Ep. 107: Hunting Water and the Effects of Drought
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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. It's mid-August, the sun is out, and there are already quite a few seasons underway. Antelope being one, but mule deer seasons are definitely starting to kick off as well. A lot of places across the West.

And just like us, as things start to heat up, animals need a cool drink of water. So this week, I'm going to cover strategies for hunting water, including how to pick a water to hunt, how to set up for your best chance at a shot, and how drought might actually help you out. But first, I want to share the story of that time I shot an antelope in my underwear.

The first archery antelope tag that I ever had in the state of Nevada was on a year that I actually had drawn nearly everything that I put in for, which is crazy. That's the first time it happened and the only time that's ever happened.

There was a few tags I didn't draw, but man, I had a lot of good tags that year. A couple different elk tags. I drew some good mule deer tags and it was all during archery season, kind of before my guiding season. So it was like from August 1st through beginning mid-September. So I didn't have a lot of time to devote to hunting pronghorns. So I was like, okay, I'm going to find a good waterhole.

And hunt that. And my buddy had actually had... My buddy Mike had had that tag the year before. And found a good water and got a good buck. So I was like, sweet.

I'm going to go check those areas out. So I went up early scouting in the summertime. I didn't have trail cameras at the time, but I did check out a few different waters. I kind of had a plan. I was like, all right, this is my plan. So I ended up shooting a deer. I drew actually a limited entry California mule deer tag and got a really nice buck. And it was like, all right, sweet. I think there was the last weekend left in the pronghorn season. So that was like on a Friday or something.

So I like had a couple of days left. So I'm like, sweet. So I drove all night, got to my antelope spot. As I pull in, I'm like just checking the waters. I'm like, okay, I'm going to set up a blind, check the first water, dry, check the next water, dry. I'm like, oh my gosh, this is not going to work out for me.

But the place I really wanted to hunt was a lot further away. And I'm like, well, I'll just, I'm going to keep going. Cause that's where I was going to hunt anyway. So I get there and sure enough water like sweet, but it was like a three inch mud puddle. Like, well, if you've got a water somewhere, this is the only other water I can think about. And, um, the water's a lot smaller. It was hot. So I set up my blind that night and, uh, went and slept for a few hours and

And then got up and walked in. This walk's maybe two miles. It's a good walk. I get into the blind and set up and I'm waiting. And as the sun's coming up, I'm like, man, am I going to see anything? And sure enough, sun lights up and there's all these antelope out in this big flat. Cool. This is awesome. Glassing around. There's a really good buck. So the buck comes in and some of the does are there. And I think they just didn't really like

the way the blind was sitting. I don't know if it was just the fact that it was fresh or new, but there's just something, maybe just like the wind or something. They just didn't really like it. So the does came in, they kind of drank a little wary and then kind of spooked off and then came back and then they were a little more comfortable, a little more calm and started drinking. And then the big buck started coming in. So I'm like, all right, here we go. This is it, man. First morning, nice buck. This is going to work out. So the buck comes in and he's

kind of like came in straight across and he's drinking, but he's quartering to me. I'm like, all right, this will work. So he puts his head down drinking. I think, okay, I'm going to just shoot while he's distracted by drinking. So I let him start drinking because he came in, didn't drink, kind of went out and then started, came back in and started drinking. So I'm like, sweet. He's quartering to me. I draw back. I put it inside his shoulder, release the arrow and

It was like 35, maybe 40 yards. And that buck jumped that string so fast that that arrow... By the time that arrow got there, that buck was not even anywhere close. I mean, he just matrixed that arrow. And I was like, wow. I mean, I've...

stocked in on antelope and I'd never seen an antelope up until that point really jumped the string. And that thing was just, he was keyed in and just out of there. I'm like, Oh man, bummer. Did I just blow it? Like I've got one, pretty much one day to hunt this thing.

I'm like, I was pretty bummed. So get out of the blind. All the antelope are gone. I like hike up to the little rise and I'm glassing and I do not see any other antelope. I'm like, ah, dang it, man. It's like, do I just start walking around or I just try a different spot? And I was like, ah, I'll just sit in the blind. So I'm sitting on a blind.

