EP 305: Becoming a Master of Opportunity with Brendan Burns of Kuiu

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Hey everybody, Jason Carter, Adam Bronson coming at you from southern Utah. Bronson, it is springtime. There's a few snowflakes in the air. It's Chia Pet. I don't know if it's springtime. Okay. I wouldn't say that. I'm in cold all day. Well, it's springtime with, yeah, it is a little chilly. We actually got a fan going on in here. It's coming on March, but a couple days of mid-50s, it makes you feel that way. I know what you're saying, and then the next day it's winter again, but we need a little bit more winter. Well, we want it. We're greedy. Although I heard that snowpack, even though it was good, like there's guys kind of complaining it hasn't been a good sled year. You know what I mean? Like over the top, good sled year. Well, I... But we have had some rain. We've had a lot of rain, and I don't... I'm not a sledder. Right. I'm a shedder and a hunter. Okay, all right.

I want big sheds. A hunter and a gatherer. That's right. What do you gather? What do you gather?

Bones? What do you mean? You used to be a gardener, didn't you? A gatherer? Yeah, like hunter and gatherer, like, you know. I don't even grow anything. You don't? No, no. No, I don't have many people at home that like... They don't appreciate it. They just don't appreciate it. They do, but they don't like what I like, and it's too much effort to grow what I like for just me. Jana's a gardener in our house, so that makes it so I don't have to be. Yeah. You know what I mean? So... Self-reliance. I live in an area where there's deer, and so I'd have to cage my whole backyard, and it's not worth it. I think it's fine. There's this, you know, keto diet. You just kill everything. Eat meat 24-7. Well... Right? Yeah. I don't know.

I could roll my vegetables out every day into the sun and roll them back under my garage every night so they don't get eaten by deer, but I'm not going to go through that. We've had some draw results come out. Bronson, we had a lot of guys draw Arizona. It was one of the best draws we've ever had. It was amazing. A lot of these, even antelope, that are like worse than sheep odds in many cases, and one non-resident tag. Seems like our guys got them. Yeah, it was great. Wasn't any of us here on the office. No. But we're excited nonetheless because it is the first state, but I'm no longer batting 1,000 like I used to be. Yeah. So, everyone you hit from now on takes a lot to make up for. Feels like nowadays you're just lucky to buy tags or buy a hunt. It's hard. You know, you've got these hunts going through the roof. Buy an Idaho or an Arizona OTC.

You feel like you've really won the lottery. Put you in a little virtual waiting room and you feel like you finally got in and there was something to buy. You feel special. I saw there's some house bill thrown out. I don't remember the number, but proposing maybe move that to a draw. Yeah. I would be fine with that. Idaho going to a draw. The amount of productivity. Yep. The amount of productivity on December 1st in the workforce in the western U.S. would go up dramatically. How about Colorado coming out with that little email saying basically here's the projection if we were to limit non-residents or go to a draw for, say, all archery elk in Colorado. They're normally OTC.

They had a couple scenarios that you could look at there on some of their charts, which if you limited non-residents by, you know, down to 35 or 25 or completely or did it on the rifle hunt as well, how much that would equate to a lost revenue in the millions. Lots of millions. Tens of millions. Yeah. Crazy. Crazy. But, yeah, they've got some – we're calling them tentative alternatives for the five-year season structure. For the commission to consider. Yeah. Those won't be approved until May or June, so it's not – you're not going to know anything this year before you have to apply by April 2nd on what next year's dates are going to be. But I would find a gut feeling they're going to be earlier than they are now. They're talking about going back to kind of the pre-late dates. Yeah, to the previous five-year cycle. That's right.

Bring – not have as big a gap between the first and second. That was the big thing that changed last time is they lengthened that gap between first rifle elk and second season deer. They're going to bring it back up again and maybe lengthen out the third season to a nine-day. We'll see. Yeah, back to nine-day. Maybe even talking about a few of those archery hunts being early, like starting mid-August now. Yeah, and have the latitude possibly tool in their toolbox to have some first season deer tags in units that need to have – to spread out harvest, which that's traditionally been elk only everywhere. Pressure. Yep. Which could be incredible. Yeah. There might be some units that – that might be awesome. Oh, it will be. Hunting like the 10th or 15th with a rifle somewhere. Deer that haven't – I mean, they normally get to September 30th, and they've had five years to have 30 days off.

And now you're going to just be – Waka! First gun on the unit. Certain units. It'll be good. It's kind of interesting. Change is good. I just – change is interesting, and it affects – you know, there's all these intangibles. It's hard to really quantify what the net result will be. Well, and you've got to be thinking about those things. You've got to be willing to maybe try something different or thinking about how is this going to affect it. Yeah. And then we try to put it in words, put it on paper, put it in the magazine. It's really hard to do. And, you know, it's an educated guess. Yeah. Nothing's perfect. We're not always right. We're just throwing stuff out there that we think might be a result, but you never know. All right, Bronson. We've got a special guest here. We've got Brendan Burns that we're going to visit with of QU.

And, you know, he's very accomplished, great guy, great friend of ours, and, you know, does a lot there at QU and has from the very beginning with Jason Hairston. Employee number, I guess, two behind Jason probably. Yeah. He might consider himself employee one because owner hires employee one, so maybe he is employee one. Yeah, I don't know. But he is – Been on board with us forever. Love to talk hunting and new gear. Good dude, really into sheep and is known for killing giant bulls. Let's just – I think, anyway, he even killed a giant last year. But let's give him a holler and see what he's got to say.

What's going on, fellas? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? How's it going? Oh, we got pounded with snow last night. So I was – Did you? I was driving the – getting the old snowblower rolling. Have you been? You get dug out. How much did you get in Bozeman? Oh, we probably got – we probably got eight inches on the level. And it was pretty wet snow, though. So, yeah, I had the – got the old 60-inch snowblower out, you know? Nice. Yeah, you love these – well, I can't really call them spring yet. Down here, we're flirting with that. But Montana, you're a month and a half away. But these later winter slash spring storms are usually a lot wetter. So you'll take those kind of – kids are made for snowblowing burns. Well, I got this on the front of my Ranger. It's a 60-inch on the front of my Ranger. So I got a – It's dad's toy. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, it's kind of like – it's kind of like the zero-turn mower. Like, you can turn it over to the kids. But, you know, I guess you get older at some point in time, you're just like, man, I really like taking care of the grass. I like snowblowing. I don't know why. Kind of fun compared to the equipment we grew up mowing lawns with and, frankly, shoveling with the literal shovel is all we have when we're kids. So it's kind of nice to have a few toys. I've been pushing – Can you guys hear me? Yeah. Can you guys hear me all right? Yeah. Can you hear us all right? Yeah. Good. I just – I might have to take a blow-my-nose break or two. You sick? I picked up – oh, yeah, I picked up the flat-brim cough down there. At Don Expo? Yeah. Flat-brim cough. The bro-fest rona?

You don't have a – it falls straight from the ceiling, and if you don't have your ears tucked in and your nose covered by a flat-brim, it gets right in you. Oh, boy. I like it. We got the real Brendan today. Yeah, he's unfiltered. He's had a monster, I can tell. I like it. Well, we're going to be – Well, Adam and Devin actually got sick. Well, you started. Kind of. That was a start and stop, and I attribute it to my strict regimen. So, it – Which is – Which is – A lot of weird stuff that my grandma has passed out over the years. Apples, you know, dark purples and, you know, of course all the – It really did knock the hell out of me. Like, I've been pretty darn sick, so – Jeez. Yeah, it hasn't taken a grip, and I'm going back the other way. It just barely flirted after we got home, but – I'm doing good.

The Expo is one of the biggest shows now, and where a lot of, you know, Western hunters gather and whatnot, Brendan. But how did it go for you guys there at QU?

