EP 252: Dumb Stuff Confessions & Devin's Archery Mule Deer Update

Anything to do with Western big game.

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Hey everybody, welcome to the Epic Outdoors podcast. We've got Adam here, Devin, John, Josh, and a couple of our rangers out in the field. We're going to check in with them here in just a minute. But before we get going, I want to thank Under Armour, as always, for being our title sponsor here at Epic Outdoors podcast. And I'll mention maybe a couple others later on. But how's everybody doing today? Good. Who are we going to check in with first? Wyatt's been quiet. I'm worried about it. He's really quiet. I'm going to call him right now. I don't know if he's even grabbed his clubs. We teased him last week about it. He's still been hunting. It's been since what? I don't know. Wednesday, Thursday? 20th. 10 days.

Wyatt's a coyote. He knows. Yeah. We should have plugged that into Josh's phone or John's or somebody else. It's true. He was hitting me about optics today. You need to get one of those apps where it shows up as his wife. Or his mom. His mom. Chris. Chris. He's just screaming. He's like potential spam. Four. All right. All right. Well, we're going to call the Big Easy. JC. See what he's doing. I pretty much know what he's going to say. He's going to say it sucks out here. It's hot. What's happening? Oh, we're just getting an update. I wonder if you have an awesome morning today. Oh, come on. Give us some positive vibes. We're just all here ready for an uplifting. If you're in the middle of a tracking job of a liver hit, we'll let you get back to it. I wouldn't answer.

Well. Oh. Oh, well. Let's see. Yeah. They're in the lone. The uplifting part. The uplifting part. Let's see. I pulled out some Chinese or Japanese people. That's good karma there. They were. Were they in a two-wheel drive? I'll bet. Rental? They were in a rental car. Yeah. That rental car will never be the same. But anyway. I rescued some people from Shanghai, China about five years ago down on the Kaperowicz. And they were in a two-wheel drive Escalade that was probably an $80,000 or $90,000 rental. Yeah. Rear-wheel drive. And clay. Well. And we pulled them out with four-wheelers. Like, it was a, we were spouting rooster tail mud over the front of those things. And I just said, hey, I'm not on this contract. If you want to get home, you know, that's what we're doing. And anyway. Oh, yeah. If you rip the bumper off, you just drive away. They don't know what to do. So it's okay.

Well, we got them out. And then we, yeah, we had to take pictures. Did you take pictures with your, uh. Well, this was four in the morning. No. And, uh. Ooh. You know, they were sleeping in the car and had a tow truck coming. And they said, nah, two, two other people. They try. We, we don't feel good about this. You know. And I'm like, well, I, I'm in the side-by-side. And, yeah, so anyway, he left, left the parking brake on. I mean, I drug him out with the parking brake on. You know what I mean? It was, it was a Prius or something. Just something that I'm not a huge fan of. But anyway, whatever. And they're on their way. And then he's like, you come back. You come back this way. And I'm thinking, and he's like, we, we may get stuck again.

And I've never seen more warning lights. Like, this thing, everything said malfunction. He kept saying it. He says, I'm no good English, but he's malfunctioned. Malfunction. You know, and it was. There was, there was lights on the dash. It was a Christmas tree dash. I never knew dashes had this many lights. I mean, so I put him on mountain mode, which means, you know how, you can't drive anything. You got to turn off your traction controls and everything. It won't, you don't have enough power to spin out. Without fail, everyone, every, every person that I pulled out is, you know, they just don't know. You know? And there's huge signs that say, four-wheel drive only. This does not mean all-wheel drive. Like, you know what I mean? Were they in Chinese, were the signs in Chinese, though? No, they're in English, right? But they're here, and so they should be speaking English.

Well, Google Translate. Good stuff. But I thought good things would happen, but no. Yeah. Well, if you're ever in China and you see a sign and it says, stop here, now you need four-wheel drive jacked up vehicle, but it's all in Chinese, you're going to just drive by it, Carter. You're going to just go. I would, but then I just wonder if they'll show us the same courtesy. I was just always wondering that. Like, would they, you know, would they be nice to me? I've told my wife after this, we took pictures with his family. It was like multi-generation, you know, grandmother, parents, kids, you know, and I'm invited. He was some dignitary from Shanghai, and he's told me in broken English that whenever I come to Shanghai, I'm welcome in his home and he'll take care of me. So, I think there's probably 10 million people there. I'm sure I'll find him if I ever go there. I'm sure you'll find him.

I don't know. It's kind of, yeah, it's just a morning, boss, just a morning. Just a morning. Well, all right. But hey, I glass, I worked the BTX over and the 12s and, you know. Any deer hair in your scope today? No, no. I saw a rabbit, some birds, the sunrise. It was a beautiful morning. Good. Hey, you're a glass half full kind of guy. I like it. And you got some karma. You put some karma in the bank. We talked about karma with Archibald last week, helping a fellow hunter with some of his limitations one day and then finding a rusty old horseshoe. And then the next day, waka. It happened. He got a buck. And, I mean, I don't know if the true story came out, but he should have never killed that buck. So the karma did work. Oh, yeah. Well, he alluded to the fact it was not a perfect shot. But, I mean, hey, you're right. I mean, that happens.

I saved two nice gals at the Love's gas station the other night. What? Late at night. Yeah. I got out of my truck, shut the door, and I go to turn to walk in, and this lady was right there. Ten right in your face. Scared me to death. I was like, oh, you know. She's like, sir, do you have a pump? I'm like, yeah. She's like, my car's over there. I'm flat. So I went in, came out, went over there, helped her. She was on her way. With what? Just needed air? Air. I didn't see a nail or whatever, but it held. It's amazing how just helpless, you know, there's a lot of people. They're out here. They don't know how to use a tire jack. Like, it's, you know, it's amazing what people are willing to do. And they got to be nervous the whole time. I mean, this is crazy country out here, you know? And not prepared for it. Like, not prepared for it. Especially if you're in a Prius.

