EP 311: The Low Down on Nevada Mule Deer, Elk, Sheep and More!

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Hey everybody, Jason Carter, Adam Bronson, John Peterson, and Logie. How you doing, Logan? I'm doing real good. I'll bet you are. Sounds like you had a long old weekend of fishing. I did. How's your thumb? Thumbs are sore. Both of them had a switch halfway through. From sitting on them or from fishing? Got a little bit of fish marks, fish teeth marks in them right now. Come on. Wow. Making me jealous, Logan. Soft office hands out fishing Lake Powell. It'll ruin them every time. I tried not to send too many pictures so you guys wouldn't feel bad here in the office. You didn't send any. Well, that's how nice I am. I'm a nice guy. Thanks for thinking of us. Why don't you give us a quick update on Lake Powell? Lake Powell usually gets really good in April and May. Yeah. Lake Powell was hot last weekend.

We went up there and fished two days, two full days of fishing and had about six people with us. Probably caught, no exaggeration, probably 100 fish apiece. Of all species. Yeah. Of all sorts of species. Mostly smallmouth, obviously. But, I mean, we all had a good variety of fish. Walleye, striper, crappie. Yeah. Good stuff. Dang. It was a good weekend. Fun times were had by all, huh? Oh, yeah. Nobody was complaining. Did you throw any meat sticks down there? Just straight up striping meat sticks? No. No meat sticks. Nothing. All lures. Oh, no good. Really? They were snapping at anything. Yeah. Wow. They're just waking up. Waking up and really getting going. They were hungry. Good. Pretty awesome. Well, all right. Did you see anything else? Did you see any sheep? No sheep, no nothing. We were pretty focused on the fish, so I can't say I looked around a whole bunch.

You didn't even look around for any chickas? Well, you know, you always have an open eye for that. When there's good fishing, you have priorities.

Well, it's not warm enough for... That's true. No chickas out of water yet. For ladies to hit Lake Powell yet. That's about July time. What was the air temperature type? I mean, it was hot. I got sunburned, so it was... Did you? Yeah. It was probably 75, 80 in the afternoons. You got there before the wind, obviously. Yeah. And then we came home early Saturday. It started to get windy, and Sunday was pretty bad. Terrible. Jeez. You would have been still down there. Got out just in time. Yeah, probably. Yeah. Well, let's talk. It's time to be applying for Nevada. Let's get cranking on that. I think we should... Nevada's just one of our favorite states. It's time to get applied or alter your choices if you've already applied. How many times have you altered your choices, Bronson? Just be... And I'm not saying don't lie. Just me, myself, or between all family members.

No, between us only and all the podcast listeners. I know, but you talk about how many times... Because I've changed family members and mine, but I've changed my... You did it this morning. Probably five times. Okay. Okay. That's probably on the conservative side. Well, and I've got... Well, no. I mean, I've changed deer probably four of those five, and I think I changed my sheep once. You did? Yeah. But an antelope, I think I'm going to change, too. You are. I'm not done. I just put myself... I need to just wait until Wednesday. Antelope are climbing the ladder of points. They're doing great. It's just a matter of time. And when you burn a bunch of points, you kind of want to be there, have all your time to scout, hopefully have a buck or two hit list found. And I'm optimistic that I'm going to be... Well, I think I'm going to be too busy, you know, between 1st of August and August 22nd

when most antelope start to really do that. So, I'm not going to just bowl my mind. Are you even going to be in the country? Not for the first 13 days of the month. Yeah. That changes a guy. Oh, yeah. And then when I get back, what am I going to be? I run around like a chicken with my head cut off. Kind of. Everywhere. Yeah. You know. Which is what we do. And then we always underachieve. Yeah. And then you're wishing. I wish I had a three-day break to go on antelope, and now I won't have that. Wishing you had a three-day break for antelope. Well, after you're getting your butt kicked. Who's ever wished for a three-day break for antelope, Jason? There's some people. Well, you know when you need a break from hunting a mule deer with a bow, that's where I'm... And you need a little break. I do. It'd be nice to grab a gun and go kill something. And kill something. Yes.

That's what I'm talking about. I'm not choosing antelope over deer. Are you doing archery antelope? No. Muzzler antelope? No. Why not? Well, archery's like the first, isn't it? So I wouldn't even be here. So I'm talking rifle only. That's what I hunt antelope with. Plain and simple. Every single year. I mean, I would do archery in some instances. This just... There's no way that's even an option. I don't know. Archery antelope be... It just seems like it'd be a long, drawn-out process for the species. Yeah, it would be when you have time to go have fun. Meaning, bake in a blind. Eat a lot of snacks in your blind. Drink a lot of fluids in your blind. Crattle snakes out of your blind. Wear snake shops. Or borrow Devin's snake. Would Devin's snake shops even fit us, probably? Short filler.

He's not here. We can talk about these guys. I mean, I've never worn a pair of those in my mind. So I don't know. But I haven't hunted Texas. But I have hunted all the places in Devin's. I figure if you're wearing Levi's, you're good. Don't you think? Jason, that doesn't do anything for a snake. I don't know. I mean, I'll bet if we open the mics up and callers... You take a pair of Carhartts out there, that's AKA snake shops.

