Ep. 105: Answering Your Questions (LIVE), Part 3
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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, everybody. This week is our final live Q&A at the Pope and Young Club Convention. And there's still some great questions raised about hunting tactics that I think will really help a lot of hunters out there this season. So let's jump into part three of Live at the PNY. I have two young boys, and what Western state would you suggest me to concentrate on them for youth elk hunt? A Western state to concentrate for elk?

Are you thinking like something where – Over the counter. Over the counter. Something over the counter. Yeah. Something where, you know, nothing crazy access for a kid or anything like that. Yeah. Something where the kids need to work and, you know, earn it. That's for sure.

Okay. I think that, I mean, I, I would say like, you know, I think a good, everybody's like, Oh, go to Colorado. There's a couple of people from Colorado. Don't go to Colorado. Um, but that's not actually the, what I like to say is it depends on where you live because the best, like the best place to hunt is somewhere that you can go and like have it.

It's not so far away. So like you might hear of a unit all the way across, you know, 18, 20 hour drive from you. It's like, oh, that's that place is on fire right now. But I'd rather pick the spots four or five hours away that you can get into that you can maybe spend a summer. And so for living in California, I mean, the closest over the counter tag is Oregon.

you know, and there's, and you're going to find some good hunting. It's like, it's just like anything where you spend your time and where I think there's like, where's the best place to kill a bull? Where's the best place to kill a bug anywhere you got to tag, you know, and probably the best places anywhere you can get a tag multiple times in a year and anywhere that you can access and maybe put in a little bit of time before and after the season. Um, cause if you're, if you're close enough where you can maybe make a summer trip out of it with the family and you can go and get some summer scouting intel because that's

one of the easier times to actually find animals, mostly for deer, but for elk as well. And then you can say, okay, well now we've, we've put in a little bit of time here. Now we can go back into that unit. It's close enough. We can make a trip out of it and we can do this two or three years in a row. It's going to be, it's going to be time well spent as opposed to chasing the best unit or chasing this or chasing that, just picking something that you can access and go to. I think you mentioned south facing slopes. Could you talk a little bit about that in your experience with,

whatever direction facing slopes there are and how that impacts elk, for instance, movement, biology? Yeah, so the south slope, you know, it gets more sun, so it's going to be the dry side. The north face is that wet side. The north face is more of like,

bedding areas, thick cover safety. Oftentimes the north face is steeper because it gets more water, more precipitation, more runoff, you know, so it's holding that water, it's holding that snow, then it's flushing it down at a faster rate, so it actually creates like oftentimes a more steeper part of the mountain, whereas the south face is often drier and more gentle.

Um, you know, you look at a big mountain, it's like the North, the company North face, it's like big steep mountains because that's, that's the hard one to climb. Um, but the South face is where it's for, especially for elk going to provide that food and that forage. So, um, you know, there is, there is that kind of thought of kind of picking your, your areas that you hunt based on the orientation of the mountain, but not all, not all mountain ranges go North, South, East, West, but it's just saying like, you know, where's the drier side, where's the difference is like,

based on those two sides of the mountain, you got two completely different types of habitat. And that can even be on one ridge. Now I'm not saying like the north side of a mountain, I'm saying like the north face of that one ridge will be that drier side and then the other side will be the bedding side. So what they're going to do is they're going to be

popping out of the south side over into the north face feeding and then dropping back and bedding into the south face. It makes it a little easier to kind of narrow down. And then so what I would do, how I would expand on that is I would say, where's the predominant wind direction? So I would go, okay, maybe look at the predominant wind direction there and I would say, where's the wind blowing down over that south face? And then you can kind of figure out like,

based on those kind of things, start pinpointing, okay, here's where I'm going to start my hunt. So here's where I'm going to start looking because they're going to bed in that safety and they've got that food nearby. Say you've got a deer, a mule deer bedded 30 yards, you're in range, all you can see is two of the sores.

