Living for Giant Mule Deer with Greg Krogh. In this episode of the Epic Outdoors Podcast we talk with outfitter, Greg Krogh. Greg has owned and operated Mogollon Rim Outfitters since 1985. Mogollon Rim Outfitters specializes in Mule Deer and Elk in Nevada and Arizona. After a lifetime of guiding hunters to great mule deer Greg was able to draw his own Arizona Strip Mule Deer tag. Greg tells us the story of the hunt and how he ended up with a 235″ buck in his hands. We also talk about Mule Deer in general, behavior, growth, tactics etc.
Disclaimer: this text was produced through an automated transcription service and likely contains errors. Please listen to the original audio for exact content.
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Steps out in broadside, turns his head, looks right at us, starts lip curling, and
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Gotta get the right deer with the right genetics at the right. Perfect age.
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It’s easier said than done. It’s, it’s a grind.
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Anything to do with Western Mid Game.
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Welcome
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To the Epic Outdoors Podcast, powered by Under Armour.
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Hey everybody. Jason Carter. Adam Bronson, Chris Peterson at the Keyboard. Always makes me feel good when Chris is there. Bronson Colorado Drive, results are out. People are just slammed with emails at this particular moment. Although we do have a scheduled podcast with a great guest and friend of ours and an awesome hunter and outfitter. So we can’t stop. We gotta, we gotta move on. And even though the results are hitting inboxes and people are looking up and seeing the word awarded or whatever and the Colorado Deer results, that’s kind of exciting. And you know, there’s been a few units that were tough to draw and there’s a few units of Bronson that were easier to draw.
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Easier to draw. That’s right. And the, the bigger thing is Jason Stills on the edge of a seat waiting for the antelope
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Results to come up. Come on.
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Do we? ’cause that is next.
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Let’s call. That is next, Greg. This is alright. That’s right. Let’s get onto a different subject.
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Burning, how many points is it? 16. 18 I 18. The bigger question is,
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I’m gonna kill the first 70 inch that walks in front of me.
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What
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If it’s got prongs, it’s down.
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What prompted you to build that many points? That’s the real
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Question. Well, it just happened and then one year there was years that I didn’t even continue with that.
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And then you jump back on and then,
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And then I jump back on. ’cause I’m like, well, and then you
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Can command the draw anywhere.
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Well, not much. Yeah. Yeah. Not anywhere, but anywhere. That’s got Giants. How about that? No, that’s not true either.
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Anywhere that’s got two points.
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Giants and Antelope and Colorado are all never used in the same sentence.
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But anyway, it’s exciting. By the end of the week it’ll finish that. We’ll have an Idaho deadline on the fifth for deer, elk, and antelope. We’re about done with the States, Arizona first of next week. So it’s coming to a close here.
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You were even kind of, now that the result, there’s been a few results out. You were kind of half deciding what you’re gonna do in Idaho. Some of these late states are nice because
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Yeah, for my kids, I, I did sheep, so I’m sitting this one out like you, I think. And, but we’re playing kids in Idaho, but I just, we wanna know Colorado results before you move down the road and apply for Idaho. So it’s good to know
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You can have too many tags and it appears I do.
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Yeah.
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Lots of junk. Lots of junk that if you come out a hero, why that’s great. But then, you know, you never tell anybody that you ate eight tags to get to the one good one.
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Well, they all remember the one good one now. You’re so lucky. And what about the six eight that year? Yeah, that was last year. Yeah.
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Oh yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Well last year was last year. That’s in the history books and never to be open again. Before we get started, we wanna thank Under Armour for sponsoring this podcast. Appreciate them. We’ve been working on some projects with Under Armour and of course there are a few discount codes still out there. Go onto our website, type in Epic UA team, go on there and get a 40% off card. Buy some stuff
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While they lost. Yep.
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No brainer. It’s pretty, pretty great way to get some great gear.
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Way discounted
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At a way discounted rate. Yep. In this covid environment. Although nobody’s talking about covid, we’re all talking about other things and lots of riding and crazy things that are going on. But anyway, we’re, let’s talk about hunting. We’re actually talking about hunting that gets our, that’s mind off of lots of crazy things out there. And the world was give old Greg Kro a call. He is a great outfitter there in Arizona as well as Nevada and crushing giants for himself as well. Killed an absolute monster deer in Arizona. We expect nothing less. He nothing less from a guy like Greg. He’s been there, done that. You know, his reputation precedes him. He’s, he’s incredible mule deer hunter and does a great job and about everything he does. And so anyway, we have a hunt that we’re giving away with Craig, where we purchased landowner tag for Nevada Unit 2 31. A winner gets to choose a season. It’s
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Your season. And we’re gonna talk with him about that. Maybe expectations and to the lucky winner that we’ll be drawn on June 20th. And yeah, give Greg a call. Let’s see if he’s ready to talk deer. He’s usually talks pretty fast when you start talking deer.
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He does. He gets wound up. But if I, you know, if I know Greg, he’s, he’s out horsing around literally this time trying to get ready. ’cause once scouting season hits,
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Basically leaves, leaves
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The house. The only
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Man June, about the only lighter months if you wanna call him. Yeah.
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For, yep, that’s right. All right, let’s give him a holler. See if we can glean any info and use it to our advantage. How about that?
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Hey Jason, how you doing?
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Good. How you doing man?
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Alright. Just hanging out. Enjoying the weather.
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Is it hot down there?
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You know, it was hot last week and then, but you know where I’m at. I’m at 5,000 feet. Yeah. So it’s not too bad. It’s probably fairly, I dunno, what, what are you guys at right now? Temperature wise? Yeah,
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Mid eighties. We, we cooled down a little bit too, but it’s, it’s been brushing last week up to 90 last week. Yeah. Oh, way warmer than it should be for end of May, but it’s, it’s looking like it’s back to reality. We’re like seventies and eighties, all the rest of this
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Next week. It’s been nice. It’s been nice here. Even a little bit of cloud cover here and there.
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Yeah. That’s what it’s been like here the last couple days. Like almost monsoon, like, I guess it rained and didn’t rain on me, but it rained on other parts of the state, so that was great. Yeah,
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Kind of weird. Doesn’t happen in June very often.
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Yeah, yeah.
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Yeah. It’s pretty awesome. We’re getting excited. Of course, we were talking right before we called you that you’re probably out horsing around and doing what you do this time of year, getting amped up, knowing that you’re gonna leave the house here in about a month, month and a half. You pretty well leave for, for the fall. Oh yeah.
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I was, I was craving it. So I got up at five 30 this morning and saddled and got everything ready and then the guys were supposed to show up overslept. Really? I got a text about 30 minutes ago. I’m like, I figured it out by now. You know, they’re not even returning my texts about oversleeping, you know, it’s, what are you guys sleeping? And then they text me back, said, oh man, we went out and overslept. Geez,
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What do you, so what what
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I just got done unsettling and turning everything back out.
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What do you do this time of year, Greg, for the, for the world that doesn’t know this, this year or part of year of your life? What do you do? What do you do? What were you gonna do today? This
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Year I’ve been doing a ton of shooting. You know, I just, I’ve been, I got some different rifles and some of those, and I’ve just been out shooting and, and reloading and trying to develop loads on different guns and trying to learn about all that stuff. It’s, it’s unbelievable. The more you think you know about it, the less you know, you know, and the more overwhelming it gets. So I’m, I’m pretty obsessed with shooting. I think I’ve, I literally have shot out just in the last, I think month and a half, two months I’ve shot out one barrel and almost another one. It’s been crazy.
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That’s, that’s the way you do things, Greg. You can’t, you can’t, you’re not, you have full, it’s either all or none and no, and nobody’s gonna keep up with Greg. Like I’m telling you, nobody can keep up if you got something on your mind and shooting is the deal. That’s what we’re doing for the next two months. Daylight till dark, maybe even, I don’t know,
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It’s, oh, I’ve been getting up in the dark and shooting at night with flashlights. It’s like, there you go. Come
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On. It’s crazy, man. About practicing your night hunting skills for when you go to Texas or what are we doing?
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Oh God. We went, I ironic, I just got back from Texas and I, I went over there and the one time we didn’t do it, I ended up, I, I flew over there and I tried to, when I got there, I, I told my buddy Wes, I’m like, man, I need to cite this rifle in, you know, on the ranch. And I said, have you got like a light in? We’ll just set up a light here and just, we check the zero to a hundred. And he says, man, you showed up here without sighting your gun in. I said, man, I shot like 500 rounds through it in the last two weeks. I said
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500 rounds. It decided
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In when I left. I just wanna make sure it didn’t get knocked off. And, and so he, we kept arguing about it for two hours while we were out, like goofing around, you know, and he, he wanted to show me the ranch. And then we were out there looking at the ranch s spotlighting deer just goofing around. And I said, we need to go back to the ranch and let me shoot the rifle. And he kept saying, oh, we’ll do it in the morning when we get up early. And I thought, oh, I know this is gonna go. And then the next morning we, he didn’t, we didn’t get to shoot it. Then I end up missing a hog and I’ve been hearing about it for three. There you go. Weeks now, you know. That’s right. And then after we got done, and then we were benched in just a chip shot and completely benched in with sandbags and, and I missed this pig shooting right in front of his face. And then we go over and set it up at a hundred yards and turns out it’s 700 yards, like the shop, it was 24 or 26 inches to the left and nine inches high. How
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Does that happen? Geez. How does that happen?
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It’s, it’s unbeliev, you know, on a flight. And I’m telling you, I shot that gun 500. I mean, I’m not exaggerating. I, I know how many times I shot it because of how much all the powder and ammo I went through in the last, you know, week shooting it. And it was so dialed in. And then I get there and it’s off. By that I mean, I mean I shot two in the same hole at a hundred yards. It was like three and a quarter left and an inch and a half high or something, two in the same hole. And then when you do that out at seven 50, that ends up being, I mean, magnifies that’s lot you can’t believe, you know? Yeah. And, and then my buddy Les said, oh God, I hope we don’t see another pig the rest of the week so I can have this over you. And sure enough, we never saw another hog the rest of the week.
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So he’s still talking about it.
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Oh yeah. He send his video out his buddies and they’re,
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And it’s on, it’s on a pa it’s on a podcast that Greg Crow was sandbagged in, locked in, I think was the word locked in, cemented in
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The, the worst part was is it’s on film. And the minute I shot it was such, I just, I I even said, oh, I smoked him. I just, you know, with the recoil, I didn’t see, I just know I smoked him and then I get up and look at the video and he’s just video. He’s laughing so hard he can’t even stand up.
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Oh yeah.
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It, it was, yeah. So I’ve been hearing about that from everybody for the last week. So,
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So since it’s on the top of your mind, just give us a quick tip, Greg k Craig’s long range tip. Like what do, what do people overlook? What have you learned? What, what maybe a, a bad habit that you had that you had to overcome. Give, just give us something now that you’re onto it.
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Check your zero when you get there. Okay.
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Okay. Tip number one. Alright.
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That’s number one. Honestly, on shooting, I mean, I’m, I’m probably not the right guy now. There’s some people that I’ve been learning from that know a lot more than me, but I, I, my biggest tip would probably be that I see like when, when people come and shoot with me, that, that say they shoot long range is, and then I watch ’em shoot is they just, they’re one, they don’t, they don’t pay enough attention probably to their bubble. And the other thing is parallax, you know, adjusting their parallax correctly and you know, and that’s such a huge difference at long, long range, you know that you got it correct. And
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So how are you adjusting your parallax, basically it feels like a focus. So, but how? Right,
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It feel like, like for example, on my gut, I have different types of scopes. I’ve got loop poles and I’ve got, you know, night forces and another one. And, and when I’m, it’s funny, a couple years ago I used to just focus it, you know? Right. And when it was focused, I’m thinking it’s there. But if you get in the gun and if it’s your gun and you’re have the same cheek weld every time, it doesn’t, it’s not as critical. But like, you know, it, it basically, like for me, for me to get in the gun when it’s in there and I’m looking in the scope, when I move my head anywhere in the scope, those cross hair should stay exactly on the, on the bullseye, you know, no matter where my cheek is in the gun. Whereas if I just focus, that’s not the case. I can get it focused and I can move my head a little bit up or a little bit down and that’ll change. The cross hairs will move, then I gotta re-bring ’em down, which is gonna really open up your groups. And whereas on mine, it’s, it’s actually not quite exactly out of fo you know what I mean? It’s not, I mean it’s still focused, but it’s not just, just getting it focused like people think it might be off
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Noticed, off might be off slightly, is what keeps that cross air centered.
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Yeah. And then once you get it just right, the cross air should move. That should be the most important thing that your cross airs aren’t moving. Not just, and you know, and you’ll notice it like, you know, I’ve, I’ve gone out and forgot to do it and it’s, you know, these scopes are so clear I’ve forgotten to do it before at a hundred yards and been zeroing and like, man, why do my groups open up? Then I realize I’m sitting there, you know, not having a consistent cheek weld and that’s why my groups are opening up. And then when you just parallax, it doesn’t really make a difference.
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There’s a term I have don’t use every day is the cheek weld, weld your cheek to your gun croaks
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Cheek weld. We got it. That’s the tip of the day. Coined on the podcast. That’s
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The tip of the day.
