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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. It is question and answer week. So I'm taking the things that you want to know, all your burning questions, and I'm going to be answering them this week on the podcast. I really like to do these Q&As because I believe that
Everybody has a little bit of a different experience or wants to know something different that maybe I don't think about. And so this is a great way if you've got questions, you've listened to the podcast, maybe you're trying new tactics or you're new to hunting and maybe the things I'm talking about are too advanced. There's no question too simple or too, I would say, technical, right?
Whatever you guys want to ask, feel free to ask. And I try to read through as many as I can. And I think that there will be a lot of value added information this week, especially. I'm really pumped. We've got a lot of response on so many good tactics that people have been using and been successful for elk already, which is awesome. That's the whole goal here. So let's just dive into these Q&As right now.
The first one here comes from Nick. He says, my question is, how important is opening day out West? We hear all the time on the Meteor podcast about Eastern states and the odds decreasing significantly if you aren't out on opening day. Does that apply to Western firearm hunts? And if so, how much?
He says, I'm planning on going to some national forest land and want to get as far from roads as possible, but wondering how wary the bucks will be after opening day. Also, this being his first hunt and the laws allow any buck, he's planning to take whatever he can. He just loves good meat and his goal is to harvest something himself, even a forky. Thanks for putting out the awesome podcast, especially for the information that helps new hunters like me with no mentor to find ways to get out in the woods.
I really appreciate that question, Nick. And that's a great question. There was very, quite a few other similar questions about how important is opening day. Honestly, it's not that important. And here's why. I think this is the difference. Based on the style of hunting that you're planning, getting away from roads, getting away from people, you're already going to be limiting a lot of contact, even opening day or not.
As the seasons progress, opening day is really good for if you're out ahead of the season scouting and you get the first crack at maybe something you have located. If you've been scouting and you're hunting a specific buck, yes, you need to be there opening day because somebody else might get to it. It might get moved around. You never know what's going to happen. You just want to be there first chance you can get.
But through my guiding, through hunting over the years, many of the time places that I hunt, I don't have, I can't get their opening day. I go when I can. I found that better than opening day is the weekdays after opening day, if possible, or any weekdays outside of the weekends, if you can swing it.
Because a lot of people, almost everybody hunts opening day that lives nearby. I've noticed the traffic significantly decreases shortly after. Even that second week of the season, great time. There's always fewer people out that second week than that first week. I personally, a lot of hunts plan on finding the times that there's fewer hunters out.
Maybe the animals have been stirred around a little bit, but that's okay. I will have less competition while I'm out there and a little bit more opportunity for those animals to go back to their normal habits and their normal routines. When you're comparing Western hunting to maybe Eastern states, a lot of those Eastern states, people are hunting kind of on small parcels. They don't have a lot of places to go. Maybe they're hunting 10 acres, 20 acres, whatever.
Opening day is the best because there's so many people out that day. It's running things back and forth and pushing animals around. Out west, when you're hunting big tracks of public land, you can go to where those animals are and it's a completely different ballgame. So missing out on opening day, I don't think is a game changer. I actually think that in some cases, if the season's early, you might be better off waiting till later. You might get some more rutting action or waiting till there's fewer people out and you can just hunt the animals once they go back to their routines.
But I do love personally hunting opening day because it's the first day you get to get out. And if you have anything pre-scouted or pre-planned, you can make an initial move on it. So opening day can be great, but it's definitely not a deal breaker.
Next question says, Hey Remy, really liked the podcast. I've been listening from the beginning and really enjoy it. You've talked in the past about hunting burns and being successful. I'm a Colorado resident and drew a late season cow tag for December 15th to January 15th. As of right now, my entire hunting unit is on fire. Should I turn the tag back and wait until next year? Or do you think it might be worth trying this year? Thanks. Can't wait to put your tips to good use this year. Good luck this season.
That is a great question and I also got many questions about fires in areas.
