EP 398: Adam Bronson's 2026 Alaska Dall Sheep and The Start of Hunting Season

You're listening to the Epic Outdoors podcast. Check us out at epicoutdoors.com.

Hey everybody, Jason Carter, Adam Bronson, John Peterson, Devin Archibald, and Logan. Logan Marshall. Anyway, coming at you from southern Utah. We're right in the middle of the hunts. What are we doing in the office, Devin? I don't know. Where's Cash? How did I know you were going to turn to me and ask me that? What are we doing here? Where's Cash and Wyatt? Them boys, they're hunting. They got it figured out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, well, we're headed out here too. But Bronson, you're just getting back from a long stint. We need to talk about your hunt. John, what do you got going? You've had family vacations lately. Yeah, I'm back. You're back in the saddle? Back and better than ever. Okay, good. I was out on Saturday with the crowds. Were you? Yeah. Oh, did you go hunt? Yeah. Let's hear about it. It was crowded. You have a dedicated time? Yeah. Yeah.

Because you are a dedicated hunter. I'm a dedicated baby. Yeah? Devin, what were we doing this morning? We were up really early. 6 a.m. putting scopes on rifles and headed out to the range already. Somebody beat us there. This poor kid. You know when you go out to the range, rifle range, the crack of daylight, and you're just chilling? Here's the thing.

We were very respectful, but when you have a target at 50 and 100, and you're shooting at 50 yards on the long range thing, it does make me feel bad. No, what are you doing there? Yeah. Yeah. But we were definitely respectful. We were just like, dude, are you going to shoot at 5, 6, 800 or 1,000? He's like, no more than 4. You know what this is like? You know what this is like? No more than 3 or 4. You know what this is like? And this is against the law. When you're driving down the freeway and you're going 55 in the left-hand lane, you move over to the right. Yes. When you're out there. Did this happen recently to you? No. It just happened to the patch. It just tipped my mind. You're 100% right. And now you go to the long range. You move to the long range sight, and you're shooting at 50 to 100. No, move over to the right. Somebody should get sighted. From 50 to 300.

That's where you belong. Right? Well, it's kind of like. I've had it happen to me. That's why I'm. It's kind of like shooting. You're 100% right. You're not like shooting clay pigeons on the long range. Yeah, exactly. Or pistols. Don't be shooting your. That's happened to me before. Don't be your cowboy action. Did you notice he was over there picking up brass? Like he was over there picking up his pistol brass? And he was wearing a side shooter right there. Don't be cowboy action shooting in long range trenches. Don't. Just don't. We were nervous. We asked permission to. You know what I did notice, though? There was some down at the privileged range. Did you notice the cars and the setups? What's the privileged range? The training? LE? Sheriffs. Yeah. They had some old cars down there. I'm like, I'll bet they put some dummies in there and just pop, pop, pop. Yeah.

Trains them to hate you. I'd like to take my new shotgun down there. Trains them to hate you. Head-sized pumpkins down there. Yeah. Oh, geez. Kind of cool. All right. Moving along. Yeah. But anyway, we did shoot. We shot long range. Another one out the door. It was no joke. Man, it was no joke. When there's zero wind, it's a game changer. And I think it was more like an affordable setup, meaning it's still pricey. It still costs money. But, dude, we put on a pretty affordable scope, and it was no joke. We moved it one click, hit hole-in-one, 840 yards, moved it one click, and bullseye. So, pretty incredible. Anyway, pretty awesome, Devin. I think we crushed it today. How about you? Almost record time. Almost? Well, we were two hours. Yeah. All in and done. Mounting. All in and done. And there's two boxes of factory ammo to go with it. And same lot. I'd hunt with that rifle today.

If it was rifle season and I had a tag. Pretty awesome. Pretty awesome. All right. Well, what do you got going on, John? So, tell us about the weekend. Nothing but. No, this is stuff you shouldn't admit on the podcast. Did you shoot your bow prior to going out? I haven't shot it for two years because I didn't have an archery tag last year. Okay. Okay. I never went archery last year because I had that Nevada tag and spent all the time. So, I was like, Logan, how far off do you think my bow is? And he's like, dude, you're going to be way off, you know. Well, no. I said, where did you store it? And I was like, in the cold storage unit, you know, so hot and cold. No temperature regulation. In your storage unit. But in my trailer. In the trailer, though. In the storage unit. But it gets cold. It's going from negative. Whatever. Yeah. Zero. Zero. Dude. Zero to 102. Yeah.

And it's, I just couldn't believe it. Amazing. You just crushed it. So, 40 yards, first couple shots. Jeez. Just all there. Right in the middle. Yeah. I'm like, what the heck? That's crazy. And it's been off before, you know, when I've taken it out for the first time. But this wasn't off. And it was dead on. Yeah, it's fine. I was like, holy cow. Yeah. More or less, it's just you, your muscle, muscle memory. Yeah. Technique. Mm-hmm. Don't, you know what I mean? The group started to get a little bit bigger at 50 for sure. Yeah. But then I was like, okay, that's me. Yeah. You know, I wish bow, shooting a bow was like bowling for me. The more I bowl, the worse I get. The worse you get. Yes. I could not bowl for two years and go hit a 205 or something, you know? But shooting a bow is way better than sticking your fingers in them bowling balls. It is true.