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I, I just, I I’m just, I’m just coining
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Reg things,
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Regurgitating people I shoot with tell me. So I don’t know if it’s
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Right or not. Well what about, we talked about other than shooting, which it sounds like you burned a lot of powder in the last
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500 rounds that that wears out barrel, some people think the barrels wore out. That’s right. Craig’s just getting warmed up. That’s
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Right. No, it it wears it out. Especially when you don’t take time. Like I don’t, you don’t, you know, you don’t let the barrels cool as much or you go and shoot prairie dogs. It’s, I I I think when they say you get 800, I think I probably get five to 600, you know, on those types of guns. Yeah, gotcha. So they pretty much, I, I think I have a new 300 P r c and I haven’t even had it a month I don’t think, or a little o maybe it’s maybe five weeks and I’ve already got 530 rounds.
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So you’re gonna rebar that thing before, before the first season hits. What
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I mean. So as soon as I get everything figured out the way I love it, get a perfect load, then I’ll have to rebar it barrel,
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I break into kind did
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My Nick Owens over at Owens Armor, he built these guns and he laughs. He’s like, I got you a six five P R c so you wouldn’t have to do this. Go shoot that thing. And I’m like, well that’s not what I’m gonna be hunting with. I wanna shoot the one I’m hunting with.
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What about the 300 P R c? And I have never shot a 300 P R c, but why choose that over a 300 ultra mag or a whatever, a 30 nozzle? What gimme just the, just the quick down and dirty about it.
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The, the main rea the reason I did it was just everybody says it’s just super forgiving and not really temperamental. You know, like a lot of the, you know, like, like a 28 nozzle or those type of guns that they’re just seem to be really temperamental. And the, the 300 P R C I chose it because just, just looking at different ballistics, I picked it, I’m not shooting, you know, the gun’s really designed for like the two twelves and the 200 grains. I’m pretty recoil sensitive. I don’t like a ton of recoil. So I’ve been shooting a 1 78 out of it. And it’s funny, when you take the 1 78, they, it calls for a BC of 5 52 and which is really low for, you know, for a really, for what’s considered high BC bullets. And the two 12 has a BC of like almost 707.
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Yeah, it does.
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And everybody says, well you’re giving up all that. But what they don’t realize is, is the two 12, and I talked to Horty about this on the phone a couple weeks ago, the two 12, they make factory ammo for that. So they’ve tested it and they know the correct BC for that speed because that’s what they’re selling the ammo at. So when it says it’s six 90 or 700 or whatever it is, it’s correct. Whereas on the 1 78 E L D X, it’s
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Still being tested, intrude and tried.
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Well they’re, they’re, they’re shooting out of three hundreds. I mean, I mean 30 odd sixes and, and three oh eights where the speeds are way lower, which affects your BC so it’s 5 52. But I, I think, and don’t quote me this somewhere for around 25, 2600 feet per second. Well I’m shooting it at 3,300 feet per second. So the BC on mine when I shoot it at that speed is actually 600 and it’s like six 16.
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Pretty, pretty impressive. Getting a quite
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Bit warm. Now you’re at six 16 with that super high speeds. It actually has the exact within an inch at a thousand yards of the wind drift of the two 12 without all the recoil. That’s nice. So I really like it and, and you know, I don’t, my buddy came up, he shoots the three 12 last, I mean the two 12 bullets and he came up and shot with me last week with his 300 P rrc and he shot three rounds through mine after shooting his all morning. And he is like, man, you need to load me up some of those. He said, I’m done shooting the two 12, the recoil. The difference is so unbelievable.
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So are you using the Zeiss victory, the range finding binocular or are you using a, you know, a six hour 2,400 or what are you using to
00:16:06:15 –> 00:16:17:04
I’ve used them all. I, I, I’ve got the, right now I’m currently using the, that Zeiss rangefinder with the B ballistic holdovers. And then I’m also trying the, the the Leica
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3,200, the
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30 com. Yeah.
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And I haven’t done, I, I’m just now like literally setting up the, the, the Leica to see. Yeah, I I think the gla I just wanna see the difference in the glass between the two. Yeah, I mean you’re really not using ’em for glassing, you’re more, you know. No, but,
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But they’re tins still. Yeah, we got ’em both and we,
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If it, if it was better, I’d switch, I just wanna see if the ballistics are is good, you know. Well
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You don’t wanna pack around two sets of tins, one for glassing and one for range finding, so you know. Right, exactly. And that 3,200 has an external LA laser and so they’re saying, you know, a possibility that it’s possibly a little bit clearer, but then it receives it back through the glass, the other side through the other side. So I don’t know,
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One eye’s clear without a laser shooting through it. Yeah, the other one’s got it receiving back in.
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That’s what we’re understanding anyway. But yeah, I’d like to hear your, and
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I, I don’t, I did think looking through ’em side by side, you know, it wasn’t, it was hot so it was kind of hard to do it on a day like that. But I felt like I thought the, I mean I I, I thought the Leica was, I thought the Leica was just slightly and it could be just tense, you know what I mean? Yeah. But I’ve been, I’ve been extremely happy with that Zeiss, it’s been so accurate and it’s, you know, it’s matched up with everything and I always double check it and I’ve never had it be different than any of my other apps. It’s always spot on.
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So i’s really impressive. So it matches the six hour 2,400 app. Well, you know, the holdovers and everything, it’s matching with the Zeiss Victory rf.
00:17:41:14 –> 00:17:49:23
Yep. Those are the same, you know, it matches with the G seven I, you know, and, and it matches with just the calculators I use, you know. Well,
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You’d think math is math, you know, and so these, they should, they should all match. I did have a guy tell me it was slightly off for him, but for us it’s been, it’s been spot on. In fact, we’re gonna go up and, and run through a shooting school up in northern Utah and, and take,
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May may not run 500 rounds through the weekend,
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Probably not gonna run 500 rounds. But, but anyway, but we are gonna, you know, vigorously test ’em all. But the, the, the Zeiss is extremely popular, man. People, people love ’em. The other, they’re small know
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Little bit smaller too.
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The what quote professional schools are using ’em heavily. And so anyway, we’ve, we’ve got ’em here and, and we’re cranking on ’em. So
00:18:26:19 –> 00:18:46:25
It’s just really nice to, to have, you know, with the monoculars, you, you gotta pull out, look at it, find it again in that grainy little four power screen, you know, and then you gotta go back to the glass while they’re shooting. It’s just so much nicer to slap it on the tripod during the shooting where you’re never taking your eyes off the animal and calling out the shots. It’s so much easier, I think. Yeah.
00:18:47:07 –> 00:18:47:25
So much better.
00:18:48:05 –> 00:19:01:07
Yeah. What else do you have time to do this time of year? This sounds like a full-time project, job, hobby, just shooting your guns. Do you, you referenced horses, we know that that’s a hobby. What are you doing? What else are you doing this time of year?
00:19:02:04 –> 00:19:36:16
Oh, just man, you know, this year with the sole corona thing, it’s been, it’s been fun, you know, the family’s around and no one, you know, no one’s out. Kids are running in school. We’ve been going kayaking and you know, it’s funny, we lived here forever it seems like, and six, seven miles away, there’s one of the most beautiful lakes. And we’ve never, we never go down there. And we were down there and, and kayaking and my wife went and bought four kayaks. And me and the girls have been doing that kind of stuff and doing a lot of hiking and, and it’s actually, I tell everybody, I kind of feel guilty saying it’s gonna sound bad to say this. I feel guilty. It’s like this, it’s improved the quality of our life. Know
00:19:36:20 –> 00:19:37:17
Janet and I together,
00:19:37:22 –> 00:19:38:26
We say the same thing. We
00:19:38:26 –> 00:19:53:17
Say the same thing. Oh, Janet and I have learned like mountain bike trails right here in our hometown. We never even knew existed. B l m have spent crazy amounts of money on mountain bike trails. I never even understood it. Now I’m thinking those were, those were good miniatures, you know what I mean? Now
00:19:53:17 –> 00:19:55:28
You’re, now you feel good about paying taxes every year. Yeah,
00:19:55:28 –> 00:20:22:17
I’m feeling better about it. Right? And then I’m going down, we went down and bought mountain bikes and, and of course we had, you know, regular old chancy ones, but I mean, went down and bought some mountain bikes. The dude’s like, dude, with the Corona thing, these are rare. I’ve never had better business in all my life. And you know, quantities are limited, which is what you’re finding here you are spending money on kayaks. You never thought you would’ve done it. People are spending some money. We have the Polaris dealer, the Honda dealer, Bronson,
00:20:22:17 –> 00:20:24:23
They can’t keep stuff in. They can’t keep ’em in. No,
00:20:25:03 –> 00:20:31:06
They can’t. People are buying stuff, spending time with their families more than ever in our life that I’ve
00:20:31:06 –> 00:20:38:16
Ever planting gardens. You got a big garden, Greg. If, if you ever got started on a gar garden, you’d be the type of guy that probably, well,
00:20:38:16 –> 00:20:43:16
The regular soil isn’t good enough. Greg’s gonna go out, he’s gonna research it. He’s gonna call every person in the world.
00:20:43:29 –> 00:20:50:23
University of Arizona, Arizona State, n a u and Flagstaff, all the soil scientists. Which one is gonna tell me what,
00:20:51:06 –> 00:20:53:01
Which temperature, which part of the year.
00:20:53:12 –> 00:21:16:02
Yeah. My research is usually bugging people and that drives ’em crazy. Like I said, I Nick, Nick Owens at Owens Army is probably regretting the day that he ever, ever, you know, got me in the long range. ’cause I bug him. So, I mean, it’s the point now where I have to like pace myself. Yeah. And I look at his number, I almost text him and I’m like, I can’t, I’ve already texted him today a million times. I’m gonna wait till tomorrow and ask another question tomorrow. Well I think,
00:21:16:22 –> 00:21:31:14
I think that same personality comes out and you’re hunting and it’s why you’ve been so successful is just, it’s just a grind, a grind in the field. You’re grinding, scout, grinding during the hunts and whatnot. Speaking of which we’re giving your hunt away, you know, with a 2 31 landowner tag.
00:21:32:16 –> 00:21:51:29
You know, I’ve been talking to guys that have been calling that have seen it and wanting to know about it. And man, I’m excited to see who’s gonna get it and who’s gonna draw it. And it’s, I’m thinking, I know we didn’t get the may rains, but I think we had such a good, we had such good fall and then winter and then spring that I think it’s gonna be, I think it should be really good this year. What are you guys thinking over there? Yeah,
00:21:52:03 –> 00:22:06:04
The brows is that brows response to that heart, that winter moisture, bitter brush and all that. And it was unbelievable from, let’s just say from late November through March. It was unbelievable.
00:22:06:08 –> 00:22:28:13
It was unbelievable. And the le leaders on the bitter brush are unbelievable. Yeah, it’s crazy. I’ve, I’ve spent some time over there, you know, of course the, the, the cheatgrass and all that’s burned up and you know, and in a lot, lot of places. But overall it feels like, just like what you said, the the deer browse is just off the chart. It’s gonna be grid second year in a row should be, should be good.
00:22:28:28 –> 00:22:46:18
And that’s so critical. I don’t, you know, I don’t just have, coming out of a good year in better shape is important. And then, and then having the winter, I just, I, I’m excited to get over there and figure another month. I’m, I’m already dying to get over there and start looking. So all the hunts are booked. Now it’s just time to go and fight some deer. Yeah. I’m looking forward to it.
00:22:46:26 –> 00:23:50:24
Well this, speaking of this one hunt giveaway, which it’s down for our listeners, if you don’t know about it, if you’re a member of Epic Outdoors or you’re not, or you have a friend that’s not, if you sign them up or you sign up before June 19th, you can be entered into this fully outfitted hunt by Greg and his crew. 2 31, the season of your choice. I believe it was seven days, Greg, that we agreed upon with you. Yep. Archery muzzle or a rifle. And Lou’s versatility, if you’re a bow hunter allows that versatility to go go in August. If you’re a rifle hunter obviously got pretty much the month of October to, to go do that. One of the units, Greg, that you’ve, I don’t know, one of your bread and butter units, we’ll just call it that you do several others, but you know what I mean. This is, you spend as much time here as maybe as a lot of the others. Part of it’s just due to the fact you’ve done so well. Why are you gonna quit, quit a unit or move elsewhere when you’ve done so well in a unit over the years? It’s, so tell us maybe what people can expect if they were to hunt 2 31 with you.
00:23:52:01 –> 00:24:39:00
You know, 2 31 is probably the unit. You know, we, we’ve for sure killed the majority of our biggest bucks outta that unit over the years, you know, in the last 20 something years. They’ve all, that’s been the best producing unit for us overall. Now part of that’s, ’cause we do take, you know, we do more hunts in there than we do in some of the other ones. But I just, it’s a unit that’s got lot. You see lots of deer, lots of mature bugs. The archery and the muzz loader are phenomenal hunts. And, and then the rifle, it’s still, you know, those bucks are still there. They just get a little bit tougher to find. ’cause it’s not a true rutt hunt. They’ve moved the dates back now. So now it’s been getting good. You know, in the end of that season, me and Jason talked about it. I dunno if you remember Jason, but when they first moved it back through, was it three days? Oh yeah, it used to be on what, the 28th, right? Yeah, it
00:24:39:00 –> 00:24:46:25
Was. And then it moved to the 31st and it just feels like it’s, and we used to, the youth got a little bit of an advantage on us. You did the then fifth. Yeah. Fifth
00:24:46:29 –> 00:24:48:07
Initially, right? 25th.