And I'm like, man, it's gotta be a hundred and I don't even know. I wasn't as prepared as I probably should have been. So it had to have been 110 or plus degrees. I don't even know, maybe a lot more inside that point. I was just, it was like my brain was cooking in there. So I'm like, gosh, dude, I'm not good at sitting like, all right. But I'm thinking this is probably the best way to get a buck in this short amount of time. So

sitting there it's like the middle of the day I'm just cooked like dude this is so hot so I just take my shirt off I'm like sweating and there's no breeze and I'm like it feels better because it was just so hot so I take my shoes off I'm like okay it's like nothing around I can see for miles I'm like nothing's gonna happen so I'm in the blind it's like take my shoes off I'm like I'll just take my pants off too I take my pants off and I'm like sitting there like finally it's like

starting to feel a little bit better. So I'm just like distracted and I look up and there's an antelope buck standing in the middle of the water hole, just like slurping down the water. I thought I could see everything. And all of a sudden it's,

Boom. Antelope like in the water hole. I don't even know how it got there. He must've sprinted from five miles away when I was just distracted. I'm like, Oh crap. So I don't even think I had my release on. I was just on the ground. Cause I just like was cooling off. Didn't wasn't expecting something like crap. So I put my release on, like got to get my, my everything's disheveled. The buck's still there drinking, drinking, drinking. I draw back aim, shoot, boom, hit the buck.

Perfect shot. I mean, he didn't even go 10 feet. And I had my first waterhole antelope. Pretty much completely unexpected, sitting there hunting in what I would consider my modern day loincloth. Hunting water might sound easy, like, oh, you can shoot a buck in your underwear. It's really not. I mean, there's a very mental game to it. And there's a lot of things that can go wrong in a lot of places. You could sit an entire season and not have anything come in.

So picking a water is kind of crucial to this whole thing working out. And every species is a little bit different. But I did want this episode to be not just about antelope waterhole hunting, but more just about hunting over water. So I think when it comes down to picking a water source, and this is a main theme with anything you're hunting, but you have to first kind of analyze the

what those animals are looking for. So if I was hunting antelope, I kind of look for more isolated water pockets, like where they have to go to a certain water hole and one that's out in the open because they can use their eyes, they can run in. The more open it is, probably the more antelope are going to use it. And the nice thing about antelope is they don't necessarily get super freaked out about blinds.

Now, if I was hunting deer, I actually think deer are a little bit the opposite. They like more sheltered brushy areas. So if there was tall sage around the water, if there's some, a canyon or something like that, they're more likely to use that where they kind of, they've got that edge of cover nearby and actually mule deer tend, I find tend to use longer waters. So

Whereas antelope will use those isolated waters. If given an option, a mule deer will probably drink out of a Creek over like a pocket. They'll hit Springs as well, but they like those waters that like maybe as a spring and then runs where they can go in water and they don't have to drink at the same place every day. Now, if there's no other options, they'll do that. But antelope,

Mule deer like to kind of not fall into that same pattern, whereas antelope will pick a water source and can be pretty predictable on it. And then when it comes to like elk, it's a little combination of all of those. I've seen elk just out in like a trough out in the big flats below the mountain. And then I've seen them, you know, hitting obviously springs, wallows, whatever. But

I do find, especially earlier, you know, elk, you can kind of find on bigger water sources because it's a big herd and they kind of all want in there. They all want some action. They might want to roll in it. The cows might want to splash around in it. And it's kind of like where those cows want to go. So they want those bigger water holes where they can, especially if it's hot, where they can roll around, where they can get wet, where it's not just a little tiny seat if they've got the option. So those are just a couple of little things I think about, but

When it comes down to picking a water, really activity is key. And then understanding that activity. So now there's the ability to leave a trail cam on a water and you can decipher, oh, well, what's here? What's coming in? You know, you can go put a camera on every water and then figure it out. But as trail cameras become illegal in a lot of places, or maybe you don't have them,

It's really good to understand how to find active water holes without the use of trail cameras because it's not always an option.

