EP 363: Staying Consistent Through Tough Hunts, 200" Muley and 380" Bull Stories

You're listening to the Epic Outdoors Podcast, brought to you by Fierce Firearms. Epic Outdoors choice for custom hunting rifles.

Hey everybody, Jason Carter, Adam Bronson, John, Josh, Logan, how y'all doing? Doing good. Good, good, right on. Well, as we get started here, we've got kind of a fun podcast. We're going to have a couple of stories anyway. As archery season's getting kicked off here shortly, everybody's getting excited for this weekend, especially here in Utah, because there's so many giants. So many giants. So few wildfires. Such good, nice, cool weather out there. Cool weather and, you know, moist ground to walk on. Yeah, quiet mountains right now. I mean, I was this morning out walking around, and there's not even a chance of stalking something out without just being in socks. It's so dry and crispy and crunchy. Anyway, but there's some nice animals here and there, right? Your boot could crunch two rocks and create a spark and start a fire. Yeah, sure could. It's dry. So, anyway, kind of excited.

But anyway, as we get started, we want to thank Fierce for sponsoring our podcast here at Epic Outdoors. A great partner of ours, Fierce Firearms. Anybody that's interested in a rifle, of course, everybody should be. Everybody gets excited about rifles. I just, it's kind of interesting how rifles go. Like, archery hunters buy new bows every single year. People keep their guns for life. Yeah, they kind of keep their guns. I don't get it, but, you know. It's like currency. Wish I still had my bow that I killed Brutus with, but whatever. You know, anyway. Where is that? I'd have to think about it. In a basement somewhere? I think my nephew's got it. A couple nephews or kids? But, anyway. But, anyway. If you got that bow, call back. You might be able to get a premium. Nevertheless, how about Cash? Cash shot his Fierce, what, yesterday evening? Last night. Yeah.

And he, I mean, he walked it in, got it all sighted in, and then just shot it in 1,000. Freaking smashed it within a couple inches of dead center. Pretty awesome. Anyway, FierceArms.com. www.FierceArms.com. 435-462-0040. We sell them. We actually sell them. We're a dealer. Give us a holler. We can definitely get you into a rifle cheaper than anywhere else, including the factory. But, nevertheless, Josh, you went up there to their shooting school. Why don't you tell us a little bit about it? Yeah. Week before last, we went up there and spent three days. Everybody else was gone. So, I was asked to go up there and shoot guns for three days. So, it was a pretty hard task. Yeah. Ended up with a cool medallion there. Right. It says the One Mile Club. What is that? Did you have to hike a mile to shoot before you shoot? What does that mean? That means he retrieved his own target.

That is if I wanted to see where my impact was. I gut shot a Yeti a mile. Wow. They had a big, giant, like, Yeti. Sasquatch? Sasquatch Yeti target at a mile. Really? They had a 300. It was... Was he on his hind legs? Like, standing up? Just standing there. Just standing there. Weird. Weird. It was at a mile, 1,700 and however many yards that is. So far. Never shot that before. But they had a 300 PRC there set up on the carbon rage there. And, yeah, first shot. I was surprised. Got up and there was a couple guys went before me. And I was lucky enough to get some wind calls a little bit. Watched him drift a little bit right or left. And I thought, I'm not going to do that. And got up there and hit it for a shot. Shot anyway. Pretty amazing. But not only that. I mean, then we went to... Had several other guns. They're coming out with some new stuff that we're going to see.

Some we can divulge. Some we can't, I guess. One of the things they're actually doing, pretty impressed with, is they had a .22 Creedmoor there. And I never thought that would be something like, I don't know. You need that, you know. And then you sit down and you whack targets from 200 to 700 yards on a gun you've never even shot before. And... No recoil, just fun little kid guns. Yeah, suppressed .22 Creedmoor. And it was just, I mean, it was like shooting a .22. Like, it was pretty unreal. They had the new Carbon Rogue Mini 2.0 stock that's on there. Basically, it's kind of like their high-end Rage stock. Their new Rage LR. It's going to have a little pick rail on the end. An Arca Swiss rail more back towards the mag box. And an adjustable cheek piece with a thumb button lever on it. So, really awesome. Got to shoot that. Got to shoot some shotguns. Just really impressed.

Then the next day we went out. They've got a big chunk of property that's up in the mountains where they had targets set up all over from coyote silhouettes, sheep silhouettes, steep uphill, steep downhill, all kinds of stuff. It's where they do their shooting school. And you go up there and they've got, you know, you shoot several targets. And it's really good practice shooting uphill. I mean, the one was like just under 600 yards. And you're holding for like 315 or something, you know. Like, it's pretty steep uphill. With the new smart range finders, just dial it in. Yeah, you push the button. And it tells you to dial for 390. But you're shooting 5-something and straight uphill and smacked a ram three different times right there. And anyway, pretty impressive. And it was awesome just to be able to get to go shoot any time you get to go shoot.

And real-life hunting situations like that, it was awesome. So, if you're thinking about going to one of their shooting, you know, they do their shooting schools and stuff. And they'll have rifles there for you to shoot. Odds are you'll probably end up wanting to buy one. And, I mean, everybody that shot that rifle at a mile was just like, okay, I need to take this gun. Is this for sale? You know, because it's pretty impressive. So, pretty awesome. Pretty awesome guns. Good experience to go up there and do that. It was a great time. They are. So, you recommend it for anybody that's looking to shoot a little bit more, a little better, whatever. Yeah. Put on a good show. It's good practice. They had lots of guys there. They put you up, right? And lodging and all that. Yeah. Yeah. We stayed there in their lodge. Really nice, fancy. They feed you everything.

It was kind of a dealer summit that they had there. There were several other dealers and stuff that were there. A few influencers, those kind of things. Just kind of getting guys shooting their guns. And, yeah, it's pretty awesome. It's one of those things, once you shoot one of those guns, it's great. Then, just last week, Friday, I have two Mountain Reapers that I had to go shoot and get dialed in. Whose were those? Mine and Haley's. Wow. His and hers. A 6.5 PRC and a 7 PRC and got those both dialed in. Did she get the 7 or you get the 6.5? Like, who got the bigger caliber? She got the bigger caliber. Does that sound weird to anybody else? I'm just keeping it real. I mean, like, you're a Viking. She needed a bigger caliber. I needed a smaller, I guess. I just kind of want a little bigger one for the do-all. And, you know, women don't just get a lot of rifles, right? Yeah.

Josh has got the .300 Rome that he loves, too. Yeah. But, I mean, we joke about Josh being a 6'4 Viking. Yeah. He's toning it down. Yeah, but it's fun when you just sit there and plink away. It's nice. But they shoot. They shot amazing. Haven't got them completely dialed all the way out. Just had enough time before the wind came up to get a good – Yeah, get chrono'd and get a 100-yard zero on them. Dead zero. I mean, good grief. It was – yeah. Clover in it, huh? Yeah, yeah. It was pretty amazing. They shot great. So, when you shot a mile, what does that mean? Like, do you shoot him in the toe or how good a shot was it? Well, there was just some impacts. But mine was – it was like a – it was like about an 18-inch silhouette was like in the dead center of this big Yeti or whatever. And I hit just below him. Just below – Some of them were like a hand impact or whatever. Yours was an actual –

Yeah, it was a torso hit. Yeah, it was a gut shot. Yeti's dead. Torso. He would have bedded and I would have been able to get back on him. I'm just saying – It's totally ethical. Bigfoot's been out there for I don't know how many years and nobody's ever put him down. So, I mean, you'd probably better hit him a little better than that. I know. But I'm confident he would have bedded and I could have got a second round in him. All right. That's good. That's all that matters. Just an interesting target. I mean, you're shooting at a – You'd have been able to shoot over to like two other outfitting services converging on this thing. Shooting at a standing human-like creature. Yeah. I mean, it's interesting. If it's an elk or deer, you won. I guess it's like a brown bear on the side. Well, I don't know. The last shot. The last – the killing shot is the one that gets attacked. Yeah. That's true.

You're not going to get – If you're a mile to begin with – I don't know that's always the case. If you're a mile to begin with, you're not beating anybody. Yeah. But it's crazy. Like, you can't even – You're sitting there and they're like explaining to you where the target is on the ridge. And they're like, okay, there's the point of the ridge. Like, you can't even begin to see – And it's a big bright white painted silhouette, you know, on a brown mountain. And you can't even begin to see it until you get it in the skull. But you hit it, so it's ethical. That's the way I'm talking about. Yeah. You want to do something worth talking about around the water cooler, hit that thing with the 22 Creed more tomorrow. Yeah. That would have been – With a five-mile-an-hour wind. Yeah. Exactly. I mean, what kind of energy does that have in 1760? 156 foot-pounds. Less. But it's cool.