After people have been eating them french fries. French fries and greasy fingers. How many greasy fingers have been in each one of them bowling balls? You know one time? Thousands. It's disgusting. I had my own ball once. One time. It was in Colorado. We were hunting deer. I can picture you. You're serious about it. When you get serious about stuff, you kind of get serious about it. To this little bowling alley. We were the only people in there. And it was this purple ball. And I grab it. Kind of gross, right? Mm-hmm. And I bowled three of the best games I've ever bowled in my life. And I was like, I think he might have been going out of business. I was like, I'll buy this bowling ball from you. He's like, give me 20 bucks. I gave him 20 bucks. That's actually crazy. Really? Never used it again. I sat around in a garage. So it was a used bowling ball. Oh, yeah.

But, dude, it was like, I'm telling you. Yeah. I think my best score ever was like 235. Oh, my gosh. That's pretty legit. With that ball. It was the first game, 235, then like a 220 and a 205. What? Yeah. And I was like, I will buy this ball. Did you clean out those finger holes in there? No. I don't know. I remember. I mean, there. I think we ended up shooting it at some point. Is there such a thing? Logan, you ought to Google this. Is there such a thing as like nail fungus? Oh, yeah. I mean, you've seen people's toes in places. Let's not Google it. They're nasty. I know. They're jank. I'll never bull again. I hate it. I hate that. You think they spray like Lysol in the holes? No. That would take a guy a long time. Yeah, it would. Devin, speaking of D&J's Gun Shop, we've been selling some muzzlers, too. I saw an order come in, a few orders, actually, over the weekend. Pretty awesome.

I think Logan sold one to somebody you knew the other day. Sold one, two, actually. We're running low on inventory, actually. What kind are you selling? What are you selling, mostly? Mostly, well, just because I know a lot of guys from Minersville, mostly the MRXs. Beaver West. Okay. Keep them short. Yeah. Keep them short and sweet for that open sight restricted. Yeah. I just tested him. See if the beaver cat, he goes. Well, it always. Take the bait. Yeah. Yeah. It's fun to tease a little bit. It's fine. It's whatever. There's no water, no bucks. Don't go there, right? Don't go there. Well, yeah. And you have to hunt with an open sight muzzleloader with an open percussion cap. Exactly. Yeah. It has to be open to the elements. I was teasing him. Yeah. About Beaver West. And if he just. Yeah. And I'm like, hmm. Interesting. Interesting.

I wonder why everybody's buying a new muzzleloader for theirs. You can always tell those guys because they get a Northwestern kit. Veriflame kits and everything else. You had to beaver west. There's like three places they can go. Boulder, Beaver West, Cache. It's one of those three. Cache Jenner. Oregon. Yeah. I know. All right. So anyway, Devin, CVA, they're actually affordable rifles. We sell them here at Epic Outdoors, but you can go on their website and check them out. Is there anything specific about them you want to say? If you're still thinking about it, you better do it quick because they're about gone. All right. Bronson, tell us a little bit about. So you just got done on a huge trip. It's awesome. Alaska, doll sheep. You killed a few of them, but the big ones are addictive. So how does this go down?

Well, Alaska's got this little thing in place for non-residents that the residents have kind of got pushed through that if a non-resent goes up there and kills a ram, you know, kind of like the brown bear. You can't go up for four years. So I don't know, which is a good interval anyway, but it is getting to the point that I don't really probably need another one. But Jason, just like you don't need another 200-inch deer, but you do. Yeah, but you want to kill them all. Yeah, that's right. So that's where you're at on these sheep. I know. It's just hard to quit. And I'm in with a good outfit. And if you give up your spot, you lose your spot. Yeah, just all of those things. But so, yeah, I've been four years. And it was time. I don't know how four years flies by like it does, but it really, really does. But anyway, opener, obviously. I think we're aging well.

Yeah, that's what I thought until the first day. Until the first day I started hiking. Was it? It's like, this ain't the golf course right here. It was just like, yeah, this is. We're also going somewhere there probably isn't going to be water, they thought, because it's just really. Oh, you're packing water. Yeah, and so you're loading up. But you had some snowdrifts in a few of those. Yeah, we did melt that. But like when you need water right now, that takes time. It takes time to melt. Did that happen? Did you find water or no? No. Oh, come on. No. Not until third day. Wow. So you were packing your water. And I had. How much do you pack? Because you drink less when you're in those colder environments. I had a gallon. And those guys had. And that's for cooking too. Oh, that's everything. Drinking, cooking. One gallon for three days? Well, yeah. But they had more than that.

The guys, I was with my guy and then had a. Packer. Packer guy, because we were going somewhere. If you're going to eat, like, it's not as much you need it going in, because you can pack. Everybody had their own tents. Not like we're sharing tents. Everybody likes to sleep alone. I mean, just true. Did you pack a spotter? No. Like a little Kola 55 or something? No. No. They each had one. I don't need three. What's your equipment list look like? What's the binos look like? Bino, NL Pure 12s. Okay. Good enough. All right. Standalone range finder? Separate range finder? Yeah. What, the SIG? SIG 8K. Oh, I like it. Just same thing as you. Yeah. I like it. And you're hunting white sheep, so I didn't need a tripod. Don't need a tripod up, glass white sheep, usually. So I'm not packing that. I remember you're janking around a little with the left and right on the gun. Dude. I get there.

