Ep. 126: Remi's Final Transmission
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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 Cutting the Distance podcast, everyone. It's the end of the year and New Year's is upon us. For me, 2021 kind of seemed to fly by, and yet here we are heading into a new chapter.

Coincidentally, this will be my last transmission as host of Cutting the Distance. It's been a great ride sharing tips and tactics with you. I feel like over the past few years, we've learned a lot, shared some incredible success, and had some fun stories to tell. So this week, I'm going to give you my 21 all-time best tips for finding success on the mountain. And I'll leave you with tip 22 for going into the future as we transition into this new year.

Also, make sure to stay tuned to the end where you can hear about the future of what I have coming down the pipe and the future of Cutting the Distance. But before we do that, let's jump into the 21 best hunting tips you'll ever hear in one spot. I feel like it's 2021. Let's go back. Let's look back. We've got a hundred and some odd episodes of Cutting the Distance podcast. But I wanted to pull out a few of my favorite kind of tips. If I was just to summarize, if you're like, Remy...

Give me the best of the best. How do I be more successful? I think that just going through this podcast is a good way to kind of get a grasp of the things that I think lead to success. So we're going to go tip one all the way from episode one.

Now that episode I was talking about, a lot of it came down to a story about shooting at the best buck of my life and at the time not knowing about shot angles, aiming a little bit lower because horizontal distance, all that. And that was kind of a takeaway there. But I think that the real takeaway is practicing those tough shots. Whether you're a bow hunter, whether you're a rifle hunter, practicing those shots that are difficult that you're probably going to encounter in the field, making that practice

realistic to those situations and practicing that downhill angle, especially when you're hunting the mountains. Now, of course, we've got range finders that adjust for that distance, but I've got the question a lot that I think I never actually addressed is like, well, if I'm shooting downhill, do I aim low? What if I'm shooting uphill?

it's the same aim lower because it's that horizontal distance. Now your range finder should tell you what the actual distance is with that angle compensation. But I think that even with knowing that angle compensation, I found that those downhill and uphill shots are probably the most difficult and they're the ones that get practiced the least. And for most hunters, I would say nearly everything that gets shot

Whether you're a mountain hunter or not is probably at an uphill or downhill angle because a lot of people are shooting out of tree stands and a lot of people that hunt the mountains will be shooting up or down. So I think that that's probably one of the most important shots you can practice and having that practice is key to being proficient in the field. Tip number two.

I like to call it the dog, the bull episode, episode number four. Now this has to do with elk hunting, being successful elk hunting, elk calling. But the real tactic behind the tactic is what is the winner? And that tactic is thinking of behavior in terms of elk acting like elk, not acting like elk acting towards you as a non-elk.

I've read so many articles over the years from people that are writing about elk hunting in popular hunting magazines or whatever. And they talk about certain things you do and the elk don't respond or go away. And in my opinion, I think some of that is misguided. Because what you have to think about is when you're hunting elk, right? You got to fully understand an elk's behavior, right?

And you have to assume in many ways that that elk does not know that you are not an elk. But as our human brains, we're very human-centric, egocentric. We blow the bugle and then we think, oh, well, we messed that up because they're going the other way. Or we're thinking we were too aggressive because now they're going the other way. When in fact...

Elk are doing elk things. And one of those elk things is elk round up their cows and they move off. They try to conserve energy and avoid fighting.

So you have to make a play on that tactic by those elk just acting like elk. It doesn't mean that you did anything wrong. It might even mean that you're doing something exactly right. And that elk is acting as just another elk made that noise. And so that dogging the bull tactic is following that elk until it kind of has no option but to turn around and come fight. And that is a really good tactic. I've found that that work is very successful.

But I think that the reason that tactic is successful is because it's exploiting elk behavior. So thinking in terms of acting like an elk. And that goes with any really calling scenario or a lot of different hunting scenarios. I mean, you could say like,

you know, bugling to an elk and there's an elk bugling below you and thinking like, oh, that elk's going to come to me. But in the wild, they don't necessarily do that. A lot of times, if I'm that bull that wants what that other elk has, I don't know what that other elk might have. He might have cows. He might be alone. We got to kind of assess the situation.

And then make a play based on the behavior of if I were another elk, what would that elk do? And that comes from understanding how the elk act and watching and observing animals. You know, when they're just interacting with each other, you can kind of pick up those cues of like, well, why is that elk doing that? And critically thinking of like, what are elk doing and what's the behavior that I'm trying to exploit? And I think that's a real tactic. Number three.