You feel the wind changing. You want to get that deer to stand up before he blows out from your set. What's your best way to get the deer to stand up? Oh, that's a good question. Cause I've tried them all and I haven't found a best way. You know, it's one of those things you're going to do something and it'll either be the right thing or the wrong thing. I will tell you all the things I've tried. Um, I have done the rock toss. Everybody, Chris has done it successfully. I've had a lot of rock tosses go wrong. Um, and,

I think one thing that I tend to do is it depends on, um, I try not to try not to do it too loud, but like, I like to, if I'm like, this is going to be bad. Sometimes I'll actually just start my draw cycle. And that sound of the draw is enough to make them curious, but not enough to spook them. So I'll draw, but there's been times where I was like, draw, um,

And they just don't even care. And you're like, okay. And then it's like let down. And I've gotten five draws on one deer, but that one time they, the trouble is you, you know, sometimes they draw and they look at you, but at that point it might already be too late. You know, you're already settled in and you're ready. And then let her rip. I've done the, like, uh, this was, you know, you'd probably be like, this is, that was a terrible idea, but, uh, that giant buck that I was talking about, I snuck in 33 yards to that deer. And, uh,

I just had his head and neck above the sage head.

And I'm like, oh my God. Okay. It's just waiting, waiting. And I'm like, okay. And then I was like, I was 33 yards. And this is like, I didn't know anything about anything really, but, um, I knew how to get close to stuff and what a big deer was, you know? Um, but I, so I was like, okay, I'm just going to sneak up. I was been there for hours. And I was like, I'm gonna sneak up three more yards. So like, okay. So I'm like, just so it's like an even 30, you know, just might as well. I got bored, whatever. So I'm like, I, and I'm like, oh, maybe it'll get, you know, so I start creeping up three more yards.

And then I'm like, I'm there now 30 yards and I feel the wind shift and just like, and I'm like, as soon as I felt that wind, I drew back and that buck just blew out of there. And I was like, damn it. And I thought to myself, like, what would I have done different? I thought I'll just shoot him in the back of the head next time.

doesn't work. Cause I tried it once and it didn't work. A deer went away with an arrow stuck in his antler. And I was like, well, that's the last time I'll ever try that. Say that again. Yeah. I have done the grunt as well. You know, one thing I've had it, I've had it work out and I've had it not, you know, generally they're, they're more calm. I'm like with elk, I would do the alcohol for sure. Cause they're just, they're more used to the sound. The grunt call, like we'll stop them, but they always kind of like,

They mule deer, for some reason, look up first. They're like, you know, instead of like the stand up and look. And I think it just, you know, I think that that kind of like, oh, I'm already at full draw. I did the grunt and whatever. One time I did a turkey call and it worked really well. So I was just like, argh!

Deer stood up and didn't even care. So I was like, I don't know. I've tried it all. And I just don't know. I think over time, the best option has kind of been, you know, it's like whatever you feel in the moment. But I think the drawing thing generally works for me because it's just enough time that they like stand up. Like they're like, do I get out of here? Stand up. And then it's like arrows gone. But there are those times where they don't even hear it. And

Whatever you do, you got to draw first. You got to draw first. Yes, absolutely. Have you used a grunt claw on coos deer in the rut? Yes. Yeah. I find that they're more susceptible to rattling.

But I have used the grunt. I've also used like even just like standard whitetail, like snort wheeze. But they, I think that rattling is the most effective call for coos deer. Well, I take that back. Rattling and distress call, which seems interesting, but I feel like the distress call doesn't get used enough. And they, most deer, I've been pretty successful calling in deer, all species of deer with a distress call. Just a wounded deer. Meow, meow.

It's, um, it's got two effects. They run away or they run to you, but when they run to you, it's really awesome. Um, but the, uh, it works really well too in more arid places. Like, so that's why I think it works on the coos deer and desert mule deer, um, pretty well. I don't know why that is. They're just maybe more, uh,

maybe there's like that higher, like they're kind of a smaller deer and I think coyotes probably can kind of get on them anytime a year. So they kind of, they group up and they defend whatever's in distress. Um, I kind of started using that call after I was, I was stocking in on this group of deer, uh,

in the high country of Nevada, actually. And there was this little fawn that kind of ran away from the herd and this coyote came just barreling in there. And I heard, meh! And that entire herd of deer, 30 deer, like just every deer in the bushes, busted out and chased that coyote out.

And there was three bucks in that group with those does, and they came to, and I was like, Hmm. Okay. And I've tried it and I've had bucks come running in. Um, or, you know, you gotta kind of, it's gotta be kind of the right scenario. You look for a scenario where there's deer with fawn. So during the rut, it works best because it's actually the does that are more doing it. And then the bucks come with, um, but they get super like, um,

I don't even know like the best way, like they get super dumb when that distress calls coming out. I don't know if you've ever, uh, it works really well on Javelinas as well. Um, Javelina distress call and they come running in and charging and, and it works one time after that, like they get super wise to it, but the first time they're kind of dumb and they stand there and they're like, what's going on? And they, and they keep coming back and investigating. So, um, you just kind of got to commit to it if you decided to try that. But, um, it's, it also works as like when things don't work out below the distress call.

