Ep. 104: Answering Your Questions (LIVE), Part 2
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Welcome back, everyone, to Cutting the Distance Podcast. This week is part two of the live Q&A I did from the Pope and Young Club Convention in Reno, Nevada. I'm going to be talking about how to cut the distance.

For me, these are really fun episodes to do. And I think probably out of the line of podcasts in the past, some of the best episodes, if you're looking for high level tactics or just to better understand my hunt strategies. And this is the first for us doing something live. But I think what I really enjoyed about it is the fact that

I really couldn't cherry pick the questions. So because of that, this episode, there are a few solid tactics that I may never have divulged otherwise. Maybe not because I wouldn't want to, but because I just wouldn't think about diving into that tactic. So I hope you guys enjoy it. Let's jump in right now to the first question and go live to the Pope and Young. It's awesome to be here at Pope and Young Club Convention, 60 years of Pope and Young. And I'm excited. My kind of

bases in western big game hunting obviously archery hunting um so you know i like to what i like to do i love to do these question answers because it's a good way for me to interact with you kind of you know there maybe there's a question that you've had about tag draws uh hunt like hunt tactics any kind of question that there is i'll be more than happy to answer in and even if i don't know the answer though i'll probably give you an answer um and you can google it later

Don't ask me anything to do with math, please. I think there were some pretty weird conversions the last hour. I just failed that math test. But if it's adding up six by six, I know that.

So, yeah, we'll get started. Yeah, so I'm excited to kind of kick this off. If anybody, you know, I just want to open it up. We'll kind of create a discussion, and if there's questions on questions or whatever, feel free. You know, I'd love to kind of answer whatever you guys have. So anyone want to kick it off? What is your opinion on the Filming Rules Colorado Wilderness Act?

Ooh, that's a loaded question. Get into the politics here. You know, I mean, I think like for the most part, filming in wilderness, you know, is kind of not necessarily allowed, especially commercial filming. Here's my thought. I mean, this is just my personal thoughts on filming in wilderness. I think that in many ways, I can understand the idea behind it.

because you don't want wilderness is a very, very special thing to me. It's a very special thing to a lot of hunters. And the reason that wilderness is such a cool place is because there, there is no motorized, there's no bicycles, there's no helicopters, there's no planes, there's no chainsaws. There's you're doing things the way they were. And that to me is like the whole reason that I want to go into the wilderness. You know, I want to be in a place that's like

everything else that's around, you get back there. It's, it's how it was. And that's just an incredible feeling. And to be able to preserve and protect that is extremely important. Now, as a guy that loves to film and share and other things, um,

I like the idea of being able to share those things with maybe people that can experience it or don't understand the appreciation of why we love the wilderness. There's so many people that see that thing on a map and it means nothing to them. And if it means nothing to them, I mean, I like to think that these kinds of things can last forever, but I don't necessarily know that that's true. I mean, maybe a hundred years from now, it's like, Hey, that's where we just, we get rid of that. You know, it's like, Oh, that's a waste. Um, so to be able to bring people in and share those experiences, you

is really cool but i also understand like you don't want a giant film crew coming in you don't want this impact that's like it doesn't really go with wilderness so in my summation i think if you do it my way where it's just you and one camera i think that that's okay you know a single person filming their own trip kind of thing i think that's a really great way to share that experience of the wilderness and it's like okay well you self-film you do it yourself of course that's your thought but i kind of think it's a good way of like that trying to find that balance of

making it this big production thing where anybody could go back there and film Star Wars or making it a thing where, hey, I'm just trying to share what I love and like the land and the appreciation for the wildlife and the things back there. Because I mean, how many nature wilderness films have you seen where it's like, I mean, you know,

films in the Frank church or those kinds of things. Those are things that I remember growing up watching and saying, that's the whole reason that I wanted to go into the cell way, wanted to go into the Frank church, you know, seeing it because if I didn't see it, I wouldn't understand it. Um, so to be able to see it first and then kind of get that dream and that dream is kind of what promotes people to go in and check it out and preserve it and protect it and, and be able to share it. So that's a roundabout way of saying like, I don't really know where I stand on it. I love willingness, but I also like being able, I like the idea of being able to share it. Um, but that's,

Yeah. I hope that kind of answers the question. And I don't necessarily, I'm not super familiar with like the, what's going on in Colorado wilderness, but I feel like it's probably fairly similar to kind of all wilderness. Is that kind of answer it? Awesome. Thank you. Anybody else? I mean, and I can also just start talking about things too. Yeah.

