Colorado Draw Results, and Hunt Winners. In this episode of the Epic Outdoors Podcast we talk about the Colorado Mule deer draw results being released today. We also talk about upcoming deadlines for the remaining western states. We talk with the Nevada Silver State Mule Deer Tag Winner about his 1 in 10,000 odds and then call a past Epic Hunt winner that just came home from his successful Brown bear hunt in Alaska with a 10 foot bear. Our next hunt giveaway is underway now!!
Disclaimer: this text was produced through an automated transcription service and likely contains errors. Please listen to the original audio for exact content.
00:00:01:17 –> 00:01:47:09
Dear Elk and antelope options, if you didn’t apply for a moose, sheep and goat, you’ve got till June 5th. So he laid in the bearing sea maybe for five minutes, and then he had to swim to shore. Anything to do with Western Big Games? Welcome to the Epic Outdoors Podcast, powered by Under Armour. Here we go. Let’s do a for all you young pups out there. What we, listen, we’ve been waiting all year long for one thing and one thing only hopes and dreams are resting with the state of Colorado, Nevada, and others. And now it is. It’s here. Are you sitting home? Are you packing your bags for Colorado? That’s what we all wanna know. It’s the time, it’s the week, it’s time. I’m fired up. That fired me up. Yeah, that’s good. It’s good. I don’t good. And I don’t have enough credit card charges to be not fired up. Not enough for you, but for family members and kids. This is the, oh yeah. Family and friends year. We burned ours last year. Carter. So it’s the family and family and women. Other children. It’s in other people’s year. Not our year. Are year. Bronson, have you drawn a tag yet? Nope. Neither have I. Chris, have you drawn tech? Oh yeah. You have. Yes. One. Well, two. Yeah, I drew that. The, the Utah General. Duke General. That’s a big deal anymore. New Mexico. New Mexico Elk. That’s a big deal. That is.
00:01:48:19 –> 00:03:04:09
Well, welcome everybody to the Epic Outdoors Podcast coming at you from Cedar City, Utah. Sunny Cedar City. Although Bronson, we’ve been getting like some monsoon type clouds, but no rain. It’s a lot of teasing and a lot of wind is what it is. A few weird puffy clouds at times. Little sprinkles on dust. Just enough to tease you. But it’s nothing. It’s so dry. Well, there’s a lot of draw results coming out and as such, you’re gonna need a rifle. So we want to throw a little shout out to Red Rock Precision. Good dudes over there at Red Rock. I shoot the rifle. Even Ashley, she’s now 14. Crush is three. 13, 12 for 300 drum, right? Yeah. 30 Nosler actually. Oh, sorry. But not, not a lot of difference. It’s a, you know, a 30 caliber rifle and she didn’t even fill it. Jana too. So anyway, shout out to Red Rock Un. Unbelievable. I love my rifle. Bronson, you’ve got rifles from ’em. They’re incredible. Red Rock precision.com. Get on the list, give ’em a holler. You cannot go wrong with them. Of course. You know, they make, they make their living on lightweight, accurate custom rifles. But I mean, they make heavyweights too. They do. About anything you need in all different calibers. Yep, that’s right. We’ve got ’em. Anyway. Cheap rifles.
00:03:04:09 –> 00:04:19:03
If you want more of a bent trust, just to go plink with the boys and show ’em what you can and it’s a heavier weight. Doesn’t matter. They can do that. Yeah. So yeah. Hashtag weight matters. Alright, keep going. Also want to give a shout out to Hoyt new advertiser this year with us. Are excited about some of their new bows. We’ve got some of the RX fives ourselves been shooting them. I was a little whiny. I hadn’t got mine, but I got it. Yeah. Yours. I, I picked a different, I picked the camo Ku Verde pattern. You got the buckskin, I believe. Oh yeah. And I love it. I guess we could throw it on. If you’re looking for a bow, maybe give us a call. We might have an extra two around here. We do. We could make it actually, Bronson, we can make a steal. Yeah. Somebody a steal. Yeah. Of the century. How do they get a hold of us? An RX five Email. Jason. Yeah. Email [email protected]. Email [email protected]. First come, first serve. I think we got three brand new in the box. RX fives. There we go. Six 70 pounders. Give me a holler. Yeah, also a little shout out. You know, Bronson, we had old Bobby, our buddy Bobby down there in California. Performance archery. That’s right, dude. He hooked us up. He knows what he’s doing. Arrows everything. Start to finish. Arrows, inserts, everything. Rev sites. Tuned streams.
00:04:19:03 –> 00:05:42:00
Yeah. It’s also the time of year. If you’re drawn tags, if you know what you’re gonna have and you know, you feel like you’re either underpowered or under equipped, it’s time. You might need a new tripod. We’ve got tripods from Vortex. We’ve got optics from Vortex. They’re, whether it’s tens, eighteens, spotters, whatever, rifle scopes. Give us a call. We’re a dealer, official dealer. Vortex, optics and tripods. You got a Summit Carbon two tripods a great lightweight backpacking tripod. But anyway, give us a call. We can give you pricing on that as well. Great support of ours here at Epic Outdoors. So yeah, I like it. That summit, by the way, Bronson, I’m super impressed with it. It’s, it’s hard. I mean, it’s solid. It’s a solid piece of equipment. This isn’t like a chinsy little tripod that’ll do for my kids. This is something we would have ourselves. It’s very solid. So, and they also, we also carry the adapter for those vinos. So you can put a stud on the vortex. 18 by 56. Yep. And put it right on the tripod. Got plates, adapters, studs. We got all this new, I think they call those bells and whistles. We got, okay. I can’t even whistle right now. Tingle. Tingle. Well done. Tingle dingle. All right. All right. Moving on. Way beyond that is phone scope. We appreciate phone scope and their support. Okay. Need one of those coming up. Scouting season’s happening.
00:05:42:04 –> 00:07:11:18
If you scout video it, it didn’t happen. So anyway, hit ’em up. Www P-H-O-N-E-S-K-O-P e.com. My buddy Chesterton’s from Beaver County doesn’t know how to spell phone scope. SKOP e.com. Gotta be different. Set you apart. Gotta be different. But he is different. He’s awesome. Makes a lot of great products. Pyro, putties, electric lighters, you know, phone scope adapters to be able to video from your phone through any optic, any optic, doesn’t matter what it is, including your rifle scope. So anyway, pretty awesome. Good dudes over there. Phone scope. All right. We also gotta throw a shout out, I guess to Under Armour. I mean, they sponsor this whole thing. They’re the title sponsor. We appreciate them there A lot going on. Had a phone call this morning with them. At least the guys did. New gears imminent. It’s gonna be coming up soon on ua.com this summer, June, July in anticipation of the new hunts. So lots of new stuff to look forward to. Good stuff. Good stuff. Well, Bronson, back to the theme of the day. Yeah, it’s the final countdown. So it’s the last week in May. And Colorado has this agonizingly unique way of releasing draw results Bear first. ’cause everybody’s looking forward to that. Okay. Species, bears, deers, elks, antelopes, moose mice. How mice moose is, you know, so it’s anybody’s guessed, but so far bear and deer have been crushed. Cards, cards wise. Yeah.
00:07:11:18 –> 00:08:16:07
We’re not, we’re waiting for the portal jorts to be updated. And if you applied more than one choice and you’re, then there’s no way of telling yet. But by the time you hear this podcast, they might be, they might be loaded. That usually takes a day or so to load ’em. But what was very frustrating is I applied my whole family on one card and I went and looked at the charges and there’s four charges. Luckily for me, I only have four adults and they were all adult charges. So my two kids, adult fees? No youth fees. Youth fees, yeah. Speaking of adult Bronson. Oh, is this where, well, what have you been doing this week? You, you’ve got a youth moving from youth hood to adulthood, which puts you into, from adulthood to Grandpa Hood, maybe potentially. No, it doesn’t. I don’t, I was just wondering, just wondering how it feels to get old. Hey, you, you have two over 18 now. I have two. So I’m just up with you. What do you mean? I’m just glad somebody’s catching up here. I thought you Yeah, I had a Dodge Dodge gr daughter graduate high school. I, I thought you were talking about the other event that happened. Well, let’s talk about the other event. I know. So you’re at graduation yesterday? No, you’re getting ready. You’re, you’re, you’re getting ready. We’ve been hiking, not ready.