00:24:48:12 –> 00:24:53:08
Yeah. And then, and then the youth would get a little bit longer and we were so jealous of the youth. Now we get to do that, you know.
00:24:53:09 –> 00:25:29:26
Yeah. For three extra days. So that last couple days gets really good. And, and then I still like, I still like the earlier hunts the best, you know, just ’cause you’re getting the, you know, we killed some really good deer last year late that we didn’t know about. You know, that, that, that’s what’s gonna happen then. ’cause it’s, everything’s moving. But you kind of gotta get lucky there. I I like the earlier ones where you can spend the time in the summer and have a buck found that, you know, at least, you know, you’re hunting a big buck. You may not, may not get him, but you’re gonna be hunting a big buck that you know is there. You have more time to find a big buck. Yeah. Those late ones, you’re just kinda, you know, six, seven days. It goes by fast, you know, and you’re just, you see a lot of deer and you just gotta find the right one.
00:25:30:03 –> 00:25:39:29
And from what guys are telling me, Greg, we’ve had a few guys call you and of course they’re talking to us too, but you’re pretty well full, you’re pretty well booked up for, for deer hunts this year.
00:25:41:00 –> 00:25:59:13
Yeah, we had a really good draw this year and, and I just, I’m, I’m, I’m just dying to get out there. Everybody is, all the guys are, they’ve been calling me daily. They’re ready to get over there and start scouting and, and you know, I don’t know if we’re all just so stir crazy this time. It seems like it’s even more so than normal. Right?
00:26:00:00 –> 00:26:40:06
I think it’s Corona. We’re all, everybody’s dying to get going. Yep. You know, we’re dying to get, get, get things cranked. Well, tell us a little bit, you killed an absolute monster Arizona Buck. I’m hoping you write a story for us for the publication and, and whatnot. But just maybe let’s dive into that sucker. What, it’s nice when, when the outfitter himself or, or some of your sub guides end up, you know, getting a tag for themselves and, and you and Jeff Rowe ended up with tags for yourself. Of course Jeff works for you, you know, across the board and the different hunts that you offer. But anyway, tell us how that came about. You gotta hunt in your home state and you killed an absolute sick, disgusting monster.
00:26:41:08 –> 00:26:59:16
It was, it was, I still can’t believe, believe it, I’m sitting here looking at him right now on the wall. He got Jeff Baird mounted him and got him back to me and he looks incredible. And it was, the way it started was, you know, I had, I think I had, you know, I drew it 12 years ago or 10 year, whatever, about 12 years ago, I guess in oh eight. Was that in
00:26:59:16 –> 00:27:02:19
The same, so whenever, when did, when Loter drew, I can’t remember.
00:27:03:02 –> 00:27:06:20
He drew it the year before me when it was really bad, if you remember.
00:27:06:25 –> 00:27:07:16
Okay. Okay.
00:27:07:16 –> 00:27:11:26
That drought year is when, when Dave drew it and then Pat drew it with me.
00:27:12:01 –> 00:27:12:29
Okay. That’s right. That’s right.
00:27:13:07 –> 00:27:17:02
Yep. Not with me. We hunted it together year we drew on separate applications. Yeah, you guys
00:27:17:03 –> 00:27:18:14
Did in the same camp, basically.
00:27:19:08 –> 00:27:58:25
Yeah. Yeah. No, we, we hunted together. Me and Pat did and the whole time, and you know, pat found my buck and I think I found his buck. You know, we hunted the whole hunt together and Dave was up there and some other friends and that was, I think that was, yeah, pretty sure it was oh eight. And so I had been building points and I, I, you know, I, I put in for, that’s the only thing I put in for. And, and then this year I went over and I was, it, was it, the day the draw results came out, I didn’t even know they were coming out or when credit card statements were getting hit. I happened to be, I just pulled up to Jason Campbell’s house and we were getting ready to go up to his cabin and we were in, in Hurricane Utah and we were just walked in and he was on the phone and I was waiting for him to get up the phone.
00:27:58:27 –> 00:28:42:12
And I got a phone call from a good friend of mine, Jim Cass. And Jim’s like, Hey, would you mind calling Clay Bundy for me? And I drew the strip tag and he said, would you call him and see if he’ll guide me personally? And I said, yeah, let me, let me hang up and call him. So I hung up called Clay, and Clay said, yeah, have him call me right away. You’d be the first person. So he called him up and then, and then while they were talking, I thought, you know, I should check my results and see, you know, I hadn’t looked yet and I pulled it up and, you know, I had like a 1% chance of drawing and geez, I pulled it up and saw, I mean, I could, I remember dropping my phone, it bouncing off the ground glass and I, I knew I’d seen what it said, but I was like, there’s no way it says pending, you know, and that was the only thing I put in for.
00:28:42:22 –> 00:29:10:11
So I grabbed it, picked up the phone, I’m shaking. I got, I went to the portal to make sure I didn’t mess up, put in for a different unit, you know, and showed my only unit was that unit on the portal. And I knew I was getting charged and my kids thought there was something wrong. They thought I got a phone call from a family member that was hurt or something the way I was acting. And then I grabbed the phone, I called back Clay and he’s like, I can’t believe this, Greg, you just told me to promise your buddy that I would take him personally. I can’t not go with him now.
00:29:12:02 –> 00:29:13:17
So, yeah. So you’re on your own
00:29:13:19 –> 00:29:23:04
Know me and Clay been talking forever when I draw, you know, and, and I was gonna go up there and we were gonna go out and known Clay for over 20 years, you know, and I’m like, oh, you got, I said, let me call him Jim real quick. And
00:29:23:11 –> 00:29:25:10
Yeah, we’re kicking him off. We’re gonna kick him off.
00:29:25:29 –> 00:29:54:29
No. And I called him Jim, and I was like, Jim, I said, I said, you’re not gonna believe this, but I drew also. And he’s like, oh man. And you have to know Jim. He’s like the nicest guy you’ll ever meet in your life. And he’s like, well, I’ll just go with one of other guys. And I’m like, no, I’m not gonna do that to you. I said, I just wanna see if you’d have a problem if, you know, we just did it together, you know, and we’ll have Clay and both of us, you know, and Yeah. And Clay can hunt with you. I said, clay will hunt with you and then when he gets done, he can come and help us. And, and then Clay will give us, you know, all, you know, help us out with all the scouting and everything else. And Sure.
00:29:54:29 –> 00:30:23:24
We’ll do it like a two-on-one, you know? Sure. And he’s like, oh, that would even be better. That’d be great. So I called back Clay and Clay’s, you know, and, and told him we’d see if he’d do it as a two-on-one. And, and he was all for it. And so that’s how we, that’s how it started. And, and I, I honestly, I tried not to talk about it before the hunt. I tried not to call him. I did not wanna know, I wouldn’t be able to sleep. And he’s calling me every now and then telling me about how big the pucks are this year. And I’m thinking, dad, don’t send me any, he never sent me a picture
00:30:23:28 –> 00:30:31:11
Or anything. No, did, did to a type A guy about four months ahead of time. Oh yeah. I don’t know if I would, he made the right call. Like,
00:30:31:11 –> 00:30:50:00
Just don’t send me the pictures ’cause I won’t be able to sleep. But of course he’s, he’s showing ’em to other people I know and they’re telling me how big the bucks are and I’m like, I don’t wanna know about it. It’ll make go by too slow. I just, I, and I had, you know, I was under contract because you know what Nevada does? They have those, they have contracts there, you know. Yeah. So you have to specify on the contract who the guy is, all that stuff, who’s
00:30:50:00 –> 00:30:51:28
It gonna be? Contract? Yeah. Your name was on paper,
00:30:51:28 –> 00:31:29:28
Like 30 something days straight, I think 37 days straight leading up to the opening day of the strip. I’m like, I’m not gonna get their clay until middle of the night, the night before the opener. I said, unless somebody gets done early, that’s when it’s gonna be. And, and so I finally, honestly, when I got there, I ended up getting there like two day, a day and a half, two days early, because we got done in Nevada early. And, and that was the first time he started, you know, we started looking at stuff and he, me and Clay went around and he showed me some different bucks that, you know, that they were hunting and where they were at and how to hunt ’em and what he thought. And there was a buck we were gonna hunt that had showed up that nobody else, there was like one camera on the water other than theirs.
00:31:30:21 –> 00:32:06:20
And, and there was a big buck on it. And it was a buck that I told him. I said, man, that’s, this would be perfect. It’s outta the way. I’ll just come down here. And I had a really good friend drum and Lindsay come out to help me. And then Jeff Rowe was coming to help and I think he was gonna miss opening morning, but then he, ’cause he was working for me, Nevada, and he was gonna come help. And then the plan was we were gonna go hunt that buck and, and then as soon as Clay got done, he was gonna come down to there and we were all gonna hunt that buck. But, and then something changed the day before and clay’s showing me the other bucks and, and I thought, you know, gosh, we at least throw our hat in the ring for this other buck.
00:32:06:20 –> 00:32:35:10
You know, the first day since we figured the other one was more outta the way and no one knew about ’em. And I had no idea what the strip was gonna be like. You know, it was totally different when I was there 12 years ago with the, you know, back then I hardly even saw a camera. And this time there was, I, I can’t even, I never seen anything like it opening boarding. I was up on a ridge glassing and there was people everywhere or trucks everywhere. And I actually watched that buck get shot. I couldn’t see the buck. I could see everybody shooting at him, you know? Yeah.
00:32:35:12 –> 00:32:41:20
I couldn’t see the buck. This is a, this is a different buck that you decided to go after. ’cause he was, yeah, this was bucket so big, let’s go take a shot at this bucket.
00:32:41:24 –> 00:33:29:17
Yeah. And I just thought, we’ll just go try. It’s opening morning and Clay was down in there and with my buddy Jim. And then I was up on the rim and I had my rifle on the rim, you know, where you could glass from, which is a better glass spot. I thought, I’m gonna bring my rifle and if, if this deer gets pushed this way, I can shoot from up here on the rim. And, you know, and then I got up there in the dark and there’s just all, everybody’s spotter was up there with me and they’re all looking at me like, why does this guy have a rifle up here? You know, he’s not even in the game, you know? Yeah. Wow. So I’d sit up there watching all this, and then at, we watched someone else shot the buck, you know, and then we went down and, and Blake Chapman was with me also helping and Glass. And so Blake was up in the room with me and we drove around and we met, see, we met Clay and them down at the bottom. And we were eating lunch and I’ll ever forget it. Clay was sitting there eating a baked potato, like for lunch.
00:33:29:22 –> 00:33:29:29
Raw,
00:33:30:16 –> 00:33:34:12
I mean, just no salt and pepper, butter, nothing. Just a, I
00:33:34:17 –> 00:33:38:01
Didn’t see anything. Maybe it was, you know, he’s probably gonna make you get, I mean, it was,
00:33:38:24 –> 00:33:39:28
I just remember wrapped
00:33:39:28 –> 00:33:42:10
In something. I know, I’m pretty sure it was cooked, you know,
00:33:42:18 –> 00:33:49:23
It’s kind of smart because it’s got a hard skin. Throw it in your pack, maybe throw it a tinfoil around it or whatever, and it’s like loaded with carbs. Yeah.
00:33:50:05 –> 00:34:39:00
Yeah. And so he, he’s sitting, sitting there, eat this thing and it, it, and it’s, you know, midday now, I don’t know, maybe 10 30 in the morning, 11. And I was like, man, clay, we’re gonna, let’s run down there and go hunt that buck down south now that, that buck’s gone. And, and, and I’m not even quite sure why we’re at where we’re at. You know, we’re kinda on the side of the road, you know, kinda off the main road on the little two tracker. And we’re sitting there and he’s like, well, you know, that Buck is probably not gonna come out until this, you know, until this evening, you know where it’s at. If you see him at all, it’s gonna be the last, you know, 20 minutes. He said, so why don’t we stay up here? You know, and, and I’m, and I’m just dying to get down there and start hunting that buck, you know? And, and I’m with Drummond and, and, you know, all along I swore I’m not gonna go on this hunt and be that guy that goes in there and like, you know, tries to tell ’em how to do it on their stuff, you know? Yeah.
00:34:39:00 –> 00:34:39:19
On their, their turf.
00:34:39:19 –> 00:34:49:13
Yeah. So it’s like, you know, that’s like, it’s, I like it when people do it to me and it’s like, I, I’m not gonna do that. And, and I’m, and all of a sudden I find myself like doing that. You know, it’s clay,
00:34:49:23 –> 00:34:54:18
You can’t hold, you can’t hold back. Greg pretty, sir. There’s just some of, I’d be the same way. I’d be the
00:34:54:18 –> 00:35:01:00
Same way. Yeah. Pretty soon you’re down in the sand, you’ve wiped it clean, you’ve drawn a map and you’ve got, everybody’s got their position and you’re,
00:35:01:00 –> 00:35:07:01
You’ve got the team lined out and then you tell, or you tell Clay, Hey Clay, this is where you’re gonna sit.
