EP: 207 Colorado Draw Results, and Hunt Winners

Dear elk and antelope options, if you didn't apply for moose, sheep, and goat, you've got until June 5th. So he laid in the Bering Sea maybe for five minutes and then he had to swim to shore. Anything to do with Western big game.

Welcome to the Epic Outdoors podcast, powered by Under Armour.

Here we go. For all you young pups out there, that's what we listen to back in the day. We've been waiting all year long for one thing and one thing only. Hopes and dreams are resting with the state of Colorado, Nevada, and others. And now it is...

It's here. Are you sitting home or are you packing your bags for Colorado? That's what we all want to know. It's the time. It's the week. It's time. I'm fired up. That fired me up. Yeah. That's good. And I don't have enough credit card charges to be that fired up. Not enough for you, but for family members and kids. This is the family and friends year. We burned ours last year, Carter, so it's the family and women and children. It's an other people's year, not our year. Our year, Bronson, have you drawn a tag yet? Nope. Neither have I. Chris, have you drawn a tag? Oh, yeah. You have. Yes, one. Well, two. I drew that to general. You drew general. That's a big deal anymore. New Mexico elk. New Mexico elk. That's a big deal. That is. Well, welcome, everybody, to the Epic Outdoors podcast, coming at you from Cedar City, Utah.

Sunny Cedar City, although, Bronson, we've been getting like some monsoony-type clouds, but no rain. It's a lot of teasing and a lot of wind is what it is. A few weird puffy clouds at times. Little sprinkles on dust, just enough to tease you, but it's nothing. It's so dry. Well, there's a lot of draw results coming out, and as such, you're going to need a rifle. So, we want to throw a little shout-out to Red Rock Precision. Good dudes over there at Red Rock. I shoot the rifle. Even Ashley. She's now 14. Crushes 300. 1312. 300 drum. Right? Yeah, 30 Nosler, actually. Oh, sorry. But not a lot of difference. It's a 30-caliber rifle, and she didn't even fill it. Jana, too. So, anyway, shout-out to Red Rock. Unbelievable. I love my rifle, Bronson. You've got rifles from them. They're incredible. Redrockprecision.com. Get on the list. Give them a holler. You cannot go wrong with them.

Of course, you know, they make their living on lightweight, accurate, custom rifles, but I mean, they make heavyweights, too. They do about anything you need in all different calibers. Yep. That's right. We've got them. Cheap rifles. If you want more of a bench rest just to go plink with the boys and show them what you can, and it's a heavier, weight doesn't matter, they can do that. Yeah. Hashtag weight matters. All right. Keep going. Also want to give a shout-out to Hoyt, new advertiser this year with us. Excited about some of their new bows. We've got some of the RX-5s ourselves. Been shooting them. I was a little whiny. I hadn't got mine, but I got it. Yeah. I picked a different, I picked a camo. Cuyo Verde pattern. You got the buckskin, I believe. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I love it. I guess we could throw it out. If you're looking for a bow, maybe give us a call.

We might have an extra two around here. We do. Actually, Bronson. We can make a steal. Yeah. Somebody, a steal of the century. How would they get a hold of us? An RX-5? Email Jason. Yeah, email Jason at EpicOutdoors.com. Email Jason at EpicOutdoors.com. First come, first serve. I think we've got three brand new in the box RX-5s. There we go. 60 to 70 pounders. Give me a holler. Yeah. Also, a little shout out. You know, Bronson, we had old Bobby, our buddy Bobby down there in California. Performance archery. That's right. Dude, he hooked us up. He knows what he's doing. Arrows. Everything. Start to finish. Arrows. Inserts. Everything. Rebs. Sights. Tuned. Strings. It's also the time of year if you're drawing tags, if you know what you're going to have and you know you feel like you're either underpowered or under-equipped, it's time you might need a new tripod.

We've got tripods from Vortex. We've got optics from Vortex. Whether it's 10s, 18s, spotters, whatever. Rifle scopes. Give us a call. We're a dealer, official dealer of Vortex, optics, and tripods. We've got a Summit Carbon 2 tripod. It's a great lightweight backpacking tripod. But anyway, give us a call. We can give you pricing on that as well. A great supporter of ours here at Epic Outdoors. Yeah, I like it. That Summit, by the way, Bronson, I'm super impressed with it. It's hard. I mean, it's solid. It's a solid piece of equipment. This isn't like a chintzy little tripod that'll do for my kids. This is something we would have ourselves. It's very solid. And we also carry the adapter for those vinos. So you can put a stud on the Vortex 18x56 and put it right on the tripod. We've got plates, adapters, studs. We've got all this. Even new adapters.

I think they call those bells and whistles. We got it.

I can't even whistle right now. Jingle, jingle. Bell, bell. Dingle, dingle. All right, all right. Moving on. Way beyond that is Phone Scope. We appreciate Phone Scope and their support. Need one of those coming up. Scouting season's happening. If you don't video it, it didn't happen. So anyway, hit them up, www.phonescope.com. My buddy Chestness from Beaver County doesn't know how to spell. Phone Scope, S-K-O-P-E.com. Got to be different. Set you apart. Got to be different. But he is different. He's awesome. Makes a lot of great products. Pyro putties, electric lighters, you know, Phone Scope adapters. To be able to video from your phone through any optic. Any optic. Doesn't matter what it is. Including your Rifle Scope. So anyway, pretty awesome. Good dudes over there. Phone Scope. All right. We also got to throw a shout out, I guess, to Under Armour.

I mean, they sponsor this whole thing. They're the title sponsor. We appreciate them. A lot going on. Had a phone call this morning with them. At least the guys did. New gear's imminent. It's going to be coming up soon on UA.com this summer, June, July. I'm in anticipation of the new hunt. So lots of new stuff to look forward to. Good stuff. Good stuff. Well, Bronson. Back to the theme of the day. Yeah. It's the final countdown. So it's the last week in May. And Colorado has this agonizingly unique way of releasing draw results. Bear first because everybody's looking forward to that.

And it's bears, deers, elks, antelopes, moose, mice. Mice. Mooses. Moose, you know, so it's anybody's guess. But so far, bear and deer have been crushed. Cards. Cards-wise, we're waiting for the portal jordles to be updated. And if you applied more than one choice, then there's no way of telling yet. But by the time you hear this podcast, they might be loaded. That usually takes a day or so to load them. But what was very frustrating is I applied my whole family on one card. And I went and looked at the charges. And there's four charges. Luckily for me, I only have four adults. And they were all adult charges. So my two kids. Adult fees. Two youth fees. Yeah. Speaking of adults, Bronson. Oh. Is this where? Well, what have you been doing this week? You've got a youth moving from youthhood to adulthood, which puts you into from adulthood to grandpahood. Maybe. No, it doesn't.

