Ep. 48: Answering Your Questions, Part 8
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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. I am currently podcasting from a small cabin in the mountains. It's got a tin roof and it's been pretty rainy. So this is the rainy day Q&A. If you hear a little pitter patter noise, that's

It's because you can't avoid the rain. It seems like the last few days, weather's just been really wet. So I decided to give it a go, do the podcast with the rain. And whether you hear it or not, I don't, I won't really know until afterwards. But it's always nice to hear a little bit of rain in the, in the background. Maybe we'll just have to sub that in with sound effects.

We've been doing that summer prep series and that kind of sort of came to a close because I just had the things that you could focus on to get you better this summer. If you missed that, seriously, go back and listen to some of that. A ton of great response on the archery stuff. I gave a lot of great practical practice tips. A lot of people...

Really enjoyed some of the fitness stuff and even the rifle stuff. So I think that those are a huge value add to your repertoire of skills to practice and learn. So if you get a chance to go back to those or haven't listened to them, I encourage you to do it.

Now, this week, what we want to do is we're going to jump into our Q&A. And as I say, every Q&A every week, I really enjoy the questions that come in because it helps me focus on the things that people are getting, the types of topics that people want to talk about, and allows me to clarify on a few things that maybe I've said or maybe more questions and go a little bit deeper into things. So I always enjoy getting these.

And a lot of questions came in about archery stuff, especially after last week's podcast. So we'll go through some of that and then we're going to touch on a little kind of topics ranging from everything antelope, mountain goat, some archery and some rifle tips. So a little bit of everything for everyone. We'll just dive in here right now. This first question comes from Mike. He says, Hi, Remy. I'm really enjoying the podcast. A great way for an adult onset hunter like myself to catch up.

Wondering if you can help with picking a broadhead that's economical enough to practice with in the offseason, but good enough quality to get the job done on the hunt. I'd be willing to buy an extra pack just for practice, but one to minimize the heartache in losing one practicing tricky shots. Also, do you think the practice heads like the G5 brand include are helpful? Thanks, Mike.

That's a great question because last week I talked about practicing with your broadheads before the season. And one thing that broadhead practice and something that I didn't mention is it can be expensive, especially if you lose an arrow, hit another arrow, whatever. What I suggest, the broadheads I use, I've for a long time have actually worked with G5. So it's good that you mentioned those ones because I use the Montex. I'm a big proponent of

Fixed blade broadheads there a lot of the places that I hunt you can't hunt with mechanical broadheads So I'm big fan of fixed blade broadheads I personally one of my favorite broadheads is the g5 montex which are just solid steel Broadhead and now they've got the I guess I think it's the m2 or m3 It's a newer version. That's just actually all solid three blade and

That's a great broadhead. And that's one of the reasons that I started shooting that originally is a tough broadhead. It was hard to kind of damage that broadhead. But the other really great thing about it is,

I can practice with it and then I could just sharpen it up and use it for hunting as well. I've got like a diamond stone that I sharpen my broadheads with. So you can practice with those off season and then sharpen them up, throw them in your quiver and hunt with them. You know, as you, if you practice with them a lot and need to sharpen them a lot, it is going to lose some weight.

of metal just from that sharpening and what have you. So I always put those further back in my quiver and then mark them as my practice ones. So when I want to practice or take a few shots, I've got that same broadhead. Some other really great options for practice broadheads would just be replaceable blade broadheads as well. And so what that is, is that's a broadhead where the blade itself is replaceable, almost like a

like a pre-cut surgical steel type slide in blade. And you can practice with those and then you can just swap the blades out and hunt with that same broadhead you've been practicing with. That's a great way to do it. It's a little more economical and they fly the same, but you know, if you happen to have that miss or whatever,

it's not going to be as damaging to the broadhead or the arrow because you can fix the blades or they're just durable enough. Now, mechanical broadheads, if you practice with those, man, like you miss, you break them, they're done. Even just shooting them into the target a lot kind of wears them down. Um, I,

I think what he mentioned here was the practice heads and G5 happens to have like a practice head that flies ballistically the same as the mechanical broadhead that it comes with. Those are great. I've used those. That's also a great way to do it. So I think that, you know, use those practice heads. Me personally, I like those solid broadheads for practicing because if something happens, you know, they're going to be durable enough that it's not going to matter.