It was good. Are we on now? Yeah. Oh, dude, we're on. Oh, all right. Yeah. Yeah. You've named a new virus. Yes. Oh, no, it was – it's good. I mean, it definitely – yeah, I mean, that's funny. That show – I've said several times, like, I don't think it can get bigger or – I mean, like – Right. Saturday was as busy as a show. That reminded me of, like, Heyday Dallas Safari Club, which we haven't seen in a few years. I mean, that was – you couldn't get around in the aisles. Like, it was freaking busy. Yeah. Yeah. It was. Is Dallas – do you feel like it's smaller?

The last – I think – yeah, it depends on the day. No, Dallas has been pretty busy, but, I mean, there was just a – I guess there was a couple years where, man, you couldn't get through the aisles, and maybe the show was a little smaller, you know, like – I mean, there were a couple days at the Expo there. You couldn't walk down an aisle without – I mean, like, you're weaving and bobbing, and there was just a lot of people there. Well, and that's – despite them blowing up, that whole other wing is way big. You think it would spread people out, but with that going on, it's still busy. And it was busy Thursday and Friday. We knew it was coming. We knew Saturday was going to be bad because Thursday was busy. It used to be the slow day. It wasn't that slow for us. Friday was really, really busy. Saturday was crazy. Sunday was all right. Yeah. We're busy at all the shows.

You know, I mean, people, you know, obviously seeing customers that we only see once a year depending on the venue, and then, you know, just a lot of people want to put their hands on new stuff we've launched and, you know, just check in, see what's new, and try on some stuff and come by and BS. And, yeah, it's just – I mean, the shows are fun. And we have a pretty cool crew now that are a mix of, you know, people that work for us and really dedicated customers and good friends that come out and do a few shows. So, it's – yeah, we got it pretty dialed. It's been a lot of fun. Pretty awesome. Tell us about, I guess, some of the new stuff. I don't know if you want to dive into that. I know you've got a lot going on. You guys are doing every – I mean, you guys are doing everything. You've got whitetail waterfowl and then everyday stuff as well as what you would call on your website

all new hunting, which, you know – Yeah, tactical. Yeah. Yeah, we have technical hunt and waterfowl and you can call it whitetail. We refer to it inside the company as cold and quiet. I mean, it's not just whitetail. I mean, everybody kind of pigeonholes anything that's very, very quiet to wear that you can sit segment in the cold as whitetail. But, I mean, I love to hunt whitetail. It's one of my favorite things out west here. But, I mean, there's a lot of uses for that that are – and it's obviously going to appeal to the whitetail hunter extensively. But, I mean, there's a lot of uses for what we do as well, whether you're still hunting or early season when it gets a little cooler. So, yeah, we've got a lot of stuff. And, you know, we don't really go into anything based on, like, hey, we're chasing a market.

We look at everything like, hey, if we can improve what's out there through better fabrics, better designs, and the relationships that we built and the factories that we have and the design ideas we have, we go into it. And that's kind of where waterfowl went to. I mean, we have, you know, our new welded bags. We've been working on that for a long time. I mean, stuff that's absolutely, totally waterproof. I mean, like throw it in the river and let it float down and pick it up on the other end, waterproof bags. And, you know, the waders was kind of a natural thing. We just got asked tons of time. And we ended up with a really good rubber boot manufacturer that was building a better boot than anybody else was building. And we did a co-brand and a partnership with Sims, who's obviously been known for building tremendous waders for a long time.

So, like, these things have come about of not, like, chasing markets, but more kind of organically through improving what we see out there and what our customers ask us for. Ultimately, it boils down to what our customer asks us for. And we make it no secret. We want to be in every hanger in your closet and every hanger in your gear room. And so when it comes to everyday apparel, you know, we're making better and better and more stuff that you can wear every day that, you know, whether it doesn't necessarily have a monster logo on it, but, like, wear it to work every day. And, you know, technical fabrics have kind of encroached into the whole life. I mean, you know, every time I have to wear jeans, I go, man, these things are just not that awesome. So whether it's, you know, the waterfowl stuff or the whitetail stuff or every day or, you

know, really it's no different than everything we've ever done. It boils down to fabrics and design, making it more comfortable for the end user. And so that's kind of where we went with everything is when we see a great fabric that would have multiple uses or improve what we've already got or improve what's out there in the market, then that's a place we went to. It's, you know, it's like us getting into women's, you know, we just had so many customers that were women that were using the men's stuff. And it was like it became, it wasn't really a dive into a market. It became more of a development along fit. And, you know, we just thought we could, you know, make what we currently make fit better for them. And obviously there's no surprise. There's a lot more women hunters, a lot more serious ones. And so that was kind of a natural thing of just getting, kind of wore us down. Yeah.

Well, I was going to say, it's like if your wife nags at you around the house long enough, you're going to fix it. And when these ladies come to the shows for three, four, five, 10 years asking you, where's my stuff that fits me? So I have to wear my husband's. Backpack made for women. Yeah. You're pretty much, you're finally sick of listening to them every year. You're going to, you're going to make, you're going to give them what they want. For their birthday, Christmas. The thing we thought about that was pretty unique in the fact that we have some very, very serious, what I would call like world-class sheep hunters that just happen to be women. Like Stephanie Lowe and Glenda Grote and like all the, the kind of the, the, the gals that I wasn't really super involved in that because we, we sent it over to that.

Like, I don't know that much about women's clothing, you know, and nor should I. Come on, bro. You know, you know, you know more than you. You know fabrics. It's just, it's just tailored, you know. Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was a, uh, uh, exercise of fit and they did a tremendous job and everybody loved, you know, so that's, that's kind of how everything's went. And, you know, like I said, the whitetail, the whitetail waterfowl thing is the same way as like we, we, you know, guys were using our stuff and it's like, man, with a little tweak here, if you added this in and the full line and, and, uh, and we, they've come up, but they've done a tremendous job of, of coming up with some great stuff. You know, I'm not, I, I've kind of gotten more into waterfowl. I would, I'm not by no means an expert on any level whatsoever in the waterfowl.

But as my son's gotten older, we're, uh, we're, we're hunting ducks in December quite a bit and having a good time with it. And I can certainly appreciate from the outside, some of the designs that they've come up with and, you know, staying warm in the blind and, you know, stuff that's designed specifically for the waterfowl. And it's been a lot of fun. It's, it's, it's fun to not have to worry about your gear. You just grab the stuff that, that you need and you're going to be warm and it's going to work well. And, um, you know, it's all well thought out. So, but yeah, all the, all those new things that we're into have just kind of, you know, and some from internally, you know, I mean, I don't think a lot of people know that some of the best duck hunting in the world is down right close to our headquarters. Yeah, it is.

You got duck clubs that are, I mean, California's millions of dollars. So yeah, they've, they've written, hit that pretty hard. So it's been, uh, it's a lot of fun, you know, it's just extending the season. If we can, we can build more stuff and people want it and we can extend the season. I mean, not, you know, you're not everything's a sheep hunt. You can only do those a few times a year and, or elk hunt or mule deer hunt like you're doing if you can, you know, I mean, obviously we're all outdoorsmen to be able to be comfortable out in the, uh, uh, whatever you're doing and, uh, even better when you're wearing two years. Nice to, nice to hear that you're, you're kind of into these whitetail you talked about. Well, I've actually always. Well, you were just giving me a little bit of grief cause I'm starting to get into it. I kind of, dude, I'm, I'm not going to lie.

I'm, I'm getting addicted to them. So I love hunt whitetails in Montana. We're highly underrated as far as whitetails go. I've probably in the last 25 years, I've maybe shot five or six mule deer total, but mostly, you know, I killed big whitetail buck every single year. I love hunting. I actually really love hunting. I love rifle hunting whitetails. Um, on the Eastern half of the state, I like to glass them up and hunt really open country. And, and, and I love, you know, going in and busting out a big whitetail buck and, and dumping them with a rifle. That's, it's one of my favorite things. I've done it. So I was a little kid. It's awesome. Are you naming them? I mean, are you hunting whitetails like you do elk with specific bulls or whatever? I mean, or is it just more an opportunity hunt in the rut? Yeah. It's, it's, it's, uh, it's not even during the rut.