Carhartts are thick and gnarly. Sweat to death. Yeah, you're going to die. But anyway. Anyway. But it is coming up here. May 8th. So today is what? May 6th, right? So we get tomorrow. Podcast goes live on the 6th. Yes. This evening. And you got till 11 p.m. Nevada time on the 8th. Yeah. So I don't know. 11 p.m., not midnight. Teach me about time. Wow. Well, Pacific time. What is that? And what is that? Pacific time versus what's the other one? Well, mountain. What do you mean? Pacific time. Well, Pacific daylight or Pacific standard time. That's what I'm talking about. What is that? I think they go on daylight savings over there. But the problem is some states, when you start talking about mountain daylight and mountain standard, like... I don't get the difference. Well, like Arizona, I think, just stays on standard. Right, John? Yep. I think so. They just call them standard.

They don't go... I just call it Arizona time, right? Okay. Utah time. Utah time. That's an easier way to do it. Just say whatever time it is in Arizona, that's when you're going to play. Okay. We're going to call it Nevada. Arizona regs, it's like X amount, Arizona time. Okay. Everybody knows what that means. Okay. Well, in this case, we'll just say 11 p.m. Nevada time, not 1159. So when do you... Are you going to be plugging and playing on the 8th? Wednesday. I don't know. I might just get it done tonight and be done with it. Seal it up? Yeah. So let's talk about Nevada specifically. We love Nevada. What are some of the things, besides just the fact that we were born and raised there, basically? Well, we weren't. And we weren't. But it's close to Utah, and you just feel like you can be out there by yourself. So that's what I like about it initially. It's where we live, yeah.

We're close to it, for sure. Yeah. But what are some of the other things? I just want to, like, as we're talking about Nevada, what are some of the positives? You know, like, it's really easy to get going down the negatives, and we could do that here. You know, maybe we wish there was more tags, but because there's not more tags, they actually have high buck-to-do ratios. No, it is. Great quality and an incredible experience once you draw a tag. Yeah, it is the driest state in the nation. So they are limited right out of the gate on what they can produce. Yeah. I mean, that's just the flat-out truth. Whether it be mule deer or antelope fawns or desert sheep even, which are the hardiest of the hardy for the dry and the hot places. And they have higher numbers than any other state. But then when they do go through a drought, an extended drought, then we see the effects of it. Yeah, they do.

However, they're still giving a grondel attack. Yep. They're still giving more than any other state by far. Yeah. But everything takes a toll. In three really hard years, especially in, like, sheep units that they depend on water sources exclusively in some cases. There are some portions of units. When they go dry before you can mobilize the troops, if you will, and start flying water in, and then it becomes not just one unit. There's a dozen units that that needs to happen. There were some sheep dying. And then you got lambs that don't die, or lambs that die or don't survive just because mama can't produce milk, and mama's barely trying to survive. But with all that negativity, that's as negative as you get. That's as negative as you get. And there's still plenty to go around. Yeah. I mean, and they are cutting tags.

Like, you know, in certain areas, like when they have disease events or whatever, mixed with drought, mixed with predation, mixed with horses, there's a hundred things that affect populations in some of these units. You know, 181 comes to mind. I know resident tags were cut there a bit. But as far as the non-resident side of things, what you see in the magazines, what you get, and plenty of opportunity to apply and draw tags. For trophy hunters, Bronson, like, you and I, we've killed desert sheep. And so it's kind of one time to go there, even if it's... Well, some of us at this table have also drawn Arizona for desert sheep. Well, us, some. And so one of us. But having said that... So I'm a little hungrier than you. Yes, I am. I mean, I am, personally. I have one. You're still applying. You have two. You said it before I did, that you were going to go, you know, what are my five choices?

You get five choices in Nevada, which is nice. But having said that, now you're in this tough era. We also can't apply for just any unit we want. There's some that are resident-only type options, which are some great units, say 262, 243, 271, whatever. You know what I mean? And versus units that we can apply for, which are still awesome. There's plenty of awesome, awesome units. But how deep are you going to go? Well, I've left it at five choices. I have amended it once. But I left it at five. And my theory is this. Yeah, instead of two or three. Okay. Two or three. Okay. That feel like are no-brainers, but the odds are one in four to 7,000. So I want a little bit better hope than that. And honestly, even in the, quote, better odds units in the state, you're one in 1,000 or 1,500. That's still terrible odds. And those are for units that you might kill 145 or 155 ramps, you know.

And I'm not interested in that. But, I mean, so even if you go clear to the end of the spectrum on desert sheep for a non-resident, your odds are still one in 1,000 or one in 1,500. So, and that's just based off of number of applicants. That's very simplified, very simplified. Number of applicants. Your odds are actually better. Yeah, I'd be like 24 or 5 points or something like that. But I guess my point is, you've got a giant desert bighorn from Arizona. You're likely never going to kill one bigger than that. And with one in Utah, yeah, you're kind of like, why do I need another 160 or 165 round? Because you need to kill all the sheep you can in your life. That's my philosophy. And I'm a little bit more that way probably than you because you have two. I have one. John has none. What do you feel like, John? John's still mad at his daughter for applying.

She doesn't deserve a tag, right, John? She's an adult now. She deserves to build points. That's right. I want you to fund the department. You're going to fund the department until you, I feel like you've funded it enough. You're eligible. I got so much crap over that discussion. Just so you know. And apparently my daughter had multiple people hitting her up about, your dad would take a sheep tag from you. 100% he would. Every day of the week. Right? Yeah, she came in and I was like, absolutely. You're not 30 years old. I'm 50 years old. I deserve a sheep tag at some point in my life. Speaking of youth, they make it even more incentive for them from 12 to what? 18. Yeah, and I love that. Well, I love that they did that. Yeah. So affordable. With a $15 hunting license. And that's a combo. Instead of $155. So $140 savings off of adults. So it's kind of a no-brainer.