00:08:16:11 –> 00:09:28:29
We’ve been out being physical and getting ready for the hunts. And you decide to go ahead and challenge your son. I didn’t challenge to whatt what? A 50 yard dash. I didn’t challenge him. How’d that go? Well, this is how it all went. We had a nice event at Southern Utah University. I’ve got proof. The football field, video proof. Go ahead. And it went over. We took daughter graduated. It was a nice ceremony. It was nice. The wind wasn’t blowing. I was telling my wife, I can’t believe how nice a night it is to have an outside event that’s not blowing in Cedar City, Utah. They had to plant outside months in advance because of Covid and they could do that. And it’s been gusting 30 to 40 it feels like, for like a week. Straight 50 on Friday. And I just was thinking all those hats on those kids, 350 kids down there. I’m like, they would be gone. Yeah. Like, it would’ve been a mess. And everybody’s got their hair done. It’s nice. And it was just a perfect night. So it was over, we got our pictures done on the field. And for all of you that have teenage boys, alright, this boy’s caused you to lose toes, break fingers, what else? I don’t know. It’s just You have them too, Carter. I know. Oh, I know. And, and the, and when they start hitting 12, 13, 14, 15, think there’s something else. 15.
00:09:28:29 –> 00:10:36:24
It starts to Yeah, it, when my boy was starting to get inch and up taller than me, he’s taller than me. He blew by me a year and a half ago. He’s child. He’s unbelievably, he’s a tall kid now. Yeah. So he, but it’s still just this thing. And I, I dunno, my dad was a shorter dad, so I, I I was taller than him. I never like, I don’t know, wasn’t like the physical challenges for him. It’s You weren’t challenging him physically all the time. No, it didn’t, it didnt feel, did you feel it? Did you remember? But man, but, but maybe it’s, you know, anyway, but it’s on the basketball court. He, he elbowed me in the forehead last year and ended the one-on-one game with our whole family and my parents watching. And it was getting heated and I had a goose egg immediately go out about a, a three quarters of an inch on my forehead. I thought I had a, you know, chased him around the house. You had broke a foot. $14,000 in medical bills. Yeah. So last night tried to go on a sheep hunt. I hadn’t, I hadn’t raced him in a dash for probably two years. And last time I did it, I beat him. And so I’ve been just talking case’s 14 prob Yeah. Testosterone’s just getting going. Now he’s 16, he’s feeling his old. Yeah. And I haven’t done it. And I, Kay.
00:10:37:09 –> 00:11:38:11
In the month of May, Carter is our worst shape of the year. We’ve been at a desk job for six months. Right. We have no physical. We’re not physical. We don’t, Hey, the only thing we’ve been doing is getting in the mail. That’s right. Let’s be honest. So I’m in my worst physical shape. Like I, I’m, I’m, I’m softer, you know, I, I am. I’m not End of November. Bring it on. That’s the best I’m gonna be. Right. Okay. Then we get back in the office and it’s daylight. That’s right. It’s, it’s ba basically dark to dark in office. That’s office. That’s, that’s right. So he’s like, I occasionally we’ll talk, I’m like trash, like I’m dad. I I’m gonna beat you at, at a 50 yard dash till I’m 65. I’m just this’s gonna happen. I’ve just, I I’ve talked. So finally last night we’re out dressed up, dressed up with ties. Right. We’re on shirt and ties and Sunday attire. Yeah. And he’s like, dad, let’s do it right now. He’s like, dad, here we are on the football field, let’s do it. And I says, a hundred yards. I says, Ty, I could never beat you to a hundred yard. I no 50. He says, but no, not Ty, Zach, come on. He said, finally. I said, yes. Video’s rolling. I should not have said Yes. Your wife, your wife’s video in the event. Should we back up to the 50 yard line?
00:11:38:11 –> 00:12:55:11
He has a friend. Friend mean listen. Is keep in mind, there’s hundreds of people. Yeah. But this is a whole spectatorship. I mean, this is a long after. It’s everybody’s graduation. Yeah. If anybody there to watch this, throw the video up on the ground. Hashtag and tag, bro. Nobody’s watch. And this please, this is like just an afterthought. This is an hour afterwards. So first he fought start, he got a jump on me by like three yards before, before the count started. So, right then I started catching up. I, I knew I had ketchup about 20 yards in. I pulled a quad of, I felt a pop and a, and a burn in my leg of epic proportions. And I was hobb. I couldn’t make, I I was shut down. And yeah, it’s all on video. And what’s sad is he calls that a win. I mean, that’s like getting a flat tire and a drag race. You did. It didn’t win. We had mechanical failure. We need to go do it again. Oh, he’s reveling in this because he feels, oh. And he false started feels like not only did I crush you, you can’t even, you crippled can’t even yourself trying to beat you can’t even walk back to the pits. Yeah. And I’m hobbling around the house. So anyway, I’m, I guess I’m tapping out of those youthful games. Well, we all got teenage boys. Oh, we do. I, you know, we do.
00:12:55:13 –> 00:14:03:11
My kids have been lifting weights like crazy. And I’m impressed. Like they’re lifting. They, they have a, you know, pull boxing bag. Oh, they, dude, it’s nothing for them to do a hundred pullups, nothing. They’ll do it all. They’ll, and they’re just like, dad, we did this and this and this and this. And I’m like, you know, I gotta remind ’em what I remember me doing, their age, their age, and that anytime they wanna arm wrestle, I’m up for it. Because I, I know. No problem. No, no problem. I could do, I mean, you know, hey, may not be as good as it once was, but I’m good once as I was. That’s, that’s the song that was going through my mind last night when I was walking out there as Toby Keith. I can do this once. I just beat him once. No, just beat him once. Shut him up. I’m in Sunday shoes, belt tie, white shirt. What am I thinking? What are you thinking, boss? What are you thinking? And you didn’t even stretch. Oh, you didn’t even stretch. I mean, at least do something, you know, it’s just impromptu Don’t do stuff impromptu. All right. So anyway. Grandpa Hood coming on. Here we go. Huh? Hey, we’re all there. You know, it’s, it’s crazy. It’s pretty awesome time of year. All these draw results are coming out. We had Nevada come out and is unbelievable the results we had. Not us personally.
00:14:03:15 –> 00:15:15:09
Wyatt got an antelope tag. Everybody [email protected]. Congratulate him. If anybody has any information about the 2 22 41 antelope, hit him up. Give him a little boost. He’s super excited about it. But that’s all we got, Bronson. Yeah. It was, it was weak. Yeah. Personally, I, I don’t know how to, it was characterize we and why, why is it that we expect to draw? I I I was let down. I expect to draw everything I put in for. It’s possible the sheep tags. I don’t know how it is. And so why is it we’re so upset when we don’t, I don’t know, but I know my name’s gonna get pulled on one of these alternates. Somebody’s gonna turn something back. So there’s an option on there to turn the tag back immediately and boom, it gets reallocated. And then if you turn your tag back within for the 14 day window of when the hunt begins, it’s gonna go up for, let’s call it auction. It’s first come, first serve, it’s gonna go up. Yeah. And there’ll be a website. And I’m sure we’ll highlight that later this summer. That long about what? That’s gonna be the end of July. Well, let’s call it August 10th. I’m very interested on those texts that 14 days prior to that. Right. Yeah. 14 days. That July 27th, eighth, I don’t know whenever 14 days is. And they’re, they’re gonna reallocate ’em and then they’re gonna actually, you know, refresh it all fall.