Especially if you're in a, are you on electric or gas at the moment? I mean, how do you turn that off if you get stuck in one of those? Dude, I got in there, and it was like, whoa, you know? And then I just hooked on, and then I had to give it a little more leverage, backed up a little bit, used the wrench, and then started creaking and crowing. And then I realized I'm dragging all wheels out, you know? And he's supposed to be at the gas pit. He's supposed to be running up your bumper, yeah. Hey, whatever, you know? Well. Whatever. Well, it's not just in the hills. Remember the day we went to lunch, and the snow cone shack was stranded in the middle of the road? It came off the hitch. It came off the hitch, and we pulled over, and Jason pulls out the handyman. The tongue was... It's not good if you forget to put the pin in your hitch there. Yeah, that's right, Jason. Uh-huh. Yeah.

I'm just saying that usually doesn't end well, right? Well, yeah, John brings up a... Let's talk about the snow cone shack. Talk about the good karma thing. Oh. Anyway, all right, so I guess we're going to go there. I've got one. No, I've got one for you. I've got one. This is... I'm going to self-admit this one, okay? So I went out looking this weekend for deer and all that. We got all of our trucks, and that muddy and muddy. Real muddy. Me, I took my other one. My daughter and my wife came over and brought it over. My son, of course, he wanted to go to the football game, because he was, you know, one in the morning getting there after that. So we had three trucks over there for four of us. Whatever. Whatever. We got home, and I had to wash off, because they were bad muddy, and I'm going to be gone for a couple weeks. So I go to the car wash.

You can't go to the drive-thru one, because you've got chunks and clods hanging everywhere. You've got to go... No, it just... That's what's funny about those automatic car washes. You can't go in there if you're dirt. You want... They want a couple bugs on your grill, and that's about all. Yeah, they want you to go down to their competitor and then come back. So that's what I did. And I'm telling this to all of you guys, because this could happen to you. This scared the beep out of me. Put a beep in this, Josh. So I got done spraying it all off, and I hung... You know, you get your mats, and you hang them out there. You spray them off, right? And I was washing... It was my diesel, so I let it run the whole time. But I do that almost any time on my truck. Just let it run. So I get in there. It's in park.

I put the mat in the passenger side, and my boy was on the next bay washing my other trucks. So we're there having a washing party, basically. I put my, you know, these big, nice, weather tech, you know, fitted, you know, floor mats in there. I put it in there, snap it down in there. And as I'm walking to my son, there's a bunch of people, and I hear a freaking truck revving up, like, loud. And I'm like, what are these people? You're mad on the gas pedal. Yeah, but I didn't know that, okay? I'm over... I walked around to my son, and I'm looking out at the people in the vacuum, and I'm like, who are these freaking kids hot rodding their truck? I'm like, I suck tired. I just said, hey, I'll see you at the house. I go over there, jump in my truck. Still not... It's so loud around me, I can't... I don't know where the noise is coming from, okay? And yeah, I'm only... So you put it in drive.

I put it in drive. Luckily, my foot was on the brake. I started freaking laying rubber in the parking lot on wet concrete. And I let off, and I hit... And it wouldn't stop, and so I'm like... And finally, I realize what's going on. My mat, my gas pedal is behind my mat. And I can't... I can't... And so I let off my brake at all. As soon as I put it in gear... I'm in a diesel. Remember your diesel? It's basically floored, and I put it in gear. Luckily, my foot was on the brake, or I would have went plowed into whoever's in front of me in the vacuum, okay? So now I'm out there herky-jerky, and I can't... But what do I do? So I finally throw it in park, right? It's only... But it takes you a split second. It felt like five seconds to realize what's going on. But first, I'm trying to do it with my hand down there on the brake. I'm like, nope, park.

I get out, get it out, and put it behind, and now it's all good. But I just about had a major disaster. When you put your floor mats in there, make sure it's not over your gas pedal before you get in there. When you put it in park, do they just jerk it in park? Because you're hammered down. Well, luckily, my brakes... I don't know how much brake pad I used up in that little three-second escapade, but plenty. Because... And I got home, and I walked into Ty. I said, hey, did you hear all that commotion? At the... He goes, no. But he said, I heard freaking screeching and peeling out. Like, somebody... And I'm like, that was me in the bay next to you. And I says, here's what happened. And I just told him, I says, if you ever take your mats out, be careful. Do not put it over your gas pedal. And then get in there and start to drive. Because...

You know what I love about kids is he's judging you the whole time. Oh, yeah. My stupid dad. Well, and he can... He calls me a boomer, whatever they call you, about being some old person. But I'm like, I'm just telling you that so you don't do it. But, hey, that's what I'm telling you all. And somebody out there listening to this, or probably 50 of you listening to this, is like, yeah, I've done that before. And maybe you crashed your truck. They wouldn't have met it on a live podcast. Yeah. But, hey, I don't have pride. It doesn't matter. We're all admitting deficiencies. We do it for the betterment of others, right? Yeah. For the safety of others. So, I've never left a hitch pin out of a truck until last week.

And I put it... This trailer is a freaking... You know, they're heavy trailers. Double tip outs. Oh, a toy hauler is not going to... There's not... You need that pin in there. No, it's heavy. You need that pin to keep that... Well, I always wondered, like, do you really need a pin because there's enough friction to that tongue weight? There's enough friction. Maybe it'll be fine, you know? I don't know. But, anyway... No, you need it. You need it. So, I... Anyway, I drove... I pulled out of my yard. I'm loaded down. Headed out. And... I get to the stop sign. I mean, just... Right in my subdivision. I get to the stop sign. Everything's great. I give up the gas and... What the... I'm like, are you crapping me right now? Like... You do. I don't... I didn't really know. I was like... What in the... And I went back. Same thing. Here I am halfway out in the street. A busy intersection.

