo for elk. And it doesn't really, it bucks the wind pretty well. So that's what I do. That's something to think about.

Hey, Remy. I'm new to archery hunting and I have a question about calling for elk. I'm hunting in Pacific Northwest, Oregon, where it can go wet to dry to really wet all in the same day. My question is, what do you do if you really mess up a call? I asked because I let out a locator beagle the other day and I think there was moisture in my tube because it sounded awful and slobbery.

Is it best to just stop and be quiet, try it again, or just move on when you feel like you just announced you're there? Thanks in advance and thanks for the podcast. I look forward to listening every Thursday. That's a good question because it happens, man. I've got, you know, I might have a read that is like a little bit wore out and you just make a bad call. Just depends. Sometimes what I do, like I'll throw out a couple of little cow calls, kind of recover and then let out another bugle.

You know, to be 100% honest, I don't necessarily know that elk care as much as we might think they do. I mean, they do to a certain extent, but they also, you know, it's like you made one bad call. I don't think an elk's going to be like, okay, we're going to run away now.

They just hear it off in the distance and it sounds like whatever it sounds like. And then they hear another one. It's like, oh, there's elk there. Cool. I will say like the better your calls sound, the easier it is to call bulls. And I found that over the years, like as I got older,

better at calling and maybe it's just maybe knowing how to call a little bit better but as i got better at actual calling and making those really good elk sounds and and changing the pitch and the tone and all that it's a lot easier to call elk and i'm not gonna lie about that but also i have seen elk and have in the past called an elk with just terrible calls so it um i think that i would just kind of recover by just letting another one rip maybe a couple seconds later though

Alright, this one comes from...

I don't know. No name. But it says, Hey, Remy, love the content. Had a question for you. In Saskatchewan, we don't have a huge abundance of elk, but numbers are good. I finally got into chasing elk about three years ago now and have yet to fill a tag, which isn't a problem. But I'm curious, what would your top three tips for elk hunting be to someone fairly new to elk? Coming from always focusing on mule deer hunting, it's hard to break some habits. Cheers.

Here's the thing I would think about. The top three tips for elk hunting. I would say if you're new to elk hunting, the first thing I would say is you really have to understand the elk behavior where you're hunting. So you kind of got to figure out what are these elk doing and why are they doing it? You know, everywhere's a little bit different. In the mountains of...

Montana or Wyoming, you know, it's like whatever that region is. Maybe it's like there I've hunted places where it's more desert type country. And it's like those elk are out in the sage and they're in different places than they are when you're up in like the high country of Colorado early season, or even then same area late. Like what are those elk doing? Understanding elk is the first step to being a really successful elk hunter. So if you're in Saskatchewan, it's like, well, maybe you're in like ag country, but it's like,

Just like anything you're hunting, what are these animals doing and why are they doing it? When you unlock that secret, you're going to be really successful. And the second thing would be

Just as a blanket statement for tips for hunting elk, I mean, I think that it's hunt to your strengths as well. I think there's a lot of guys that come out elk hunting and they're like, they got elk hunt like I elk hunt, which is really good. It's the way you elk hunt. But also it's like, well, what are you used to hunting?

And then kind of adapt those tactics to whatever new species you're going to hunt. So there is a lot of things that are very specific to hunting elk, but I think that there's things that people kind of forget about. It's like, if you're really, I know a guy that,

He's a really good tree stand hunter. And he comes out and kills an elk every year from a tree stand. And it's like that I've never killed an elk from a tree stand, you know, but that's also not the way that I hunt. So there are those things where you can take crossover things of things that you already know. If you're like, I really good at hunting mule deer.

you know it's all spot and stock a lot of my friends probably some of the bigger bulls every year taken by spot and stock so adapting some of those tactics that you already know and are already good at to elk so you got to understand elk and their habits and then you can use your own tactics to kind of like do the attack plan so figure out what elk are doing understand why they're doing it and where they're at and then use the tactics that work best for you

to go in and chase them. That's always like a good thing that I kind of think about when I'm hunting anything new.

And then the third tip would be, I don't know, the third tip, I guess, like when I talk about anything, it's like the three steps there would be like find the animal, shoot the animal, pack the animal back to the truck. So the third tip, let's say it's before even packing it back to the truck, practice your shooting, being proficient. You might only get one opportunity.