00:15:15:09 –> 00:16:25:11
Yeah. And you have to, you can, you can get your tag. You can pick it up in an office or you can pay to have ’em overnight it, but there’s no printing it on your computer. I know that. So anyway, it’s not like you can just get one and, and you can do it during the season. So August 20th comes, the archery season’s still on. You could still potentially get one kind of interesting. Yeah. Anyway, that might be where we’re, where we’re, you know, we’re actually gonna have a section in the next publication. Broon Jennifer, opportunity, what’s left? Op options. Yeah. General. And some of it might actually have to highlight it for next year because like some of the Idaho stuff’s gone. Yeah. They used to December stuff. The be stuff you could buy in the summer, those days are gone. So we’re gonna highlight it earlier. So you can maybe plan ahead for December when stuff comes up next year. Are we gonna have a drop in bomb on mom section? I I’m not authoring that, are you? Well, I was, I don’t know. Probably not. No, I’m, are you? I know I’m not. No I’m not. But Josh here, the office, just a question is gonna, is gonna have in our section some different opportunities. May, may, may throw out a few of those options here and there. I’m not sure. We gotta see how, how this develops. Drawing somewhere.
00:16:25:11 –> 00:17:28:18
The line gets drawn at small game. I mean, big game. Yeah. Right. I don’t, I don’t know. Right. Yeah. So anyway, but lots of, lots of options out there for guys that are looking. We also have hunts. Devons working with our outfitters. He continually getting different openings and whatnot. Mexico seems like a good place to go. You just, they don’t, they’re not worried about covid down there. We dude, you’re, yeah, we’re, we’re, you know, referring K deer, mule deer hunts. Like it’s our job down there. Well it’s, it’s, it feels like it’s one of the places where there’s still a fair bit of availability, which is saying something. ’cause there’s not in the western states very much now, there is gonna maybe be a little bit of a, I can’t even call it a surge, but a little bit of a boost when New Mexico landowners find out what they get. And Colorado landowners find out what they get. And Outfitters might, oh, we got an extra tag or two that we didn’t think we would get this year in the draw. But you gotta realize they have pretty good waiting lists right now for guys beating down their door for tags. So it’s gonna be tough. If you’ve got connections, better reach out to ’em.
00:17:28:18 –> 00:18:39:19
Because Colorado land or deer tags and elk tags, New Mexico elk tags, they’re gonna be gobbled fast because it’s just the arrow we’re in this year with the draws being as tough as they are. Travel restrictions. We’ve said it over and over. Broken record. It’s the western US is, everybody’s focused on it for their hunting plans. ’cause they’re more certain you can do something here. It’s crazy. It is crazy. So yeah, the results of Nevada came up. There was a lot of people that drew sheep tags. Congratulations guys. That’s awesome. We had a lot of guys. Yeah. Muddies. It was great. It was good for guys. 2 13, 2 11. Dude, you guys had a old buddy of yours, Charlie. Yeah. Bill 4, 4, 1, 8, 2. Yeah, that’s right. Lot, lots of different, lots of different tags. Fun for people. Lots of gray elk tags. Of course. Nevada’s generally a, when it’s elk and sheep, it’s a big, big deal because they’re literally like sheep are once in a lifetime for most non-residents. Residents can draw three, four or five, whatever. I mean some do, they do three, four sheep tags, elk though they’re very rare there and even deer tags. So anyway, it’s good, good for them. We’re down now to the wire, I guess, of some of the states like where Wyoming and Idaho start. Maybe not.
00:18:39:19 –> 00:19:44:05
Maybe they are on the front burner for people that are still looking for deer or antelope or in case of, of Idaho deer, elk, and antelope options. If you didn’t apply for a moose, sheep and goat, you’ve got till June 5th. If you haven’t applied for Wyoming deer and antelope, you have till June 1st to get that in. If you’re left without something, you might wanna try to get more aggressive in those states and try to get something lined up and, and get drawn before it’s too late. Arizona, of course, June 8th. But Arizona’s a hard way to force your way in Carter, in the mule deer world, at least if you’re looking at k COO’s deer, you can force your way in. Yeah. With minimal points pretty easily in a lot of places. Mule deer’s a little different. Of course. But you know, we, we did highlight that new country down there, four six A. Yeah, we were talking about 1 cent. I know. And that’s a random draw. And we also had some tag reductions, you know, the Chiba Yeah. Some of that. Yeah. Jeez. So that’s what I mean, it’s, it’s hard way to, even on early hunts, it’s, you can’t just force your way into that. That takes double digit points for non-residents to get a guaranteed tag in a kibab. So Pete, speaking of the strip in the Kaaba country, Bronson, let’s just bring that up a little bit.
00:19:44:07 –> 00:20:50:28
We did have, you know, a good friend of ours that’s an outfitter and runs cattle down there. We talked to him as he was bringing all his cows off the strip already. What did he say? He said already bringing ’em off in May. Okay. But on top of that, he says we, because of that nature of the country down there, he says, we normally don’t bring ’em all off pretty much ever. He says, and that hasn’t happened since the fifties. Yeah, it’s dries and I, I don’t, Chris you were out there. I was down there two weekends ago and the guy that runs the cows there, that’s, I, that’s who I went with. We went to bring in cows that were just not doing well. Basically went and checked them. He said usually this time of year they’re belly high and fat. And he said, in my lifetime, and he’s probably 72 years old, been out there his whole life. He said, in my lifetime, I’ve never seen it this bad. Ever. Wow. This is in the strip and the ponds, they have a lot of man, man, manmade ponds, dirt tank. There’s very little, if any running water out there. Yeah. So they have dirt tanks and guzzlers and they’ve, they, they have got a bunch of springs that he’s developed. Yeah. And they have water. But that, that, that’s only right there where the water’s at. Right. Yeah.
00:20:51:09 –> 00:21:56:00
Just pour, it’s the dirt tanks are dry. It’s scary. Most of the dirt, dirt tanks are dry. So Yeah. So how can it be good? That’s all I guess we’re saying from the Southern. We’ve said it over and over. How can you have two rough years back to back? But I don’t know how you’re gonna have a great one. I don’t know how it’s, this is gonna be maybe the exception. But having said that, from our country north and what we’re talking like Bronson mid, we just watched it snow mid Oh, midway up Nevada Center part of Nevada. Yeah. And, and so yeah, they, they’re tracking I think below a hundred percent below normal. But it’s not like our 20 to 40% of normal down in our country. I was actually surprised this weekend over in toward Grand Junction Fruita. And they’re way greener than we are. Right. I was surprised. Yeah. ’cause that, it feels like they would be in a similar area, but they’ve got a lot more green than we even over the hill on parts of the pons gone places. It’s just d cedar is bad. I dunno. Here you mean right here? Yeah. Cedar, where we live is like, feels like the worst in southern Utah. I don’t know. It does, it does feel rough. But anyway, so anybody that’s drawn tags from the center part of Nevada and North, like go have a blast.
00:21:56:04 –> 00:23:00:03
I mean, Bronson, that’s where we applied. Yeah. A lot of our applications were, we did, we shifted a little bit. You know, the, I just don’t feel how the southern end Nevada’s gonna be elite this year. I just, it’s kind of what we’re talking about with Northern Arizona. Premier strip units. These are high, they’re high desert, they’re desert units to begin with. They had, you know, it was worse, worse moisture than last year. I, I don’t know how. And, and we’re talking about the, the stream southern units in Nevada. Yeah. But anyway, kind, kind of interesting. But that was just a little update for everybody that’s wondering, having said that, you know, when you talk to guys on the strip who there’s always a few 200 inches always and two tens. There just might not be the big number of two twenties. And this might be a year for a guy with less than max points that you have better random drawing odds. Yeah. ’cause there’s gonna be a lot of people sit out. Yeah. You know what I mean? And so maybe this is a chance for you to have a little better odds. Yeah. And get a tag, you know. Yeah. You’re just not gonna expect those very upper echelon bucks. And so anyway, and then Colorado, we’ve had, you know, everybody, like we’ve alluded to and we’ve talked a little bit, these cards have been hit.