00:35:09:17 –> 00:35:17:26
And so I was like, Hey Clay, what do you think about me? I’m gonna climb up on that mountain. You know? And he’s trying to like, you know, he’s like, well I, you know, that’s a, that’s
00:35:17:26 –> 00:35:18:05
An option,
00:35:18:07 –> 00:35:19:08
You know, rather than just saying, that’s
00:35:19:09 –> 00:35:24:16
Dumb idea, that’s option. But I’ve done it 14 times before, Craig, just trust me. That’s what he wants to say. That’s
00:35:24:16 –> 00:35:30:05
Like, yeah. Yeah. And he was like, well, you know, I don’t know, man, you got a lot more energy to me. You wanna go up there? And I’m thinking, well,
00:35:30:06 –> 00:35:31:16
Lemme grab another bake potato.
00:35:31:16 –> 00:36:02:25
What I don’t understand about it is he understands there’s gonna be all kinds of people in there later. Like, I’m just looking around like, man, man, there’s nobody in here. I’ll get up on there and if we find the buck I’ll, you know, I’ll bet him. Yeah. Then I’ll come down. That’s what’s going on in my head because I’m thinking it’s gonna be like Nevada where you don’t really see people. No. You know? And, and so I thought this would be great. And he’s like, well, I think you’re better off down here. And, and, you know, being down here closer and this and, and he’s trying to be politically correct and, you know, not hurt. Not, not. So I’m sitting there looking at it and then I, I walk over to the car, me and drum it over there. And I told Clay about this.
00:36:02:26 –> 00:36:40:22
And me and drummer later, me and Clay were laughing about it. I told Joe, I’m like, man, man, he needs to turn this loose. He let us get up on that hill, you know, and I don’t wanna be down here and this and that. And then, and then finally I’m like, you know what? And so I, I get outta the car, I walk up to Clay and I’m like, I said, look, clay, I’m already doing it. I said, I wasn’t gonna do this. I said, you killed giant bucks down here. If you tell me to sit in a tree, stand in that juniper for the rest of the week, that’s what I’m gonna do. And he starts laughing. He’s like, no, no, I don’t wanna do that. He said, I just think, you know, if maybe you guys are down here and these little bumps, and me and Jim will go over here and, and we’re gonna look and we’re actually hunting the buck that I actually end up killing, you know, at that point.
00:36:40:23 –> 00:37:24:21
Yeah. And I had seen a trail, camera picture of it. And, and, and in my mind I was kind of thinking, I, I, I, there’s no way I’m shooting this deer. You know, I’m, I’m, you know, we’re just, I’m kind of thinking, oh, we’ll just, Jim will shoot this one and then we’ll be done. And then me and Clay and everybody are gonna go down to this other spot, which was quite a long ways away from there. Hump the other buck. And so we, we go down there and me and Drummond are, we climb up on this little tiny hill and you can see, you know, I don’t know, a thousand, 1500 yards or something. And we’re down there and, and, and neither one of us are talking about it, but we’re both looking at this big mountain thinking, man, we need to be on that hill. You know? And yeah. And I had no idea how many people were gonna be around, you know? And so what Clay was the reason Clay has worked out, because he knows what it’s gonna be like. And well, you need to
00:37:24:21 –> 00:37:32:17
Be, you need to be closer to the game. You need to be closer to the game. Everybody’s gonna be up there, you need, and if you’re closer to the game, you’re gonna kill it. That’s what he’s thinking.
00:37:32:17 –> 00:38:14:21
Right. And it’s like, and, and, and so we get down there, it’d be a be a drum or sitting on this little hill. We’d call Clay on the radio and, and there they’re a couple miles away, or maybe a mile away on another knob. And, and there was a, and some of Clay’s other guys were hunting, maybe I would say three miles from there hunting another big buck about three miles from there. And, and so we’re sitting on this hill glassing, and about an hour before dark, I’m going stir crazy ’cause I’m just not wired to sit and look at a small spot. And I’m like, oh my gosh, I got, and there’s a little hill right in front of me, and I’m thinking, man, if I could just get on that little hill, I could see behind it, you know? So I call up Clay and I’m like, Hey Clay, what do you think about if we split up and go?
00:38:14:22 –> 00:38:44:15
He’s like, oh, yeah, yeah, I just figured you guys wanna be together, you know? And I’m like, oh, no, I don’t. I’m tired of Joe and I wanna go over there, you know, and he’s, listen, insulted me and making fun of you for the last hour. So I said, we’re gonna split and we’re talking 500 yards away. Not, not like, a long ways away. So I go off, and that was where the first time I left my rifle. So I walk off the hill, go to the other hill, get halfway over there and realize I don’t have my rifle with me. So I walk all the way back, drum sees me walk up on the hill, and he’s looking at me like, what are you doing? And I said, oh, nothing.
00:38:45:19 –> 00:38:46:21
Gimme my rifle, reach
00:38:46:21 –> 00:39:19:14
Over, pick up my rifle. I can hear him behind me, just dying laughing. Then I left my rifle on the hill, walk back, go up the other hill. By the time I get up there, it’s about, I would say 45 minutes before dark, roughly, you know, maybe 45 minutes to an hour before dark. And as soon as I come up on top of the knob, a good buddy of mine, Bob Dykeman is sitting there. Yeah. And he’s got a client with him. And I thought, oh my gosh, I can’t believe this. You know, I just walked up on top of him. And so I walked up, I’m like, look, I didn’t know you guys were here. Sorry, you know, I said, but it’s, I said, I don’t have time to get back outta here and go to another spot at this point. Do you care if I just sit down and glass with you guys?
00:39:19:16 –> 00:39:54:07
And you know, I said, I promise I’m not gonna, you know, if you guys see something you want to go after, I’m not gonna, you know, get in your way. And, and so we’re sitting, and like I said, I know Bob really well. He is a really good guy. And so we’re sitting there talking and, and as we’re glassing and we’re looking out there and, and a giant, all of a sudden I hear Bob go giant. And we were watching these guys tracking a deer out in front of us, and I knew who they were, and I knew the guy wasn’t gonna be shooting a small deer on opening day. So I knew he was tracking a big deer. Yeah. And as we’re walking, I said, Bob, is he with you? And then he’s like, no, no. And I said, man, we’re probably gonna see somebody shoot a big buck.
00:39:54:22 –> 00:40:38:13
And then about, as I’m looking at Bob saying that, I look back in the glass and I, I see the guy like pointing with his finger, you know, like you see something up ahead. And I look over at Bob and I’m, I’m, I’m saying something out of my, like, I think we’re about to see them shoot a big deer. And right about then Bob’s eyes get giant, you know, and he just picks up his whole, I’ll never forget, he had like a pair of 30 KOAs or something on a tripod. He just picked him up with one hand and just started running to the left and grabbed the guy, you know, and said, giant buck, you know? And then I put my head back in the glass and here’s this giant buck running right at me at like 700 yards, you know? And I’m like, oh my gosh, you know, it’s my dream buck. And I’m thinking, I just sat down and told these guys that I’m not shooting anything. You know,
00:40:38:23 –> 00:40:44:09
This is about to get good. This story is good. You’re putting on your leather gloves, waiting for war. Here we go. Yeah.
00:40:44:12 –> 00:41:13:20
So this thing’s just coming right to us. And Bob just grabs him and they run down us little rocks and gets set up like, I don’t know, maybe a hundred yards away to me, off to my left. I guess maybe it was 150, I don’t know. But I see them run over there, and they get set up and Bob goes like the perfect spot to set up and exactly where I would’ve thought spot to go to. And then the buck’s coming right to ’em, and then I just kind of moved over to the right about 40 yards where there’s a level spot. And in my mind I’m thinking maybe if they start shooting and they miss, then, then am I allowed to shoot? You know?
00:41:13:21 –> 00:41:20:25
Yeah. What, when allowed to, I break the, are you just playing or are you playing cleanup? Are you playing cleanup? You know? Yeah.
00:41:20:25 –> 00:41:31:08
So that’s what I’m thinking of. And I’m like, but you know, this is weird. Most of Bob’s camp, I know a bunch of guys at his camp, they’re all friends of mine. And I’m like, this is never gonna end. Well, I’m gonna, you know, even if the guy shoots,
00:41:31:08 –> 00:41:32:20
You’re gonna be that guy, guy. Shoot,
00:41:33:02 –> 00:41:59:00
I’m gonna be the bad guy. Yep. And, and it would be really, in my mind, I would be furious if somebody, you know what I mean? Like if I was sitting in Nevada on a hill and someone walked up and sat down next to me and then shot the buck, and then shot the buck as I was benching in, you know, so I run to the right set up. And, and I’m looking at this block and he turns and he comes down and he is like right in front of me, broadside between like two little Christmas trees on my angle. And I’m filming him How far? Watching him. And, and I’m like, you’ve got to, what’s that?
00:41:59:03 –> 00:41:59:17
How far?
00:42:01:02 –> 00:42:02:16
I was like 400 and so yards.
00:42:02:16 –> 00:42:04:24
Oh, so you could range? Yeah. Killing range. Yeah. You could be shooting. Yeah,
00:42:04:27 –> 00:42:08:01
But they’re, but they’re in a spot where they can see ’em too, you know, and where pallet
00:42:08:04 –> 00:42:09:16
You’re waiting to shoot. Yeah. You’re
00:42:09:16 –> 00:42:47:22
Like, well, there’s a, there at their angle. I if, and I can be going on. I, I’ll have to ask Bob again, but I mean, I think it was like the, they, like, his head was to the right of the one little bush and his, they could see like his tail and his head. So I thought, well, maybe they can’t see him. So I walked over there thinking maybe they didn’t see him. And I walked over there, I’m like, I’m whispering to Bob. And he’s like, oh yeah, we’re on. And he’s just gotta step out and we’re gonna shoot him. I’m like, perfect. So then I run, I’m thinking, I’m gonna get to watch this giant buck and this buck is giant, you know, and really wide. And he’s got double matching scissor kickers on his right. And big bladed point. And I’m thinking, and I’m watching this thing and I, I call up drumming on the radio and, and he’s drumming.
00:42:47:22 –> 00:43:19:18
Can’t see all this ’cause it’s right below me. And the hill I’m on is blocking the view of, of, you know, from where Drummond’s at. And he, I’m like, drumming. I am looking at one of the biggest bugs I’ve ever seen in my life. And he’s like, well, can you get on him? I mean, I’m like, oh, he is right in front of me. And he’s like, why aren’t you shooting? I said, well, I ran into Bob and them up here, and they were here on him first. And Bob saw him. And I said, I don’t wanna, you know, drum is just so Drummond doesn’t know I’m filming on a phone scope. And so there’s audio and drum. It starts going, ah, forget about Bob. You know,
00:43:20:11 –> 00:43:20:24
Need to
00:43:20:24 –> 00:43:21:26
Shoot that box, you know. And
00:43:22:08 –> 00:43:22:26
What about Bob?
00:43:23:20 –> 00:43:23:29
Yeah,
00:43:24:22 –> 00:43:24:29
So
00:43:25:03 –> 00:43:25:24
It’s tough, which
00:43:25:24 –> 00:43:34:17
Was funny ’cause those two just talked about a week ago when I was at a bachelor party, he grabbed the phone and was talking to Joe and they were laughing about it. At that point. That was the first time, I think they’ve talked since this, but was this,
00:43:34:27 –> 00:43:38:10
Was this Jeff? I don’t realize, was this this the Jeff Rowe Shiz show?
00:43:38:26 –> 00:43:43:01
Yeah. Okay. We’ve the legendary party we’ve heard about. Yeah.
00:43:43:10 –> 00:43:52:23
It, it, it definitely fit the bill and it was an accurate shirt. So, so now we’re sitting there and, you know, I mean like, 30 minutes has gone by and 30
00:43:52:23 –> 00:43:53:04
Minutes
00:43:53:04 –> 00:44:15:24
This fuck just thinks he’s hidden, you know, and he’s just looking over his shoulder and, you know, kind of behind him and where he got jumped and he is just kinda locked in there. And, and I’m sitting there watching it and, and then finally, you know, Drummond’s getting more and more animated, like drumming gets, you know, and, and he’s freaking out. He’s, I’m not kidding you. If you let the sun go down on this deer, I’m gonna, I’m gonna get down. What,
00:44:15:24 –> 00:44:20:23
What’s the deer just standing kind of listen, frozen, like looking back at the trackers. What’s he doing? He
00:44:20:23 –> 00:44:24:23
Just, yeah, he, like, he ran for about three or 400 yards towards us. And then once he got in that one spot, he didn’t,
00:44:24:29 –> 00:44:27:14
He just chilling. Take a step. He’s for the trackers.
00:44:27:19 –> 00:44:29:24
Are the trackers still coming? Are they still coming?