Yeah. What are the chances of calling a herd bull downhill during a rut? Not real good. I found like, so the herd bull is like, you know, he's like already got his thing and you kind of got it. The best way to kill a herd bull during the rut is to actually like dog him and to get to a point where he kind of feels like,

When he's uphill, he kind of has the advantage and he knows it. So he's like, well, come up to me. But they don't like when they have the disadvantage. So generally what will happen is when you get that herd in kind of a frenzy and they start moving off and you'll know like, okay, the herd's starting to split up. That's when your best chance to call in the herd bull because things are going on and things are getting chaotic. That's when other satellite bulls start peeling cows off.

And it, it is like a super physical task, but what I do is I like start dog, I call it dogging the bull. So I'll just start following and bugling, bugling, bugling, keep that herd just going, keep that noise going and keep that bull going. And I found that right when they crest over it. So like when that bull crests over the hill, um,

I want to be right at that Ridge and let out the meanest bugle you've ever made. And nine times out of 10, that bull will whip around and come right back up to you. And it's just something those bulls don't like about that. They don't like somebody else because that's like a dominant position and you're letting out that mean dominant bugle. And they just don't like that. I would say all the, all the herd bull, I would say all.

I think about it. Most, uh, I actually, I have called in a couple of herd bulls up, but, um, most of the herd bulls that I have called in in my life have been from being above them, not below them. Oh no, wait. Yeah, no, I can't even think of a single one that I've called downhill. Really? Does anybody think of some good ones that they've called in from down below? No.

I don't know what it is. They just, they, they're like, well, if you, if you think you're tough, come up here and fight me. And then when you're above them, they're like, oh, he thinks he's tough. Oh no, he's above me. Other than the cows are going to think I'm weak. I better go get him. It's just like some weird thing that they, they don't like anybody else. In your opinion, what's the easiest and toughest deer to hunt or is there a difference?

I, um, I think personally, I think early season, like mature mule deer are the hardest deer to hunt. Uh, and the reason there's a couple of reasons for that. I've, I've said that for a very long time. And I think that actually out of all the North American species, uh, that I've been fortunate enough to chase, I think the mature mule deer is one of the, I mean, it was like, for me, it's like, that's probably like the,

the trophy of trophies because they, you know, like everything else has like a really good, like something or a season or something where you can exploit a weakness. And I kind of like,

build my hunting philosophies around that. It's like, how do you get in and you find that one little chink in the armor? Mule deer though, it's like, well, white tails, they can be patternable or, you know, they can follow a route and you can ambush them. You know, black tails is a very difficult hunt, but they also have, like a black tail is the perfect mix between a mule deer and a white tail. So they do have those patternable tendencies. Mule deer is like,

it's one of the only animal, I mean, you know, it's like one of the animals that it's a pure spot and stock game. Most of the time, like you have to, you have to sneak in and get it. And that's, that's what makes it so difficult. And they generally like don't lend themselves. Like, you know, there's, there's young, dumb deer for sure. Like there's those ones that are just like, Hey, I'm five yards off the road. And,

you know, somebody drove up and got me. Um, but there, there are, you know, like early season, especially when they're hiking, they're, they're just a smart, they're, they're keyed in. They've got their ears out. They're listening. They've got great sense of smell, great sense of sight. I think it's a pretty hard one to do because, you know, like elk, you can call in, uh,

Um, they just, they just aren't really as susceptible to those tactics and they aren't, they are patternable in a way that like makes you think that you can anticipate them, but they will like, yeah, they're coming out here every day. And then you go sit there and they're coming out. Yeah. 300 yards that way, you know? So I think that that's probably in my opinion that I'm sure somebody else might have some other, but you know, then you're talking about like, okay, well I've, I've spot and stocked a lot of white tails and that's really difficult because in that thick crunchy stuff, um,

they're super keyed in, but you know, you can, you can also change your tactics. I mean the same with mule deer. I mean, you could sit water, but they don't, they generally don't hit the same water very often. They're just a little more nomadic, a little less predictable. We'll do a couple more questions if anybody's got a few. Yeah, go for it. You obviously do DIY stuff and you guide. When you get guys that are primarily DIY in camp and you're guiding them, what minds do you want the DIY guys to have?