Might not break paper. Might not. Prairie dogs, no. Too thick a spin. Chip mark might walk away. Yellow-bellied marmot, for sure, too thick a spin. Yeah.

It was just good, though, because, you know, we practice a lot. Oftentimes, we don't shoot a lot, per se. We get guns sighted in. We verify some yardages and that sort of thing. And you don't oftentimes just have time to go shoot, you know, at different angles and distances and things like that. But being able to have different types of wind. I mean, even just the wind changing there, it was pretty awesome. Well, and at those, well, at a mile, but even at 800, 2,000. Yeah, we show them all of that. It can be blown a different direction at the target than you. And you've got to look at your streamer, your flagging tape there versus where you're at and just like, okay, what first one. Every situation's different. Yeah. It was pretty crazy. Just like in between shooters, they had a couple different guns and at 800 yards, you know, it would be like, okay, now it's your turn.

And you were there for, say, a half hour at the station or whatever. And just in between shooters, like the guy was holding on the left, the guy that was before me. Now I get up there and I'm holding to the right, you know. And then some of them is straight on. They're on. Anyway, it was pretty awesome to be able to do that. You walk away with a lot of brass. I remember going to one of those. You, Jason, I remember how much brass. I mean. What do you mean? I went through like 80 rounds. Okay. That one, yes, that one was in Oregon. But those were 45 mile an hour winds. It was unbelievable. The term walking it in was putting it lightly. I thought you did good. I think I hit that 12 something with the 6.5. The second or third shot about a 30 something mile an hour. But, I mean, that's the one thing about these courses is when you book the dates, those are the dates.

And so you get what the weather gives you. And there we were at 45 mile an hour winds. Full rain gear. Oh, full rain gear. I was over it. I was good to watch you. I just was brass boy. Yeah. I picked up the brass. We had a lot. Oh. I just remember. Littered the whole ground. You know. I might have had 100. 80 to 100 rounds. I mean. Yeah. Fun stuff. Yeah. That was back when brass was brass. Now it's gold. Now it's currency. Yeah. Exactly. I could buy something with 80. Once fired 6.5 brass. Yes. All right. Well, that's enough about that. Let's. I think let's move on. Let's have it. What about somebody that killed something last year to get us fired up for this year? Got a big old. So we had Andrew Wankier here put in a story here in the Epic Outdoors magazine. Just barely this newest issue. The August, September, 2025 issue. Pretty awesome. It's out.

Covers the points alert for Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, as well as an Alaska overview. Just a general overview. Not necessarily an application help there. Just more or less. Here's what Alaska offers. Some things to think about as well as an opportunity section. And then, of course, we have our stories. We have a load of stories. John, generally we have more stories submitted than we can print. But we try to really get to everybody. So we sure appreciate you submitting stories. Think about that as you get out there in the field. So anyway, Andrew's story titled Pretty Boy is just an incredible velvet-clad mule deer killed with a bow. Awesome. Anyway, he's agreed, John. You've got him dialed up basically just to talk about his story, talk about his buck, and kind of just everybody's going to be cranking this weekend. Yeah. It's a good primer for killing something with a bow. Yeah.

Or at least hunting. At least hunting. At least hunting. Are you going to be hunting this weekend? No, I'm not. What? No. What are you going to do? Dirt bike? What do you got more important? I got more fish in the dryer. Oh, wow. Fish? Literal fish? No. Or you're just talking metaphorically? No. What do you got going on? Two-legged gals. He's a single guy. Well, I'm going to be in the field, but I don't have a dedicated hunter tag. That's right. So you can hunt archery muzzle rifle, right? I could, yes. And most people that have archery tags go hunting. They do. It's the first potential day you can hunt. Most people that have archery tags hunt the archery hunt. I am a really good son, and I told my dad I'd help him scout for some tags he's got. Oh. Really? So I'm out. You're at least in the field. Oh, yeah. Are you even in the same state you're tags for? No. No, I can't.

So that tells me you just don't have anything big right now. Yeah. That could be an accurate summarization. Yeah, Dad. I'll help you look for Kyle. Thanks for putting it out there. I appreciate it. Nobody has to follow you around. In other words, quit following me. Anybody following a marshal is pretty well going to a daddy. If you want to waste your time, put an air tag on my truck.

Okay. All right. Well, let's talk to Andrew. He killed a big one. Maybe we can learn something from him. It would be great to hear his story. Andrew.

Hello. Yeah. Hey, gotcha. There you are. Jason Carter, Adam Bronson. Of course, John Peterson, Josh, Logan here. Just calling you up, getting ready for this archery deer hunt that's coming up. Have you got a tag this year? Sure. I actually got a call about 10 days ago about a turnback tag for Archery Antelope. Oh. Did you take it? So, yeah. Yeah, I took that. I was like, oh, kind of beating the odds there. Wow. Holy cow. Are you out and about right now? Yeah, I'm just cruising. I haul my boys around to go mow lawns, so we're getting after that. Oh, man. That's a good dad right there. Dad of the year. I don't know. Husband of the year, whatever. Teach them right. I don't know. I think as much time as I was gone last year, my wife was questioning that one. But, hey, like we've talked about, like, that's one of the lines you can tell your wife,

yeah, I'll take the kids this weekend, mow lawns and little hunting, have your weekend off. Yeah, exactly. It's all how you spin. Exactly. Yeah, spin. Yeah. She actually drew the Paw Vent multi-season L, too. Oh, geez. You got your hands full then. It's crazy. Yeah. I know. She was like, well, let's just turn my tag back in. I'm like, nope. It doesn't work like that. Sorry. Yeah. Well, cool. Well, we're just, obviously, time of year. We're all geared up. Archery season's right around the corner here, at least in Utah. Nevada's open. Other states are to follow. So, we wanted to, we teed up your story being in this latest issue or magazine and thought we'd just call you and hear a good hunting story about killing a big buck. Yeah, it was a good one. I appreciate you letting me share it. You know, it's awesome. It's awesome.

So, well, I guess teed up a little bit from last year in terms of, it was an archery tag you drew, I believe, here in Utah. Yes. Probably teed up as far as scouting. If it was a turnback tag, I'd be sick about it. Yeah. No, it wasn't. No, I don't know what's gotten into me this year. But, no, I've been chasing limited entry deer in Utah for 20 years. Mm-hmm. And, you know, looked at all different units and, like, it's tough to not put in for the Oak Creek, living right by my house. Um, so, uh, I've been chasing muzzleloader for it for years and years and years. And, finally, when they switched the regulations, I was like, you know, I'm basically hunting with the same, I'm basically hunting with the same kind of weapon. Like, let's try the archery, you know. Be able to go first. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Have the first crack at them.

And it seems like, you know, they always kill some giants on, on the archery right away. And so, uh, I was actually looking at the draw odds on Epic Outdoors and was like, ooh, I think I might have a chance at it. So, I put in and didn't even own a bow and just went with it and found out I drew. And that was pretty awesome, you know, finding that out and telling everyone. And that was pretty surreal. 20 years of waiting and a lot of buildup. Yeah. Now you got to go buy, hey, honey, I got a tag. Now I got to go spend a few grand and get a bow and a setup and arrows and everything else. Yeah. Yeah. Luckily, I had some good, some good friends that helped me out with that process. And, uh, got that all bought and everything. And it was just one thing after another. I was just like, oh, I'm not usually a big spender guy, but I, I became that guy pretty quickly. Yeah.

When you're starting from scratch. Yeah. Yeah. You can rack up quick. Yeah. It's not like you just, oh, I'll get a new side or a new release. If you're starting from scratch, it's, it's going to happen. Exactly. Yep. So we shot a lot and got after it. And then just, man, we were scouring the unit from end of May till the hunt open, just trying to cover as much as we possibly could and trying to see what else, you know, what all was out there. And, and, uh, I had a lot of great help from, from friends and family. And it was, uh, we were just talking about it the other day or just like, man, I wish we had that to look forward to this year. Cause of all the prep that was going in this time last year with which deer to go after and, and kind of getting a rough score on all of them and which place to go. But, uh, anyways, I found out how hard that mountain is too.