You know, you got to make that one opportunity count. So practice those infield shots. And for when it comes to elk, I think that the infield shot that I find the most is like being able to thread the needle, understanding the arc of the arrow and being able to shoot through stuff and knowing whether you're going to hit that branch in front of you or not. Knowing how to like, you know, so many people will be standing up in an area where there's like a bunch of branches and

And when you could be down low and shooting below those branches, you know, so kind of just understanding the terrain and how to, how to make a good shot and then just being proficient with whatever you're hunting with. Those would be my three tips today off the top of my head. Someone comes from Raymond. He says, Hey there, my name is Ray. I'm a student in Northern Michigan university. I started listening to your podcast this summer while at work and love it. I have a question. Not sure if you have answered it before, but

What is the proper care for a bow such as string wax and what do you do if it gets wet? Is there a difference in shooting when it's cold or wet or both? I'm just getting into archery and bow hunting. Just got a bare whitetail legend and have been practicing indoors because my backyard isn't big enough to shoot. So I'm wondering if when it gets cold, like in late October, Michigan, does that affect how my bow will shoot? Thanks for doing what you do. Keep up the great work.

So that's a, that's a good question. Yeah. The weather definitely affects all kinds of shooting, whether it's a bow or a rifle, whatever, but I would say a bow is more affected. Um, now it just depends on the distances that you're shooting. You know, maybe the effect is negligible. So in, in some ways you might not have to consider it so much, but in other ways, yeah, you definitely want to think about it. I would say here's the things that I've, I've come to realize when it's cold. I generally find that the bow shoots higher. Um,

It, well, everything shrinks when it's cold, you know, heat expands, cold contracts and contracts. The strings are tighter. Everything's a little bit tighter. So it shoots a little bit higher because it's generally shooting a little bit faster, but

When it's wet, the string slows down. And if it's driving rain, that can even actually increase the impact down as well. So then if it's wet and cold, then maybe it just equalizes out. I don't really know about that. But another thing you want to think about isn't necessarily the effect of the flight of the air or anything, but also the effect of the temperature on you.

one thing that you want to think about is like what's your effective range while you're shooting but that's going to change when you get cold when you're shaking when you're whatever I know a few years back I was hunting white tails with a recurve and it was like I don't even know how cold it was cold man and I did not have sitting in cold weather clothes I think I had just like a was it like a probably like a cube jacket like the lightweight guide jacket and

pants and sitka pants or something. I don't know. And, um, I had a miss a mix match of everything. I think I had a pair of thermals and I had some like boot warmers in my uninsulated boots. I had like a neck gaiter and a beanie and it was 20 below zero, you know, and I was just freezing. I was like, so cold. And I'd sat there all day. I think it was like probably the first time I actually sat all day before getting impatient, trying to stock something. Um,

And this buck came in and I was like, sweet. And I actually, I used one like Montana decoy kind of thing. And then I think I was like, I also brought my 3DR tree target and I was getting bored in the middle of the day. So I was shooting this target like from the tree stand like pretty regularly when I knew nothing was coming around because I had a pretty good sight. Then I like crawl down, pull my arrows, go back up and just trying to warm my feet back up.

And when it was cold, you know, this buck came in and I was like, he was probably 17 yards. I don't know. Maybe I can't remember how far it was. Something like that.

And I'm like, sweet. But I was so, it was the end of the day and I was just freezing, man. I was just shaking, shivering. And I thought, oh, this is an easy shot. And when I pulled that bow back, like I shot and I made it, I mean, I killed the deer. It was just like a lucky, I don't even know how it killed the deer. I pretty much shot it like in the back hind quarter, back leg. And I think it went through enough, hit the femoral artery or something, hit something. It must've been the femoral artery because it ran like 150 yards and fell over dead. And I was like,

Whoops. But okay. You know, like a lucky break. But I think like, you know, when I was warm or whatever, that was not a hard shot for me. It was just a fact that like I was so cold, my hands couldn't feel the string. My body was shaking. I think that like that impulse of like being cold and just like let that arrow rip, you know, like you can't hold back because you just lost that strength and whatever.