The only thing, if you're listening to this podcast right now and you heard that for the first time, you better jump online and get their hunter registered on Kakami's website. Kakami, however you pronounce it. Kakami. Yeah. Whatever. Because you can't just jump on and apply without them seeing a picture of it and saying, yes. And, but they'll do it the day. It can be fast. You better jump on. It'll be fast. But they'll do it the day of the deadline. So anyway, but don't, don't. Let's procrastinate. Get her done. Let's talk about the goods. But 12 to 17. 12 to 17. And then after that, the adult hunting license fee. And that's even optional, Bronx. If you don't want to gain points, we know we've got friends that have applied and drawn. You want to build them the points for five or six years or whatever that is from 12 to 17, 18.

And then just apply them with that points and for deer and antelope and all that. Just do it. Similar to like sheep, goat, moose in Colorado. Yeah. You know, build the points why it's cheap, why they're young, and then have options. Decides whether you want to keep buying or not. Yeah. And you can apply them without paying for it. What were we going to talk about? What I, back to what I think you were leading with is let's talk about why Nevada is such a good thing. When you get a tag in Nevada, you've really got something. And I can say that about every single species. It doesn't matter. They, back to the dry aridness of their state and their, quote, scarce resource, you know, they make the most out of what they have with what they have. They really do. And this isn't just us talking and spewing about it. Like, this is proven fact. That's true.

They're 30 bucks per hunter does on at least every unit in the state, 35 on some of them for the alternative type management. And their elk, we all know, are literally, you don't see wide fluctuations on their quality of elk. You might see a little bit downturn for a year or two, but you don't see the wide swings. It is, you've got a next level elk tag. And now they might. On any unit. They might be one or two in your lifetime, but they are. Well, there's a few units that are notably better. Let's just say the Ely units. Yeah. Anything around Ely, since the beginning of time, has been known as the premier destination type elk units in the state. Yeah. And anyway, it's been awesome. You've got other units that I would, I don't really care to go hunt the jarbage necessarily, but it's awesome for many people that are flying and draw.

And you get guys up in that end of the state there or the 07s cluster in the northeast corner. It's close to them, whether it be Idaho or Oregon or Washington. You know, just like these units down here are close to us. And my philosophy is if I'm only going to get one or two elk tags out of Nevada in my life, I want it to be. Well, I want to be what I want. Make it be what I want, or I don't really want it. And for deer, I usually play the primitive weapons called muzzleloader archery. That's how I usually do. I love them. I love the primitive. I want to go first. Go first, and then also the lengthy seasons. 30 days. So, yeah, August 10 to September 9, September 10 to October 4 for muzzle. And muzzle's like the best season they got. That's just my opinion, although you're open sight and I get it. But generally, the fewest amount of tags given on any season is the muzzle season.

And so, again, you've got the – Let's call it pre-scouting because Jana's going to hear this, and I just love to. She thinks that's using a double – I love to. Double – Negative or whatever. No, it's just – What is that? When you say – She thinks scouting means beforehand. So let me say – That's what scouting does mean. But in the world of hunting – If you're like – Going beforehand beforehand. I could be scouting during the season. Right. My mentality is just to have a look. Jason and I have used that too long, John. And we're old dogs. I know. I'm just saying technically, Jana's not wrong. So when you pre-scout – Everything you pre-scout for deer, you can use during the archery and muzzle and even early rifle. But archery, muzzle, especially for deer. And so – And you can mix and match. You've got five choices. You can mix and match. You can do archery, muzzle.

I've even got archery and muzzles as my first picks and then kick in with a late rifle or something like that because I like to hunt early. Yep. I do too. I want to be there. I want to be there. I've said it last week or whenever we've – every podcast ever that I want to be there sooner. And I will choose a more less effective weapon. That's just my choice when it comes to the mule. But you may have a less effective weapon, but I contend the seasons are more effective. Yeah, it is. So it kind of cancels out. I want to hunt first. Deer are a little bit more visible. So archery, they're obviously in velvet, and they come out of that maybe the last week or so. Muzzle loader, they're still close enough to their summer pattern. They're in it. Nevada's hot and dry. They don't change too much.

You get into October, we all know in most western states, with the exception of, say, southern Arizona and New Mexico, where they grow later and all that. But we're talking Utah, Colorado, Nevada. North, October is one of the hardest times to kill a big mule deer. In any state. In any of those states. Because they are, they've rubbed their velvet. They've had a month or so go. They're just locked into a food source. They're not thinking about does at all. They're just. They're smart. Very smart. Like, when they're in the velvet, they're kind of stupid. They let you hunt them again and again and again. Yeah. You can blow them in a day or two. You'll find them again and get another stock. With a rifle sometimes, the seasons are usually a little bit shorter too. So, sometimes you get one chance and if you blow it, you don't ever see the deer again in some cases. But, so, yeah.

It's what I have to look forward to. They throw on a few interesting seasons for deer, especially. Like, they have those, like a late muzzle up north, 081 or late archery in a few of these 121s. The 08. Late rifle. The rubies. Rifle and muzzle around Great Basin National Park or else over there by Reno. Yeah. 194. 194. 194. 192. Some of these that are oddball migration or weather dependent type hunts. Yeah. And there's some pretty awesome opportunities. You time it right. I don't usually, I'm not usually one of those guys that times those right. I've had one of those hunts almost 20 years ago. You know, the 114, 10, 15. Oh, yeah. And if you don't. You actually did see some big bucks. Oh, yeah. I did. You know, and they were untouchable that year. Yeah. They were in the park. Yeah. But, I mean, sometimes that happens in situations like that.