Based on what I'm seeing here, a late season hunt, December 15th to January 15th, you absolutely need to hunt this tag. This may be your best chance on this unit for a cow elk, in my opinion. October, early season fires, August, summer, even in October, fires that same year on what I'm assuming if there's a December 15th to January 15th season, it's winter range.
fires on the winter range that same year can be extremely, extremely productive because what you're going to get, like enough time to put that nutrients back in the ground, you're going to get a ton of green up.
on those open slopes in the sun that time of year. I would absolutely hunt those burns. You're going to have better visuals, be able to see through some of that brush and other things. It's going to be easier to spot the elk. The elk are going to be out feeding and there's going to be incredible food sources for them because of that fire. It may be the best time for that specific type of tag based on those season dates, when the fire is, and the fact that it's a cow elk hunt.
I would absolutely hunt it. This next question says, I'm four years into archery elk hunting and I'm trying to harvest any legal bull via any style, stalking, calling, tree stand, doesn't matter. I can regularly plan a hunt and find elk and fresh sign, but seem to be at a wall for going from knowing they're in the area to getting shot opportunities. He says he has three elk areas where he's found strong elk sign, fresh wallows and smell.
The elk don't respond to my location check calling, bulls or cow calls, and he can't find a good glassing location because of cover. He's camped in proximity but hasn't heard any nighttime bugling as well.
Do you have suggestions for this situation? First choice, second choice, third choice, and how to weigh the options based on circumstances for getting on silent elk in areas you know they're hanging out with fresh sign and smell, but where you can't pinpoint their location. So far, his go-to methods have been calling and still hunting, but he assumes he needs to be patient and put in the time. My thoughts are greatly appreciated. Paul.
Paul, that's a great question. And I think a lot of people probably run into this. So you've got into an area, it's obviously you're hunting in a more timbered area and you're getting in there, you're finding, you're seeing sign of elk, but you just aren't finding the elk. So I guess you have to ask yourself these few questions first. What time of year is it? Are you not hearing elk during the prime rut? And are you finding the sign of
while you're hunting or are you finding the sign prior to this peak rut? Like, are you finding this sign in the summertime and then you're going in there during peak rut? Or is this an earlier season where it might not be that mid-September season? Because that's going to be a big difference. You know, if it's earlier in the season, you aren't hearing anything, but you're seeing that sign,
That would tell me that the elk are still in there, but they just aren't really being vocal that time of year. Now, if you're in there between, I would say September 15th and,
September 28th and you aren't hearing any elk make any noise, you probably need to find a new area or maybe they were in that area, but you might want to check some other spots around there because maybe they've slightly moved off. That's always a good indicator because you know, you're hunting September, the elk are calling at some point. That's how they're finding each other. If they aren't calling right where you're at, maybe they've moved off.
Now, let's say those other two things that I've mentioned don't come into play here. The elk are in the area. You know they're there right now. You just can't figure them out. I actually don't know the regulations in this state that you live in, but if a trail camera is legal, put a trail camera on some of those wallows and see if you're getting elk moving in and what times they are. If you do that and you don't see any animals, you aren't hearing them, then once again, move on, find a new spot.
You can also hunt a different way and say, look, this spot you found sign, you found other things, but you aren't getting any vocal elk. So you can't pinpoint them during the hunting season. Maybe be more mobile, check more places and don't look for sign. Only look for elk that are going to make a noise. So when you hear an elk, okay, there's elk here. I know they're here right now, physically. Now I've pinpointed their location and I can hunt them. And that might mean trying to find new spots, new places.
But it's not a bad idea to try to be patient. If you know those elk are coming in, you've got trail camera pictures of them, you've got sign, they might not be making noise, but you know for a fact they're there, then yeah, it's going to be a patience game. And I would maybe try using that knowledge of when they're hitting the wallows to waiting and stand hunting them. That would be my suggestion.
One more added thing, in combination to stand hunting them, I would definitely throw out some of those cow calls and maybe try to call in a bull that's just cruising by itself, just checking for groups of cows. That's going to come in silence, so you might be set up, you can do some cow calls, and then if you know that that water source or whatever is getting hit because you've got pictures and definitive sign, then hunt it.
