Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Check engine light on? Take the guesswork out of your check engine light with O'Reilly Veriscan. It's free and provides a report with solutions based on over 650 million vehicle scans verified by ASE certified master technicians. And if you need help, we can recommend a shop for you. Ask for O'Reilly Veriscan today. O, O, O'Reilly Auto Parts.
There's nothing like snook hook sets at dawn or catching a tarpon in the moonlight. Find your next fishing trip made easy on fishingbooker.com and experience the magic of the Sunshine State or any other destination on your fishing bucket list. Book a blue water adventure in search of sailfish or go snapper fishing with the kids. With over 6,000 captains and trips to choose from, planning your next one just got a whole lot easier. Download the Fishing Booker app
on the Google Play or App Store or visit them online at fishingbooker.com to book your trip today. You ever get that feeling, the walls closing in, the concrete jungle suffocating you? You crave some wide open spaces, the chance to connect with nature, maybe in a spot all your own. Well, head over to land.com.
They've got ranches, forests, mountains, streams, you name it. Search by acreage. You can search by location. You can search by the kind of hunting and fishing you're dreaming of. Land.com. It is where the adventure begins.
I'm back with another episode of Cutting the Distance. Today, it's just me. It may be early June as I'm recording this, but I am laser focused. I'm ready for elk season. It seems like all I'm thinking about already every day is where I'm going to go check out on this hunt and where I want to go scout on that hunt. It's kind of consuming me already and we're still three months away, but...
It seems like everybody else is getting ready for elk season as well. A lot of questions starting to roll in. So we're going to jump right into the Q&A, which is brought to you by Pendleton Whiskey. This portion of the episode is brought to you by Pendleton Whiskey. Letterbuck.
So today's questions, I went to Elk Addicts Facebook group, got a bunch of good questions. So I'm just going to kind of start rolling through these and do my best to answer them. And it should be a fun little episode here. So our first question comes to us today from Justin Stevens off of Elk Addicts. What's your opinion on culling methods, cold culling methods in high predator or high pressure areas where elk are just staying tight lipped in September?
So being a Washington resident definitely prepares you for this as far as the high pressure from hunters. We've got a lot of hunters out in the woods, not as many elk. The density is fairly low if you're in general over-the-counter areas.
And so I got a lot of, got a lot of familiarity with that. And then a lot of the spots I hunted in Idaho, um, as I was kind of starting to go out of state and get that figured out as well as some of the places I've got to hunt in Washington and Oregon, um, you know, high wolf populations, high cougar populations, um, you know, seeing those on the ground have an effect. It does honestly quiet the elk down a little bit, but I also am of the opinion that during the rut,
elk are going to be vocal. Um, they may not bugle as much. They may bugle quieter. They may bugle less. Um, they may be doing more, you know, doing more of the bugling at night, but they will still bugle. And you have to take advantage of those times of day, or maybe that one or two bugles that they're going to give you the audible, you know, Marco Polo game. They're, they're letting you know where they're at. And so what are, what I like to do is, is I'm more, um,
more cautious and conscious of when I'm going to bugle. You know, it's like if you only had two or three bullets in your gun and that's all you could take with you, you're going to take a lot more time
It's going to be more calculated when you're going to take a shot. The shot's got to be perfect, right? Where it's kind of the same way if you're in these high pressured areas, either by predator or hunting is I'm not going to bugle as much as I normally would if I thought I was in an area that, you know, haven't had very many people through it or I could get a response from a bull.
So I'm more calculated. I'm going to try to get to a spot early in the morning when I feel like I've got a better chance of getting a response before those elk start to move down into the timber, before they move off to their bedding. I'm going to try to take advantage of those situations and use my bugles more sparingly. I also feel...
we get accused of very aggressive elk hunting systems. And this is another great reason why is if you are assuming that these elk are tight lipped in an area and you do get an answer, like the only, the only information I've got to go on that elk is where he just bugled from. And if I don't think I'm going to get another answer, I need to be very aggressive. I need the number one, always make sure the wind's right, but I need to close that distance and,
and get to that elk very fast because if he's not going to make another peep, I might not know where he's going to be at in 10 or 15 minutes or what direction he's going to. So I'm typically aggressive, but I'm even more aggressive in these situations because I need to get in there before the least amount of time has passed. It gives me the best chance at getting to that bull's location. As far as cold calling, though, I'm...