It's, uh, it's definitely not an easy place to hike around and move around. It's pretty grueling. You'll be in shape after hunting that mountain for many days or scouting it. That's for sure. Oh yeah. Yeah. I, uh, I learned that real quick. Um, but yeah, I spent, I spend, you know, try to spend at least three mornings a week up, up there and during the week go into work a little bit later. And luckily they understood. Yeah. Um, uh, then, uh, we kind of whittled the list down to, I mean, we had about five to six that we'd probably go after my number one deer. We, uh, we saw him two weeks before the opener and then we, he was gone. We never laid eyes on him again until someone killed him in the muzzleloader. What'd he end up going? Um, uh, I think he was 200 right on the nose. We actually, he, uh, he looked really impressive in the velvet, great buck.

And, uh, he's still, I mean, a fantastic deer. You can't say just a small 200 inch deer, you know, but, uh, he had lost quite a bit of mass. I think he was pretty old too, but he was awesome. And, and honestly, uh, you know, so we kind of, we kind of called an audible before the hunt started. And my brother, my brother-in-law went and checked on another deer that we had seen earlier that year. And, and we're like, I think we could probably go after him. And so we, uh, we went and camped out that Friday night and, uh, up on a ridge and it was like 60 mile an hour winds, you know, the tents laying right on your face. Most of the night you're not sleeping a wink anyways. And, uh, anyways, we ended up glassing that, that buck up, uh, early the next morning and, uh, we able to drop in on him. I got within about 50, 50 yards above them.

And I, that was my first time seeing, hunting a giant deer that close. And I was like, Holy, they look like dinosaurs, you know? Yeah. Yeah. It's tough to keep your composure when you got that velvet bouncing above brush or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was pretty, pretty crazy. And my other buddy, I could, I could hear him telling me in my, in my head, he's like, now you're going to shoot your bow and you're going to want to look up and see where your arrow hit. Don't do that. Don't do that. Yep. And sure enough, that's exactly what I did at 50 yards. I slung it right over his back and I was like, you've got to be kidding me. I've done it. And they got, they got away and it was terrible. It happens to everybody. Yeah. It was just like, Oh my gosh. It's hard to break yourself of it. You know, I found it. Anyway. Yeah.

I mean, and, and, you know, I've heard, you know, you haven't been hunting if you haven't missed, but it still just was like, Holy cow. Okay. You know? And so we, uh, we luckily found him again and he went and bedded down. And as we're trying to make another play on him, we had a giant thunderstorm roll in and just drench us. And, uh, we were kind of sitting there watching all these deer come out. All the deer started, started moving. And I don't know if someone walked down the bottom or what, but they, uh, they started coming out and my, uh, my family on the other side of the Canyon, they're like, yeah, I think your, your buck jumped over this other ridge. He's, he's gone. So we're like, okay, I guess we'll head back to camp dry out. And anyway, someone else came in almost where I, I was, I guess, from, from, from the story we got and smoked in just that afternoon, that same deer.

So I was like, okay, well that, that bucks off, off the list, you know, and welcome to hunting. So much best units. So much for that. Most amazing experience you could ever have. Yeah. Once in a lifetime. Yeah. I think he went to Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh. I was just like, Oh my gosh, you gotta be kidding me. You know? And so we ended up going, trying to try a different deer in a different Canyon. And, and, and we, the thunderstorms just kept the wind swirling, you know, not, nothing would hold steady enough to get in on a stock. And it's just, I mean, it's just hard if you don't got the wind and you're just, you might as well just not even do it, you know? Um, and I didn't want to blow him, blow, blow him out. So we kind of re regroup that, that night and Sunday morning, we went in after this deer end up being the deer I ended up killing.

And I had, I hadn't even seen him in person. We had one of my buddies, he had, had videoed him, um, earlier in the year and about middle of July. And, uh, I had got a, a picture of him on my trail camera. I went and got my, my trail cameras the last day it was sipped and drilled. I'm like, Oh, Hey, that's a, you know, decent buck. We should go take a look at him. And we honestly just, we low balled the crap out of him. Um, but, uh, we went in to go see what he was doing Sunday, Sunday morning. And I, I was able to sneak in on him about, uh, about 60 yards. He was with a group of four other bucks and, and, uh, right as he stood up, there was a big old line of Oak brush across his chest. And I was like, of course, you know? Yeah. And, uh, and so I tried sneaking around the other side, this other side to get a shot at him.

And, and I, I just ever so slightly scraped a rock on another rock and the little two point that was by him, he pegged me immediately. And I was like, Oh crap. And he, they just bolted out of there. He went all the way up out of the Canyon. And I was like, Holy cow, like he is completely blown out of here.

So that was, don't tell me somebody shot him on top. I'll shot him on top of the red. No, thank goodness. Thank goodness. That would, that would be it. Right. Just, you know, boo him right to you. Just like hunting geese. Uh, but anyway, so we kind of backed out of there. Um, and we're like, okay, like that, you know, probably should give him a day or two. And we went and kind of looked at some different areas. You know, there was that one cool buck that was kind of floating around social media with the crazy right side. He was awesome. We never saw him during, during the hunt, but we tried to go find him and we kind of just split up different, different places. We've got a game plan together. And, uh, so Monday, Monday was the craziest day I've ever had hunting with, you know, my dad was kind of my, my Uber driver is what he called me, dropped me off in one of the canyons.

And I hiked up the backside as I had, you know, different family members looking into different canyons. And I was kind of just waiting, got up on the top and waited for the wind to shift and trying to navigate all the ledges and rocks and everything that the Oak Creek has for you. You almost feel like a mountain climber more than a, a hunter, you know, but, uh, but anyway, so I, my, my buddy was like, I think this, this pretty good, good buck I dropped in on him. It was on the West side of the Canyon. So I dropped down in on him and we got a little miss miscommunication. He dropped me too far down. And by the time I had realized where I was, I was below the buck and he, you know, the wind takes my scent right up to him and he blows him out of there. And that was actually kind of a good, good thing. He, he wasn't that great of a buck.

So it wasn't, it wasn't too bad other than the steep hike down and the steep hike back up. But, uh, anyways, I swung around to the East side of the Canyon and dropped in on another buck. And after a few hours of hiking and everything and having some mental chats with myself, that was definitely the most, the most mentally draining hunt I've ever been on. Yeah. Uh, but, uh, anyway, so I dropped down on this other buck. He was a fantastic deer, probably, you know, 205 ish type buck. And, um, I was 25 yards above him in some rocks and he was kind of clear and feeding all of a sudden a, a cloud goes over the sun, swirls the wind. And, uh, he picks me up. So he, he, he busted out of there, went East over into the next Canyon. So I hiked over there and, and, uh, my brothers-in-law had spent the whole day kind of just out of

the game, just sitting there on the, on the side hill and pick this buck up. And so they, uh, sent me the onyx point where he was sitting. And so I dropped in on him again and I was 60 yards above him this, this time. And I had some squirrels playing on the rocks above me and they knocked some rocks off of this cliff and busted that deer out of there. Wow. This is like bad luck. Charlie Brown. I was just like, I was like, we need to call the next guy. This is not even, I don't even want to go. I don't want to go. I'm not going out in this. Exactly. It's not going to happen. Exactly. Logan, are you in? Oh man. I'm out. And add general status to that. Yeah. General. Yeah. At least he's going from one 90 to two or five bucks. Two or eight. Two or five. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. It's crazy. Crazy. Kill the squirrels. Kill the squirrels. Yeah. Yeah.

I, I was just like, you have got to be kidding me. There was a lot of soul search searching. Like I said. And anyway, so, so finally got off the mountain that, that night. And, uh, I was like, okay, I need a little easier day on, on Tuesday. So we met, went back in and checked on that buck. I had, I had stocked in on Sunday and found him again, kind of the same exact, exact spot. Um, and I dropped in on him and it was a long stock. It took, uh, I was, it was several hours in and I finally had him feeding up into a little opening about 40 yards below me. Um, he was about five yards to this, to this opening. I was like, okay, sweet. We're gonna, we're gonna get a chance at him. And, uh, I didn't know that there was other hunters about 500 yards down the Canyon. And they started all of a sudden yelling and I'm like, what is going on?