00:23:00:10 –> 00:24:15:23
And it looks like, I mean, right off the bat, we can tell like 68 third was a four to five point jump. Like we talked about guys with 11 didn’t draw and guys with 12 did draw. We know that was somewhere right in there. That’s where it happened. And 54 looks like a Yeah. Three. Three pointers. Three. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, we’ll see. But it’s that time of year, a lot of stuff coming down the pipe. And Bronson, we have a load of freaking tag application deadlines coming up like tomorrow. Your favorite Washington. Huh? Washington. May 26th get your app in. Is it in? No, it’s not. You should be alive. You got, you got openings in your schedule? No. Well, I do for a sheet, but, but I, I’ve elected in the past and it’s not worth your one 5,000 type draws. Four, 3000, whatever for 110 bucks. It’s just one of the ones I’ve never added, I guess. And, and their squared point system with mid twenties points, you know? Right, right. Lot. A lot coming up. So anyway, we’ve got Wyoming. You know, we’ve answered a lot of questions. Of course. We answer the phones here at Epic Outdoors. You guys need something, we’re here to help you. But June 1st we got deer and antelope. That’s right. It’s mentioned a minute ago, but you’re, you’re gonna wanna rethink it.
00:24:15:24 –> 00:25:24:24
The hard part about Wyoming deer, it’s not a, a elite trophy, mule deer’s destination, so to speak. There’s a lot of good options, a lot of solid options. Frankly, their best units that produce probably the most 180 plus potential deer are general season areas. Region, GNH, which means there’s a lot of tags, residents, hunter over the counter. It doesn’t feel like you’ve drawn a limited entry tag and or hunting something elite. You’re there with a lot of people. But that’s, that’s just Wyoming and the sheds are fine. And, and the deer, the health of the her, everything seems pretty darn good right now. Yeah. The majority of what you would call their limited quota deer units are simply limited quota because they can’t sustain general hunting pressure over the time. So they’ve made a limited quota not to make them elite trophy quality just to manage harvest tighter. That’s it. They don’t manage ’em for elite bucks. Having said that, there’s some late hunts like 1 28 and that can, that are unique late season route hunts that can do that. But it’s still general season bucks deer coming from general buck wintering down there. That’s right. Be like our general, like a late muzzle. That’s right. On our general hunting it to November 20th. Yeah, you’re gonna kill a few bucks that show up and ru.
00:25:25:12 –> 00:26:31:00
But anyway, but having said that, if you don’t have a deer tag, you should look at it, get aggressive, try to draw a deer tag there. Obviously antelope, there’s a plethora of options up there. We covered, I don’t know, 40 or 50 units in the magazine. Varying different point breakdowns for Wyoming in terms of what it takes to draw. I guarantee whether you’re in the regular draw, there’s special draws, special draws. Just simply are you willing to pay more for your license and in theory have better drawing odds in many cases that does pan out or, or not. Yeah. So anyway, keep that in mind. Deadline coming up fast. June 1st. June 1st. Yeah. And we’ve got guys that are not getting charged on their card. They want to be charged. Right. In Colorado. I’ve got guys saying I’m gonna be applying in Wyoming. Now a lot of people wait, you know, they do. And we do, we do ourselves, we, we alter it. And this year it’s nice they moved the Colorado jars up about a week. So helps. We’re gonna know this week before you have to apply for Wyoming and Idaho. Same with Idaho. So Idaho June 5th is a deadline for deer, elk, and antelope. A lot of guys are looking to do that. Absolutely. We believe you should be doing that. Unless you applied for sheep or goat or moose, you’d have the ability to do that. That’s right.
00:26:32:01 –> 00:27:38:01
So it is a little bit costly to buy a hunting license, but, but hey, I guess it’s just the cost you gotta put forth in a non-point state. If you want another chance to draw a tag at this state in the game, if you’re not have, don’t have any options. We do a lot of consulting on California. Why do we do that Bron? We do. Well, I mean, you know, fair bit. A lot of it’s for residents, frankly. I mean we have a lot of residents that that want us to cover that we do. Because from a, well, from a non-resident perspective, it’s hard to justify. Like my Washington comment earlier, I know if you didn’t get started earlier, back on the max point sheet dry or something, it’s a hard state to justify with. It’s up to one antelope tag up to one elk tag in the state for non-resident and up to 10% sheep tags. I think two this year. Deer, you know, it’s anybody, right? Yeah. It’s weird. It’s all over the place. Kind of different. Anybody can get deer tags up to 10% on it, on sheep and only one elk tag and only up to one anal tags kind of June 2nd. Yeah. Hard to justify June, June 2nd. And then of course we talked, you know, deadline for California to wrap that up. And then, you know, June eight we talked about for Arizona. And then the one last one, Bronson, Montana.
00:27:38:11 –> 00:28:40:01
Antelope. Montana Antelope. Oh, oh, Iowa. Yeah, I was, I was June actually, it might apply this year. Might apply. You know, I’m still praying about it. Yep, that’s right. Got till June 6th. But that’s not one you even think about if you don’t have a place lined up before you apply because it’s, you know, a private land dominated state there. You, you don’t just apply and then find something later. It’s, you gotta have it lined up. By the way, we heard rumblings that Kansas had like 7,000 more applicants that, you know, may or may not end up with tax. There might be some problems, might might’ve had a lot of those have been, you know, 90% draw with zero points maybe stuff shift this year. We’ll, we’ll have to wait until see the, and, and then don’t, you know, don’t forget your Montana antelope. We will have to remind Wyatt. Maybe he can do an antelope state to state to state. You know what I mean? I think he’s got a general deer elk combo up there. Or deer only. Can’t remember. He’s gonna be going up there. We should bring that up to him. Let’s do it. Give him the tip of the day. Well, we’ll tell him 200 bucks the cheapest antelope tag in the West. We might have to do a GoFundMe page. Make sure it gets it. You know what I mean? Don’t want to have that excuse that it’s not worth it.
00:28:40:06 –> 00:29:53:22
It is pretty cheap and it is a June 1st deadline. Not Yeah, we could have easily not brought that one up. But it is staggered outside the other species. Montana covers. Don’t know why they do it, but I guess they do it. So you got until June 1st to add a Wyoming an or Ida or Montana antelope. Too many antelope states coming up here. Way too many antelope states. That’s right. All right, well, you know what I was thinking, should we cold call somebody that I am a little nervous to cold call. Don’t really. Who’s that? Well, a guy that drew the Silver State Dear Tag in Nevada. Should we just see how he felt, feels to draw Gvv tech Never, I’ve never felt it before. Wondering if he could express this, if you feel he would not hate you for doing so. I guess let’s just see what he has to say. Let’s just see, see how it goes. I don’t know. That was quick. We were just, we’re on the Epic Outdoors podcast and you’re like the luckiest guy we know. We just wanna know what it feels like to beat one in five or six or 7,000 type draws and win the lottery. So it was weird because the guy from Fish and Game called me Sunday night and he said, he told me his name, said he was from Nevada Department of Wildlife.