I was just wondering how it feels to get old. You have two over 18. Now I have two. So I'm just up with you. What do you mean? I'm just glad somebody's catching up to me. Yeah, I had a daughter graduate high school. I thought you were talking about the other event that happened. Well, let's talk about the other event. So you're at graduation yesterday? No. You're getting ready. You're getting ready. We've been hiking. We've been out being physical and getting ready for the hunts. And you decided to go ahead and challenge your son to what? To what? A 50-yard dash? I didn't challenge him. How'd that go? Well, this is how it all went. We had a nice event at Southern Utah University. I've got proof. The football field. Video proof. Go ahead. And it went over. We took. Daughter graduated. It was a nice ceremony. It was nice. The wind wasn't blowing.

I was telling my wife, I can't believe how nice a night it is to have an outside event. It's not blowing in Cedar City, Utah. They had to plan it outside months in advance because of COVID. They could do that. And it's been gusting 30 to 40, it feels like, for like a week straight. 50 on Friday. And I just was thinking all those hats on those kids, 350 kids down there. I'm like, they would be gone. Yeah. Like, it would have been a mess. And everybody's got their hair done. It's nice. And it was just a perfect night. So it was over. We got our pictures down on the field. And for all of you that have teenage boys. This boy's caused you to lose toes, break fingers. What else? I don't know. It's just, you have them too, Carter. I know. Oh, I know. And when they start hitting 12, 13, 14, 15. Well, they think they're something else.

It starts to, when my boy was starting to get inching up taller than me, he's taller than me. He blew by me a year and a half ago. He's a tall kid now. Yeah. So, but it's still just this thing. And I, I don't know. My dad was a shorter dad. So I, I, I was taller than him. I never like, I don't know. Wasn't like the physical challenges. For him. You weren't challenging him physically all the time. No, I didn't. It didn't feel like it. No. Did you remember? But man, but, but maybe it's, you know, anyway, but it's on the basketball court. He, he elbowed me in the forehead last year and ended the one-on-one game with our whole family and my parents watching and it was getting heated. And I had a goose egg immediately go out about three quarters of an inch on my forehead. I thought I had a, you know. Chased you around the house. You had. Broke a foot. $14,000 in medical bills. So last night.

Trying to go on a sheep hunt. I hadn't, I hadn't raced him in a dash for probably two years. And last time I did it, I beat him. And so I've been just talking. Because he's 14. Probably. Yeah. Testosterone's just getting going. Now he's 16. He's feeling his old. Yeah. And I haven't done it. And I, okay. In the month of May, Carter is our worst shape of the year. We've been at a desk job for six months. Right. We have no physical. We're not physical. We don't. Hey, the only thing we've been doing is getting the mail. That's right. Let's be honest. So I'm in my worst physical shape. Like, I'm softer. You know, I am. I'm not. End of November, bring it on. That's the best I'm going to be. Right. Okay. And then we get back in the office and it's daylight. That's right. It's basically dark to dark in the office. That's right. So he's like, occasionally we'll talk. I'm like trash.

I'm like, I'm going to beat you at a 50-yard dash until I'm 65. I'm just, this is going to happen. I've just been, I've talked. So finally last night, we're out on the, we're on shirt and ties and Sunday attire. Yeah. And he's like, dad, let's do it right now. He's like, dad, here we are on the football field. Let's do it. And I says, 100 yards. I says, Ty, I could never beat you to 100. I would know. 50. He says, but no, not done. He's like, come on. And I said, finally, I said yes. Video's rolling. I should not have said yes. Your wife's video in the event. Should we back up to the 50-yard line? He has a friend. I mean, keep in mind, there's hundreds of people. Yeah, but this is a whole spectatorship. I mean, this is a long after this graduation. If anybody was there to watch this, throw the video up on the gram hashtag and tag Bronson. Nobody watched this.

This is like just an afterthought. This is an hour afterwards. So first, he false start. He got a jump on me by like three yards before the count started. So right then, I started catching up. I knew I had to catch up. About 20 yards in, I pulled a quad. I felt a pop and a burn in my leg of epic proportions. And I was hobbling. I couldn't make it. I was shut down. And yeah, it's all on video. And what's sad is he calls that a win. I mean, that's like getting a flat tire in a drag race. He didn't win. We had mechanical failure. We need to go do it again. He's reveling in this because he feels like not only did I crush you, you can't even walk yourself trying to beat me. You can't even walk back to the pits. Yeah, and I'm hobbling around the house. So anyway, I guess I'm tapping out of those youthful games. We all got teenage boys. Oh, we do. I, you know. We do.

My kids have been lifting weights like crazy. And I'm impressed. Like, they're lifting. They have a, you know, boxing bag. Oh, it's nothing for them to do 100 pull-ups. Nothing. They'll do it all. And they're just like, Dad, we did this and this and this and this. And I'm like, you know, I got to remind them what I remember me doing. Their age. Their age. And anytime they want to arm wrestle, I'm up for it. Because I know, no problem. No problem. I could do, I mean, you know. Hey, may not be as good as I once was, but I'm good once as I ever was. That's the song that was going through my mind last night when I was walking out there as Toby Keith. I can do this once. I just beat him once. Just beat him once. Shut him up. I'm in Sunday shoes, belt tie, white shirt. What am I thinking? What are you thinking, boss? What are you thinking? And you didn't even stretch. And I could be rich.

You didn't even stretch. I mean, at least do something, you know. It's just impromptu. Don't do stuff impromptu. All right. So, anyway. Grandpa Hood coming on. Here we go. Hey, we're all there. You know, it's crazy. It's a pretty awesome time of year. All these draw results are coming out. We had Nevada come out. It's unbelievable the results we had. Not us personally. Wyatt got an antelope tag. Everybody hit Wyatt at epicoutdoors.com. Congratulate him. If anybody has any information about the 220s, 241 antelope, hit him up. Give him a little boost. He's super excited about it. But that's all we got, Bronson. Yeah. It was weak. Yeah, personally. I don't know how to characterize it. It was tough. And why is it that we expect to draw? I was let down. I expect to draw everything I put in for it. Even sheep tags. I don't know how it is. And so, why is it we're so upset when we don't?

I don't know. But I know my name's going to get pulled on one of these alternates. Somebody's going to turn something back. So, there's an option on there to turn the tag back immediately. And boom, it gets reallocated. And then if you turn your tag back within the 14-day window of when the hunt begins, it's going to go up for, let's call it auction. It's first come, first serve. It's going to go up. Yeah. And there'll be a website. And I'm sure we'll highlight that later this summer. Long about what? That's going to be the end of July. Let's call it August 10th. I'm very interested on those tags. The archery deer. 14 days prior to that, right? Yeah, 14 days prior to that. So, July 27th, 8th. I don't know whenever the 14 days is. They're going to reallocate them. And then they're going to actually, you know. Refresh it all fall. And you have to. You can get your tag.