This next question says, Dear Remy, when hunting big game, what strategies do you have for going to the bathroom, primarily number one, in a way that reduces the risk of being detected? This is a really big oversight on my part and something I haven't been giving enough consideration. I tend to pee in a hole and cover it up, but listening to your podcast has made me think more about what I'm doing in the field and how I prepare, especially with winds and scent considerations. Thanks again, Charles.
Here's my thought on that. I don't even think about it. There's no part of me, but I guess it also depends what kind of hunting you're doing. If I'm tree stand hunting, the peeing in a hole thing and whatever is great. If I'm in a blind, I generally just carry a bottle so I don't have to get out. But I have peed behind my blind and had elk and deer come in and no problems. I think of it like this.
They're going to smell you and they're probably may not care about where you've been so much. If every time a coyote peed on the ground and elk and deer ran away from that area, they would constantly be running. Now I'm sure there'll be plenty of people that will debate me to the core on this, but I do not believe that it really makes that much of a difference, especially when we're talking like Western big game hunting. It's so much land. It's so much area. Um,
you know, I wouldn't even really consider it. Now, the things that I do consider, if I know elk are hitting a certain area, I'm not going to pee there. I'm just going to move off somewhere else if I can. But for the most part, I don't really think twice about it. It might just be a waste of time. But if you can cover it up, great. If you're stand hunting, you might want to have more consideration about it. Other than that, keep the wind right and you should be fine.
Snake's Christian says, the past couple of years, antelope hunting, I've tried to gain either access to private land or at least access to landlocked state land in private land where I'm noticing tons of antelope.
I've knocked on doors and made phone calls asking for permission, sometimes great conversations, others not so good. But I always seem to get shut down on permission to either cross or to be on someone's land. Money is an issue for me, so it's hard for me to bribe with cash, as well as I've offered manual labor from myself to help out on ranches, but it seems that these landowners still say no, no matter what.
Any tips or conversation tips to use when talking to private landowners to get more yes answers instead of no's? Thank you, Nick. Here's my thought on that, Nick. And unfortunately, I'm really bad at asking for permission as well. And I realize that and I'm not even necessarily bad at asking for permission. Don't like to do it.
So I just find better public land spots. And that is just the way that I've hunted. I mean, really look into whatever state you're hunting. There's so many different programs like access. Yes. Programs, block management programs. Every state's got a different name for them where the state actually leases private lands for public hunting and
Now, it kind of makes it, yes, like public land, but there are some really good places that you can hunt like that. If you don't like permission, have to ask for permission, start researching some of those areas as well as researching more public land options. I mean, I wish that there was a secret ingredient to say, here's how you talk up a landowner. And I know some people are good at it. I just don't like having to ask people and do that because...
I'm not really good at that kind of like just going up to random people and asking them, Hey, can I hunt your property? Because I know if it was my property, I'd be like, hell no, you can't hunt here. Uh, I want to hunt here. And if anybody's going to hunt, it's going to be people I know. So for the most part, I would say, instead of spending your time doing that, spend time really just trying to find better public land areas. Now,
The fact that you go out there and ask these people, I would say that's great. You have a skill set that I say I don't even have. So I would continue to do that. To be able to just go talk to these people, you know, just like the more times you try, probably you get a lot of no's, but one day you will get a yes. And I know a lot of people that do that and do get yeses. So I would say continue doing what you're doing, but also continue.
really just use your onyx maps look into some of that public land try to find some better public land spots and then look at to whatever state you're at and try some of those places that are private land that have those features of private land but you don't necessarily have to ask for permission or it has a system set up on how to ask for permission i think that's a lot easier
We've got a bow question here. It says, I had a question on proper sight alignment for multi-pin bow sights. I consider myself a pretty decent shot with a rifle. Past life was in the infantry, so lots of training and repetition. I feel comfortable in the gun world. For bows, I've been self-taught since getting my first bow 15 years ago. I've always centered the pin on my peep sight for my yardage. I've always centered the pin on my peep sight for my yardage.
Getting ready for early season, something struck me to center the circular housing of my sight on the peep sight. So my question is the proper sight alignment, centering the pin within the circle or the peep sight, or aligning the two circles of the housing and the peep and hold the right pin on the target?