00:44:29:29 –> 00:44:59:10
No. And I don’t even know where, where they’re at, you know? Yeah. And because what happened when the buck jumped up the, they were, the hill just kinda sloped away from ’em where it’s hard to see, you know? Yeah. And so I don’t know where they’re at at this point. And, and I’m, I’m still expecting another gun to go off, someone to shoot, you know? And, and like I said, Bob’s exactly, I, if I was in Bob’s shoes, I wouldn’t have taken a step because there was quite a bit of cover very close to this deer. And if they had tried to pick up and move to come over where I was, you know, it is then the deer moves and he’s in the thick and you’re done. And you
00:44:59:10 –> 00:45:00:04
Gotta reset up. They’re
00:45:00:04 –> 00:45:27:00
In a spot where they were just sure he was going. I can’t believe he didn’t take a step out, you know? And then, but eventually he just, he didn’t, he just stayed there. And then, anyway, they came over and we’re talking and, and I’m showing Bob the video and Bob’s like, Hey, airdrop that to me. I don’t even think about all the audio that’s hot. So I airdrop the video to Bob. Yes. And then we go back to camp and we’re listening to it with Drummond. And, and so anyway, we talk and I said, look, you know, I said, you know, if we see the buck tomorrow and
00:45:27:15 –> 00:45:32:25
It got dark, you see him, it got dark. It got dark. What’s that? And you watched the deer broadside till dark and didn’t shoot. Yeah, he,
00:45:32:25 –> 00:46:17:08
Yeah. So he is done. It’s now it’s dark. Dark. And they walk off the hill and I go off the hill and drumming is just, I mean, it was hard to take, you know, like I’m, I’m driving back to camp. I got him in my ear. You know, Clay’s gonna meet us. ’cause I didn’t, I didn’t, I was camped just a little bit away from Clay’s place because I had a bunch of friends. I didn’t want to intrude on their thing, you know, and it just be a burden. So we were camped right there outside. And so Clay stops by and on his way back. And Drummond’s been screaming at me the whole time. Jeff has now, I think, showed up at camp and I’m showing the video to drummer and he’s telling me what an idiot I am. Then me and drummer are fighting and I’m like, look man, nobody feels stupider than I do. I should’ve never said anything, you know, blah, blah, blah.
00:46:17:11 –> 00:46:25:29
But your balance and your name, your reputation, friendships. Well, and there’s every received, there’s perceptions. Yeah. The big, you know, Greg Craig’s known for Giants
00:46:25:29 –> 00:46:38:20
Been wrong. You know, the way I look at it is, like I said, you know, Bob’s the one that’s seen him. Bob’s the one that ran to the left with this guy. Bob was there before me. Everything about it was Bob’s. You know what I mean? Yeah. Bob and his guy, you know, and it was like, I
00:46:38:20 –> 00:46:40:17
Don’t wanna shoot pretty admirable. Say, yeah, I don’t
00:46:40:17 –> 00:47:30:23
Trust me. I wanna shoot the thing. Don’t get me wrong. Yeah. It was like, at one point, this is a true story. You can ask Bob about it. When they came over later, all of my shells were like 10 feet away over against a tree away from my gun. ’cause I, there was like three different times, I’m like, all right, well, they can’t see ’em, you know, at this point it’s fair game. Right. You know, and I’m like, okay, I gotta stop this. I’m gonna end up, and I just pictured them shooting and the deer running at me and then none of me shooting ’em. And then I’m gonna be, you know, feel horrible. So I, I literally unloaded my gun and put all my shells over like 10 feet away at another tree thinking at least that would give me 10 feet to regain my composure if I lost it. You know, like, I’d have to think about it for 10 people. I went and got the shells. And so we never shot the deer. And we both wished each other luck that night in the dark. They left. We go back to camp and drummonds upset with me. Everybody’s,
00:47:31:14 –> 00:47:39:01
Do you realize which d do you realize which deer this is from Trail Cameron. Like, are have you got him named? Is he or is this the, the deer that just showed up?
00:47:39:02 –> 00:47:48:08
I don’t, I don’t remember. This wasn’t a deer that we were hunting. It was a deer that a different, I, let’s see, I’m trying to think of, but
00:47:48:08 –> 00:47:49:06
Did you know about the deer?
00:47:49:06 –> 00:47:56:23
I the Calvin was hunting him. One of the other bunnies was hunting him. Yeah. And they had, I just hadn’t seen a picture of it because it wasn’t one of the ones I was hunting, you know? And so when one of those
00:47:56:23 –> 00:48:01:07
That didn’t look as good on, maybe didn’t look as good on trail camera as he did in real life.
00:48:01:11 –> 00:48:38:03
No, this one looked giant, I guess. ’cause I, I just hadn’t heard it. They were hunting it. And like when, so when I showed the video to clay, and Clay was like, okay, that’s the buck that the other guys are hunting right over there. We, you know, we need to kill this buck and you know, we’ll kill him in the morning and we’re gonna come back. And so the next morning we go in there and, you know, Jeff does it. You know, like I said, this was the part that was awkward and at least it was with good friends like Bob. ’cause we know Bob and he’s a great guy. And Jeff’s worried about, you know, offending Bob. And Bob’s telling me, tell Jeff he’s an idiot. You know, you can’t not help. Just he was, they’re good friends, you know. And he’s like, just tell Jeff to go help you.
00:48:38:03 –> 00:49:12:29
And yeah. Yeah. He’s like, just whoever gets him gets him. And Bob was awesome about it. And he wasn’t like trying to tell us go off. And Clay was awesome about it and everybody. So we just went in the next morning we put, we put Jeff on the big mountain behind us, you know, and, and then Clay was on a point over thinking if the buck went this way, we were right where we were the night before. If he went that way, then we thought we had it covered really good. And, and man, it gets light and we’re open. That buck’s gonna be righted there somewhere. And you know, it was kind of thicker off to the, to the west. And we were the furthest one to the west. So we thought, man, we are in the best position here. He is gonna, he’s not gonna go back the way he came.
00:49:12:29 –> 00:49:50:05
He is gonna be right over here on the edge of the thick stuff. And we’re glassing glassing. And you know, we didn’t, right off the bat, back to the East Drummond Cena buck. That wasn’t him. You know, we got a little excited about it because it was a mature buck and it ended up not being him. And then, then I saw a couple of dos to the kind of, to the west of me. And I hadn’t seen a dough since I’d been there, you know. And so I saw, I can’t remember, it was two or three do. And they were off to the west of us and not very far, like 1200 yards away from us. And, and it was kind of in the direction where we thought this buck was headed. You know, we thought, and, and, but we never saw a buck, you know?
00:49:50:05 –> 00:50:28:11
And, and Jeff was on the do also from up on top and you know, looking at the do up above and then the do kind of fed towards us and they got outta sight. And, ’cause there was a little ridge between us, but we, I mean, we’re talking like they were in a hundred by a hundred yard area. We couldn’t see. It wasn’t like, you know, they had, they couldn’t get out of there. So we knew right where they were. There was just a little bit of a full blocking our view of him. And Jeff’s checking in telling us the dozer up. You know, he’s telling us that he’s on the deer too. And, and, and then all of a sudden, I think it was first, like at one point Drummond said he saw a flash, a horn behind a dough. And I looked over there at, I didn’t see any deer at all.
00:50:28:11 –> 00:50:59:29
Neither one of us didn’t. We looked for about 10 minutes, couldn’t see any deer. And then drum’s like, oh, it could have been a two point, you know, I don’t, I just thought I saw a flash. And so we kept looking over there and we’re not seeing anything. And then we’re looking at kept looking, looking. And then all of a sudden, Jeff, you know, tells me that he’s got the big buck and he’s rutting those two doughs and the buck from the night before. You know, and keep in mind, Jeff wasn’t there the night before, so he’s just looked at some video, video, you know, video. Yeah. In the middle of the night, you know, but he’s a good hand. He knows what he is looking at. Oh yeah. Yeah. And so he was like, and keep in mind the buck from the night before, all of his extras were on his right.
00:51:00:04 –> 00:51:41:14
And then his left side was a big typical with one flyer that went out. And they’re shaped, you know, they’re both mid thirties or the other one’s wider in my opinion. But, you know, they’re both like 35, 36 inch wide plus deer. And they’re both heavy and they both have extras on the right and one single flyer on the left. So they’re very similar. And I had never really looked at the other buck much. ’cause it wasn’t really something I, you know, not the one I saw the night before. I looked at a ton, you know, and I knew there was no doubt in my mind I would shoot that deer. The other one, it wasn’t something, the trail camera picture of the other one was very unimpressive, you know? Yeah. And I didn’t really think it was, I, I was thinking that was more like a deer that, you know, my buddy Jim said he wanted to shoot something over one 90.
00:51:41:16 –> 00:52:17:26
And we knew it was that, you know, and I’m thinking it was more like I was thinking I was a dude. Jim would wanna shoot, you know? And so when we get set, we, we take off and go over there and do this big loop and then we, we, we go up and keep in mind, I’ve already left my rifle one time on this trip on a glassy knob. So we, I mean, it’s a mad dash. ’cause we’re thinking someone else is gonna see him. There’s spotters near Jeff, there’s spotters on the hill of us. And so we run around and I’m a, I’m a couple hundred yards away from our truck, maybe not that far, 150 yards away from our truck. And I’m heading up there and Drummings being, you know, grabbing. I’m like, I’m yelling at drumming. I know as soon as I go about, we got about a 10 minute hike.
00:52:17:29 –> 00:52:53:16
As soon as we get up on this ridge, we’re gonna be able to shoot across his draw and kill him. And I look back at Drummond, he is like, Greg, your rifle. And I said, I said, Drummond, I’ve got my rifle. He’s like, no, you don’t. And I’m like, and I put my thumb inside my backpack, you know, strap, you know the, the harness of my backpack. Yeah. And I pulled it out like it was a sling. I’m like, Drummond, it’s right here, let’s go. He’s looking at me, he’s like, Craig, I’m not gonna argue with you. Your gun is in the car. And I look, realize that’s my backpack. I’m grabbing, you know, oh geez, I’m, I’m in meltdown at this point. ’cause there’s other people, and I think someone else has seen the buck. Jeff thinks there’s other people moving towards him. And I’m just panicking, run back to the truck.
00:52:54:09 –> 00:53:33:10
And at first I thought I’d left the gun on the glassy knob, you know. So I run back to the truck, grabbed the gun, run back up there past drum, and I’m flying up the ridge, get up there, start setting up a rest. And when, as soon as I topped out on the ridge, I can see one of the two dos and I ranger and we lay down. It was like 7 57, I think. And we lay down, there’s no way to get closer unless you’re, because you’re kinda shooting across a big swale. And if you get any closer, you’re gonna have to shoot ’em from 30 yards, you know, like right down in there. So I lay down, I, I had those Phoenix shooting bags, you know, with those airbag type deals. I put them under the thing, set up the bipo. It was a solid rest on the dough. Locked. Can’t see the buck d
00:53:33:14 –> 00:53:37:04
That, that term locked, locked in like we talked about earlier on the hog.
00:53:37:07 –> 00:54:13:22
Yeah, exactly. Ironically, the same distance as the hog, you know? Okay. Fake God. This happened before the hog, my confidence would’ve been gone, you know? Yeah. And so I dial up the turret and I’m waiting. I, I, I, you know, I’m talking to Jeff and I’m like, do you see him? He’s like, I haven’t seen him in 20 minutes. You know, when I went to look for you and came back, I haven’t seen him, but I can still see that dough. I’m sure he is right there, you know, and there’s a couple juniper trees over there. And this dough is like, she sees us set up and she’s looking up at us. Then she’s looking 15 yards to her right behind a tree. I know the buck’s there. And then she’s looking at us and she’s looking at this. And so me, we’re all talking about this and we’re convinced the buck’s just on that dough.
00:54:13:22 –> 00:54:48:28
He is got her bed right in one of those little two trees, you know? And so this goes on for 45 minutes. And then when it, so then Jeff says something to me like, I don’t remember how it all went, but you know, I’m like, about five or six minutes before the buck got up, after 45 minutes, I, there was some stuff that made us think that there wasn’t make adding up. Like other people were going a different direction after another buck, you know? And I’m thinking, is this our buck? For sure Jeff? And he’s like, you know, remember it was a hundred percent originally, a hundred percent it’s him, you know, now. He goes,
00:54:48:28 –> 00:54:50:02
Well what about 83%?
00:54:50:17 –> 00:54:52:00
No, he gave me a 99. He
00:54:52:17 –> 00:54:53:26
Oh, 1% loss. Okay.
00:54:53:27 –> 00:55:10:08
And I said, oh. And he goes, but listen, Greg, he said, you remember, I didn’t see the buck. This is a giant buck regardless, you know, he goes, he is got, he’s, he’s mid thirties, he’s real heavy and he’s got extras on his, his right. You know, it’s gotta be him. And it’s, we’re talking like 600 yards from where the night before, a thousand yards away. And I’m thinking everything
00:55:10:17 –> 00:55:11:17
Alright, I sense, I told Jeff
00:55:11:26 –> 00:55:20:17
And I said, Jeff, I’m not holding you to it, and I’m gonna look at the buck, you know? Yeah. And I, so I just wanna make, I’m just trying to make sense of why everyone else is leaving the area. You know,
00:55:21:15 –> 00:55:23:20
Why is everybody leaving? What are we missing? They’re
00:55:23:20 –> 00:55:26:23
Running in the other opposite direction. Exactly. With guns in hands. They’re
00:55:26:23 –> 00:55:29:05
Running cows above their head taken off.