The shoes off situation, episode number seven. This is one of my favorite things because I think people associate with me a lot of the time. If you've watched Solo Hunter, if you've watched any kind of content that I do, I end up taking my shoes off a lot. And it's because when it comes to bow hunting, I believe stealth is everything.

It's, it's paramount in the, like when you're talking about bow hunting, you're talking about getting extremely close. And I like to get so close that I think I like this thought of like getting so close that I can't miss, um,

I do shoot my bow quite far. I can shoot proficiently out to a hundred plus yards. And I'm not afraid to say that, but when it comes to hunting, I like to get 20 yards, 30 yards. I mean, even closer. I like to get really close. I like to get so close that there's no other option than to be successful. And sometimes you, you might blow it, but I like to trust my stocking

my stalking abilities. And one way that I find getting close to animals through spot and stalk is taking off those shoes. The sole of your boot leaves a loud, crunchy noise that is easy for animals to detect and is not the most stealthy approach. So when it comes to bow hunting, I take my shoes off. You can go in your socks, you can go in your shoes, you can go in stocking socks, barefoot, do a lot of barefoot hunting.

But I found a lot of success with that. And one thing that I love about that tactic is people always sending me the shoes off situation photos. I hope I continue to get shoes off situation stuff sent from you guys pretty much for the rest of my life. When you have those moments where it's like, hey, I had to slip in tight. It was loud. I had to get quiet. I had to get sneaky. A little shoes off situation. I love getting those photos and being like, heck yeah, man, this guy went crazy.

and did it. And that's, that I really enjoy seeing. But when it comes to spot and stock hunting, you know, the little things make a big difference. It's all the little things that add up. It's the noise of your feet on the ground. It's the noise of your gear. It's quieting down. Even just when it comes to

you know, your bow and making that shot. And maybe you aren't even talking about bow hunting, but you're, you're trying to slip through the woods, still hunting an area that's got leaves all over the ground. And it's like, well, how do you make that quiet? Maybe you just put on a pair of socks or whatever and, and sneak through and whether you're rifle hunting, bow hunting, shotgun hunting, doesn't really matter. Stealth is everything. And so being quiet and learning to quiet yourself down and make a good stock is huge in getting close enough to make a shot.

Number four is going to come from episode nine. It's about glassing. And when we talk about glassing, the key is getting steady and knowing how to get comfortable. It's one of those things I like to say, you know, you got your binoculars, you should know how to use them and getting steady, even without a tripod. Maybe you've got, you're like, oh, I'm glassing off the tripod and that's great, but it's not great for all situations.

the way that I glass, and the majority of the times I sit down, I've got my pack on, I put my knees up, I lock my elbows to my knees. It's just grounding everything that's going to the binoculars. So it's creating a tripod with my body essentially. And then I, I wear a

brimmed ball cap. And the reason that I can't, I can barely glass without it because what I like to do is I clip my binoculars to my hat. So that's one more point of steady contact. So it's from my head to the ground, to my feet, to my supported back. And I can handhold my binoculars extremely steady. And I have spotted animals five, six miles away through just regular 10 power binoculars by locking off well and knowing what I'm looking for. Glass

Glassing is probably, if I had to emphasize, one of the best tactics for hunting. It's being efficient glassing. And so I think it's super important to know how to use your optics and know what to look for. So number five is kind of expanding on the glassing. I like to say look at the best place first. So episode 11, I think that was like how to spot things before your buddies.

But this is a term that I coined many years ago. So if you hear somebody referring to any glassing tactics, they call it strategic shotgun glassing. That came from me. And you should point that out that, hey, that's someone else's. That is my patented glassing term. But what I consider strategic shotgun glassing is...

Where you're looking at, you know, there's this idea of gridding an area where you're just like scanning back and forth. And shotgun glassing is like this garbage way of glassing where you're just throwing your binoculars up willy-nilly. But I think that the best way is you look at an area with your eyes and you understand...

where the animals will be at the time that you're going to be looking and focus on the highest percentage areas first. So we're looking where the animals are most likely going to be. We can kind of, at the beginning when we sit down, maybe ignore a lot of the stuff because there's going to be 90% of the country you're looking at has got nothing in it. It's 10% of the land that holds 90% of the animals. And that will be the case everywhere you hunt.