I don't, I do very little cold calling. And when I say cold calling, um, I assume is cold calling. What I consider cold calling is not a lot of sign. Um, I I'm not just going to pick a spot in the woods and cold call. Now what I would say, what I do is warm calling, which I'll maybe assume this is what Justin's asking about is there are, there is some sign, there's some fresh, you know, scat, there's fresh elk tracks, there's fresh rubs, whatever it may be.
but maybe there's not an elk bugling around me. So I would consider that like warm calling. I'm not like, you know, I'm not hearing beagles, but there's sign that the elk are being there. So I'll kind of say that's what he's assuming when he says cold calling and
I just don't do it a lot. I want to know that there's an elk around. I want to know that I'm working something that has a high likelihood that there's an elk with an earshot. A lot of my cold calling methods or warm calling methods, whatever you want to refer to it as, as I was growing up, I would do this a lot as I was trying to learn.
And a lot of times what would happen is you'd maybe call on a spike that, you know, a satellite that was way off or bedding way off from the herd, but you wouldn't get a whole lot of responses from the herd bull. Um, a lot of times I also felt that like the best use of my time was to not sit in one location and try to try to lure a bull to that. I, I'm better off covering more ground, um, with my feet and finding elk that are lukewarm or warm or even hot, willing to respond and
Or find warmer sign, fresher elk tracks, fresher crap, elk scent. You physically smell that they're around you somewhere. I prefer to use my time to go do that. Now, if I was to warm call or cold call, I usually start more so, it's more of a...
you know, iterative process. I will start with cow calls, like the lowest threat level cow calls. Hey, is there anything around? I will, you know, louder cow calls, maybe louder sequences. And, and a lot of guys will over call, um, during these, I, I set my watch to every five or 10 minutes, like a cow call.
you know, maybe a louder cow call. Now, if I'm not getting any responses or not starting to hear anything, now remember thing, you know, these bulls will come in silent at times. So you're not always banking on hearing anything, but if I give it a half an hour and I don't have a better plan,
I will typically start to add bugles in at 30, 35, 40 minutes, see if I get a response there. And if I don't see anything by an hour, like that's as much patience as I have for a warm culling setup. I'm going to move on. I'm going to go find fresher sign. I'm going to drop into the timber. I'm going to do things that I feel put the advantage in my favor more so than sitting in a spot culling elk. Now, with that said, I recognize that there are people that kill culling
elk every year with warm calling, you know, setups or calling over wallows or what we would consider, you know, calling over spots that elk have, uh,
to go to me personally. I'm out there trying to find a bull that's willing to bugle. Now, um, that's my answer on that one for what it's, what it's worth. Uh, Justin Stevens also asked a question on gutting versus gutless methods, the pros and the cons, and then what happens if you're solo hunting. So I will no longer, uh, gut an elk unless the situation is, you know, perfect. Uh, last year I did kill a bull. Um,
near my house, which was in a spot where I knew I could get a side-by-side to it. I D I elected to gut that elk, um, leave the guts out in the field because I was going to take it back to our, our meat processing shed, um, our, our, our freezer, our cooler, and we were going to take care of it, you know, whole. So on that one, I did gut it, but 99% of the elk I kill nowadays are all going to be gutless. It, I don't have to touch the guts. I don't have to deal with that. I don't have to deal with, um,
Um, you know, any of the insides I can get to everything on the outside. Um, you know, he asks on, if you're solo hunting, the, the biggest pro is that you don't have to move the entire elk as it, as it, you know, as it died there, you're able to, most of the time, I would say there are a few cases, you know, if they get wedged under trees or logs or against something, no matter how they're laying, you'll be able to get off half of the meat.
from one side, and that's going to be a lot easier for you to move around to get to the other side. So that's one of the biggest pros. There aren't a lot of cons anymore for me on gutting versus not gutting. The gutless has all the pros and none of the cons.
By time I gut them, you know, people could argue that you let the animal cool down sooner. By time I've got the elk, I've already got a half off and quartered out and I'm already on to the other side. So the meat is cooling faster doing gutless. I don't have to worry about any, you know, inner...
getting on any of the meat, it's cleaner. I don't leave any meat behind. I can get to the tenderloins below the spine and going in from the hip socket and kind of just going underneath of that. We get them out very clean, get them out whole, no damage.
Even if you're taking the ribs, if you want to take rib meat, you can do a rib roll. While it's on the animal, if you want to take the rack of ribs to do something, some sort of preparation, you can get the ribs out without gutting as well. It will kind of gut itself, but I don't have to waste time specifically going up inside the cavity, getting blood up to my armpits, especially if you're in grizzly country or something. I definitely don't want to do that. I'm trying to stay as clean as possible. There is...