But if you have one inch of snow at the end of Thanksgiving and no snow, I mean, that's not good snow. Do you ever wish you had that Ford Ranger back? No. So that, I don't know why. I guess the reason I would, I'd love my kid to drive it. I could care less about anybody's vehicle except for some reason, like those old ones, they stick it on my vehicle. I just know if you drove it, if I was driving it, I just know what I'd be spending to keep it running anymore. Because that owed me nothing, that truck. Yeah. I left everything on the mountain. Oh. Oh. Pieces of rust. Rust it out. Quarter panels. So, I mean, it was great, though. How did the bed even hold anything? It has holes all the way through it. Yeah. It was fun. But, yeah. Grew up in a young family in that thing. Early. First two or two in it. Jumping out. Letting Becky shoot at stuff.

When you had that 114, 115 late muzzle tag, I just remember, that's the, I don't know why, but that's the truck you had. It might have been that I was scared for you. We didn't have much for cell phones, a little bit. I don't think we had. I think we had Nokia's, didn't we, with Bill? There weren't even flip phones. Yeah. Anyway. And I was just like, yeah, that guy's, I mean, you're taking your life in your own hands, driving out through Minersville, Milford. It ran. It had two headlights. It ran and it had two headlights. I mean, four-wheel drive and it had two gas tanks. I like that about it. It did have two gas tanks, but they're rusted out. If they look like the bed, which I was just like, I don't even know how the gas is staying in the tank. It was stupid. It was good. Anyway. All right. So, we've got early seasons. We like those. But sometimes people can only hunt late.

They want a December hunt or whatever and they can, and that's fine. Well, like you, Jason. I mean, let's talk about your year. I mean. I like that. You guys are going to be busy in early September. Are you going to lean more to, say, muzzle? You're probably not doing any archery. Maybe you are. I don't know. But this year with your September stuff, you're going up north and some of the guys, you have to alter maybe, and it's muzzle a rifle on some. Some years I don't do any rifles in the back. Most years I would say I don't. Yeah. I've got one. I think I've got one rifle in there. Mostly muzzles. I showed you my choices. Mostly muzzles, I think. Muzzles and archery. Yeah, two and two. And I'm just like, you know, I'm okay with that, I guess. You know, at some point. I like hunting with a rifle, but I don't really like, like you said, I don't really like hunting mid-October necessarily.

And I don't like hunting after everybody else, and I do like the early season stuff. But the early season, the August 10th, I personally have nothing going on then, but toward the end of the season, stuff starts getting busy. I leave, and stuff gets busy. So then you've got to really think, what can I do? Am I going to do this tag justice if I do finally get drawn? Because it's not easy to draw. No. Having said that. Any season. We're talking like 12,000 deer tags. Roughly. Plus or minus a few hundred. 12,900 was proposed. They had their meeting on Saturday. They cut it back to 2023 numbers for deer, excuse me. And for most of the state. And then they even took like area six, seven, and ten. So the 06s, 07s, 101 to 109, the rubies. And kicked them back 35% off of 2023 numbers, which is the lowest. Actually, I cut them then. Yeah, cut them. Instead of, you know.

Anyway, I'm just saying, when we're fighting Utah or Colorado, where we're disgusted that states aren't actively managing for quality whatsoever, in many cases, there's a few units we have that are special. And you could contend they're still managing those units, obviously. But for the most part, Nevada manages. So everyone has a quality product. So they're proud of what they're producing. Not that every unit's great. Some are not. Yeah, genetic limitations, I guess. But this year, you know. With 12,000 total tags for the whole state. Two, though, moisture for the second year in a row is good. And what this means with low tag numbers, if you can draw a tag, you're going to have a great experience. And what this also means, likely, is that two years in a row, you're probably going to have some decent fawn recruitment.

And that, for an older age class deer, in three plus years, it's going to be, might be. Well, we've been to some of these units, Bronson, this year, this last year, 2023 slash 2024, winter, whatever. We're seeing plenty of deer out there. It's not like there's no deer. You know what I mean? And so then you're even pleasantly surprised. Yeah. And so when you couple that with no hunting pressure, long season days. If you've got any rabbit's feet or whatever, horseshoes, whatever you've got to rub. Here's the other good thing about Nevada. You've got to put them by the eighth. You don't got to rub that thing for about, what? Seven days. Nine days. Nine days. They get their draw out from the ninth to the 17th. Name another. It's pretty impressive, right? I'm going to have to look. Yes, it says May 17th. Yes, that's right. You're right. It's unbelievable. It's awesome.

And for all intents and purposes, the sixth is gone, yes. Or the eighth's gone. So from the ninth to the 17th, they get them out. And the day after Utah, I think, and Wyoming Elk come out. So they turn around really fast and allows you to make plans with, you know, whether it be calling us or an outfitter or whatever. May 8th was halfway exciting for plugging and playing on your elk choices up in Wyoming. It pales in comparison to applying in Nevada. I mean, May 8th is a big day. May 16th, May 17th, those are big days. Yes, they are. We've got big days coming at us. So awesome. You can apply for Desert Sheep. California Bighorns, there's only four units for non-residents to apply for. Just apply for all four, although some of them are physical. Maybe 035 you kick off if it's something you don't want to get physical with. But there's several options that are easy. No, not a big deal.