One of the things that I do is like, hey, I sit down first place I'm going to look is the places that are easy to spot them, especially if I've got limited amount of time. Maybe it's the morning and it's like, okay, well, where are they going to be at the morning? First place I always look is the skylines. Just scan those skylines because they stand out. They just pop out. Find the easy ones to spot. The ones that's like, man, I should never have missed that before they get into a place that makes it more difficult.

places that they stand out. Then I'll go from there to looking in places that are a little bit more specific to

to the time of day. So maybe it's morning and I'm elk hunting. I'm going to then focus on the feeding areas. Boom, boom, boom. I'm just picking out feeding areas here, here, here, here, here, like going from spot to spot to spot the highest percentage places first strategic shotgun glassing. Then it's like, well, maybe now they're going to be later on in the morning, moving to bedding. So I'm going to start focusing on the bedding in the middle of the day. It's like, well, they're going to be bedded. So now I'm focusing on where like

shadowed spots where they might be bedded where it's like, they've got the wind coming downhill the shade on the downhill side, they're bedded facing downhill, but they've got the wind at their back and plenty of shade. And I'm gonna be picking those spots apart. So I'm looking at the best places for the best time of day. Number six, when it comes to e-scouting, I think it's episode 12, we start to look at topography. And

i think that when you're thinking about just as an overview if you're e-scouting you're like well what's the best way to e-scout and the first thing i do is i look at the topography of the area and base that on what am i hunting right so if i'm hunting pronghorns say i'm going to be looking for that flat topography the thing that they

use. And what I want you to do is kind of start critically thinking of why the flat topography. Well, pronghorn use their eyes as their main defense. So they need to be able to see far so that flat topography is the safest where they're going to live.

When it comes to elk now, what am I looking for? Well, I'm looking for those mountains, but I'm also looking for maybe a basin that's got steep hillsides, but finger ridges for bedding or gradual ridges where they can bed a little bit easier. And then I'm starting to look in and key in on things like maybe water that's marked there. Then I'm going to maybe switch to something else and see like, okay, well, is there timber? Is there open? Is there feed?

And what I'm doing on that first initial e-scout is I'm looking for the things that the animals need, but are rare in the area where I'm looking, if that makes sense. So think about it like this. If I'm elk hunting in an area that's fully timbered, well, I'm going to look for those pockets that have good open feeding areas, right? Because they're going to be in least demand, but highest in need.

If I'm in an arid area, I'm going to be looking for water because there might be plenty of food and there might be plenty of cover, but the water is the most rare thing that they need. If I'm in an area that's fully open, right, just plenty of open sage, well, then I'm going to be looking for cover because they're going to need that security and that safety. So I'm looking for the things that they need that are the most rare. And that kind of helps me narrow down places where I can start my search.

Number seven, we got to talk about understanding thermals and wind. Episode 36, we cover a lot of this, but one thing, you know, the thermals, they rise in the morning, they fall in the evening, but there's a lot more to it, right? So the wind will suck down on the shaded side and go up on the sunny side. And I think that one of the questions I get asked a lot, what scent control do you use? And the scent control that I use is understanding the wind.

When you're mountain hunting, when you're Western hunting, you know, using products, I just don't think that there's anything that works personally.

Um, you know, I, I think maybe on the first day of the hunt, when you're clean and you've, I mean, I just use regular. So I've, I've talked about this before, but yeah, on the first few days of a hunt, you probably smell less. And if the wind swirls a little bit, you get caught less, but I've had hunts where it's like 10 days in the wind swirls and just understanding the thermals and the currents and the wind has helped me not get winded. One thing you want to think about is when you're thinking about wind, think about it like water moving over the surface of the

a riverbed, streambed, and how that water moves. Fly fisherman, I think, one, I'm a bow hunter in the fall and spring and whatever, and I am a fly fisherman in the summer.

And every time I'm working that river, those eddies, those pillows, those beds, the way that the water moves helps me determine how my fly, like throw a dry fly into the water and see how it reacts, right? And you can fish those pockets, those streams, those seams, all the little things that you need to understand fly fishing translate to the way that your scent is going to move in the wind. And, you know, aside from maybe like thermals and up currents.

So you kind of mix those two things in and you're going to have a really good understanding of how wind moves. And when you understand how the wind moves, you can understand how to make a better stock and how not to get winded. Number eight comes from episode 37. And it is what I would consider the most deadly tactic you could have in your bag of tricks. And that is persistence.