I don't want to allude to how fast I can take care of an animal when I'm doing gutless, but I've got this thing broke apart halfway by the time I could get it. It's clean, very easy to do. I'm working in manageable pieces. I don't see any reason why not to do gutless. And the biggest pro is if you're solo hunting, you're not moving near as much weight by yourself. You're able to at least get half of the elk cut.
you know, taken care of before you got to try to roll it over. So it's usually a lot easier to get that thing into position to do the other half. Throws a joke on here at the end. Is the Maverick truly the best diaphragm call on God's green earth? Or is it all a George Soros funded conspiracy? So I always have to give Dirk a little bit of a guff. This year, Dirk is getting just destroyed in the pink versus the Maverick sales. So I do want to point that out. I'm not competitive at all, but he's just getting crushed.
And yeah, I don't know if it's George Sharrows. What I always say is Dirk is able to rally like a lot of the junior high girls that like to elk hunt. And I think he's got an ability to market to that group and that segment. And Dirk really gets them going. And sometimes you can put some pressure on the pink. But no, the Maverick is...
Yeah. I mean, it's, it's seventh or eighth in the, in the, the lineup, you know, everybody should try the pink and all kidding aside, it's a great call. It, you know, it works, it works great for a lot of people. I tend to like a little bit lighter latex is why I like the pink. Um, but no, the Maverick's great. Um, it just really, and I don't want to sound like a used car salesman where I'm telling people to buy lots of different calls, but it really does come down to the style of color you are and what type of call you prefer. Um,
no, I would say the majority of what we make will fit the majority of the callers out there in one, one way or another. Next question from the elk addicts forum comes in from Gordy Doug. When elk are in close and he says in parentheses in some videos, I see hunters talking. It seems to me you should be dead quiet. Does this affect your stock? So I would say yes and no. Um,
a lot of times we're trying to communicate with the caller. We're trying to communicate with the camera guy, what we see, um,
I, after doing this enough, you know what you can get away with. Now, movement, I would definitely try to, to, you know, limit your movement is, is that, is that's going on. You don't want to be picked off by turning your head, but if somebody is close by and you can talk without turning your head and I can let Dirk know what's going on or my camera guy and that wouldn't know what's going on until that elk gets, unless it's dead quiet,
and that elk is very, very close, you can get away with quite a bit of talking where these animals are not going to pick you up. Whether it's whitetail deer hunting, we've played around with that. I've been able to call in hundreds and hundreds of elk to very close ranges, and you just get comfortable with what you can get away with. I would say very rarely, if at all, in the last 10 years, I've been picked off by talking. Now, movement, yes. Drawing your bow at the wrong time, for sure.
Um, but the actual vocal talking and relaying information to your team, you know, whether it's your caller, whether it's your, um, camera guy, I just, I don't feel that it's, it's been that big, big of an issue. Um, you know, and, and, uh,
That that's my opinion on that. Uh, but everybody, I would always say, and I'm, I'm more so, I don't want to add turkey hunting in cause we're all dead set on elk and we're getting excited for elk, but on the turkey calling side, I'm way more reserved. I won't talk. I won't blink. I won't
turn i won't look at anybody because it is critical and these dang turkeys will pick me off doing stuff that i never thought i would get caught with but they still allow a lot of talking they just don't allow any movement or any of that and so with elk we found that you even get more freedom um for some light vocalizations now obviously you're not going to talk over your breath you're kind of talking under your breath you're very subtle quiet sounds and you can get away with a lot um
is a bulls coming in. Now, um, you put me in a situation where it's dead calm. I'm going to probably tend to be more quiet. Are there situations where you won't bugle? Yes. Um, there are situations, there aren't seasons or tags that I won't, if the bulls are rutting or are bugling. Um, my 2023 Oregon hunt is a great, um,
you know, a great example of where I won't bugle. You know, for those that don't know, I had a great tag in Oregon.
Um, bulls are very vocal, lots and lots of pressure around. Everything's kind of working, but me and Dirk talk multiple times and we run a very similar system that we have so much trust in our system. We, we, we hardly unwaver from it. We're, we're unwavering in this has worked enough times. If we run this plan enough times on enough bulls, it's eventually going to pay off for us.
So last year in Oregon, I'm nine or 10 days in, had lots of opportunity, lots of things going our way, but I just couldn't make anything work. I would get the wind right, move into 150 yards, do everything like I was supposed to bugle. They would take off.