I come back around. And the freaking thing's hanging by the chains. And I'm like, well... Chains work. I know what... You know? I know what these are for now. Yeah. The whole entire... Now, this isn't just a little hitch. This is the giant trader hitch with the equalizing bars and... Everything is out of the receptacle. Down on the ground. Hanging in the air. And it's... The tongue is suspended. And it bent like one of those toe... You know, the chain hook ears down. And... Anyway, I'm just going... I freaking got an electric jack. I'm jacking on it. And I'm calling Johnny. You better get here. Any neighbors driving by right here? Bring me a pin and don't tell the guys. You know? I'm lifting this trader up. Anyway. Get it back up on the hitch. People are honking at me because they're neighbors. They're honking me to keep driving. You know?

And I'm grateful. So, anyway. Anyway, I get it back. Get everything put back together. But could you imagine if that happened? No problem. It's like, no issues. Oh, yeah. Even doing 40. Yeah. Oh. I mean, it's going to jerk my truck all over. And I just thought, that's a tender mercy. Yeah. You know? Yeah. So, anyway. Whatever. I guess we're spilling the beans here. Yeah. Well, I don't know if it's getting old or what. It's just that, I mean, I can't believe I did that. But I did it because, you know, I'm a newer diesel owner. And, you know, I know guys in diesel sleep in them all night lying and let them run. So, you're supposed to let them run, right? That's fine. A little diesel. Well, I let mine run when I wash it. But it's not. But when you put a floor mat in and now it's revved up at 3,000 or 4,000 RPM and you put it in gear and it's on wet, soapy concrete, shiz is about to get wild.

I've had the same thing down the freeway with those laser mats. Those are laser fitted mats or whatever. And I've had the same thing down the freeway with them. You've got to, I mean, you know, they've probably got a pretty good insurance policy because they're going to, you know, get sued here and there. That is legit. Oh, it was wild. I mean, it's their fault one way or another. It couldn't be ours. We've all had a black water to the face moment at some point in our life. Well, I have. My boy and I took him. On different levels. So, it's good that you guys can admit to that. I took Ty to empty our trailer this weekend and I said, yeah, you remember those podcast stories? I said, this is how it happens. And I said, yeah, when this starts coming out, picture Josh. When that hose comes at you, not just pushing the black water pump this way, you grab the hose and try to put it back on.

Just like you had explained with the car. There's like, you have to make a split second decision in less than a split second. And there are certain things. Josh, you know what I love about this is it was Josh because he laughs at all of us under his breath. Like, he's quietly laughing at all of us. So, I'm like, you know what? It's about time that something bad happened to me. Anyway. Well. Anyway, that's about it. I mean, I don't know. Well, some good's on the forecast. If you saved a couple foreigners, something's happening, Carter. I mean, I wouldn't be out here. Shoot your bow. Shoot your two arrows for the day and be ready for tonight. That's what I'd be ready. I gotta do some stuff here. But, oh, everything's good. How's the office? Oh, it's good. Well, we're, yeah, pretty mellow morning. We're selling some optics and, you know, things like that. Did you sell the 15s?

I got a guy that was looking at the SLC 15s. And I think we only got a couple parallel in stock. No. I haven't heard from him. So, we got some, you know, we got some inventory. But then there's some things that have been more popular than I thought they'd have been. Well, it seems like a lot more people wait in the last minute this year. But we do have a great inventory. And we can get it out the same day. I mean, we know people are in the field. They're leaving. We've had emergency stuff. We've had, hell, I took another call yesterday from somebody in Alaska. His guide got back to base camp. And his spotting scope put it in his pack. Fell out somewhere. So, you're at the end of a hunt in Alaska. And you leave your scope on the mountain. Are you going back for it? Well, no. They had no idea where it could have fallen off. So, like, you can't backtrack that far.

I just know how physically beat you are by the end of it. You're just like, yeah. You know? And it was, I don't know, it was a Swarovski. So, I know that's what they bought. But they replaced it with an 85 and an ATX. Well, this guy actually broke a pair of 15s in the companies, you know, down and out for a week. Plus, they're going to be inundated with the backlog. So, anyway, they were looking at grabbing another pair. Well, yeah. Give us a call if you need something. If you need something in emergency. If you just need something, call us. And somebody will be able to take care of you. You know, I listened to some podcasts this morning.

Okay.

I just, it just, no, I just think, like, I've been glassing without using my AirPods, you know? But, and, but it's kind of nice. It's nice to listen to podcasts or, or whatever. Just stuff. You glass. You just, you get into a groove and you just, I don't know. It was kind of nice. Maybe we'll have somebody tell us, maybe that'll be a contest or something, Josh. You gotta DM us about what is the best glassing soundtrack for glassing for big bucks. The best song that gets you in the vibe. Or post up a selfie of you listening to something while you're glassing. I don't know. Yeah, glassing. But you're not going to hear the buck snort 40 yards behind you that you're looking for. You're not going to hear that. I'm 1500 feet on top of a cliff. There's some times when it makes sense, you know. Well, you're not going to hear, you're not going to hear the golden eagle just about to

latch onto the back of your neck as he's, you know, approaching at you from a hundred yards above. Right. That's right. Right. Archibald. Just remind me, I had an incident with that over the weekend. This weekend? I forgot to tell you guys. Glassing? Oh, conveniently. Was this at the, was it, was this at the Warm Springs? This was at the, no. No. Was this at the, no. I was at camp under the one and only tree I know of, and I hear this. Was she? And I'm, it's three in the morning. And I got there late, and I was like, what was that? And it made me think about what you said about those coyotes making weird noise. Oh, yeah. And all of a sudden it was just this, like on Jurassic Park, I swear, this screeching, loud, deep, just, I can't even, I can't even mimic it. It's just, watch this dinosaur show and watch the pterodactyls, and that's what it was.

And it, and I'm like, what the freak, and I sleep, I have my pistol in a pouch. Oh, come on. That is the one and only time I have ever even thought. Grab my gun. I have my gun, and I feel glad I have it, because I didn't know what it was. And it was close, dude. Did you shoot? Did you shoot? No. And I have the.