Now this next question comes from Greg and it's actually essentially on the same lines but a little bit different so I wanted to answer this as well. So this question, I've been shooting archery for a couple years and all my practice at home is with broadheads. I've been breaking arrows if and when I miss the target because the tip of the arrow blows out or gets bent to the side. What are some ways to strengthen the tip?

between half outs, BH adapter rings and collars. It's hard to determine without trying them all. And then his last question is, how do you get broadheads out of trees? That's a really good question. Okay, so I think this is something that is worth mentioning when I'm talking about practicing with broadheads.

You know, if you miss the target and break a broadhead and arrow, there goes 20 bucks and that gets super expensive. So the way that I practice with broadheads is I'll have my one broadhead arrow that I shoot at the target. And I always shoot that one first. I never try to shoot a group at any kind of range with a broadhead. If I'm going to shoot two broadheads at the same target, I'm going to be shooting at different dots.

because I don't want that broadhead to cut the veins on my arrow, damage my arrow. You know, the cutting diameter of that broadhead is bigger than just say a field tip. So you can't really stack a group in there. I figured I'd just take the time to answer this question, but also talk about how to minimize loss of broadheads because

you know if you do miss and you hit something you just risk damage so i think a lot of the strength of the arrow and how it's going to break or whatever depends on the carbon that's used and not necessarily the outsert or insert or whatever so i think it's just a lot comes down to the type of arrow and the speed and what you hit whether it's going to break or not but the key is to just minimize those chances of breaking an arrow or cutting your own arrow or damaging your own arrow

so what i'll do is i'll shoot the broadhead is that like like that first shot that one shot and then maybe my other shots will be with field tips i get my bows tuned where my broadhead and my field tips fly the same so it's not really a big difference but i have had those ones where i just couldn't get it tuned quite right so my field tip flies a little bit different what i do there is i shoot my broadhead for my accuracy verification then i just shoot my

field tip for more repetition. So if the, if it's off where I'm aiming slightly, it doesn't really matter as long as I'm getting like a consistent group with it. And after time, you can actually just hold and adjust for those field tips, but always shoot that broadhead first. And then the question, Oh, how do you get broadheads out of trees? I mean, that happens or if you're shooting, you, you miss your target or whatever, and it sticks into a tree.

I know a lot of people try to pull it and wiggle it and then that just snaps the arrow right where your tip is buried in the tree. I use a knife or a saw and you just got to cut into the tree and kind of cut it out and don't wiggle it up and down, but more straight pulling and

and not a lot of pressure because what's going to happen is you'll rip the insert out, the broadhead will be stuck. So I use a knife to cut in there, cut around and dig it out. You really just have to dig it out. It's a major pain, so I try to avoid that. One other thing on this, you know, if you're shooting your targets, shooting your broadheads, whatever, it doesn't matter, field tips, anything. If you ever miss the target or you hit two arrows really close together or even just randomly through practice,

When you pull the arrow out of the target, when you pull the arrow out of whatever, when you pick it up, always take that arrow, grab it with two hands and flex it in multiple places. When just bend that arrow back and forth, what that's doing is you're checking the arrow because if you, even with you, like you shoot a close group and the two arrows, if one of those carbon arrows gets nicked,

What it does is it could weaken the arrow and on your next shot with the force that that arrow is getting thrown by the bow, the arrow does flex. Now, if there's something wrong with the arrow because of a miss or a nick or something like that, the arrow could potentially break and that could send that through your hand, through your arm. Like it's a very dangerous situation. And I think that's something that needs to be said, especially people getting into archery may not know that.

pretty much every time I grab my arrows, I at least flex them. And as I'm walking back to the target, checking those arrows, there's been times where I wasn't even expecting it. And oh, there, the arrow snaps in half. You don't want to continue pushing and trying to use that arrow. If it's good enough to flex by

by yourself, it's not going to break under pressure. But, you know, if you do that and maybe you see a little nick in it, flex around that nick because if you give it enough pressure and it snaps, obviously you just saved yourself a possible world of hurt. So that's something to think about. A couple more archery questions and then we'll jump into some other stuff here.

This question comes from Alexander. He says, archery question for the podcast. What are your tips for keeping your bow in good shape while in the field on a multi-day hunt? Storage at night, if it gets wet, keeping the sights from shifting, etc. This is a great question because

Having your gear work, how it is designed is really important. And when you're out in the mountains or packing in whatever, man, you're beating brush, it's strapped to your pack, might be strapped to a horse at some point.