So I know you based yourself right out of the Reno area here. When did you start venturing out into other states and going into public land in other states? Yeah, I started fairly young. I mean, I was probably, I think my first out-of-state hunt, I was 13. My grandpa lived in Montana, and so I spent all my summers up in Montana with my grandpa. And so that was kind of like my first, you know, grew up hunting there with him. He actually...

He actually moved up there when he was younger and started working as a guide and outfitter in the Bitterroot and the Selway Wilderness. And so, you know, doing horse trips and all that kind of stuff. And then, you know, when I was a kid, he ended up selling his outfitting. But I would go up there and hunt with him and kind of learn the land throughout the summer and then go up and do some hunting and stuff like that. And that's actually how I started my outfitting business in Montana. That's why I was like, everyone's like, oh, you're from Nevada. Why Montana? Well, I mean...

I pretty much my entire life lived in both places, um, to, to a certain extent and really knew that area really well because he was the type of guy that would just drive us up to the trailhead and say, okay, like the road up and then you say, all right, I'll meet you at the bottom. Yeah. 13 years old. Like, yeah, find your way down. It was like, okay. I was like thinking about it. I'm like, yeah. Um, yeah. Find for yourself. I don't know what he, I think you, um, but it was pretty cool. You, you like, you know, loved being able to share that with us and show us around. And so, um,

you know, growing up and having that experience and that knowledge was awesome. And then, you know, shortly after high school, I was like, well, that that's the Mecca of, of elk guiding. You know, if I want to be an elk guide, I got to go up there where it's, where it's on, where you can pick up a tag and hunt, you know, unlimited areas and over the counter tags and, and really have an opportunity and do a lot of guiding and hunting up there. So, um, you know, and, and, and then I think,

One thing I, um, I was a fairly early adopter of just like starting to apply other places, um, because I just like, I knew I loved to hunt and growing. And I think actually growing up in Nevada was the reason that I started going to other States because we were one of the only places that didn't have over the counter tags. So kind of that thought of being like, I knew a lot of adults. I was like, I was obsessed with hunting. And I'm like, I knew a lot of adults that would go five or six years between hunting big game animals. And I said it like,

I was like, I don't want to be that person. Like, how can you do that? You know, so I had to find other places to go. And so I kind of started even before a lot of that, before all these magazines of telling you, you know what I mean? I did, I was like, that's what I did. I read and researched and started applying. And I mean, I've got now looking back, I mean, I'm not, I'm fairly young and have

25 points in most states. So, you know, it's, I still haven't drawn anything anywhere, but Hey, you know, I've got the points to cash in hopefully one day, um, which is pretty cool. Uh, so kind of just, I've, I've had that kind of mentality for a long time. That's awesome. Yeah. And you being so close, you know, to the California side and Sierra Nevada range, when did you start venturing over there into the California? Growing up? I wish I knew,

now what I know and knew then what I know now, because it was like, it's so close. And I mean, now I've figured out that I could be hunting in some pretty awesome over the counter zones where I can be pick up two tags and really like get after it and some awesome wilderness. And I'm like, and I can be hunting that closer than 90% of the places I hunt in my own home state. Um, and I didn't realize that until fairly later in life, um, probably about, you know, 15 years ago. Um,

But I mean, still, you know, enough time to take advantage and do some cool hunts over there and bear tags or whatever, you know, I didn't realize like, you know, everybody's leaving California to go somewhere else. And I think that there's actually some pretty good hunting that, you know, that people don't really even realize, or it doesn't get talked about enough because it's

We're blessed there when you really think about it. You really are. When it comes to over-the-counter tags and the access and the public access that we have. Oh, yeah. If you're a public land hunter, I mean, you have endless opportunities. Yeah, there's a lot of opportunities for, you know, over-the-counter type stuff. And, yeah, a lot of good stuff that I think a lot of people don't recognize or realize. So I think it is one of the few western states that probably gets talked about the least and has probably the most potential. We can keep it that way. Yeah.

way yeah exactly well not anymore because you're on record yeah yeah anybody else how long have you been an outfitter uh that's a good question so i started outfitting um well now it's a math question damn it i told you no math questions okay let me do the math i was pretty young you can count on your fingers yeah okay oh let's see one times two carry the three no um

I have been outfitting for, I think this would be my 17th year. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. So, yeah, pretty much right out. I mean, well, so, I mean, I started working for a guide right out of high school. And then...