You can pick it up at an office. Or you can pay to have them overnight. But there's no printing it on your computer. I know that. So, anyway. It's not like you can just get one. And you can do it during the season. So, August 20th comes. The archery season's still on. And you could still potentially get one. Kind of interesting. Anyway. That might be where we're. You know, we're actually going to have a section in the next publication, Ronson. Kind of for opportunity. What's left. Options. Yeah. And some of it might actually have to highlight it for next year. Because, like, some of the Idaho stuff's gone. Yeah. They used to be stuff you could buy in the summer. Those days are gone. So, we're going to highlight it earlier. So, you can maybe plan ahead for December. When stuff comes up next year. Are we going to have a drop and bomb on mom section? I'm not authoring that. Are you?

I don't know. Probably not. No. I know I'm not. No, I'm not. But Josh here in the office is going to have in our section some different opportunities. May throw out a few of those options here and there. I'm not sure. We're going to see how this develops. Somewhere the line gets drawn at small game. I mean, big game. Yeah. Right. I don't know. Right. Yeah. So, anyway. But lots of options out there for guys that are looking. We also have Hunts. Devin's working with our outfitters. He continually getting different openings and whatnot. Mexico seems like a good place to go. They're not worried about COVID down there. Coos deer. Yeah. We're, you know, referring coos deer and mule deer hunts like it's our job. Well, it feels like it's one of the places where there's still a fair bit of availability, which is saying something because there's not in the western states very much.

Now, there is going to maybe be a little bit of a, I can't even call it a surge, but a little bit of a boost when New Mexico landowners find out what they get and Colorado landowners find out what they get and outfitters might, oh, we got an extra tag or two that we didn't think we would get this year in the draw. But you got to realize they have pretty good waiting lists right now for guys beating down their door for tags. So, it's going to be tough. If you got connections, better reach out to them because Colorado landowner deer tags and elk tags, New Mexico elk tags, they're going to be gobbled fast because it's just the era we're in this year with the draws being as tough as they are. Travel restrictions, we've said it over and over, broken record. It's the western U.S. is everybody's focused on it for their hunting plans because they're more certain you can do something here. Crazy.

It is crazy. So, yeah, the results of Nevada came up. There was a lot of people that drew sheep tags. Congratulations, guys. That's awesome. We had a lot of guys. Muddies. It was great. It was good for guys. 213, 211. Dude, you guys had an old buddy of yours draw the 044182. Yeah, that's right. Lots of different tags, fun for people, lots of great elk tags. Of course, Nevada's generally, when it's elk and sheep, it's a big, big deal because they're literally like sheep are once a lifetime for most nonresidents. Residents can draw three, four, five, whatever. I mean, some do. They do. Three, four sheep tags. Elk, though, they're very rare there. And even deer tags. So, anyway, it's good for them. We're down now to the wire, I guess, of some of the states, like where Wyoming and Idaho start maybe, not maybe.

They are on the front burner for people that are still looking for deer or antelope or, in case of Idaho, deer, elk, and antelope options. If you didn't apply for moose, sheep, and goat, you've got until June 5th. If you haven't applied for Wyoming deer and antelope, you have until June 1st to get that in. If you're left without something, you might want to try to get more aggressive in those states and try to get something lined up and get drawn before it's too late. Arizona, of course, June 8th. But Arizona's a hard way to force your way in, Carter, in the mule deer world at least. If you're looking at coos deer, you can force your way in with minimal points pretty easily in a lot of places. Mule deer's a little different course, but, you know, we did highlight that new country down there, 46A. Yeah, we were talking about one-owners. I know. And that's a random draw.

And we also had some tag reductions, you know, the Kaibab. It's some of that country we like. Yeah. So that's what I mean. It's a hard way to, even on early hunts, you can't just force your way into that. That takes double-digit points for non-residents to get a guaranteed tag in a Kaibab. So speaking of the strip and the Kaibab country, Bronson, let's just bring that up a little bit. We did have, you know, a good friend of ours that's an outfitter and runs cattle down there. We talked to him as he was bringing all his cows off the strip. What did he say? He said. Already. Bringing them off in May. Okay. But on top of that, he says, because of the nature of the country down there, he says, we normally don't bring them all off pretty much ever. He says, and that hasn't happened since the 50s. Yeah, it's dry. And Chris, you were out there. I was down there two weekends ago.

And the guy that runs the cows there, that's who I went with. We went to bring in cows that were just not doing well, basically went and checked them. He said, usually this time of year, they're belly high and fat. He said, in my lifetime, and he's probably 72 years old, been out there his whole life. He said, in my lifetime, I've never seen it this bad, ever. Wow. This is in the strip. And the ponds, they have a lot of man-made ponds. There's very little, if any, running water out there. So they have dirt tanks and guzzlers. And they have got a bunch of springs that he's developed. Yeah. And they have water, but that's only right there where the water's at. Right. Just poor. Dirt tanks are dry. It's scary. Most of the dirt tanks are dry. So how can it be good? That's all I guess we're saying from the southern Nevada.

And we've said it over and over, how can you have two rough years back to back? But I don't know how you can have a great one. Right. This is going to be maybe the exception. But having said that, from our country north, and what we're talking like, Bronson, we just watched it snow mid-center part of Nevada. Yeah. And so, yeah, they're tracking, I think, below 100%, below normal, but it's not like our 20 to 40% of normal down in our country. I was actually surprised this weekend over in toward Grand Junction, Fruta, and they're way greener than we are. Right. I was surprised. Yeah. Because it feels like they would be in a similar area, but they've got a lot more green than we do. Even all over the hill on parts of the Ponce have gotten places. It's just different. Cedar is bad. I don't know. Here. You mean right here? Yeah. Cedar City is like, feels like the worst in southern Utah.

I don't know. It does. It does feel rough. But anyway, so anybody that's drawn tags from the center part of Nevada and north, like, go have a blast. I mean, Bronson, that's where we applied. Yeah. A lot of our applications were up there. We did. We shifted a little bit. But, you know, I just don't feel how the southern end of Nevada is going to be elite this year. I just, it's kind of what we're talking about with northern Arizona premier strip units. These are high, they're high desert. They're desert units to begin with. They had, you know, it was worse moisture than last year. I don't know how. But, and we're talking about the extreme southern units in Nevada. But anyway, kind of interesting. But that was just a little update for everybody that's wondering. Having said that, you know, when you talk to guys on the strip, there's always a few 200 inchers. Always. And two tens.

There just might not be the big number of 220s. And this might be a year for a guy with less than max points that you have better random drawing odds. Because there's going to be a lot of people sit out. Yeah. You know what I mean? And so maybe this is a chance for you to have a little better odds. And get a tag. You know, you're just not going to expect those very upper echelon bucks. And so, anyway. And then Colorado, we've had, you know, everybody, like we've alluded to, and we've talked a little bit. These cards have been hit. And it looks like, I mean, right off the bat, we can tell like 68 third was a four to five point jump. Like we talked about. Guys with 11 didn't draw. Guys with 12 did draw. We know that was somewhere right in there. That's where it happened. And 54 looks like a three. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, anyway, we'll see. But it's that time of year.

