EP 164: Keys to a successful stalk with Remi Warren

I try not to hang out in the red zone too long. A lot of stocks get blown by making like rash decisions because you're close. You've got to understand your area. You've got to understand what the weather pattern's been doing. Reading game, reading wind. Anything to do with Western big game.

Welcome to the Epic Outdoors podcast, powered by Under Armour. Hey everybody, Jason Carter, Adam Bronson. Coming at you from sunny Southern Utah, we got Chris at the keyboard. Today is going to be kind of an interesting podcast. You know, we're going to be talking to a guy by the name of Remy Warren. Such a good guy. Great hunter. I wonder if he went to New Zealand this year, Bronson. Probably. With COVID? Oh, well, I don't know. It's usually about right now when you're going down there because it's getting fall slash, you know, winter. Opposite time. We'll have to find out what he's got on tap for this year. See what he draws. I've got a few draw results that just came out. Let's have him spew all of his draw results out. Yeah, exactly where he's going to be. That's right. And why he applied there.

So, anyway, as we get started, we do, we did have some Wyoming elk results coming out today. They came out, excuse me, today. We've been looking up draw results. Congratulations to everybody, Drew. If you need help finding an outfitter or need some information, give us a holler. That's what we're here for. Having said that, there are some Wyoming super tags available that guys can apply for. You can apply online. They're $10 a piece or you can go to the trifecta. It's $30 each. 10 species, 11 chances to win. The deadline to apply is July 1st, 2020. Go to wgfd.wyo.gov backslash epic outdoors. That's the most important part, epic outdoors. Pretty sure the winner will, this is a prediction, the winner will probably have gone through that portal to buy their tickets. No question. Of course they did. That's just going to be good luck, good mojo. So, go through that. Okay.

Another way to draw a tag, dream big. Yeah. We've had members every year call us with those trifecta tags. You get to pick three species in the state. Whatever you want. Sheep, moose, and goat. Sheep, bison, elk. Whatever you want. Whatever you want. Smash and grab, three of them. Truck chasers. Truck tracers. I can't do three truck tracers. I think you're going to have one of those. Yeah, yeah. Kill one of the species, right? Something like that. Okay. All right. So, anyway, again, apply online, wgfd.wio.gov, backslash epic outdoors, and go on there, and you'll be able to apply for some things in case you didn't draw. If you didn't get an elk tag, go reapply. In the super tag of Wyoming. Do it now. All right. So, before we call Remy, we want to thank Under Armour for sponsoring this podcast, and he's sponsored by Under Armour also. So, anyway, he's been with them a long time.

One of their, quote, athletes, and he is athletic. Does some incredible hunting across the tundra, New Zealand, tundra of Alaska, anywhere and everywhere. Remy's done it. Let's give him a holler.

Jason, what's up, man? What are you doing?

Same thing as everyone else is doing, catching up on office work, I think. I'm about ready to get into some hunting here pretty quick. Have you been social distancing? Oh, yeah. I think I've been social distancing since I was, like, 15. Yeah. Drop this down. How are you guys doing over there? We're good. We haven't been very good at social distancing or wearing masks. We're not very good at that. No.

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's weird, man. It's just, like, I don't know what to say. My thoughts change on it every 10 seconds. But the last month, I've been like, I just stopped listening to the news. And I'm like, nothing's changed now. You know? Yeah. You just ignore it. That's interesting. You said, actually, we talk about the same thing, how two months ago, we're like, oh, yeah, this will be over. Don't worry about your hunts this fall. Canada, yeah, buy more gear for your stone sheep hunt and all that. And now we're starting to feel a little bit different about that. We did get the news yesterday with Alaska and their announcement opening up here. That's big news. But obviously, that's still U.S. to U.S. But some of the Canadian hunts are in limbo, as are maybe Jason brought up you going to New Zealand or wherever else you usually go this time of year and Hawaii and other stuff.

I don't know. You're stuck in Montana. Where have you been bunkered up? Or is that top secret? Top secret? No, I'm actually en route to Montana. I was supposed to be in Montana now. But, you know, they changed some of the – I got bear clients. But they changed – now June 1st, we're allowed to guide clients. All right. Good. That's a little bit relaxed. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. But I'm not going to say anything about it because it's like you don't know. This could be the third time that they've changed it because it was April 24th. And then it was May 20th. And now it's June 1st. So I don't – you know, I'm not – You're just going to go up there and pick people up off the street and take them hunting until they tell you to stop. Yeah, exactly. I was going to say we have just announced it to tens of thousands of people on the podcast about June 1st. So it's not going to stay secret. No. No.

Yeah. No. I don't really know. I mean, yeah, they've probably – that's what it says that it's going to open up. But who knows, man? I mean, they pushed it back three times or three times now. So who knows? Yeah. It's still legal to hunt now as a non-resident as of April 24th. But you have to quarantine. Yeah. Who's going to do that? The two directives – yeah, those two things don't match up. 14 days staring at a, you know, motel room wall. Just buy a motel room and leave. Yeah. Do it for 14 days. Yeah, exactly. I don't know. I'm lucky I've got my cabin up there. So I'm good. There you go. Yeah. Yeah. So I can go hunt Idaho if they don't end up opening it up. So that's all good. That's my plan. Tell us about the cabin. Did you squat up there? How did that all come about? What? Yeah. I've got – You know, squatter. You know. Yeah. I mean – Wow. Okay. We're going there. I don't know.

How do you use the bathroom up there? No. Come on. Go on. Yeah. The cabin, that's where I got my outfitting – I do my outfitting out. I've got the lodge there, and then I got a place that used to be my grandpa's. Yeah. That's just kind of like a little cabin on the river. Do a lot of fishing and hunt out of there and everything. So it's pretty fun. Nice. Right on. So you're doing a lot of catch-up. You mean you just don't get paid to hunt and fish? You've got to actually be in the office and do some paperwork?

Sort of, yeah. Because the rest of the world, we all think you just get paid to hunt and fish. Well, no. I don't get paid to do the office work. I have to do it for free to hunt and fish. That's right. That's what everybody needs to hear right there. That's the truth. Yeah. All right. Well, good. Well, tell us, what did you end up with this last year? I know you've always got a super busy schedule.

What did you end up doing last year? And what are you looking forward to this year? Yeah. I mean, I did quite a bit last year. I had a pretty full... I mean, I try to kind of make the hunting thing go year-round. So, I was over in Australia, New Zealand, doing those hunts, which this year, obviously, I missed out on.

But, yeah. I mean, it's funny because my... I don't know if you guys have this. Like, my Google calendars keeps pinging me of all that I'm missing. It's like, oh, man. Better delete that. Yeah, I know. The other day it popped up. New Zealand Fiordland Stag Elk Hunt. I'm like, yep, that's gone. Better delete that. It'll get a guy depressed this time of year, like you that's used to going to Hawaii in there. It's going to be a depressing more two months. I know. Exactly. But, I don't know. I had a lot of good hunts last year. I'm trying to think. Archery season, Nevada, I had an early archery tag. I had trouble. I could only hunt that first week because I went over to Kyrgyzstan as well and hunted sheep over there.