I'm like, well, that's not how this is supposed to work. You're supposed to get close, be a goal and have that bull come challenge you. So you did it again, same results, did it again. So then in my mind, I'm, I'm lowering the threat level. All right, I'm going to now stop doing what I've seen work for the last 20 years and
um, very consistently, I'm going to go move in and I'm going to cow call same, similar results. Like maybe you would get a bull to pull your way a little bit and then take off. Or maybe you would get a bull to pull in, you know, or some cows to come your way, but just wasn't working out in my favor. And so finally on, I don't remember if it was day nine or 10 or when we finally killed, I told, you know, I was only, I was hunting solo on that with just the camera guy. And I told David frame like, all right, today we're chasing every bugle,
And we're not going to talk. So we started this program. We're diving a thousand feet off the road to chase a bugle. And just I found myself returning to our system. I didn't want a bugle. But then in my head, I thought, well, that's our best option.
our best option right now. Beagle, run away. I'm like, all right, we're still chasing every beagle. So we're just grinding it out on the day that I ultimately kill my elk. We're chasing beagles. We're dropping here. We're hunting hard. We're dropping, you know, tons of elevation. We're climbing tons of elevation. And finally, I looked at Dave. I said, hey, this whole plan of us chasing every beagle and not calling isn't working out. Like I just...
I don't seem to jive with that plan very well. I always somehow talk myself into calling and it's just not working. Like at this point, we're dead tired. It's getting late in the evening. We stop at a spot. And so when I say won't bugle, I'm talking about like getting the bull to commit to with an archery range. I will still always bugle to try to locate a bull because what happens is even though they may not
Come into the call. When you do get close, a lot of times they will answer a distant location, be able to let you know that they're in the area. So we stop at a spot with about an hour and a half of daylight left and a bull responds. And I didn't think we had a super high probability
I can't talk a super high probability of calling that bull in. We, we hurried around, you know, we leave our pack in our truck. We leave, you know, all of our lights. We just, we grab nothing but our bow and camera. I have my bow and, you know, my five arrows, my quiver. And, um,
My camera guy's got his camera. We literally leave everything else. So there's no way that I'm going to try to bugle. I don't have a bugle tube. I don't need, I didn't even bring a diaphragm unless there, I think there was maybe some on my, my bino harness, but I wasn't even thinking about using them. And we just let this bull talk on his own. We, we work up in there. We had, you know, at times I wanted to try to make a bugle to, to get that thing to answer, but he was bugling on his own enough times that we had kind of pinpointed his location and
And then as we moved in, we could spot some cows up ahead. And finally, we were able to kind of spot his horns. He was bedded down at the edge of a meadow. And then from then, we just got in a single file line. We put the biggest tree in between us and him that we thought would get to a shot distance. And we literally just walk in a single file line with his head behind this tree for us. And we...
we just, we wait, we, we walk in. Um, I arranged a tree that he's behind, um, at 38 yards. He's a couple of yards behind it. So I figured we're 40. Um, I get down on, on, you know, we get ready for the shot. We get on our knees, we're kind of in some pines. And so that was one chance where I knew there were elk around. There were a lot of bulls bugling, but they just did not seem to want to be bothered with bugling. And as an elk hunter, um,
Um, that is more concerned. Like my ultimate priority is finding success, no matter if it is, you know, calling it a bugling bowl or if it is being quiet or if it is lucking into one as you're walking down the trail, like whatever it is, I'm always trying to stack those odds in my favor and enough time had went by on this hunt and enough situations that really had me leaning towards, uh,
don't bugle is going to be your best success. And so there are times when I've ran the system enough times, the wind is swirly enough that I don't want an elk to start to commit to my location. All of those things, there are situations where we won't bugle. And that was a good example of one that, and that was the first bull I've ever killed with my bow that I didn't call into archery range.
O'Reilly Auto Parts are in the business of keeping your car on the road. I love O'Reilly. In fact, the other day, I'm not kidding you. The other day I went into an O'Reilly Auto Parts looking for a part. I needed a different thing that wasn't really in there, you know, only like tangentially related to what they carry.
They did not have it, and the dude told me specifically where I would go down the road to find it is how nice they are. They offer friendly, helpful service and the parts knowledge you need for all your maintenance and repairs. Thousands of parts and accessories in stock, in-store, or online, so you never have to worry if you're in a jam.
They'll test your battery for free. If you need your windshield wipers replaced, a brake light fixed, or quick service, they'll help you find the right part or point you to a local repair shop for help. Whether you're a car aficionado or an auto novice, you'll find the employees at O'Reilly Auto Parts are knowledgeable, helpful, best of all, friendly. These guys are your one-stop shop for all things auto, do-it-yourself,
You can find what you need in-store or online. Stop by O'Reilly Auto Parts today or visit them at OReillyAuto.com slash MeatEater. That's OReillyAuto.com slash MeatEater. We've all seen plenty of gadgets and fads come and go, but here's one product that stood the test of time. Seafoam Motor Treatment. Lots of hunters and anglers know that seafoam helps engines run better and last longer.