And so the way that I do it, and I've done this before trail cameras and during trail cameras, it doesn't really matter, is I like to do a work backwards approach. So what I do is when I go out and I'm looking for water sources, I first try to spot animals. I'm looking for animals, not water. So I go out, I scout, or even during a hunt, I'm looking for animals. So if I'm in an area, I'm hunting pronghorn, I'm looking, I'm looking, and I find the buck that I'm like, oh, there's a good buck.

Then I work backwards. Now I go, where's the water? Where's this animal watering? Same thing with elk. Same thing with mule deer. I hunt and scout and whatever, looking for those animals. I don't necessarily just start looking for the water. Now, maybe I've looked on a map and say, where is the water? And then start going into those areas and looking for animals. And then I go, okay, there's animals here.

Now I'm going to go investigate the water sources that I can find. So I'll find the water and I'll say, well, what kind of water is it? Is it a stream? Okay, well, look at the stream, look for sign, check for sign. Maybe I'm hunting antelope. Maybe it's an isolated waterhole. I go there, I look for tracks. I look for...

trails going in, any kind of sign saying they're using this water. And that's where I'm going to pick, okay, now this is a productive water. I found the animals in the area. I know they're here. I know maybe there's a certain kind of animal that maybe I saw a big buck. Maybe I saw a big bull. I know there's animals that are using this. This is going to be a place to set up.

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So now the next step to hunting water is having something that hides you from whatever's coming in. When it comes to antelope, ground blinds are the best. Pop-up ground blinds, in my opinion, are the best. I've hunted a lot of antelope on waterholes. I've done every kind of blind. I've made blinds with friends. We've made full brush blinds that take five-man crews and full weekends.

And then I've used just like pop-up double bull style blinds or whatever. And I think that the pop-up blinds work just as well. Now there's a couple of things when it comes to pronghorn that, I mean, I've actually seen antelope in the distance and,

gone out, set up a pop-up blind, and then just had them come in. Their eyesight's so good, but I don't think that that shape, that whatever, really bugs them very much. So I think the pop-up blind's really good for antelope. Now when it comes to elk and deer, I think it's a little bit opposite. You kind of have to have it brushed in. I think actually building a blind is a little bit better, or even going blindless, but just...

cutting a bunch of vegetation, building something up where you can sit down, be out of sight, be downwind. And then when they move in or when they're drinking and when they aren't looking, you can use that opportune time to raise up, to shoot, to do whatever. It's not as effective with antelope because their eyesight's so keyed in and generally where you're hunting pronghorn isn't as brushy. So that's the nice thing about deer and elk is

they kind of tend to go to those water areas where there might be a little bit more cover around. When it comes to antelope, pop-up blind is probably going to be your best option. Now you can also, for deer and elk, there's a lot of places where I'll hunt over water and, you know, good time to put up a tree stand or whatever. It's just finding some way to hide and conceal yourself. There's a lot of times for elk, whether it's a wallow or whatever, where I'll just

move back 20, 30 yards from the water or wallow and sit on the ground, put my back up against a tree and just there still and have had animals walk right past me. I've taken plenty animals that way, just kind of sitting. Even sometimes I'll go and check different water holes or whatever, sit on the ground that way. I don't have to bring anything in or don't have a whole big setup process. And the key is just with anything, get downwind, get downwind of the water or downwind to where you think they're going to come in. Now, a big topic I would say

especially this year, a lot of places is a drought. You know, there's a lot of bad things when it comes to hunting and droughts because the

during the springtime, that's when most of the water, you know, and most of the antler growth happens. So droughts do definitely affect the antler growth of animals in the area. They can be detrimental to populations, especially if they get really bad. Um, you know, in places with the white tails and stuff seems like EHD kind of kicks up when there's a little bit less water, a

a lot more standing water, a lot more stagnant water. There's also, you know, limited resources. So you might have cattle in an area, but the cattle are all on the water hole or, you know, in a lot of places, the cattle aren't so bad because they've got their own water troughs and other things. But the wild land where you're hunting deer, antelope, the wild horses just hammer the water sources in the drought and they get really aggressive toward the

lot of the game animals and the game species. So they chase them off and then you have some die-offs with enough drought and not enough resources to go around for everything. You have a lot of die-off. So in that aspect, droughts are bad. In another aspect, droughts can be really good because you can use it to your advantage. You might say like, well, how is something that's bad can be good?