Wow. How was that? Yeah. That was pretty crazy. It's a different place, man. The place is really awesome. The whole hunt itself is just kind of a cluster, like I've heard from everyone. I mean, it's 100% the truth. And I think it's always like – it's not – like the people are really nice. I mean, it's an incredible country. It's a beautiful place. I would go back and visit in a heartbeat. I really enjoyed it over there. But, I think like that, the actual hunting portion was just – I was kind of like thought that I might be able to – I don't know. It was just kind of like cut short a little bit because of whatever was going on in the local area. I don't know. It was just kind of – yeah. Yeah. It was just – Got sidebars on you everywhere maybe, huh? Not like wild and free and architect your own day and all that. Yeah.

It's just like you're kind of like – it's so – and it's so far out there and you just like the whole travel portion of it is pretty rough. But, I mean, it was pretty cool. It was a cool experience. There's a lot of cool stuff to see and do. God, the country is just incredibly gorgeous and the people are super nice. So, I mean, I would say it's like – it's actually not a bad vacation spot. Your dollar goes so far, it's incredible. It's like – it's crazy. Do they take American money?

Now you got to convert it. Do you? Yeah. I mean, like – Kind of feels like you're playing Monopoly or something or – Yeah, exactly. I mean, we sat down like after the hunt at this – like what would be the best restaurant in this city. And it was like just like walking into any nice restaurant anywhere. And we ordered like these giant bone-in ribeye steaks that were really good beef, like phenomenal steak, like sides, everything. You know, you'd probably pay $120 for this meal here. Yeah. Like it was that – just like that. Wow. And – but for the two of us together, less than $20. Oh, wow. U.S. less than $20. Yeah, combined. Less than $10 a person. Probably grass-fed Angus too. Jeez. Oh, yeah. And you're like, what? I was like, it was one of the better steaks I've ever had. Granted, I just got off of a sheep hunt. But I mean, yeah, it was – It could have been horse meat. It probably was.

No, actually for lunch that day, we went to the same restaurant and ordered horse steak. And then we went back. And I'm not kidding you. That horse steak was so good. We're like, dude, I had – I accidentally – because they're – you know, they don't speak any English. And I accidentally ordered two burgers, like two full meals for myself because I was – it was a miscommunication. And I'm like, oh, man. I ordered two meals and then we had – the other guy that was with me had a horse steak. And I'm like, oh, dude, how much is this going to be? And it was like for both of us less than $10. We're like, we got to come back here for dinner and order that big steak. And like – yeah, they like take the cameras out because they're like, oh, this is going – like this is big time. They ordered the big steak and we're like, dang, less than $10 for that. That's crazy.

For the Mustang meatballs and tip them $2 and they just feel like they've died and gone to heaven. That's crazy. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, it was awesome. I mean, it was pretty cool. But, I mean, those Marco Polo sheep are just freaking – I mean, I just love sheep. You guys know what it's like to walk up on a sheep and you're like, man, walking up on one of those things is crazy. Yeah. Wild, like just crazy, wild experience. You know, I've never done that. Carter and I have threatened to go over there together so we could each tell our family how the other one didn't return. So we could record each other at our last moments. Yeah. But we just haven't taken the plunge yet. But we've threatened a few times. Yeah. I mean, there's – you know, the hunt over there looks really cool too. Well, I wanted to chase Ibex and it just unfortunately didn't work out. But I would love to hunt Ibex over there.

That's – like the sheep hunting was fun and like the sheep are really cool. But the Ibex are just in that next level of country there that you're like, holy smokes, those are pretty sweet. That's one thing that I do wish I would have got to do while I was there is chase those Ibex because they're pretty cool.

Wow. That's crazy. All right. So that's a huge adventure, you know, let alone – what else did you have going on last year? Oh, and then I did, you know, a lot of guiding in Montana, elk and deer hunts mostly.

Trying to think what other tags – I mean, I had, you know, just some general tags, Idaho and Montana. Yeah. And that was – that was really the extent of it. Yeah, Nevada. Yeah, archery deer tag in Nevada. Go all right. Early season. I went – you know, it wasn't – it went okay. It was just kind of a tough area early. Yeah. It can be good later, but it's just – and then it seems like last year – I don't know if you guys ran into this. A lot of my friends ran into the same problem. It's like, I don't know, with the heat and the moon that first week of the season. No. Man, it was tough. Like, everything was timbered up, nothing. And there's so much feed in the timber last year. It's like the deer did not have to come out at all. Wow. Yeah. And the area I was hunting was super timbered. So it was like, you know, they didn't really have to come out into the open.

So it was like a lot of intense glassing and still hunting. The one big buck I did find, I saw him once, like a split-second double-dropper buck. And then I spent like four days just looking. But it was like you're looking in a sea of big timber, and they don't have to come out. And I just never found them again. And then I talked to another guy that ended up turning them up in the muzzleloader season. I think it kind of finally came out of the timber. But it was just that part of it. It was kind of hard. But other than that, it was really good. You know, it's always fun to hunt Nevada early season archery. Oh, yeah. It's the first thing to open up out west. I mean, every year. Did you guys draw any tags there? No. That's a sore spot. I was just going to ask you if you got a tag this year to go back for redemption or not. I did, yeah, but I got a late-season tag. Did you? Yeah, yeah.

So, a late-season archery. Because I'm going to be gone in August this year, hopefully. Knock on wood if COVID doesn't close down. Everything. I just need the Canadian border to open before June 27th. I know. July 27th, I mean. You're going up there August 1? Yep. What's on tap? What are you planning to hunt? Sheep. Sheep. Sheep. Sheep. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Man, it would be such a heartbreaker. I'm like, I've been dreaming about that for as long as I can think. Wow. Do you have a contingency plan? Because you might need one. I don't. No. I mean, I've got, I put in for some, or probably just hunt, or an Oregon general archery tag, if not. But that's not even until, that's not even what, the last week of August? So, probably hunt California. Yeah. I don't know. I could cash in my points there and hunt something good early August archery, but I don't want to do that if I don't know.

I, you know, I'm just putting all my eggs in that basket and then I'll figure it out. There's plenty of things you can do. Oh, yeah. If not. There's a lot. There's a lot you can do. Man. Yeah. I hope you do. Or I'll just, yeah, me too. Or just, if I, if I didn't go, then maybe I'd just cruise up to Alaska and go hunt caribou or something in August or, or sitka blacktails. That's always fun. Well, we want you to think about something. So, Adam and I want to kill a 400 inch bull in Montana. Yeah. How do we do that?

Step one. It's as easy as this. First. Yeah. It's as easy as this. Step one. Get a governor's tag. Okay. All right. Step two.