00:29:54:08 –> 00:31:18:21
And he says, John, do you, do you, do you realize what you drew? I said, yeah, basically I asked him what my odds were and he said I was one and 10,000. No kidding. Well, yeah. Wow. I’d like to beat those odds once. Wow. So, all right. So everybody out there, our buddy John, John Hymes there in Nevada, he’s got the Silver State Deer tag. It’s a governor’s tag. They give one, they give one silver state and it’s good for, you know, to residents or non-residents. And you’re the lucky sucker that drew it. Well, I’m lucky to know some good friends too. So that’s what makes me happy. Well, pretty special and yeah. Envy of a lot of people. August 1st you get a pack, pack a rifle, but are you gonna use a bow in August just to make it fair or what? Do what’s your thoughts there? No. Are you? Well, no, I have a bow, but I’ll tell you, I promise I am not good with it. So I’m getting, I’m gonna, I’m gonna bring my trusty six five Creedmore the thunder stick. Yeah. And see if that will get it done for us. That’s awesome. Well, we’re super stoked for you. Pretty awesome. And you know, John, like you’ve killed, you’ve killed some great bucks. I mean, you’re no stranger to killing a big deer. I have killed a couples dang nice deer that I’m proud of.
00:31:18:27 –> 00:32:30:08
I I let one get away last year. That haunts me every day still. Yeah. So I’m hoping to go find his big brother. So, all right. Besides this tag, there’s one other significant tag that will you, your family, drew, why don’t you go ahead and enlighten everybody on that one? Yeah. Well, so the story was, it was about midnight. My kid has been playing college football. So he’s got, he had 12 points for bull elk. He had eight points for deer. He’s in Colorado doing summer cells. And so I, I called him about nine o’clock and I’m saying, Zach, you’re gonna, you’re gonna draw that elk tag. I guarantee it. I mean, but bill points, you’re gonna draw that tag. I said, it comes out at midnight. He’s like, dad, I’m spent, I’m tired. He goes, I’m just gonna go to bed. I’ll look in the morning. And about 1145, I start getting text messages from him mattered. And hell, I didn’t draw a dang thing. I, stupid Nevada. I’m so tired of it. I’ve waited for six years to draw a ta. You know, I get that. I get that. And then I walk in the other room, my wife’s on the computer. I’m like, what are you doing? She was like, can’t figure out how to get on the stupid website. She’s trying to figure it out. I had a, a buddy text me and said, did you draw anything?
00:32:30:08 –> 00:33:53:05
And I’m like, no, I didn’t draw anything. And then about two minutes later, I get an email and I’m, I’m still kind of half asleep because I had fallen, fallen asleep. And then I look and it said, any legal weapon? August 1st. And I’m like, what the heck? And then I look up and it says Silver state tag. And I just flipped out. Geez. Unbelievable. So then my, my other kid calls Gannon from Idaho. He’s up in Rexburg and we’re on FaceTime and my wife says, I just got an email. Oh, you know what I drew, I drew a sheep tag 2 68. Oh, muddies your wife. Muddy. Unbelievable. My wife did. Which I’d hunted the muddies with my buddy lane last year for 14 days. And we shot a heck of a ram out of there. Like a 1 73 3, yeah, 1 73. Yeah. And so we were stu that was, well actually wasn’t one of those ones. I sent you the picture of Jason, but I mean, we had, it was the funnest hunt ever. I mean, we were on sheep every day. Anyways, we, we ended up and shot the sheep that we called Brother Bill, that we’d had old the day before the hunt at 150 yards. And we decided he wasn’t good enough. And then we started looking at the pictures and like, gosh, he is, you know, and we came back. And anyways, he went 1 73, he a broken left foot. Geez. Crazy.
00:33:53:09 –> 00:35:02:24
That dude is like 14 miles south from where we saw him the day before the hunt opened. No way. Wow. Yeah. Wow. So now your wife’s got a tag, and what are you, what are you guys gonna be holding out for? So there’s, there’s three rams, three target Rams we had last year in the muddies. And we actually found all three of ’em. We missed, my friend missed one of ’em. So there’s one in there that’s really long, really long. I 38, 39. Wow. Now that’s what her husband wants her to shoot. But I, I guess I gotta see what she wants. That’s right. And how much time and how much time they can devote. It’s tough, you know, kids and family. It’s, and everything you got going, so, and then how much time you’re gonna have in on this deer hunt. It’ll be an interesting year for you guys. I’m excited for you. It is. I’m, I’m definitely as, as I texted the other day, I’m feeling a little bit nervous and you were telling me not to be, but it’s, it’s hard. It’s hard not to feel like you need to shoot a buck worthy of that tag. Oh no. Yeah, it is.
00:35:02:28 –> 00:36:14:04
I mean, it, you feel like you’ve gotta have, you’re, you’re conjuring up visions of, you know, the best, best of your life or whatever, or, or all the other bucks you’ve ever seen killed on similar type tags or things like that over the years in Nevada. And it does come with a little bit of a mantle of, you know, expectation, I guess. And, you know, you never know. You might be in November the 20th is crunching in on you and the ruts crunching and the bucks are rutting and you’re like, Dar, we’re hunting sheep in December. I’m still hunting deer right now. Yeah, there you go. You might have to put her sheep on. Who knows? You never know. Yeah, that’s what, that’s why I called Jason and I said, what are we doing buddy? Yeah. Well, well anyway, Nevada’s a big state. It’s, that’s a good thing. It’s, it’s a big deer can come from a lot of different places. It’s, it’s a blessing. I’m not gonna call it a curse, but it’s a blessing’s also. Oh, it’s kind a curse also. You’re not narrowed down like you are 2 68 for sheep. It’s like, that’s only with the finite season. It feels like you’ve got the whole state for four months, you’re gonna quit your job. Of course you’re lucky you could, gas is three $54 a gallon flood rising Biden ain’t gonna let us off that sheep. Well, all right.
00:36:14:15 –> 00:37:27:08
We just wanted to say, Hey, I just wanted to know what it feels like to win the lottery. We’ve never done it. So, you know, that’s the second time though. I think I’ve done it. The first one, I got lucky and married the right woman. So there you go. I’m, I’m feeling, I’m feeling pretty good. Hey, he’s saying all the right answers, man. Wow. Oh, well, hey, she wants, she wants to go shoot a sheep with, you know. That’s right. And I get a tag along with her. I’m pretty happy. That’s, that’s pretty good. Wow. Congrats. Pretty fun. Appreciate you sharing that with us, us today. All right, guy, we wish you the best. We’ll be in touch. All right. Okay. All right. Yep. Bye. That’s fun. It’s, there are people at the end of statistics, the one in 10 thousands. There’s people, there’s real life breathing individuals with the Nevada department ID number and valid hunter safety card and a gun in hand. That’s, that’s, that’s the statistic. It’s, there’s people, you got a chance. All right. Well’s that time of year scouting is, it’s, it’s beginning Bronson, it’s here, it’s, we’re we’re going right from the office straight to the hills. What’s that gonna happen? Well, may is the month where you pretty much get dealt your cards for about the rest of the year. There’s a few states we talked about. There’s still gonna be pending, but it’s the time of year.
00:37:27:09 –> 00:38:38:29
You need gear, you need optics. Give us a call. We’ve done our very best to over-order, if that’s a way of putting it overage. We have overage here. Yeah. To put stuff on the shelf is Well, in a covid environment, you gotta have inventory. Yeah. We’re stashing. And so we’re, we’re ordering heavy. We don’t always get our full orders, but we’re doing the very best we can. And we’re aggressive, more aggressive than anybody else we know. Let’s put it that way. In ordering, over ordering. So give us a call. If you’re looking for something, we can, hopefully we have it. If not, we get it on order. Whether it’s binos, spotting scopes, rifle scopes, whatever. That’s still out there. Still out there. Leica Vortex, six L, rain finders, whatever it is. Also trail cameras. Carter, you know, we got a load of cameras. We have an entire room dedicated to cameras and a couple of different models as well as boxes. Bronson, I mean, it’s awesome. And a lot of these states, you know, like Nevada came down with a trail camp season. I mean, it’s more important than ever to make sure you’ve got coverage out there. If you’re, if you’re serious about it and you like to run cameras until the, some people don’t like running them or, or whatever. They like to do family things in the summer more so, and maybe a little less scouting and wait for the hunts. That’s all.