What was it? Are you in your tent? Are you in the open air? Are you in open air, or are you in a tent? I am in a coffin, basically. A tent coffin. A tent cot. And I got my light bar on, so it wasn't like a headlamp. I couldn't. So I'm trying to see what is going on, and all of a sudden I hear, on the ground behind me, and it's a rabbit. There was just. That's what it was? No. I don't know. It had to have been some type of an owl that was just. Trying to get the rabbit. I have never heard anything like that. There's not a lot of birds that scare me, but owls are meat eaters, man. They're legit. They're mean. Well, and they're out at night, so yeah. It was. And it was. It's the only perch tree. Within 10 miles, right? And it woke me up. Like, scared me. I remember back in my gamey days, we would go do some patrols down at Lake Powell, and

we went down, and I guess up the San Juan Arm, and we were going clear up there, and it was starting to get dark. And I remember we were trying to find just a place to camp, and it was just so rocky around there. We couldn't find a sandy spot to pull the boat in. Well, we finally found one, and as we pull it in, we stopped there, and I got looking, and there was all these weird little tracks around. I'm like, they're not deer tracks, but it's something. I couldn't figure out what it was. I know what you're going to say. And so I'm like, this is. Anyway, so I'm like, this is weird. But anyway, we were just trying to find a spot. So we hurried and walked up, and it was about this little 10-foot sandy little path, and then a flat spot. So there was three of us there. We set out our cots and stuff. We were just sleeping out under the stars.

Well, all of a sudden, in the middle of the night, and I had, like, it was when I was a game warden, and we had tack lights on our pistols that you could turn on, and I just had it. My duty belt was just sitting there at the side of the cot, same kind of thing. And all of a sudden, in the middle of the night, I hear, like, rustling of a chip bag. I'm like, what in the world is that? And we had eaten and didn't, like, clean anything up or whatever. It was just kind of sitting out. So I just slowly reached down, grabbed my pistol, because I'm like, well, it's got a light on it. And if it's something big and nasty, I can at least pull the trigger. So I turned the light on it and shine it, and it's one of those freaking wild burrows. And it's got its face buried in the chip bag, eating the chips. I nearly let it have it. And then it, like, spooked it, and there was a whole herd of them.

I don't know. Anyway, come to find out, then we were camped right in the only trail where they could come to get down to water. So then the whole rest of the night, they were just up on the ledge, just frolicing, all night, just doing what donkeys do. It was just terrible. I've been there. I've heard them up there on the Navajo side. They're annoying. I can't camp up there because of it anymore. Well, we talked to some guys. There was a houseboat that was around the corner from us, and we actually checked them. They were out fishing out from their houseboat. And they told us a couple years ago, the first time they ever went up there, they'd camped on the beach and had some stuff out there. And they'd left for the day and just left coolers and stuff out. And they said that those wild burrows came back and knocked their coolers over, knocked their food over. Like, worse than bears.

They'd probably eat lunch meat. They're so hungry up there. Yeah. They're like, don't leave anything on the beach. So there you go. And owls have been known to attack people. It's a fact. What? Yeah. There's a big murder case out there. Murder? Murder. They think the guy pushed his wife down the stairs. Where, Zion? No. Where? I don't know. Somewhere. It's on Netflix. Oh, stairs. I thought you meant stairs like angels landing. And they think it was actually an owl hooked her and tried to get her hair. And she fainted and fell and died. That's a whole long story, but. Wow. Okay. You remember in Arizona when I was scouting for my desert sheep? And I had an eagle. I mean, on me. Yeah. Talons out on me. Three feet from me. Yeah. I crapped down both legs. Like, they're no joke. I mean, that wingspan felt like it was ten feet. You know, I was like, holy crap. That's what I'm saying.

And, you know, they just, I'm glassing and I'm down in the rocks. And, you know, it's, I mean, they're just picking off lambs and doing whatever. They think you're a pack. Whatever. You're a pack rat on a rock sitting there. Well, just remember when you put your AirPods in there and turn on some Def Leppard or something like that, you're not going to hear the eagle coming up on you. You're not. You're vulnerable. I don't like it. I like to hear stuff. Takes away one of the senses. Takes away one of the senses. Well, all right. That's multitasking. What? He's podcasting. Podcasting. Come on. Glassing. And sending me trucks on KSL. You're sending Paul a truck clean. I just barely sent him one. Today. He's looking for a truck. It's an 06. It's an 06 Tacoma. I look good. Okay. Well, thank you. All right. I do think, you know, I don't know, Bronson, you're getting ready to go to Alaska.

Yeah, I am. In fact, yeah, I'm trying to make last minute arrangements. I did my little food shopping. It's kind of weird. You know, I'm going to admit another thing. I about left my freaking tags in my freaking place at my house. I remember on this first trip, I'm going self-guided. I've got caribou locking tags, wolves. Well, usually when you go up there on a sheep hunt, you get there, you go with your outfitter, either to Game and Fish, or sometimes they're an actual license agent. Or you go to Yukon. You don't need to buy them here. I just about left them last. I mean, imagine leaving those. I mean, when you go up there by yourself, I haven't done it this way before going up there and hunting on my own first, and I would have left my caribou tag in Utah. That would not have been good. So anyway, there's reasons you make lists and, you know, pick up your tags.

I do that for lower 48, but I just haven't been doing that up there. I'm back in my backpack, and what prompted me is I needed to get my boy's tag, make sure he had his, so if he goes out chasing bucks while I'm gone, he's got his tag, and I'm like, oh yeah, there's his tag. There's my caribou tag right next to it. But that's how freaking stuff happens. Anyway. It does. So make lists. If you're getting over 40, 44 and a half. I've always made lists. Well, I'm good. But I've gotten lax because I pride my, like when I go shopping for hunts down here, I don't even make a list because I just know every single thing in my memory what I need to buy grocery-wise. And my wife's like, how do you do that? I'm like, I've done it hundreds of times. But hey, you leave a tag and you go up there, you've got a problem because we're getting

there at night and we're at an airport about 150 miles the next morning getting picked up. I'd have no place. If I didn't have a tag, it would disrupt the whole flying. It would be bad. And I'd pay the bill. So anyway. So yeah, getting ready to leave, Carter. And so we thought we'd do one more podcast with most of us here. We tried to buy it. What's the crux of the podcast? Did you end up, like, Devin's usually got a few openings. I know there's a few guys out there looking for something to do here and there, but I don't know if you guys. We haven't had a theme yet. The only theme that's happened today is it's dumb stuff confessions. That's all we've done so far. And you've helped some stranded tourists, so maybe you ought to go back and look for those Chinese folks. Maybe just some company out there on the glassing part. Maybe something. Maybe. I don't know. Maybe. No. No? No. No, dude.