Step two. Find the 400 inch bull. Step three. Shoot the 400 inch bull. All right. That's pretty easy. I love, I love, I love three step processes. I don't, I like short, short lists. That's good too. Yeah. And actually, you could probably do that on a general tag too. You don't need, you don't need the, um, the governor's tag. We've looked at, we've thought about it, looked at it. We're raring to go next year. 2021. Yeah. There's not with a governor tag. We're not saying we're doing that, but we're going to have to do other options. Yeah. I mean, that's the one state that you could probably, you actually can shoot a 400 inch bull without having to have a lot of points. It's not, it's not saying it's easy, but it's been done many a times. Yeah. We'll have to hunt it for 10 years or something to get something special, probably maybe longer. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

But just keep it, just keep it in the back of your mind, would you? Yep. I will. Well, most of the 400 inch bulls actually came from Montana at some point, didn't they? Yeah. Transplants, you mean, or what? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I mean, they're northern Utah, you know, hardware, you know, populated the rest of Utah. Kentucky elk came from Hardware Ranch in Utah. So, yeah, who knows where they all originated? Yeah. Those Merriam's elk were still supposedly got blood pumping in Arizona. Arizona, New Mexico border. Those reservation bulls down there. But anyway, we're digressing. No. What about, did you have, seems like you had a hunt with your wife, or was it her first hunt, or maybe not the first, but did you do a hunt like that last year? Yeah, no. My wife had, my wife and I had tags.

Yeah, my wife and I had Montana tags last year. It wasn't her first hunt, but she shot her first bull elk. Oh, that's what it was. I knew it was a first of some kind. Yeah. How was that? Easy four, hard four after she actually walked up to something. We've all had wives shoot their first thing, and it's a little different. You're wondering, like, how's this going to go when you get up to it? Some of the toughest guiding you've ever done, probably, or could have done. You know, so her first deer, you know, she was pretty emotional. She cried. And then, and then, and then, she, this is, she's, we've gone on quite a few hunts since then, but her first elk was more like, when she shot it, it was just pure excitement. And I think part of that had to do with the season before we hunted and she ended up not getting a bull. And she remembered all the cold days, all the hard hiking, everything.

And that morning, well, how did it, I think it was the same day that morning we went out and we're like, we'd guided, well, I'd just been guiding all week. And so it was the weekend. And I'm like, I packed out five elk that during that course of that week. So I was like, I do not want to kill an elk this weekend. Let's just go look for a deer. So she's like, yeah, sounds good. So we went up and, uh, uh, well, I was like, well, it's just glass. Maybe I also had a cow elk tag. So I was like, maybe I could find an easy cow and we can get that. I don't know. So we're glassing and I spotted some white tails way at the top of this mountain. Like normally just in mule deer country. And there's two white tail bucks and one was pretty good. So I said, Hey, let's go run over there and see if we can get a deer. And so we get into position and I was, you know, like we got across the Canyon and they

came out and they're pretty far. And I was like, ah, you know, let's just, we're going to have to go around the mountain. They're probably going to be gone by then. She's like, well, why do you have like this long range rifle that you shoot all the time? Why don't you just shoot one from here? I was like, uh, okay. So I shot, I shot my buck. And then the other buck walked out like halfway between, um, at a closer range. And then she grabbed the gun and shot her buck. So we shot a white, both shot white tails, like back to back. And then we packed them out, got back. And, um, and then that evening we went out just kind of looking around scouting and we happened to find a bull elk. And it was like right before the end of the day. And it was a sprint up the mountain, pretty steep, had to cross a river, ran across the river, uh, got up to the top.

And then they were just, they're bedded down and just only antler tips up above the grass and waited and waited. And then finally it walked out. She got a shot and shot her first bull. And I think it was more like just having known she put in so much work the season before, like we got, you know, had close encounters, but it was just emotional. Not emotional, nothing, just nothing just worked out. Right. And then it's like, this happened to be one of those days where it just everything worked right. And it's like, how often does that happen? It gets a little personal to them sometimes too. If you get your butt kicked and then they start gritting their teeth hard. It's just like, I don't know, other stuff being a wife or mama and that's, they're not, that's not going to happen again. And when it does, it gets a little bit personal. And as a husband provider, this is your livelihood.

The most thing you want in life is her to love it. She, you know, you want to have the most amazing, amazing experience she can have. And time after time, it's tough, tough, tough. And then all of a sudden when it comes together and that's what she wants to write, like she wants to enjoy your pastime as well. And, and yeah, you know? Yeah. And that's what, that's, it's so much fun to go out and watch her enjoy it the way that I've enjoyed it. That's, I mean, that's the fun thing. Like, you know, Nevada draws came out. She hasn't, she's never drawn a tag in Nevada as a resident. And so she, I think she had five points and she's like, why, how do I, how do I draw tags? And I was like, I, I mean, honestly, I put in for archery hunts so I can draw a tag. She's like, okay, well, I'm going to archery hunt then. I was like, all right. Cause she really wanted to hunt Nevada. Three step process.

You got to buy a bow, shoot a bow. You got to get a bow. Exactly. Three step process. So she, we got a bow last year and she's been shooting it and stuff. And we put in as a party this year for archery tags. And she was up at, she set her alarm for midnight and was refreshing until 2.45. Yeah. And her, ours didn't come out until 2.45. I was asleep the whole time. And it was like, she was like freaking out. We drew, I drew a tag. We drew a tag. I was like, oh my gosh, that's exciting. And then I was like, okay, I'm going back to bed. Is there a sheep tag in there? No, aren't you, dear? I've had those before. Good night. Yeah. Those ones are tough. All right. Good night. Yeah. But yeah, she was pretty excited. So it's fun to see, you know, like just that, that level of excitement and planning. And, and she's like, she was on Onyx maps all that night. She, I don't think she's slept since.

So what's today? Today's Thursday. She's, she's been practicing your bow and shooting and looking at maps and asking about areas. And she's like, oh, she's like, Hey, where's your Epic magazine? I want to read about my unit. I was like, perfect. You know? Nice.

She's going to wear you out before you even get to June 1st, let alone August 10th. She's going to need new Swaro or Vortex or whatever you're using. And we sell it. I mean, remember. Yeah. So she's going to need, she's going to need some optics, some trail cameras. All the stuff. Yeah. Well, that's cool. It's a December bow hunt. So we're going to need. You're going to need to layer up, puffy coat, all that. Yep. Shoot that bow with a puffy coat. That's a different, that's a different. Have a practice out there in 90 degree weather with a puffy coat on. Yeah, exactly. Oh, good. That's awesome. Good for you guys. So you drew as a party there for Nevada. And then of course you've got some of these other hunts going on that we talked about. General Idaho, Montana, different things like that. So far, at least. Yep. Yeah. We'll see.

I mean, you know, there's always, there's always those other states. I'm, I hate to say it, but I'm not, I mean, it's might seem like it because I'm hunting all the time, but I'm not very lucky in draws. I mean, I, I have 18 to 20 points in almost every state and I don't think there's an out of state limited entry tag I've ever drawn, to be honest. Wow. Jeez. Well. And I don't really put in for really hard. I mean, I put in for good stuff, but not impossible to draw stuff, you know? Yeah. I mean, I, yeah. Alaska, because they don't have points. That's the only place I've drawn. Yeah. You know? Yeah. It's funny. Wow. So I don't know. I'm not the guy to ask when it comes to, you know, and I mean, I've gotten, you know, the occasional deer tag here or there, but nothing, nothing crazy, really mostly just general type stuff. Well, that's awesome.