It says, hope to hear from you, Reebs. That's a great question. The question's kind of a little bit complicated. So he's essentially asking, how do you align your site and your peep site? I always align the circular housing to my peep. So
What I try to do is I try to match up where my peep site, I do this different ways. So you can do it by sizing your peep to your site or moving your site in and out and doing a combination of both. So there's different size peep sites. I try to go with a little bit smaller peep site, especially if I'm going to have my site a little bit further out.
And what I like to do is I like to center my peep where it like kind of makes a concentric circle from the outside of the site housing that I'm looking at. So my site picture is a site housing and I like my peep to be inside the
the outside of the site where it's like if it's got a white line or whatever it's not inside the site but it's also just like matches up the sizing of my site housing so i like to line my site housing and my peep so there are two circles that are exactly the same size that way i know if i'm off a little bit when i draw back and then you use whatever pin for the yardage on that so i always center
my site housing into my peep. So that way it's consistent. It's the same every time. And I know that I'm looking through it exactly the same every time my site actually has like different housing faces and it's got different color rings on it. So I can try to line my peep up with the center ring. So then I know if it's off a little bit, I'm using a fast Eddie XL
the spot hog one and then i'll i'll adjust my sight so it matches my peep perfectly and i've found that doing that really helps me maintain all those things you need to maintain to make a good bow shot so if you're going to make a good bow shot like
perfect bow shot means you're doing the same thing correct every time and it's nearly impossible to do exactly the same every time but that's the goal right that's that's when you get two arrows to go to the same place so it all includes your grip it includes your anchor and helping with that anchor is how you're looking at the site through your peep and so I really like to line those things up to kind of benefit and make sure that I'm anchored in the same place
Hey Remy and Meat Eater crew. First of all, great job. I listened to an inordinate amount of podcasts while driving from work and most are from the Meat Eater Network. I've listened to every episode of Cutting the Distance at least twice, so maybe I missed something. It seems when I'm glassing for deer, California archery, so mid to late summer, I only turn them up at night and can never stalk into bow range before shooting light is up.
To follow that up, I can never seem to find them the next morning either. Do you have any tips on glassing bucks in the AM and how to find them the next day if spotted at sunset or later? Do deer typically feed in the morning on eastern slopes or northern or is it hit and miss? Thanks for the podcast. Keep it up. Ben.
That's a great question, Ben. And I've kind of seen this in some areas from experience. Generally, I'm going to assume a few things here. So I'm going to assume that you're hunting mule deer, but I'm also going to then simultaneously assume that you might be hunting blacktails. They do behave a little bit differently. Blacktails are
tend to be more forest dwelling creatures. I would consider their habits a lot more like whitetails. They hold a very small range and they are very intimate with that range. They know that range really well and it's
it's generally in thicker cover. So if you're seeing the deer come out in the evenings and they're black tails, that's probably because they're moving closer to the cover of darkness and then they're already in that cover in the mornings or whatever, if you are not seeing them come back out in the morning.
So what I would suggest then is, you know, still hunting those areas nearby or planning on setting up for them to come out and try to build a pattern for them to come out in the evening and try to understand the pattern of those deer.
Now we're going to go to the flip side of that. If we're talking mule deer or even maybe like mule deer blacktail hybrids, you kind of get into that weird mix. But if you're spotting them, let's say they're mule deer, they're out in the open in the evenings and then you just can't catch them in the mornings.
It might have a little bit to do with the sun and how hot it gets early season. So they might be coming out in the evenings and then feeding through the night. I would say plan on looking on the opposite side of where they're coming out in the morning. So if it's a one ridge and they're out in the evening, say on a south facing slope,
They might be on the north slope in the morning because what's going to happen is that north slope will have that, keep that sun longer. So that north face is going to just be shaded longer. And maybe they're just feeding in that and they're just feeding close to their bedding area. So then they're going to go do their initial bed somewhere on that hillside because it's going to stay shaded. And then they're going to go bed permanently.