Let's see. And then I owned my own. I bought my own outfitting permits and took over an outfit when I was 22 years old. So that's like from not necessarily guiding, but like owning my own outfit since I was 22. And I'm 36 now. Is there an age limit when you can start guiding? 18. Okay. What's your idea on tipping as far as a guide or as an outfitter?

Okay. So three times the price of the hunt as a guide. Um, no, you know, I think, uh, I think that's, that's a really good question. Now, if I'm on, I'm the one going on the hunt, I think 10%, uh, no, um, you said 10%. Yeah. You know, I, I think it really just depends on, um, it depends on,

a lot of factors uh because it is one of those things it's like you know i do know like living off of tips is actually very true um in as a guide and one of the things is like you know there's guides that will bust their ass and do everything they can whether you get something or not they really really put in the time and you're like man this guy's this guy's making a dollar 25 an hour and um you know it'd be awesome to like help this guy out and then there's guides that

You know, I've seen them. I've worked in camps where guides, like, they just, they don't give a rip. You know what I mean? And they should probably get 0%. So I think kind of a standard, an industry standard kind of is around that 10% range. You know, but it also depends on the price of the hunt. Because I think if you book a, like, a really expensive sheep hunt, that doesn't necessarily mean that the, I mean, the tip is generally more, but it doesn't always, you know, you might have a $2,500 discount.

elk hunt where the guy really just busted his ass and the tip might be 500 to 800 you know and and then the same type of thing where it's a sheep hunt and you went on one day it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a four thousand dollar tip um could be those sheep guides are like this guy this ale uh but uh you know i think i think it just depends kind of on your experience and a lot of other things um

Yeah. But as, as knowing as a guide, um, I D it's definitely appreciated. And as an outfitter, this, I mean, it's the background of it is the, it's the honest truth. Um, you know, I want to make sure that the guys that work for me and, you know, they're all guys that really put it out there. And so when a client comes and they're like,

You know, I ask the guides, how did you get tipped this week? Because if a guy's low, then like when they go, hey, can we come back next year? The answer is like, nah, sorry. Like we're already full. We're booked, you know. It is – so it's like if you want the good guides and keep coming back, you want to be the guy that they want to take out. I mean, unfortunate, unfortunately, you know. That's just how it is. Oh, what's your favorite hunt you've been on? My favorite hunt that I've been on. That's a good question. You know, I mean, there's so many –

If I think about it, there's so many, like every hunt, I love every hunt. There's, man, that's like a, that's kind of a stumper. I really do love hunting mule deer.

One hunt that kind of comes to mind as like a hunt that, and I told a little bit different hunt in the last group, but mule deer is kind of one of my passions, early season mule deer. One of my first bow hunts, I found a buck that I knew would have been an archery world record. And it was a giant mule deer. And I hunted that mule deer for...

I did my first solo trip. Uh, it was 30 days and I was hunting one buck and I hunted that one buck for over a hundred days over the course of four years. Um, I never killed that buck.

Um, I had an opportunity, Adam, I missed that buck. Uh, it's a sad story, but, um, I did, I did actually miss that buck. I, I, and this was, I was just, I never had anybody to tell me about archery. I knew nothing about archery. There wasn't all this information. I knew nothing about angles and shooting different. It was a 55 yard shot off a cliff and that buck looked up. I didn't know to aim low. I shot aimed. He jumped the string and that arrow went right over his back.

And then that was toward the end of the trip. And his friend came out, uh, like a smaller buck, the smallest buck in the group. And I thought like to myself, I was like, I, I just, at that point you like, you put in some time and I said, okay, I'm going to come off the mountain with a deer. And I shot that deer and it was like a 175 inch four by four. Um, which I was like, that was the smallest buck in that group of 10 deer. So it was a pretty good, it was a pretty good zone. But I, I, I always remember that.

that kind of hunt and that experience, because I learned a lot about mule deer during that time that I spent. Um, I, I really learned like their habits, their patterns, what early season mule deer do. And I think that by, and then I spent the next three years not filling any tags and hunting the entire season. And I never saw that big deer, those other two seasons, but I learned so much about hunting and so much about, um,

Back country wilderness survival, just, I mean, to go out, put a backpack on and not come back for a month is like, I mean, I would do restocks or whatever, but, um, that was, I just learned a lot about wilderness skills and getting bushy and deer and hunting. And I just, I feel like those years really probably made me the hunter that I am today. So it was a really cool experience in a, and probably one of my most memorable hunts spanned over the course of a few years and interaction with a really incredible buck.