Well, we're still hopeful for a few tags in the last remaining states, but it's starting to writing starting to get on the wall that what we have better start to come to grips with is what we might have at the end of it all, Carter and Remy. So I guess moving to that next phase, maybe let's talk a little bit about hunting itself and some of your tactics or things like that that you feel are big factors for you. Maybe we'll just start talking about, you know, stocking. I mean, I know that's a big, big thing for a lot of people, spot and stock, you know, mule deer hunting, whatever else. But let's talk about, I mean, some of your thoughts there about how to become a better stalker, sealing the deal with, you know, essential parts of your stock and set up and all things like that. Let's, I don't know, I want to just talk about mule deer because it's probably the species

we Westerners, when we have a bow in our hands, are used to hunting that way, you know? If you can stock a mule deer, you can stock an elk too. You know what I mean? They're super sensitive. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It's like, yeah, it's like the dodge ball adage. If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball. If you can stock a mule deer, you can literally shoot anything with a bow.

There's nothing stopping you. And you've done a lot of that. I think you actually came out with a little series, it seems like, with Under Armour on some tips and different things that you were talking about. I don't know, what was that, six months ago or something I was seeing it? Yeah, yeah. Just kind of walking through some of the, like, breaking down, kind of, say, a spot in stock hunt from beginning to end and all the little things that you think about. Honestly, like, the guys that are the most consistent at stocking, you know, stocking mule deer or whatever, it's all the little things, you know, being able to add it all up together and not really making any mistakes. And if you can do that, you can be consistent at pulling those stocks off. I mean, there are the stocks that occasionally get blown by things out of your control.

But for the most part, you know, if you play it right and you've got enough info and enough knowledge of what might happen and what's going on right now, then you're going to be pretty successful with it. Yeah. Yep. I agree. The little things. The littlest things. Oh, it's the small things that get you. And, you know, a lot of them, though, can be prevented. And then the other thing is knowing when to act. You know, whether sometimes you're too patient, sometimes you're too aggressive, but kind of really understanding, you know, what's going to work in that scenario. And every scenario is different. But there's just like all those little things of one thing I kind of think of is like, you know, making sure that you're actually stalking to the right spot and planning out. Are you going to have a shot from where you're stalking from ahead of time?

Knowing like, oh, when you get over there, a lot of guys just see an animal and they go get in there and they're like, yeah, I have no shots. Well, they stalked to the wrong spot that maybe could have been prevented ahead of time. Or, you know, as you're stalking and knowing how far you are and counting down your steps and your movements. So if the animal gets up before you think it's going to, you're ready to draw back and shoot. Just little things like that go a long ways. Do you find yourself or you, you mentioned it because I know what category I fall in. Are you a more conservative stalker or aggressive is maybe not the right word, but do you tend to take more risks and I'll just come out and say, I do. I, I, I, I end up trying things, calling it, forcing it or, and I don't do it recklessly, but I, I just have to try to get a little closer, get the wind. I have to force.

I'm not as patient maybe as some people that can move 18 inches in an hour and a half. I'm very patient. Don't you think? Carter's bull crap. No. Chris, I'm very patient. But I just was wondering, yeah, if, if, if, and if you're not that way and I'm not, I just know I, I tend, and that a lot of times leads to. Blown stalks. Blown stalks. But, um, you learn from that and maybe you obviously correct it, but what do you, what end of the spectrum do you find yourself on? And, and I guess. How do you fix it? How do you fix it? Yeah. I mean, I'm super aggressive when it comes to that. I, and it depends on what it is and where I'm at, but I, I kind of decide to make the moves because I always know that I'm pretty good at finding opportunities too. So if something gets messed up and I'm like, well, I'll just go find another opportunity. Yeah.

I guess, you know, that the one thing would be if it's something that I'm hunting where, um, you know, blowing it might, you might get only one chance, then I might be a little more patient. 400 inch bedded 400 inch bull on general season, Montana. No, I'm running. I'm running over there. I'm literally just getting there before anybody else.

And I'm running fast and shooting far, you know, um, smash and grab. Yeah, exactly. Uh, I mean, I think part of it though, is just kind of, I'm super aggressive. Uh, I would say, or I'm, I'm definitely more on the aggressive side, but, uh, it, you know, I'm very, like, it's very situational too. I mean, I kind of understand which ones I'm going to be able to get in on and which ones are going to mess me up or what, you know, look out for certain things. And, and then I just take the information that I have and know at the time and make my move. I don't like to, I know there's guys that are really successful being super patient. Uh, it's just not me. I'm not like, I'm not the most patient guy, but also I think sometimes too, I think one of the biggest mistakes is just that paralysis by analysis where you overthink it so much that you end up. Yeah.

You don't do anything and you think, and you think, and you think, and then the deer's not thinking he's just doing, and he just kind of got to be the guy that's like, yeah, I'm going to go in there. I'm going to, I'm going to stalk and I'm going to make a play and it's probably going to work out. Yeah. I think sometimes too, guys like you, you know, and guys that have done it a bit seem to be able to think outside the box, like, okay, I'm within 50 yards or I'm within a hundred or how am I going to get to this point? And then how am I going to put an arrow in him? And you might not have the perfect broad side, but there's a way to get an arrow in those vitals. And so you just got to be thinking and, and capitalize on the little things that come out at you that maybe you didn't foresee and be able to make a decision. Like you're saying, like, don't just overthink it.

Like make a decision, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And just like acting in the right times and not, I think sometimes too, like a lot of, a lot of stocks get blown by and not that it shouldn't like, it's, it's, it's super exciting. It's still super exciting for me, but making like rash decisions because you're close or because, you know, that happens a lot. I think the key is like, I make moves, but I also try not to be impatient at the wrong times. And that's, that's huge. Like, I mean, some of the biggest deer I've ever killed was like almost a blown stock. And I just laid there long enough for them to get back comfortable again, where I could then sit up and shoot. And it wasn't the base, you know, I think a lot of people freak out when it's like the deer looked your way. Oh, I better shoot now. It's going to run.

Or you just kind of have to be able to read that animal too, and then decide, all right, when's it, when's it time to be patient? When's it time to move and act and be aggressive? But I generally lean on that side of aggressive and try to, I kind of like make it happen as opposed to let it happen. Of course, uh, you've made enough stocks. You've blown a few. Is there, do you have a certain number where you feel like I have to make three to kill one or is there an average, you know, or, I mean, do you expect you're going to blow a couple? I, it depends what I'm hunting. Um, I mean, yeah, I expect, you know, I don't know, maybe 50%. It just depends. Well, generally, if it's something that I know, I'm like, okay, I'm going to take that. Um, if I'm just, if I'm just hunting and not like trying to film, like self-film myself, it's pretty much a hundred, it's 80%, maybe, maybe a little more.