It's something to think about. Like it's, it's definitely a factor. So I like to practice in the cold, in the elements and say like, well, how, how does that even affect my shooting? So if you can, you know, get out somewhere where you can practice and shoot in those cold temperatures, because it's going to affect you. It's probably going to affect you more than it's going to affect the arrow to be realistic. Like it's going to affect the shooter as much as it does the flight and trajectory of the arrow. But it'll probably affect your performance more than anything. Yeah.

All right. Question comes from John. He says, Hey, I really enjoy your podcast. I've started at the beginning and worked my way through almost all the way to the most recent ones. I appreciate the time and effort you put into that. So much great info. I'd like to get your opinion on a question. I have dreams of sheep hunting in the future, specifically a Rocky Mountain bighorn.

I'm questioning what would be the best strategy to get a tag one day. I'm still in college and I live in Tennessee, so I'm not a resident of a sheep state. I have heard a lot of people say that it's impossible odds in many states for those who don't already have lots of points. So I've also heard many people say that you'd be better off putting money into an investment account rather than wasting it on applications and use that saved money to buy a tag later in life.

What's the best strategy as a non-resident for a 25 year old to one day have a good chance of getting a tag in the future, preferably before I'm 70? Thanks. Well, that's that's a really good question. And there's a lot of answers. I mean, the first thing that kind of comes to mind is, you know, yeah, playing the draw game is just it is a random thing of luck.

And when you're talking about places with a lot of points, you're probably on the losing curve of that. You know, it's like,

I mean, me, I'm sitting on in many places, 25 points and probably will never draw some of those tags. But, you know, there's people that could apply their first year and maybe draw that tag. If you're talking about draws and applications, I would look toward the states that don't require points. There's a few states out there that have points. Now, if you're looking to hunt Rocky Mountain bighorn, I would also kind of say like, okay, Rocky Mountain bighorn or California bighorn. California bighorn is like a subspecies of Rockies, but they're a little bit smaller in the horns.

Um, but they're like, Oregon has, uh, no points for that. So I'd kind of like look for places that have no points where it's like, Hey, it doesn't matter if you've been applying your entire life, you're going to be on equal footing as everyone else. Another thing to think about is like, if you want to go the draw route, um, you know, there's, there's things other than state draws. There's like raffles. I, my dad just accomplished his grand slam.

which is killing all four species of North American wild sheep. And he has not paid more than an application fee for it. He's drawn every tag. So he drew two as a resident in the state of Nevada, California bighorn and then a desert bighorn. He won the doll sheep hunt at the

Wild Sheep Foundation, they had like a one more for, they used to have a half slam drawing. So everybody that had two sheep could get in for that. And then he won his fan and sheep hunt at the Grand Slam Club Ovis GSCO.

they do like a raffling. So there's a lot of ways to get sheep tags that are not just state raffles. And some of those other ways are actually probably honestly, statistically better odds. Now, when it comes to specifically bighorns, you're in luck because there are other options as well. I mean, if, if I was you and I was like, man, I want to go hunt bighorns, I'd go to an unlimited unit in Montana and just plan on hunting it for four or five years.

Um, you're going to learn it and you'll get a sheep or, you know, you'll be sheep hunting. Um, it's difficult, you know, it's not for everyone, but you know, if you've got the drive to do it, that that's a good way to do it. That's one of the only sheep tags you can do that with. So, um, that's not a bad option. And then, um,

You know, the other option of saving money and buying a tag, you know, especially when it comes to like, if you're like, Hey, I want to hunt a doll sheep or something like that, that, that would be the option that I would go with. Um, because it's kind of more, you're actually going to get a go and you're going to have a good hunt. And to be honest, like the money that you put away every year, it, it seems to be a lot is a chunk, but over the years it like, it kind of goes fast. That's what I, I mean, um,

I saved up for a long time and then I ended up drawing a lot of the tags that all the sheep tags that I've hunted. So I go back and forth and you're like, Oh man. But I know I've got a lot of friends that have done that way. And man, it seems like, you know, there's people that will probably never draw tags. And, and then you just like, you're betting on yourself. You're just, you're, you're putting away and you're going to say, okay, this many years I can save up this much. And that's a really good strategy.