A lot of stuff coming down the pipe. And Bronson, we have a load of freaking tag application deadlines coming up. Like tomorrow, your favorite, Washington. Huh? Washington. May 26. Get your app in. Is it in?

No. It's not. You should be lying. You've got openings in your schedule. No. Well, I do for a sheet. But I've elected in the past. It's not worth your one in 5,000 type drawings. Yeah. 4,000. 3,000. Whatever. For 110 bucks, it's just one of those I've never added, I guess. And they're a squared point system with mid-20s points. You know? Right. Right. A lot coming up. So, anyway, we've got Wyoming. You know, we answer a lot of questions. Of course, we answer the phones here at Epic Outdoors. You guys need something. We're here to help you. But June 1st, we've got deer and antelope. That's right. It's mentioned a minute ago, but you're going to want to rethink it. The hard part about Wyoming deer, it's not an elite trophy mule deer's destination, so to speak. There's a lot of good options, a lot of solid options.

Frankly, their best units that produce probably the most 180-plus potential deer are general season areas, region G&H, which means there's a lot of tags. Residents hunt their over-the-counter. It doesn't feel like you've drawn a limited-entry tag and are hunting something elite. You're there with a lot of people. But that's just Wyoming. And the sheds are fine, and the deer, the health of the herd, everything seems pretty darn good right now. Yeah. The majority of what you would call their limited-quota deer units are simply limited-quota because they can't sustain general hunting pressure over the time. So they've made them limited-quota, not to make them elite trophy quality, just to manage harvest tighter. That's it. They don't manage them for elite bucks. Having said that, there's some late hunts like 128 and that are unique late-season rut hunts that can do that.

But it's still general-season bucks. Those deer are coming from general bucks. Wintering down there. We like our general like a late muzzle. That's right. On our general. We're hunting it to November 20th. Yeah, you're going to kill a few bucks that show up and rut. But anyway, but having said that, if you don't have a deer tag, you should look at it. Get aggressive. Try to draw a deer tag there. Obviously, antelope, there's a plethora of options up there. We covered, I don't know, 40 or 50 units in the magazine. Varying different point breakdowns for Wyoming in terms of what it takes to draw. I guarantee whether you're in the regular draw or the special draw. Special draw is just simply, are you willing to pay more for your license? And in theory, have better drying odds. In many cases, that does pan out or not. So anyway, keep that in mind. Deadline coming up fast, June 1st.

June 1st, yeah. And we've got guys that are not getting charged on their car. They want to be charged, right? In Colorado, I've got guys saying, I'm going to be applying in Wyoming now. A lot of people wait. You do. And we do. We do it ourselves. We alter it. And this year, it's nice. They moved the Colorado draw results up about a week. So we're going to know this week before you have to apply for Wyoming and Idaho. Same with Idaho. So Idaho, June 5th, is the deadline for deer, elk, and antelope. A lot of guys are looking to do that. Absolutely, we believe you should be doing that unless you applied for sheep or goat or moose. You'd have the ability to do that. That's right. So it's a little bit costly to buy a hunting license.

But hey, I guess it's just the cost you've got to put forth in a non-point state if you want another chance to draw a tag at this state in the game if you don't have any odds. We do a lot of consulting on California. Why do we do that, Bronson? We do? Well, I mean, you know, fair bit. A lot of it's for residents, frankly. I know. I mean, we have a lot of residents that want us to cover that. We do. Because from a, well, from a non-resident perspective, it's hard to justify. I don't like my Washington comment earlier. I know. If you didn't get started earlier back on the Max Point sheep draw or something, it's a hard state to justify with up to one antelope tag, up to one elk tag in the state for a non-resident, and up to 10% sheep tag, I think, too, this year. Deer, you know, it's anybody, right? Yeah, it's weird. It's all over the place.

Anybody can get deer tags, up to 10% on sheep, and only one elk tag, and only up to one antelope tag. June 2nd. Yeah. Hard to justify. June 2nd. And then, of course, we talked, you know, deadline for California to wrap that up. And then, you know, June 8th, we talked about for Arizona. And then the one last one, Bronson. Montana. Antelope. Montana. Oh, Iowa, yeah. Iowa's, Iowa's June 6th. Actually, might apply this year. Might apply. You know, I'm still. Praying about it. Yeah, that's right. Got until June 6th. But that's not one you even think about if you don't have a place lined up before you apply because it's, you know, a private land-dominated state. You don't just apply and then find something later. Or it's, you got to have a lineup. We heard rumblings that Kansas had like 7,000 more applicants that, you know, may or may not end up with tags. There might be some problems.

Might have had. A lot of those have been, you know, 90% draw with zero points. Maybe stuff's shifted this year. We'll have to wait until we see the odds. And then, you know, don't forget your Montana antelope. We'll have to remind Wyatt. Maybe he can do an antelope state to state to state. You know what I mean? I think he's got a general deer elk combo up there. Or deer only. Can't remember. He's going to be going up there. You should bring that up to him. Let's do it. Give him the tip of the day. Well, we'll tell him. 200 bucks. The cheapest antelope tag in the West. We might have to do a GoFundMe page to make sure he gets it. You know what I mean? Don't want to have that excuse that it's not worth it. It is pretty cheap. And it is a June 1st deadline. Not, yeah, we could have easily not brought that one up. But it is staggered outside the other species Montana covers.

I don't know why they do it, but I guess they do it. So you got until June 1st to add a Wyoming antelope or a Montana antelope. Too many antelope states coming up. Way too many antelope states. That's right. All right. Well, you know what? I was thinking, should we cold call somebody that I am a little nervous to cold call? Don't really. Well, the guy that drew the Silver State Deer Tag in Nevada. Should we just see how he feels to draw a GoF Tag? I've never felt it before. Wondering if he could express his. If you feel that he would not hate you for doing so. Let's just see what he has to say. Let's just see. See how it goes. I don't know.

That was quick. We were just, we're on the Epic Outdoors podcast. And you're like the luckiest guy we know. We just want to know what it feels like to beat 1 in 5 or 6 or 7,000 type draw odds and win the lottery. So it was weird because the guy from Fish and Game called me Sunday night. And he said, he told me his name. Said he was from Nevada Department of Wildlife. And he says, John, do you realize what you drew? And I said, yeah. Basically, I asked him what my odds were. And he said I was 1 in 10,000. No kidding. Well. Yeah. Wow. I'd like to beat those odds once. Wow. So, all right. So everybody out there, our buddy John, John Hymas there in Nevada. He's got the Silver State deer tag. It's a governor's tag. They give one. They give one Silver State. And it's good for, you know, to residents or non-residents. And you're the lucky sucker that drew it.

Well, I'm lucky to know some good friends, too. So that's what makes me happy. Well, pretty special. And, yeah. Envy of a lot of people. August 1st, you get to pack a rifle. But are you going to use a bow in August just to make it fair? Or what's your thoughts? No. Are you? Well, no.