Um, but I think that's just because I've done it enough times and I've done a lot of stocks doing the solo filming thing where I'm filming. And so I'm extra cautious and I've kind of learned to like, man, when I'm not doing that super, super stealthy, super sneaky. Um, when I am doing that, that adds just that extra layer of difficulty, but it's actually made me a lot better at, at stocking stuff. Yeah. Well, and there's some terrain and some hunts that are definitely a lot easier than others too, you know? Yeah, correct. It all depends on like, you're like, oh man, if it, I mean, it's the times, I honestly think the times that don't work out are the times that look like gimmies, you know? And it's like, oh, that deer's bedded below that one tree on the hillside with good wind. That's the one that gets messed up because you're stocking in and you're like, yeah, this is a sure deal.

You've already taken a picture with that buck. You're already like, you're already texting your friends and then it happens to stand up 10 minutes into your stock and spots you. Yeah. Yeah. You just, those are, it's the ones that you're like, man, I don't know if I'll get that one, but I'm going to go try it. And then those are the ones that it, it put itself in a situation. And now you've got good cover and good wind and you can slip in there and make it happen. And so sometimes I think the overconfidence of an easy stock makes us sloppy too. Yeah. Makes you just slightly sloppy, you know? Yeah. And then there's those ones, I mean, with mule deer, I think the thing that gets me the most is the, when they're bedded, the conundrum of being like, okay, do I get it up and, and, or do I wait for it to stand?

And then the wind shifting, I mean, most, I would say almost if a stock is blown, it's probably blown because of shifting winds. Yeah. Well, that's, I was just going to bring that up. Yeah. Yeah. And when you get, you know, bow hunting at a hundred yards is when the hunt starts. That's what Jason and I joke all the time. You get within a hundred yards, like it all begins there. You get into a hundred yards, sometimes it's harder than others depending on cover, but that's when it all starts because you get into that zone of, yeah, they can hear you break a branch, they can hear you that, but, but then you get in and it's bedded, like you said, and you have no other choice, but to hunker you're at 30, 40, 50, whatever yards killing range. And you're at the mercy of, of everything that the warming of the day, the clouds building, the rain that's starting to come.

And then just the whole, you know, swirling of everything. And how do you, how do you try to time your stocks? You know, wind is everything, but how do you try to, you know, get a stock in in the morning before a lot of that other factors that are the middle of the day sometimes seem to really, you got a lot of change during the middle of a day. Yeah. I mean, I tried, uh, I mean, I try to time it, you know, if you think back, it's like, it depends on where you are. You know, I just kind of, mostly I'm kind of thinking of like Nevada high country and that's the most volatile stuff, you know, but, um, you know, I try to make my plays based on, I like to, I like to stock if I'm, if I got a deer, like I kind of wait in the morning, I'll do mostly, uh, like let them bed that first time, but it depends where they're bedded.

You know, you can kind of always tell where they're bedded if they're going to, they aren't going to stay. Yeah. And then, so that second bedding, like getting in there within the first hour of that, the winds are still pretty steady. Like the thermals have stabilized, uh, you know, you've got like a good prevailing wind and that's gonna, that's gonna hold. And then the evening seemed fairly successful that time before the thermal shift. But, you know, uh, I've done a lot of, you know, sometimes in the middle of the day though, when it's like hot and you've got those steady thermals, they swirl, but that thermal takes your scent up enough where you can kind of get away with a little bit. Um, but I try to always like kind of time my stocks based on how that wind's going. And, and I try not to, I try not to like hang out in the red zone too long where I'm sitting in that.

I know there's guys that have sat on deer all day. And I just like, for me, that never works out. It all, I always get busted. I mean, even last year, man, I was like 20 yards away from a buck, just waiting, waiting. And I was, I was at the ready, but you know, you can, you can just feel it. It's like that time in the morning when things are going to start to get hinky. And it was just that one quick swirl and a buck 15 yards to my right popped up. And then that sent the bigger buck running. It's like the, it's just, it's just going to happen too, but you can kind of just understanding the winds and thermals in your area gives you a huge advantage of knowing when to make your moves and when you might get busted and kind of gives you that sixth sense of when stuff's going to get out of, out of control and messed up for you.

I've, I've, I've been one of those guys that sat on a deer all day, but a lot, it works when the, when the wind comes up and you know, you have a very strong, steady, you know, heavy wind, maybe a storm's coming in or whatever, where it's just strong, strong, solid wind, you know, but when it's, when you're sitting there in the morning, I hate to stalk in the morning personally, like early, just it's either silent, no wind. And then just a little, a little movement of wind can, can, can blow it. And so I usually like to wait until the wind comes up a little bit. And generally, you know, the wind will come up, you get a prevailing south wind or whatever, you know what I mean? But like you said, you got to understand your area. You got to understand what the weather pattern's been doing and what's going to happen.

And we're constantly checking the weather because, you know, not that it's perfect. Cause I mean, you know, it doesn't know what the weather is in this particular draw or that particular peak or whatever, but, but you kind of can get a feel of those things. And so, yeah, you got to know your country. Yeah. Got to know. Yeah. It's like, you know, where I'm at right now, it's like, yeah, every day about noon to two, it gets windy. It's like, if you're stalking a buck, that's the time. He's going to die. He's vulnerable. Yeah. He can't hear you. He can't hear you. There's a lot of moving brush and quakey leaves, whatever. Tons of stuff. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, I mean, honestly, the wind is your, is your best friend. It's, it's, it masks so many things. It keeps you out of, out of the, you know, predator detection systems and just having that consistent wind can make or break a hunt.

There's so many hunts that, you know, you go five days of, it's just struggle, struggle, struggle, but then you get the right conditions and it's like, you could shoot any animal that you see that day. And that's, you know, just understanding those conditions helps, you know, maybe make, make your plan or make your play. Well, and I know we've done this too, Carter, a lot of times jets, whether it be commercial jets or in Nevada, you get military jets. Quick steps. And you, you can crush because you can't hear, you could run a hundred yards full speed and a deer couldn't hear you. Yeah. When you get some of those jets playing around. Well, yeah, we're down here where, you know, of course, you know, Remy down in Southern Nevada, you got, you know, fighter jets low and loud. And anyway, you run, if the wind's right, you cut, that's a, get me cover some country right then. Yeah.