I knew it. Come on. I got there and I moved it. Remember, I moved it three. It was like three quarters of an inch left, and they were like a dime could cover them all. I get there. They're shooting. It's a half inch right. I'm so mad. So I just turned it two clicks back and just went hunting. And you said this was where it was anyway. I didn't even break out the Allen wrench. I just did two clicks back left and went hunting. I did it the whole time. But instead of checking zero on that, I just made sure it was two clicks to the left every time on the hunt, which when you hunt with a, I have a neoprene scope cover on it. Like, it's hard to bump. If you have one that's not capped. It's not a capped windage. On a windage. Like, you got to check it from time to time. You always want to make it, you don't want to spend a two or three MOA. But anyway. All right. So, yeah.

We went up there a hair early, you know, which is a little customary for the first hunts, just because, you know, there's, you know, it was a good weather window, but it was also you just want to get in the field and, you know, where we were. And they want to put you in the field, because that other clients are thinking about. Yeah, if you got four people and, you know, you never know. I've been there before. I've been there before, and they couldn't put me where they wanted me to put me. And they're like, we can just go drop you off on a ridge over here just to get out in the field if you want, and then come get you and move you when weather breaks. And I said, yeah, okay. You know, and you're just kind of there going through the motions somewhere else instead of sitting back at cabin. We've never seen sheep there, but I think it'd be worth trying. It beeps in the cabin. You never know.

But if you get there early and you got weather windows, like, because they got to get you all out at the same time. Now, if they need to move you during the hunt, they never move everybody the same day. So it's just one guy a day every other day or something like that. You can handle that. But when you got to get four dudes and their guides out in cubs, you know, a lot of times that's two cubs for two guys. I mean, you're heavy. Where they're putting you off, you're not on any airstrips. Yeah. So you're not usually always going there together. You know, so anyway, we got let off early Saturday. So we had, what, all that day. And the next day to hike into the country, we were going to be hunting and hunt as we go looking for rams. And we did. We did see quite a few rams, actually. We saw a couple of rams, you know, in the near area where we got dropped off.

You know, and I say near, glassed them up. Not like they were right on top of us. Glassed them up a mile away. Yeah. Or whatever. Maybe farther than that. But there was a legal ram and then maybe a squeaker ram there that was a pretty younger ram. Call it a six or seven that might have been legal. But another one that was nine years old. But he was kind of a single broomer and wide set. Not quite, you know, not what I was looking for or we were looking for, fortunately. And so we went up on top of this big mountain range that's just a big series of ridges. And you've got to follow the ridges all the way down to see because the canyons roll away from you. You've got to walk down this hog back ridge, you know, a mile or a mile and a half, two miles to get to the end. And then you've got to just turn around and follow it all the way back up and then ratchet

up, you know, half mile, three quarters of a mountain, go down the next one. You're gritting this. Yeah, you're just going down spines. But the grain of the mountains are kind of parallel in each other. You've got a spine running this way, whereas ridges running off it this way, you know. And so we worked them all those first two days, found another really cool ram that he was double-broomed, old ram, cool ram, big old belly on him, you know. And that was the evening before opening day. And you have the decision, all right, do you want to, is that a ram you want to kill? And, you know, I don't know. I just decided, no, I want to keep looking. I mean, there's a time in my life I'd be, I'd have been sitting on that thing and smoking him opening day because. You've killed a few of them. Yeah. And you're kind of there like, let's really vet this out and see if you can't kill the

next level ram. Yeah. Well, exactly. And it's opening day and it's, you got 10 more, you know, you've had two hard days. I mean, physical days of hiking a lot, but really haven't chewed in any of your hunting days. You still got 10 hunting days now. Yeah. So, decided, decided to move, well, opening day, actually. We, we went down one last ridge to make, double check, you know, where, where there were, had been some sheep in years past, still didn't find anything. So, and then we had to hike all the way back up the ridge and head around the head of the space. And, and I don't know, it's probably, it's probably just me getting a little bit older, but, but I, or I don't know. I'd like to have seen Carter in this situation. What do you mean? Only because. Looking through your scope and you need to put readers on? What do you mean? None of that. Nothing like that.

But just, I, I, for the first time on, I mean, we've been in like in the Escalante and places that you, you just go. One of those pucker areas, like, all right, be careful right here. There's exposure and you fall here. It's going to be bad. I don't do good in those places. Okay. And, and, and so I've been on some of them, but it's usually on slick rock that, you know, if you start slipping, you're going 20, 30 feet or farther. Whatever it is. Yeah. So we had to, we had to get to the next drainage, but you couldn't, this, in the head of this drainage was a, was a hog's back with snow. You could see snow right on the hog's back, which means it's melted on this side and snow on this side. And it went into a glacier. And as we're getting, we're like, that's the only way to get into the next Canyon to move, move down the range and keep going.