to bring to as a guide? Yeah, that's a great question because I've been that guy. And, you know, I think like the best, you know, if you're with a guide and an outfitter that really knows what they're doing, you know, I think the best thing is like you bring the skills that are needed for you as the hunter. And then, you know, like,

Don't let them second guess themselves. You know what I mean? Your best opportunity with somebody that really knows what they're doing is let them do what they know to do, you know? But also like bring the things that you can bring, which is be prepared with your shooting, be able to physically keep up. You know, I was like, well, I could go out and shoot an elk. I mean, I don't mean to be like, oh yeah, pack yourself. Like, I feel like I could go out on public land and pretty much shoot. If I'm just like not trying to film it or whatever, shoot a bull any day of the week with my bow. And it's because like,

I can get after y'all. I can go in, I can, I can do what it takes. And if somebody can stick with me and do that, then everybody's chances increase, you know? And so you're, you're obviously hiring that person for a reason. And so whether it's their knowledge of the area, whether it's their experience calling, whether whatever it is, then like, you know, be there and just be able to, to, to keep up, to do what they can do and like hunt like with them. And I think that that's going to be the best recipe for success.

you know, and because sometimes they'll be like,

Oh, what do you think? You know, and mostly it's just like, tell me what to do, you know? And I've even been that person like, you know, I'm here, I'm with you, you know, these animals, let's do what you knows, right? Because once you start getting the group think and everybody puts in their two cents, most of the time instantaneous decision-making went out the window and, and then it's like catering to someone else's needs. But if you can be that person that can just like, I just want to, I just want to, we're just hunting like you would hunt, then you're going to have a lot more success. But I also know that that's not always possible. So.

Does that make sense? Yeah.

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I think I heard you say you were going to open a bow shop at random. Yes. Tim Burnett, who does solo hunter with me, he opened a bow shop. It's over on Longley. So yeah, it's just getting fired off. So the doors are open. There's still some bows and boxes everywhere. But yeah, it's still, it's pretty much up and running. So we're pretty stoked on that.

Go for it. When practicing shooting a bow, what's your opinion on shooting in awkward situations and positions? Yeah, that's my number one thing. When I shoot, everything I do is really focused on bow hunting. I mean, I love archery, but I don't really care to shoot paper at all. I mean, I do. I love to shoot a bow. I love the act of shooting a bow. And I understand a lot of people get into bow hunting through archery, but I got into...

bow hunting through hunting, if that makes sense. So it's like everything I do is so focused on hunting. So when I'm practicing, I like to, anything that I do, I like to practice like I'm doing. So that is like practicing those types of things through the years. The way that I've adjusted my practice is being like,

If I go on a hunt and I like say missed a shot or did some, you know, like made a badge and whatever. I mean, I really replay those things in my head. And then I go throughout the year and adjust those things. One thing that I realized that I was doing, the number one shot that I would miss is like generally when I'm stalking and I always try to come in from above, I think it's the most effective way to get in close. So I'd come in from above and then I'd be, you know, say a steep hill and I've got the deer below me.

I'm looking at the deer. I draw back down low out of sight and then I get everything settled and I slowly start raising up.

And then as soon as I can see that animal, you know, then I'm like, I don't want to get all the way up and be skyline. So I'm like crouched halfway down like this, you know, and then I'm off kilter. It's probably some kind of slope of the hill. And I would I would downhill shooting in like a squat position. I muffed more of those shots than I care to think about. And it like never even dawned on me until I was like, started really going like, OK, I've missed a couple of those.

And then I start practicing those and on like weird heel pitches of Hill and things like that. And then over the years, you just find a better way to center yourself to, to keep that, you know, like to keep everything level to a different way of leaning into the Hill and a different way of, um, and shooting. And I, and then there's sometimes too, where I've said,

that's not the most efficient way that I could have made that shot. Instead of being in a squat position, like I'm doing a chair pose, why didn't I just go up to one knee and keep my left knee down and my right knee up and do it that way? Or maybe I didn't have enough...

lift for that. So maybe it's like, why didn't I just go from here to actually just committing to being full up and locked in and steady and take that shot. So, you know, but I do like to practice all those awkward positions, all those like hunting focus things throughout like the year.