What about, I guess after stalking all that, you know, shot execution, things like that. We don't have, you know, I could probably be two, three whole podcasts about technique and shot placement and all that. But what are some of the maybe most simple things when it comes time to make a good shot? You know, obviously everything you practice and ahead of time, all that, but, but in the field, real life conditions, what are the things you try to then replay in your mind? You, you talked about a minute ago, being at the ready. Yeah. So where do you, from that point into the execution, what do you try to really mentally walk yourself through to pull it off? Yeah. Yeah. I think like one of the things that I've found helps a lot, especially in mountains and stuff is, is like getting, getting your feet and everything set before you take your

shot and kind of thinking about how, I mean, you normally, it's like how many scenarios are perfect where you can, it's mostly like drawing back out of cover, then raising up somehow and kind of being at this awkward position. So finding like a good way to just balance, you're fighting so many things to take that shot. And then when I take the shot, I mean, really what's going through my head is just focusing on that spot. I mean, it's, it's said a million times, but I think it just gets like, sometimes I think, you know, there's people that have their shot processes or whatever. My shot process is just like focusing, focusing and shooting and not really thinking about it overly too much. But I know that that's something that just like, can't really be taught. It's just, it just happens. Um, but you know, if I were to think about something, it's like the less things that I have to worry

about the better. So it's, you know, I've, I've just kind of got my system and that comes with the practice and everything else. Um, and then just kind of focusing in on that, that particular spot. Cause I think a lot of people, you get a little bit distracted and you get excited and that's, that's when you kind of pull it to the right, pull it up, shoot low, whatever in that moment of like panic and I got to hurry. You got to fight those thoughts of like, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. And just kind of think, focus, focus, focus, focus. Yeah. That's tough. That's tough to do. But I think part of it is just like, is like you said, there's no substitute for experience and just doing it over and over and over again. Being close, being close to game, um, which is what bow hunting is, but being close, you, there's only, that's one way to, that's the best way to learn is be close.

And the whole things you've mentioned, reading game, reading wind, no one, you can get away with something, no one, you can't just takes getting close many, many times and learning from what goes wrong as much as doing it right again the second time. Yeah. And I, I'm fortunate because I get a lot of experience, even in what I not like the off season for most Western big games, I'm hunting something else somewhere else. And so I get a lot of practice with that, but, um, something that I used to do a lot and still do every year is like, take my bow out after the big game season and go hunt. Jack rabbits, go hunt quail, go hunt, go hunt stuff that you have to get close to. That's unpredictable. That's moving. That incites kind of a similar like reaction and response where you have to like get in, make your move moves, right. And, and execute your shot.

And just the more times you practice that, the better you're going to be. Even just like getting out and shooting. I mean, I still do like the roving with like, uh, blunt tips and shooting stumps and stuff while I'm out there, just kind of like be at the ready. And that's like, you can, you can't, you just can't put a price on actual in the fields type practice. Cause shooting in your backyard is one thing, but it's never like, never have I drawn back on a deer or an elk or anything and thought, wow, this is exactly like that 3d target I was shooting. It's like not even close. And I find myself throwing on it like a, an old broadhead, you know, that's the exact same as everything else in the quiver, but it's, I don't care. Uh, you know, obviously it's not sharp chunked up and, uh, you know, I, I shoot at the base of brush all the time.

Sometimes you got a little bit of a, you know, dirt dune or sand dune or whatever. And I'm constantly shooting out. Even mid stock sometimes laugh. Yeah. If you're, before you crush the ridge and he's over the other side, 300 yards, it's like, I'm just going to make sure everything's, you know, this doesn't blow up on me right now or then later, you know, whatever, I haven't got a stick jammed in my camera. Did have that happen. Blew apart. I did. I, I, well, it was a lion hunt and it was like a, must've been some ice in the track. I don't know. Yeah. Stream came out. All flat just came apart, blew the bow apart. Yeah. Yeah. It was a little rough, but anyway, no, no fall to the equipment. It was just, it was a, one of those, you know, midwinter, wet, icy, bitter, cold snow everywhere. Just, it was just, you know, just part of that. Probably me being a little sloppy. Anyway.

And then, and then what about buck fever? I used to get buck fever as a kid and then I, and I just used to get so, so ticked that I couldn't get over it. And, and, uh, you know, at some point you just realize if you, if you make it happen, you know, you're, everything's great. You get to go home, you get a, you know, be a hero, so to speak. You did it. And then if you get buck fever and it doesn't happen, you're out there another 10 days. So I used to beat myself up and now I, I get buck fever after I make the shot, I start shaking, but I pretty, pretty ice cold until that happens. But I didn't, I don't know how I made the transition. It's just, it's hard to explain, I guess. Yeah. That's what I think my excitement comes in after the fact, but there, there are those times where you're like, you know, something happens and you're like, you get that.

You get that rush, that buck fever and you normally make a bad judgment call and then you mess it up. So it's just, I don't know, uh, what, what it is of just like, I think that comes down to that whole focus philosophy or just focusing on the task at hand and not really like it's someone you let your mind wander and like, Oh, what's going to happen after I shoot it and this, that, and the other thing and counting your ducks before they hatch. And then you get to that position and you freak out cause your mind's already played the scenario of you getting it and not the scenario of just like, you're already taking photos. You're already taking photos. Anytime you do that, you're, you're done. Like you're, you're, you're going to, something's going to happen and it's not going to work out for you. So, you know, just focusing on like every moment as it's happening.

And then, and then that's why maybe afterwards, as soon as, you know, I've had that, I mean, one time I was thinking I shot a pretty good buck with my recurve and it was like up until, and as soon as that arrow hit that buck and I knew I was just like shaking, like it was the first deer I ever shot. I thought, okay, it was just because I was so focused in on that moment. And then the reality of like, okay, now all that excitement can hit, can come in. But at that time I wasn't even thinking about it. All I was thinking of was getting close, making a good shot. And that was it. I struggle in a blind when you're watching an animal come in, like say it's 200 yards out of elk or whatever it is, blind or a tree stand, and you're anticipating the shot and I'm watching them come in and I know what's going to happen. I know there's going to be an opportunity for fact. Yeah. I don't know.

I struggle. I, I lose it if I'm not careful. I got to look around, look at other things. It is hard. Yeah. Hunting in a blinds, like, I don't know. It can be difficult because it's that mind game of like, it's right there. And then you're like, yeah, it's so easy. It's right there. And we're just watching them. I, I, I, I find the same thing. I think it's almost harder that way than like stalking in sometimes. Yeah. I find myself, you know, when I'm guiding clients, uh, and then when you're a hunter, you remember the word you're saying to your clients, but could you see them get worked up a lot? I'm sure Remy, I'm Jason, you too, both you get them. It's about to happen. The deer, the elk, whatever you've been there to kill, whether it's a giant or whether it's just their giant, uh, they're getting ahead of themselves and you can see it.

And I've, I've many times had to talk to him and say, Hey, this is a cow elk. You're laying on the pack. Just put it behind the shoulder and just try to talk with them a little bit. Instead of this is your grand slam and you're 79 years old and this is your last chance. Cause that's the reality of it. Yeah. We've been out here for nine days and this is the first legal ram we've seen. Yes. Yeah. Don't remind them of all the important things that this is coming down on this shot. Yeah. Whether you drew the tag, bought the tag, uh, you know, all those things are true, but you just got to somehow distract them from the reality of it. But in a way that just maybe lets them just for literally five seconds. And a lot of that, most of the times always put the rifle, just pull it together. This is, it's a cow out. Just lay down, put my shoulder and squeeze. Don't make it bigger than it is.