00:55:29:29 –> 00:56:04:29
Yeah. And so I was like, you know, and, and, and I’m like, I don’t know what’s going on. There’s nobody in here. You know, there’s gotta be, you know, and so I’m laying there and right about then the buck stands up and Jeff’s like, he’s up, you know? And I, I remember saying to Jeff, I’m like, you know, Jeff’s like, he’s right behind the dough. And I look up, I see the dough, you know, and I’m like, what, which dough? And he’s like, the dough we’ve been talking about for 45 minutes stared at, you know, and then right then he steps up and behind the tree, you know, and in into my plain view. And he is just lit up in the sun. And he just steps out, broadside, turns his head, looks right at us, starts lip curling, and then he turns his head straight away and lip curls.
00:56:04:29 –> 00:56:58:24
Then he puts his nose straight up. I mean, he gives you like, every possible look. Wow. And at that point, I, I remember drumming was video getting ready, you know, he was setting up his video phone scope. And I’m like, turn that thing off. I said, don’t film it. I need you to be giving me the holdovers, you know? Yeah. In case something goes bad, I wanna know what the yardage is and the holdovers are. I said, that’s way more important. And he’s like, seriously? I’m like, yes. So he’s got my zes and I’m like, gimme the range on him. So he gives it to me in the holdover. I dial it up and I, I mean, the cross shares were so steady for 45 minutes on that dough. And now here I am on this buck, and I look at him in the scope, and I remember saying to Drummond, he looks bigger than he did last night. And I remember saying that to Drummond, and I’m trying to calm down and get relaxed because I mean, it’s a long shot and you gotta have everything just right. And I was like, the crossbars are all over the place. I mean, I’m going from his nose to his tail, to his foot, to his back.
00:56:58:29 –> 00:57:03:29
That’s I’m on Locked in is very, very, that’s a loosely, loosely loose term. This
00:57:03:29 –> 00:57:20:06
Is nothing compared to the locked in. I was on that hog. Okay. So I’m like, and I drummond’s like Greg, shoot him, you know, he is gonna get out there. And I’m thinking drumming, I need to, I do not, I’m not steady. I said, I’m not taking this. I just didn’t wanna wound this. Fuck. You know? I’m like, I’m not shooting until I’m steady. He’s like, well then take a deep breath. And I’m like,
00:57:20:21 –> 00:57:24:16
You know, now it’s, you know, hurry on, hurry and take a deep breath, hurry and squeeze,
00:57:25:06 –> 00:57:25:17
Hurry
00:57:25:17 –> 00:57:27:07
Up and calm down. No rush. But he’s leaving.
00:57:28:00 –> 00:58:20:26
Yeah. And then he’s just swinging his head around and he takes a step and nudges the dough and pushes her forward. And so I, and then all of a sudden it just, like, I took a deep breath and all of a sudden the crossroads just settled in. And I remember when the gun went off, it just completely surprised me. And I usually with those bigger magnums, with those breaks, it’s hard to get back on and see your impact sometimes. Yeah. And I just remember it came right back into my shoulder and I watched the vapor trail the whole way to the deer. And, and I watched him just crumple and, and, but he was struggling to get, I jacked another round in, and I even shot a second time with him about three seconds, you know, and Drummond’s yelling, stop, stop, stop. And the buck’s laying there and he is not moving at all. So you sure He is dead. And he says, he says, Greg, he’s not even moving his antlers on it. So I put the scope up to like 26 power and I put it on his horns. And then I realized it’s not the buck from the night before.
00:58:21:04 –> 00:58:21:11
Oh.
00:58:22:03 –> 00:58:25:23
And that’s the first time I noticed it. And I’m like, and I’m like, Drummond,
00:58:25:24 –> 00:58:26:14
What did I shoot?
00:58:27:07 –> 00:58:41:27
I’m like, this isn’t the buck from the night before. And he’s like, don’t, don’t mess with me, Greg. You know. And then I called Jeff, I’m like, Jeff, this is not the buck from the night before. He’s like, Greg, don’t do this to me. And I’m like, you know, and then I’m like, but this was a giant buck, you know? But you know, in the back of your mind,
00:58:42:02 –> 00:58:43:01
What is this thing? Yeah,
00:58:43:04 –> 00:58:52:03
Yeah. And I’m, I’m telling, and, and then I recognized the buck. And the only thing that scared me was I recognized that left horn as the buck that I didn’t like in the drill camp picture kind.
00:58:52:06 –> 00:58:56:04
It didn’t look as good. I don’t know which buck this is. This is the one I passed, I didn’t even wanna hug. Yeah.
00:58:56:04 –> 00:59:06:10
And they called them the Elkhorn buck, you know? And, and wow. And I turned the drum and I’m like, drum, this is the Elkhorn buck. And he’s like, I’m like, that buck’s. I said, we both looked at him. He’s giant, you know,
00:59:06:11 –> 00:59:08:29
Mean it’s our fifth choice. It’s our fifth choice buck. Yeah.
00:59:11:07 –> 00:59:52:02
So I’m thinking to myself, did I just mess up on morning two of the 10 day hunt, you know? Oh. And then drummond’s like, no. And I’m like, no, Drummond, I said to you, he looks bigger than you did last night, night. There’s no way. This isn’t a giant buck. You know what I mean? And, and the fact that when he was swinging his head, I’d never seen anything like it in my life. It was just, you know, them, those wide bucks. Like I love wide bucks and I could see all the masks. And I’m like, no, this is it. You know? I knew what, what Bucky was. So I, I get on the radio and I call up Clay and, and I’m like, all right Clay. I said it, it ended up not being the buck from last night because I had told him I was benched in. I said, it’s not the buck from last night, it’s the buck. ’cause clay is just right around the corner, you know, on another novel, Jim. And I’m like,
00:59:52:08 –> 00:59:54:06
It’s the elk corn buck. And clay’s like, really? It’s
00:59:54:06 –> 01:00:15:06
The Elkhorn buck? And clay was like, I’ll never forget it, clay. He is like, he goes, well, he goes, well, we need to shoot. He’s thinking I’m meaning like, I passed it or something, you know? And he’s like, well, that buck needs to be shot, you know? Yeah. I, I’ll jump over there. I’m like, no, I shot it. And he’s laying, you’re dead. And, and I remember saying, this is a giant buck, right? Or big. And he’s like, oh yeah, it’s a good’s a giant.
01:00:15:11 –> 01:00:19:02
It’s big. It’s a solid buck. Something’s, it’s our fifth choice. Great. It’s a solid buck. Right? No, no, he
01:00:19:02 –> 01:00:19:25
Didn’t say that. He,
01:00:20:11 –> 01:00:20:12
Remember,
01:00:20:14 –> 01:00:40:08
He’s used to looking at trail camera pictures of these bucks. I, he knew it was a big buck. I just didn’t know it was a big bucket. And so then I ran over there and, and, and I got there maybe, I don’t know, a minute or two before Clay did, you know, from his angle. And when I got up to the deer, I, I just, I could not, I mean, I’m not gonna lie for 800 yards in the back of my mind, I’m thinking,
01:00:40:22 –> 01:00:41:19
What’d we do? God,
01:00:41:20 –> 01:01:35:08
You know, if I hadn’t have seen the trail camera picture, I would’ve said, who gives a credit? It’s a giant deer. You know what I mean? Yeah. But because I’d seen that camera picture, I kept thinking, what if he looks like he does on camera? You know? Yeah. And I walked out that last bush, and he was laying there, and I mean, I, I’d never seen anything like it in my life. You know? I, like, I called up drumming and, and clay and everybody on the radio. I’m like, you guys are not gonna believe this thing. It is so giant. I just, I couldn’t believe it when I finally walked up to it and Wow. Dang. And then Clay came up and I, I, I just remember Clay walking up and he was with his daughter, who I’ve never met. I had talked to her on the radio, you know, but I’d never met her. And, and so he comes walking up and I just remember tack grabbing clay and shaking him like a ragdoll, spinning him around. You know, Clay’s not a big guy, you know, either am I we’re, I’m like spinning him around in circles and, and I’m like, look at the size of this thing, clay. And I sat clay down and he’s like, I can’t see Greg. You broke my glasses.
01:01:37:23 –> 01:01:44:26
And I’m a, and I’m a guy. Yeah. I look at his glasses and I’ve got eight days left. That guy, I’ve gotta go back to town and get some my backup glasses. You’re,
01:01:45:01 –> 01:02:31:04
They’re just like mangled, you know? They’re like, the lenses are Ben out. Like, oh my gosh. You know? And he’s like, so me and Claire are freaking out on the sides of this thing. And then I look over at his daughter and she’s like, has this look in her face, like, please tell me he is not gonna grab me and start shaking me like this. You know? And I think, I think she was a little worried there for a second. And, and then Jeff and drumming and everybody came over and it was, I mean, it was truly, it was honestly my whole, I dreamed of killing a buck like that. And I don’t care if I ever, I say that at the time, I’m already waiting to draw again. But, you know, like, God, this is that one buck I wanted. That’s finally your whole life. You know, I told Clay when I went through this, said, I don’t care about score. I want a buck that looks bigger than he scores, you know? Yeah. And this buck definitely looks bigger than he, and he still scores good. I just mean he looks bigger than he scores. It’s the first time I’ve ever held a buck that I just,
01:02:31:14 –> 01:02:34:19
Just speechless. If you don’t mind me asking, what did he end up going?
01:02:35:12 –> 01:02:51:13
Hands up, going hard, horned 2 35 as he is. And he is got about four or five inches broken. He’s got an an I guard broke off and he’s got a cheater, a little hook cheater broke off. And, but even with the brakes, he’s 2 35 hard horn. So it’s, wow. It’s my dream. But yeah.
01:02:51:23 –> 01:02:52:16
Yeah. How wide?
01:02:53:23 –> 01:03:03:13
You know, I like 35 and a half. Depends on how you do it. If you do it like against a wall, it’s almost 36. If you do it, you know, point to point. It’s 35 and a half or something
01:03:03:13 –> 01:03:12:08
Like that. Yeah. It’s such a giant. Such a giant. Well everybody, I, you know, I’ve talked to guys that have held it and they like, you gotta hold this thing. It’s so big, the mass. It’s just crazy.
01:03:12:17 –> 01:03:26:22
What do you think it is about those that deer specifically maybe, or others on the strip? I mean, I want your thoughts that seem to, they don’t usually have ground shrinkage down there. No, I mean, they’re big ear, their bodies are so big, big eared and body
01:03:27:22 –> 01:03:29:19
Ear things. Their, their bodies are giant. Like
01:03:29:19 –> 01:03:36:02
Even looking at him mounted, it’s, it’s, their heads are so inor, like he’s
01:03:36:02 –> 01:03:37:10
On a wall with, they’re
01:03:37:10 –> 01:03:41:10
Different deer, fucking big deer. And his head is twice the size of all of them. Yeah.
01:03:41:10 –> 01:03:42:13
Yeah. They’re different, you know, and
01:03:42:23 –> 01:03:43:26
Mule headed deer,
01:03:44:02 –> 01:03:44:17
They’re
01:03:44:17 –> 01:03:50:18
Different. Yeah. And, and when you see that and you’re not used to those. And I’m used to hunting Nevada bucks, you know, Nevada bucks here, you know, they’re just pretty
01:03:50:26 –> 01:03:51:02
You
01:03:51:02 –> 01:04:37:01
Up, you walk up on, they’re pretty big ones. They look like little, they’re not big bodied, you know, and then you see something here, and when you walk up to these deer, it’s like, I mean, it’s just unbelievable. Like when I was walking up to him, the rub that he was making that morning, he was in that little fold and there was a juniper tree that looked like a big bull elk had torn into pieces and his tracks were all over there. He’d been tearing the street of pieces all morning, you know, out of our sight. And or maybe he did it in the night, I don’t know. But it, it’s just, it looked like just their tracks, their feet, their heads. It’s, it’s unbelievable how big their bodies are. So then when you walk up, it’s like, even right now, and I’m looking at him mounted, when you have him off of the skull is when he, like, when we caped him back at camp and, and you’re holding it with just the horns after you’ve cut it off and you’re like, just, it’s staggering compared to like, when they’re on those giant bodies.
01:04:37:26 –> 01:04:43:28
Well, what, what happened to the, to the big deer from the night before? What at the end of the day, what happened to about? So
01:04:43:28 –> 01:05:09:08
Bob and them hunted him the rest of the hunt, that buck or nothing. And, and I, on the last day of the season, they found him again. I think they found him one other time too. But then on the last day of the season, they found him and got on him and the guy missed him. And then he ran a couple hundred yards and somebody else missed him. Huh. And he got missed twice and never got shot.