I like to make it look easy by doing it the hard way. And in turn, it becomes easier over the course of my life, over the course of my hunting career, just being able to keep after it, going that one more ridge, hunting that till the last day, hunting hard day in, day out. When something doesn't go right, readjusting and continuing to hunt is going to make you a better hunter and it's going to make you more successful.

luck to me is just like the intersection of, or I would say success oftentimes is the intersection of just persistence and luck. Like where you're so dang persistent that you get lucky. I think a lot of people have been like, man, you're really lucky to get that. You're really lucky to get this. And I'm like, yeah, but I put in so much time. I struggled, you know, I still, you can still struggle on a hunt and just being able to go day in, day out and not give up is what is going to make you successful in the long run.

I've talked about it before, but I've always been a person that I never liked to shoot something on the first day. I think this year was the first time that I shot something on the first day. I was a moose, that moose that I got the video of. And it felt weird to me. But also looking back at the trip, having like someone else with a tag and bad weather and whatever. Now looking back, I was glad I took that opportunity when it presented itself, but rarely do those kind of opportunities present themselves for me early on.

Looking back, I don't think that I actually would have got a moose if I did not shoot that one on that first day because we just, you know, the opportunity kind of never arose for a similar archery setup.

But I like to be hunting till the last day. I just enjoy the experience of hunting. And many times I've passed up opportunities and had kind of created my own need for persistence by the style that I hunt. But because of that, I've gained a lot of experience in knowing how to do things right and how to do things wrong. So when the right opportunity comes, I know how to not make the mistakes. And that's something to think about as well as just being out there, being persistent and being able to keep after it, not giving up.

you gain so much more knowledge of what you're doing that it makes it easier in the long run and more successful in the long run. Number nine comes from episode 43. But when you're talking about your backcountry gear kit, one of the things you want to do is just, especially if you're getting started out, put things in that you feel like you need. And as you

go along and more trips, fine tune it. What didn't I use last time? What seemed like something that was at the bottom of my pack that I never needed? You know, I could just tell you, you know, I think I'll just tell you right now, like off the top of my head, let's say I'm going on a seven day backpacking trip. I don't have any notes or anything. These are just the things that I think of on top of my head. So they're probably the most important things that I have in my pack.

On a seven-day trip, I probably have one or two extra pairs of socks. I have a dry bag that I keep things in to keep them from getting wet. I personally have my camera and my batteries and stuff. I'll have my sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and tent. I will have my stove, which is...

Probably on a seven-day trip, I would take my heavier stove, but I have an MSR pocket rocket, or I'd probably take like this MSR, depends on the time of year, what is it, my reactor stove. I'll have a large bottle of fuel. I'll have all my food, so I'll have seven, probably peak refuel meals. I'll throw in an extra like

two, maybe one or two biscuits and gravy kind of things for those tough days, morning breakfast. Then I'll have a oatmeal pack for each day and then four or five bar kind of like day snack kind of thing. Maybe a tuna pack, a chicken pack, something like that. And some, you know, like various snacks for each day. I'll separate those out in each day's rations. And then I'll have some coffee. I love the coffee. I got like those black rifle

either the teabag style or the instant style. I kind of mix it up for the weight, you know, depending on how much I want to carry. I will have a large bottle, the large Nalgene bottle full of water. I'll have another, probably now I started carrying two bottles, especially in areas where there's not a lot of water. And then for filtrate, I'll have a water filter of some kind, generally a, well, a SteriPen, not EpiPen, SteriPen, yeah, something like that.

And then as far as hunting gear, I'm going to have a knife, game bags. I will have probably one or two contractor grade garbage bags that I can use for various things, but primarily just a pack liner. I will have a little bit of

I might have a little bit of cordage. I'm going to have my first aid kit in there. That's got a little bit of everything, a spare, maybe a little bit of fire starter in there that I just keep in a lighter. And then in my pocket, I will have, you know, either my knife or something of that sort. I'll have a knife sharpener in my pack and maybe I'll probably have like a Gerber multi-tool. It's a truss multi-tool I use a lot.

And that's, and then on my chest, I'll have my binoculars. I will have a tripod in my backpack. And then I probably will take like my lightweight Vortex spotting scope, the little small one. I think it's like a 33 objective or 50 mil objective, 30, like 11 to 33, just depends on the hunt. But that's probably, if I think about it, I think that's pretty much everything that I'm going to have. And that pack will probably weigh in about 40, 38, 40 pounds, something like that.

Oh, it'll be like the largest stone glacier pack they make because I can always cinch it down or whatever. And then I might, depending on the type of hunt, various other little trinkets, but that's my kit in a nutshell. Number 10 is practice, practice, practice. And practice like you're going to hunt. I kind of touched on this in number one, but episode 47, we talk about

Archery practice and practical archery practice, like things that mimic the situations of hunting. And that doesn't necessarily only apply to archery, but rifle shooting as well. I think that there's no, I think that one thing people say is like practice makes perfect. Practice doesn't make perfect, just makes you better.