And it was a pretty big winter in Alaska last year. So we're like, I don't know if that's, you know, past, we don't know if it's passable from two miles away. We get up there and we're kind of still looking at it at a 45 and we sat down and we're like, it doesn't look good. I'm like, and it is. It is steep. It is really steep. It's snow. And in parts. And you, if you're walking on snow when it's steep, but it's also snow that's getting slushy, it's not firm. No. Like you, and one side literally is 500 straight down to a guzzler or a glacier. Like you're, you're toast. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And who knows if they can get you out of that, that stuff either. Cause you're at the head of it now and chasms and stuff. And the other side is rock and gravel for 400 yards like that. And so we sat down like, yeah, it doesn't look good, but let us walk over there and get

perpendicular to, or look right up the ridge. Were you thinking about doing the rock gravel side? Well, yeah, we're, we're trying to stay on it, but it's just kind of like from the angle, it's like, it looks like you're going to have to be right on the snow. Well, they come back and like, it actually looks better over there than it does from here. And I knew right then I'm like these, I mean, I got a 38 and a 24 year old and they're the first hike of the year. They're like, they're like, we got an old man here that's nervous and this is chicken. Well, they're like, it looks better over there. Why don't we, you know, have some lunch. Let's walk over there. And I get, you've got the experience, you know, you're looking at stuff. And I've been in lots of places like that, but, and I, and I got over there and I admit, yeah, this, this does look better from here. So let's go for it.

Because literally what else are you going to do? We're done. Are you going to go back and shoot one of the other rounds? Yeah, exactly. We're at that point. But, but if we can get through this, we got at least two more days, two more days of going until we run out of country, two more days of hiking, uh, drainages. So yeah, it was, but for the first time and it happened in this spot and a couple of others, I just, I had a little bit of a, I don't know what it was like. I would more uncertainty. I don't know how to word it. An old man. We're freaking happy. We are low. We are strapped with full pack and you're going like that. Why did you say you want to know how I would? Well, I just want to know, is this me? I would have said somebody's coming to pick me up. Or John. Okay, John. Any of us. It just, it wasn't, it was just a bit sketchy.

It was, it was, it was one of those points and it's going to go for three or 400 yards. We're old enough now, the wisdom kicks in and you're just like, I don't know if I need to roll down to that glacier. I don't know that I need to do. Yeah. I don't, I don't want to name, I don't want to name this ridge after me. If something starts, if snow starts giving away when you're young, you can start running. Oh yeah. When you're, when you're, when you're, when you're old, you push to start running and blow your Achilles and you just go right down. So anyway, just had, I don't know what vertigo is either. I think that's like, kind of like you. John's had that. I've had it bad. But is it, is it, what is that? Is that what I experienced? It's not like free to heights. It's your body just telling you. Yeah. It's your body. It's almost your brain.

And so I literally had to focus on the stuff right in front of my feet. If I got looking around me, I would kind of lose my orientation. Yeah. It was like you're on an edge of a cliff, but really you're on a hog's back. Yeah. But you're like, it's as if you were on the edge of a cliff and you can't miss a step. Well, and if you, cause if you did, there's no room for air on either side. You're going to roll for 300 yards, one side on rock and dirt. And you're going to roll into an abyss of snow on the other side, like glacier. Yeah. So it's just a, it's kind of the norm. Anyway, don't want to make it sound worse than it is. Cause we got through it and it was, I put a couple pictures of it on Instagram. It was freaking Steve. I mean, anyway, it was awesome. We got around it and high fived and then we went off the other side and there was, you

know, a bunch of other crap, but we camped in that next drainage and had all that, uh, that night and then had all the next morning to really put through the next two or three changes. Still couldn't find, couldn't find anything. Um, you know, lots of using lambs and now we're working far enough away and we're starting to get into like, I don't want to say elevation, different feet, a lot of grass, a lot of feet. And when there's tons of grass everywhere, there's usually nursery, there's babies, there's mamas and babies. And so we're, we're trying not to say it, but we're kind of like, we need to go back the way we came. Well, we already said we're not going back down the ridge. Like it, like it's one of those things when you're going uphill, you can do it, but to go down it with loose, like it's worse. Like we already decided we cannot go back down that ridge.

Like you can't do it too steep. So we already found another spot where like, I'd rather scoot on my butt right there and slide a hundred yards and, you know, down here on the saddle, but then go up there and, you know, anyway. So we got past it. No problem. But it was just, it was just one of those. Okay. Yeah. I'm not, I'm not 35 or even 45. I've just, it was just a little bit different and I've never experienced that. I shot off that cliff in the escalation. I wouldn't do it ever again. Oh yeah. You know what I mean? Just stuff that you don't think of. Hold on to my feet. Yeah. You know, literally. We were holding your feet. I'm like, like, like, and now I would be like, are you kidding me? That ram, I'll spook him for us. Yeah. We're not, we're relocating. We got food and water. We'll let him get in his position where he's shooting. Exactly. Okay. So it was just, just, just that.

And it's probably partly you don't quite have the agility and all the things that come with being 50 plus now. Just, just noticed a few things like that. But anyway, got to the point midday. Um, so, so we went all through that, that next day after we camped that drainage using land. I mean, 40, 50 using land. I'm just, when you're seeing that, you're just like, this doesn't feel like we're getting out of the Rammy canyons. It feels like now we get to one more, one more ridge and we're going to look under the cliffs underneath us and that, and that's it. And our idea is going to, all right, when we do that, we're going to be done. We're going to have to camp and wake up the next day and, and hike down to the river and, and go regroup somewhere else. And right as we're, right as we're peeking out off these little, you know, these little

tiny cathedral points, there's a Ram bedded down there, like 400 yards. So we backed off. And it was just one of those things like right where he was, you can see it, but, but his little point was sticking out, uh, and he was bedded out on the end of it looking straight away, but you don't know what's underneath him. So we went up the ridge about 75 yards, got a different angle. Couldn't see him. Yeah. See a dink and a, and another nice Ram. All right. Okay. There's at least three, three Rams here. So starts raining, throwing a rain gear, took it on the chin for 30 minutes or so, ate a little something like that. And as soon as it broke, we, we went, we, uh, went back up. We couldn't see him. So now they're on, they're on your side and everything's cliffy underneath you. And they're, they're going right or left. And it's going to be a cat and mouse thing.