Not incredible sheep. It's not like hunting John Day in Oregon. Yeah, they've been hit a little bit by the drought up there, frankly. Yeah. You know, northern Nevada, north of I-80. But you hit it hard, you're going to kill a 150s, 160s type ram. It's another bonus point category. It's another sheep. We know people every year that draw those, it seems like. Non-residents can apply for mountain goat. They have limited goat populations, but pretty killer opportunity, and you just throw in for a minimal application fee, you can throw in for that too. $15, $20, you've got another free-range goat in the lower 48 chance. Elk's awesome. Elk's interesting. So their archery hunts in large part are like on August 25th to September 16th. You know, you do have a few September 1st or whatever, you know, depending on the particular unit. Some of them are even August 16th to the 31st.

But like we've talked about, like Nevada elk or something special, we've had several tags. We've drawn them, got turnback tags. I think I had a lantern tag up in the northeast corner one year. Like, you know, it's just awesome to be able to go and experience elk hunting in Nevada. There's not a lot of tags. No, and when you get a tag, you've got an excellent hunt. I've hunted them once. You've hunted them twice at least. Yeah. Three times in there. You had your archery tag down there. Yeah. I mean, they're awesome hunts. Devin and Wyatt have had awesome tags. You're hunting big bulls. Oh, yeah. Love to do a do-over. I mean, you just don't get tags very often. But they are, if you've got something, make the most of it. You know, consider, you know, rounding up as many friends as you have or putting all you got into it. This is not a casual out cut in most Nevada units.

There is no, quote, better odds just to go shoot a five- and six-point bull unit. They've all got, you know, all units have 320 to 340 bulls, you know, and some have a whole lot bigger than that. So there's not like just, they don't really have any, here's just some opportunity hunts to people to go crush two- and three-year-old bulls. They don't really manage it that way. No, although residents can do spikes and cows and things like that. Yeah, depredation type stuff. Depredation, but I mean, I'm talking. Which is, I think, why not let us do some of that? I don't know, just throwing it out there, you know. I don't want to. I'm stating it for the record. I don't necessarily want a cow tag. I'm just saying there's. Well, they have depredation bull in some of those. They've killed some giants. They have. Yeah. And there's one or two of them I want, you know. So lots of categories.

Lots of categories. If you're a resident, I'd like to add them up. I mean, there may be three or four categories of elk. Oh. Right? Antlerless, spike, you know, depredation, and a regular bull. Yeah. I mean, at least four that I can think of. There's probably more than that without even opening the regs. As with any state, there are, you know, I don't know what you call it, bonuses or whatever. Perks. Perks for being a resident. Like, you're going to have some of that, right? You have them for sheep, too. I mean, there's. They've got sheep. They've got one-horn ram hunts. One-horn ram hunts. They don't target some of the old rams that have been busted off. And at times they'll consider adding a non-resident tag or whatnot. But, yeah, there's options. There's options for these guys. Yep. And have at it. It's awesome. So, anyway, yeah, muzzleloader.

You know, muzzleloader elk is kind of overlooked, I think, a little bit. It's generally an October 22nd, 25th hunt. Depending on the unit, there's a few nuances. There's a few rut hunts in September. Jarvitch, September 17th. But I think guys overlook it a little. You've got an open site muzzleloader. You're looking long. There's long looks in Nevada. Generally, you're a 15-hour type state. It's a long look. And in general, that's a post-rut. You see October 22nd. There's no bugling. Some years they are, though. It's weird. I mean, some years they're going strong. And you steal a rut hunt out of it. You can't count on that every year, though. That's the problem. Some years you get it. They're the biggest bulls. You're going to glass them up and stalk them. Yeah. Try to kill them. Try to kill them. That's the one thing about muzzleloader hunting. You've got to get close. Yeah.

And it's a glorified bow hunt, almost. Yeah. I mean, probably. You've got to get close. Open sight. There's some of these open sights with turrets now. I don't know. Maybe that'll change the way. But I contend, when you're looking through iron sights, it just is what it is. Yeah. It is what it is. How much are you covering? A lot. How fine can you aim at an elk at 200 yards? I shot a deer down south in 2019. And it was a 125-yard shot. And it might as well have been a mile. I thought that was the extent of my effectiveness. Yeah. And I was young back then. You know what I mean? That was five years ago. Yeah. Exactly. I felt a lot younger than I do now. But anyway, just. But then that was a prime example of shooting a deer in kind of a no-namer, sleeper type area. Like, it's not known. It's one of the few deer, you know, in that caliber that's been killed out of the unit.

And I think, I guess my point is you could do it about anywhere. Yeah, you could. Antelope, deer, elk, sheep. I don't know. Sheep. I feel like there's some units that are just destined to have small sheep. And there's some units that are just known for it and always have had them. That's right. Deer, we probably hammered deer down a lot. But anything. I mean, we probably had. Yet, all three seasons, like I said, a myriad of different options. Obviously, we went over the five choices you get in Nevada. So, you can mix and match weapons. You can mix and match, you know. One thing I like about this commission, the Nevada commission, is they're no joke. They're answering to the people. I think they're getting a lot of emails and phone calls just like every commission. But these guys listen. And they're cutting tags when it's not.

You think you can run a budget on 12,000 deer tags, a few elk tags, a few sheep tags, and some antelope tags. Well, they're running old trucks and they're doing it on a beer budget. You know what I mean? I mean, it's just a – my heart goes out to them a little bit. But, you know, but having said that, they do produce a quality product. You kind of can't beat the weather. You can't beat their state for being arid. It is what it is. There are certain variables you can't control, you know. So, anyway, as far as antelope, great opportunities for antelope. Tons of – they've actually – they're increasing tags. Yeah. In many instances. They bounce back faster, which we all have known that. They can mature faster. Bucks can – you know, three years old plus can be exceptional trophy bucks. So, don't take as many years as, say, elk and deer do.