But the right kind of practice makes you better in the right kind of situation. So if your archery practice or your shooting practice is at the range, at a target, on flat ground, at a set yardage consistently, you're going to be really good at shooting paper and foam. And that's the God's honest truth.

But when you get into the field, you're going to have brush obstructing the shot. You're going to have various ranges. You're going to be in uncomfortable situations with uncomfortable rests. And by practicing those real life scenarios, you're going to be a lot better when the actual opportunity arises because you can be really good at spotting. You can be really good at stalking, but if you aren't good at making a lethal shot, then you're going to go home unsuccessful. And it's a very important skill to have and it takes practice. And I think a lot of hunters are

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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.

There's also millions of wide open acres chock full of different landscapes, meaning the hunt in one county is often completely different from just a few counties over. But what really makes South Dakota the greatest goes way beyond just hunting a colorful bird. It's the pursuit of something more like the camaraderie that awaits all kinds of hunters from all walks of life and partaking in South Dakota tradition over 100 years in the making.

It's about taking the greatest shots and watching your dog work the greatest fields in the greatest lands, carrying on the greatest heritage and making the greatest memories. So what are you waiting for? From the rush of the flush to the stories at the end of the day, experience a thrill like no other. Learn how at huntthegreatest.com. Number 11, when it comes to spot stock hunting, a little tactic I call the cutoff. Episode 49 says,

What we're talking about here is planning your stock based on factors of assuming where the animal's going. And an advanced way to do that is like I say, I try to stress this chess game where you are thinking three steps ahead. You've got the gambit. You've got, you know what they're going to do or assuming what they're going to do. And you can make your play based on knowledge. Now that knowledge can come from

watching what they do and building out kind of a pattern or just assuming their next hierarchy of needs. If they're out feeding, maybe it's like, okay, well, it's going to be time to bed. Where's a good bedding area? And then cutting them off from there or just using topography and terrain to see where they're going and then get in front of them and use your best knowledge of like animals and the way that that animal is moving to cut it off and be in position where the animal cuts the distance for you.

Number 12.

It's probably my preferred stocking method and that's on bedded animals. So episode 50, 51, talk about it. But especially when it comes to a bow, the best scenario is sneaking in from above on a bedded animal. When an animal's bedded, it really helps you kind of pinpoint and it's like they're in a stationary spot that gives you time to make the correct moves. So stocking bedded animals I find is probably my most successful method of spot and stock. And

Getting in on them, the best scenario, if I could choose, if you're like, hey, how do you want to stock in on this animal? I find that I find the most success from stocking in from above. Now, a lot of factors are involved in that. The wind, the way the animal is bedded, where the animal is bedded, what kind of how the position they put themselves in. Sometimes it's not possible, but I would say if you have the option, that's probably going to be your most successful bet, especially with a bow.

Now with a rifle, it's the opposite. I just try to stalk where I can get a shot across, where I can get a good open shot and see what I'm moving in on or have potential options. So I try to plan it based on what I'm hunting with and where the animal is. Number 13, hunting.

we're gonna go talk about calling again and one of my favorite calling tactics is creating a cow party episode 56 if you missed it personally i love to bugle i'm a bugle freak i love to just blow on that bugle just keep bugling right but

Cow calls kill too. So understanding that cow party and creating this like frenzy where a bull really needs to check it out. It's lethal on lone bulls and it works really well on a bull that has cows, but might be thinking that his herd split up. And now maybe you could combine a few of these tactics like dogging and elk and then getting in there, splitting the herd up once they've kind of got a little crazy and creating a cow party where it's like, oh, other bulls, satellite bull, or even the mature herd bull might have to come check it out.

Number 14 goes back to glassing because it's such a critical skill set and understanding size, shape, color, and movement. Episode 67, 68, we talked about it. But if I was to pick out a few of the things that I think you should look for is using various tools.

magnification depths when you're glassing, right? So we're going to sit there, we're going to look with our eyes and we're using that to catch movement. Then we're going to throw our binoculars on and look for those things like we're creating search parameters in our mind. So we're like looking, okay, what are these search parameters? And then we look with our eyes and then we throw up binoculars and do our glassing with that. And then we can go in and maybe grab the spotting scope and get a little bit closer look, but still looking for these certain search parameters.