Rain weather all that kind of stuff can affect the bow So one thing that I use pretty much on every hunt whether I use the sling or not is the solo hunter bow cover it's like a Neoprene bow cover that covers the strings and then has a sling on it. Sometimes I'll use the sling. Sometimes I'll just use the string cover Strings are so important

One opening day, I was like driving a four-wheeler up to my glassing vantage where I'd park and then hike in from there, drive up there. I'm so excited. I've like been scouting all summer. I get up there and my bow is in pieces. And it was because something rubbed on the string, cut the strings, and now my bow is inoperable. I actually ended up borrowing my dad's bow, a left-handed bow and hunting with that and

Because there's just no way I was in the middle of nowhere. Like there's no way to get strings. Even when I got back to town, it took weeks to get strings. So that was just something that I learned there.

protecting those strings is number one. So that, that bow cover that protects the strings is key. Like I use that all the time. Now, as I'm getting, like, if I'm doing, going on a stock or like in an area where I think I might see something, obviously I walk with the bow in my hand and have those off where I can protect it. But any other time I've got that solo hunter cover on there to protect the strings. And then as far as like it, when it gets wet, you

At night, I always keep my bow in my vestibule so it doesn't get hammered with that weather when I'm not in use. If you're hiking around, though, your bow is going to get wet. It's going to be in the elements. I think that cover does protect the strings from getting soaked, though, because when your strings get wet, it actually changes the speed of your bow, weighing down the strings and then connecting.

affect your accuracy a little bit. And that's why I think it's really important to go out and practice in the rain or whatever. And even the driving rain does push your arrow down. So knowing that is key as well. And then the last important thing, keeping your sights from shifting.

What I do after I get my bow set up where it's sighted in for what I want, I do two things. I mark every single thing that could move on the bow. So I mark where I have my sight set. I either use like a nail or like I've used a Dremel engraver and just put a dot on each side. I also take a photo with my phone of where the sights set up and

and then where everything attaches to the bow. So not just the moving parts of the sight and the rest, they do this to the sight and the rest, sorry.

where the rest is on the bow, like I could use a Sharpie or whatever, outline that or it's a little bit more accurate to use like a nail tip or an engraver, you know, not enough to where you're really damaging the bow because you know, some of these things may move over time, but just enough to where you'll see it and recognize it. And then I also take pictures of it to kind of like a double check.

And that is really important because that way, you know, when you get into the field, everything's right. Everything's where it should be. And if something's shooting off or whatever, then you know, okay, well, something moved and you can visually see it and fix it without having to shoot a bunch of arrows. The other one other thing that I do is I always carry a

It's like a rubber tip for your bow. Now I bring that into the field because I can shoot pine cones or something with it. So while I'm on a hunt, if I'm in the back country, I have that thing in the middle of the day, I'm going to shoot a pine cone. I'm going to shoot something. Maybe I've got a stock that I, uh, I'm going to get a stock here today and I'm a ways away. I can take one shot and just, just get that motion, work out the kinks, make sure everything's right. And then it won't generally doesn't break your arrow unless you hit a rock or something, but

You shoot it into something soft over long distances. It drops a lot more, but for that like close 20 yards, it's pretty good to just get a good verification of whether your bows on or just completely off. So those are the things that I do. And I highly suggest that just so you don't run into any problems.

I'm going to try to rapid fire some of these here. This comes from Chance. He says,

So what Chance is asking is like, you know, you're on a steep slope and that maybe you're just shooting straight on that slope, but the deer is on the same slope you are. What happens on those type of shots is when you draw back, gravity kind of pulls your bow downhill and it's very hard to muscle that bow back to level. So what I do is I lean the top limb into the hill.

And it feels really weird to do it first, but as you draw back and come up, then gravity kind of levels your bow back the other way. Um, it's a lot harder to hold it level or hold it toward the downhill side and draw back. So one thing on a, on a steep hill is I always kind of look at my level before I draw back and really think, well, okay, which way is the bow be

being pulled. I didn't really realize this until on one hunt. And I, I talked about this hunt in a past podcast, but I'm drawing back and my arrow kept falling off the string. And what was happening was gravity was pulling my bow and canting it so much that

where I was standing, it looked level. But as I drew back, it was actually canted so much that the broadhead was catching on the riser of the bow and pulling the arrow off. And I didn't realize that until I had to kind of torque my body the opposite way. So on a steep hill shot, yeah, I checked the level of my bow. Also kind of like leaning into the hill a little bit. And then that way it feels unnatural, but

As you come to full draw, it helps you balance out a little bit. And it's also super key before you draw back on a slope like that to really set your feet. You want to be where you have like good balance and your feet are set in a way that it's going to help you balance that bow and level that bow out correctly.