Oh, yeah, go ahead. What's your thoughts on expandable versus fixed blade? Oh, I knew that question was going to come up. Expandables versus fixed blades. I don't know. So far, the last session, everyone was on my side. I am a fixed blade guy for a lot of reasons. I like, when I shoot at something, I want my arrow to go through it. It doesn't matter if it's grass, an elk. It doesn't really matter. A moose, like, I want that arrow to keep going. And I feel like I haven't had...

I've tried many different expandables and I've, I feel like they're very circumstantial. Um, you know, I think I've had them malfunction on hard quartering away shots. And, um, I've also had them malfunction or not go through shoulders. And so I'm, I'm the type of person, you know,

Some people might disagree, but you know, I've, I've had a lot of experience hunting a lot of different places. And one thing that I've noticed, and especially through guiding and for different species around the world, you know, white-tailed deers vitals are a lot different than almost every other animal on the planet. And whether you're talking to guides in Africa, guides in Australia, guys in mid Asia, like they're like guys that white-tail hunt a lot.

shoot things way too far back for almost every other animal because white tail, white, you know, lungs are so large and you can get that. But for most species, you gotta, you gotta hug pretty tight to that shoulder to make a really good clean shot and depending on their body position. And I want that broadhead. That's like, Hey, if I, I'm the type of guy that hugs close to the shoulder. And if I hit something I don't want, I want to make a perfect kill. So I go with a fixed blade pretty much a hundred percent of the time I have, I have messed with expandables when I've got a bow that won't tune really good. And I know like,

of a couple is like, okay, well, I'll use it for this hunt and just be cautious of grass and other things. But for the most part, and I hunt a lot of places, well, I hunt Idaho quite often, so they aren't actually legal there. So they're not going to have to change the setup. But if anyone wants to disagree with me, I'm good with that too. I see the benefit of the expandables as well, just for flights and aero flight and leaving a pretty big hole.

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With that being said, what fixed blade broadhead do you shoot currently? So I've currently, I've shot the Montex for a very long time. I like that. I just started messing around a little bit with a bunch of different two blades because just hunting in Australia quite often, we would use two blades over there for the bigger animals like water buffalo, because you get that...

A part of it would be like a thick rib or in the same factor could go in with the shoulder. If you've got to crack that rib, that extra time, that three way, it's a lot easier to break through a rib just with that single line than double cracking a rib. So it's same kind of philosophy with shoulder blades.

If you hit an elk shoulder with a three blade, it's like, it's losing that energy. So a two blade will potentially penetrate further. I kind of also like the idea of just like, it's a little more back how it was to play. It was like, we, we kind of like over, I go through and I'm sure a lot of hunters do this. Like,

you go through this phase of like going and following all the trends and trying all the new stuff. And then you peek and then you're like, I just want to go back to my basics and grab my long bow and grab my, you know, two blade Zwicky broadheads and go kill something because it all works. You know, it's like in the end, you know, it's kind of the same result. So it's a little bit of like personal preference and how you like to hunt and what you see benefiting you in many cases. Like if you're a guy that wants like,

like really loves the flight pattern of your expandable broadhead and you've had good luck with it and you're confident in it.

And by all means shoot it, you know, because it's, it's really for me, archery is more, it's about the hunting and about what I personally enjoy. And so I kind of go through these phases of like this and that and trying different things. But right now I'm pretty sold on just based on, you know, kind of getting back to that two blade, I think is, and I've, I've got, I've gone two blade and four fletching. And I found that it's actually flying. Those arrows are stabilizing really quick and I'm getting a lot better. It's a lot easier to tune for me.

So that's what I found just recently. It's kind of a new change, but yeah. Do you have any tips for hunting cow elk archery? Yeah. So cow elk archery, I mean, is it early or when's the season? Like August? Yeah. More of like a desert. Yeah. I think the thing about, so that is like when you think about hunting, so I actually kind of think about hunting cows and bulls as they're the same species, but they're two different animals depending on the time of year.