So we decided, all right, let's go to the right. Cause it got, got in mellower country to the right. Uh, cause if we see them there, we can't, if they go that way, we can't miss them. If they go left, it's going to be one of those things. You have to go down 50 or 75 yard down every little point and peak. And they go underneath you. Well, lo and behold, they went to the right. I saw them down there like five 50. And I got the first look at them. I'm like, I don't know what that Ram is, but he's just flawless. That was my first. He, I said, he is flawless. Jeff told my guy, he, he is flawless. And he said, I haven't seen his left side. Is it, is it, is it Brim? I said, no, it's, it's there. It's left sides longer than his right. And anyway, long story short, I says, I don't know how you're going to determine this

Ram being full curl because we are, we're looking straight down on top of him. You know, it'd take a really tight, twisty Ram to look full curl from straight above that angle. So he said, all right. He says, yeah, he looks pretty good, but he says, we're going to have to, I says, count rings. We can get down underneath or you have to count rings and maybe get a look at him. I said, all right. And in my mind, I'm thinking, there's no way this Ram's not, not going to die. And I told him, I says, if he's eight or plus, he's, I'm telling you right now, I don't, I don't, we don't need to, I don't need to look another. So I kind of agree, but let's make sure we get down there. Fortunately, we had all the time they bedded down and you know, we crept over a little ridge, got the gun, bipod, everything set up. I'm doing all this. He goes, let me, let me, I said, I'm not shooting. Don't worry.

I'm not shooting. You got to give me the green light. And it was probably an hour. And he got, I got up one time for like 20 seconds and spun around and bedded back the other way. So now he's looking the other way and pretty much he'd seen enough and, you know, said, yeah, we could clearly see eight rings. And that eight was probably this far up off the hair. So I'm like, there's probably another one, but regardless of that, he's eight. And, and so he's at least eight and long, beautiful, all there, anyway, long story. Fast forward and through 45 minutes later, he stands up and you know, smoked him. Show Devin the video. It was pretty awesome. Pretty cool footage. Just one shot with the six five PRC and put him down. He rolled. And, and then, yeah, it was, it's kind of like when you, and then I, I remember just

sitting back and the view was unbelievable because it went down to this giant valley below and a mountain range over the distance, eight or 10 miles. And I just, just was like, can you, I can really just do that. I was just like, it was just one of those, just like when you shoot something, you're like, did that really just happen? I can really do that. Anyway, it was pretty awesome. And then you walk up to him and as soon as we got up, you know, you start looking at binos about 300 and I said, all right, I'm done looking at the binos because he looks gigantic with 12 powers at 200 yards. So I'm going to, no binos from here on out. And he died with his nose in the air, rolled, bouldered between his horns. So he just knows that you see all that mass. He kept getting closer. I'm just like, he's so heavy. And I picked him up and finally Jay and Dave, my guys, they, they cut loose.

Cause as soon as you pick him up, you kind of get the perspective of, okay. Yeah. There's nothing. We did a good thing. There's nothing. There's nothing he doesn't have. Yeah. It was awesome. It's cool. Cool. Cool moment. And I don't know. It's just one of those things that, you know, kind of like it'd been, it'd been four long days of, you know, trying to find something that was just no, a no brainer. And this one was as close as to it as you're going to find. I think, I mean, unless you find just a twist. How do you pass a hundred? No, it's 69. Yeah. What? 70, whatever it is. Yeah. You end up being 40 and six eights on, on the long horn and 14 and a half really heavy. He's so his first two measurements are heavier than my other big ram. And then the midway and the three quarter are slightly smaller. It's just interesting. That ram was really heavy on the halfway.

And he netted, the other one netted like 168. 168 and two eights. Yeah. So. This one may. Yeah. I don't know. We may make the mark. Yeah. Maybe a book net. Could you imagine? I don't know. Yeah. They kill like three to four a year total. Yeah. He's close. Make the book. But regardless of that, that'll be a confirmation of some entry book. But he's awesome. I can't wait to get him home. He's a little bit too green and all that to bring his cape and everything home. So anyway, I'll get him in a couple months or a month and a half. But it was awesome. And, you know, took a bunch of pictures, rolled it in. A big, big rainbow came out right as we walked up to him and got pictures of him behind. There you go. It's kind of fun. It's pretty awesome. Hey. It's always good when there's a rainbow. Yeah. Exactly. He tells you we're going to be alive for a minute. You know? Those are good things.