One thing with an unlevel bow and the reason that we have those levels on the site is because if your bow's canted one way or another, what that's doing is that's pitching your pin left or right. And one thing I suggest everybody do, and I kind of mentioned it in the last podcast, but when you're practicing, shoot a few shots with that bow extremely canted left and canted right. And you can tell by, you know, sending your bubble one way or the other on your level and

And measure the distance of left and right that it goes at varying yardages. The further back you go, the more it kicks it out. So if you're taking a 40-yard shot, 50-yard shot, and that bow isn't straight up and down, it's going to throw that arrow pretty far left and right. And so you should know how far, and just having that picture really helps you focus in on one thing to check. I know in the moment, it's hard to think, you know, you don't want to have to think about your level. So that's why before you draw back.

kind of anticipating your bow getting pulled by gravity on those side hill shots and practicing those side hill shots is a great way to understand that before you actually get in the field. O'Reilly Auto Parts are in the business of keeping your car on the road. I love O'Reilly. In fact, the other day, I'm not kidding you, the other day I went into an O'Reilly Auto Parts looking for a part. I needed a different thing that wasn't really in there, you know, only like tangentially related to what they carry.

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This question comes from Eric. He says, Remy, really enjoy your podcast on summer archery tips today. Your segment on shooting between the pins really hit home for me because I recently started thinking, how often is a deer standing at exactly 20, 30, 40 yards and started practicing at those intermittent yardages. I have a few questions that I'd love to get your opinion on. First, what draw weight do you shoot? Second, do you use a stabilizer? And third, do you use a stabilizer?

How big of a difference do you expensive arrows make and are they worth the extra cost? Thanks and keep the great podcast coming. All right. Those are, those are some great questions. I think the first one, it depends. I have, I'm, I'm fortunate that I have a couple of different bows in different draw weights for different applications, but I don't know. This is kind of a hard question for me to answer personally, because I actually shoot a really heavy draw and,

But I don't necessarily recommend that for a couple of reasons. I think it can develop some bad habits and be hard to hold back and shoot. But I started shooting an 80 pound bow many years ago because I needed it to hunt water buffalo in Australia. And it was a real heavy arrow set up.

and just a big animal. And then I liked that bow. So I started shooting a lighter arrow for other stuff. And I liked that I could shoot kind of a heavy arrow, but still have some good speed and a little bit less drop. Right now my bow is in that 80 to 85 pound range, but honestly like 65 or 70 pounds is plenty of bow to kill anything.

anything you need to. So I don't necessarily think that what I shoot is what everybody should shoot. I mean, I would never like

say that. And I actually just, I'm thinking of going back down to a 70 pound bow for most things. You know, the draw weight you should shoot is something that you can effectively draw with. If you're sitting in a chair with your feet up, you can hold your bow straight out and draw straight back. And I think that if you can do that, that's good. You want to be able to draw smooth, draw in kind of any type of scenario, not have to sky draw or really power through it. So

The draw weight you should shoot is something that you could do that with. And that might be less than, it might be 60 pounds, it might be 70 pounds, whatever. I think standard, if I was to say a standard draw weight, if you can shoot 70 pounds, that's great.

And also, if you're just getting into it, you can get a heavier bow and lighten it up by adjusting the tension on the limbs. But I see just when you get into hunting season, you know, your bow, whatever bow you get is going to be optimally shot at its peak weight. So if you get a 60 pound bow and shoot at its peak weight, it's going to perform better than a 70 pound bow tuned down to 60 pounds.

That's something to think about. So if you know, you're like, hey, I can't shoot a 70 pound bow, you're probably just better off getting the bow that actually fits you and your draw weight.

Question number two, do you use a stabilizer? Yes, I use a stabilizer. Every, this type of stabilizer that I've used have changed for every bow and over the years, the bow I have now has a more center grip. It's pretty dang stable without a stabilizer, but I just put a short one on there to actually just counterbalance the back weight. So it's more for after the shot than holding during the shot. I've used back bars. I've used everything.

I think a long, super long stabilizer is great in some instances, but kind of heavy and hard to use in others. So for mountain hunting, I like, I prefer just a short, small stabilizer. That's the setup that I run with. I think it lends itself to hunting scenarios and being stealthy and moving and giving me still enough stabilization that I can make an effective, good shot. Number three, how big of a difference do expensive arrows make and are they worth the extra cost?

I over the years have thought, okay, you know, get the little bit cheaper arrows and go with that. And I've realized that yes, the more expensive arrows, I wouldn't say that more expensive arrows make a difference, but higher quality arrows make a huge difference. Your output is going to be the consistency of your input. So if you have an arrow or a set of arrows that is not the

the same. Like no, no two things are really technically ever the same, but you're just trying to get that margin of sameness small enough to where you don't really notice the difference. So if you've got two arrows that are not the same, so when you release that arrow, like even if you're doing everything right, that arrow is going to fly different.