And they had found the buck that they had killed earlier. So they were just, you know, all so celebrating like you, like you do, you know, like I totally, totally get it. But that, that buck picked up his head and he was like, nope, went right back up the Canyon. I was like, you, that was, that was crazy. Still not going on. So I, I had to get off, get off the mountain, kind of clear my head. They were like, okay, we're, we're, we're just going to go back in on him on, on Wednesday. We'll see what happens. Well, luckily Wednesday, the weather started to, to, to change and the wind was pretty steady right off the get go. And that helped a ton. Cause I didn't have to sit and wait for him to bed and the wind to shift and everything. And so I was, uh, we picked him up. He was up further in, into the Canyon, which worked out better.

And so I got up along the face and got with, you know, parallel with him. And I stayed about parallel with him at 50 yards for about 10 to 15 minutes. And all that dead mahogany and everything is just, it was hard to see any lane to get a shot off at him. And, uh, and he had a couple little bucks with him and then they ended up splitting in and going West. And I was like, Oh man, they're going to take him with him. And, uh, he ended up coming back towards me. And luckily I was far enough, enough to the North that as he came up and ended up coming level with, with me onto the, onto the side Hill, um, that the wind was just, was just perfect. And he came up with his head down and he faced me directly. Um, and so I, I drew back as his head was down, just waiting for him to turn ever so slightly. And he just finally turned to his right enough. I could see his left, left side.

And I sent one right into his lungs. And, uh, I had honestly, when I let go, he spun around and broke a bunch of that mahogany that are standing in. And I was like, was that my arrow that just went through the dead mahogany? I'm like, are you kidding me? And, uh, just cause of all the other experiences, you know, why not? Yeah. And, uh, my brother-in-law who was watching it, he was like, no, you hit him. There's like, there's blood everywhere. And he ran down about 70 yards and kind of sat down and then made a little, one more little plunge about 50 yards. And of course buried his head right into a dead mahogany and tore up some of his velvet.

But, uh, man, it was, it was just crazy. You know, I mean, just so much emotion and. Yeah. That's the feeling. Unreal. After all the other things that went wrong for five or six days, whatever it was. Oh yeah. Yeah. Five days. I mean, I remember waking up Wednesday morning and I was just like, okay, we got it. We got to do this. But I have just about had it for a little bit, you know, make, uh, makes muzzleloaders think they're not so bad. Oh, one power scope is not so bad. I finally, yeah. Like I was, I mean, on that, on that Saturday and even Sunday, I was like, oh man, if I had a gun, you know, and five, like, dude, you can't talk like that. Like you cannot, like you willingly chose this. So stuck it up and get it and get it done, you know? And, uh, yep. Well, but walking up on him was, was just unreal. And my other family members had beat me to it.

They're like, I think you killed a 200 inch inch deer. And I was like, dude, I don't even care. Like, give me a one 90 and we'll call it great. You know, I'll settle for it. Seriously. And that's what, and that's what hunting that, that unit does to you. You know, like I had never had a chance to kill a big deer and, you know, I've, I've hunted deer for 20 plus years and, and that just gives you such a warped sense of reality, especially coming out of general units, you know? Yeah. Options. It's good to have options. A lot of structure. There's lots of bucks. And you're, and you're first. I mean, let's face it. Yeah. I mean, bow hunters and equipment and everything we have is still far superior than it was 20, 30 years ago. So you, even though there's eight or 10 tags, they kill a lot of great bucks on the archery before the muzzleloader hunts.

And so, um, yeah, it's, yeah, it's hard to argue with the results. And yeah, obviously that feeling. Looking back on it, you're, you did the right thing. It is. It is. Five days is still not that long with the bow. No, it isn't. No. I mean, but, but when every day is two or three stocks, failed opportunities or squirrel problems or people problems. Best hunt in the state. Yeah. You know, there's just 20 years, 20 years riding on this, waiting for the tag. And it brings a sense of, yeah. The pressure or just expectation or anxiety or everybody's telling you what to do and where you should zig and zag. And you're like, why can't I do any of this right? From their desk. From their desk. From their rich top with their pile of treats and Pepsi's and all that. You can, you can see that. That deer, right? 200 inch after 200 inch, knocked off, knocked off. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty awesome. That is.

Well. Yeah, it was awesome. Awesome. Great story. Well, yeah. Congrats. Congrats again. Appreciate you taking the time to write something up for us in the magazine. And for those that haven't heard it or seen it, it's, it's in this newest magazine, this what, August, September issue, John, right? Yep. It just came out here in the last couple of weeks. Just came out. Okay. Pretty awesome. Appreciate you guys. Oh, you bet. Well, hey, good luck on, uh, yeah. Good luck on your antelope and your wife's elk hunt. Maybe you got another story to tell us after all that. Yeah. We'll see. We'll see what we can drum up. So don't let your wife turn that tag in. I mean, that's crazy. Oh, no. Oh, no. We got it all dialed. I didn't. So anyway. Perfect. All right. Okay. Well, get some, get some bonds mode. Yeah. Good dad. We'll do. Yeah. I'm going back to work. All right. Talk to you later. Okay. See ya.

Bye. That's pretty fun. Yeah. That's pretty awesome. I think it's one of those things, kind of what he said there, you know, I mean, geez, that's crazy for him. Didn't even own a bow. Putting it for, you know, 20 years. That's one of the things that you talk to a lot of guys that they just can't, there's like a mental struggle with archery sometimes. You talk to a lot of guys that you're like, they could draw this tag, but they don't know if they want to take their 20 years worth of weight and try and bet it all on a bow archery equipment. And not many people are like, I'm only an archer and you know what I mean? And so we're all flirting with all of them. Like you got to kind of, what do you call it? Yeah. Ambedextrous. Yeah. You know, use them all. Right. Yep. So he's not just a hardcore archer. But it's cool that he could do that, take it, practice enough and do it.

It was funny when he was saying there about how I had that similar thing when I had like my first archery elk tag and you're just so used to hunting with, I mean, you kind of hunted with a bow or whatever here and there for deer. But like when it's a limited entry tag or whatever, there seems like there's a lot of extra pressure on there. And he was sitting there and saying, you know, look, I don't have a muzzleloader. I don't have a rifle. Like you have, there's something in your brain that actually, I feel like it's a switch that has to get switched and be like, okay, this is what you're, if you're going to kill, this is what you have to do. And this is how you're going to have to do it. And at that point, that's kind of the mentality you have to get. If you're going to go try and do something like that with a bow and I've been there before

it's, and then you go out and you just like, go do it. Yep. And many times it is the drawing odds. Not always are archery hunts easier to draw than rifle, but I'd say more times than not they are for mule, deer, and elk. I mean, not always, but so people are set to chase a certain hunt forever and they realize I'm two or three points behind that. And it's, I'm never gaining ground because they're only taking five guys off the top every year and there are just five more to transfer over every year and doesn't make headway. And then finally, yeah, it has to click. We have guys this year that did that in Arizona for elk that finally bit the bullet and went archery and drew the first year. And yeah, they're, they actually bought the bow the year ahead of time and shot it. And yeah, these things are pretty nice. I will do that. You know? They are nice. They're forgiving. I mean.

I don't know what makes them so forgiving because they are no joke way different. Just think of what we saw. There's carols from Moab. I mean, Jesus. We thought they were the best thing you could ever make. They were. They were. Cutting edge. They were. I was amazed. That was before rubber tires. We shot, we shot. That was before rubber tires. That's when we were shooting recurves with a tooth, cut off toothbrush for the, for the arrow rest. I mean, literally some of my friends did. Yeah. Okay. All right. So John, we got a break for a quick second. Only you or Logan can do this justice. It's because we're, it's because we're the only men in the office. Yeah. Shout out. Shout out to Apex who made you purge 10 pounds. Yep. Apex next evolution.com. And yeah. I don't think you got it all out, John. Because I've heard there's 27 pounds of feces in there.

Well, we didn't talk about it, but none of it, none of it was, none of it was that. Because I, yeah, I, I, I didn't go at all in the whole five days. He did not go number two in five days. Yeah. The first day I did like normal clean out, done. Done. I didn't have anything. Even a day after, I didn't have anything. What about you? Same experience. Oh, bull. I think, yeah. I think you start skipping the cayenne. No. No. You can't. The cayenne suppresses the appetite. Whatever you guys did, whoever does the colonoscopies should tell their patients to do what you guys did. No. Because Adam, what Adam and I have been through is. No. It didn't clean you out. Like that wasn't. Oh, it stuffed you up. It didn't stuff me up either. It was, it just wasn't anything. Just, okay. I figured that's what my cayenne was. I wonder if your body's pulling out the extra nutrients. Yeah.