It's all good. I like a rainbow here and there. All right. Well, that's pretty awesome. Yeah. Did they – so how did you get out? Like, did they find a strip for this cub or something? No. There was nothing close. So we packed him literally 400 yards to just the flattest spot we could find. It was probably – we killed him in the evening. We got down there, you know, 11 o'clock. It's getting dark by then, barely. You know, it stays light there. Spent the night on a crappy bed. But anyway, the next morning, yeah, it was all downhill. But it took seven and a half hours to hike to bottom of that river. It was – Steve. Part of it was just so steep. Yeah, one trekking pull or two. One. Do you – I mean, seriously, those are things I – I like to carry one. I know. But you can break one so easy. Yeah. But I got – I took two up there as we're loading. I only took one.

But I noticed my guide, he had two of them. So I'm like, well, I break mine. I'll borrow one of his.

But I don't like to walk with two. I just don't. Do you feel like it slows you down so much? No. I feel like it slows me down. For me, it's nice to have one hand for you. Yeah. And that was that other thing. Like, I noticed when I would go uphill on those sketch – I almost like to put the – I mean, you reach out barely at hip level on the wall. The ground is right there. And I like to do that. I wear some maybe leather palm gloves if I do that. But it was just so steep. And now you're heavy. You got your full camp. We still have two, three days – four days of food. I don't know, three days of food on your back. Plus now a whole sheep. And you're really, really heavy. And it's just, you know, just slow granny gear the whole way. And then you get to a certain level. It's bushwhacking alders. And then you get to the spruce fir. And it's just a jungle.

Did you have to make a new strip down there? No, it's a riverbed. So, like, you just – Anywhere on the riverbeds works. Yeah, you just got to find – yeah. Once you're down there, it's pretty common. And, you know, I'd been at that spot before but dropped off down there, glassing up at this mountain before, you know, in a trip in the past. So, we knew where we were going. But it just – I don't know. The depth perception, you just think, oh, yeah, we'll be down there in two and a half, three hours. Seven and a half. And now we had some more rest than normal. But it was just – yeah. The depth perception. You don't ever measure stuff up there in miles. It's like how long does it take to get some – Or hours. Yeah. Yeah. It's more like, oh, we've been here five days. Yeah. Seven days, ten days. Yeah. But it was awesome.

So, it ends up being, you know, my best doll ever and pretty awesome how that just happens. You don't – you know, I'm not going there to try to improve on what I have every time. I'm just – Just the whole experience. I'm just trying to balance the, hey, when am I, quote, done hunting sheep? And it's kind of hard to say you're done. Yeah. Kind of like Jason. If you say, yeah, I'm done hunting big mule there. What are you going to do then? I don't know. Watch others. Help others. Okay. I don't know. Yeah. I feel like I've thought a lot about that, actually. Just, you know. Yeah.

There's easier stuff you can – There's easier stuff you can hunt right now than big mule there. Yeah. There's a lot of easier stuff and other experiences and stuff. But, anyway. Where your heart is. Where your mind and heart. What you think about. Getting the tags is kind of a big kill for me. Like, I – Stacking up paper. I don't know why. I don't know why. Whipping out that accordion folder you have. I'm beating the system.

Anyway, kind of fun. All right. Well, that's awesome. Congratulations, man. That's fun. Yeah. It's pretty awesome. We're just – Got home a week early. Kind of – Yeah. Yeah. Got home a week early Friday. Yeah. And so then the next question is, Dad, does that mean you can come? Yeah. He picks me up at the airport down here. He's like – You ready to go? What are you going to go, boss? Sure. In the morning. I'm hobbling. I mean, I'm sore. You got duct tape. Plus your flight's probably. Flight sucks. I had a red eye. Of course. I got on the – you know, from 1230, got to Salt Lake about 6, 7 a.m. Very good. Yeah. You know, so you're just like, yeah, I'm as good once as I ever was. Luckily there. Luckily I had Sunday. And then you hit me on in reach from here in Utah, and I'm like, he's on the vent. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I think I did. Yeah. Yeah. I was just – I'm Saturday.

I'm up here glassing, and I'm like, heck, I'm a good dude right there. Yeah. God of the year, Ward. John's got that, but you'd have to pry it out of his cold dead end. Not this year. I'm not even competition. I'm in John's category. All right. Well, did you use an outdoor edge knife, cut him up? Sure did. Yeah. I like them. Nice. I like them especially when you've got to cut off his sheep's head. I mean, they're – you need a little bit more blade when you're doing spinal work. Spinal.

I love that. He took the bait. He took the bait. It wasn't good. It was all. My back. Broken.

He took the bait. Really? What's wrong with your back? It's broken. All right. Move along, John. Where are we at? Yeah. We were just going to throw a shout out to Outdoor Edge and their interchangeable blade knives. So, Adam used one. They're amazing. I just got mine out, made sure I had extra blades and all of that to put in my back. So, yeah. Get yours. OutdoorEdge.com. All right. Also, Devin, we were shooting fierce rifles this morning. Man, it was unbelievable. Was that this morning? This morning. Oh, we came in 6 a.m., mounted it. We had it shot in, dialed up, and shipped out the door by 8.06 a.m. Really? It was about that. Yeah. I mean, it should have been. We didn't quite have the right address yet and a few things, but yeah. You were pretty dang close. That's good shooting. That was a twisted rage. Yeah. 7 PRC. Factor ammunition. You know, sometimes I want to say.