00:38:39:08 –> 00:39:48:09
It’s all good. But if you like to run cameras, you’ve got until August 1st. August 1st, you can’t run ’em anymore for the purpose of hunting or, or whatever. There’s an exact rule out there. But you might buy a few more. I, I mean, that’s the way, that’s the way I look at it. I need them. July is critical, you know, in Utah, they’ve, they, they haven’t limited anything. They’re, they’re, they’re discussing a few things. I don’t see it going away. Totally. Pretty much. But I mean, maybe, maybe a season, maybe not. Maybe, maybe it’s not that big a deal. The Wildlife Board gets to decide that. But having said that, it’s time to start getting ’em out. Yeah. Bottom line it is. And let’s go through the, the base, I guess few of the models that we have. Yeah, we do have a, the 45 max two, it’s an incredible camera. Just, just one of those. I’ve actually Bron and I’m running a test with like, sift six different models in my backyard on an Aspen. Right. Gotta make it real anyway. And they’re all in the same exact tree and the same rough settings. It’s rough. It’s the same basic settings I can get. And it’s pretty impressive. It’s, it’s awesome. And we do have some of the best cameras in stock and we maintain that. So there are some, a cheaper model too. We have a stealth that’s a little bit cheaper.
00:39:48:13 –> 00:40:56:23
I think Bronson, we’re selling ’em for, I wanna say $55. And so if you need a, a good coverage camera or it’s an up close, you know, big biggest dis difference is it’s not, you know, rated for a hundred foot distance at night watch. You know what I mean? Yep. But it is snappy. It’s fine. It’s taking pictures like crazy doing, taking a lot of daytime pitchers for, you know, certain species and things like that. You don’t take as many night pitchers like nocturnal watering deer, mule deer, things like that. Other things that are daytime. Well, and I even think, like, you could do the nocturnal ones. If you’ve got like, like say a guzzler tent footer and they’re drinking outta a tank, right. You’re gonna get ’em not a pond that’s 50 yards across. So anybody who needs the cheaper ones than great. And these are member prices and, and yeah. And whatnot. So anyway, and then we have the 45 max twos. I mean, those are like 129 bucks, 34 max, 30 fours, you know, the 30 fours are 119 bucks. And so, I mean, you know, very, very economical, affordable here at Epic Outdoors for, for the members member pricing. So anyway, you can become a member if you’re not by going to epic outdoors.com. It’s a hundred dollars a year. And of course there’s, it’s not like a Costco membership.
00:40:56:24 –> 00:42:13:24
We’re, the bulk of our business is the publication and drawing odds, kill percentages, best units, comments and consulting, helping you obtain Western big game tax. Not necessarily buying optics and buying trail cameras, but a good side benefit. You’re gonna pay for your membership. If you’re buying something, you’re gonna pay for your membership in large part, in one purchase. That’s right. Well, and you’re gonna have that as a tool to apply more effectively and inform throughout the year. We also are, right now, as an incentive, we’re having a membership drive. It’s highlighted [email protected] or in the new magazine. And the hunts that we’re given, we’ve blown through ’em before, but I guess we can, again real fast, we’re given up until the deadline is June 20th Father’s Day, which is Father’s Day. Hey, it’s our favorite day, right? That’s right. Fathers deserve to have a day. That’s right. So we’ve got a desert sheep hunt as an entry. We’ve got a Nevada elk hunt, we’ve got a Alaska Grizzly Bear Hunt, Colorado Mule Deer, Mexico, COOs Deer, Utah Mountain Lion. And then we have a, a big optics package there. 13,500 That’s right. As well as a bonus ticket for a Nevada 2 31 Mule Deer tag. All the details are in our publication, the May and June publication, or our [email protected].
00:42:14:12 –> 00:43:30:28
Again, the way you get tickets in or to join our service within this drive period up until June 20th, or refer somebody who joins up until June 20th, or purchase tickets individually for those individual hunts. All right, everybody. Well, that’s pretty much it, Bronson. We went through all the states, the, the application deadlines, the things we’re looking at personally, which is to draw a freaking tag. You know, we’ve got a tag, ah, a tag. That’s where we’re talking. We’ve, that’s what we’re talking about. But we have, I have to try antelope in Wyoming. Kids and women that’ve got tags. And so we’re gonna be plenty busy and we’re not going without tags. Both of ours, we have backup and kids have elite tags. And I 20 plusers for your wife and my wife in different states, 2020 plus points cash. Wow. Yeah. It’s a big year for women and children around here. And so anyway, we’re excited about that. We do have general, but Brons, and I’ve got the dedicated, I’m gonna try to make good on here in a co covid dry environment here in Utah. But anyway, hopefully that works out. I’ve got general, so I don’t, I mean, you know, I’m not saying with that Tagless No, we got tags and then, and then we always pick up a landowner tag or two. Gonna got a general Idaho deer. Yeah. We, we do have that. But those are things we bought.
00:43:31:02 –> 00:44:35:07
Like we bought a general tag. We, we have a lifetime license or slash dedicated in Utah. I’m talking about, oh, I, I surprisingly drew a tag. We neither have I know, have that happen. But, but, but also, okay, so if I’m consulting us and I had a guy say that, Hey, I cannot draw a tag. Oh. And I look at his portfolio and I say, that’s by choice. I guarantee you I could draw you tags right now with the points you have. Yes. We’re always trying to, to maximize we have options. Yeah. Our points. And then we apply for something we might not get. It’s a natural human thing. I might get it. I might not. If I get it, I’m ecstatic. If I don’t, I guess I wish I would’ve gotten it, but I don’t. You never apply for something that’s an easy draw. No. You know? Yeah, that’s true. We do. I I do feel that we’re by choice, by by choice. Willing to get stuff and by choice, not drawing, but also by choice. Willing to try general tags in Idaho and all that, that Right. Most of the time don’t pan out. Sometimes they do. Well sometimes you, you apply and trade it in, right. We apply and we draw a special tag and we trade it. We trade the general for Yeah, I’d take that. Our limited entry tag. We’ll see. So see if that works.
00:44:35:23 –> 00:45:46:25
I do feel like Nevada shorted me. Yeah. I had eight. I applied for stuff I shouldn’t applied for. Oh. I had 50 50 odds on stuff I didn’t get. Learn a new stuff. That’s a long ways away from us. Yeah, maybe that’s a blessing. Maybe there’s something better in store for you. And you’ll find out that next, next week, I’m, I’m praying for that. So. All right, everybody. But anyway, that’s where we’re at. You can, if you don’t have a tag, you know, we do have a section coming up that’s gonna help you get tags far as, you know, general and easier to draw or whatever. Some of these turn back options. Exactly. The process. Like say Colorado. Colorado, yeah. Nevada’s new system. There’s things you can do General season, Colorado. Well, whatever. You know, that’s come up in the summer issue the Mac. That’s right. So anyway, a lot, lot’s gonna come down the pipe here with the next publication. And then anyway, you can also apply in our membership drive. Get some tickets in there. Bronson. We’re playing drives. We’re playing, you know, raffles across the western states. Different Mul foundation does some, Hey, let’s talk about that Army of what? At the banquet the other night. Classic example. Oh dude, I got to announce to my boys. So Bronson, Bronson and, and, and, and 20 plus years’ earned going to these sheep you’ve earned banquets. Lots of sheep banquets, lots of applying.