Most people, most people, the first shot misses. I don't understand it. I mean, they're the most solid they've ever been. Solid, steady, ready miss. And then in the heat of battle, they start smoking it and laying it right in there. So I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. No, I've, I've seen the same thing. I think too, like, you know, if you were to, if you were to say what's easier to hit, like a giant mule deer at 20 yards or a spike by fork at 90, you probably, you probably tendering the spike. Oh yeah. You don't care. You know what I mean? You just pull it back up. A giant buck at 12 yards is like more nerve wracking than anything on the planet. Jack rabbit at a hundred. Yeah, exactly. Or a mule deer at 15. Yep. Exactly. That's exactly right. I remember that year that, that reminds me of that year of Carter, we did go to Montana.

I remember I'd broken my hand that summer and I crushed it bad and I couldn't hardly shoot a bull all summer. And so when we quit bull hunting, the first night there from the side by side, remember if we see a six point bull and it's just a six point bull. Yeah. And I got out and just let it rip and it died right in front of us. Yeah. It died right in front of us. And I'm like, no crap. Wow. It was probably a 55 or 60. I don't think I even ranged it. It wasn't even your bow. I know. It was a borrowed bow. I had to borrow that bow because I couldn't shoot my, my recurve. There was just, I didn't have the strength because I hadn't shot my bow all year long. I couldn't do it. So I borrowed a compound that year. And that's when I realized, ah, these things are pretty forgiving. That was a long time ago. That was probably 10, 12 years or 15 years ago. I don't know. But to your point. Yeah.

I mean, if I would have been a three 80 bull, uh, you wouldn't even have got, you wouldn't even got an arrow. No, I'd have cut myself trying to put my barrel on the string. Cut yourself. Cut the string. Injured me. Who knows? That's right. Yeah, exactly. But it's, it's, it's just that minds. It's just a mind game at that point. Cause your mind saying, oh, this is an opportunity that I'm not going to get in. And you put this pressure on yourself. You start thinking of what the opportunity is and not just the task at hand, but when it's something that you, you don't get as worked up about or something. So it's just tricking yourself into making every opportunity that, that just robotic, just what the task at hand, just, okay, I'm going to just shoot that out. You fill in the freezer with a cow elk. That's, I mean, I don't know what I, what I've come up with.

And I stick with it when I can see somebody having a rough time and I can hear them breathe and you realize there's got to be some intervention here or you're starting over. I just think of antelope. Anytime I need to calm down, I think antelope cause they don't do much. They don't do a lot for me. So I'm like, okay, that's an antelope. Or you'll find another one. It's a 12 incher. I don't know. I don't know. I'll probably offend some antelope hunters out there, but that's what I think of. So, all right. Well, cool. Any, uh, what else? Anything else you can think of that that's helped you as far as like, do you wear double socks, sneaky feet? I mean, is there anything, you know, like that? I, I'm not a huge fan of coverup sense. I think if the wind bad, they're going to smell you, try to keep the wind good, but I don't know how you do things like that.

I don't, I mean, I don't use any cover sense stuff, but I do, I do take my shoes off a lot. Um, I, I mean, it's, it's just so, it's well mule deer. They hear so well, and it's so much more quiet. I can get way closer, uh, without shoes on than I can with, but it depends on the animal too. Cause you know, elk, I would never, I never really take my shoes. I've never taken my shoes off the stocking elk, but I like to call it anyways. Um, sheep. I mean, actually I took my shoes off when I stocked my sheep this year because they were last year when, because they were bedded and there was no wind and it was just, and probably wouldn't have got on them cause there's a lot of shale and stuff. So that made a big difference, but, um, I like almost everything I've shot has been barefoot, but there are some things that, you know, you just kind of got to be aggressive

and you don't have time to take your shoes off or whatever. But I also, um, yeah, that's situational, but I'd say most of the time, some kind of in my socks, just so much worse. Even if it's just for that mental peace of mind of saying like, dude, I'm being really stealthy, you know, I'm part native American right now. You feel that way a little bit when you're just inside, you just feel like this is how it probably was, how, how it was first done. But how do you, how do you, I mean, for real life shooting conditions, what is your, some of your, do you take your three D's to the mountain blocks, to the mountain? How do you practice in terms of preparing for difficult shots and things like that? Yeah. I mean, I'm pretty fortunate that I've got like a, I could just pretty much walk out of my house into some mountain type shooting. So that's pretty awesome. I get a lot of downhill practice.

I find anytime that I have shots that I think are difficult, I kind of try to practice those the most. And I found like over the years, the shots that really messed me up the most would be probably steep downhill and, um, and then like that shot where you're kind of, you draw back crouching down, but you, you know, if you stand all the way up, you're going to be, it's not going to work out. So you kind of like have to do like a chair pose, half squat shot. Those, I mean, those don't work out for me as often as I'd like. So, uh, those are the ones that I try to practice the most. Um, and then just like the whole, uh, you know, shooting, I mean, for the most part, you're stocking something, you're coming from above them downhill. Um, that seems to be most of the shots that you get. So I try to practice those shots a lot. Yeah. Yeah.

What's your, I know, you know, Under Armour and you've got quite a good relationship. And of course you, you know, wear their products often, but tell us a little bit like, what's your favorite piece of UA gear? I know they came out with some awesome, I love the Ridge Reaper pants. I love the Puffy jacket, a few of those, but I didn't know, you know, what, what's your favorite gear? Oh, it, you know, every hunt's different. I on it. I mean, I would say my go-to, I love that infill jacket. It's that wind stopper jacket. I wear that most of the year. Um, and then I probably, I, if I was to just make a, uh, mishmash combination, I'd probably use the, the Raider pants, just a little more lightweight pant. Yeah. And then that, that jacket. And I like that reversible, that kind of like, I guess they call it the mid season, that kind of like wool blend shirt.

It's like camo on one and gray on the other. Yeah. You can flip it, go downtown, go get the mail, whatever. Exactly. And it's super comfortable. It's like super good for that mid to late season stuff. Um, you know, I just, I've been using that, uh, ISO chill hoodie thing that just came out. Well, I think it's come out now. Maybe it's a prototype still, but I love that thing. It's good. That's going to be awesome for Nevada. It's like early season. That's great. Um, and then in wet stuff, that Gore pro rain gear, I swear by that. Yeah. It's like, it's expensive, but it's worth it. And that's for, I think it's 500 bucks for a set, but it's unbelievable. I think it's more than that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, maybe now it's maybe now it's, it's expensive. I'll tell you what though, when you're in Alaska for 10 days and it rains, uh, nine out of those

10 days and you're the only guy that's dry, you're pretty stoked on it. I mean, I've been in some super wet hunts and I had no problems. So I've, I mean, that's, I've been on hunts in like mostly like a fog neck and outside of on in Alaska, mostly in New Zealand, some super wet stuff there and with other guys too. And I'm like dry the whole time and they're wet, their stuff's, you know, started to soak through or whatever. So, I mean, I, I swear by it. It's not quiet. It's not light, but it's, it does its job. It's like, if I'm carrying that kind of rain gear, I'm in an area that I want that kind of rain gear. It's like 70 mile an hour winds and dumping rain. And do you want that? It's, I mean, it's, it is. There's no question. I was brown bear hunting and solid rain every day. And that's, it's unbelievable. There's no question about it.