It's just, it's just really wide open country that have a lot of whitetails. Yeah. Um, yeah, I just, I like going out and glass and, you know, finding, you know, a lot of like stubble type stuff. And, and I mean, I'm talking no cover whatsoever where you're glassing up just a little white rack sticking out of a little, you know, they're animals kind of do funny things. They'll find, even if there's a hill that's, you know, seven inches taller, the next spot, they'll, they'll go to that little spot where they got a little advantage and, and, and post up and, you know, I, I, yeah, it's, it's a lot of fun. I, I, I, uh, it was one thing I, I did a lot growing up and I love whitetail hunting. Um, it's not your traditional sitting in a tree stand, whitetail hunting, but it's, uh, and I've killed some big bucks.

I, I shot a 158 straight five point last year with my bow and ambushed him on, on the ground and I've killed a couple in the one sixties in the last couple of years with a rifle. Basically a general tag, right? I mean, over the counter for residents. You get, you get one, one deer in Montana, one deer, buck, buck mule deer, buck whitetail, whichever that is, that's what you get. Yeah. Cool. So you killed, you killed, you're, you're continuing to hunt big bulls. Didn't you kill another, you know, great bull also? Yeah, I killed it. I got on it. You know, it's been, uh, I had a good run a lot continuing on, but I, I had, I killed a really great bull this, this fall, super heavy, big palmated. Um, it's got a big crown point on one side. It's a, it's a seven by seven and in the high 70, I haven't had an officially scored yet,

but it's like, you know, high seventies right at three 80, but he's only 33 inches wide. A lot of bone on his head. It was pretty cool. I, I had my, uh, I had my son with me. We had, uh, walked about seven miles that day and it was cutting a herd off. And I was hunting this particular bull for like 11 days before I got him. And my son happened to be with me and you know, everything went right. And he kind of whole herd came right to us and we kind of split the herd and they kind of bedded, started bedding around us. And, uh, this dude came over and checked the cow at 50 yards and heart shot him and died right in front of me. And, uh, with my kid there, which was pretty awesome. So that was, that was a pretty, pretty cool moment. So was that the first, uh, well, you mainly only killed all the bow. So, so was that the first one you've had him there with you on? Yeah. Yeah. With the bow.

Yeah. That was, it was, it was pretty cool. Yep. That's good. That is awesome. Wow. That's crazy. Yeah. So there's a lot going on at QU. Um, you know, a lot of expansion. It feels like, although I think it's controlled grow that you've been doing, you guys have been expanding for quite some time, but we were looking at some of these different, you know, of course you covered the women's line, but, um, we've got the divide 4,500 pack and a 2300 pack as well as a ton of other stuff. And, and then, and then like you've talked about with some of the other gear and, and submersible thing, you know, duffles and things like that, but just feels like things are going really well at QU. Like, where's it going to end? I mean, is there, is it something you guys are just going to continue the way you're going and just keep growing and growing and growing? And what's the, what's the plan there?

Yeah, it's going to grow. It, it, it's like I said, it's pretty organic. It's going to grow naturally. I mean, we, uh, I don't know, we, we, yeah, it's been, we're obviously expanding and everything we do, but it's, it's, when I say it's definitely controlled in the fact that we control everything about the brand, about, uh, the, uh, the experience that the customer has. Um, we, we just opened our first, uh, well, it's our second showroom, but it's our, it's our first kind of standalone shop down in, in, in Dallas. Um, and it's, it's kind of been, we just stuck with the same plan we've always had. And that's, we want to control the customer experience. We, we want to control every aspect of everything, the customer that, as they interact with, with Kuyu and it's, uh, it's products, it's, um, the customer service experience. It's, you know, that's why we don't have retailers.

That's why we have our own, um, our own showrooms is, uh, we want to control that experience and make sure that every time somebody walks in or has an interaction that they, they get that, um, personal feel and, and, and the expertise that people that Kuyu is known for. And that's, it extends into everything we do. It's always number one is, you know, um, or that's, that's where we're driving always. And yeah, the product side, I mean, yeah, we just launched the, uh, the divide yesterday and that's, uh, a super organization kind of, um, um, midsize pack, like two to three day 4,500 pack optics, heavy rifle, heavy, very organized kind of, kind of pack. And we're, um, you know, we, we've got a lot of that stuff coming on, on the, on the, on the, on the platform that we have that, you know, I mean, that's why we have a, uh, you know, the, the bags are all interchangeable.

Once you own a frame and suspension, um, the modular pack system, we, we have pioneered since day one, uh, you know, having one thing that fits really well and being able to use it in multiple different places, um, multiple different sizes, multiple different hunts. Um, and that's, that's just another, another piece to that puzzle. Um, we're obviously updating some stuff and continuing to improve, you know, based on feedback and, you know, we're 15 years, this will be the 14, yeah, we're 14 years into the, uh, into the carbon fiber platform. It's funny that everybody is all of a sudden coming out with a carbon fiber, uh, whatever they're doing. And it's like, we're, we're, we're the experts in that. There's no doubt about it. We've been doing it for 14 years. We have patents on it and everything else.

Um, and I I've always said, like you, you see the industry leading towards a lot of carbon stuff now, which makes me laugh because carbon has always been the answer. It's twice the strongest deal and half the weight of aluminum. And we've known that for 15 years now. So, um, there's still, you know, innovation on that stuff that we're, we're, we're, we're working on and, and, uh, and improving. And, uh, yeah, it's a pretty exciting time and yeah, it just kind of feels like everything's hitting. Products are really good. You know, customer feedback's incredible. Absolutely. Number of customers incredible. We're, you know, we're just, things are good. Keep, keep the hammer down. Yeah. Keep people happy. Like you said, you're, you know, even from the start, you know, we've talked about it a bunch, but from the start, your customers have, have told you what they want, you know,

and not that you do everything a customer wants because there are some bad ideas, but you know what I'm trying to say? The demand drives the need to improve gear, even your own designs over the years. And you've guys have done very well at doing that. So anything besides maybe that divide pack, we saw that launch, you know, you know, throughout social last day or so and, uh, anything else you want to highlight in terms of a new specific piece of gear that, uh, you think is noteworthy, but that pack's pretty cool. I mean, Brandon himself is proud of, you know, that you would use anything. Um, yeah, we got some stuff. We're not, we're not big on launching stuff ahead of time. I get myself in trouble for that. No, we're not asking you to get fired. You might say something though. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we, we, we have some, we had a bunch of stuff obviously from this fall, you know,

whether it's, uh, obviously the proximity was a year ago and the encounter system and a lot of that stuff. That's that cold and quiet line that, you know, has a lot of crossover appeal on the white tail side, but you know, I wear it a lot in, in, uh, like still hunting type situations and, and on all that. And, um, yeah, we just, that's the beauty of our model is that we, you know, we can come out stuff when we're ready, you know, when it's fully tested and ready to go, we, we, we come out with it. And, uh, yeah, we got a lot of, we've had some updates. We updated the Yukon, just, just wanted to improve the rain gear, make it more durable. We did that this fall. Um, yeah, I'm trying to think I, it kind of escapes me when we start talking about it, but yeah, lots of basically any, anything you possibly need, not only will you have a

gear list and, and, and, and the product for it, we can pretty much get you set up no matter what, no matter what your hunt. Hey, one question I get from time to time and even myself, I, I, I use the attack pant more than anything else. I mean, I do use, um, I do use other pants, but that's tends to be my go-to, you know, my Tiburon stuff I use when it's really, really hot and it's August for bow hunting or my sheep when I'm in September and it's hot. I use those a lot, but you know, you're one cold snap away from that stuff that needs to be put away. But, but talk to me or listeners there. How do you, what do you, how do you talk through the Katana pant with the attack pant? Cause that one I get asked a lot and even myself, I have my, I'm partial to the attack. And so I maybe haven't given the Katana enough of a try, I guess. Talk me through the differences of those. Yeah.