And what I like to do is just have a setup that my margin of error decreases. And so that means making everything similar. I recently just started shooting day six arrows and I noticed like with those arrows over the ones that I was shooting before, like immediately right out of the box, before I even recited it, my groups were almost half as tight as they were with the arrows I was previously shooting.

And so I'm like, okay, that just right there without even changing the tune, without anything, just the difference in a higher quality arrow than I'd been shooting.

Made me shoot better and then I noticed okay as I've been shooting them more as I go out to further ranges I'm a lot more accurate and that extra accuracy just adds more confidence. It really allows you to know Okay, my setups running right I can make a more confident shot because nothing messes with your head more than when you know You're holding on the bowl and the arrow goes two inches to the right or left Then you just chalk it up to you shooting poorly where it might be, you know that arrow well

What I've done in the past too, before I go hunting, I'll take, if I buy a dozen arrows and shoot all the arrows and I number them. So I'll, I'll try to number them and then keep track in your phone. So you got number one through 12 or whatever. You just mark them in a certain way.

and then decide which arrows shoot most like the other arrows. So you could shoot a group of one through three, and then is there one that was a flyer or whatever, and then pull that one out and okay, are the other two still close together and one's different? And really out of those 12 or even just like a dozen arrows that you buy,

narrowing it down and saying, which are the six that shoot most like each other? Then I practice with those arrows and then I take those arrows hunting. And I kind of like have an arrow that I think is my favorite through practice. I don't know if that's weird, but it's like this arrow seems to be the one that every time I shoot, it hits the bullseye and then the rest are right in there. So that's my first arrow in the quiver.

And it's kind of a methodical approach, but I think a lot of successful hunters do that. You know, once you start shooting through those arrows, yeah, you've got some others that might not fly the same, but that's just part of it. Like it's a super expensive to keep buying arrows. So you end up using those other ones, but for the most part, you can go a long time with those, those key things.

most accurate arrows that are most like the others. And so by getting those better quality arrows, there's a lot less difference. When I had poor quality arrows, I might have a dozen arrows and three would fly where I wanted. And then the other ones were kind of more erratic and you try to pair those up and match them up. But getting like a better arrow makes a big difference. Also, I'm talking a lot about this, but arrows and broadheads are like the number one questions I get. So I think it's worth taking a little bit of time.

You really have to get an arrow that shoots well for your bow. I was guilty of this in the past thinking like, man, I don't like this new bow because I would have a dozen arrows left and I would get a new bow or something. And then I would just shoot the arrows that I had from my other bow for that bow. That's crazy thinking. You know, if you think about it, like how many people have a right, like you have a rifle and you're going to go to the range and there's certain ammo that just does not shoot well out of that gun.

Same with bows. You need an arrow that has the right spine for that speed and the right length and the right weight. And it may be that bow shoots it a little bit different. It's just kind of hard because you can't test a bunch of arrows without going into a big investment. So that's probably out of range.

the option, but I would say that you need to make sure that if you get a new setup or start shooting a new poundage, you have an arrow that spine and weight and everything is correct for that bow and that setup.

And that's key. And if you do have a setup that's not shooting well, maybe you might have to think about, you know, getting a higher quality arrow, getting a different arrow. But just having an arrow that matches the type of setup is huge. You don't want to underspine, you don't want to overspine. And what the spine is just like pretty much the stiffness of the arrow. And

And different weights and different draw lengths are going to need different types of flex in that arrow. Because when you release, you want that arrow to flex correctly so it stabilizes quickly and is more accurate. Okay, this next question comes from Mitchell. I'm just going to kind of summarize the first part. He talked about he lives more east. He came out west for an elk hunt. It was successful on his first elk hunt.

and was by himself. He's got some friends coming out this year on the same hunt. So he's kind of going to be, he's the guy with experience and kind of wants these guys to have a good trip, be successful. But also he notices when he's hunting with someone, things seem to move more slowly. They're definitely louder. They take longer to make a move, et cetera. So his question is any tips on being more efficient and effective with strategizing and making important decisions when hunting with your buddies?

That's a great question. And that's something that I've talked about a lot as far as I do a lot of solo hunting. And the thing that I really enjoy about hunting alone is the fact of instantaneous decision making.