It's really simple. When you pour it in your gas tank, sea foam cleans harmful fuel deposits that cause engine problems. I'm talking common stuff like hard starts, rough engine performance, or lost fuel economy. Sea foam is an easy way to prevent or overcome these problems. Just pour a can in your gas tank and let it clean your fuel system. You probably know someone who has used a can of sea foam to get their truck or boat going again. People everywhere rely on sea foam to keep their trucks, boats, and small engines running the way that they should the entire season.
Help your engine run better and last longer. Pick up a can of Seafoam today at your local auto parts store or visit seafoamworks.com to learn more.
This is Brent Reeves from This Country Life. What makes South Dakota the greatest for pheasant hunting? With over 1.2 million pheasants harvested last year, South Dakota boasts the highest population of pheasants in the nation. In fact, you'd have to add up the total harvest from neighboring states just to get that many birds.
There's also millions of wide open acres chock full of different landscapes, meaning the hunt in one county is often completely different from just a few counties over. But what really makes South Dakota the greatest goes way beyond just hunting a colorful bird. It's the pursuit of something more like the camaraderie that awaits all kinds of hunters from all walks of life and partaking in South Dakota tradition over 100 years in the making.
It's about taking the greatest shots and watching your dog work the greatest fields in the greatest lands, carrying on the greatest heritage and making the greatest memories. So what are you waiting for? From the rush of the flush to the stories at the end of the day, experience a thrill like no other. Learn how at HuntTheGreatest.com. How often do you bugle on a hunt?
So for those of us that maybe watch some of the videos we put together, it seems like we're bugling all the time and we probably get a bit, you know, a bad rap that all we do is bugle. We're over calling, we're, we're educating the elk. And so I do want to, I do want to talk about that a little bit. Um, similar to the first question, I bugle when I feel like I've got a good chance or good probability of, uh,
you know, a good chance of getting a response. So I really limit, limit my, my calling to where it's going to be good. But with that said, if I'm in, in good elk sign, and if I'm in a good area where I'm calling every two to 300 yards. Now to go back to the video, a lot of times, what are you on?
on a hunt, when we're going to edit it, there's not a lot, you know, people don't want to just see you walking down a trail all the time. And so a lot of what you get is us bugling because there's some action involved or maybe a response involved, but reality, you get to see a glimpse in about 1% of the time we're on the ground and it just looks, or it appears that we're always, uh, bugling. So on a hunt, I liked, I liked to be able as much as I feel gives me an advantage. And that's hard to figure out, but
Anytime I get to a new finger ridge, anytime I get to an area, I will bugle to see if I can get a response in that area that I don't think they've either not heard my bugles up to this point, not had a chance to respond.
And by keeping a pretty set cadence or a set distance, a lot of times what will happen is I will pass an area, beagle from there and then get a bull that will beagle back where I just was or closer to a location I just beagled from. For no rhyme or reason, I don't know if they're feeding or if they were messing around and didn't hear you beagle or just didn't want to respond from there. We can get a bull to respond there.
In a different location. And so a lot of times I stick to a somewhat normal cadence, two, three, 400 yards on a ridgeline or in an area that an elk, because we have seen it enough on the ground that a bull will finally respond. So yeah, there are instances where if I've got really fresh sign on the ground, I may start with just a loud cow call and see if they beagle to that.
So I'm not always ripping a bugle. It seems like that when you see some of our hunts and the way that we teach some of this stuff. But in reality, we're just bugling enough to give us an advantage or to get the game started by getting another bull to respond. So that's my answer on that one.
So Kevin Hopman is the next question. Is it better to sound like Doug Flutie than it is to sound lifelike? And so I have to explain Doug Flutie. It was a term that Dirk kind of coined a few years ago where Doug Flutie is somebody that you can very easily tell is a person blowing on an elk call. Whether it's one of the old school tubes that would click through the tones. Do-do-do-do-do.