Those lateral lines of the back, the verticals of the legs, the white spots of a deer, like the white butt, the white throat patch, and then also movement. Movement's probably going to be the biggest giveaway when it comes to spotting. So if we're in an area where it's like, it's fairly close, right? And it's like a time of day where stuff should be moving, right?

We probably don't want to be like zoomed in all the way on our spotting scope because we're going to not catch that wider view. So it might be like, let's pull out the binos and glass at this part because it's very critical time where you might catch those moving animals. And I can scan fast and look for those colors, those search parameters, and those things that are moving. And then as the day progresses and ends situations and terrain changes, then we adjust the things that we're looking for. And that's something to keep in mind.

Number 15, if I was to think about the most critical gear you wear, it'd be boots and packs, episode 89, episode 91. But the reason for that is it's the most uncomfortable thing. It's the touch point.

When someone's like, what should I know about a Western hunt for his big game hunt? And my first thing is always get a good pair of boots and break them in. If you're spending money on things, it's like the three things you should spend money on is probably boots, pack and binoculars or optics, because they're going to be the most critical gear that you wear and use, especially on back country style hunts or any kind of hunt. The Western hunting, you're covering a lot of ground. I like the Schnee's boots. They fit my foot well. They're super durable. Um,

It's a really good piece of gear. When it comes to packs, I have a pack that, like I've said before, needs to be adjustable and you need to make it fit you. I've got a Stone Glacier pack. I like it because it's light, but it also has all the adjustments and carries a lot of weight.

One thing, the mark of a good pack is something where you can put a lot of weight in it and it doesn't feel like a lot of weight and it's still going to be a lot of weight. It's going to be inherently uncomfortable, especially when it comes to the pack out. But there's a big difference between being uncomfortable and being unbearable. And I've used packs that are unbearable. So,

Those two things are really critical because it's making something that's inherently uncomfortable, more comfortable and having a pair of boots that are broken in and you can go day in and day out. When you, if your feet give out, your hunt can be over and it can ruin. I've seen it ruin more hunts than anything else.

bad boots, bad feet. So you want those things broken in, you want a good pair of boots, and you want to be able to get after it day in and day out. And you don't want to be cold, you don't want to be wet, you want to be comfortable. And the

And those are just in my mind, if you were to say, okay, like success and boots are highly tied together. And I know that from guiding and years of experience guiding guys showing up. And I would say the majority of hunts that were ruined early or the guys couldn't push on was because they had severe problems with their feet and boots. And that is the God's honest truth.

Number 16, as Western hunter playing the draw game, you draw that tag and that now what kind of hits, right? Episode 97 kind of covered a lot of this, but I think that if you get a tag or let's say it doesn't even, it could be any kind of tag, like over the counter tag could be any tag. Once you get that tag, now we know our hunt's beginning, but a lot of the success later on is coming in this pre-planning stage, right?

And I like to do a few things first. I researched the unit. I look over a lot of maps. I like to talk to people on the ground and then I create a hunt plan with multiple options. That means I'm talking to people saying like, where are the concentrations of animals? I'm learning about the unit. I may be looking even for photos of things that have been taken to get a good picture of what can I expect here. Then I'm doing a lot of e-scouting, pouring over maps and then having pinning possible places.

Then the final step is going to be just previewing that unit, understanding like getting in there, or it could be the first day you hunt, just previewing a lot of the spots that you've marked or getting in there and scouting saying like, okay, this is matches up with what I'm looking for. Oh, maybe there's no animals here, or maybe you don't even have time to look at the animals, but you're like, I'm looking over the country doesn't match up with what I was looking at or what I was expecting when talking to people about this particular unit.

having a good hunt plan and multiple options for backup are going to help you be successful going into an area and being able to focus in and say, okay, I know where I'm going and I know what I'm going to do before I get there. Number 17. So the last few tips I pulled from various episodes, I think these last five are

I'm just going to do is kind of overarching, let's say overarching themes of pretty much every podcast, but really broken down into the things that I'm looking for in my philosophy when it comes to finding success. So number 17 is focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of whatever you're hunting.

not only to find them, but to get close. So when I think about hunting, spot and stock hunting, I'm hunting a different animal. I've hunted many different species around the world, different units, places I've never been, and I find success more often than not. And that's hard to say that you do. I think my number one attributing factor to that is really focusing in on those strengths and weaknesses of whatever I'm hunting. So we've kind of covered it in many ways, but I'll just

reiterate some of what I'm talking about. So let's talk about like antelope, where strength is good eyesight, but their weakness is, can also be, they rely on that eyesight. So in order to get close to an antelope, I need to trick the eyesight because their smelling is not great and their hearing isn't super crazy, right? So we're finding, let's like, that's the strength. So the strength is their eyesight. So they're going to live in that terrain where their eyesight can protect them from things. But

But if I've got a bow and I've got a limited time to hunt, maybe I'm thinking I need to find an area where I can overcome that and make that their weakness, where it's like maybe I'm going to hunt some more broken terrain where I can get closer and can't see. I'm not going to see as many antelope, but I'm going to have a better chance of sneaking in.