As a guide, you know, people are coming to me to make decisions. So I get used to taking charge and making those decisions and just doing the decisions like I hunt for myself and alone. But I do not do that when I'm hunting with friends. When I'm hunting with friends, decision-making takes a long time. You're wondering what the other person wants to do, this, that, and the other thing. And sometimes that costs you opportune moments of success. But I also, when I'm hunting with friends, don't like to act as guide.

People might say, like, what should I do? And I might offer a suggestion, but it's more of a nonchalant suggestion because I want people to enjoy the hunt and make their own decisions. And then afterwards, I'm always like, oh, this is what I would have done. And then they're like, well, why didn't you say that? But, you know, I'm here as a friend, not as a guide.

But I do think that there is a happy medium between that going back and forth because you're always second guessing yourself and everybody has their own ways of making decisions. I think that one of the best ways to do it is before you go into the situation, say, okay, like who's going to be hunting? Like who's up? Who's up to bat? Who's going to be stalking this animal? Well, say you spotted something or...

Even just going to a spot, I think that it's kind of a trade-off thing. But kind of having set up, okay, if I'm the one going in in the stocking and I want to make the decisions, then you make the decisions. Now, if that person wants some kind of advice, then offer your advice. And I just think that it's one of those things that, yes, hunting with other people has its drawbacks.

It's harder to make decisions. It's louder. It's whatever. But there are certain instances where it's better. And especially elk hunting. You've got a guy calling. You've got a guy in position to shoot. You can trade off on that. And I just think that that's something that you've got to work out with yourselves kind of ahead of time but also in the field. And then you've just got to understand that there's moments that things are not going to go right. But when things don't go right and you're by yourself, you have no one to blame but yourself.

when things don't go right and you're with other people, the tendency is to blame those other people. So I honestly think the best way to deal with it is no matter what happens, when it goes wrong, don't immediately blame the other person. And I think that that is key to hunting with people and having a good time and remaining successful. Because when somebody then gets, something goes wrong and you kind of get put down or like, oh man, if you would have done this, then the demeanor kind of like

Their decision making and your decision making, you become slower at making decisions because you're afraid of the outcome. And I think you just like I've done this for years is like when you're hunting with people, when you're hunting with friends, things don't go right. Things don't go right when you're by yourself, but you just kind of know that you messed up and you move on.

I think it's just like, you just have to understand that when things don't go right, that's just how it is. And that keeps the decision-making a lot faster. So nobody's afraid of making the wrong decision because in the moment, the decision you make is the one that you think is the best. It will either work out or it won't. And if it doesn't, move on. That doesn't mean you don't make decisions in the future. That doesn't mean anything. It just means that time it didn't work out. And understanding that makes the whole process smoother over time. And that's just something hunting with people

That's why like hunting partners are some of the hardest things to find. I mean, it's, it's like, I have a group of people that I hunt with, like, and it's my dad and my brother and maybe two or three friends and that's it.

It's very difficult to find people that are compatible in a certain way in those high pressure situations that kind of make the trip more enjoyable. I don't enjoy just hunting with anyone. As a guide, you really learn to get along with a bunch of different types. But on my own personal hunts, there's certain people that I want to hunt with. And it's because we have an understanding and we hunt well together and hunt really well as a team.

And we're more successful sometimes hunting together than alone because you do have, you have more eyes, you have more help, you have a lot of things. So hunting with other people can be great. You just have to understand ways to work around and make those decisions a lot less of a back and forth and more of a cohesive thing. So a little bit of team building, do some trust falls in camp. I don't know.

CJ says, Hey, I listened to Cutting the Distance today and heard you're doing Q&A episode. I would love some tips and tactics on spot and stalk antelope hunting in Southern Colorado. It is rattlesnake country and most of the landscape is pretty barren with little to no vegetation. We've gone the last four years and seen a lot of game, just cannot get close enough to get an ethical shot. I would love to put one down this August. Thanks for your help.

This is a great question and I think that it lends itself to a lot of different, not just antelope hunting scenarios, but a lot of different hunting scenarios in general.