01:05:09:17 –> 01:05:12:19
He lived like, he’s one that people are looking forward to seeing this year.
01:05:13:02 –> 01:05:14:11
Yeah, I would imagine. Yeah.
01:05:15:02 –> 01:05:38:08
Well it just seems like, it seems like nothing lives out there. Well, everything gets known about and then you, like, you had to be a little nervous. You got the rifle hunt after the archery hunters get done killing everything. And it was a good archery hunt, meaning dry and people set water and whatnot. But then, you know, you got the governor tags like that, there’s a lot of deer that die between then and the time your hunt comes on. Oh yeah.
01:05:38:08 –> 01:06:30:20
You know, I would al I would much prefer to have an archery tag. It’s that, that for that very reason, you know, I just think, you know, how it’s, they’re just, it’s, there’s a reason why so many big bucks get killed everywhere. And you know, with archery versus rifle, it’s, it’s, I I mean obviously it’s harder to stalk them and kill ’em, but it’s easier to find him that I would rather have it. It’s just, it’s it’s, it’s such a nightmare to get away that time of year for me. You know? And like even Jeff, when Jeff drew it, it was, it’s a nightmare to even get Jeff away, you know? ’cause then I don’t have somebody for weeks, you know, while he was doing his own hunt and, and you know, and plus you got to do it justice. You gotta do all the scouting and everything else. And, and yeah, I, I mean it was a, it’s definitely a better situation on a really good year like that when there were so many good bucks up there that I wasn’t, you know, you keep seeing all these bucks getting killed and you know, clay killed a couple of giant bucks with two governor’s tags and you’re like, gosh, they’re all gonna be gone. You know? Yeah.
01:06:31:00 –> 01:06:32:08
Kills that way. It does.
01:06:32:15 –> 01:06:41:11
It does. And it’s, it’s, that’s why I didn’t wanna see pictures. Like I said, I didn’t wanna be stressed about it for four months, worried about it. I just thought, I’m gonna go there and I’m gonna have a great time no matter what. And
01:06:41:19 –> 01:06:44:13
Well, with your passive personality, you wouldn’t have been stressed anyway.
01:06:44:29 –> 01:06:55:05
Yeah, exactly. Luckily I was in Nevada hunting a buck that was giving me fits the whole time. It was preoccupying me. So that made it a little bit, made the time go by a little better.
01:06:56:05 –> 01:07:03:08
How did, how did, how’d your buddy end up the rest of the what, seven, eight days after that? Did you stay out there with him?
01:07:03:27 –> 01:07:52:02
You know, we, that evening we went out and then actually, I think he went out with Clay that evening. And then the next day he and I went out. We, we all went out, looked around for him, and we went and looked for that other buck that I wanted to hunt. Turns out he’d been killed. Someone killed him the second day of the season, the same day when I shot mine. About the same time they’d already killed him. We didn’t know it’s, we were down there looking for a deer that wasn’t even around. I found out later. And, and they ended up, they shot an incredible buck, I would say six, seven days in like a 32 inch plus frame. And then two, I wanna, I don’t quote me on this, but I think he has like four inches of extras and he’s on like a four or five inches of extras on a three two inch frame, around 2 0 5 on the frame or something like that.
01:07:52:03 –> 01:08:40:02
Wow. Two 50, I think they said 2 14, 2 15, something like that. Just a great deal. Giant deer. Just a great big old typical with a floating beam. Wow. I, I posted a video of him and he, he and Jim’s, it’s a neat, I got to hold it ’cause it’s at the same tax and every shop, I didn’t get, I wasn’t there when they shot it. I had to go back and start my elk hunts and in Arizona. So I wasn’t there when he shot it. That was, I, I only gotta stay another day after I got mine. I mean, I talked to all my clients into, they were all pretty understanding if I didn’t get done, I was staying the whole hunt. Yeah. But if I got done, I promised them I’d come back and Yeah. Get back to their camp, you know, and so I went back to Arizona and, but yeah, clay had a heck of a year. He shot, they shot that Hollywood bug my bug. They, they shot Jim’s big buck and then they killed two other, they killed another buck. That was like 2 17, 2 18. They, they had a heck of a year
01:08:40:03 –> 01:08:43:08
Strip was unreal Last year. It was a good year to draw just on. Yeah.
01:08:43:08 –> 01:08:43:13
Wow.
01:08:43:13 –> 01:08:48:25
They killed a lot of good ones on the archery and the, and the, you know, the governor’s tags and all those other ones also. But they, he had a really good year.
01:08:48:27 –> 01:09:13:00
It’s amazing with all a great year. It’s amazing with all the, the pressure, the advancements in technology and everything that there’s deer that make it to the epic proportions. I mean, and and do you feel like that the pressure’s too much? Do you feel it’s about right. I mean, obviously it just keeps pumping ’em out, but it makes you wonder if they’re four and five year olds that are just amazing genetics or if they’re actually getting real age on them.
01:09:13:17 –> 01:09:31:08
Yeah. I’m really curious to see what the age is on my book. The warden thought he was around eight. Geez. But they took a tooth on him and, and I’m waiting, I haven’t heard back. I’m dying to see what, what his age ends up beanie seemed like to me. I, I would’ve guessed somewhere around there. I’m not very good at that kinda stuff.
01:09:31:14 –> 01:09:37:23
Far as it’s fine. Like the, the tag numbers are fine. Like they’re, they’re getting old deer and a deer. Some deer are slipping through the cracks.
01:09:38:22 –> 01:10:07:10
I think it’s, I think for sure that’s the case. And because there’s not as many tags as you, you know, that, and it’s such a big area that deer are just making, I, I have, I have the same concerns. So every time I hear about it all these years, I think, well that’s done. If you remember, like back in oh nine, the year after I had the tag was that banner year where they shot 20 something 200 inch to year, if you remember. And it was like, well that place is done and the next year it’s back again. It just, it just seems like the genetics were so good and, and the numbers are,
01:10:07:29 –> 01:10:50:20
It is a renewable because they’re keeping tick. It’s somewhat of a, it just keep coming back. Yeah. It’s some somewhat of a renewable resource. And so how does it tell, just real quick, and, and you know, not to keep it going, but how does it feel, you feel like you get a once in lifetime tagging for residents. It’s not necessarily the case, but it feels like that. How, how does it feel with the pressure? Like the, obviously your story’s crazy and there’s pressure, I mean, and, and there’s a little bit of a juggling act dealing with everybody. Is it, does it take away from the hunt? Is it okay just because you’re out on the strip and it’s just being out there is is a once in lifetime type experience. I mean, well how do you, how do you navigate that and, and in your mind, how does it play?
01:10:50:22 –> 01:11:31:27
I would say I made the mistake of doing that kind of the very, you know, I would say, you know, I, I did this back in other hunts that I’ve had in the past a long time ago where I let the, it took away from the hunt where I wasn’t even enjoying it, you know, because of the, the fact that the tag was so good. You just think it has to be that. And, and I just, I just changed my whole mindset on that now. And I just don’t, I don’t, I just don’t take it that way. You know, like starting, I, I can remember in oh four I had a really good tag in Nevada and I, I can remember one of the days just deciding, I’m not gonna go, I’m gonna stay in and sleep in with my kids. They were in the trade with my wife.
01:11:31:28 –> 01:12:11:15
And I’m like, I’m not even gonna go out today. And I got a month and I’m gonna take my time. And I had so much more fun on that hunt. And it doesn’t change the outcome as far being stressed all the time is not gonna change the outcome. So I just try to go into it with the decision. All you can do is the things you can control and it’s gonna happen or it’s not gonna happen. I feel way more pressure on once in a lifetime tags when I’m guiding because then I, I just feel it. ’cause you, you, you feel like they’re counting on you and they’ve paid money and, and you feel like you’re letting somebody down. That’s what makes my own hunt so much more enjoyable. I don’t feel any pressure on my, like I honestly, and people don’t believe me. I’d had no expectations going into that hunt.
01:12:11:21 –> 01:12:43:23
I really didn’t. I was gonna go up there with Truman and Jeff and Clay and Blake and all that and just have a great time. And, and don’t get me wrong, I wanted to kill a big deer, but I was looking more forward to just hanging out with those guys with zero pressure to go try to kill a big buck than I was about the results of it. Now on my own hunt, now on my hunts, I’m doing, I’m the opposite. I’m a basket case when I’m guiding, I’m so stressed about it because I feel like if someone doesn’t get one, it’s the end of the world to me. You know, that’s how I take it. It, I take it hard when someone doesn’t get one no matter what the tag is. So those are way harder for me than my own personal hunts. Well
01:12:43:23 –> 01:12:50:21
You gotta coach yourself to keep that mentality of enjoying the hunt. And we find ourselves coaching ourselves like, you know,
01:12:50:27 –> 01:13:23:01
You gotta enjoy, you can’t, you can’t get overwhelmed by the magnitude of it. We’ve each Jason, you’ve had laid it deer tag in Arizona and I got lucky and got a Henry Mountains deer tag. Those would be in the same realm of what we’re talking about. And you can heap it on yourself if you let yourself go there. Sounds like you and partly was due to your schedule, Greg, in, in Nevada you were 40, 50 days, however many straight in Nevada before you could even get to Arizona. That probably helped. Like, that’s gonna take care of itself when I get there because got, and you
01:13:23:01 –> 01:13:23:18
Hire and you hire
01:13:23:20 –> 01:14:01:19
Good help, you hired somebody because you, you can’t do it justice and just show up the night before the hunt there and, and say, where are we gonna start looking? And so, but I think also, yeah, the mentality of you’re gonna go down swinging and hunt a big, big deer and go down swinging and maybe I, I can accept that a little bit easier myself too. If, if it doesn’t go your way, I know I’m gonna do everything for myself. But it is tougher when you take a hunter because whether it’s their once in a lifetime tag or their hard on money or both, you don’t wanna leave a bad taste in somebody else’s mouth. It’s easier to have a bad taste in your own mouth about your own hunt when it’s over. If you gave everything you got. For some reason. It is,
01:14:02:12 –> 01:14:41:06
I, I couldn’t agree with that more. I just, it’s, I, like I said, and if you, it, I’m always, it’s funny ’cause I’m always saying that to my clients, like, man, just try to have a good time because it’s not, you want at least, like for example, if I hadn’t have shot that big buck, there were so many fun and it was only, it was a short trip, you know, a day and a half of scouting. And then we shot him on the second morning. So then we hung around with Jim for another day and a half or whatever. But even in that shortest span of time, there were so many hilarious fun times that we had with Drummond and Clay and Drummond telling these stories and you know, at Clay’s ranch. And if, if you get all stressed out and worked out about the hunt and then it doesn’t work out, then you don’t even enjoy all those parts of it.
01:14:41:06 –> 01:15:27:22
You know, if you just have a good time, like now I got the best of both worlds. I got a big deer plus I have all those things, but even if I hadn’t have got one drum, and I will be talking about that trip forever, you know, and Jeff and some of the things Jeff, Jeff, any trip that Jeff does is comical, you know? And it has its moments. So it, it was, it was a lot of fun. And as long as you don’t, I just tell guys, man, just try not to get, it’s not gonna change the outcome. Hunt your hardest and getting stressed is absolutely not gonna, I’ve had so many people over the years that I can just tell or ate up with it and they’re constantly talking about how it’s there once, oh my gosh, but if I don’t get one, I’ll never draw this a tag. And, and, and then all of a sudden they finally get one on the second to the last day. And, but they ruined their hunt leading up to it. ’cause they’d never enjoyed any part of it because they were just stressed the whole time,
01:15:27:22 –> 01:16:28:13
You know? Well it’s a lot of times having Instagram and watching all the big deer fall around you and, and here you are, you’re still hunting and you’re just thinking, man, everybody’s killed a big deer but me. And it’s just, it just adds it up. I’ve got a, I we talked about that with an outfitter came by, purchased some truck cameras from us and he was just like, you know, if we were talking about a client we’d, that he had taken and, and he was just like, you know, he just every night was like, look at this deer and look at this deer and you know, this outfitter’s having a great year. And it just kind of took over and changed the hunt a lot for the, for the worst. You know what I mean? It just, just changed it. Anyway, that’s, that’s just part of it. Managing that, you know, managing that people are gonna be successful on you. It’s okay. Don’t let it take away from your hunt. But anyway, congratulations. I love hard horn deer. You get to see all those bloodlines and all the characteristics and they’re just gorgeous. And you know, there’s one thing about velvet deer. We all hunt ’em and, and they’re gorgeous too. But man, there’s nothing like a, in my mind, just a big old hard horn rutten deer. That’s just,
01:16:28:23 –> 01:16:31:20
I Exactly. You get them white faces and there’s just nothing better.
01:16:32:01 –> 01:17:04:13
Yeah. Nothing better. So of course you’re a mule deer freak and you and you, you, you kill elk and great, you know, great at hunting those as well and taking your clients to, and harvesting some giants. But what’s the, maybe, you know, just kind of a takeaway set like we did with your, you know, rifle and long range hunt, the long range shooting that you’ve been doing, you know, what’s the, you know, a takeaway that people can learn from you as far as if they wanna hunt big deer, maybe, you know, what can they take away from gray crow that help them be more successful in the field?