I have a bow, but I tell you, I promise, I am not good with it. So I am going to bring my trusty 6.5 Creedmoor. The Thunder Stick. Yeah. And see if that will get it done for us. That's awesome. Well, we're super stoked for you. Pretty awesome. And, you know, John, like you've killed some great bucks. I mean, you're no stranger to killing a big deer. I have killed a couple dang nice deer that I'm proud of. I let one get away last year that haunts me every day still. So I'm hoping to go find his big brother. So, all right. Besides this tag, there's one other significant tag that your family drew. Why don't you go ahead and enlighten everybody on that one? Yeah. Well, so the story was it was about midnight. My kid has been playing college football. So he's got 12 points for bull elk. He had eight points for deer. He's in Colorado doing summer cells.

And so I called him about 9 o'clock and I'm saying, Zach, you're going to draw that elk tag. I guarantee it. I mean, with the points you're going to draw that tag. I said, it comes out at midnight. He's like, Dad, I'm spent. I'm tired. He goes, I'm just going to go to bed. I'll look in the morning. And about 11.45, I start getting text messages from him. Matter and health. I didn't draw a dang thing. I'm like, stupid Nevada. I'm so tired of it. I've waited for six years to draw a tag. You know, I get that. I get that. And then I walk in the other room. My wife's on the computer. I'm like, what are you doing? She was like, can't figure out how to get on the stupid website. She's trying to figure it out. I had a buddy text me and said, you draw anything? And I'm like, no, I didn't draw anything. And then about two minutes later, I get an email.

And I'm still kind of half asleep because I had fallen asleep. And then I look and it said, any legal weapon, August 1st. And I'm like, what the heck? And then I look up and it says Silver State tag. And I just flipped out. Jeez. Unbelievable. And then my other kid calls, Gannon, from Idaho. He's up in Rexburg. And we're on FaceTime. And my wife says, I just got an email. Oh, you know what I drew? I drew a sheep tag, 268. Muddies. Your wife? Unbelievable. My wife did, which I hunted the muddies with my buddy Lane last year for 14 days. And we shot a heck of a ram out of there. Like a 173. Yeah, 173. Yeah. And so we were, that was, it actually wasn't one of those ones I sent you the picture of, Jason. But, I mean, we had, it was the funnest hunt ever. I mean, we were on sheep every day. Anyways, we ended up and shot the sheep that we called Brother Bill.

That we had had the day before the hunt at 150 yards. And we decided he wasn't good enough. And then we started looking at the pictures. And we're like, gosh, he is, you know. And we came back. And anyways, he went 173. Had a broken left foot. Jeez. Crazy. That dude was 14 miles south from where we saw him the day before the hunt opened. No way. Wow. Yeah. Wow. So now your wife's got a tag. And what are you guys going to be holding out for? So there's three Rams, three target Rams we had last year in the Muddies. And we actually found all three of them. We missed, my friend missed one of them. So there's one in there that's really long, really long. 38, 39. Wow. Now that's what her husband wants her to shoot. But I guess I got to see what she wants. That's right. And how much time and how much time they can devote. It's tough, you know. Kids and family and everything you got going.

So, and then how much time you're going to have in on this deer hunt. It'll be an interesting year for you guys. I'm excited for you. It is. I'm definitely, as I texted the other day, I'm feeling a little bit nervous. And you were telling me not to be. But it's hard. It's hard not to feel like you need to shoot a buck worthy of that tag. No, you know. Yeah, it is. I mean, you feel like you've got to have, you're conjuring up visions of, you know, the best deer of your life or whatever. Or all the other bucks you've ever seen killed on similar type tags or things like that over the years in Nevada. And it does come with a little bit of a mantle of, you know, expectation, I guess. And, you know, you never know. You might be in November. The 20th is crunching in on you and the rut's crunching and the bucks are rutting. And you're like, darn on, we're hunting sheep in December.

I'm still hunting deer right now. Yeah, there you go. You might have to put our sheep on. Who knows? You never know. Yeah, that's what, that's why I called Jason. I said, what are we doing, buddy? Yeah. Well. Well, anyway. Nevada's a big state. That's a good thing. A big deer can come from a lot of different places. It's a blessing. I'm not going to call it a curse, but it's a blessing. Oh, it's kind of a curse. But it's also, you're not narrowed down like you are 268 for sheep. It's like, that's the only place we can look. With a finite season, it feels like you've got the whole state for four months. You're going to quit your job. Of course, you're lucky. Gas is $354 a gallon. God, rising. Biden ain't going to let us off that cheap. Well, all right. We just wanted to say, hey. I just wanted to know what it feels like to win the lottery. We've never done it.

You know, that's the second time, though, I think I've done it. The first one, I got lucky and married the right woman. There you go. So, I'm feeling pretty good. Hey, he's saying all the right answers, man. Wow. Well. Hey, she wants to go shoot a sheep with, you know. That's right. I get to tag along with her. I'm pretty happy. That's pretty good. Well, congrats. Pretty fun. Appreciate you sharing that with us today. All right, guy. We wish you the best. We'll be in touch. All right. Okay. All right. Yep. Bye. That's fun. It's, there are people at the end of statistics. The one in ten thousands. There's people. There's real life breathing individuals with a Nevada Department ID number, a valid hunter safety card, and a gun in hand. That's, that's, that's the statistic. It's, there's people. You got a chance. All right. Well, it's that time of year.

Scouting is, it's, it's beginning, Bronson. It's, we're, we're going right from the office straight to the hills. When's that going to happen? May is the month where you pretty much get dealt your cards for about the rest of the year. Um, there's a few states we've talked about, they're still going to be pending, but it's the time of year. You need gear. You need optics. Um, give us a call. We've done our very best to over order. If that's a way of putting it. Overage. We have overage here. To put stuff on the shelf. Well, in a COVID environment, you got to have inventory. We're stashing. And so we're, we're ordering heavy. We don't always get our full orders, but we're doing the very best we can. And we're aggressive, more aggressive than anybody else. We know, let's put it that way in ordering over ordering. So, um, give us a call.

If you're looking for something, um, we can, hopefully we have it. If not, we get it on order. Um, whether it's binos, spotting scopes, uh, rifle scopes, whatever. Uh, Swarovski. Best deal out there. Best deal out there. Zyze, Leica, Vortex, 6-hour rain finders, whatever it is. Also trail cameras, Carter. We got a load of cameras. We have an entire room dedicated to cameras and a couple of different models as well as boxes. Bronson, I mean, it's awesome. And a lot of these states, you know, like Nevada came down with a trail cam season. I mean, it's more important than ever to make sure you've got coverage out there. If you're, if you're serious about it and you like to run cameras, some people don't like running them or, or whatever. They like to do family things in the summer more so, and maybe a little less scouting and wait for the hunts. That's all, it's all good.