You know, the flute sound. Or so are you saying, is there a time where sounding that way is better than to sound lifelike? The way that Kevin sees this is if I sound fluty, other hunters may stay away from me and the bull that they're pursuing. But if I sound too real, they may hunt me and the bull. So I can't, I don't feel like I can win. And I'm always for sounding as lifelike as possible, but I,
I also acknowledge that some of the worst sounding elk I've ever heard are real elk. You know, we've talked about this multiple times. So I don't, I, I'm going to do whatever is the most likely to call that bull into my location. If that means I have to sound like a Doug Flutie and, you know, do the ups and downs and, you know, roll through the notes and,
I will do it, but I also feel there are times where I want to sound as lifelike as possible. I want to sound like the real thing. And I don't know if woodsmanship is the right word, but I want to be as realistic sounding as possible while I'm out in the woods. Yeah, you may get other people chasing you. In those instances, you know, in a few spots I've hunted in Colorado, you can hear people
two or three bugles from the same location. And you're trying, I'm trying to be very quiet and just chase real bull bugles. But at times I needed to make a call when I was in there and I would just call quieter enough that that bull can hear me. I would switch to groans and moans, which if you're not a skilled caller can sometimes not sound right. Um, I'll do light little, we'll do light little chuckles that are just, just like under the breath type chuckles that are going to work. Um, if I feel that making a bull call, um, is going to be the best, but
I'm not saying the way I do it's right. I just like to, you know, for reasons and pride reasons, call as good as I can all the time, you know, as often as possible and try to mimic the real thing. Sean Johnstone, maybe talk about how barometric pressure plays a big part in coastal Roosevelt hunting. Man, I wish I can say I pay attention. Now I will say, you know, barometric pressure, you know, high pressure is good. I like barometric.
But what I don't like when I'm hunting deer or elk is I don't like to be on the change. I don't want to go from low to high or from high to low. I just assume not hunt. And, you know, I shouldn't say that. I'm always going to be hunting. But I found that hunting is better either on a steady low or a steady high with the transitions being the worst. But then if I had to pick a low pressure or a high pressure, I will almost always take that clear high
high pressure zone sitting over the area. So I like it to be cold and crisp. I like to have clear days. Um, don't get me wrong. I've had some amazing Roosevelt elk hunting when it's just pouring down rain, you know, low pressure systems moved in, but it's typically, like I said, on that second or third day of it, they don't like to be in that transition and change. So, um,
for what that's worth, I like to be on, you know, day two or three into high pressure if I can. If not, I'd like to be day two or three into a low pressure. And ideally the hunting's never been as good during the switches, but it, it, it also is, we're limited by days and times. So I'm still out there hunting and we've still managed to find success during those times. And the other thing is, you know, you can,
You can predict the moon phase long enough in advance to schedule your vacation. You can figure all these things out, but you'll never be able to understand, unless you've got the liberty or the freedom to take certain days off, you're basically going to have to plan your vacation or your time and just go hunt with what you're given. So you really can't plan around it unless you do have the ability to take a day off. And then I would say...
High pressure after a couple days of consistent high pressure is going to be your best bet for elk and activity. So Zach Gill is asking, when hunting thicker timber, which growing up in southwest Washington, really close to the coast is what I'm used to, hunting thick timber with only a few parks and meadows to glass, how many miles do you hike in with no calls or random bugles do you go before you're looking to move on?
So it's a great question, Zach. A lot of these times it not only pairs with audible, I'm gathering as much information as I can. So I will go look. My favorite place to look on these areas is, is there a trail that seems to intersect a lot of these thick timber patches? Or can I build a trail that goes through these thick timber patches? I'm just looking like, is there an area where like signs better or worse? Was it closer to the truck or is it better the further I get in here?
I will go to these fringes where the thick timber meets the parks and meadows. A lot of these fringe areas holds the majority of the elk or that's where they like to be. Is there sign there?
And then he kind of asked how many miles we hike in with no calls around him. I'm always calling. Now, if I'm in a flat or I'm in an area that's like a solid continuous slope, I may not call as much with no real spot to have an advantage there. If I'm running into terrain breaks or if I'm wrapping around a ridge, I will call as I move around that. But I will call occasionally. Or if I run into some warm sign or some hot sign, I will call to make sure that I'm not going –
to move forward and kind of run into or bump elk that are in front of me. So yeah, I'm kind of always calling and letting out random location bugles before I look to move on. Now, as far as how long or how far do I hike in before I decide to move on?
It really depends on how the terrain and the area lays out. Is there easier ways to get to the areas that are coming up? Are there ways that, you know, is there an easier way to get here? Like I'm not going to overwork myself getting into an area if it's easier for somebody to come from the other way. There are times now if I'm spiking out or I'm already in there and committed, then the extra work, I will tend to gravitate that way, especially if the elk is
you know, have me going that way. But there's...