Come a long way from when we first started working with them. That's for sure. Yeah. Long way. Yeah. I love their kits now. Like they've got some really good stuff that, you know, and even those windstopper pants. I mean, if you're talking like elk from October through the end of November, you can't really beat that. You know, it's, it's got, and they're comfortable and really, you know, it's not like you have to stop and keep putting clothes on and taking clothes, you know, cause like it kind of regulates you to what you're hiking and it works. And then when you stopped, it works. So I like that. Cause I mean, that's what, how much you're just like constantly stopping, moving, stopping, moving and get hot when you're walking and cold when you're stopped. So having something that kind of regulates a little bit, so you don't have to keep jumping around with the extremes. That's nice. Yeah.

Well, all right, buddy. Is there any parting words of wisdom for anybody out there listening or anything else we didn't cover that you think's important at the moment? I think we covered things I thought were important and things that I didn't think were important. So we're good. Three, three step process. Get it, get it, get it, get a wazoo tag, put a bunch of time into it, find the animal, kill it. Got it. That's it. I mean, it's, it's that simple. Yeah. I mean, like if you, if you start overthinking it, then yeah, you're just, you're in, you're in for a downward spiral. Just got to do. Kill lots of stuff. Practice. Kill lots of stuff. Tags, tags, time and execute. Get her done. Yep. I think that's a good one. So let's say your stone sheep hunt is all on. We all travel to Canada this fall. No problem. Are you taking bow only? That's a question.

Oh, I've, I've been recently throwing that back and forth. I am bow hunting it. So I was debating, I, it didn't even come up in my mind until yesterday. I was like, maybe I should take a rifle as well. Um, I don't know. It's a big decision, man. It is. I've not, I've not been man enough or whatever the word is to do that. And I'm talking, and that's what I'm like, we're talking about just like do it. But that's, this is one of those hunts where that comes into your play. I'm already thinking you're like, you have to make a, like, you got to do it or you got to be English. You got to do this. You got, and you're like, man, it's like when that sheep steps out, am I going to get some buck fever? Probably because I've worked it up in my head for the better part of my entire life. Yeah, whatever. Exactly. You got to have to think either antelope or cow elk.

That's what you're going to have to think. You know, like, it's just a stupid goat. It's a feral goat on Maui. It's a feral goat. Yeah, that's right. It's a chicken and down. Yeah.

Yeah. It's a big decision. Well, I've just, I'm not, didn't mean to put you on the spot, but it's a big, I knew it probably was something you've been weighing. Yeah. The problem is, is you're not in your home turf up there. You've got a certain amount of time. Let's call it a 10 day hunt. You know, you got weather, you've got money, you've got time. I mean, there's so much wrapped up into it. It'd be different if it was your backyard and I got a month and a half to make this happen. Yeah. Montana, Rocky tag or something like that. Yeah. And, and unfortunately I've got a lot of time. Um, so that's good. That's, you know, but also the thing is, is yeah, it's like, you don't know how it's going to go. Uh, do you, are you okay with going home without empty and not just empty? What happens if one's at 75 yards and you just don't like close, but just no bow shot,

either those kinds of scenarios. It's a bow shot in the backyard, but it's something you want. Do you want to let that arrow go? A windy ridge at 75 yard blowing crosswind, all those. Right. Yeah. Are you, are you in fairly like within a hundred yards, but it's blowing and you, and you can't get any closer. And it's like, okay, well it's, yeah, that's, it's a tough decision, but I don't know. Yeah. Yeah, it is. I know. I've been thinking about it and I feel like I'm kind of like of the opinion. Well, I've, I've done that too, where I've taken, carried both and you always use the rifle. Yeah. And on the hunts where I, so I've been, I've hunted, uh, I've only shot one sheep with my bow and I've taken my bow on three sheep hunts, four sheep hunts, four sheep hunts. Yeah. And one of those sheep hunts, I only took a bow and that's the one that I shot a sheep with the bow. You know what I mean?

And it's, I could have shot a sheep with a bow on every other hunt. If I just, well, that's not true. One of them I shot like on the last morning, last day, like at, yeah. So one of them, I probably would have gone home empty, but the other two, I think I would have probably got one if I only had a bow. I know it. So that was kind of my other thought is, man, if you don't give yourself the other option, because if you're just, if you're carrying both, you're going to use the rifle. And I, not that I'm opposed to using the rifle, but I just. Maybe you're, maybe you're, maybe you let, maybe use the guides bear gun. Worst case scenario. No, 45. Yeah. 45, 70. 45, 70. I think that's, I think that's going to be the trick, you know, because I, I mean, I have no problem. I mean, I would love to shoot one with a rifle.

I like, that's not, but it's like, if you maybe only get to do it once, you should probably, and you were like, well, if I only get to do it once, I want to get one with my bow one day. So I should make it this time. You'll do it. You'll do it more than once. Yeah. But you just, you never know. So. Well, we hope that all comes off without a hitch, you know, for you and everybody else traveling around this fall. And may have to have you come back on if it all comes together and tell us a story about it later this fall or winter. I will for sure. That'd be great. Hey, buddy. Well, we appreciate you spending some time with us. Wish you the best this fall. Yeah. Wish us the best this fall. Who knows? We're all super, we're all super excited up and looking for fall and hopefully we can get. Oh, yeah. Hopefully some good tags come your guys's way. I know. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

I'm excited to see how some of the rest of the draws come out and plan out the rest of the year. Okay. If there's anything we can do for you, let us know. Perfect. Sounds good. Thanks, Riley. Have a good one. Catch you guys later. Thank you. Bye. Okay. We'd also, as we finish up this podcast, we'd like to thank Red Rock. We're actually going to be going and doing a shooting course with them. Long range shooting course. And get to spend some more time with them. We've all got Red Rocks here. Going to go burn up some lead up there in northern Utah. If you're interested in looking at what they have to offer, go to www.redrockprecision.com. Give them a holler on the phone. 801-425-6574. 801-425-6574. Making super awesome custom rifles for sheep hunters, elk hunters, deer hunters, animal hunters, anybody. Great product. Great people. Give them a holler.

Also want to give a shout out to Helleberg Tents. If you're looking to upgrade or just diversify whatever tent, whether it be backpacking, base camp tent, whatever you have, check out helleberg.com, H-I-L-L-E-B-E-R-G.com for all of their different variety of tents. One man, two man, three man, big group tents, whatever you're after. Great tents. Super well built. Three, four season tents. We've used them for a lot of years, Carter. And very well built. Very sturdy. You don't go through a Helleberg tent very, very fast. Still got the originals. Yeah. So great well built tents. Check them out.