But if you like to run cameras, you've got until August 1st. August 1st, you can't run them anymore for the purpose of hunting or, or whatever. There's an exact rule out there, but, um, you might buy a few more. I mean, that's the way, that's the way I look at it. I need them. July is critical. Uh, you know, in Utah, they've, they, they haven't limited anything. They're, they're, they're discussing a few things. I don't see it going away totally pretty much, but I mean, maybe, maybe a season, maybe not. Maybe, maybe it's not that big a deal. The wildlife board gets to decide that. But having said that, it's time to start getting them out. Yeah. Bottom line. It is. And, uh, let's go through the base, I guess, view the models that we have. Yeah. We do have a, the 45 max too. It's an incredible camera. Um, just, just one of those.

I've actually, Bronson, I'm running a test with like six, six different models in my backyard on an Aspen. Right. Got to make it real anyway. And, uh, they're all in the same exact tree and the same rough settings is rough. It's the same basic settings I can get. And it's pretty impressive. It's, it's awesome. And we do have some of the best cameras, uh, in stock and we maintain that. So there are some, a cheaper model too. We have a stealth. It's a little bit cheaper. I think Bronson, we're selling them for, I want to say $55. And so if you need a good coverage camera or it's an up close, you know, big, biggest difference is it's not, you know, rated for a hundred foot distance at night. You know what I mean? Yep. But it is snappy. It's fine. It's taking pictures like crazy. Um, doing a lot of daytime pictures, uh, for, you know, certain species and things like that.

You don't take as many night pictures like nocturnal watering deer, mule deer, things like that. Other things that are daytime. Well, and I even think like you could do the nocturnal ones if you've got like, like say a guzzler. 10 footer and they're drinking out of a tank. You're going to get them. Not a pond that's 50 yards across. So anybody that needs the cheaper ones than great. And these are member prices and, uh, and, uh, and whatnot. So anyway, and then we have the 45 max twos. I mean, those are like 129 bucks. 34 maxes. 34 is, you know, the 34s are 119 bucks. And so, I mean, you know, very, very economical, affordable here at Epic Outdoors for, for the members. Of course, uh, member pricing. So anyway, you can become a member if you're not, uh, by going to epicoutdoors.com. It's a hundred dollars a year. And of course there's, it's not like a Costco membership.

We're the bulk of our businesses, uh, the publication and drawing odds, kill percentages, best units, comments, and consulting, helping you obtain Western big game tax, not necessarily buying optics and buying trail cameras, but a good side benefit. You're going to pay for your membership. If you're buying something, you're going to pay for your membership in large part in one purchase. That's right. Well, and you're going to have that as a tool to apply more effectively and informed throughout the year. Um, we also are right now as an incentive, we're having a membership drive. It's, uh, highlighted online at epicoutdoors.com or in the new magazine and the hunts that we're given. We've blown through them before, but I guess we can again, real fast. We're given, um, up until the deadline is June 20th. Father's day. Which is father's day. Hey, it's our favorite day, right? That's right.

Father's deserve to have a day. That's right. So, uh, we've got a desert sheep hunt as an entry. We've got a Nevada, uh, elk hunt. We've got a last grizzly bear hunt, Colorado mule deer, Mexico coos deer, Utah mountain lion. And then we have a big optics package there. $13,500. That's right. As well as a bonus ticket for Nevada 231 mule deer tag. All the details are in our publication, the May and June publication or are online at epicoutdoors.com. Again, the way you get tickets in or to join our service within this drive period up until June 20th or refer somebody who joins up until June 20th or purchase tickets individually for those individual hunts. All right, everybody. Well, that's pretty much it, Bronson. We've went through all the states, uh, the, the application deadlines, the things we're looking at personally, uh, which is to draw a freaking tag.

Um, you know, we've got a tag, uh, a tag. That's where we're talking. That's what we're talking about. Uh, but we have, I have to try antelope in Wyoming. Kids and women that've got tags. And so we're going to be plenty busy and we're not going without tags. Both of our wives and kids have elite tags. And 20 plusers for your wife and my wife in different states. 20 plus points cashed. Wow. Yeah. It's a big year for women and children around here. And so anyway, we're excited about that. Uh, we do have general, but Bronson, I've got the dedicated, I'm going to try to make good on here in a COVID dry environment here in Utah. But anyway, hopefully that works out. I've got general. So I don't, I mean, you know, I'm not saying with that tagless. No, we got tags. And then, and then, uh, we always pick up a landowner tag or two. Gonna got a general Idaho deer.

Yeah, we, we do have that, but those are things we bought. Like we bought a general tag. We, we have a lifetime license or slash dedicated in Utah. I'm talking about, Oh, I, I surprisingly drew a tag. We neither have. I know. But, but, but also, okay. So if I'm consulting us and I had a guy say that, Hey, I cannot draw a tag. Oh. And I look at his portfolio and I say, that's by choice. I guarantee you, I could draw you tags right now with the points you have. We're always trying to maximize. Yeah. Our points. And then we apply for something we might not get. It's a natural human thing. I might get it. I might not. If I get it, I'm ecstatic. If I don't, I guess I wish I would have gotten it, but I don't, you never apply for something that's an easy draw. No. You know? Yeah. That's true. We do. I do feel that we're. By choice. By choice.

Wanting to get stuff and by choice, not drawing, but also by choice, willing to try general tags in Idaho and all that. Right. Most of the time don't pan out. Sometimes they do. Well, sometimes you, you apply and trade it in. Right. We apply and we draw a special tag and we trade it. We trade the general for our limited entry tags. So I do feel like Nevada shorted me. Yeah. I applied for stuff I shouldn't apply for. Why? 50, 50 odds on stuff. Learning new stuff that's a long ways away from us. Yeah. Maybe that's a blessing. Maybe there's something better in store for you and you'll find out that next week. I'm praying for that. So. All right, everybody. But anyway, that's where we're at. You can, if you don't have a tag, you know, we do have a section coming up that's going to help you get tags as far as, you know, general and easier to draw or whatever.

Some of these turn back options, exactly the process, like say Colorado, Nevada's new system. There's things you can do. General season, Colorado, whatever, you know, that's right. In the summer issue, the mag. That's right. So anyway, a lot, lots going to come down the pipe here with the next publication. And then anyway, you can also apply in our membership drive, get some tickets in there. Bronson, we're playing drives. We're playing, you know, raffles across the Western States. Different Mueller Foundation does some. Hey, let's talk about that. Army. What? At the banquet the other night. Classic example. Oh, dude. I got to announce to my boys. So Bronson, Bronson. After 20 plus years going to these sheep banquets. You've earned it. Lots of sheep banquets. Lots of applying. I've done some applying. Some banquets. Sometimes it's a little tougher in May. Like this was a May 15th banquet.

But I have kids, my wife, they're, you know, pulling 14 directions. Shed hunting. It's dad life. Hashtag dad life. You got Nevada opens up in May and they're. Yeah. And turkeys. And we finished it. We did kill a slugged bunch of turkeys. But anyway. So you attend. So our point is, yeah, I went down there. Never expecting to win. They're fundraisers, right? Just like a lot of these tickets that we enter for drives and raffles and things like that. Well, I won fully paid for Northwest Territories doll sheep pun. Art of Red River Outfitters. And Art of Red, you can't even buy your way in. Like that's, it's unbelievable the luck you have. Well, hey, you say that. But like if I had to line up how many I've put in. I've been to that for 20 years. So with your wife listening, how much would you say you've put out to gain? So if you put out 30K? Because that's what that tag's basically worth.