The cayenne suppresses your appetite. Is that what it does? I thought it was for other reasons. No. It's so hard to drink water and fluid while you're doing it that you're not going as much as you usually do. Okay. All right. Well, let's move along. Anyways. Yeah. So, different topic. Let's talk about good flavored drinks. They are actually really good. I am addicted to the Peach Mango Conker. It is amazing. Conker has the stimulant. It's my favorite. Peach Mango. Yeah. It's like the energy drink. Yeah. I love it. It's so good. You just look for Wolf Tracks. Look for the Wolf Tracks on the back. It's so good. Conker's your number one go-to. Yeah. If you need it. It's so good. I like that flavor. It's a really good flavor. I just grab a packet. I don't think a lot about it. It tastes good. You might want to. Ryan, you might want to.

Depending on what you need out of your beverage, you might look at the back. I'm probably going to look at the back. Yeah. Yeah. If you chase it after 160 or whatever milligrams of caffeine from a monster. 400. With another one of those, pretty soon you're at 350. After 20 minutes. I just know how my body feels. It's amazing. All right. So, anyway. We've got a discount code. Epic 25. You get 25% off. And for hydrating during the hunting season, all natural. You just can't, you know, can't go wrong. It's a lot healthier for you than other options out there. I know. I know Jana bought some for our house. Yeah. And they got non-caffeinated. They're stuff that's just literally for hydration and recovery stuff. I'll call it pleasure. Yep. Recovery or pleasure. And the other one's called quench. Yeah. That's the one without any caffeine. Yeah. That's hydration. Yep.

And those are really good, too. It is. Yeah. I mean, when you're hiking, hiking, hiking, it's nice to have something that's not water again. You drink more. Logan, are you going to take some with you this weekend? I've always got it in my pack. Do you? Oh, yeah. Nice. Yep. That and a pinch of cayenne. That's right. Capri Sun for the hard days. I was sick of cayenne after a week. Blow a tire. Have a little Capri Sun. While I'm waiting for John to come fix my tire for him. All right. Well, let's talk to Chuck Lawrence. Josh, you know Chuck well. Yeah. Super good guy. Ends up with a tag. What, 22 years in the making is the title of the story? Just a down-to-earth, awesome human. I think that's a sobering. I mean, that last one was 20 years. Here we've got another 20-plus years. These are elite deer and elk tags in Utah. And I mean... John, we should have people that do well on generals.

How about, John, next time find... Okay, we can try to find that. Or, John, next time find kids that draw the first year they draw. John, that's your... That's my tip. John, you find a kid on the first year. Five or less points. Drew a sheep tag. Hey, what's a lifetime tag? I'm fine as long as it's not a sheep tag. Kids need to hunt, too. I've got them, John. I've got kids that have done that. Not my kids. I know. No, we've taken them. But it is funny at the Hunt Expo how many people don't know I'm kind of joking. Kind of not, but kind of joking. I get some facts. They're shy to walk up and introduce you to their kids and family. So you might rip their head off. Hey, kids. Here's Johnny. He killed us two sheep in one year, and he's 10 years old. It's true. Anyway. All right. Let's call Chuck. Let's call Chuck. Archery elk here in Utah. Incredible story. Put in his time.

This guy, no joke, spent a ton of time. Let's see what he has to say.

Hello. Hey. What are you doing, Chuck? Not much. How are you guys doing? We're doing good. We've got John and Adam and Josh, Logan. We all talking about you, talking about big bulls, wanting to hear this story on the podcast. That sounds great. I love talking hunting and hunting even more.

Well, we've got a few days before this year's archery hunt's open, so we appreciate you taking some time and talking about your archery hunt last year, just to maybe get people a little fired up or give them some optimism or whatever. And sometimes these archery elk hunts here in Utah are a little bit early and tough, but you found that out, but also, like you said, it was the most incredible lifetime experience ever, it seemed like. Oh, so rewarding. The hunt can definitely be difficult. Like you said, they can be early.

They can be a grind, but you just got to work hard. And the harder you work, the luckier you get as you're hunting those elk, for sure. That's right. Okay. Well, start us off maybe on, you know, why you chose the area, how many points you had, getting the tag, and then kind of the planning phase, and then dive into your scouting and how you made it happen. Yeah. So I'll try to remember all your questions.

Don't miss one. Jason's very critical. I know what you do for a living. You remember everything I said. That's right.

We'll talk about that later. Okay. All right. Um, no, I, I had 16 points. Um, I, uh, I had actually drawn a bull elk tag when I was in high school and my dad guided me on a hunt. I killed a bull, um, and with, with my rifle. And, um, a few years back I was hunting a general unit with a muzzleloader, killed a good bull, uh, in Utah on the general unit. I worked real hard for a bull. I worked real hard for a bull. And I've always wanted to, uh, kill a big bull with my bow. I've always been a little nervous doing so because I know the archery can be so tough. Yeah. And like, and like, and like you said, it can be early. And so there's, sometimes it's super hot and you're not, the elk aren't talking. Yeah. Um, and, um, I, I decided to choose the boulder unit, uh, in, in Utah. And, um, it's, I mean, almost anymore, it's like a once in a lifetime hunt.

So it even made me more nervous, you know, with, with it being, uh, archery, but I just, I've always wanted to do it. And I, I used to work down in, uh, the Penguich area and, and was on the boulder, um, often for my, my work. And I, I really liked the boulder. And as I, I moved to a different position, I met a few individuals, uh, that are friends of mine, uh, Doug and Hayden Johnson. And they, they guide a little bit on the boulder and they know it really well. And so I just, I decided that I'm just going to do it. And if I, if I eat tag soup, that's going to be fine. I'm just going to go have a good experience and hunt hard. So, yeah. And, um, I mean, based on my points off of last year, I thought I was going to draw with, um, with my bonus points. But people always bounce around from unit to unit. And it happened to bounce back over to the boulder.

And after, after the hunt, I looked at the draw results and I had actually drawn a, a random tag. So there were, there were three of us that, uh, with, with 16 points that actually, uh, drew that tag. And three, three out of eight, um, just random. But there were people with, with 17 points, uh, that didn't draw ahead of me. So I was, I was close, but I got lucky and drew a, drew a regular random tag. Wow. Make you feel a little bit bad knowing those other guys didn't get a tag. It costs somebody having a great experience. So, so bad. So bad. A guy like you actually might've felt bad, Chuck. You're pretty, you're a pretty good human. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Oh God. No, but it, it was awesome. It was just, I was so stoked. Um, it, it, it's awesome finding out a few months ahead and you get a, you get to go. You can go scout. You can just, it eats at you though until, until it gets there. You can't wait. Um, I, oh man, I don't even know where to start with the whole thing. Um, did you do a bunch of, yeah, did you do a bunch of scouting and, uh, have time for that? Or did you know, Hey, well, just kind of rest on some of your knowledge or, and your friends when the hunt comes and all. And I mean, the boulder's a, it's not like a glassing unit. You don't go glass a lot of elk on the boulder. It's not, you know, like other units you can in the summer and, you know, you can run some cameras and what, but even then, you know, it's just a big flat, thick plateau for the most part. And, uh, it really is.

So my intentions were to go scout as much as possible. Um, but I, I didn't get to go a lot and, um, it was based off of my past experience on the boulder and the help that I received, uh, from the friends of mine and their experience on the boulder. Um, that, and I, like I said, you can't, you can't just go, uh, throw up some binoculars in a lot of places and, and scout it. So we threw up some cameras and we actually, uh, if you look at the magazine article, it, there's a picture of the bull, uh, in like, like June or July. I think it's a July picture and, uh, you just kind of have to hunt the area where you, where you see them, but they move around so much. It's a tough, it's a tough unit. And, uh, but that's, that's how I, I was just going to go in and hunt it hard and, and hunt areas. You know, I, I think on the boulder you can find big bulls in most areas.

You just got to learn it and hunt it hard. Maybe even a little bit harder to like single out a specific animal, just as thick, thick country. Yes. You know? Yes. Yes, absolutely. There's, there's a few places. Um, it's, it's amazing. I mean, some of the bulls hang out in the desert. Some of the bulls are on the mountain. I mean, they, they, they're scattered to and fro. So, and it is, it's hard just to pick. You can't just pick a bull because you can't just watch him all day long. You just, it's, it's a lot of, a lot of, a lot of luck in it is involved with it. So did you, was your, was your game plan to hunt the opener for a bit when that time came? Or was you saving it for, you know, the last two weeks, which is normally the best time on a Utah archery outcunt? But what was your game plan going into the start of the hunt?