You know, antelope live out in some really open country. They, your eyes are their key defense and where they have that key defense is where most of the antelope are going to be. So you're going to see a lot, but like he says, you, it might be very hard to get close. What I do is I hunt in a way that lends itself to giving me a slight advantage. So for antelope, for instance,

Because they see so well and live in really flat terrain, I know the ones that live out in the just pure flat are probably going to be pretty dang safe. Now, there are ways around it. Crawling very, very long distances, I have been successful sneaking up on antelope. I've actually crawled up on antelope in a wide open field using a ghillie suit. But when it comes time to shoot, you know, that's the trouble. As soon as you get up to make a shot, they can see nearly behind their head. So...

that makes it a little bit difficult. But I would say, you know, maybe start focusing on areas that don't have as many antelope, but have more of the terrain where you can trick their eyes, some more broken country. There's going to be fewer animals in it, right? You might spend more time looking, might be harder to hunt. But when you do see one, your odds of success for getting close and getting a shot are

are better. So just because there's an area with a lot of animals doesn't necessarily mean that that's where you should hunt. Now, another thing would be changing your tactics. There's a place that I hunt antelope where, yeah, it's open, there's great bucks, but good luck sneaking on one. So what I do in those scenarios is I find...

waterholes and choose to hunt that way where I've got a blind set up, I'm sitting in the waterhole or maybe, well, because it's August, you know, the rut's not really kicked in. So the decoy thing doesn't really work as well. But, you know, changing your tactics and changing your location. So you're hunting for a way that you can get closer opportunities as opposed to just hunting for the animal because you're

You'll get, you'll spend a lot of time hunting in areas that are going to be very difficult to make a stock, or you can focus on those areas where you aren't going to see as many, you're going to have as many opportunities, but the opportunities you do have will be more successful. And that goes for every kind of hunting. Just because the animals like a certain place doesn't mean that that's the best place to chase them. You got to really pick and choose your, the things that you want to compete against. Now,

There's also the option of try the long crawl. I've snuck up on antelope in the wide open by crawling for like over a mile. But man, does it hurt your knees and neck and everything gets sore and you can only do so many of those a day. And most of the time, by the time you even get close, the antelope have just naturally moved off. So it's just way more opportunity if you choose the area that you hunt a little bit differently.

We'll jump on a couple rifle questions. So this one is, Hey man, love the podcast. Thanks for the awesome free content. I have a question for your Q and a, I drew a Colorado doe antelope tag for December and plan to hunt over the counter elk during the second rifle season. I shoot a seven millimeter rim mag. What is the maximum yardage I should be practicing at is 500 yards too much of a stretch. If I can shoot consistently at that distance,

I think, no, I think that's 500 yards if you are practicing regularly at that, especially for antelope is definitely not too far. You know, elk, that's about the limit that I would like to shoot. Normally I'd prefer a 30 cal, but just because a little bit more weight retention in that bullet, a little bit more speed with a heavy bullet, but

seven millimeter. Yes, you can, you can definitely be lethal out to that distance, but I would always encourage you to try to get closer. I said this with the archery thing last year's okay. Just because you practice it this far range, and that would be your maximum range. Some people get to that range and say, okay, now I can shoot. But if you get to that range, you know, you really have to think, okay, can I just get a hundred yards closer? Can I get 200 yards closer?

The answer is 99% of the time, yes. And if you can do it because, you know, you just have like a lot better chance of success and be more successful at that. But I would say that for all intents and purposes, that's not too far of a range. I think that that's pretty much where I kind of cap myself is that 500 yards max. I have actually shot things further, but that's not really what I strive to do. I just try to get, you know, as close as possible. So I hope that answers that.

This one comes from Louis. He says, Hi, Remy. Listening to episode right now, my question isn't archery related. I just got a new Christensen Ridgeline. It's my first rifle with a break on it. Will putting tape on the muzzle to keep moisture and debris out change the effectiveness of the muzzle break? Do you recommend doing this? And if so, what kind of tape? Thanks. That's a great question. And I know I

I actually really suggest people hunt with muzzle brakes for a lot of reasons. I hunt by myself a lot. It takes a jump out of the rifle so I can actually see the impact a little bit better. So it makes me shoot better as well because there's less recoil and I like light rifles. So I think that that's a great combination to have a muzzle brake.

you know, in the later in the season, especially if you're walking through trees, you've got that break on as you brush up against things, it actually funnels more stuff into the barrel. I personally generally have a rifle, like the solo hunter rifle covers on my gun. And I've just got so used to that, that it protects the scope and the barrel and all that stuff.

It's really good, but it's also, you know, I take it off in certain instances where I'm carrying and thinking I'm going to get close to things. I don't, I like to be ready at all times as well. So I have covered the break. You know,

You know, that's one thing, you know, just shoot it and see at the range. Every gun's a little bit different. You shouldn't really have any problems. Electrical tape would probably work fine. I have shot a muzzle brake with electrical tape, but at longer distances, I think that you'd probably want something that comes apart a little bit easier. I use personally, I'll just use like a, the finger of a latex glove, just stretch that over and then electrical tape the base of it.

it. So that way, as the air comes out of the barrel, it just blows that glove apart and you don't even have to worry about it. And that will not affect the accuracy of it. Whereas if you tape it, it might change the pressure a little bit. It'd probably be negligible either way, but that's what I do. So I hope that helps. All right. The last question here, Joey says, a buddy of his drew a mountain goat tag and could use some sage advice.