Now, the same thing goes for elk. Like elk use their nose, they're herd animals. Noise and sight don't necessarily get them as much, especially when they're in groups and in the trees. So if I've got a group of elk and I'm like, they're in the open in the feed and I'm close, but I'm like, I can't, I'm not going to be able to sneak in in this open, right? So I'm going to wait for them to get into the

timber. And now I know that I can move in a little bit faster. I can make some noise. I maybe can throw some calls in with that and distract them. I might be able to move around some other cows and position myself and be fairly aggressive getting in close because I'm using that weakness that they're looking for. Now, uh,

Maybe it's something like mule deer where it's like, okay, they're really good at hearing. They set themselves up in places where their sense really good. They've got good eyesight. They're pretty hard to sneak on. But what are some times when they're the most distracted? Maybe it's waiting till they bed down in the middle of the day. Maybe it's a hot day. And I can use that as a...

time to make a move to get close. So I'm finding those little things about each animal that they rely on and maybe trying to find a way to exploit that or finding like when that is one of those things that makes them very hard to get close to gets kind of blocked, if that makes sense. So I can use that to my advantage. Number 18 is

You got to be in good shape. You got to be in the best physical shape. And I think getting in the best shape you can is the best thing you can do to be a good hunter or to be highly successful, right? You got to invest in yourself. And I think sometimes that gets like portrayed as whatever, whatever ends of the spectrum it is. Some people are like, I don't need to be in any shape. I do fine. And some people are like, I got to be in this kind of shape. I personally feel

feel like I'm, well, I mean, I'm definitely in really good shape. And I know for a fact that that has led to a lot of success being able to go day in day out. Now, I don't know where everyone's at, right? You might be older, you might be whatever. But I told the story before of seeing my dad who was completely out of shape. And he would, he was always one of those guys, like a bigger guy, but could get along and go. And he just made a commitment to work out every day to eat right. And he did it for hunting so he could hunt with his kids. And to be honest, that guy can out hike

Anybody I've ever met out carry anybody I've ever met. I mean, even I do it every day for a living and he is, he's twice my age and in is good or better shape. I hate to admit it, but like he's, he's an animal.

And so it is possible. Like you don't have to be limited by that. You just have to commit to changing it. And I think investing in yourself is the best, like you can buy all the gear, you can have all the right spots, you can have all the right tags, but if you physically can't get to the animal on the mountain,

or you're worried about the places it might take you to be able to pack it out, then you're going to find not as much success. So investing in yourself is a huge investment in your success when it comes to hunting. Number 19, it's kind of been covered, but you got to learn how to spot stuff. And one thing that I find so funny is the amount of hunters that have binoculars, right? And they don't even have them around their neck. They're just like in their pack.

Or they don't put them to their face. Binoculars not put to your face don't do you any work. You know, you got to put them to work by using them. And I use my binos in close range, close quarters and far spotting. I've used my optics for everything. And I think most people are like, how the heck did you spot that? And the honest answer is, well, I looked. I used my binoculars and I looked. And when you do that, you start finding that finding things is a lot easier.

Number 20, I think one thing that could be your probably most successful tactic would be to learn from your mistakes and don't be afraid to act. I think a lot of hunters, especially new hunters, well, actually hunters have been doing it a long time. You can analyze the crap out of anything, right? And sometimes you just got to make moves. This paralysis by analysis, over-analysis of the situation. Hunting in many ways needs to be

Now, if you're just getting started, you're like, well, it's not like I don't have enough skill set to know what's right. Well, do something many times, right? And if it doesn't work out, then you're going to go, I should have done this. And those I should haves are going to be your building blocks for future success. So don't be afraid to make those mistakes. Don't be afraid to act and don't analyze the crap out of it. Paralysis by analysis is probably the single like

thing that keeps some things keeps you from being successful many times sometimes you got to make those moves i've learned to make those moves by hunting alone because i didn't have to bounce things off people instantaneous decision making i think if you're to a point where you're comfortable hunting and you feel comfortable doing a few solo trips yourself do it obviously within the parameters of being safe and and knowing your limits and your skill set but