01:17:05:16 –> 01:17:57:22
I don’t think there’s anything special about the guys that are doing it other than they’re persistent. You know, it’s being persistent is the absolute, you know, not like, especially or the bigger bucks and, and you know, look at some of the deer you’ve killed over the years and like in Nevada and the deer we killed over the years, Nevada, they’re all, none of them are like stumbled into I I most of them are. And I’m not saying there hast been one, but most of ’em are deer that you find and then you lose ’em and then they disappear. And, and the, the guys that are successful are the ones that just never give up on it. And, and if you just keep staying out it and knowing the way big deer behave, I, I just think so many people don’t realize how much, how big deer more than more than younger deer, an older the deer gets, in my opinion anyway, the more habitual and territorial and, and and set in his ways that he gets.
01:17:57:26 –> 01:18:40:18
And just ’cause you’re not seeing him does not mean that he’s not there. And that you need to move or give up. And, and that’s probably the hardest thing. ’cause when you have to go a long time without seeing one, you know, last year was a great example in Nevada. I was hunting a really big buck and I had him all to myself. Nobody had camera pictures of him that I know of. I don’t even, I still to this day don’t know where he was drinking. And we had him to ourself for, I mean, 60 days, you know? Geez. And we couldn’t get him killed. We, we tried and we’d, we’d, we’d find him repeatedly, especially in the beginning. We’d see him, like when I went in there in early July, I could find him every single time I looked for him. And then as he got, I tried to stay out of there.
01:18:41:03 –> 01:19:19:23
So, you know, I wouldn’t run into anybody in there. And then I went back right before the hunt. We found him right away and everything was still the same. And we were on him and he was doing the same stuff and he was always in a certain area. And this deer had been there for two or three years, three years. You know, he just blew up that year. And so we knew that was right where he lived. And then all of a sudden, day four of the hunt a lion shows up and he disappears, you know? Yeah. And you know, we were, I wanna say 40 yards from the buck or 45 yards from him in his bed. We were actually drawing to shoot him when he laid down. Jeez. And then he laid down in the wide open, but he was facing Jason and we just didn’t have a shot on him ’cause he was dead on.
01:19:19:23 –> 01:20:35:20
And the way he was laying, it was just kind of awkward. And he was in gravel and we sat there for an hour watching him and it was, you know, an hour before dark. And then two mountain lions show up and they’re sneaking up on him trying to kill him. And we actually watched the whole stock and then they’d blow the deer up and he runs by and we don’t get a shot at him. And we did find him again the next morning and we were stalking him again and again, the same mountain lion geez, is right there in front of us that we didn’t even know was there. Blows him a second time. And then we didn’t see him for a while. And that was so hard. And we’d go six, seven days without seeing him, then we’d see him again and we would go six, seven days without seeing him. We’d see him again. And it was very glassful country broken up, but very glass. And I think we hunted that buck a total of between, you know, actual hunting. Not even the scouting, but we hunted him probably 30 days between August 10th and, you know, September 15th, the 20th in there, probably 30 days. And then again, Moore muss loader. And we lost him for the last time right before, right around, I would say the day before the muzz loader season. And we didn’t see him again until the day we killed him in late October.
01:20:36:14 –> 01:20:39:17
Those deer, those those deer will make a man outta you. Oh, they’re brutal.
01:20:40:06 –> 01:20:49:20
Yeah. It takes a lot. Multiple clients and multiple places. And then he, and then we go in there and, and then, then when we kill him, it’s exactly where he is been the entire time
01:20:49:25 –> 01:20:50:27
And made it look, look easy. We’ve
01:20:50:27 –> 01:20:52:20
Only saw that deer in four different places. Yeah.
01:20:52:20 –> 01:20:54:09
Made it look easy. Wow. It’s
01:20:54:09 –> 01:21:06:15
Hard. Yeah. And then he’s right there and it’s like, you gotta be kidding me. It’s hard. And someone else was in there, it was funny, someone was in there the day we killed him. Hadn’t seen anybody hunting this deer. And the day we killed them, somebody else filmed them that morning.
01:21:07:06 –> 01:22:03:11
Geez. It’s hard to do. You know, we, you talked about be persistent and that’s that’s true. But it’s, it’s another thing to do it to that level, whether it be individually or, or the client. Because to push your chips to the center of the table and say that’s the buck and the rest of my hunt is for that buck. It’s easier said than done. It’s, it’s a grind. And I’ve had clients that aren’t cut up for that after six days. And you’re on the same glassing knobs, although you’re swapping your spotters every day just to give a client a little bit different. Something to look at. Yeah. But you know, you shouldn’t be anywhere else. There’s nowhere else we should be, than right here. It’s a hard concept sometimes that people haven’t hunted a deer that way to convince them that that’s the thing that they should do. And obviously you’re not doing that for just to kill a deer. You’re doing that for one specific giant. But it’s harder. It, it’s harder to do than it is to say
01:22:03:14 –> 01:22:15:16
It’s the most terrible thing in the world. We did it and didn’t win. Yeah. The deer, deer who knows, never showed up the next year. The deer was Yeah. Got got away and yeah. What do you, what do you do? You know what I mean? And you don’t always
01:22:15:16 –> 01:22:38:26
Win the odd if you, if you, the odds of switching in the middle and finding another deer of the caliber of, so the one you’re hunting though are so slim that Yeah. And even if you did happen to go to a spot that had a buck that big, you still have to find him also. Yeah. And he’s not gonna be easy. So I just, but you trying to convince somebody of that that’s hard and certain people don’t wanna do it and yeah, everybody wants to hunt a big buck until, but that’s what it takes to kill ’em. And it’s, it can be brutal.
01:22:39:12 –> 01:23:32:23
Yeah, that’s right. So, you know what I’ve noticed in Nevada a little bit, I was just gonna run this by you and we’re, we’re all but out of time, but it feels like Nevada, like you said, this deer that you were hunted for, you know, for 30 something days, ended up killing in October with another client, blew up that, you know, he just, he blows up one year. You knew about him for a couple years. That’s what it feels like in Nevada sometimes. I’ve watched these deer go, I got sheds from a deer and then I killed him. He was 2 30, 37 gross. He jumped from 180 7 to 2 37. I have the sheds. That’s, that’s, it seems like Nevada has that potential. The strip does too in these special places with water. But then Nevada, it feels like they have one or two gr great years, one or two, and then they’re never the same, which it feels like on the strip they’ll have four or five sets of great sheds, you know what I mean? But Nevada, it’s like the stars have to be perfect. I, I don’t know if you get that or if you feel that way.
01:23:33:17 –> 01:24:13:05
No, I do and I Do you think it’s, my thing is depending on where it’s at, but like that the bus, are you on the I don’t notice it as on the desert. I think it’s ’cause of moisture, you know? Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And then, but like in 2 31, I’ve seen that on deer. But it’s like, I think when you have cold winters, you know, it can get cold in that country, you know, and, and different, but like, I just think like the desert unit, it’s all about the moisture. And I just think we usually don’t get that optimum stuff except for two or three times during that say they’re, you know, when they’re, when they’re gonna be big, say between three and eight, you know? Yeah. Or between four and eight, you only have four chances at it. And the moisture levels. So
01:24:13:05 –> 01:24:37:14
Two of those, the drought years or so, two, two or two or three or four of those can be average to less than average years. And so you gotta get the right deer with the right genetics at the right. Perfect age. And for him it might be five and a half, six and a half, seven and a half, whatever. And then the right moisture. And like you’re, we’re talking right now, we’re just assuming it’s gonna be a great year. But who the freak knows, we had great moisture all fall, all winter up to March now it’s been super dry.
01:24:38:12 –> 01:24:54:29
Yeah. And how does, how does each deer different too? Like even deer in the same area? That’s the part, like, you’ll know about this, you remember the buck, gosh, it was probably three or four years ago. And you, you posted a picture of him. Yeah. It the buck that Jason ended up killing his m Yeah.
01:24:54:29 –> 01:24:56:02
Jason killed big wide deer that had,
01:24:56:19 –> 01:25:09:14
Yeah. And you remember what he was the year before. Oh yeah. And then, and and how much bigger he was the year before. Yet that was a great moisture year in that area. It was. And every other buck in that area blew up. Blew up. I, except for him, and he went down.
01:25:10:01 –> 01:25:52:06
I know. And you just, it’s the, and is it the individual health of the deer? Is it, it, you know, obviously it’s age. We know that obviously it’s moisture, but I think there’s more to it. Nevada just has these deer do not reach their maximum except for once or twice in their life. And it feels like the strip, I mean, I mean they, you got Houdini and all these other bucks and they, it feel now and they go down. They have down years, but they pop back for a couple of years. We just, I just don’t see that Nevada’s just, anyway, it just feels like, it feels like you have one or two shot. I, I have a deer. I have a deer that was a giant, finally figured him out, came back, he was still a giant, but I, I let him, I let him live and, and did not hunt him.
01:25:52:06 –> 01:26:25:01
Had a tag in my hand, didn’t hunt him, hoping he would come back to that special year. I felt like he was one of those deer that had the genetics. I just had to take that chance. And I was the only one hunting him. And then he never, he came back. He’s 180 inch rib showing done. I, I had him at 20 yards in the velvet and that was the last year I saw him. And I just feel like, and I have the big set of sheds and I’m just like, he had, he had one great year, another probably pretty impressive year. I wish I had those sheds. And then that was it. That was his life. You know what I mean?
01:26:25:28 –> 01:26:28:08
And how, how big was he at his biggest, when he was his
01:26:28:12 –> 01:26:52:19
Fall? He’s, he’s like a 230 inch. But loggy, like when you c cl clink ’em together, it’s like s a strip buck. Like yeah, loggy. Like when you see the deer, when you hold the sheds, you’re just like, oh, that’s a strip here. I mean, but you just don’t get those in Nevada. You just don’t get ’em. You know what I mean? And Oh yeah. And then when you do you think, okay, this is one of those that could pop back. He never popped back. He never popped back. You know what I mean? And so, and they
01:26:52:19 –> 01:26:54:18
Were good years too. Like the year he went to 180, was it a decent
01:26:55:03 –> 01:27:05:05
Yeah, it was a great year. It was a great year. But he was probably ancient ribs showing big giant bodied. Yeah. Just, just at the end of his, you know, lifespan so to speak. Yeah. Had
01:27:05:05 –> 01:27:22:25
A weird injury. You never know, one year you think it’s gonna line up perfectly. You hit a weird injury, I don’t know. Hurts his foot snake, I don’t know, takes a, yeah, broad head to the shoulder blades. Something that you can’t ever predict. And that was his year that the stars quote aligned and he didn’t have it to give, basically
01:27:23:02 –> 01:27:38:10
Just feel like the deer in Nevada are fragile. Like they don’t, they, they have a good year, but it m you know, kill ’em when they have a great year. ’cause you don’t, nothing’s promised the next year’s not promised. The next five years aren’t promised. It just feels they’re sensitive. I don’t know. Feels that way anyway.
01:27:38:28 –> 01:27:43:14
Oh for sure. I’m, I’ve definitely had bucks I got all excited about and then you go back and you’re like, really? You know
01:27:44:17 –> 01:27:47:23
Why? You know, and then you got 185 inch excited
01:27:47:23 –> 01:27:47:26
About
01:27:47:26 –> 01:28:03:12
Him. About, the nice thing is is you could have 185 inch that goes to 2 20, 2 30 there it, and you, we, you see it. I see it. It, it does give you hope. You know that. Yeah. All I saw was 180 inch deer. Well you probably ought to go look at ’em, you know? Yeah. So
01:28:03:22 –> 01:28:14:07
I was thinking about that this morning about a couple deer. I’m like, ah, that deer could blow up though. You know, we need to go look at that one. And in my mind, I think all these deer that weren’t great, but they looked like they had the potential in the right age and they do definitely blow up there.
01:28:14:14 –> 01:28:15:06
Yeah. So,
01:28:16:12 –> 01:28:22:19
Well Greg, it, we’ve taken most of your morning, you’ve got horses to feed or something. I don’t know. Guns to shoot, guns to shoot
01:28:23:05 –> 01:28:24:01
Barrells the melt.
01:28:24:11 –> 01:28:49:14
That’s right. Well we appreciate your time. It’s always fun talking and, and get a firsthand account of your Arizona strip. Deer Hunt was awesome. Appreciate your time with us today and your knowledge and, and appreciate you again working the deal with us to be able to buy a hunt from you, a NAR attack for our membership drive that we’re gonna give away here. And we look forward to giving you the guy or gal lucky name who wins that. So.
01:28:49:19 –> 01:28:52:06
Alright, sounds good. Thanks for having me on guys. It was fun.
01:28:52:08 –> 01:29:01:18
Yeah, sure. Appreciate it. Congrats again on all your success. We’re looking forward to what you knocked down this year, year, your clients, yourself. And anyway, we appreciate the time. So thank you. Yeah,
01:29:01:18 –> 01:29:03:05
Good luck on your guys’ fence as well. Alright,
01:29:03:05 –> 01:29:03:29
Talk to you later. All.
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