So I would definitely focus on those north faces early in that hot summer, especially if there's a little bit of an opening nearby where maybe that might play into it a little bit. So I think focusing on those two things will really help you locate them different times, not just later. Another thing to think about is maybe on those areas where you've seen the buck,
kind of figure out where are these deer bedding? Why is it feeding in this particular area? Is this cover that it's coming out of and going into maybe its home range or is it just kind of like passing through? If you're seeing a lot of bedding near that on maybe a different slope or in that same area, then you'll know, okay, well, they're bedding here. Where's their bedding area? Here's where they're feeding in the evening. Where's a logical place that they might be feeding in the morning? Because they probably are feeding in the morning, but it might be a little bit more in cover.
So just really kind of extrapolating that and then focusing on those areas. I think you'll have a lot more success. This question comes from Nick. Quite a few nicks this week. I like it. It says, I've been elk hunting for the past few years and have had some opportunities, but it hasn't worked out. I think my biggest problem is being able to stay on elk. I can usually find them within the first day or two, but then I spook them and never seem to find them again. Any advice on relocating elk?
I appreciate all the advice that you provide. As an adult onset hunter, I appreciate any valuable information I can get. That's a great question. You know, if you blow it, what do the elk do?
Now elk have their certain patterns, but when they get pressured, then they start to do what I call like loops or safety loops. So they like a certain area and they might even hang out there forever unless they get bumped. And then you bump them and it's like, well, what happens? Generally, I find that they have these like three day loops. So they've got these areas that they go to through safety. So you've pushed them.
Many elk might go back to that same place the next day or the next couple days. If you aren't seeing that, then I would say every third to fourth day, they might be back into that area. Now you just kind of got to figure out where are they going in between there.
and you have to find areas close by that have similar things to where you found them, but might be in a direction or a different direction of travel where they're going. If it's a super highly pressured area and you spook them, they might end up just staying in cover and
you know, being in a smaller area, but just staying tightly in a place where they aren't getting bothered. So look at a map, pull up your map and say, what's a place that is very difficult for people to get to, for predators to get to, for these elk where they're going to stay safe for the longest period of time, not interact with anyone. Look for those areas. And that's probably where the pressured elk are going to be. But for the most part, I think a lot of people bump elk and think, oh, it's over. I've spooked them. This
When in actuality, there's been many times that I've spooked elk, bumped elk, and then found them in similar areas in the same place a day or two later, or even maybe just within a couple miles of where they've been spooked. So it kind of depends on the habits and the elk in that area. And if you definitely aren't seeing them again, even after a couple of days or whatever, then I would say start focusing on those places that
they can go to where they aren't going to get that pressure. Those holes, those pockets, those little protected areas that seem out of the way where they're going to be able to hang out and be unpressured again. And that's a great way to focus in on elk that do get pressure or have been bumped.
I really appreciate everybody's questions. Keep those questions coming because we're going to go through a few more Q&As throughout the coming months. But before we do those, next week, I think a lot of people, I get a lot of questions about people traveling for hunts and other things. So next week, I just want to talk about some traveling hunter meat.
care. One of the things that I really promote is getting out of your comfort zone, trying something new, going to a new place, hunting something different. Maybe you're a guy that's been listening to this podcast and you live in the Midwest or Eastern US and you're like, man, elk hunting sounds awesome. Antelopes hunting sounds awesome.
You go on a hunt like that, but how do you get the meat back? That is one of the most important things and it's something that I've become an expert on because I deal with it all the time. I'm actually just getting ready to head out to a remote place in Alaska and I'm like, got to make sure my meat prep and meat care is on point because I need to make sure that I get all that meat back home in good condition and rejuvenated.
ready to be eaten. You know, the worst thing that I could ever imagine is going on a hunt, spending all that time and not taking the proper care of the meat to get it home safely. So I'm going to go over my tips for that next week. And then if you got other things you want to talk about other topics, feel free to reach out. Social media, Instagram is a great way to do it. I'll be posting and sharing stories and all my hunts and other things on my at Remy Warren Instagram. I'll
So if you don't follow me over there, check that out. I think you'll like it during the season. I'll be sharing some of these hunts that I talk about. And then also I'll be able to get your questions and comments and other things. So it gives me a good idea of the things that everybody wants to hear about and the topics that we talk about on this podcast. So I appreciate you guys until next week. Keep the questions coming. We will catch you later.
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