Do you remember, Bronson, when we were shooting? Devin, everybody here at the table. When we were shooting back in the day, these 300 ROMs, which is my favorite. Okay. Or whatever. It took a minute. You don't just go shoot them in. Okay. Yeah. These 7 PRCs. Devin and I were talking about the 7s and 6.5 PRCs make you look like a genius.

I mean, I'll be serious. They shoot so good. I mean, remember buying, like, or hand-loading multiple bullets and powders and mixtures and all that? Going out there. You get your perfect recipe in just like. Half grain increments. How much time that took? And then you come back, and you go back to your press, and you're grinding out another five. Get tennis elbow. Oh, man. And did I jank one? You know, I jerk the trigger and all the things, and we're just like, these things make you look like you're freaking good. You know? Anyway. Pretty efficient. It's funny. Me and my dad were talking about that yesterday because he just got that new 6.5. Yeah. And he made a bunch of loads with different variations, and he went back to box ammo. And he's got a factory box that he took up with him. Shot just as good. And he shoots that. Oh, factory ammo. Shot pretty good. He's got all these.

He spent all morning making different recipes. He's thinking of all the future hours he just saved himself. He's just like Jason shooting those old 300s. I mean, that's what you had to do. Oh. Well, and they would shoot 90 to 98 grains. Yeah. And I remember when I learned how to reload, which was from, you know, we didn't have AI. No YouTube. We didn't have any people to teach us. It was from a Lyman reloading book. Yeah. Remember those old? Just a Bible. I had this wooden shed in Minersville, and I kept all my powder in this wooden shed. John talks about his bow and how the variations of temperature. It was out in a wooden shed, winter, spring, and summer. Ooh. Sweating. And all primers, powders, all the things. And I'm like, I had no problems. Of course, I'm reloading a .22-50, and I'm shooting hundreds of rounds. I mean, I'm at that age where you're shooting everything with a .22-50.

Not deer. We're talking little critters, squirrels, chipmunks, coyotes, whatever. I had a really good reloading mentor for a while. Did you? If I ever had a question, it was like an encyclopedia. I'd just call him, and he knew everything. That's true. Not me. You know, mine would be like, I like. Mr. Von R. Bowles. Wyatt's dad. Really? Oh, my gosh. Wow. Really? I never had such a thing. It was like, what's my minimum? What's my maximum? What's a compressed load, and how far do I need to back off? I learned about compress. You would start at the compress and back off. And I could hear it. It would. And I'm like, you know. Give it a little shake, and you hear nothing. Yes. Solid. Solid. You would always start with, what's a compressed load with this powder? How do we still have all our digits? I don't know. I mean, stuff and your eyes. Nobody went blind. Everything's fine.

The barrel stayed intact. I don't know how. All right. Well, I'm over it. We did a podcast. We called it a day. Cash sneaks in. What have you been up doing? I've been hunting. What have you been hunting? You've been hunting personally or guiding for glass? Both. Have you? Both. Yeah. Yep. Spent the weekend guiding, helping. And then this morning, went out with two of my buddies that were just chasing spikes. So I just went out. Oh. Class with them for a little bit and hung out for a minute. And now we're here. Good deal. Yeah. Yep. Any blood and death and destruction? Others in the crew did, but we got about as close as you can get without drawing blood. To a spike? No. Or a big bull? Big bull. Oh. Yeah, really big bull. Somebody said you guys smashed one, I guess? Yeah. A good one? Big bull. Yeah. Seven by seven. Looked like. Yeah. Matching kickers. Big typical.

That's the problem with social media. I'm like, I missed four hours. Yeah. Big typical with big old J-hooks outside. Jeez. Big bull. Yeah. Big heavy sucker. Well, you were on? Like, did you scout him up? Nope. Nope. Nope. They were, that was separate. And then our guy, we found him a bull and got him in 25 yards. And they were just too thick. And the clouds kind of came over, swirled the wind, and he's gone. And he, like, they skipped country worse than I've ever seen an elk skip country off like a little bump. It was insane. They? So, was it a group of bulls still? There was two bulls. He was there and he was actually with cows. Like, nosing cows around. Really? Believe it or not. Was he in velvet? No. He was hard-worn. Because that bull he killed was not stripped yet. He stripped overnight. I mean, poking through, but yeah.

But no, this bull we got on was the night before he was sniffing cows. And with, like, 10 cows. What? Chasing off his bike. On the 14th. Yeah. The big bull. Yeah. It was the weirdest thing ever. It's not like a little satellite bull getting excited. No. No. First year six point. Yeah. You know. And he. There was another bull. Those and his mom. Yeah. There was another bull that we didn't see out of. Came out of a patch of trees after they blew. And they got together and they went clear down a canyon. Up over another one. Up over another one. And clear up a face to the top. And dumped over. Into, like, an entirely different drainage. Sounds like you got your work cut out for me. It would have took us. Are you going to go after him? We got him. I mean, we'll have to try to refine him. But gave him a little bit to settle down. Yeah. See if he comes back in there. Off of a wind bump, huh?