No, dude. Just might learn something. They probably make some of the hunting equipment that you've got in your pack. Oh, yeah. Oh, we've supported them plenty. No question. All right, guys. Well, we'll let you get back to it. Sounds good. All right. Find a shade tree. You bet. Talk to you later, bud.

Well, I don't know if we try white again because it's a coyote that's been to a set and set the trap off once. He's been called to a lot. Yeah. He's educated.

He's all mangy. And he hasn't even winded yet. He doesn't even really know. He just knows something's off. But anyway, Archibald, tell us about your weekend. You did. You were out hunting again, but you also helped some. I think it was a past client of yours that had some of his nephews or relatives that had some antelope tags. First. Were they both first time hunters? No. Or one of them was. The one was kind of thinking, do I? Is hunting for me kind of thing? I did not know this until. Yeah. You know, I didn't really know him. But then the other one was 15 and he'd killed one deer before and never hunted antelope. And I was headed out there anyways. So I said, well, I'll camp with you Thursday night and we'll just hunt Friday and then I'll continue on my way. And got lucky. And we had two dead bucks by 11 in the morning. Wow. It was awesome. Good. Yeah. They used one of them.

I know you told me the story or maybe everybody. At least one of them used your gun, but maybe both. I don't know. Yeah, I had my little antelope gun in there. It was so cool. So he was, we were all together. This was the first time hunter? There's a doe laying here. Yeah. And we glassed him for like three miles and got in there. It was just cool because as soon as I said, oh, get down, there's a doe, he just starts breathing. You know? And it was cool. Like he was buck fevered bad. And then we sat there and waited and waited and the buck stood up, moved. And by that time he had calmed down and just smoked. And made an awesome shot. So it was his first big game. Anything. Anything. Yeah, it was pretty neat. Cool. So that was fun. Then I continued on, went to look for a specific deer.

The one that we talked about last podcast, or two podcasts ago. The one that was on one side of the bush. I missed him. Yeah. I missed him. I misjudged the yardage. Let's see. So that would have been, I hunted Saturday morning. But you went out there kind of alone, though. So it's, you know what bow hunting alone is. You see a buck and then you're kind of, you're on your own to get in there and make it happen. Or zig and they got a zig. Exactly. And Saturday morning I decide, okay, I'm going to get in there in the dark. Because, yes, I could for sure probably see him if he's still around here. But at that point, you're just out of time to make a move, right? And the afternoons have been terrible just because of wind issues. And anyway, so I go into the thick of it Saturday morning and I see hardly anything. And I saw his one good buddy was all alone in a weird place.

And I'm like, they've kind of separated. It's interesting. They're just, every buck that was with him has separated. They're still in velvet. Yeah. I saw it for much longer. I saw a couple Friday night bucks in southern Utah that were rubbed. Yeah. Like the 27. A little bit early. Some of them look close. So I never did see him that morning. And then, you know, you have that long midday just time. And I got out a little early. It was like five something. Still like 90 something degrees. And I glass up a doe laying there. And I'm like, oh, I saw a deer, you know. And all of a sudden I see this big bodied deer going through this thick stuff. He was moving. Like he was out in the open in a weird place. Like I caught it. Was he just stretched, standing up and rebedding? I don't know. I think so, maybe. But he heard my truck. I get the scope up.

And this was for my truck looking quite a ways away. And I had to drive up this road that kind of got closer. But sure enough, there he is. The buck I'm after. And he's going through this thick stuff. And he's moving like he knew. He knew he was exposed in the open. He pushes through this thick. I watched him like force his body through this thick stuff. Pops his head out. Looks right into my soul. Did he really? It's so cool. Yeah. You know, just his head. Just watching a buck be an old buck. Like his chin and antlers is all you could see. I got a little video of it. But it's like. Pretty awesome. And it's the thickest little patch for anywhere in that whole area. But so I'm like, all right, buddy. I know where you are. I'm on to you. Like you made a mistake, dude. And anyways, so I get down there. And the wind is actually okay. It's been real. It blew. It was really windy that day.

And I get there. And there's a fence line. And then there's that thick stuff. And it kind of does like a loop. And there's this bottleneck. Just that's where he's going to come out. You know, he's not going to want to jump the fence. He's not going to go through that thick stuff. That's where he's going to go. And so I set up there. And it was one of those deals I couldn't stand because I was too exposed. And if I sat down on my butt, I can't see anything but the leaves in front of me. So I'm like sitting, kneeling, sitting, kneeling just for hours. You know, waiting, waiting. And anyways, it was brutal. Mosquitoes and bugs. And anyways, he finally, he finally comes out. And I'm like, this is going to happen. You know, like he's at 150 yards and feeding, feeding, feeding. And I'm losing light. And he finally just, he comes right at me. He looks giant. Like, holy cow.

And I'm trying not to look too much because you don't want to psych yourself out. But it's just like, bottom line is I'm not even going to draw back until he's right there. And I watch him. And he was kind of on the move, like coming good. And all of a sudden, he just like stopped. And like he found this bush that he just, he just. He remembered. That tastes good. Yeah, I don't know. He's just like, ooh, I like this. And he, like it stopped him in his tracks. And he turned and he starts eating it. And then he's deep in it. And all I could see is antler tips. And 70 yards. That's where he was. And he didn't move. He did not move until dark. 10, 15, 20 minutes, whatever it was. That's the first time I've seen him in the afternoon, not just like on a mission from his bed to where he wants to feed just on a march.