The cows are really like the safety net of the herd. And they're actually quite a bit more patternable because that's how they find safety. So they're hurt, hurt animals, um, elk, like, you know, their protection is in that herd. And actually the cows, the matriarch of the herd runs that herd up until the rut and the bull thinks he's running it, but it's really going to be a cow. So there's like,

What happens is you can actually find patterns in what the cows do to find safety, but they also have to do all those things they need to survive, which is the food, the water, and then the shelter. And those cows have that down because they're looking out for all the other cows in that group. So what I like to do anytime I'm hunting something is I think about the big picture, like what do these animals need? What are they doing? How do they stay safe? And then how can I exploit that? In an area you're talking about, it's a little bit drier. So you're like, okay, what

what are those, those elk going to be tied to in that area? So I'm narrowing like anything that I hunt, it's big picture down to like specific areas, like specific things. So in that particular area, it's a little bit drier. Um, so I would actually start my hunt focused on water and

And you're going to find that the cows are going to be the ones that lead the herd to that water. They're going to be doing it regularly and there can be a little bit more patternable. So I would actually focus on water sources, finding sign and tracks and productive water sources, and then probably sitting water or hunting in and around that like water area, because they're going to be going, especially early season, they're going to be hitting that water pretty often and they're going to be on a better pattern.

And so I just exploit that pattern and exploit that weakness. Now, if I was, if you're say a September hunt, you know, in maybe like for cow elk in say Colorado, where there's like mountain, a mountain hunt or something, and it's, it's a lot more water, then I'd probably actually change my tactic. And I'd say, well, what's the thing missing here? Or what do these elk have that, um, what's that one thing that might be able to kind of pinch point and figure out what those particular elk are needing at that time.

and kind of base it on the season and the other things. So for your particular instance, I would definitely focus starting on water and then figuring out that habitat around there where they're living and either spot and stock that or even sitting water. It was a great, great technique. Yeah. So I will use cow calls for a couple of things. It would be still hunting,

I'll always have that cow call with me. This is any time of year from beginning of archery season through the end of rifle season, that call cow call, not necessarily to call the animals in, but it like one thing you'll notice is if you spook an elk, like as long, even sometimes even when you win them, when they wind you, but for the most part, let's say we're still like, you've got this area figured out. It's thicker. Like that's, there's some pretty good PJ in that area. Like opinion, juniper country is thick. You might have to do a little bit of still hunting, but you found a water source and you're like,

Like they're hitting this at night. You know, it's clear. I like, they aren't coming in here in the day. So, you know, they're in that area. You might have to still hunt through the timber. I'll just sneak around. And like, let's say you, you bump a bedded cow in the middle of the day. As soon as she takes that first step, stop, they will elk will stop.

I would say 99.99% of the time if you hit that cow call right off the bat because their first reaction is something spooked, but I heard an elk, so it was maybe an elk. Because elk are that herd animal. They're used to sound, and they're used to other animals around.

So if they think that that sound that they heard was another animal or another animal is saying, oh, it's okay. They'll stop and take a look. And sometimes you can just sit down or wait. They'll calm back down and then you can make a stock in. There's been a lot of times where I've been, you know, a cow hunter or even a bull hunt.

bumped something out of the bed that I knew was like, Hey, I'm at least I'm hunting into the wind. They didn't win me. Maybe they heard or saw something. I hit that and they just think like, Oh, that's just another one of us in the herd. They calm back down and you can generally get a shot or, you know, be patient and see what else happens. Now, um, you can also use, I've used like that, uh, a cow call, uh,

while hunting cow elk to call them in and I've done that in like September and other times mostly what will end up happening is you're going to be calling in a calf so that's actually the easiest packing and most delicious of the elk species so go for it you know let it rip like but generally like or if you're like it's not as easy it depends like if the herd gets busted up

They should start talking again and you can't actually call them in with like a more mature cow sound, like a longer drawn out sound. I'll even use that. It seems weird, like a more of an estrous wine call.

outside of the rut. People would be like, well, that's just an estrous sound. But I found that like the elk, the cows really respond to that. I don't know if it's what it is. It's all just like a more... sound. And that like draws the curiosity of other cows. So it might be something you want to try. Yes. How'd you get hooked up with Prime? That's not who I normally think of for hunting shows. Oh, that's a good question. I don't know. I...