Consequently, I mean, I don't think I applied for them for maybe the first eight or ten years that I applied over there, to be honest. You know I did. And then we added them. So, you know, I've got the mid-teens or something on point. Jeez. So, I'm up there enough to feel like, all right, I could – that's what I mean. I don't know that I want to just jeopardize that many points and not really being able to – I want to do it in a year that I don't have a lot else going on. And this doesn't feel like that year for me. They killed a number of good ones. And even, you know, talking to the biologists over there, they're excited. There's a great age class. And, you know, with these wet years, you just – there's just a lot of optimism coming around antelope. When you applied initially, like, just tell me what your theory was. Yeah. Yeah. For antelope? Yeah.

Your theory was you didn't want to drive much more than 53 miles. Well, longer than that. But, yeah. I mean, there's – Nevada's a big state, even though there's a lot of big – but we're down in the southeastern corner when we cross into Nevada. To go way north of I-80 and all that or towards the northwest corner, I might book a flight to get there. Okay. Like, I don't want to do that. What are you going to fly into, Denio? Well, I guess. Yeah, Reno. Well, drive another four hours. But, I mean – P-rated tires. You don't have to rent a vehicle. I generally want stuff in the southern or central part of the state for me personally for an antelope. That's just – Then you said you were going to plug and play. And I haven't done it yet. And why were you going to plug and play? Were you going to go a little deeper? No. Were you thinking about going a little deeper in the state?

I'm thinking doing points only. Well, come on. That's what I told you. Yeah. I'm filling. Well, I didn't know that was serious. Yes. I know – I get that you're going to be gone for a minute in August, but for crap sakes. Well, you want to just flush, you know, 15-plus points down the drain. No, I don't really want to do that. Even then, most of their antelope hunts that I'm putting in for are very, very hard to draw. But I just kind of want to, you know, I don't know. I don't hunt antelope. I hunt antelope when I have a chance to hunt a big antelope in generally. And that's generally how I want to hunt antelope. Now, there's been other times I've taken my kids, and we do it differently. You know, they've all killed their first antelope having fun doing it that way. But for me, at this stage of my life, I want to hunt a big antelope. Try to hunt a Boone and Crockett-type antelope.

And that usually just means spend a lot of time prior to the season, inventorying as many as you can. And if I feel my time is limited between, say, late July and August 22nd, which I think it's going to be, that's when I think – I don't want to just show up, I guess. I can show up and hunt antelope in Wyoming. I don't want to just show up in Nevada. You want to really work it? Well, you've got to – I like it. I knew there was an emphasis on antelope. I just want to kill a big one. You've already killed a big one. I want another one. I want another real big one. One that you guys all gawk at when I bring it to the office. What, an 87-incher doesn't work? Well, I want another one. That one's when I need to bring one in the office. Your only good is your next ag. I want a big one. I just – big antelope are like anything. When they're big, there's something about them. There is.

Not that I have a bunch of them. Not that I don't. I mean, I have one really big antelope. So I've got a question. We talk a lot to people with 10 to 20 to the plus points. What's your advice for guys that haven't started a Nevada yet? Maybe they're just thinking about, should I start or should I not? And what direction should I go? And let's also say, for deer, they'd be happy with seeing 150 class bucks. Maybe a potential for a bigger buck if they get lucky. But that's kind of the mindset. I can totally talk them into that. Yeah, if you say, hey, I only want 200-inch deer, 380-plus bulls, and 85-inch-plus antelope. That'd be me. I'm raising my hand. Well, yeah, but you have 20-something points for some of those. All right. But that's a harder sell for a brand new guy. It is, but I would do it anyway because you just need your name in the hat. It's like us playing raffles here and there.

There's not a lot of difference anymore. You just think, I've got to have my name in a hat in all the different places that I really will die to have it. And priorities change. Not that if you're more of a trophy hunter now that later in life you won't be because usually you progress to a certain stage, and then you kind of maintain that. But, Jason, we've talked to people that are in their 60s or 70s that have a pile of antelope points to think, ah, I just don't think, or pile of points, deer, elk, antelope. And then they start saying, well, geez, you know, maybe I'll use my deer points to ply with my grandson and take him on a hunt, right? Yeah. There's things like that. Now, currently, non-residents, the only species you can apply duo for is deer. But there's an option. And he just, I think it was for any deer tag pretty much. And he had like 20 points, 20 plus points.

He just wants to put in his grandson to draw deer tag. And so there's a reason he applied for, you know, and he's probably hunted some other stuff in the state over the years. But I guess in general, though, to Jason's point, yeah, if you want to dream big, it's a great dream big state, kind of like the dream big stuff in Arizona. But I do think there's a lot more, if you have your expectations down on that 150, 170 deer and opportunity antelope punts, yeah, a whole lot more options. And you can hunt with multiple weapons for deer. Green line. A lot of options. And just like you're going to go out and you're going to see deer. And you're not going to have a ton of hunting pressure, generally speaking. So it's just that the whole experience is awesome. Not just like, okay, it's not just about the size, like any four point. I see the first four point.