I don't know if you're looking for how many miles to hike in. Some of my day hunts will be maximum of 7 to 10 miles in and 7 to 10 miles out. We've did a lot of 12 to 20 mile days where it's a lot of go in this way. I don't like to backtrack if possible, so I try to plan routes where I can go out this ridge, maybe I have to drop across the canyon and come back a different ridge system. It lets me cover more ground in less time
as I'm trying to find elk. So I don't really have a min or a max. It's really what do I have to do to find the elk that are within the area. And like I say, I'm calling as I'm walking, you know, or as I'm walking to spots that, hey, I can now bugle over this side of the ridge, or I can bugle down into this drainage, or there's a little pocket basin, or there's a hanging meadow, or there's a, you know, whatever it may be, I will bugle in all of those because
Because if I don't find elk, I'm not coming back anyway. So I'm kind of pulling out all the stops as I go through here, you know, before I move on to a different spot within the unit. Next question comes from Ross Sharp. He's here in Washington. He's asking a little question. I know what he wants the answer to be. How do you tag your animal? So he runs Elk Crazy Company. He's got a tag wallet that you can put your tag in, kind of zip it up and then attach it to the animal, make sure it doesn't fall off.
For me, I think aside from Washington now and maybe Idaho, every state that I hunt now has like e-tagging. So a lot of my tags, and maybe I'm a dummy for lucking into that system, but I do like some of these systems. It's ultimately going to help poaching and whatnot. You have to document where your animal is killed, all of that. I don't like it for sharing information if that's what the Fish and Wildlife Department ended up using it for, but
Um, I honestly, I end up e-tagging the majority of these States I've hunted. Um, and then, you know, tagging the animal, um, you know, so far I've just, I've been using just, uh, you know, the old school electrical tape still. Um, I haven't, I haven't lost anything, but you know, Ross, Ross has a good little company there, you know, gives back conservation. It's called the tag wallet. If you still have physical tags, go check that out.
Um, next question comes from Warren, Warren Joyner, um, thick Idaho timber, also known as brushy, rocky assholes, um, walking miles to find elk. Are you calling the whole time as you're walking with cow calls and bugles are alternating and just sounding like elk, or are you trying to sneak up on them to surprise them with a bugle? So I would say my answer to that Warren is a little bit of both. Um,
So I would say the, one of the reasons I don't hunt, um, you know, the North Idaho timber anymore is because I came from an area that's very, very similar, you know, big canyons, lots of timber. Um, we log probably a little more active now than they did in North Idaho. Um, but I just, I don't, I don't like not knowing what's ahead and it seems like never ending timber. So as I just mentioned, a lot of times if you've got parks, you've got meadows, you've got spots you can get to, but if everything looks the same, um,
for, for a long ways out, I feel the best way for me to locate elk is to continue calling. As I moved through the woods. Um, I want to know that that bull's there before I just, the chances of me walking and sneaking up on elk, um,
seems to be very, very low. A lot of times they will pick up sound. They'll be looking your way. Now, if I know they're there, I can definitely like, you know, move in on them. So if they're locating or bigging on their own, a lot of times I will go in there and sneak in because I may not want to make a peep prior to, but if I get to an area of vegetation that's
or terrain that just does not allow me to move any closer, I'm typically going to call because I don't want to risk sneaking up on them or getting picked off. So...
I'm typically calling the whole time as I'm walking. I will just, you know, if I'm walking through or at a faster pace, I'll let a cow call out every here and, you know, every now and then see if I get an answer. It would maybe calm down, you know, elk that may be suspecting, you know, up ahead of you. But I do like to bugle because I like to know if I continue in this direction, you know,
that there's elk around me. And the way I like to look at it is if, if you imagine yourself, you know, on, on the topo map and what you can see from your little circle, you're able to cover, let's say, let's just say for conversation sake, you can see a hundred yards around you. But if I beagle, I've now just touched hopefully every elk that's 500 yards around me for an answer. So I think a lot of the listeners are probably starting to figure out that, um,
We don't put our eggs in a basket. I don't plan on coming back to a spot unless it's got action, it's got elk that are ready to play the game, it's got something that makes me want to come back. So a lot of times, now I will hunt a spot and then come back maybe seven or eight days later if I've seen something that I like or it's like historically held elk and I think that maybe they move back in there or maybe some hunting pressure later in the season has brought them back.
But a lot of times I will write a spot off because there's so many other good spots or good looking spots that I want to go check out within the unit. So I'm bugling. I don't feel it can do any harm. I've got, you know, and the other thing is if you're assuming you can only see a hundred yards versus it, you know, the, the area, the amount of area you're able to hunt quote unquote is, is a whole lot bigger as you're bugling walking around than it is. If you're just walking and using your, your visual, uh,
Um, there are times, I guess, if, uh, we've all been there, you're, you're on a trail, you're on a ridge system and you cut very, very fresh elk tracks, you know, not a needle in the track. Uh, you know, something that, that doesn't allude to, you know, them being old, like they're very fresh. You maybe smell elk, you know, fresh turned up dirt sitting on top of the ferns and the salal or the grass, like nothing's moved that yet. And you, you take those as very fresh elk.