Well, if you think about it, when there's a limited resource that animals need, all you need to do is find that limited resource. If you find the water where there isn't very much water, it really helps you narrow down where the animals are. And it also gives you a really good spot to sit to hunt water. You're going to have more activity during the daytime because there's going to be more competition, more animals interacting with it.

It's just going to be overall more effective hunting. So during a drought, I actually tailor my hunting and my scouting and my e-scouting based on looking for water. It's one thing. It's like anytime you can narrow down something that those animals need to a certain place or a certain spot, whether it's a full timbered mountain and you're looking for that one

area feeding, or maybe it's a really open area, but you're looking for that area bedding. Maybe it's an area that doesn't have a lot of water. So you're just looking for that water, something that those animals are going to be tied to. If it's water, it's a concentrated spot and it makes it a really good place to set up an ambush by either blind or lying in wait, waiting for those animals to go to water. So hunting that water can be super effective. If there's less water also generally during a drought, it's pretty hot.

you aren't getting that weather. You aren't getting that cloud cover as much because that cloud cover starts to bring that rain starts to bring that water. So when it's really hot, it's a kind of like this cycle where if it's hot out and you've got a drought, then the animals need more water, but they've got less water. So they keep going to the available water. So one thing you can do is, you know, identify where the waters are and then where other potential waters are as the water start drying up. Like on my antelope hunt, um,

Three of the four waters I think that I had planned on hunting were dry. One was available, but because of that, that's where the antelope were and it concentrated them on that one water. Now there must've been another water somewhere else because they weren't all hitting that one water every day. But knowing where all those water sources are really helps you focus in and be a lot more successful sitting that water because there's times where if there's water all over, sitting water is not a very effective way to hunt.

You could sit in one place and never see a deer and elk come to that water because there's too many other places that they're using. So that's why it's really important to pick the right water, finding good activity, you know, have that blind or whatever brushed in so they aren't going to see you. Or if it's antelope, don't even worry about it, but just have

something to obstruct the antelope from seeing you. And then think about strategically hunting water during a drought and focusing in on water sources. Now at the end, we kind of touched on drought, but really one of the worst things about dry years is wildfire. So as we prepare for elk season, it's coming up. September is just about here, like

I'm pretty stoked on it. I've got a tag that fires off September 1st. So I'm going to be in the elk woods and I just want to kind of touch on what you should expect when that smoke rolls in on the hunt, because there's going to be a lot of you out there that are going to have smoke filled hunts and it's a terrible, terrible thing. I mean, it's one

one of the worst things when it comes to western big game hunting and something that we have to deal with so i definitely want to set expectations right and also give you a few tips on things you can do when that smoke rolls in in ways that you can try to make lemonade out of lemons i appreciate everybody tuning in listening all the great comments all the great feedback you

If you've got questions or whatever, feel free to reach out to me on social media at Remy Warren, Instagram, YouTube, whatever. Also, there's just been some really great comments and ratings. So if you like the podcast, feel free to drop a comment, leave a rating, whatever you guys want to do. But until next week, I'll just say sit tight, sit tight. Or should I say grab a drink?

Grab a drink. No, sit tight. We'll just stick with it. Man, one of these days I'll find a good sign-off. Hey, we're going to take a little break here and talk about interstate batteries. Now, if you're like me, enjoying the great outdoors, you need gear that is as reliable as it gets. That's why I power my adventures with interstate batteries. I use interstate batteries in my boats. I use interstate batteries in my camper. Great for your truck, too. From Alaska to Montana, they're outrageously dependable.

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