And then if you also see 30 trucks opening morning, that's hard on a guy. You know, it's not fun, right? But anyway, there are options. But even with the trophy mindset, just the chance of being in the draw and the excitement that, you know, is around that and who's going to get the tags and all that. Like I couldn't go without applying. I also don't think a couple hundred bucks is what it used to be. And I guess that's weird to say, but it's just, A, we're a little older in life. And so this means more to us than maybe it did at 20 years old. You just, you know, it's just different. You're in a different time of your life. Well, it is one of those states that we know unequivocally. It is, your dreams of hunting, whatever species you have, can be made true very easily when you just draw a tag. And just, and the excitement of scouting all summer and going out.

And pretty soon you just fall in love with that state. Yeah. There's some states you can draw one of the best tags in the state and you're still not sure if you're going to find what you're really after. Yeah. You know, maybe some other states. You don't feel that way in Nevada. You draw a good tag there, you may kill in a good right year with the moisture, whether it be elk, antelope, deer. Obviously the sheep are happening when they happen. But you've got something and you can kill something world class. That's what lures me into Nevada. That's what I like. But also, not every unit has that potential. And I think that's where we come into play. We talk about the units, you know, we give our descriptions in the magazine as well as on the online e-mag and things like that. And there are units that make sense for certain people. And there's some units that just don't.

They never have produced that good a bucks per se, but maybe are known for quantity, you know, area 14, area 15 or whatever. And even, you know, then there's other units that are kind of up and comers or, you know, they cycle a little bit. And we've seen that and we've hunted some of those, you know, because you want to hunt everywhere there's the possibility. So, anyway, I also like, you know, a little plug for Epic and our online odds. Like the online odds of, you know, like you were talking about, antelope units. There's a plethora of choices, right? And so you can go on there and just really work over your odds based off of your points, your point level, and just get a feel for how easy should I be doing archery? Should I do some of the, there's a limited few muzzle or antelope options. But anyway, maybe you consider that or maybe you just do the rifle.

And that, those choices may change from year to year to year depending on your hunt schedule and whatnot. But you can get aggressive. But antelope are interesting. You could kill a big antelope, I would say, on almost any unit. It's not, it's not tied. It's not always predictable either. There are places that it generally happens more than others, no question. But then there's other stuff like, I mean, like Wyatt. Wyatt and Devin have killed bucks, you know, kind of just places, you know what I mean? Some big bucks. I was talking to one of the biologists and they were saying, you know, I was talking about like Area 6 for antelope. Just throwing it out there and the tag increases and things like that, tag levels and whatnot. And, you know, people were concerned that there was, you know, a major winter kill and whatnot. He's like, our ground surveys are showing over 2,000 animals.

Like, you just start to realize there is a lot of opportunity in Nevada even dealing with the arid state that it is. And so, anyway, great opportunities. Of course, non-residents, we get to hunt or at least apply for PIW deer. So, partnership in wildlife deer, three non-resident tags, it's kind of like a glorified landlord tag. You get to hunt all weapons, any open season, any open season with that weapon. Yeah, and any unit. So, you can bounce around units. You can hunt the famed units, if you want to call them that, in the southeastern part of the state during all regular seasons, whether it be archery, muzzleloader, rifle. Definitely for 10 more bucks. Why not check it? Why not? Then, of course, you have, if you feel so inclined and want to throw 25 bucks a pop at the silver state tags, those are true, quote, governor tags. They're, you know, usually, what, July, August openers.

Sheep, I think, are a little bit different than the deer elk handle open August 1st. But you get to hunt for, call it four or five months statewide with a rifle. Those are governor tags. They're special. They give one. One of those. There's no non-resident, resident quotas. Everybody can only buy one entry. So you got 25 bucks or whatever it is, I think. And I'm a sucker, dude. I plop it down, man. Here you go. Empty my wallet. You know? The what if. Just because. So, anyway. And you get to support a state that's willing to cut tags when needed or not, you know, or manage to levels that are acceptable to trophy hunters and guys that care. A little bit higher than just what you'd call biological minimums. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so then you're like, you know what? I don't mind throwing a few more bucks at that state for doing such a thing. And my name's in the hat.

And so, you know, maybe we've known guys. A lot of our clients have drawn. I mean, not. I wouldn't say a lot of our clients. I guess a lot of the tags that have been drawn on these special tags have been drawn by guys we know. Yeah. So. Very true. And I think another plug for our service, if you haven't applied in Nevada and you're thinking about getting started, you join our service, you know, today, you can immediately go on, log into the website, pull up the last magazine. Yeah. And it's like if you've never applied somewhere, we boil it down, we take the regulations, and we put them in a format that's really easy to understand. So you can read through Nevada fairly quickly and be educated on, you know, how to apply in Nevada and the ins and outs. Okay. I like it, John. Sounds great. You know what? They've sent out an email. It's interesting. They sent out one this morning.

But anyway, three days left. So today's the 6th, 7th, 8th. Yeah, the 6th, 7th, and 8th. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. They'll help you get through the process. 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You're welcome to call them. 855-542-6369. So 855-542-6369. I don't think you'll need to call them. If you do, then fine. Go for it. But quite frankly, they're a pretty easy draw process. Yeah. I mean, anybody that can work an iPhone can apply in Nevada. Now, there's some states that are kind of aggressive. Going in and buying a hunting license in Arizona and going back in. That's right. And you do have to be prepared if it is your first time, like we talked about, for youth. But it is for people born after, what, Jason, 1960? Yeah. To verify your hunter ed. Not just type in a number, but upload a photo or PDF or something of your actual card so they know you got proof.