So, as you guys are aware, um, I work for the division of law enforcement. And so the opening weekend of archery is usually a pretty, uh, pretty busy weekend. So I, I worked, I worked, uh, the opening weekend of the hunt. And then I spent the rest of my time, almost the rest of my time on the mountain. Did you kick people? Did you kick people out of your honey hole? I'm just teasing Chuck. I know you would never, I'm just teasing. You're not supposed to bring that up.

No, but yeah. So I worked opening weekend and then I, I've been telling my boss for a few years, like, Hey, when this hunt tag, when this, when I draw this tag, I'm going to be non-existent. I'm going to be non-existent. So he, so he, he knew it was coming. He was really good to work with. And, uh, um, I took my son down with me the first week and he's, he was 10 years old at the time. And so he just getting into this, the hunting stuff. And, uh, that, that first week we actually had a bull come in like 30 yards bugling at us like that first week. And just seeing his, his eyes light up. Oh my gosh. That made the whole hunt worth it right there. Just, just seeing the excitement in his eyes. And I wish he could have been there when I shot it, but he has, he has school and he can't take a month off of school to, to go hunting with me. So, um, but that, that was, that was awesome.

Being able to experience that with, with my son. That is awesome. So he had to leave, but did you, you literally stayed from, you know, call it four or five days into the hunt after you had your opening weekend obligations. You went there to stay basically. Yeah, I went there to stay. So I actually came home. I was like, I'll stay home for a few days just to, and then just stay the rest of the time. And I get there and my, my other son, um, who couldn't make it down. Um, but he got sick, he got influenza B and he was, my wife knew how important this was to me. And as much, she's not a big hunter, but she knew how important it was to me and supported me in it. So she said, I'm a little bit of a hypochondriac. I don't want to get sick. And she just looked at me and says, you better get out of here. So I hit it back on the mountain. If you say so.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. But I stayed the rest of the time on the mountain. I, I actually minus like, I try not to hunt on Sundays. So one of the Sundays I went down to church in Lola and then, and came back, uh, up on the mountain. But I hunted every morning and every evening for, for practically 22 days straight. And that, that, I mean, it's a toll, it's a toll on you for sure. Um, mentally as well. Like, man, it, it's, it's tough. And then, and then I had a couple of bulls come in, um, on a couple of wallows that were like, I mean, they were, they were good bulls, 320, 330 bulls that are hard to pass up with your bull, with your bull, your bow when you're, when they're like sitting there at 40 yards saying, shoot me, you know, but, um, passed up a couple of bulls like that. And, um, I kept having experiences where I was just getting closer and closer.

Um, one of the times, um, Hayden Johnson and I had this bull bugling, but he wouldn't commit. So we just kept going at him and, and, and doing some cow calls. He'd bugle back, but he wouldn't commit. And, um, that bull, if he would have zigged instead of zagged, I mean, I, I could have had a shot at him. Just went a different way. Um, uh, I, my brother and I, we called in, uh, we cow called in, we did some small bull bugles and, um, a cow call. And we got this, another really big bull to come in. And this was a day or two before I shot my bull. He was, he was a big bull. Um, but it was like a minute left of light. And I saw one side, one side of him. He was like, he's looking straight on. I know he looked good straight on, but I wanted to see a side profile of him. And he turned and I'm like, Oh my gosh. But I just, I just, I couldn't get a shot off. I just didn't feel right about it.

So I, I didn't shoot. And, uh, and that was like six days left of the hunt at that point. And so you're, you're wondering if you're going to have an opportunity like that again. Uh, but it was, I mean, there were some cool mornings and, but it wasn't, it was still pretty warm. It's hot. Yeah, it was. Yeah. Yeah. It was hot. And the morning that I actually, uh, killed my bull, it was, it was a cold snap. It was, it was below freezing. I mean, I had like five layers on, I was freezing. Um, just, just to stay warm, but it, but it got the bulls, it got the bulls going that morning. Um, you want me to go into that? Sure. Yeah. We're there. We're there. Keep us in. Yeah. So, uh, at this point, um, Doug and Hayden had come back. They, they would go back to work and I, I had it most days solo. Um, I had my brother down for a couple of days, my boy down, but I was mostly on my own and

having close encounters, but I, this, this cold snap, Doug had come down. Uh, we separated Hayden went over looking at another area and Doug was with me and we went out and did some, uh, some small bugles off this little point and nothing, nothing was responding. We're like, what the heck? And, um, we did some cow calls and all of a sudden two bulls, not a hundred yards behind us just started going crazy. They didn't want nothing with the bull, but they liked the cow call and we, uh, we get some cow calls. They'd you go back. They wouldn't come. So we went a little closer, get some cow calls, wouldn't come with a little closer and they, they just started moving. They started moving away from us. They, they, they were still, it's still just the start of the rut. You know, it wasn't super heavy yet, but, um, a few bulls were getting into it more than others.

Um, but they, they just took off and we kind of knew the direction they, we knew the direction they were headed. And so we tried to get in front of them. So we, um, got back to the four wheeler and drove around and tried to get in front of these bulls. And in the meantime, you run into Hayden, his son, who stopped us in the middle of the road. He said, Hey, there's some bulls bugling right here. And where we stopped, the bulls that we had, were chasing were on one side of us. And the bulls that, that he had found were on the other side of us. So we had bulls on both sides and we're like, we had to kind of pick what we, what bulls to go after. It was, I mean, it got, it got hot all of a sudden. And, uh, we, we start bugling in this, the bull that Hayden had found, the bulls, um, were being a little more responsive.

Um, so we, we'd cow call, he'd, he'd scream back and, uh, he wouldn't come though. He wouldn't come. So we go a little closer. Cow call. Cow call. He'd scream. He'd scream. Wouldn't come. And, uh, this area we were hunting, it was extremely thick. Dead fall. Um, and aspen, little aspen, uh, oh geez. It's the aspen that's like four or five feet tall. Yeah. Little saplings. Little suckers. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I was looking for. Saplings, um, were coming up and, um, so we're hopping logs, trying to get closer and closer to this thing. Um, we're pretty close now. And I separate myself from Doug and Hayden just to the, to the left, like 20, 20 or 30 yards. And they do some cow calls. And I, while I was setting up, I mean, it was super thick. I mean, just imagine how thick, super thick. And that's what it was.

And I arranged this tree at 40 yards and it was the clearest shot I could get with my range reminder. And he bugles. And all of a sudden you could hear this bull start crashing, coming into us, just coming in hot. And he, he, uh, he stops broadside, um, a little bit angling forward. Um, at the right range of that tree at 40 yards. No way. He stopped right there. I'm like, the one thing you could range. Wow. Yeah. The one thing I could range. And, uh, I have my bowl, my bowl pulled back and he, he stops and I just, I let it fly. Well, sorry. He came in, he bugled, like screaming bugle. And then right as the bugle stopped, I let it fly. And you could just hear it just thud. And I'm like, Doug says, did you hit him? And I'm like, I think so. But I, I didn't want to be overly optimistic. Cause I know how bad shots happen sometimes, you know?

And so, um, and I had to shoot my arrow through those saplings and I'm, I'm shooting one of those, uh, mechanical dead meat on, on my, on my arrows. And so I was like, I hope it doesn't redeploy. And, um, I shot it through the saplings, hit him. And we waited for 15 minutes or so, just, just listening and just, and we, and we walked, I mean, it, it was the longest 15 minutes of my life. And I, we walk up there and I find my arrow on the ground, like dark blood from tip to tip. Pass, pass through. Pass through. I had a pass through and it looked like, it looked like good blood and I'm, I'm like stoked. And you guys might think I'm a big wuss, but like I have been hunting so hard that I actually, I just broke down crying. Well, no, that's keeping it real. We've all been out. Kind of a wuss, but when you admit it, it's a little. Yeah. No. You gotta give me credit for that. You're a man.

Yeah. You're a real man.

But I just broke down and, uh, I think Doug and Hay were like, dude, who is this guy? But, um, but it was, uh, it was when you put in that much time and that work, that much effort and you want it so bad, you, sometimes you don't realize the pressure that you put on yourself. And then I, I think it kind of just all came out at once. Yeah. And, uh, with it being so thick, we, we backed out again for another like 90 minutes. Like, let's let this bull sit down and expire so we don't push him and lose him in that thick, nasty stuff. And, uh, that was, that was definitely the longest wait of my life. Um, but we, we drove off and marked everything on onyx and we, uh, we came back and right to where the arrow was and the blood trail was awesome. Um, we followed that blood trail. That bull did not go more than 40 yards from where I hit him. Uh, and smoke.