So, so the, in the line, like it's Tiburon Katana attack would be like the weight wise. Um, I, I actually lean the other way. I wear the Katana almost 95% of the time compared to the attack. And a lot of it depends on fit. Um, the Katana's, uh, maybe is, is slightly lighter, a bit more durable. It's a nylon base versus, uh, versus the attack. Um, it kind of depends on the fit for you too, but they're, they're similar, but different, a little bit lighter. I mean, you know, the, the Tiburon is incredible. Um, but sometimes you get into the stuff that's, that just rips it apart. I mean, obviously when you have a dot air type fabric, um, there, there's stuff, you can only be so light and be so durable. And the Katana is kind of a, uh, lighter along the lines, not quite of Tiburon, but, um, it has a lighter, I would say wears lighter next to skin than the attack pant.

But the attack pant is the number one selling pant. For all around use. Yeah. In a hunting period. Like it has more five-star reviews. We've sold more pairs of attack pants than any other hunting pants that has ever been sold in hunting period. End of story. Like there, I mean, it's, it is the hall of fame, absolute hall of fame pant in, in hunting. So yeah. Well, you can't really go wrong with either. No, you can't. But I, I haven't had any members of my own family that they, they prefer the Katana over. And I, and maybe it is, like you said, more of a fit thing. Maybe I've wore the attack for so long that I just liked that feel better. Katana for me, maybe it feels like it fits me slightly tighter in the same size. I don't know if that's the right way to put it.

It could be, I mean, a lot, a lot of times the fit, they can even be built the same and your fit is slightly different based on fabric. Yeah. And that's why we offer that stuff is we, we don't, you know, we, we offer it based on, you know, we can't, you know, this year we came out, you know, the new brush pant, which is been huge for us. And that was a huge improvement. And that was based on, you know, a better fabric, um, that had a really light feel, but had incredible durability, added some hip, hip, some hip and inner thigh ventilation to it. And that, that thing's been, I didn't know if I would like that pattern or not. When I started testing it, I absolutely love that pant in tons of different scenarios. Yeah. You go down to the probe brush pant. Yeah. Use that in Southern Arizona or Texas place where every branch snags you when you walk by it.

You know, it's a unique pant in that it's, it's, it's heavy duty, very durable, but it wears, it feels lighter because it's like slicker on the inside and outside. It, it, it wears, it wears lighter than it feels. And, and then it, and it wears lighter than it, um, kind of delivers on, on durability. Um, it truly is a brush pant. I mean, you go through all the nasty stuff. It's not going to rip, but it, it feels like a lightweight pant. And that's why it's been, been a huge success. That's a great, and you know, it's a hybrid. It's got the, the, the heavyweight fabric where you need it, but you don't need the heavyweight fabric every single, everywhere. Um, and that's where a lot of our, our pants are, you know, in that hybrid type design where it needs to be waterproof here. It needs to be brush proof here. It needs to be, you know, whether your lower legs or, or seat.

I mean, that's kind of everything we do is like, you should use the right fabrics in the right places. Um, and, and you get a superior performance and a superior wear. Yeah. Well, yeah, that's another example of something that kind of, you know, I don't know if it's been a year, but it feels like just within the last six months or a year that popped up out of nowhere. Cause I've, you know, we've all, if you've hunted, well, I don't, I know you hunt Texas, Brandon. I hunt Southern Arizona for coos and places like that where cat claw. And I mean, everything's grabbing, everything's grabbing you and it's picking and, and peeling your stuff as you're going through it. And that's, that's the pant made for that. Absolutely. I mean, that kind of country. So, uh, and, and a lot of others, but there's some ultra lightweight. I mean, like when you consider, you know, I love the Tiburon.

I mean, I, I would, I would probably choose to wear Tiburon everywhere. I just, you know. That's what I was telling you. I said, I can't get out of the Tiburon. I can't get out of the Tiburon. We also hunt a lot of early season in August and September, but I'm telling you that first cold snap that hit you in September. I'm still fighting it. Cause I love it. And you got that and you, you remember, yeah, this has dots in it. Oh, it does. And then it's time to grab the other stuff. It is. It's great for, you know. So I kind of, my, my year kind of goes, if I would, if I was to break down pants for what I kind of wear as a year, it'd be, it'd be Tiburon, Katana. I kind of go into the talus and like October, November type. And then I go to the axis later, later. That's, that's kind of the four that fit me well that I like.

And then in the middle there, I'll have some, I wore the brush bands quite a bit, actually. Even, uh, I wore them on Kodiak last year, which was, which was great. Um, it's just all that stuff you're busting through, you know, those, those, it was a spring hunt and it was pretty warm, but you know, there's, there's all those alders and stuff. You're just getting, you're just getting pulled on everywhere you go. And I wore them on Kodiak and, and they were great. So it's, uh, you know, that's, that's what we want to give everybody that ultimately we can tell you what we think you should wear. Um, but everybody kind of builds their own system. That's the beauty of everything. Cause you can, you can kind of, you know, with, with ordering a few things, you can kind of craft how you're, you know, some guys run hotter than others. A lot of this stuff.

I mean, anyway, I think it's good to come from you where you're, you know, and you've tried it and you're, you've done as much hunting as you have. I think it's really nice to itemize like the time of year and what you're deciding to use. Maybe you can go through the base layers and the, and the mid layer tops and whatnot and give that kind of that same, that, that same breakdown on early season versus mid versus late and kind of how, how you do it real quick. I'm not saying, you know, a whole dissertation on it necessarily, but it is helpful for guys. The stuff is, uh, you know, it, you know, hunting budgets are tight here and there. And so they don't want to make a mistake on what they think they want, you know, versus you, Brendan, you're, you're in there. You're, you're, this is your everyday life is, is what CU offers.

And so I think you, you know, and with the hunting you've done, I think it's nice to hear, hear that from you, like versus Tiburon versus Katana, you know, on down the chain. On the, on, on the upper side. And a lot of it depends on personal, you know, just kind of like what you normally wear and how you feel. Um, you know, some guys run warmer, you know, I know guys that wear basically, you know, t-shirts in October, even when it's super cold. So like for me, I mean, I like summertime on the upper side, I would say summertime. I wear the, I wear the, our, our Hilo line is, I mean, it's phenomenal. It's, it's your, your stretch sun shirt dries super quick. I mean, I, I wear those not only in my everyday life, but, but hunting when it's super hot, Mexico, all that kind of stuff. Um, I, you know, if I'm sheep hunting, I like a Merino base layer.

Um, I, I wear our, our lightest Merino as a t-shirt and then our pro Merino is kind of second layer. And I, you know, we make a lot of different mid layers because there's a lot of different. Yeah. Everybody's different. I mean, I, I would say I prefer the 235 and the 275. Um, I, I have, I'm kind of funny. I wear our 145 Merino hoodie when I'm elk hunting most of the time, especially if it's hot. I prefer Merino if it's really sunny. I think Merino absorbs, I mean, I like, you want to talk about, you know, this is just a theory, but I feel like Merino absorbs the sun instead of reflects it better than a synthetic. Um, and you can see that when you're glassing people up. Um, we, we look at the way our, our, the way our patterns are applied to all of our stuff, uh, versus heat set. We, we have a different way that we apply it.

So we, we don't burn the fabric and make it shining, which is something we always consider. But I really like Merino if I can wear Merino, especially, you know, in September elk hunting, I feel like I don't get the reflection off it, just kind of a personal feel. And then, you know, I go to the mid layer 235 and then, uh, the 275 hooded is probably one thing I wear to like in my all day, all the time. That's kind of my go-to heavyweight mid layer. And, you know, we make a bunch of, a bunch of different soft shells based on what you need. I pray. I'm not a big soft shell guy. I wear the axis every now and again. I wear the, um, I like a little insulated piece. I like the, the Kenai jacket is probably my go-to on just about everything. Um, so yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm like every other customer where I, you find the stuff that you like.