Oh, you're talking on Amazon? I don't even know how that happened. I really don't know. I think it was just we kind of like we were on the outdoor channel and then we were looking for kind of another home for it just as things went more digital. And we had known some people that reached out to us and were like, hey, we'd love to have this here. And that's kind of how it landed there. Yep.

I know you've covered it in your podcast a couple times, but e-scouting, new areas that you've never been to before, any additional tips and tactics to offer? Yeah, I think, well, I guess it's always, you can talk really broad or you can talk really specific. So is there like a specific type of terrain or animal, Montana? A lot of timbered area, but there's a lot of water too. Yeah, so e-scouting, when it comes to like e-scouting timber,

I'm all about topography. So I learned, I mean, like many of it is like, uh, started hunting using paper topo maps and I got really good at reading them. And I started to find places that elk like, and started to kind of compiling that data of there's certain types of topography that animals prefer. And so what I like to do is I'll, I actually really enjoy hunting elk in the timber because

And the way that I find the places that I'm hunting is using essentially a topography. I turn, I'll turn the satellite imagery off and I'll just look at the straight topo map and how the terrain underneath those trees is laid out. And so one thing that, I mean, one thing specific to elk is, you know, like elk do live in some really steep, nasty, gnarly country, but they're super lazy. They,

they love benches. They love those like more flattened out spots. They love those ridges and those finger ridges. So when an elk beds, like they like to bed for safety, but you got to think also it's, it's, it's, it goes back to that herd thing. Like they need a spot where the herd can spread out and everybody's got their eyes, ears, and noses out. And that tends to work best on a more like flat spot. Now they will obviously bed in some steep gnarly stuff, but for

For the most part, a lot of their bedding is going to be find those topography areas where it's super steep. And then you've got that little bit of difference, that one little thing that's different than everything else that lends itself to being good elk habitat. So that steep ridge that kind of flattens out and then goes down or that big ridge that now has three finger ridges coming off.

And then figure out, okay, which ways the wind blow in this area. Um, generally the predominant wind, because what an elk is going to do or any animal really, they like to bed kind of like if they're on a hill of some kind, they're going to bed, they're going to get comfy. They're probably going to be bedded with their body downhill. Cause if they're bedded with their body up here, they're going to roll down. So they're like this, they're sitting there and it's really, I mean, they can look up, they can look down, but they like the wind at their back.

So what I do is I look at the topography and say, where's a good bedding area? And then I go, okay, which way is the predominant wind? And is there enough cover in there that they're out of the sun? And then I go, okay, pinpoint that because that's where maybe I'll still hunt or start my hunt around that. They're going to end up there at some point in the day.

What are they doing outside of that? So now I'll look, I'll go from that topography of like, okay, there, that's a good zone. Then I'll switch to that satellite image and say, okay, now where's the feeding there? Is there a, is there a small meadow in this area? And go, okay, well, they're probably, they can either feed at that in the night or the morning. And then here's their bedding area. And now I've pinpointed an area to start my hunt. And that's like one of the ways that I like to do that. Another feature that I like to look for is like

Anything that makes this like dome, like a head basin. It doesn't have to be an actual head basin, but it's like the topographical motion of what would look like a head. So it's creating a bowl effect. Now, the reason that's really good is what it does is it

It lends the animals multiple options for safe bedding. So because as the wind changes, they might want a different bedding area. So instead of having to go all the way around, so you'll see, I mean, I've hunted places where it doesn't have that feature and the wind's not the predominant way and you see them feeding and then you watch those elk, like if it's an area where you can see real well, they will go five miles and go bed on the other side of the mountain where they feel safe.

But if you've got that shape like this, what happens is if the wind comes from another direction, they can easily access bedding areas based on the wind without having to move really far from that feed water cover that they're used to. So they can, everything's like it's a micro habitat where they can kind of focus in on that. So I look for those because I know that animals, all animals, um,

Can you answer the same question for like a northwest Colorado mule deer hunt? Is their behavior similar?

Yeah. So Northwest Colorado mule deer, you know, what I'm looking for is similar habitat. Now that, that basin shape is actually like probably more important for mule deer than it is for elk. Um, elk are more long ridges, finger ridges in the, that slope mule deer, more head basin basin, uh, even though elk will do that in the large, like you find that basin figure better and larger scale for elk and smaller scale for mule deer. Yeah.