And then when that bull came in, like, I couldn't tell how big he was, but I knew he was good. I knew like, this is the bull I'm going to shoot. And when I came through the thick trees and saw way on the ground, I was like, holy crap. Like that is awesome. That's the bull that I was going for. And, uh, I mean, I said a little fair thanks and, um, it was, it was so cool. I mean, just be able to have that experience and to be able to hunt public lands and to be able to be up in nature and God's creations and, and have meat to put on the table, um, and hunt big bulls with family and friends. I mean, that was just awesome. I wish I could do it every year on a limited entry unit, but it was, it was, it was so fun. Um, I, if it would have happened within the first few days, it just be, it's almost good. Yeah. Some of these drag out as long as the end is really good.

Exactly. I was, I was beginning to wonder if I was going to, you know, go home and eat, eat and tag soup. Um, I sent a couple of pictures of the bulls, um, wallowing in the mud and stuff to my dad, who wasn't able to make it down. And he was like, Oh my gosh, Chuck, you passed that one up. Um, so I'm just glad I did. I mean, you, you don't, you can't harvest a big bull. And if you shoot the first one that comes in every time. So, um, I, yeah, it was, it was so awesome. I, I appreciate Doug and Hayden. I appreciate my wife, my coworkers and everybody that made it happen for me and helped make it happen was awesome. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. What, what the store, the, the, the title of 22 years in the making, where, where'd that come from?

So, um, I had drawn, like I said, the general and you killed a good general bull or something like that. I'd actually killed a limited entry bull in, in high school. Okay. Um, like a three 10, three 20 bull. And then, um, uh, since I drew that limited entry tag, it is after waiting my five year waiting period and 16 more years. Oh, there we go. All right. Does that just making sure? I mean, we just got to ask a law enforcement guy, just got a few details. A guy that has 16 points, but names it 22. Yeah. We're missing just a few details.

You got to pay attention to the details. Be careful what questions we ask. And when you're not sure, just don't recall.

I missed that. What was that? Adam's just, dude, just having a good time. Yeah. Well, that's awesome. And, uh, yeah, your, your reaction after you found the arrow after I'll call it 20, probably 20 something days hunting or 15 to 20. I don't know how many it was is, uh, we've always, we've all been in that situation when, all right, this looks really good. This might be the end. This might be a dead bull at the end of this. And yeah, those are, those are good feelings and, and, uh, hard. That's why we do it. It's why we want to go back. Cause now we want to, you know, hopefully a lot of new crop of people this year get experienced the same thing here in a few days. So appreciate you taking the time to put a story together for us in this, uh, August, September magazine that just came out a couple of weeks ago and killed an awesome bull, three 80 plus bull, big double sword on one side.

I mean, it's just nothing, nothing anybody wouldn't want love about that. He's a, he's a giant bull. Absolutely. I appreciate you guys put my article in and have me on your podcast. Thank you. Thank you. We sure appreciate it. Yeah. Um, what you got, did you get another tag? I mean, what do you, what do we got? Chuck, come, come clean. What else you got? I, I, I drew a pronghorn tag. I drew pronghorn tag this year. There you go. I knew it. I just knew there was something. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Two, two, two limited tags in a row. I mean, I, uh, yeah, he's going to be on a, go after deer and he'll probably draw that before he's off his five year waiting period for L. So something to shoot for. I actually have a pretty busy year, but super lucky. So I drew the pronghorn tag, drew a Colorado tag. Uh, I got a Utah general tag. Good. And yeah.

And then they created a new, uh, cow unit in Utah. And I put all of this in cause I'll just get points. I'll just put a sample. I drew stinking four cow tags this year. I'm like, Oh, I can't eat four cow tags. You're going to have some elk meat to give away. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So anybody is needy, you need some help, need some meat. Yeah. Do you cut and wrap it before you give it away? Or do you got to pack your own meat out of the hills?

Bring your own pack frame. Yeah. They're going to get it all raw. There's a quarter. Clean or dirty.

Good stuff. A lot of fun to be had. You and those boys and whoever else. So hope you have a great time. Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. Well, thanks a lot again for taking time today and, uh, getting, getting some people fired up for this archery hunt. Yeah. Logan might even go hunting after this. It might even get me in the hills this Saturday. I don't know. Do you have a good tag yourself? No. A general deer. He has a general deer with nothing found.

But you never know, Logan. That about sums it up. Archer seasons are long for a reason. Yeah. Absolutely. Oh, they're, they're fun though when it comes together. Yeah, it is. All right. Okay. Well, have a good day. Yeah. Have a good day. Appreciate it. All right. See you, bye. You know, Chuck, we've known him since he was in college. I was just thinking about that. Like, you know, he was a kid. I worked with him a little bit. Yeah. I mean, and I was trying to think about how long ago that was, but a long time. Yeah. He was in college. It's just weird to see. Probably at the start of the 22-year-old age issue. Yeah. Close to him. About. Yeah. He wasn't married. I mean, he's got 10-year-old kids now and stuff. Wasn't he in school? Yeah, he was in school. Yeah. Just a good guy.

It's a guy that, I mean, if you've got to choose somebody that's a hunter, we've got a lot of people that aren't hunters that are in, you know, state agencies and stuff. I just like to have hunters in those positions. Absolutely. With a heart. Yeah. Hunters with a heart. He's a good guy. Yeah. He's out doing good work. Great guy. We're sure privileged to know him, be associated with him, and couldn't have happened to a better guy. All right. Well, where else? We're at Outdoor Edge. Anybody who needs a knife, by the way, we're talking about killing, talking about giving away meat. Butcher. Keeping it clean. Yeah. Butcher. By the dozen. Great knife. New Razor APX. I'm made by Outdoor Edge. Great company. The company that's been affiliated with us here at Epic Outdoors for many years. Just awesome. Of course, we've had some Epic knives with our logos built on them over the course of time.

And they've just been great to work with. So anyway, if you need a razor knife, definitely consider Outdoor Edge. Just Google it up. Order it up. You'll be satisfied. They're incredible. Yeah. Go on the website. And look that new APX up. It's legit. Awesome. They really came up with some, solved some problems with it. Where, you know, where to carry the extra blades and cleaning it and all kinds of stuff. So really solid knife. Easy to change the blades. Got a lock on it. Blades don't come out. Just really streamlined it. And that's a great knife. Yep. I've only got one piece of advice when it comes to Outdoor Edge knives. Remember to take it out of your pack and clean it before you wrap up the year. A lot of different animal DNA gets spread around with one knife, right? I mean, from sheep to elk to antelope. Sometimes you just got to throw away a pack.

Coyote ears and just, oh, it was rotten in there? Geez. It was rotten? Rotten? Because normally mine will dry hard. Yeah. It was in a moist environment. Would you put it in a Ziploc? I had game bags in a plastic bag, and I put all my razors and my handle in it and wrapped it up. Forgot about it. A little extra meat in there. It wasn't good. I just chucked the whole operation. That's how the new COVID-25 will start right there. It may have been in that pack. Wuhan is in Logan's pack. Wuhan is in Minersville. If you've been feeling sick lately, it's probably my fault. All right. Well, Logan, good luck either looking for your dad or actually hunting, picking up a bow this weekend. Everybody else, I don't know who's hunting. I'm going to be doing a little looking, Jason. Definitely. Looking. Looking. Kids and family, friends and all that, but here we go.

It's hard to say kill him on the jail entry. You know what's starting? We're getting in the hills. Oh, we do have a big sale going on on hats. Logan, what's that? I mean, if you need a hat for taking your pictures, your successful kill pictures. We've got orange ones. It never hurts. Yeah. To have an epic hat on. It never hurts. Right, John? Yeah. You never know when's your next new lucky hat that's about to be born. Your photo might be considered for the cover. Never know. There's no evidence to say wearing an epic hat doesn't help you kill bigger animals. No, absolutely not. Or doesn't help you get on the cover. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Anyway. What's our sale? We also cranked out the new interface for the gear store. Yes. Tell us. Is it 30% off hats right now? Yeah, 30% off hats. 30% to 50% off hats. Yeah, there's some that are 50% off. Yeah.