00:45:47:01 –> 00:47:09:11
I’ve done some, applying some banquets. Sometimes it’s a little tougher in May. Like this was a May 15th banquet. I I have kids, my wife, they’re, you know, pulling 14 directions, shed hunting it’s dad life. Hashtag down. You got Nevada opens up in May and they’re Yeah. And turkeys. And we finished it and we did kill a slug of bunch of turkeys. But anyway, so you, you attend. So our point is, yeah, I went down there n never expecting to win. They’re fundraisers. Right? Just like a lot of these tickets that we enter for drives and raffles and things like that. Well I won fully paid for Northwest Territories, doll, sheep, Arctic, red River Outfitters, and arctic Red. You can’t even buy your way in. Like that’s, it’s unbelievable. The luck you have. Well, hey, you say that, but like I, if I had to line up how many I’ve put in, I’ve been to that for 20 years, that event. So with your wife listening, how much would you say you’ve put out to gain? So if you put out 30 k ’cause that’s what, that tag’s basically worth that, huh? I don’t recall. I don’t Yeah. That seems like a, a lawyer type response. Yep. Anyway, I, I advice to keep it at that. But you, you’ve played, you’ve paid your dues. You’re gonna kill a big old sheep one of these days. It’s, I don’t know which year it’s, it’s be what, what year?
00:47:09:11 –> 00:48:18:28
Because you ain’t going in a covid environment. 23 or 24 is what it was when they gave it away. But I guess we’ll see this year it’s not looking good for another round of sheep hunters going up there. And if that doesn’t happen, I don’t know, but I don’t care. You don’t care. It’s on the books. Yeah. Somewhere, somewhere. Somebody’s keeping track of that. Somebody you’re gonna get up, you got airline tickets and, and maybe a, does that even include GST in the 14,000 little knicknacks that Canada roughly 30,000 of. It’s pretty paid. Doesn’t matter. Right? That’s right. Pretty awesome. Big chunk. You did, you won. So yeah, I’m feeling, I I’m feeling due for something else. You won. And so you know what Bronson, we were gonna kind of end this podcast, but what if we talk to our good buddy Rob Douglas, who also won? Oh yeah. Why don’t you lead off on that? Yeah. Tell us what he won. So a couple years ago we drew a couple spring brown bear hunts. We gave one away in the winter drive and one away in the spring drive with Dam Montgomery Alaska trophy adventures. And for a peninsula spring bear hunt, which was supposed to take place last year. Covid environment, last May. And it didn’t. The bear hunts most of Alaska. I’m not gonna say all ’cause I can’t quantify that perfectly, but these hunts were not able to happen.
00:48:19:13 –> 00:49:41:13
Some of the June hunts last year were able to happen due to ’cause some covid restrictions that lightened up in the June. Hunters could go. That’s right. The May couldn’t. So they got rolled to this year and him and her other winner went and crushed a couple 10 footers. Giants big bears. I mean, yeah, let’s give him a call. I’ve been twice, I can’t kill a bear to save Well, you’ve been once. You’ve really, and I chose, and I chose, I, I chose, I wanted a, I wanted what they killed. Let’s see. Yeah. So let’s how they feel in the spirit of winning things that are fun and exciting and different, and raffle and being lucky. That’s right. All right. Let’s call Rob Douglas. Got a name. Have a name in the hat to win. It’s the biggest thing. Can’t win without it. Jason Carter’s office. We just wanna know, Bronson and I are on the podcast. We just wanna know what it’s like to win and smash a giant. It’s pretty amazing. You back home and all settled. Dude, this is, hey, this is a crazier story. Okay. The guy I was standing next to three years ago when you guys called, you Let me win that hunt, is standing next to me today. Holy cow cow. You guys need to go to God. Go buy lotto tickets. Swear to God. Wow. Geez. That, what do they call that? Lucky. They call it good luck.
00:49:41:21 –> 00:50:57:06
Like, or they call it. What does, what does the word serendipity mean? Is that something different? I don’t know. I don’t know. No. Okay. We’d have to Google that. That’s the Geico. Geico lizard says that. What does that mean? So how was it buddy? So let me tell you that that guy Dan Montgomery and his, I call it his wife, I think, yeah, Lori, they’re not actually married, but they’re definitely a significant other. Significant other for 40 some years. And Hank, you could not find more genuine, honest, awesome people in the entire world. Yeah. Wow. Unbelievable. Wow. Unbelievable. It’s almost like going there and all of a sudden now I’m hunting with say, my aunt and uncle or my, my older brother or so. I mean, it was, it was seriously that, that Cool. Well, we just got done talking about kind of raffles and year end stuff, and there’s a few things in our membership drive, and you popped into our head about, we went winning this hunt a couple, a couple years ago, and last year due to covid, it was postponed because you couldn’t get there in May and you just went up there. So briefly tell us about, I mean, we, we teed it up that you smashed a giant, but tell us just a little bit about your hunt.
00:50:57:06 –> 00:52:27:25
It’s a quick story we don’t wanna take all day, but just something quick, quick story is, you know, I talked to Dan logistically, it’s not an easy place to get to. And a lot of those things in Alaska aren’t. But logistically, I talked to Dan, he lined me out, get on this flight, book this flight, do this, you know, want you there a couple days before season, or we want you there to try and to attempt to get there a couple days because things go wrong in Alaska. Weather, airplanes. Yeah. All, everything. So I did everything Dan told me, I packed every single item on Dan’s gear list of what to bring. Took off, went up there. You know, he kind of informed me that we, how we’d be hunting, we’d be looking for big grassy pastures, or we’d be looking for something dead on the beach. You know, they, the bears basically sit on this mountain range that’s, I don’t know, five to seven miles away from the ocean. And they come outta hibernation. They sit there on the middle of a snowbank and start running their nose and they can smell a dead walrus or a dead seal, or a dead whale or dead something. And they take off and walk a straight line to their first meal in, you know, several months. And it was, it was truthfully exactly like Dan said it would be.
00:52:28:06 –> 00:54:03:24
He, you know, he told me what I should expect. I don’t know how many bears I saw. I was only there technically for four days. Wow. I probably saw 25 bears. I saw another bear that he’s like, that bear’s a giant too. He was on his way to something else. I believe that his other customer that drew it at the epic tag possibly killed that bear. And he killed the giant too. Yeah. Unbelievable. Two 10 footers. Right. Well, I spent about 20 more days than you did on my hunt. I saw a lot of bears, but I didn’t see what you, what you killed or even close to it. So it’s pretty, pretty impressive. Different place. Of course. So, so truthfully, I have hunted right next door to Dan’s place I hunted on it was was Bill Stevenson’s deal. And I, I, maybe it still is Bill Stevenson. I saw Bill when I was up there, but I think cash something is running it now. And I mean, I literally hunted within 15 miles. Okay. When I hunted with Bill Stevenson and I actually hunted with cash himself. And on that trip in the fall, I easily saw a hundred bears. And I, I, I saw a couple giants and they just simply got away from it. Just couldn’t catch up to ’em or whatever. Wow. Yeah. I mean, when they just take, when they take off walking, they’re in a straight line.
00:54:03:26 –> 00:55:18:12
Oh, you guys, these stories, you don’t have a prayer. You can’t even walk fast. You can’t, you can’t outwalk ’em and you can’t catch up to ’em and you can’t cut ’em off. No. Just gotta be, you know, and a lot of, a lot of hunters think that a guide is giving up before that they’ve even started. Well, they’ve done it. They’ve just tried so many times before. They know all you’re doing is create, you’re just creating a scent line of human scent. Why even go after that? You’re ruining it. Get your scent out in there. Yeah. And mess it up. You’re possibly ruining it. Or you’ve created this scent line and now the now a bear or a different bear is gonna pick up that scent line and follow that. And that’s not a bear you wanted to hunt anyways. Right, right. So, pretty crazy. So did you have, was it a close encounter? Anything? How’d the crazy, how’d the kill go down? So, literally watched the bear that I killed, watched him for almost 24 hours. It wasn’t getting dark until like, I think it got dark at 1126 at night. And we watched him till literally dark the whole day before, until dark. Woke up super early the next morning and the bear was laying on top of this dead killer whale. Wow. I mean, that was his prize. There was many bears around.