So, yeah. And you're down there in a crouch, crouching tiger, hidden dragon position. Hidden dragon. And so I'm like, all right, this is not going to happen. I'm not, I'm not, I don't have a good shot. And he, it's dark. It's getting so dark. And so I tried to get up to walk away, man. And I, I was rigged up.

And I had those little, like, I have these, I've had them forever. The stocking shoes. Bear feet are like, they're like fleece. Look like bear feet. They're all fuzzy on the bottom. And I step on the grass and I just, because there's no grip. I fall, hit the ground, roll down this little wash. I was bad. But after about. Buck didn't blow that, you know. No, he, it was so dark and, yeah. I mean, there's coyotes running every bit. About 100 yards in that country. It's insane. I saw a lot less fawns. I'm telling you. They've been working them. Probably eating them. There's like a dozen does in one group. Like buffalo, like back to back type. Just late morning, all in a group. Protecting the three fawns that are left. And there's only four left. Yeah. Like literally four fawns. And two weeks ago, there was twins here, twins there. Every doe had a fawn.

And now, I mean, they could have been bedded. They're big enough now. They're not doing that as much. Yeah. I think they just put a hurting on them. But it was close. It was so close. Well, it's bow hunting, man. Yeah. I mean, just. It has to happen once. Yeah. One in six or seven. Whatever. Whatever the odds are. It's been the first evening out of, it's been like eight or nine days I've hunted him that I even had a play. Well, that's good. I mean, that's fun. Yeah. I think we talk about the successes a lot. But it's nice to hear some of the, you know, the reality of it, of hunting. And it's not all. It's not always. It's not all Instagram. Yeah. Yeah. It's not all gripping grins. It's a game of decisions. You've got to make the right decisions. And the deer also has to make the wrong decisions. And he made the right one that night. Yeah. Yeah. Eat this bush.

Some kind of sunflower looking thing. It just had it. Weed, huh? It was something tall. Yeah. I mean, I could only see like the top of his back, his neck and antlers. And he was just going to town in there. Just. I don't know. He liked it. Well. Lives another day. But I have a feeling, Arch. His days are numbered. Yeah. I think you're going to zig when he zigs and it's going to come together. And one thing about it is.

I'm trying to think how many times. Maybe not even stalking him. I bet I've only stalked him one, two, three, maybe four times. Like actually hunting him and not just getting into position. But now that I've gone in there so many times, I know it. Like there's, there's come to find out there's this wash that goes. It's perfect. And I didn't know it was there too. Dirt bottom. Saturday night. No brush. Dirt bottom. Quiet. It's like walking on a mattress. Wow. And it goes 100 yards. Oh, wow. So you could, if he's, if they're feeding this way, you could literally hunch down and run 90 yards and wait. I had no idea that was there. There you go. Yeah. So it's just like, man. That's part of the elimination of six or seven stalks. That's what happens on the outlet. It is. And every stalk you learn a little more, a little more, a little more. I can cross the fence here.

I can, I can hit this wash. Or if he's going this way, I can get here without being seen. Like the odds are stacking against him, I think. Yep. Yeah. Pretty awesome. Well, we look forward to an update. Well, by the time I get home. I hope he'll be dead. You might have him dead. You might have an Arizona elk dead. You might have a bunch of death and destruction. I hope so, man. So it's about ready to open up here for most of us. A lot of us. And a lot of you all probably. You know, Josh, you've been hunting. Yeah. Spike elk a little bit here and there. And you've got archery deer, too, I guess. Yeah, I was just trying to find. So it was funny. I actually about got ran over by a bull on. And when was it? Saturday morning, I think it was. I'd hiked up into this spot before dark. Before light, I guess, in the dark. Got up there and was just kind of sitting waiting. And I could hear behind me.

I was like right on the tip of a ridge. It was steep in front of me and steep behind me. And I just walked up. And I could hear a couple rocks rolling behind me. And then I could hear kind of some huffing and puffing. And I was like, oh, there comes somebody else. Because that's, I'm sure, how I sound when I'm hiking up a hill. And just sitting there waiting and kind of caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. And this, like, 3.30, six-point bull comes cruising. I mean, from here to the table outside. It was 15 feet. He had no clue. He was looking back over his shoulder. You think something scared him? Yeah. And he kind of came up. He was running pretty good. And I was trying to get my phone so I could get a picture or video or whatever. And he just kind of came up and stood there for a second. I mean, I could have killed him.

Like, if it was a spike or a giant, whatever it was, you know, like a giant bull. Because he came up and stopped and turned and looked the opposite way. And it was like 15 yards right there. I was like, oh. But anyway, then he cruised off and went in front of me. But then I watched some guys come up. And it was actually pretty funny. They came up and they walked out. And kind of the middle of this bull that I was trying to glass. And there was a ridge, a little peninsula that kind of sticks out. And they walked to the edge of that. And they went out there. And I don't know if one guy had a bull. The other guy just had a spotting scope. And they went out there. Kind of started glassing for a minute. And then the kid, they acted like they'd seen something. So one of the kids heard he had set up a spotting scope. And they did that.

Well, I backed off the ridge and hiked back up around higher. So I could get a little angle maybe to see. Because they were glassing on an angle. I couldn't see. So I don't know what the heck they were glassing. So I walked up to glass back. Same, similar direction they were. And I never could pick anything up. But they sat there for a while. And they glassed for about 30 minutes. And then I watched them for about an hour. And they both had their phones out just sitting there. Really? Almost an hour. Just on a ridge? Yeah, I got some video of it. And I'm like, I can't. Because I don't know who they were. But I'm like, I'm sure somebody recognized them. But I'm like, they were both just sitting there. Yeah, I couldn't see what they were looking at. But you can just see their thumbs going like this on their phones for about an hour. They had service. Refreshing the ground or something.