It's not a bad time to look at the Epic Outdoors store either, our optics gear store. If you're looking for a pair of binoculars, tripod, accessories to go with that. Let's talk about the new launch, Logan. Yeah. We made a lot of updates to our store, make it a little bit slicker and easier for our many customers to go in and log in and see the best pricing. I would say it's way easy now. All you have to do... Yeah. Just explain real quick the actual reason why, what we did and why. Yep. Yeah. We've streamlined it. Before, it was a several-step process to be able to log in and create an account. Now, all you have to do is have an email and a password. Just hit create an account to get into the store to see the pricing, best pricing anywhere. Now, you can't see pricing without logging in. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yep. So, now, it's just not as confusing. Sometimes...

It's not confusing to whether you're seeing non-member pricing or am I logged in seeing my member pricing. Now, you're not going to see pricing until you're... Seeing good pricing. Yep. There's only one price. Yep. And it's low. Go look. Yeah. It's easy. Just email and password. It takes two seconds to set it up. Yeah. It takes two seconds. And a new big thing is the bargain bin. Really? Yeah. Jason's bargain bin. You keep selling Jason's used gear? What do you mean? Jason's bargain bin? That's what it's called? I miss a morning. Over the course of time, we've done optics for how many years now? Yeah. And you end up with a few items here and there. It's a good way to get rid of items for super cheap. Yep. There's spotting scopes, rifle scopes, Leupold scopes, Josh. You've been through those on there. Yep. Well, some of them are... They're not even old. They're just... No, brand new.

They're just brand new. They've just been on the shelf a minute. Yeah. Or like a Gen 1 kind of thing. Yeah. They've come out some other stuff. You know, a generation 2. We've got a Kola spotter. Yeah. It's Gen 1. And those Leupold scopes are some VX6s that were the Gen 1s. If you're looking for one of those, you're going to get one of those for a steal. So just that kind of stuff for sure. We've got some of our older window mounts. We've got a couple of those left that have like the twist knob to tighten down instead of the quick release. Yep. The non-quick release. Those are going there. We're proud of all the old tripods that way, right? Aren't we, Josh? Yeah. Yeah. I think... So the tripods were gone. We do have the window mounts that don't have the quick release. So if you're fine, you know, saving some money, you can buy that one or you can buy the new. Yeah.

There's only a handful of those left. Just some of that kind of stuff. That's... Yes. Gen 2. It opens the door, though, Jason. We've talked about having a yard sale and we've resisted that. Maybe just bring some of your stuff and throw it on there. Tell Logan to get it on there. Don't tell Jenna. She'll load it. It'll be tripled. I mean, the worst thing ever is having your wife. And unbeknownst to me... Liquidations. No, she just goes ahead and reorganizes my gear. How many years was this? And he's still on that. It was shocking. We did it again, though. We did it again. I changed rooms. And she's like, really? And you know what's funny? When she's in the business, she knows what the cost. You know what I mean? She knows what this is. And it's, hey, it's her wealth, too. I mean, geez.

It is interesting. Luckily, I got four kids, most of which like to hunt. And we're... Anyway. Yeah. So you can chalk it up to things like that. None of it's going to waste. That's right. All right. Well, good luck to everybody out there if you're bow hunting. If you're not bow hunting, get ready for the muzzleloader rifle hunts. And check us out on Gear Store, like John just talked about. Logan. Josh and... But if you are bow hunting, wish you luck. Take good photos. Grab an epic hat. You'll probably kill. That's right. Yeah. And send the photos there. Lucky, lucky. Yeah. Let's face it. If your goal is to kill big stuff, you need to draw quality tags. Quality tags are typically hard to draw. To increase your odds of drawing good tags, you need to apply in multiple states. That's where an Epic Outdoors membership can help.

For only $150 a year, you get access to our consultants, our online tools, and to Epic-approved outfitters and members-only optics discounts. With unlimited access to our team of consultants and access to the Epic Outdoors magazines, applying in multiple states is easy. No more worrying if you're applying for the best areas. No more applying for a unit where there has been a die-off. And no more missing opportunities where you could be in the field and not sitting at home. Go online at epicoutdoors.com or call us today at 435-263-0777 to find out how you can become a member today. KU is the most uncompromising camo on the market. Their new Guide Pro Series is the toughest, most comfortable camo you will ever own. Check out their new additions and shop men and women's camo now at kuyu.com. That's k-u-i-u dot com. Applying for tags in multiple western states can be time-consuming.

At Epic Outdoors, we have you covered. Whether you want to expand your hunting portfolio or simply ensure that you never miss a deadline again, the Epic Outdoors License Application Service is exactly what you need. It's like having the best CPAs in the finance world do your taxes. Let the best hunting application gurus in the world do your tag applications. You'll never miss a deadline. You'll never apply for the wrong unit. And you'll never apply for a unit that's having a die-off. Your time is valuable. We do the work. You draw the tags. Epic Outdoors License App. 435-263-0777. If you want a bow from the best manufacturer there is, look at Hoyt Archery. With the addition of the new Carbon RX-8 and the Aluminum Alpha X, Hoyt has reimagined what a bow can do. Hoyt bows. Where 70 pounds feels like 60. Call us to order yours today. 435-263-0777. With fierce rifles, every detail matters.

They are hands down one of the best rifle manufacturers in the industry and they never seem to stop making new innovations. If you want to get serious about your long-range shooting, call us to talk over your options for your next fierce rifle. Epic Outdoors is an official fierce rifle dealer. Our consultants know their whole line of rifles inside and out. 435-263-0777. Epic Optics is an authorized dealer for Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss, Vortex, Leopold, Kawa, Sig Sauer, and more. Here at Epic Optics, we are committed to getting you the best deal for the glass that fits your needs. Go to EpicOptics.com or call in to speak with our consultants who will fit you with the perfect optics for your next hunt. 435-263-0777. If you're looking for your next hunting property, look no further than St. James. St. James are the experts at all sporting properties across the West.

Their team of agents will spend the time getting to know you personally and find out which property out of the hundreds they have listed is perfect for you. If you've always wanted a property where you could hunt and fish, go online to St. James Sporting Properties.com or give them a call at 855-711-7577 to learn more. Vortex makes optics for every occasion. Whether you're a long range shooter dialing in that perfect shot or an archery hunter in need of an easy to carry optic without sacrificing quality, Vortex has you covered. Head over to EpicOptics.com or call us to learn more about your Vortex options today at 435-263-0777. From top of the line hunting blinds to game calls that can't be beat, GSM Outdoors has you covered for whatever outdoor equipment you need. For all of their products, head over to GSMOutdoors.com to learn more.

Thompson Long Range has perfected the art of simple, affordable long range shooting. If you don't want to calculate ballistics or adjust your turrets before making a shot, a Thompson Long Range system is for you. Simply range, place the hash mark for that distance on the animal, and pull the trigger. They make top quality rifles and host a shooting school that will leave you confident in making shots out to a thousand yards. Visit ThompsonLongRange.com to learn more about purchasing your next rifle or booking your next shooting school experience. The crew at Epic Outdoors trust Stealth Cam trail cameras to get us through the scouting season. Stealth Cam is the leading trail camera brand because they never stop innovating. Check out their brand new line of trail cameras, including the Revolver 360 degree camera, at StealthCam.com. Epic Outdoors is an official Stealth Cam dealer.

Call us to order yours today at 435-263-0777. Phone Scope changed the game with their digiscoping innovations and have remained the top phone to optic adapter on the market. Check out the incredible new Carbon Pro Phone Scope now at PhoneScope.com. P-H-O-N-E-S-K-O-P-E.com. Outdoor Edge is the knife that we all use here at Epic Outdoors. Whether it's a replaceable blade or fixed blade, you will not be disappointed with your Outdoor Edge knife. Head over to OutdoorEdge.com and check out their brand new Razor VX knife today. Epic Outdoors is proud to be an official Zeiss dealer and optics partner. When it comes to top tier quality, Zeiss has been a leader in the industry for generations. If you're in the market for new optics, give us a call for unbelievable deals on Zeiss products. Giving you the highest quality and durability out there without breaking the bank is what makes Zeiss so good.

Check out our website EpicOptics.com or call us at 435-263-0777 to find out which Zeiss Optic is perfect for you. Epic Outdoors is now an official CVA muzzleloader dealer. If you're in the market for a new muzzleloader, our staff can go over the different options that you should consider. CVA muzzleloaders are the go-to muzzleloader for Epic Outdoors and crew. We've definitely got our favorite setups for Western big game hunting in stock. Call us today at 435-263-0777 to find out which CVA is perfect for your next hunt.