And then another thing I love to do, and I think it's like a, I mean, the traditional hunters will know, but like roving practice. Like I'll get a rubber blunt tip on and whether it's my recurve, longbow, compound bow, I love to just like walk around in areas, types of places that I'm hunting and shoot pine cones and rocks and dirt clods because it's like that practice in the hill that's like,

We aren't setting up a target. We don't have to do anything. We can just send it and, you know, like get that practice of those, you know, like, I'll just be like, that's a deer down there in my mind, raise up, shoot, and just keep moving and hike and carry it around and maybe shoot jackrabbits or whatever. But just like that, that act of being in the field, getting those like in the field shots, you're, you're dealing with wind, you're dealing with terrain, you're dealing with who knows what weather. And I even bring those on every hunt, um, especially back country hunts.

Because it's a good way to like shoot your bow in camp and make sure that everything is like you took a tumble down the mountain make sure everything's working right like just shoot the blunt tip at something you know dirt clod or whatever in camp or in the field. What's your sight set up? Do you prefer like a one pin, two, or three pin or five pin?

Yeah. I started out with, you know, I used to love like a big multi-pin, seven-pin sight. Now I'm going, now I shoot the Spothog Fast Steady XL. So it's got, it's a single pin sight, but it's got the two indicators. So I'm essentially shooting a two pin with a single pin. I switched to that maybe,

four years ago and just, I think it was, I don't know, like you do something so long and you think like, oh, this is the best system. And then I, for some, I don't even know why I decided to switch to that. And it's just been a lot better for me. Um, I, I think I, what I, the first thing I noticed about it, the first animal I shot with it,

that site, I was like, man, I can see everything. And I can actually like walk, like see the animal and, and anticipate their movements a little better. And like, just really get a feel for the, everything that's going on while I'm at full draw. And in my brain just clicked with that system.

I will say like, you know, maybe starting out, you're like, you'll be practicing and you go back and you're like, oh, okay. And then you go to walk to 30 yards and you just shot way over your target and broken arrow because your sight was set at 85. And you're like, dang it. But over time I got used to adjusting it. Now the two pin thing in the single pin is good because I can set it. Like I like to,

I'll just set it at 33 yards walking around and I can essentially shoot out to 60 yards without even adjusting it if I had to. Um, because I know the drops and everything. When I first started switching over to that single pin system, I did have one thing where I was like, I was hunting fallow deer in Australia and I had this buck and I'm like, okay, he's coming in. And, uh, and I set my pin and then he walked like way closer.

And my brain was like, I know all the drops down. I don't know all the drops up. You know, luckily I just held under his belly shot, perfect shot, but it really like clicked in my head. Like, okay, I'm always going to undershoot the score and use the other. And like, I'd rather hold over, but also during my practice, I started doing a lot of undershooting and really knowing like, okay, if I had that pin set at 50 and I need to shoot at 30, where do I hold? So, but I like, I, now I would more adjust my pin where it's like my bottom pin would be that

and I'd rather hold the bottom pin high than shoot underneath something. But the major downside to the single pin and what I really miss about multiple pins is like, you know, knowing your trajectory of your arrow and understanding whether you're going to hit a branch at 20 yards or not. Because I would always draw back if it's 30 yards or 40 yards and my 20-yard pin is centered on a limb. It's like, okay, tweak it a little bit. It's a little harder to thread the needle with a single pin. But...

I don't know the benefits outweigh each other. Now, another good option would be like a three pin slide or something like that. But I've tried everything and I just kind of settled on this one for me personally. A number of years ago, I think you, I've seen a picture, you killed a really heavy antlered mule deer in the desert stuff, rocked in that. Yep. What's your biggest takeaway from that? Biggest thing we can learn from you? Yeah. I mean, I think a part of it is like, there's that, there's that thing about like patience and then like moving at the right times, you know, it was like,

so many hunts it's like you got to be you see something you got to be there right now the way that i got that deer was it was moving up the canyon and i was like i had a friend with me actually and i was like we're running to the top of this thing like we need to get to the top before those deer and