Um, and you could ask 10, 10 guys, 10 of us at, you know, are hunting and work at Kuyu and we, we all have a different system that we run all the time. That's why we make all that stuff. Okay. I'm the same way. I've got a Peloton, a Peloton hoodie that's with me on every hunt. We have a file of different gear lists on the site of, of, and it'll have mine or Justin's or, uh, or Kevin's or like, I mean, we, we have a bunch of different gear lists on the side of like, you know, ideas of what, what we use. And, and, and you can always write in and say, Hey, what, what, you know, here's what I'm doing. What do you think about this? And most of the time that email will get to me or Kevin or to Justin or to Kevin or any of us. And we'll answer those questions. That's awesome.

Well, Brendan, we know you've been, you know, heavy in the sheep world, done, done a lot of sheep hunting and, and still dealing with Rockies here and there and whatnot. Just maybe give us an overall, you know, state of the nation address on sheep hunting in general, the different species and whatnot, as you see it. And then maybe, you know, some of the things that QU is involved in, I know there's some more projects you guys, you guys have got coming. Yeah. It's perfect timing on that. I actually got to, uh, I'll start off with a project, obviously conservation direct where we're, we're, we're active and, and, and involved in doing, you know, projects that we can have a direct impact. We, we love doing single, single projects. We can pay for the whole thing and, and, and get something really accomplished. We're not really on the, uh, the banquet circuit or any of that kind of stuff.

We like doing projects and showing that we're putting money towards, um, these conservation initiatives that are going to actually, you know, we love the sheep stuff that are going to, that are going to put new. And I, I got a project coming up, um, here in the next two weeks with, uh, with the state of Nevada. I'm going to kind of keep it vague on that, but we have a, we have a great project come up with state of Nevada. We're working with, uh, Nevada Bighorns Unlimited and, and the state of Nevada. Um, it's gonna, it's gonna be a pretty cool project to reintroduction. Um, putting some sheep, you know, creating a huntable population that has, uh, that was, that was eliminated at some point in time. So it's a pretty exciting thing, but a pretty big chunk of money towards it and, uh, got some great partners, um, in the, in the deal with it. And we're pretty excited about that.

And we'll have, we'll have a bunch more of that coming up here really in the next two, two to three weeks that that should go down. And obviously working towards a lot of other things. I've always got a few irons in the fire. We've got a guzzler coming up this spring. That's going to be in a really cool spot. That's taken probably four years to get done. And yeah, we're always, you know, we've, we've moved after this project, we'll have paid for directly and moved north of 200 sheep, Rockies, deserts, Calais, um, you know, in about nine different transplants with five different Western states. We paid for a hundred percent of all of it and, uh, you know, created, this will be four new sheep hunting populations. And, uh, now we're going to start reviewing some of the stuff that we've been able to do and the impact that's made.

Obviously you guys are right there close to you that we put all, we, we, we've, we teamed up with Arizona and, and the project they did here in Montana to put all those sheep on Antelope Island. And that, that herd is absolutely flourishing. It's coming to fruition here pretty quick where there's some, there's some big Rams coming up on there. There's, there's a great population of sheep that have, that are growing and expanding. And, you know, that's gonna, that nursery herd, um, is, is about to start in the next couple of years here, putting, put new populations of huntable Rockies in the state of Utah, which is, uh, super progressive, very aggressive on their, their, their management of what they're going to do with it.

And it's just, every time I, I, I get an update on that Antelope Island project and the project in North Dakota, the three affiliates tribe, it's just super proud of what we've done with that. Cause those are, those are, those are projects that have made a difference and are going to, I mean, those are going to be tremendous populations that we're looking at big auction tags and huge Rams getting killed and people drawing it. Sheep of a lifetime kind of stuff that's coming up and it's not going to be that long away, you know, and it didn't, didn't take that much to do. It just took some real initiative and, and some support from, from our customers and a few States. And those are, those are just exciting projects. I mean, they have some tremendous sheep on Antelope Island right now that are going to be, I mean, talking that the, the, the state record in Utah is not safe. Come on.

This is awesome. It's not going to be safe. Those genetics. Jason, I have Rocky points. Yeah. We got Rocky points. Let's make it happen. Can't have, you can't have enough Rockies in your life, dude. No. It's hard. It's quite, quite, quite, quite the bottleneck. You know that as well as anybody, Brennan. Yeah. Yeah. There's a, so yeah, that's, that's exciting. I mean, keep an eye out. We'll probably send out a post here and an email about the new conservation project. And there's a participation aspect for our customers. That's coming up. They can, they can help purchase some collars. That's, that's coming up and we'll, we'll launch that here pretty quick. So yeah, pretty excited about that stuff. That's, that's the favorite part of my job anymore is I, I just love partnering with these States and, and, and sending them a check and, and getting, and getting,

and getting involved and, and, and moving some sheep and, and just, you know, that's, it's very satisfying to, to be doing that kind of work and to see the impact that it actually makes. So those are pretty exciting. As far as the state of the state of the union on sheep, I can give you what I think the state of the union is. Let's hear it. Let's hear that. Let's hear that from the first 60 seconds of the podcast. Let's get that Brendan back. Yeah, no, I'm back. The state of sheep is, it's, it's in a funny place right now. And it's, it, there's a, there's a lot of different factors that I see it. And I'll just start with like thin horns. It's a funny thing is like the bottleneck of COVID obviously basically missing two full hunting seasons, seasons created such a backup and such a demand on thin horns that the price has gone through the roof.

And then when you combine that with the fact that Alaska is just having a tough go, it's not necessary that Alaska's sheep are going away. Winners. It's not that Alaska's never going to be good again, but they, they, they come in cycles and we are on a down cycle. I mean, there's, there's, let's call it between 800 and a thousand less doll sheep available to hunt and versus 20 years ago than there was in Alaska right now. And that's not, that's not speculation. That's a fact based on harvest. And so when you combine that with the fact that they're really the places that are, that, that you can, you know, go and have a great hunt. Not that there isn't some places in Alaska you can, I killed a tremendous ram in Alaska last year. Adam killed one the year before and we've had some tough winters, but you know, the Yukon and the NWT is basically as, as that right now. Yeah.

The focal point of where you can go hunt doll sheep. So that, that has driven the price up. I mean, they have, you know, I don't, I don't know what you paid for your first sheep hunt. And I hate to be one of those old guys that talks about the good old days, but I paid an 8,200 for a sheep hunt in 2019. Mine was 65. 5,000. Yeah. Mid-90s. That was, you know, 2007.

Yeah. So we're talking, sheep now are, are, are, are between 30 and 40 to 50. That's right. Doll sheep. Yeah, exactly. Those are stone sheep prices only five years ago, Brennan. Five to so years ago. That was a stone sheep price. It's like mule deer. They're in a down cycle too. And then the further down they are, the higher the price, the higher the demand. It's just you, people want what they can't have. Yeah. So you're talking supply and demand is so far out of whack. And then when you combine that with COVID with basically two years where the sheep hunts that went missing, it's just, that's, that's where we end up. And I would just say like, I've been saying forever and I'm not like, not trying to say I'm, I'm not, I know what I'm talking about or anything like that. But if you have a dream to hunt sheep, you should book one now and figure out how to pay for it and do it a long time.