I may figure out which way the elk are going, try to make a plan, you know, either through on X or just by looking at, at the terrain that's in front of me. And I may make a decision. I think these elk for this time of day are probably bedded down in there. They were here within the last 12, 14 hours, you know, or whatever it may be 24 at the worst. I may elect to go try to track these things as far as I can or getting close. And that has worked out. So I would say, you know, anywhere, not just necessarily, you know, steep timber, rocky, you know,
hell holes, but anywhere that I cross fresh elk sign, I may elect to be quiet. You know, especially if the elk aren't beagling on their own. I'll just, I'll be quiet, get on the tracks and go try to track those down. And I'm always assuming for the month of September, even into the middle of October, that if I cross elk tracks, whether I can see a bull track or not, I'm assuming that there's always a bull, you know, with those, with, with the elk tracks until I prove otherwise. Yeah.
So that's, uh, that's my opinion on that. Um, I'm always calling a little bit. I may call more sparingly in the timber, but it just, it, it increases my odds as I'm hunting that to, to get an answer or to get the game started versus relying on sneaking in on them. Um, if they're talking or if they're bedded down or not talking, um,
Uh, the last question I've got for you guys today, which is a little bit of a joke from one of my hunting partners, Tyson Drevnok about my buddy, Charlie Smith. Will Charlie Smith ever kill an elk again? I really hope so. Um, I was joking with Charlie the other day. Um, the last elk he killed, I think he's on a seven year dry spell. Um, the last elk we killed and we haven't hunted together forever was a bull I called inform in Idaho, which he actually, it was his wife's turn to hunt.
And somehow Charlie ended up being the shooter, but called a nice little six point into him. And he was able to shoot that. But I'm really hoping he he man, he can he can get off of this bad luck streak that he's on. You know, it's it's
It's unfortunate. He just, he's just struggling, but I have to laugh because my buddies are, they're ruthless and they, they wanted to always, you know, give each other a little bit of guff on, on who's gonna, who's gonna kill first and what. And so I think Tyson for making me laugh a little bit on where it will Charlie Smith. I'm sure he'll kill an elk again. He might just have to draw another special tag or have me go call for him again, but Charlie will eventually kill an elk. I'm sure he'll,
But no, we really appreciate all these questions coming in from the elk addicts. Once again, you have questions for me or my guests or Dirk and his guests. Feel free to email them to us at CTD at Phelps game calls dot com or hit us up on social media. Send us a message and we'll do our best to get them included here. Elk season's right around the corner.
Um, we're, we're practicing our calling. We're starting to get our bow set up, figuring out our arrow set up our broad heads. Like everything is in, in, in full swing. Um, and before you know it, you know, we're only two months, two and a half months out from everything needing to be dialed. Um, it's time to start thinking about elk, uh,
It's by far my favorite type of hunting. You're out there with, like I say, an 800-pound screaming giant. It's a lot of fun. Nothing quite gets your adrenaline up like archery elk hunting, and I'm so looking forward to it. But...
But yeah, keep sending your elk hunting questions in. I'm sure you're going to get a healthy dose over the next two and a half months elk centric before the white tail and mildew season gets here. We'll kind of switch gears there, but you're going to get a heavy dose of elk hunting here for the next little bit. So appreciate all you. Thanks for tuning in to Cutting the Distance. And until next time, take care.
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.
Battery is essential. With over 150,000 dealer locations, finding one is easy. For all your vehicles, land or sea, choose Interstate. Head to InterstateBatteries.com and find your power today. You ever get that feeling, the walls closing in, the concrete jungle suffocating you? You crave some wide open spaces, the chance to connect with nature, maybe in a spot all your own. Well, head over to Land.com.
They've got ranches, forests, mountains, streams, you name it. Search by acreage. You can search by location. You can search by the kind of hunting and fishing you're dreaming of. Land.com. It is where the adventure begins.
Market House has the cleanest, leanest, juiciest meat and seafood shipped to your home overnight. Expect the service of a local butcher and the convenience of a large supplier. Unlike many online butchers, you can grab just one meal's worth or lock in for a subscription box. Choose from grass-fed and grass-finished beef, American Wagyu, free-range poultry, grass-fed lamb, wild-caught king crab, seafood, and more.
and more. For 15% off your first order, use code COUNTRY at checkout. Just visit markethouse.com. That's M-A-R-K-E-T-H-O-U-S-E dot com. And use the code COUNTRY.