Yeah, they packed up. I was hoping they were going to start having a photo shoot or something. I was like, this is going to be gold. Yeah. But anyway, they were at their post. And they cleaned up and hiked off. But that was about all I saw. Well, it's happening. It's happening. It's hard to believe, Archibald, you said it yesterday. In two days, it's September 1st. It's crazy. It's like summer's long gone. And it's all coming here real fast. And we've got a lot of tags here between us in the office. And we've got, you know, scattered over about, what, three months? September and October into November. A lot of us going into, like, Colorado and that. So all of us here will be in Colorado later with the rifle. The hearts are both bugling and a few leaves changing a little bit here and there on that higher stuff. So it's here. And I don't know what to bring.

I've never – I'm going to be there from about the 1st to the 20th of September in Alaska. And I could go through a lot of clothing. Yeah. I could go through T-shirts for a day. And I'm bringing my down pants even to put over if I'm in a situation I'm not passing. It's going to be better, summer to winter time. Yeah. It changes overnight sometimes. Yeah. I expect to see snow during this time of year at times. And it's going to be interesting. So I may want this dry. I may be begging for dry southern Utah air when I get back. I know I was when we got back from the Yukon. It was nice to feel just dry air. Oh, yeah. And your gears, you know, if it gets wet, it's dry in an hour, an hour or two. But anyway. The only time I went up there, my biggest thing was the sun. Like when it came out one day, I just was like, oh, my gosh. It feels so good. And it's like 60 degrees, but it feels like 80.

I don't know. It's weird. And you can dry stuff out. It just feels so good. And then I just wanted like a steak. Like meat, dude. Because you're eating freeze-dried. Well, I had some Snickers, and I snuck some Oreos here and there. But I wanted meat. And we went to camp, and somebody had a doll sheet there, and we cooked some meat. And I was just like, dude, it was. You crave that food. I don't know. Maybe it's just me. I don't know. Meat, meat, so I have to bring jerky. Like more jerky. For some reason, it's me and meat, too. And I think it helps you be not as hungry when you get, you know, you get meat in your belly versus just all carbs and everything else. If I did it again, I'd definitely bring jerky because that's all I could think about. I was just like, you know what? I told one. I'm like, you know what I'd give for like a meat stick or like a can of Vienna sausages? Vienna.

I'd love a Vienna. And it's not like you were packed in. You could have totally brought it where you were right there. Oh, yeah. Maybe. Probably, yeah. I had a little, I tried to kill a little bird. I was, what are they called? A tarmigan? It wasn't a, it was a grouse. I was like, what? I'm going to kill that thing and we're going to eat it. Because I wanted some chicken or something. I just, I was. Turned in from a moose hunt to an episode of Naked and Afraid. I mean, I wasn't going to die, but it was more just selfish. I wanted some meat, protein, real, something you chew on. Yeah. I always have to do is have something like that because even when I'm, I don't like packing lunches and stuff, but I just throw a whole bunch of granola bars and junk in my pack for the day. But you can sit there and eat it all day long when it tells you like bite into a piece of jerky or something.

And you're like, okay, now, now I feel complete. It's like, you're going to kill that bird? I'm like, yeah, dude, I'm starving. I'm starving. Well, not starving. Just, I want it. You know why? He could eat Pop-Tarts and water and a fruit snack for weeks. And he'd be like, yeah, I'm fine. He's just a hearty guy that way. Well, let's try him. I'm going to try him one more time just to see if we can check in with him. I know it's midday. I know he's not hunting right now. He might be on the hole three or something. Yeah, he could be. Maybe he's tracking one.

Screening is called. Well, now at this point, I'm just starting to get worried. Yeah. I don't know whether he's... It's been days. It has been. Well, he even, I mean, he did hit me this morning about some optics stuff. Yeah. Well, he's alive then. He's alive. Okay. He's alive. Yep. So, John, anything that we haven't covered that you want to, I guess, go over? What do you got on your schedule here? No, I think we talked about, you know, some of the things going on in the office from optics and everything. We can take care of you, whether you're a member or not. Just give us a call, 435-263-0777. We've got, you know, amazing prices. And we will take care of you. We know the products inside and out. So, if you've got any questions on, you know, hey, I'm looking at these two, you know, two specific optics. We've got some advice for you. But give us a call. I'd say, too, don't wait.

You know, I think it's one of those things, I've got to hunt in November, so I've got to get a scope or whatever. You know, we've seen Swarovski had to shut down for a bit so they could do some computer swap over stuff. So, I mean, we can't even currently get something new. Luckily, we knew that. And so, we ordered a bunch and had some stuff. But we've had stuff as well, just random stuff, stuff that's been on the shelf for a significant amount of time, I would feel like. And all of a sudden, a guy calls up the other day and says, hey, my buddy got a turnback tag. You know, Utah called him up and got a turnback tag. And it's something he's wanted. I've needed a pair of 15s for a while. And all of a sudden, he's like, okay, we need them next week. And can you overnight them? You know? And so, and then all of a sudden, another random person called in.

And usually, that's like, okay, we have three of those on the shelf. We're good. And in a day, they're all gone. So, I guess, and we're ordering more. And then, also, we get two guys call us up the next day. And it's like, what in the world? So, now they're waiting for us to get them in to get them shipped to them kind of thing. So, it's just don't wait. Stuff's streaky. I don't know. It's weird. Stuff can sit on our shelves for months. And then, you'll sell four or five pairs of the exact same thing in three days. And you're like, I don't know. Especially all those straight scopes. You know, all those guys. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Those things are the most underrated piece of glass in the world. Piece of glass. Yeah. But, no, I guess that's my advice. Just don't wait. Just get it. You know you're going to get it. So, just get it coming.

And whatever you've got to convince yourself or your wife or whatever, just pull the band-aid off. She'll eventually forget or do something else to forgive. But just get it coming because you just never know what we have. I know I talked to a couple guys even last week that called and got some price on stuff. All right. Well, I'll let you know. And then, all of a sudden, they call back three hours later. Oh, yeah. We sold that. You know? I mean, I know you have to make decisions. But, anyway. Get it. Get it while you got it. Just like gunpowder. Right, Archimald? When you see it, get it. You guys laughed at me when you – yeah. Now you – well, I didn't really laugh. I thought you were joking. When you said they had H1000 over there, I said, let's go right now. That's not a powder that I have any affinity for or have ever used just because of whatever guns I have and whatever.