That hunt. I don't recall.

I don't. Yeah. That seems like a lawyer type response. Yep. Anyway. I've been advised to keep it at that.

But you've played it. You've paid your dues. You're going to kill a big old sheep one of these days. I don't know which year it's going to be. What year? Because you ain't going in a COVID environment. 23 or 24 is what it was when they gave it away. But I guess we'll see. This year it's not looking good for another round of sheep hunters going up there. And if that doesn't happen, I don't know. But I don't care. You don't care. It's on the books. Somewhere. Somewhere. Somebody's keeping track of that. You're going to get up. You've got airline tickets. And maybe a. Does that even include GST? No. The 14,000 little knick-knacks that Canada loves. Roughly 30,000 of it's paid. Doesn't matter. Right. Yeah. Pretty awesome. The big chunk. You did. You won. So, yeah. I'm feeling due for something else. And so, you know what, Bronson? We were going to kind of end this podcast.

But what if we talk to our good buddy, Rob Douglas, who also won. Oh, yeah. Why don't you lead off on that? Yeah. Tell us what he won. So, a couple years ago, we drew a couple spring brown bear hunts. We gave one away in the winter drive and one away in the spring drive with Dan Montgomery, Alaska Trophy Adventure. And for a peninsula spring bear hunt, which was supposed to take place last year. In a COVID environment. Last May. And it didn't. The bear hunts, most of Alaska, I'm not going to say all because I can't quantify that perfectly, but these hunts were not able to happen. And some of the June hunts last year were able to happen due to COVID restrictions that lightened up and the June hunters could go. That's right. The May couldn't. So, they got rolled to this year. And him and our other winner went and crashed a couple 10-footers. Giants. Big bears. I mean. Yeah.

Let's give him a call. I've been twice. I can't kill a bear to save my brother. Well, you've been once. You really didn't. And I chose. I chose. I wanted what they killed to see. Yeah. So, let's. How they feel. In the spirit of winning things that are fun and exciting and different and raffle-ish. And being lucky. That's right. All right. Let's call Rob Douglas. Got to have a name in the hat to win. It's the biggest thing. Can't win without it.

Jason Carter's office. We just want to know. Bronson and I are on the podcast. We just want to know what it's like to win and smash a giant. It's pretty amazing. You're back home and all settled in. This is. Hey, this is a crazier story. Okay. The guy I was standing next to three years ago when you guys. Called you? Let me win that hunt. Is standing next to me today. Come on. Chow. You guys need to go buy lotto tickets right now. Wow. Jeez. What do they call that? Lucky. They call it good luck. What does the word serendipity mean? Is that something different? I don't know. I don't know. No. Okay. We'd have to Google that. That's the Geico lizard says that. What does that mean? So, how was it, buddy? So, let me tell you. That guy, Dan Montgomery, and his, I call it his wife. I think they're not actually married, but they're definitely. A significant other.

Significant others for 40-some years. And Hank?

You could not find more genuine, honest, awesome people in the entire world. Wow. Unbelievable. Wow. Unbelievable. It's almost like going there, and all of a sudden, now I'm hunting with, say, my aunt and uncle, or my older brother. I mean, it was seriously that cool. Well, we just got done talking about kind of raffles and year-end stuff, and there's a few things in our membership drive, and you popped into our head about we went in this hunt a couple years ago, and last year, due to COVID, it was postponed because you couldn't get there in May, and you just went up there. So, briefly, tell us about, I mean, we teed it up that you smashed a giant, but tell us just a little bit about your hunt. Just a quick story. We don't want to take all day, but just something quick. Quick story is, you know, I talked to Dan.

Logistically, it's not an easy place to get to, and a lot of those things in Alaska aren't, but logistically, I talked to Dan. He lined me out, get on this flight, book this flight, do this. You know, want you there a couple days before season, or want you there to try and do a attempt to get there a couple days because things go wrong in Alaska. Weather, airplanes, everything. Everything. So, I did everything Dan told me. I packed every single item on Dan's gear list of what to bring.

Took off, went up there. You know, he kind of informed me that we, how we'd be hunting. We'd be looking for big grassy pastures, or we'd be looking for something dead on the beach. You know, they, the bears basically sit on this mountain range that's, I don't know, five to seven miles away from the ocean, and they come out of hibernation. They sit there in the middle of a snowbank and start running their nose, and they can smell a dead walrus, or a dead seal, or a dead whale, or dead something. And they take off and walk a straight line to their first meal in, you know, several months. And it was, it was truthfully exactly like Dan said it would be. He, you know, he told me what I should expect. I don't know how many bears I saw. I was only there technically for four days. Wow. Uh, I probably saw 25 bears. I saw another bear that he's like, that bear's a giant too.

Uh, he was on his way to something else. Um, I believe that his other customer that drew it at the epic tag possibly killed that bear. And he killed the giant too. Yeah. Unbelievable. Two 10 footers, right? Well, I spent about 20 more days than you did on my hunt. I saw a lot of bears, but I didn't see what you, what you killed or even close to it. So it's pretty, pretty impressive. Different place. So, so truthfully, I have hunted right next door to Dan's place. I hunted on, uh, it was Bill Stevenson's deal. And I, I, maybe it still is Bill Stevenson. I saw Bill when I was up there, but I think cash something is running it now. And I mean, I literally hunted within 15 miles. Okay. When I hunted with Bill Stevenson and I actually hunted with cash himself. And on that trip in the fall, I easily saw a hundred bears and I, I, I saw a couple giants and they just simply got away from us.

Just couldn't catch up to them or whatever. Wow. Yeah. I mean, when they just take, when they take off walking, they're in a straight line. You guys, you don't have a prayer. You can't even walk fast. You can't, you can't out walk them and you can't catch up to them and you can't cut them off. No, no. Just got, you know, a lot of, a lot of hunters think that a guide is giving up before that they've even started. Well, they've done it so many times before. All you're doing is create, you're just creating a scent line of human scent. Why even go after that? You're ruining it. Get your scent out there and mess it up. You're possibly ruining it or you've created this scent line and now the, now a bear or a different bear is going to pick up that scent line and follow that. And that's not a bear you wanted to hunt anyways. Right. Right. So. Pretty crazy.

So did you have, was it a close encounter? Anything crazy? How'd the kill go down? So literally watched the bear that I killed, watched him for almost 24 hours. It wasn't getting dark until like, I think it got dark at 1126 at night. And we watched him till literally dark the whole day before until dark woke up super early the next morning. And the bear was laying on top of this dead killer whale. Wow. I mean, that was his prize. There was many bears around. There was at least four other good bears around that whale waiting for their turn. He's like, I'm sleeping on this thing. Wow. He, he would, he would jump on top of it and yank parts of meat off of it and whatnot. And he'd eat for 10 minutes and then he'd just literally fall down out of exhaustion and just fall asleep. And he'd fall asleep for 20 or 30 minutes. Just like drug induced, man.