And I sprinted to the top. It was everything I could do to get up there. And then it was like almost a second too late. Those bucks were coming out and I just laid down, you know, uh, the first year had kind of seen something I laid down and I just, I mean, I've done this many times with deer or whatever. It's like being able to freeze and not,

freak out just like i laid there and i'm like you know what if i gotta take a nap i will take a nap get yourself comfortable in that freeze position because you don't want to be in this position you know like one leg out because it's not going to work out for you but get yourself comfortable get and be like i don't even need to look you know and just let them acclimate to like the presence of you you know and in some ways the rest of the deer uh fed around and fed off

Uh, I didn't, I ended up not spooking him, which is the goal. And the big buck wasn't with them, but I knew that between me and the bottom of the hill, there was only one tree. And that big buck, I was like, well, I'm going to stock to that one tree. Cause I wonder if that deer just knew something. Those other deer didn't is like, I'm going to bed here. I stocked down to that tree and, uh, I didn't see the deer. I was like, yeah, it's not here. But one thing that I, I stress no matter what you're hunting, um,

is I do this tactic of simultaneously assuming two things. I always assume that the deer has never left and I always assume that they have. Like, how do you do that? Because what that means is as I'm stalking to that spot, I'm never going to second guess that it isn't there.

I'm going to say like, I'm stalking to the spot 100% knowing that he's there, but I'm also telling myself in my head, he probably moved. So that means that I have to be paying 100% attention to everything around. So I don't miss or misstep or miss going through something. And it's like just kind of this mantra in my head of like,

telling myself I'm always expecting him to be there because I've had those hunts where like a deer's bedded under a tree. I stock in, I get to 20 yards and I was like, the deer's not here. Hmm. What's up? And I stand up and that deer was asleep and blows out. And you're like, wow, that sucked. Or there's times where you stock in, you're like, he's there. I'm you're so laser focused on that one spot. And then he blows out 15 yards to your right. And you didn't even, your brain didn't even, so I'm constantly assuming both things. And by the way,

And by that, I'm really just saying you're paying attention to everything. And so stalking into that, he wasn't there, but I set up like he was. And it was kind of like one of those, you know, one of those things like, oh, when you shift, I did see another buck there. And I was like, okay, this other buck is probably going to see me. He might blow out a smaller buck. And the second that that deer ran out, I was already at full draw and made that grunt sound. Yeah.

And I, I mean, like if you, I've listened to watch rewatch videos that I've filmed or whatever, and I'm always whistling or grunting for some reason, you know, people are, why you whistle at a mule deer? That high pitch sound actually kind of distracts them a little bit. Just making that noise is like, if you know, they don't know what they got spooked with, they stop and look. And at that point it was already too late. Arrow was on its way. And, uh, yeah, I got that deer.

So this is like a, just one of those things where you kind of have to put everything together, but that, you know, being patient at the right time, going fast when you need to, and then simultaneously assuming they're there and assuming they aren't. And, you know, if you add all those together, you're going to be pretty successful.

Yeah. It's an, it's definitely an advantage, but you know, he's, you got to fight, figure out the things that, you know, like, okay, maybe you can't, but then it's like, okay, we'll figure out that thing that you're good at. Maybe it's like, Hey, you know, for, for something like that, like I can't make it up there. Then you know what I would do? I would almost back out and say, I need to get a good view of this and I'm going to watch those things until they bed, you know? So it's just a different tactic, but, but basically,

Like basing on that, that's kind of like the same thing as like, you know, okay, what's a good strategy for what's going on right here and for your – like what you think you can do. And then I think that that's like a good way to kind of mix all the things together. Do you use a handheld thumb release or a trigger release? I use a wrist strap trigger release. I think I've had the same one for like – I've only had two in my life and they're the same one, same – like one's –

It's pretty old, but I just like it. I know that it's like, I don't really know because I, my way into archery was me teaching myself and I learned a really, a lot of bad things. I mean, I, I guess I got into compound shooting based on like, I just shot a traditional bow from when I was a kid.