But when I said that, you looked like it was Black Friday at Walmart in your eyes. That's what you were – you were ready to be off, man. And I don't know how many times we visited that establishment under different pretenses and aliases. Shaved heads. My wife feels like – I wore a hat and sunglasses. That was extremely awkward going in there and grabbing two kegs of gunpowder and acting like it was for me. I'm like, well, it was. We're together. You say all the time what's yours is mine or something. Especially where she just walks in, walks straight there, grabs two bottles of it. Yeah. I'm like, what are they going to do? Ban you from the place? Was it her? Was it Wyatt's wife? Both of them. Somebody got grilled. They kind of got questioned. Yeah, Wyatt's wife got questioned. She didn't have a – What? Poker face or something. Yeah.

Carly went in and they're like, is this really for you or something? I don't know. Powder? Something. Something. Well, you don't need like a pass anything background check or anything to buy components. I'm trying to give you money for your product. That's right. No. We didn't go crazy. It's not like we're reselling it. We just – I needed it. Yeah, but I've been there once or twice. And the next time I was going to have to wear different shades, a hat and a do-rag hanging out the back. Just to look different, I was getting worried. Do you have any gunpowder? Cannot get it in Russia. Yeah. I don't know. I'm starting to get uncomfortable, but hey. Well, the more awkward part for me was going in there and checking to see if they had it. Because you walk in, look at the shelf. Oh, there's nothing there. And you leave and they're like, what is this guy?

Devin pulls off a hoochie mama, blows it a few times while he's looking for powder, puts it back on the shelf. Doing something. Yeah, look at some – Obscure product. Do you have any cow elk? A leather gun holster as you're walking. Ah, kind of cool. See ya. Yeah. Cow elk lures and lotions while you're squeezing new – Anyway, I'm glad some of those days are over. Lots of ammo on the shelf these days. And hopefully you've got all what you needed and wish you luck, everybody. Before we leave you, I want to give one quick shout-out to Red Rock Precision. I'm taking a new – gun's kind of interesting. My brother lives in northern Utah, closer to them, which they're in Morgan, Utah. And so he picked up my new gun last week. It's ready to take on this Alaska trip. Aaron shot it. It's ready to go. He got all the dope loaded in his range finder. Sent it to me. I got it in mine.

In fact, last night we called each other, even though we're at a little bit different elevations and air temperatures and all that. I just – once it's in, because, you know, I want to use it at my house and we're hitting ranges. He's outside his house. I'm outside mine. We're hitting ranges because I shoot MOA and I'm shooting it all out to 700 – out to 700 yards we're within .1 MOA. So, I mean, it was like – that's just a good feeling that he had it there. And, yeah, you give me the numbers. I put it in mine. I sink it. And, okay, it's tracking. We're good. So, the first – literally, probably the first time I shoot this gun might be at a caribou or a wolf. I mean, it's a little weird. I've never – I don't know if I've ever done that in my life. I'm a little bit apprehensive about it. But I guess that's the way it's going to be. You might be hungry enough.

You might be hitting a ptarmigan. Let me ask you guys something. When you – so, like, when I clean my rifles, I'll clean them super good. And then before I hunt, like, I'll pull off the road somewhere in the desert and just shoot it at least once, probably twice to dirty the barrel. Do you do that before you go on these trips? Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, it was clean. And then they – he only probably shot it four or five times. I just – he just left it. I'm not cleaning it again. I mean – But if it was clean, I would – I always do that. I usually do it once. Muzzle loaders, absolutely. It's even probably more critical. Definitely. Than a muzzle loader. But, anyway. Absolutely. So, yeah. Hopefully, I'm able to send a message next week to y'all about BBD. Something like that. That would be awesome. Hope they're all rubbed. They should be all rubbed.

Hopefully, you know, AT&T or Verizon doesn't have some dispute while you're out there. Well, my brother and I both have one. I'm with my brother. He'll have one. So, I don't know. But, yeah. Whatever happens. I mean, I guess, yeah. And get the word to y'all that we're alive and well and eaten. I do have one pound of jerky in my pack. I put it in there last night. It's going with me. Because this is all us, this seven, eight days. It's like, that's another thing. I had to pack my food. And I've done that before. But not on a trip up there. Normally, you go there. If you go, you know, we don't have enough time to really do much shopping there. I didn't want to do it all. And you don't want them to be out of certain things, too. So, there's certain things you can't be out of. Like, I can eat about any candy bars and all that type of stuff. But there's certain things.

You get there and it's late at night and they're out at a mountain house or something like that. You've got a big problem. So, we're taking the bigger stuff like that we all got. So, we've got a few cheese and tortillas and things like that that we won't buy fresh. That if they didn't have, you could still survive. But doing some of that. Plus, it's heavier flying in an airline for some of that stuff. But, anyway. Well, it's going to be fun. So, anyway. Good luck to y'all, everybody. Yeah, you as well. So, listeners, and, yeah, shout out to Red Rock. I should hopefully have a pitcher. I hope. And then I'm going to hunt sheep after that on a different excursion, of course, with an outfitter. So, hopefully I've got a couple animals to bring home and get caught up. Archibald might be up to about 4 or 5 by the time I get home. Boy, it's going. So, his days are, that buck's days are numbered.

So, good luck to everybody out there. Anything else, John? So, I think we're good. So, give us a call at 435-263-0777. If we can help you with any optics, needs, or anything like that, last minute. Or, want to consider joining our service if you've been a listener and just haven't done so. So, hope to hear from you. Good luck, everybody. At Epic Outdoors, we help you reach your hunting dreams. Whether it's helping you to develop a long-term application strategy or finding the perfect outfitter for your next hunt. As a member of Epic Outdoors, you'll also receive the Epic Outdoors magazine and have access to the best hunting consultants in the industry, online tools, and more. To join Epic Outdoors, visit epicoutdoors.com or call 435-263-0777. So.