One thing that I will do too. So I'll find that I'll find those kind of topographical features that I'm looking for. And then I switch back to that satellite mode and I look for that habitat now for the mule deer. So I generally like for me when I'm hunting mule deer, if it's not high country, if it's like more mid country, I look for that real sage stuff a little bit more like high brush and other things where it's like they've got the food, they've got the cover, everything kind of close by.

And I really tried to key in on that. Another thing that I really like to do with mule deer, and I found that it, it worked, it really works well for everything, but in country that you can kind of glass and you've got, it's a more open country. Um, you know, you might find, you'll notice like anywhere you you'll find deer in a certain, certain area. So you're like, okay, this pocket holds deer and that pocket doesn't. So what I do, I do three things. I first

and I open up my map and I look at the topography of that because I will then take that map and I will look for other topography in the unit that looks exactly like that. And you're going to find that you're going to start finding deer in those areas. And there's a lot of reasons behind that. So the first is, and it might not be something that you even immediately think of, but there might be some kind of

plant or food or something that they like that lends itself to that topography based on the way the sun is the way the sun hits it the way the water sheds off the mountain and then the way that the sun hits it as well and you know like so i kind of found this little tactic by accident um one place in montana where i was like okay i was finding mule deer in these certain uh i guess it would be a

It was actually a September. This actually like this North face, but that head basin thing, a little bit wetter, you know, a little bit more gradual. So it was like steep then sloped down. So what was happening, the water was coming in and there was this, it was kind of seepy in the bottom of that. I'm like, okay, well there's water kind of everywhere. Why here? I start glassing and it was like a burn area. And then I started noticing and it's like, well, what's in this burn area? There's a lot of fireweed and then, um, a lot of elderberry.

And I realized that elderberry was like crack cocaine for these mule deer. And it clicked. And I started looking for those places on the Tobo map. I would go there and I'd find that elderberry and I'd find those mature bucks. And it was just like, and it's only a one, two week season window in September. And I found more like mule

big mule deer in this archery season during that time in those areas. And so year after year, you know, and then as the water changes, it would change, but I'd find where the animals are while I'm out there and then try to replicate it throughout the unit. And that gives you more places to focus in on. And especially when you find, when you start finding mature deer, because there's something that mature deer have, like they're, there's a, they live in an area and

And it's like, there's a reason that I always say like birds of a feather flock together. You know, you find mature animals maybe in a certain place and they're kind of all together. It's like, because they can survive there. They can get the age, they can get whatever. And so by focusing in on what did these deer in this place have and where can I find it other places, it increases the amount of spots that you can go check and have a good likelihood of finding what you're looking for. If that makes sense. Yeah. You mentioned elderberries. Can you talk a little bit more about preferred outfoods?

Yeah. If you're familiar with the plant...

Yeah. So, uh, elk really, so elk are grazers and whereas like deer moose or browsers, um, they digest their food completely different. Uh, grazers need grass. And so some of the best high protein grass is fescue. Um, so I, I really try to focus on those South facing slopes that have that fescue. Um, it'll be like anytime there's a timber pocket, it's like open meadows. And sometimes, you know, depending on where you're at, you'll be like, Oh, here's a meadow. But

but what kind of grass is in that meadow? 'Cause some really wet meadows have grass, but it's not really high forage grass. So actually sometimes those more drier, higher slopes,

On the south facing slope, they get a lot of sun. They actually are really good at holding that fescue. And it's a pretty good high protein grass that elk kind of gravitate toward. Because it's like they get more pound per munch. And so I try to find those areas. It's like open areas, more grass. And you're going to find probably more elk in that kind of country. If it's in where you're at, you know. But primarily focusing on grass. It doesn't matter where you are. Focus on grass for elk for sure.

I appreciate you all tuning in this week. Next week is going to be our final installment of the live Q&A, so you won't want to miss that. I think there's a lot of great questions asked and answered still that you're going to learn some things from. So make sure to tune in next week and check that out. Also, don't forget to send me your own questions at remywarren on Instagram is the easiest way to do it. Send me a direct message and...

for future podcasts of Q and A's. I'll be using those, but also I'll be using it to kind of drive the discussion and the topics for the next few podcasts in the coming months as we prepare for the season. So until next week, I want you all to keep the hunt alive. Yes, that was a live punt to end the podcast.

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