00:55:18:14 –> 00:56:37:01
There was at least four other good bears around that whale waiting for their turn, life for peace. He’s like, I’m sleeping on this thing. Wow. He, he would, he would jump on top of it and yank parts of meat off of it and whatnot. And he’d eat for 10 minutes and then he’d just literally fall down out of exhaustion and just fall asleep. And he’d fall asleep for 20 or 30 minutes. And he’s like, drug induced man. Well, and he, he’s just, Dan even said that this bear’s only been awake for less than a week, you know, and it’s, he’s not, he’s not fully functioning. Right. You know. Wow. But he’s also challenging any other bear, you think you’re big enough come take. Yeah. There was no challenge. It was simply a look. So he would, he would just, another bear would walk up and I, when I say walk up, I mean with anything within a hundred yards, he would look over and just give him a look like, ha don’t even think about it. And they would leave. They would, there was nothing close encounter whatsoever. I mean, maybe the closest encounter was 20 yards and that was two bears coming to this big bear. And there was no fighting or nothing. It was just a look. And they would walk away. So now it’s your time to go kill King, king Kong.
00:56:37:08 –> 00:57:49:11
And you gotta get through six bears that are in the, laying in the bushes within three are hungry, that are hungry, hungry. And, and then you gotta shoot one. How do you this thread rot needle, you got this rotten corpse laying under it. So now you’re gonna have to deal with all that. This is gonna get good. Tell us more. So literally the bear that I killed did, did me right in so many ways. He got up and walked away from the whale and he went and laid in the bearing sea to cool off, I guess, really. And he needed to wash off ’cause he was spreading his scent around that whale. And he was making a big mess. So he laid in the bearing sea maybe for five minutes, and then he had to swim to shore probably about, I don’t know, 80 to a hundred yards. And, but when he was gonna come up, it was a real steep bank and you didn’t exactly know where he was gonna come to. So we just ran around a bluff and took off running and tried to guess in general that we were above perpendicular to where we thought he was gonna come out and downwind because, you know, he could have caught our sin and then just never came out or, or ran down the bank or something. And we would’ve never seen that.
00:57:50:08 –> 00:59:04:13
And he came out and actually walked down a real flat spot on the shore and then came up over the bank and it was 268 yards and I shot him. Wow. Wow. What’d you shoot him with? What gun? Three 40 weatherby mag. Wow. And it held, it held four shells and I shot all four shells. Yeah. All four just, yeah. Went and took a bath, cleaned all for you and Yep. That was, it didn’t stink too bad while you had to skin him. Didn’t, didn’t really, honestly, he didn’t stink at all. It didn’t stink anything. Like the fall bear I killed, you know, 10 years ago. Well, yeah. Just had a salt water bath and Yeah. That’s pretty good. Hey, that Yep. It wasn’t like a little Epsom salt here and there. Yeah. Right. Wow. All right. Well, pretty awesome. Well then, then no interactions while you’re taking care of him and in close proximity, how far were you from the whale? Literally within a half an hour of him dying. And we, you could see the whale the entire time. Another bear was on that whale. So, and that, you know, maybe that bear had never ate until that day. Yeah. Did Dan take, is Dan taking a, was he gonna take another hunter out there or any or So he had the other epic hunter. He had trouble getting into Anchorage, I believe he was coming out of Texas. Yeah.
00:59:05:03 –> 01:00:27:00
And he showed up in Anchorage, but none of his stuff did. And then I think he might’ve got luggage, but no gun or gun and no luggage. And then, then the flight was full coming out on the peninsula. Yeah. Problems after. So it was three or four days after you before he got there. He was a few days. He was, he actually got there the day I was leaving. I see. So that was about day three or four. And Dan has since texted me and said that that guy killed nearly the same exact bear that I killed. 10 foot darker hide, but virtually the same bear, same size, pretty much the skull I, the skulls were, I, I can’t remember within a 16 16th of an difference. It’s unbelievable. I 10 footers. Yeah. Old suckers teeth worn down. I mean, just all, all you ever want. If you want one, that’s the one you want. We, we, I saw a lot of bears. I mean, flying back to Dan’s place in Fort Hiding, I don’t know, we saw that one giant bear seen a two mother bears with Cubs, other bears. I mean, when you’re there and in that spot, there’s just bears game. It’s just bear country. There’s really, you see more bears than any other game. Really. Huh. Yep. Saw there’s nothing there to see. Saw, saw some foxes.
01:00:27:26 –> 01:01:34:11
They had seen a couple of wolfs maybe the day I flew in, but I never saw a wolf. And Dan made it clear, we’re not shooting a wolf until we kill a bear. That’s right. That’s right. Don’t wanna ruin your area. Yep. Well, all right. We just wanted to give you a holler, see what it felt like. Yep. A, you won the hunt. B you smashed a freaking world class animal. It’s just, just awesome. Yep. So unbelievable. And I, I mean, I truly, I give Dan all the praise. He is a professional. I mean, beyond a professional. I’ve never, you know, me, I’ve hunted all over the world and done all kinds of cool hunts and I’ve never, never met a guy like this. Well, I think you and I met in the late nineties in Oregon. Yep. And so I know you’ve done it. You’ve, you’ve done it. You’ve been with Bronson, you’ve been with this sir. Yeah. You know, done a lot of different hunts. Yep, yep. He’s really looking forward to Aaron coming sheep hunting with it. Yeah. Aaron, my brother. Yep. One, one of our friends drew a sheep tag with Dan and Aaron’s gonna come up this fall and just be a packer. I don’t know, whatever, just to go on a sheep hunt with buddy. Good packer. Yeah.
01:01:34:11 –> 01:02:39:24
Well, I know he takes a lot of the governor tag sheep, hunters, and I don’t know, I mean, he killed a giant, he killed a sheep last year that, I mean, you don’t even hear of 185 inch. No, no. I mean, you don’t even hear of those numbers anymore. Geez. Oh, great guy. Great outfitter. And glad you had an awesome trip. We just thought we’d end our podcast today talking about, we talked about our membership drive and although we’re not giving a specific hunt away with Dan this time, you’re a past winner and you just barely got home within a few days. So we want to give you a call. We try to pick up world class hunt. So we’re glad it all worked out, buddy. Yep. Thank you guys again. Alright. Okay. You bet. We’ll talk to later. Take care. Take care, Robin. Bye. Pretty fun. All right. Let’s call it a day. Hey, it’s been a what? I bet I’m half interested in doing a brown bear hunt car. Well, dude, he kind of gets you fired up. Seeing all the I on my hunt was awesome. It, it was in a lot of respects, I saw tons and tons of bears, but I nothing that big. Oh. And like I, I could have killed a nine footer or something. And that’s a great respect of a bears the way it is. You wanna shoot one big one be done. Yeah.
01:02:39:24 –> 01:03:45:20
I wanna, I want smash a monster, you know? Yeah. There’s a, there’s more. You don’t want have a lot of eight and a half footers and, and a lot of bears. Honestly, it’s probably the average brown bear killed. Yeah. Honestly, like, people talk about 10 footers, like it happens all the time. It doesn’t, no, it’s, they’re rare. But anyway, I had a good hunt. Just, just want that next level. So anyway. Yeah. So if you’re, if you’re interested, I’m interested. Let’s do it tomorrow. Let’s see how I feel tomorrow. I’m gonna win one. Let’s see how we feel tomorrow. You could win one. I, no, no. I don’t even know where I can apply for when to win anyway. All right everybody. Chris, do you have anything else? That’s all. It’s getting warm in here. Everybody. Let’s go to lunch. Bronson. Thanks for lunch. That’s right. If anybody out there draws a tag, let us know. We can help you with Outfitters. We can get you started. Member experience list. If you’re a member of our service, you can take advantage of that service, send you a list of other past members that have had your tags. So it’s that time of year. Call us (435) 263-0777. Let us know of your draw success and needs to help put something together, outfitter or self-guided hunt with a member experience list. Anything we do. Glad to help. Good luck everybody.
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