Well, and he's just, Dan even said that this bear's only been awake for less than a week, you know, and he's not, he's not fully functioning. Right. You know, wow. But he's also challenging any other bear. You think he's trying to come take. Yeah. There was no challenge. It was simply a look. So he would, he would just, another bear would walk up. And when I say walk up, I mean, with anything within a hundred yards, he would look over and just give them a look like, don't even think about it. And they would leave. They would, there was nothing close encounter whatsoever. I mean, maybe the closest encounter was 20 yards and that was two bears coming to this big bear. And there was no fighting or nothing. It was just a look and they would walk away. So now it's your time to go kill King, King Kong. And you got to get through six bears that are in the lane in the bushes within three to five.

That are hungry. And then you got to shoot one. How do you, how do you thread that needle? You got this rotten corpse laying under it. So now you're going to have to deal with all that. This is going to get good. Tell us more. So literally the bear that I killed did, did me right in so many ways. He got up and walked away from the whale and he went and laid in the Bering Sea to cool off, I guess. And he needed to wash off because he was spreading his scent around that whale and he was making a big mess. So he laid in the Bering Sea maybe for five minutes and then he had to swim to shore probably about, I don't know, 80 to 100 yards. And, but when he was going to come up, it was a real steep bank and you didn't exactly know where he was going to come to.

So we just ran around the bluff and took off running and tried to guess in general that we were perpendicular to where we thought he was going to come out. And downwind because, you know, he could have caught our scent and then just never came out or ran down the bank or something. And we would have never seen that. And he came out and actually walked down a real flat spot on the shore and then came up over the bank. And it was 268 yards and I shot him. Wow. What'd you shoot him with? What gun? 340 Weatherby mag. Wow. And it held, it held four shells and I shot all four shells. All four? Yeah. Just, yeah. Went and took a bath, cleaned off for you and that was it. Didn't stink too bad while you had to skin him? Didn't, didn't really, honestly, he didn't stink at all. It didn't stink anything like the fall bear I killed, you know, 10 years ago.

Well, yeah, I just had a saltwater bath and that's pretty good. Yep. He doesn't like a little Epsom salt here and there. Yeah. Wow. All right. Well, pretty awesome. No interactions while you're taking care of him in close proximity and how far were you from the world? Probably within a half an hour of him dying and we, you could see the whale the entire time. Another bear was on that whale. Yeah. So, and that, you know, maybe that bear had never ate until that day. Yeah. Did Dan take it, is Dan taking a, was he going to take another hunter out there or any, or? So, he had the other epic hunter. He had trouble getting into Anchorage. I believe he was coming out of Texas. Yeah. And he showed up in Anchorage, but none of his stuff did. And then I think he might've got luggage, but no gun or gun and no luggage. And then, then the flight was full coming out on the peninsula.

He had problems after. So, it was three or four days after you, before he got there. He was a few days. He was, he actually got there the day I was leaving. So, that was about day three or four. And Dan has since texted me and said that that guy killed nearly the same exact bear that I killed. Darker hide, but virtually the same bear. Same size, pretty much. I think the skulls were, I can't remember. 16th of an inch difference. Unbelievable. I mean, 10 footers, old suckers, teeth worn down. I mean, just all you ever want. If you want one, that's the one you want. But we, I saw a lot of bears. I mean, flying back to Dan's place in Port Hyden. I don't know. We saw that one giant bear, seen two mother bears with cubs, other bears. I mean, when you're there and in that spot, there's just bears. It's just bear country. There's really. You see more bears than any other game, really. Yep.

There's nothing there to see. Saw some foxes. They had seen a couple of wolves maybe the day I flew in, but I never saw a wolf. And Dan made it clear we're not shooting a wolf until we kill a bear. That's right. That's right. Don't want to ruin your area. Yep. Well, all right. We just wanted to give you a holler. See what it felt like. A, you won the hunt. B, you smashed a freaking world-class animal. It's just awesome. Yep. Unbelievable. And I mean, I truly, I give Dan all the praise. He is a professional. I mean, beyond a professional. I never, you know me, I've hunted all over the world and done all kinds of cool hunts, and I've never, never met a guy like this. Well, I think you and I met in the late 90s in Oregon. Yep. And so I know you've done it. You've done it. You've been with Bronson. Yep. You've been with this, you know. Done a lot of different hunts. Yep.

But he's really looking forward to Aaron coming sheep hunting with you. Yeah. Aaron, my brother, one of our friends drew a sheep tag with Dan, and Aaron's going to come up this fall and just be a packer. I don't know. Whatever. Just to go on a sheep hunt with everybody. Good packer. Yeah. Well. I know he takes a lot of the governor tag sheep hunters, and I don't know. I mean, he killed a giant, he killed a sheep last year that, I mean, you don't even hear of 185-inch. No, no. I mean, you don't even hear of those numbers anymore. Geez. Great guy. Great outfitter. And glad you had an awesome trip. We just thought we'd end our podcast today talking about, we talked about our membership drive, and although we're not giving a specific hunt away with Dan this time, you're a past winner, and you just barely got home within a few days, so we want to give you a call.

We try to pick up world-class hunts, so we're glad it all worked out, buddy. Yep. Thank you guys again. All right. You bet. We'll talk to you later. Take care, Rob. Bye. Pretty fun. All right. Let's call it a day. It's been a... Hey, what? I bet I'm half interested in doing a brown bear hunt, Connor. Well, dude. It kind of gets you fired up seeing all this thing. My hunt was awesome. It was in a lot of respects. I saw tons and tons of bears. Nothing that big. No. And like, I could have killed a nine-footer or something, and that's a great respectable bear. It is. You want to shoot one big one and be done. Yeah. I want to smash a monster. You know? Yeah. There was a... There's more... You don't want to have... A lot of eight and a half footers. And a lot of bears, honestly, it's probably the average brown bear killed. Yeah. Yeah.

Honestly, like people talk about ten-footers like it happens all the time. It doesn't. They're rare. But anyway, I had a good hunt. Just want that next level. So anyway, yeah. So if you're interested, I'm interested. Let's do it.

Let's see how we feel tomorrow. Let's see how we feel tomorrow. You could win one. I don't know. No. I don't even know where I can apply for one to win. Anyway. All right, everybody. Chris, do you have anything else? That's all. It's getting warm in here, everybody. Let's go to lunch, Bronson. That's right. If anybody out there draws a tag, let us know. We can help you with outfitters. We can get you started. Member experience list. If you're a member of our service, you can take advantage of that service, send you a list of other past members that have had your tag. So it's that time of year. Call us, 435-263-0777. Let us know of your draw success and needs to help put something together, outfitter or self-guided hunt with a member experience list. Anything we do. Glad to help. Good luck, everybody.