He says, really love the content and appreciate the hard work you provide. It so happens that a buddy of mine drew a mountain goat tag in Oregon, once in a lifetime tag. And as you and the folks you surround yourself with have much more vast history of successful hunting, I was curious how you might prepare for a goat hunt. This guy is still yet to put an elk under his belt despite hunting them for 15 years. So he hopes karma is on his side.

Yeah. So, you know, with every new species you hunt, there are things that are different. There are things that are different about a mountain goat hunt that are different challenges than an elk hunt. And now I'm not sure exactly what area he has or whatever, but I'm having guided quite a few goat hunts in Montana. And I've actually drew my first goat tag myself last year, got to hunt in Kodiak. Goat hunting for the most part is

It's not generally hard to find the animal. So it's like elk hunting is mostly the challenge is finding the actual animal. Goats like steep habitat. You find that steep habitat, they're probably going to be on it. They're a white animal that stands out. So, you know, you're going to want good optics, but you're going to really want that physical conditioning because mountain goats live in some

rugged, rough terrain. And the challenge of goat hunting necessarily isn't finding them all the time, but actually having the persistent ability to keep going after them and get to where they live. And that's really the challenge. Now you also...

I would work on my shooting because shooting at further distances might be the difference between being successful and not because getting on the same hill as them and making a stock might be actually pretty hard or you might be shooting across canyon. One of the things you're going to want to think about is you have to shoot that animal where you can retrieve it. So just being cognizant of that and having the physical ability to get to where you need to go. That's the kind of prep that I would do for a goat hunt. Physical shooting is

And then, you know, as far as gear goes, having a good set of binoculars and a great spotting scope.

I think the hardest part for people new to mountain goat hunting is identifying the difference between a billy and a nanny. Once you've looked at them for a long time, it's like, it's really apparent. Like a billy stands out, nannies don't. Many areas you can probably shoot either a billy or a nanny, just not a nanny with kids. But, you know, it's awesome to get a billy and you don't have to worry about it potentially having, you know, kids or whatever. So understanding the difference between the two, that's,

The Rocky Mountain Goat Alliance is a great organization that has like this awesome video. I actually think the one I saw, yeah, Steve Rinell actually did the voiceover for it, but

That's a great video. Go check out the Rocky Mountain Goat Alliance if you got a goat tag and you want some extra info on identifying the difference between the two. And once you get out there, you know, really be patient, look them over and spend that time. The ones that you can't get close to really analyze with a good spotting scope and you're going to be able to tell the difference a lot sooner. So I hope that helps. Oh, actually speaking of mountain goats, that reminds me, you know, we've got a lot of people that listen to this podcast that

From New Zealand, from Australia, I hunt there every year and have for a better part of a decade, over a decade. I love hunting there. And what I love hunting is tar. It's kind of a different management system because the animals are invasive, this, that, and the other thing. But there's a tar coal that's planned that kind of, you know, unfortunately didn't really address hunters like they're supposed to. And they used to just shoot nannies and kids,

females, immature males, whatever, but they're trying to now just eradicate everything in certain areas. There is a petition going around. You can pretty much find it, Tar Coal petition on change.org. So if you ever think you might want to hunt New Zealand or live in New Zealand or whatever, this just kind of popped up.

kind of tried to sneak it in there. So I would highly suggest you go over there and find that petition and just help your fellow hunters out in other places, because I think that that's important to, to support other hunters, other places, whether you're going to tar hunt there or not, you know, something that I care a lot about. It's something that a lot of people that listen to this podcast care a lot about. And so we'd, we'd love to help those people out. So if you get a chance, go do that, do that today. I'd appreciate it.

I just want to thank everybody for tuning in. We've got some awesome stuff coming up. We're going to talk a lot about hunting tactics and some scouting stuff over the next month.

And I really think you're going to enjoy it. If you enjoy this podcast, you know, please share it with a friend. Subscribe. If you don't subscribe, you know, what helps us keep going is having that subscriber base. So if you listen every week and aren't a subscriber, don't follow, you know, subscribe, follow, leave a good comment, leave a good rating wherever you listen. I really appreciate that. I run through and read this and I honestly thank you guys very much. So that's our Q&A for the week. And until next week,

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