My teacher was Byron Ferguson books of just like be the arrow. I learned to shoot. I had a string with a softball in the backyard and I would swing the softball. I never shot at a stationary target until I was like, got a compound bow. He was like, that's how I shot just swinging, moving things and shooting them, which is really good. But when it came to, uh, you know,

compound bow shooting. I didn't understand sites. I didn't understand any of that. So I had a lot of really bad habits that later on, you know, people were like, well, you'll develop target panic. And I think just shooting it probably paper targets. I would, but my mind's just so focused on hunting that I think I never, I was fortunate to not do that. I know. Um, I think if I was to restart, I'd probably go with the, you know, like a, a different release, but for me it works, you know? So, and I do now I actually have,

pretty much every release ever made and I will go out and I will shoot with multiple releases like if I'm shooting really bad I'll just throw a back tension release on and shoot a few with that or I'll use my wrist release and hold it in here and fire it off with my pinky and I constantly like change up the way that I'm shooting so I like to have like multiple options but I always hunt with the wrist release and because one of my like mantras another thing hunting like a lesson learned my rule is like my release will be on my wrist or on my bow and

Because I have guided and I have come into encounters with, like, we got in. I had a client one time, like, I'm, like, calling and he's up there and he's ready. And I call in this herd bull and he walks past him at, like, 15 yards and nothing happens. And I'm like, dude, what's going on? And he's like, nothing.

I don't have a he he came back he's like I don't have my release like he he went to the bathroom he set the release down and had no release and this elk came in and he just missed his opportunity and I ended up um I ended up getting some p cord out and making a release by uh doing like a kind of like a trucker's hitch where he can like run it through back it and then hold it between his fingers draw back and then just open his hand like this it ended up working but he didn't um

we ended up hiking back out and get going. I actually had a, another release. And from that moment on, I actually started putting in a spare release in my pack when I was guiding, but I, I've even had an encounter with a whitetail where it was like, I learned that lesson myself. It was like,

going in, um, to an area, had my release in my, I can't even remember. I couldn't even find it. It was like just going into here. I think it was in my backpack or something. And I'm like, Oh, big buck, same buck that I've been trying to hunt all season is right here at 30 yards bedded. And I'm like, where's my fricking release? You know, I was like, I've been there. So, um, that's one reason I like the wrist release. I can always know where it is on my wrist or on my bow. Yeah. Cool. I think that's one last question. Yeah. Good question.

What method do you use when you shoot traditional, and how much do you shoot traditional versus compound? Yeah. I mean, I don't know. Like I said, I kind of shoot a little bit of every way. I mean, I shoot split fingers. It just depends on my bow. Like, I've got certain bows...

Yeah. I, I think it's a combination. It's more instinctive than aiming, but I do, um, use like a point on like my, you know, yeah. Point on target kind of thing. Um, it really depends. Like I've got a recurve, one recurve that I shoot one way and I've got a long bow that I shoot another way. Um, I like to kind of just shoot all different ways and I kind of change over, you know, just depends on how that bow feels to me personally, but mostly it's a lot of instinctive. It's

it's more instinctive than anything because I just kind of started that way. And it, it just like, I don't know it, the, the whole, like I, some people say it's not a good way to do it. So I don't ever try to tell somebody how to shoot. I just know what works for me and do it. I, mine's more like the, the throw a ball philosophy. Like I just see it and I do it. Um, and I've kind of do that. I still do that with a compound bow. I mean, I think it's a, it's just like a way that

I kind of don't worry about the, the action. I think like, don't get that buck fever is like, I, I just like people are like, well, what's your pro and on my processes, I just go in and kill the deer. And like, that's a really good process, you know, like, yeah. Cause you don't have time to work it up in your head. You're just like, well, I'm just going in here and I'm shooting the deer. And it's like, if you make it that simple, then it sometimes is.

And then when I start to think about things, like anytime I'm shotgun shooting or whatever, anytime I'm like doing some kind of shotgun thing and it's like there's people and whatever, and I just start telling myself how to shoot, I will miss every clay that's thrown. But if I just, if I'm walking on the hill and I'm half sideways and a checker flies out at 54 yards and I got to twist turn and throw it up with my pack on, I'll shoot it in the head every time. You know, it's just like,

That's just how I am. And I know not everybody's like that. So definitely more of an instinctive type shot on many things. Yeah. Thank you guys so much. I appreciate everybody. Thanks again, everybody, for listening. That concludes our live Q&A. As the early season approaches, we have a ton of great topics to cover coming up, including pronghorn tactics, drought hunting strategies, maybe some wildfire workarounds.

Also, don't forget to send me your hunt questions via Instagram and also head over to my Remy Warren YouTube channel for some new hunts, videos, how to's, all that stuff that's going to be coming out. So until next week, I just want you to think about hunting. Yeah, sure. Maybe your work will suffer a little bit. It's okay. As long as you think about hunting, everything will be fine, especially with the season coming up. So keep thinking hunting.

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