Yeah. Like, not a strong wind bump either. Like, he got confused and spun around. And, like, trotted over to his cows. And they sat there for 10 or 15 minutes. Hmm. And then he looped down. That other bull comes out. And they get together over a little lip. Whip. Took off. It was the craziest thing ever. It was weird. Oh. Sorry, guy. Yeah, it was weird. By the way, how's the new truck? It's good. What? Oh, it's true. Oh, yeah. What? He hasn't heard. Cash and I did a little Vegas run. Yeah. What? Logan took me to Vegas. He won the lottery. I got a plane. Huh? I won a large amount of money, Adam. Did you? Yeah. Roulette. Good. No. Heck no. Nice. Put it all on black. I spent a large amount of money. Okay. If I wasn't poor a month ago, I am now. What did we get? What did we get? Another Colorado? Me? Jana wouldn't sell me her truck as much as I begged her. So I just went and got the same one.

Not the exact same, though. Just similar. A little newer. A little newer. 2021. 2021. Less than miles. Diesel Colorado, yeah. Had 46,000 on it. Satin. You didn't get it? That's what it is. What's satin? It's like the gray silver. It's a gray. It's like the gray silver. Same color. We've been doing a lot. Yeah. I sent him some links. Yeah. Yeah. We did a little homework for a couple days. I knew Papa Carter had to be involved. You think Mr. Carter wasn't involved in that decision? He was intricately involved for a minute. Did you get a crew cab or the access with a six-foot bed? Oh, no. I got to have four doors. Okay. I got to have four doors so I can throw packs and other accessories in there. There's never enough room in a backseat. Because I don't have a shell. I never. There's never enough room in a backseat. No, there never is. No, there's not. There isn't. But I like the bed.

But, you know, whatever. I've got big trucks, too. You know, big American-made. You got your truck. Speaking of trucks, I see the white one's back. The white one's back. Yeah. Running hard. Why'd you quit running that maroon one? What's your deal with that? Uh-oh. What are you against that one? Nothing. You loved it for a while. Oh, the little talk I sold Logan? Toaddy. No. The other one. New Toaddy. The other one? No, it's not mine. Come on. It's Justin's. He ain't here, boss.

It's Justin's. Let's work out some cases. It actually can't keep Ashley out of it. It's an awesome truck. Those old Tundras, those V8s, are no joke. I've heard about it for a year and a half now, about getting rid of ties. I should have never done it. No. You know, that. He tells me every week. 2000 to what year? 2006. 2007. 2006. 2006. 2006. His was an 06 baby. I should have kept it. And the V8s? They say these turbo, these little, I was reading a bunch of stuff. I don't know how I got down this road. But anyway, the turbo four-cylinder gassers on the Tacomas are not good. Not great. They're saying, like, I mean, if you have a turbo up a small engine, it's not good. Well, anyway, that's what these new ZR2, the new Chevy Colorados are. Yours is fine. Janus is fine. So, I don't know. We'll see. Maybe it's just Toyota. I don't know. But those V8s, those old tenors. They were good.

They were. And when you get it just finally set up the way you like it. It's just that I couldn't stomach to have it sitting around for two years. Devin, you put some serious. You've almost got a new truck out there in the parking lot. Tires. Front end. Feels like I could have just bought another one. Grill. Lights. Headlights. The lights still suck. That's one thing about that year of truck. Yeah. From 2000 to 2006. I've tried everything. Yeah. Yeah. Jason pulls up this morning. I'm over here in front of one of your doors. Just trying to. I was about to jump out and adjust my headlights. I have a screwdriver from Harbor Freight, John. Yeah. This long. Because you have to have one that long, but they don't sell one. I'm glad I know a guy. I have a 22-inch screwdriver in the back of my truck. Yeah. To adjust the headlights. I'm glad I know a guy.

I remember my old Ford Ranger 87 back when you did to do that. You just want a hair in here just to kind of put pressure into it. It was like the jinkiest. This has a little. Yeah. The threads of the Phillips move a little gear. Yes. And it. I don't think it works. Tightens it in on one side or loosens it and down. Up and down. Anyway. I want to hit a wild horse. Devin, how was your weekend? I was fine. It was fine. Muddy. It was rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. Rainy. I got soaked once or twice. You just kind of glassed around a little bit and went home, right? Kind of. Pretty much. What was Friday night like? It was nice until it wasn't. Friday rained all day. Friday, flying into St. George, we looped over Mesquite. Oh. From Salt Lake. Remember the storm? Yeah.

I'm looking down and I can see Mesquite out my window. Wow. I'm like, we should have landed 10 minutes ago. No, we did that and then looped over 13B. Waited for the rain. Come all the way back in there. Waited for the rain. Waited for the rain to subside a little bit. I guess, yeah. Yeah, that storm was coming south. Yes. That was the day hurricane got flooded out that day. And then. Why are these storms so violent now? I mean, it wasn't like this when we were kids. El Nino. The cloud CD. Yeah, we were not. It was not like this. Hey, we've been talking about it all year. The monsoons are going to be big. But it's happening. It is. Every year it's like, oh, who's going to wash away this year? All right. I'm done. You guys done? We good? I got nothing else. Good. I'm over it. Somebody kill something before we're on the next podcast. Somebody do it. Next podcast is next week. Cash?

Get something on the ground. Do some good work. All right, guy. 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. Kuyu 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 licensed 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 licensed app.

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. 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 stjamesportingproperties.com or give them a call at 855-711-7577 to learn more. You're listening to the Epic Outdoors podcast. Check us out at epicoutdoors.com. The