I've literally been saying that for 10 years and doing it for 10 years. And I've got a sheep hunt I'm doing this fall that I paid 25,000 for. And now they're 42. And I'm really glad I paid for that hunt six years ago and, and, you know, put a deposit down. And that's, that's the kind of, if you have a goal to go on one of these hunts, the one thing I could say is that if you think these prices are going to come back, they're not. No, they're not. They may, they may slow slightly in terms of increase. They've been incredible, incredibly rapid, but nothing trucks don't cost less than they, than they do. They never come back. Nothing, nothing comes back. It just, there's less opportunity as of right now. And so they're not going to come back. There's your occasional good deal. But even then, you know, like I mean, I've done, we did, I mean, we probably talked on

podcasts about cancellations and those kinds of opportunities. I mean, there were far more of those a long time ago. Well, they're just, there are just too many mechanisms between email blasts and social media and just people being connected and past hunters. People are booked in 2027, take up a cancellation right now. Those cancellations don't see the light of day. Hardly ever. No. No. That stuff, that time has passed. So you gotta, I mean, if, if my goal was really to be, you know, let's say I'm a young, young person who really has the goal of hunting sheep. Like I'd be, I'd be staring, um, moving to Alaska pretty hard now. I mean, it, it, it made sense a while ago. It really makes sense now, not just for that opportunity, but others. And, you know, if it's a real priority, maybe, you know, that's, that's something you take

to look at, but there there's, it's, it's just, I don't think it's going to come back. There, there is a lot more demand for it. And, uh, and again, it's one of those, it's, it's become a unique thing. And the fact that it's, it's just something you can't, it's a bucket list item. It's something you really can't fake. There's no, you know, it's not like you can go kind of get that same experience with something else. I mean, heck you, goat hunts are twice as much as what I paid for my first doll sheep hunt. I mean, that's a goat hunter north of 15. Oh, that's right. Crazy. Oh yeah. That's right. Well, on the, the thing about this that we're talking about is the sobering fact is that, you know, everything else in life costs more like we know inflation, everything else, but it's, you know, whether it be wages or just disposable income, whatever, doesn't feel like it's kept up.

So it feels like the dream of hunting sheep for most, we'll just call them blue collared people. It's outpacing the rate at which they can keep up and keep that dream realistic. And a lot of money out there, you know, a lot of guys willing to spend money too. Yeah, there is to book the hunts, but I'm talking more to the, I'm calling the, back when we booked our first hunts, I mean, I, I mean, five G's was a lot of money. I mean, a lot of money or 10 or 17 for my first stone. Well, I mean, it was like, I can't believe I'm doing this now. I can't, I can't, I'm so grateful I did them. Yeah. Just, just, you know, it's, it's, it's at the time it feels like just like every house you buy. I can't believe I'm doing this. And somehow it usually works out and you move down the road in five, five, 10 years. That's a whole nother discussion, I guess the housing market, but yeah, it just feels

like, it feels like it's all intertwined. These, you know, you see a lot more raffles or events or things like that. And that's unfortunate, Brennan, it feels like for a lot of people, especially younger, we'll call them, you know, if you used to be in your twenties or thirties and you saved, you could go on a doll sheep hunt. Now that feels like a lot more of a lofty goal for a lot of young people, maybe young, married or single people to do, to buy it off a 45 or $50,000. Or it's a heavy lift. Yeah. There's no doubt about it. There's no, and like nobody has the answer for really cool stuff costs money to do. And that, that, that's just where it's headed, but you, you can mitigate that a little bit by, by booking it out a little. I mean, you can hardly find a sheep hunt at this point in time that isn't booked out until 28.

So if, if that's in your near term goals, like that, I have, I have never looked back on a hunt that I booked a long time out. I still have, I have a stone sheep hunt that I chipped away at for a long time. And then COVID hit, I mean, I'm like seven years past on this thing and it's all paid for. And I mean, it's the best deal in history, but you know, it's just one of those things where you never look back and go, I wish I wouldn't have booked that ahead of time. And right now they're hard to find. I mean, you can't find one at full price. That's right. No, exactly. When are you doing that one? 25? The stone? Yeah. I mean, you can only, it's in the Yukon, so I need, I need a, I'm hunting the Yukon this fall. All for your dog. That's right. And then, yeah, down the road and I'm just kind of waiting until it's a good opportunity and that's, that's, you know. Awesome.

But the state of sheep is, yeah, I mean, it's just, stone sheep are extremely, extremely expensive. I don't know that it's even realistic and it wasn't realistic when I got my first one, to be honest. I won it. As you know, I won it down at the expo there. Yeah. That's how I got my first stone sheep. And I just tell everybody, you got to be in every drawing. I mean, the guys that are consistently in those drawings, somebody gets lucky. You got that New Mexico thing this year. I've won stone sheep hunt. Jason Winneman from Kuyu won the desert sheep hunt at that thing last year. I remember the guy at Montana Wild Sheep here, Brian Solon, he won the stone sheep hunt at the, at the, at the Wild Sheep Bay show. I mean, you just got to be in everything and you're hoping to get lucky once or twice. And if a grand slam is your goal, same deal.

I would, I would get on the books as early as you can. And, um, you know, the state of stone sheep is pretty good right now. There's a lot of great outfitters. I mean, I would say right now, the, the, there's not really any bad outfitters or kind of state like it's, there's a lot of pretty serious guys that are, that are, that are doing a great job. Like I, there's a lot of happy guys coming back from, from sheep hunts as, you know, there's been some, a lot of them have traded hands. A lot of the old school guys, not that they weren't great, but they just were, uh, you know, had whether they were burned out or had just kind of been doing the same thing. Like that kind of stuff's all shooken out. There's, there's a lot of super excited, very good, young, pretty ambitious outfitters, both doll sheep, stone sheep everywhere. So it's, it's a really good time to go.

Really going to work, really going to work these areas and have the energy to do it. Yeah, I agree. So, so Rocky's, Rocky's too. Rocky's are tough. Rocky's are tough to come by. Really tough. You just gotta be, I tell everybody the same thing. I've been lucky to draw you like never pick points. You gotta be in every single, if you really want to kill a Rocky, you have to, every single state, every single draw, you gotta be in it. It's kind of out of, out of your control, but you're looking, you're looking to get lucky one time. I mean, nobody's killing 10 Rockies. I mean, you're lucky. You're trying to get lucky one time. And, and that's, there's just not a lot to add about Rockies. There's, there's very few opportunities. You just need to be in every draw and, and, and hope that you're going to get lucky and play, play in the long game. That's, that's all you can do about it. Yeah.

Um, deserts are kind of the bright spot, you know, like deserts haven't increased in, in price as much as anything else. I mean, there's a ton of opportunities. Yeah. They used to be the bottom net 20 years ago.

Yep. They're, they're cheaper than stone sheep now. And, um, and there's a lot of opportunities. Um, I would just, you know, I mean, again, it's just, it just boils down to priorities. It's, it's, it doesn't seem like if, if sheep's going to be your thing, you're going to have to really put a plan together and it's going to have to be an opportunity. It probably involves, you know, uh, uh, increasing your income as much as I hate to say that, but we all know that's the case. I mean, there's some of this stuff you're just not going to be able to do unless you're, you're able, but you know, there's a lot of opportunities to make more money out there too. So you can, you know, if you, if you put your mind to it, everybody I know that has seriously put their mind to it, it's been able to do it. Hmm. Yep. Harder, more creative, but yep. There's ways and you're going to have to get lucky.

There's, there's flat out about that. There's going to be some luck involved on drawing, winning, stuff like that. But what, uh, what besides your Yukon doll sheep, what do you got on tap for this year? I mean, you'll be doing your normal stuff in Montana. I'm not counting that. You'll be hunting a giant bull on a general, or I guess limited quota draw. If you get drawn there in the white tail, what else you got on tap? Yeah. I'm taking my, uh, I'm taking my son. We're going, uh, to hunt mountain caribou in, in Northwest territories. Um, I've had that kind of for a long time and he's, he's the age where he's, we're just, I'm having just a lot of fun with my son right now. He's just. Was he 10 or 11? I can't remember. He's 11. Yeah. He's 11 and he's, he's getting after it and he loves it. And, uh, yes, we're going to go and do a backpack hunt for mountain caribou, which is

going early August. When are you going? July. Yeah. Late July. Late July. Yeah. Before school kicks off and all that. Yep. Yep. He's, he's in all the sports and everything else. So it's kind of a juggling act and summertime's a great time to go. And then, yeah, we've got a Yukon doll sheep hunt. And then, uh, you know, I, I'm Montana has been really good and I'm, I'm just, I'm, I'm going to stay here. I mean, I love the type of bulls that I'm, I'm not seeing tons of them, but when I do run into them, they're big. And, uh, I've just, Montana has always been great to me. And I find myself, if I have more than one elk tag or somewhere else, I want to be, I want to be home, uh, hunting elk here. And so that's, that's kind of what I'm doing and yeah, the same old stuff. And, um, yeah, I've been helping a lot of people. I mean, you know, somebody draws a sheep tag.