When it comes to Rocky Mountain bighorns, though, it's tough because even when you buy that hunt, it's a pretty tough hunt. So I would say for Rocky Mountain bighorn, that's where it's kind of a little bit different. If you're like, oh, I want to go on a doll sheep hunt, I'd say, yeah, just put away or do the draw thing. But I would say for this, you know, you've got a lot of options. But, you know, for when it comes to sheep hunting now, these days, man, putting away and just being able to

In the future, potentially, you know, book a hunt somewhere is a pretty good, it's like way more guaranteed. So it's just, I don't know. I don't really know the right answer. I play the draw game and I've been fortunate in it, but I know that it, you know, I've started a long time ago as well.

This question says, Hey, Remy, my name is Brady. Just actually started listening to your podcast maybe about two or three weeks ago, and I've listened to nearly every episode now. I'd like to thank you so much for the awesome content. Wow, it's been informative. I'm heading out this weekend to do my first Elkhunt, hoping the advice you have been giving will pay off. I live in BC, Canada, so I'm sure it will. Anyways, I did have one question, kind of a funny one, I guess. Just kind of touching on the scent blocker stuff. I totally get what you're saying about

clothing and how it won't really work when you're hiking around. So to go further, is there deodorant that you use for cover? Uh, at least a bit of the body odor, especially going on long hikes in the backwoods. Is there a scent free deodorant that you use or do you just rock the smell? Uh, thanks again for all the info and given out really appreciated. Cheers. Brady. That's a good question. Me. I'm, I'm going to make a lot of people mad, but

This is the truth, too. I rarely get winded, and I don't use anything. Maybe I've just adapted to be an animal out there. I mean, I was...

I've walked, like, I've just had those wind swirl moments where I should get busted and I don't. Now when I'm with someone else, I always get busted. So I like to tell people like, I never get winded, but the people I'm with do. So I don't really know what, what that is or why that is. Maybe it's just like, I think there's a few things that factor into animals, winding you and people are going to just be like, now you're just making stuff up. And maybe I am.

It was like, I think there's like this, this, I don't know if we just like release some hormone when you get real excited and you're like, I can't mess this up. I feel like you're just, you're kind of like releasing something that's that predator, like excitement level. And I feel like the animals can sense that. I don't know. I mean, that's just me. Um, but I will say this, here's what, here's my scent control thing is like, I wash my clothes in regular tide, uh, laundry detergent.

If I feel like I smell bad to myself, I just put on whatever right guard deodorant, whatever. And honestly, like I do notice at the beginning of a hunt, like you generally get winded less when you're clean and I don't use anything special. I just use regular soap and whatever. I mean, I've put out like,

Just to see, I had a trail camera out and I just put like a little thing of laundry detergent like on a stump. And elk were still like wallowing right there. They gave two craps about it. So it's not the deodorant or the detergent that they're smelling that freaks them out. It's like that animal human scent that's like, this is a human predator and he's trying to kill me. So when you start sweating, I think you're just like releasing that even more. And it's hard to block. The key is in every scenario, just use, you get the wind right.

And there's going to be those times where that wind's swirling. And I don't think that there's any amount of like crazy deodorant that you can use. That's going to help you. What I do do sometimes, like if I'm like, oh man, it's a hot day going to go to the top of the mountain where it's swirly. I'll just grab some like pine boughs. And I just rub that all over my clothes, that pitch. And I smell like pine.

And, um, or something natural like that. And, you know, I don't know. I mean, I don't like if I can smell my pits, I'm like, oh my God, I stink. Um, I generally just grab some pine stuff and rub it or I'll take some deodorant and I just don't think about it too much. And to be honest, like I probably get winded a lot less than a lot of people. So, um,

I don't know. It's just knowing how to play the wind. I'd rather just spend my time understanding how the wind is going to change, how the thermals react and getting in there. And then if you can get a little bit of an advantage, maybe you just feel like it makes you feel more confident, use whatever you feel good using. Thanks everybody that sent in a question. That concludes this week's Mail Satchel. I'm Remy Warren. Thank you for cutting the distance with me and asking me questions.

and listening and leaving awesome comments and telling your friends about the podcast and your family members and then sharing that success back with me full circle.

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