That is the only slight holdup, them verifying that. But our experience, they tell you a week. But don't be discouraged and not apply. They'll usually get back to you in a day. They will. And they treat you like a client, just like a regular business. They want your money. They want you to apply. They want you to be happy. And so they'll work with you. It's kind of unique, quite frankly. Exactly. So anyway, you can also go to ndow.org. You can go to Epic Outdoors. We've got the eMag up. You've got PaperMag. And for those of you that are members, you're going to be able to look at it. You can also call them at 775-688-1500. I don't know what else to tell you. If you want to apply in Nevada, you sure can. I think it's well worth doing. It's a state that we highly endorse and can't get enough tags in the state of Nevada, quite frankly. It's going to be nice.

It's only nine days, too, until you find out. That's a pretty awesome turnaround. Okay. I like it. So on that note, in nine days, Bronson, let's see. Is it nine days? Well, I guess from the 8th to the 17th, I'm just doing rough math. 10, 11, whatever. Anyway, here shortly in a week and a half, if you drew a tag, we want to know about it, give us a holler. 435-263-0777. If you drew a tag, we want to know about it. Good luck in the draws. Try it. I hope I draw a sheep tag. Come on. Kind of hopeful.

One last question, Bronson. I'm an open book. Open book? No, no. Open with a couple fingers on the back pages that may not get turned. Anyway. If you could have any tag in the state of Nevada, straight up, they were handing you a tag besides PIW or Silver State. Any tag? I had an answer until you said that. I know. I can see it on your face. I know. I wasn't even looking at you. I can see it. What tag would you want?

I'm going to go this year. I'm going to go, oh, that's tough. Either be a 263 sheep or the 240s archer, muzzle, or deer. I'd probably lean to the deer only because I think it's going to be awesome. And I know that sounds crazy because I've taken a lot of sheep out of 263 with hunters. Jason, you and I both, we've run a lot of cameras there. A lot of big rams. But, yeah, I'd go with the deer. How about you? Same. I'm going to plead the fifth.

I just, yeah. I couldn't pick elk over deer or sheep myself, even though they have giant elk. Although we need a 400-inch. Yes, they have them. So it's really a hard decision. Most states, that's easier question. But the best desert tag, which for non-resist, I think is probably 263 this year. I'd probably take a muzzleloader, muzzleloader, muzzleloader 240s, yeah. 241, 245. That's what I'd say. But, I mean, you know the one thing, and you know this about me, and my weakness is the stick-to-itiveness. Like, you should take that tag and you should hunt September 10th, October 4th. Yeah. And we end up loading up our schedule to where you're too deep. And your mind wanders and your time gets fractured. Fractured. Fractured. Splintered and, yep. And you can't do that in Nevada. These tags don't come around long enough.

So back to Jason's point, when you draw a tag, those of you that draw tags and need help. Give up everything else. Whether it be a member experience list that we can provide you from Epic Outdoors of people that have been there, done that in your unit, give us a call. Or whether it be an outfitter, you think, I want to make the most of this because I know I'm not going to get a tag like this again. Give us a call. We can recommend somebody we highly trust and know and endorse for the unit that you've drawn. So you've got to make the most of it. And time is usually what that takes, whether that be your own time with you and a group of friends or whether that be, you know, with an outfitter that can help you, you know, stay home, take care of your work, business, family, whatever.

And then show up and, you know, take part in an awesome hunt that hopefully they've done a lot of scouting and preparation for you. I like it. They also have some dream tags. We'll be discussing that later. You don't have to deal with it now. They do have desert, bighorn, elk, deer, and antelope. And you apply by June 30th. You know, total different process. NVDreamTag.org. If you just want to get it out of the way, you can sure buy tickets now. Unlimited. Go on there and check it out. But that's Nevada Big Game. Oh, we didn't even talk about moose. Well. But we don't need to. You need to breeze through that real quickly, Jason. Go ahead. Take it away. No non-resident tags, two resident tags. Well, anyway. They did open up moose. It's kind of exciting. One of those guys is going to kill a state record. Yeah.

Okay. Right? Okay, so this is, let's make this prediction. There's going to be a state record and a number two. That's right. And there's going to be two belt buckles, right? The Kit Carson Award, that, the belt buckles are awesome. They're silver buckles. They don't, you, you. Don't need to make three for that species. Sure. I should. Not even a dreamer. I should hit up Tim Humes and just see, make sure they've got a moose category for the Nevada record book. You know what I mean? Yeah. Because it's a big deal. Kind of a big deal in their state. You have to have each animal officially scored Boone and Crockett. And then they give the top three in each category. You know, elk, deer, antelope, all species of sheep. Goat. In this case, moose. So, going to be a state record and a number two bull killed this year. If they enter them. Hey. Well, hey. Whatever. You never know.

They might not even enter them. Kind of interesting. You know, they've pioneered down from Idaho over the last 20, 30 years. Bits and pieces. And to the point that they're, I mean, they've crossed I-80 in places. It's been seen in wells. Yep. They have. Weird places. You know. Not what you'd consider. Probably be off the wells runway that you fly into. You never know. So, that's still a five-hour drive in the northeast corner. So. Anyway, yeah. The Nevada. A little plug for the Nevada Record Book, too. NevadaRecordbook.com. Super good people that run it. Tim Humes. Good friend and client. Just a great guy. And, you know, support them as well. You can get on there and purchase the Nevada Record Books. And then, of course, they have just. They're awesome. These silver buckles. I think every state should do it. People want them. Even the governor tag holders.

Everybody wants a belt buckle from Nevada. So. Anyway. Kind of cool. A lot of good opportunities. Great states. One we definitely recommend applying. So. Wish you luck, everybody. Get your name in the hat.

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