I love going, I guess I'm kind of a little bit more now to where, you know, I'm, I'm, I like accompanying people and helping out if I can. And, and, uh, you know, been shooting a lot more, been shooting a lot more ducks. They make them every day. Well, that's fun when you got kids coming up too. I mean, that's, everything's exciting to them. Every, anything to shoot. I mean, it's, it kind of helps you relive your own childhood when a bird was a freaking big deal. I've just got a lot of kids and it's hard to keep up with them. You know what I mean? They all love to be out. Well, they're all adult. They can all drive now. So they all, they don't jackrabbits and birds don't do it for them anymore either right now where they're at. So I'm going on a, I'm going to another brown bear hunt this spring with a buddy.

I'm going to go help him out on, uh, same deal up on the peninsula, which is going to be pretty fun. And, uh, I love doing that every year. Like I would. And I've, I've actually said several times with people like the, the, in the big scheme of things on like adventure hunts and tremendous trophies and all that stuff like brown bears are still, um, our best value. I think in North America, that's my opinion, but a giant brown bear, um, that you, you can't replicate that rush. And that as a trophy, those things are, I mean, they're just unbelievable when you get one on the ground. And, you know, I always tell people like, man, if, if sheep's not your absolute passion, but you want to do something that'll make the hair stand up on the back of your neck and, and be a real adventure. Like I take a serious look at that. Pretty awesome. Well, Brendan, we sure appreciate the time today.

Is there anything, um, you want to leave us with there with QU and all that you got going or anything like that? It sure is, you know, it's nice for us to be affiliated with a company that's, uh, passionate about hunting and proud of, of being in the hunting industry and whatnot. There's a lot of, of course, there's a lot of people out there that don't seem to like hunting per se and whatnot, but it's, it's nice to be affiliated with companies that are, are proud to be in this hunting space. Yeah, we, we are. I mean, that's, that's, that's what we do. I mean, it's KU Ultralight Hunting. It's in our name and, and, uh, yeah, we don't, uh, never shy away from that. No, I just say, uh, keep an eye out. I, I, we got some, some info coming out about, on this project with the state of Nevada. Um, you know, the, the conservation direct stuff that we're doing is nobody else is doing that.

I mean, we are putting our money where our, where our mouth is. We are doing some real conservation. That's going to make a difference for, you know, we talk about these opportunities, hunting sheep, you know, somebody down the road is going to draw a sheep tag where, where, where we have, you know, teamed up and put sheep, like there's new huntable populations. And that's been the, the focus of, of, you know, the, both the money and the energy that we're putting towards our conservation direct initiative. So, um, we're super proud of that. And, uh, yeah, just keep an eye out. We, we're going to, um, have a customer participation, um, opportunity coming up here, where if you want to purchase a collar or purchase a part of a collar to be a part of, uh, of that. And that's, it's a cool thing. And the fact that you buy a part of that collar, your name goes on that collar.

Or I'm going to send you a picture with, with the sheep that it goes on and it'll be on a sheep in less than a week, which is a pretty cool thing. Like it's a direct, um, you'll have a direct impact and in, in a real conservation project. So that's, that's kind of what's coming up. And yeah, I always appreciate you guys. Where do you want people to look for that on your website, on your social media or both? We'll, we'll be sending, we'll be, yeah, I am on the social stuff and then we'll be sending out an email on, on, on that as well. And you'll see it. It'll be on NBU as well. Nevada Bighorns Unlimited. They've been great to, to work with. That's, that's who will handle the money. And, um, yeah, how about, uh, but yeah, we appreciate the, uh, appreciate the partnership always with you guys and love, love chatting and appreciate all you guys are doing.

And, and, uh, man, it's, it's, it's awesome to, to be affiliated with you guys and see the success you're having and couldn't barely get in your booth. I did sneak in there and steal a monster, but man, it was, it was not easy. I had to push a few people out of the way. Well, you don't have to steal them. They give them away. That's right. Well, that's why, man. Yeah. All right. No, we appreciate you, Brennan. Appreciate it, Brennan. Yep. Always good to catch up. So I need to, still need to talk to you about a big elk somewhere. So I'll be calling you. Up there in your neck of the woods. He's not going to give you a big bull. He's not just going to give you one. Not going to be in his neck of the woods. Oh. I'll call him y'all. He can only be in one place. Okay. Yeah. All right. Okay. All right, guys. We'll see you later. All right, Brennan. Thanks, man. All right. Anyway. Good stuff.

It's awesome. Yeah. He's a good dude. Anyway. Great company. Great what they do. Love what they stand for. Love what they're engaged in. Like this conservation direct stuff. It's really awesome. We've been, like you mentioned, been recipients of that in Utah, a bunch of other states as well. So we appreciate them and QU. They were the first for us here at Epic Outdoors to step up. They were the absolute first. Yep. Want to be a part of it. One of the advertisers of you guys. Super good guys. And Brennan and Jason stepped right up very first. We'll never forget that. We'll never forget it. Ever forget it. So anyway, on the heels of that, we are giving away a Stone Sheep Hunt, Bronson. We're going to be doing that probably Monday. The deadline is this Thursday. 29th of February. We're talking. 29th of February. Today's the 27th. That's right.

If you're listening to this podcast, and you haven't bought tickets, you better jump on EpicOutdoors.com and do it, or give us a call. 435-263-0777. Like Jason said, $85,000 Stone Sheep Hunt, fully paid for with a top outfitter in British Columbia. All the details are there on the website. We've got other hunts too, Jason. You want to run through them all real quick? There's a ton. Just since this is the last one for this drive? You know, Bronson, so Adam and I and John look at these hunts, and we pick hunts that we would personally want. And so it's nothing but world-class stuff. We've got a Nevada-Utah elk hunt. It's actually a landowner tag that's on both sides of the line. Up there in kind of the northern part of Utah, northern part of Nevada, 2025 with Pilot Peak Ranches. Incredible opportunity. Ryan Benson smashed a, I think it was 419. 417. 417. 417. In the 14s.

Absolute giant there. On our website is the photo. Kind of an incredible opportunity up there.

Just one of those hunts that you would want. This includes the landowner tag. It includes the guide service. Everything like that. And so there's nothing really more that you're going to need. You need to be able to get there. Your tip money. Things like that. And so just awesome. We also have a regular Nevada elk hunt in 076 to 081 with the landowner tag. That's good for this year. 2024. Six days with Deadline Outfitters. We've had a guy smash a 370-incher on that particular hunt. Give him that way multiple times and everybody kills a great bull on that. It's choose your season. Archery, muzzleloader, rifle hunt. 2024 with Deadline. Like Jason mentioned. So then we've got a couple of the Nevada mule deer. Nevada mule deer hunt. We love doing this one. It's because we're somewhat partial in Nevada. We're really close to there.

They have giant bucks on good years like this year with all the rain and weather. Unit 231 includes the landowner tag. This tag alone is worth the price of admission, let alone guide service from Greg Krog and his crew. Muggy on Rim Outfitters. Incredible partnership we have with Greg. I think the world of him. He's just done a great job over there in Nevada for freaking decades. Unbelievable. Seven days with the landowner tag. Choose your season. And then you can keep hunting. The tag is good for all the seasons. You just keep cranking. Once your hunt expires, if you haven't harvested a deer with them, and keep on going. And you can literally hunt from August 10th to October 31st without a day off if you don't want it. Don't need a break. Pretty unbelievable. Next one we have also, this is another kind of perennial one that we've landed and continually book. This is early September.