I think that that's pushed me further into being consistently successful in anything is just knowing how to act and how to make decisions. Now, tip 21 for 2021. If you've learned anything from this podcast, it should be the saying that I've had since I was

I don't even know, probably 16 years old when it comes to stalking animals. It's a mantra that I've said over and over in my head and still say it every time. I still have to convince myself of this because we always want to take the easy way. But

But you need to tell yourself, go the best way, not the easy way. If you do that, you're going to find success. And it's so much easier to say, oh, I can just run down here and be in there, but the wind's a little weird. No, instead I've got, it's going to be better for me to go this other way. It's the best way. I always choose going the best way. And if you tell yourself that before you go make some rash decisions, you're going to find more success. Go the best way, not the easy way. Now, sometimes the easy way is the best way, right? They

Go the best way first and you will find more success. Tip 22 is as we move into 2022, I think your tip is going to be fairly simple. It's going to be get out there,

have these experiences, right? And then the second part, come find me. Not necessarily in the mountains, but because my tips and tactics are not ending, they're just going to be somewhere else. And so, you know, keep the knowledge growing. I think anything you can do, listening to, you know, continuing to listen to this podcast, whatever it becomes, finding me wherever my tips and tactics are and just picking up and learning, reading, doing whatever you can to expand your hunting knowledge because, you

Having more and more knowledge, if you've only got a few days to hunt, right? And it's the weekend, you've got the weekend to hunt, you've got whatever to hunt. Building up a skill set of knowledge is never a bad thing. So continue to learn, continue to build that knowledge and continue to get out there and keep hunting. First of all, I just really want to say thanks to all the listeners for all the support and continued support. I really don't think I could ever say how much it means to me. I just appreciate you guys so much.

This is my last episode as host of the show, and I've enjoyed being on this journey with you the last couple of years. I hope that you found the podcast useful, informative, and entertaining. I've thoroughly enjoyed sharing my experiences and knowledge with you every week. In the new year, Cutting the Distance will be getting a new host, so stay tuned for more details from the Meteor Crew right after the podcast. I just want to say thanks again. I hope that you'll stay in touch. So make sure you

to find me. Okay. So I'll give you the places where you can find the information. You can find me YouTube. I've got a YouTube channel. If you subscribe to it, you'll be informed on everything that I've got. Follow me on Instagram at Remy Warren. Maybe Facebook's your jam at Remy Warren there. Maybe you're a Twitter person at Remy Warren.

One thing that I did do, so I've got my mailing list on my website, remywarren.com. You can go there and I'm going to be drawing a winner. So if you sign up for my mailing list, my email list, it's twofold. One, I wanted to give you an awesome prize back. It's like $7,500 worth of incredible gear. And I continue to do awesome giveaways throughout the year. That's what I use the thing for just giving sweet stuff away. But I'm also, it's also a thing where as,

more information comes out about what I'm doing next, I can keep you informed. So if you go and sign up for that, then you'll be in touch with me and no matter what other social media stuff's going on, I'll be able to tell you what I've got, where I've got. So follow those channels and that way you can hear about any new and ongoing projects. I've got some awesome stuff in the pipe. I've got a video series. If you like this podcast, I've got kind of like a master class of video stuff coming soon.

I've got a lot of other videos and other projects in the works, some really good stuff. If you like the tips and tactics, they are not going away from me, okay? They're just going to be finding them in a different place. This won't be the, this is the first podcast, but it won't be the last podcast I do. So make sure you stay in touch with me. And then as things come out in the future, we can connect and hopefully feed that fix of tips and tactics, right?

I appreciate every one of you. I thank you guys so much, so much. So as my final closing, I just want to say, get out there and cut the distance. Probably been waiting for that one for a long time. That's a good close. Get out there, cut the distance. Should have started with that. Hey folks, Jason Phelps here from Phelps Game Calls. And starting early next year, I'll be your new host of Cutting the Distance.

I've been building and designing calls for the past 12 years and been fortunate to hunt across the country for the past several decades, trying to close the gap on some pretty wily critters. As we kick off the new Cutting the Distance podcast next year, I plan to use my experience as a dedicated hunter, call maker, and competition caller to give you the tips and tricks I use on my personal hunts

as well as sit down with hunting and culling experts to discuss everything from the pursuit of turkey to elk and everything in between. So stay tuned for the new launch in early 2022. Get them close. Hey, we're going to take a little break here and talk about interstate batteries. Now, if you're like me...

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