September 1 to 5, early season velvet hunt on a CWMU, Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit in northern Utah with bucks and bulls. Outfitters, a great opportunity to hunt 180, 190, even a 200-inch type deer. Guys have killed those exact type of deer every time on this hunt. High success, going to be the first crack at everything with the rifle. I don't know if there's a rifle hunt really that starts before September 1 that I can really think of. No. So it's a unique opportunity. Big bucks again. Pretty awesome. Then we've got a coos deer hunt. This would be winter 24, 25 in Sonora for two hunters. We just figured guys like to go in pairs when you're going to Mexico or whatever. It's just a lot of fun. We've done this alone before. We thought, why don't we throw a pair of them? So, you know, take husband, wife, or unit buddy, or whoever wins this.

But it's from December 24 through January 25. Very flexible dates. You're going to obviously find out this the first week in March and have plenty of time to call the outfitter, book your dates. They're going to have plenty of availability to work that in. So we didn't lock that into a one-week period. You've got the opportunity to call and book that date with the outfitter once you win the hunt. We had a guy smash an absolute giant. Oh, yeah. Well above BNC. Oh, yeah. The actual winner. Exactly. So not just a random guy. This was an actual hunt winner. We gave that hunt away, too. So anyway, and then we've got Idaho Wolf for two hunters. 2024, 2025 winner with Hardex Outfitters, super good dudes up there. They've actually boasted nearly all of the clients that go on a wolf hunt. And I say nearly because I haven't checked on this past winter have an opportunity to kill them.

Shot opportunities. Yeah. That's right. This is no joke. You know, but a lot of people, when you have the first opportunity, I mean, it's kind of like us. We've done that before. And when you get one of those in the scope, you're half hesitating, can I really pull the trigger? It's a trophy of your life. Yeah, really. It is. Buck fever sets in immensely. I'm just going to leave it at that. So great opportunity, again, for two hunters. Again, this fall, November 2024 through February. Again, you win this hunt. Be able to set this up with Hardex. Pick the date you want. Buck fever, so on mine, it was the first year. My first wolf was the first year that it was open. I got buck fever when I killed it. And I got buck fever checking it in the game of this. Yes. Because you're just scared. Because I thought, well, just cuff me. Take me to jail. I probably misread something.

I probably don't have a habitat stamp. I don't know. Anyway. And they patted you on the back and said, good job. And they're like, no, yeah. Good job. I guess, yeah. People can kill these things. This ain't a domestic dog. Yeah. You got a wolf here. Anyway. Next year, we did it again. So anyway, it is. Buck fever set in twice. Anyway. And then we've got a gear package. This is an epic gear package worth $15,500. Bronson, we just keep adding more to it. But anyway, it's got a fierce rifle, Hoyt bow, and 14 other items, it feels like. Lots of optics from Leica, Zeiss, Vortex, Swaro, all those companies as well. And then we've got a bonus ticket in there for a $10,000 hunt credit to any outfitter you want to book with. We'll write the check. So all that's on our website. You can read more in detail about them if you want. We've got $100 packaging. You can buy tickets for as little as $25.

You can join or refer somebody and get a ticket in that way or buy a ticket for as little as $25. Or you've got a $100 package, $200, $500 type packages, whatever. And it's all online at epicoutdoors.com. Or if you're down to the wire, you might end up just calling us at the office. We're prepared all the way through Thursday evening to be able to call. After a certain time, it's probably going to be online only late that night. It'll be shut off what? John 1159 on the 29th, if I'm not mistaken, right? 1159. Yep. Okay. Pretty awesome. How about this new knife we've got and how about the new headlamp? Yeah, those come with the $200 package. You got your pick. Which one of those? That headlamp's not. It's no joke. No, it's not a joke. It's a great headlamp. I love it. And I love the red option. You know, we had to go through. Anyway, when we were choosing them.

Of course, you want a longevity, bright, and then the red option. So, I don't know if red helps. I have no idea. I like it when I'm hiking a mountain in the morning. I love it. And you're not, like, announcing, I'm up here. Yeah, to the rest of the hunters. Let alone the deer. Exactly. Right? Or elk or whatever it is. I'm mainly worried about other hunters. And it feels like it saves battery. Yeah, you can't see it yourself. And around your camp, I use that a lot. Because sometimes that bright, just at 18 inches, you're sick of looking at that. Right up front. But anyway, anything else we need to talk about? That's it. We'll wrap this up, I guess. No, we're done, dude. So. Over it. Done. Epicoutdoors.com. Get your name in the hat. You have to have your name in the hat if you ever want to win anything. That's the way it is. I wish I could throw my name in for this one.

Because I've seen other bins. I've been other places. There's nothing like this. No. Not at all. And so, we're going to have winners. The next podcast we do is probably going to be calling the winners. I'd imagine. Right? I would be dare to say. Maybe. Yeah. Maybe we get excited. Do a podcast on Thursday. Maybe we'll do. We could. I don't want to be on record for saying that. We might have a wild hair between now and then. But the first or second podcast we do is going to be calling these people. That's always fun to do. So, hopefully it's one of you. Well, and you hear Brandon just preaching about getting into every draw you can. I remember. He's living proof that people win. Yeah. And this one, we've got price points. Bronson, you've won. For every budget. Yeah. For 25 bucks you can get into this. Yeah. Yeah. And then if, you know, if you want more, you can.

If you want to play it a little bit more, you sure can. Yeah. Yeah. But if you don't, that's fine too. Just get in. Get in no matter what. All right. Bronson. Call it a day. We're done. If you hunt in multiple states or want to expand your hunting portfolio, the Epic Outdoor License and Application Service is for you. We have dedicated hunt consultants and a team of application specialists to help you develop and achieve your short, medium, and long-term hunting goals. We do the work. You draw the tags. Epic Outdoors License App. 435-263-0777. The Utah Hunt Expo is right around the corner. Head over to the Epic Outdoors booth, chat with us, and get access to exclusive optics deals. Don't miss out on the 2024 Utah Hunt Expo at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City from February 15th to the 18th.

Handcrafted, quality precision rifles from start to finish is Red Rock Precision Rifles. Many of our staff use Red Rock rifles, and we are excited to announce the new Red Rock Epic Mountain Rifle 2.0. Visit redrockprecision.com to learn more. If you're in the market for a hunting property, look no further than St. James. St. James Sporting Properties specialize in premier hunting properties throughout the West. Check out available hunting properties at stjamesportingproperties.com. Here at Epic Optics, we are a verified dealer for Swarovski, Zeiss, Leica, Vortex, Pulsar, Stealth Cam, and more. Call us today to visit about available optics we have and what would be right for you, or visit epicoptics.com. Good looking, comfortable camo describes Kuyu. Check out the new Encounter Camo line for some of the best early to mid-season gear out there. Check out Kuyu.com to learn more.

Kenetrek makes great boots for any situation. Most sheep hunters in the high, rocky altitudes use these boots to keep their ankles in check in the rough terrain. Visit kenetrek.com to learn more. We at Epic Outdoors are a fierce firearms dealer and have many popular models in stock and ready to ship. Call us today if you would like help deciding which options are right for you. Fierce long-range rifles are a great rifle, and many of our employees here use them. Visit fiercearms.com to learn more. Triple S Polaris specializes in custom setup hunting side-by-sides. They deliver right to your door nationwide. Visit sspolaris.com to learn more. Thompson's out-of-the-box, thousand-yard accurate rifles can't be beat. For affordable, long-range rifles and shooting schools, visit thompsonlongrange.com. For only $150 a year, you get nine issues of the Epic Outdoors magazine and unlimited

access to our hunt consultants, as well as to our verified research website and member experience program. To see all other member benefits, visit epicoutdoors.com. Thank you to Phonescope, the best camera optic adapter out there. Phonescope makes high-quality phone cases and optics adapters. Visit phonescope.com to learn more. Stealth Cam has high-quality, durable trail cameras that we all love to use. Check them out at www.stealthcam.com or call us to order today.