EP 43: Hunting Update from the Epic Outdoors Crew

So, I mean, that's the one thing about deer. I mean, you can predict little things, but a lot of times, they surprise you. No question. The wide range of where mule deer live, there's so many differences throughout. Anything to do with Western big game. Welcome to the Epic Outdoors Podcast, powered by Under Armour. Hey everybody, Jason Carter here along with the Epic crew, the entire crew, Chris Peterson, Jeff John, John Peterson, as well as Adam Bronson's on the line with us. We're just gonna give everybody a little update, of course, update each other. It's been a while since we've seen each other. We've been out in the hills quite a bit. Before we get started, we want to thank Under Armour for sponsoring all of the Epic Outdoors podcasts,

as well as some other projects that are coming out. Pretty fun to think about and work on. So, anyway, appreciate Under Armour, their support of Epic Outdoors and us and all that we got going. And I just wanted to let you know of a cool thing that we're doing. We've teamed up with Red Rock Precision. They make some long-range hunting rifles, but they're Precision custom rifles. They do a fantastic job. We've went up and shot guns out to a thousand yards with them. Of course, we could have shot further if we wanted to. But anyway, it's been pretty awesome. They're amazing rifles. We did team up with them. We've got the epic edition of the Red Rock coming out. It is dipped in Ridge Reaper camo. It looks fantastic. There's several different versions that you can choose from. My particular gun that I had built comes in at like just over seven and a half pounds with the scope.

It's pretty amazing and shoots a thousand yards. And so, anyway, it comes with custom serial number. I think mine's Epic-0001. We're doing a limited edition of 50. There's been quite a few rifles already ordered. We haven't actually advertised these rifles in the magazine. We're going to start doing that in January, but they will accept your order right now if you'd like. So, anyway, don't hesitate to call Red Rock Precision. They do a fantastic job, and you can go to redrockprecision.com to get their contact info, give them a holler. We've been starting to do these giveaways here during this podcast. So, during the podcast, you can, you know, there'll be a little code, you can go on our website and enter the code, a couple little things, your email address and whatnot,

And you're entered to win, so there's no charge to win. But anyway, we did give a membership in one of the podcasts, and that went to Ty Butters, B-U-T-T-A-R-S, here in Utah. Congrats, Ty. We really appreciate you listening to the podcast, supporting Epic Outdoors. And for doing so, you're going to get a full year's free membership subscription to our magazine and service. So, anyway, I appreciate that. We also had another winner where we gave away a phone scope, a fully phone scope unit, good for any cell phone that you got, as well as the adapter for the spotting scope you use. And so, anyway, just want to thank Jason Arthur. He won that. Thanks for listening to the podcast. You did win the phone scope, and we'll be getting with you on that and getting you in touch with Cheston Davis there at phone scope and get you all set up.

Depending on the podcast, we give away epic swag, memberships, phone scopes, Under Armour boots. We're going to do all kinds of things. We may even at some point, you know, where you can enter to win, just give you another name in the hat for something awesome in one of our giveaways down the road. And so, we've got some neat things that we're thinking about. So, anyway, feel free, as you know, if you're listening to the podcast anyway, Anyway, make sure you listen for that code. Go to EpicOutdoors.com, enter it, follow a few instructions, and you're good to go. On this particular episode giveaway, we're going to give away a pair of UA InfoOps Gore-Tex hunting boots. So, anyway, Under Armour will be sponsoring this giveaway. They want to give away a pair of InfoOps model, their Gore-Tex hunting boot.

They're awesome. They're super lightweight, very comfortable. A little higher, they come up a little higher. They're not a short boot, but they're awesome. They're an early season boot. Worn them quite a bit. Really like them. So, anyway, we're excited to do that. To enter to win, obviously, you'd go to epicoutdoors.com backslash podcast. On the right-hand side is the podcast giveaway entry form. Enter podcast code, which will be INFILOPS, I-N-F-I-L-O-P-S, INFILOPS. And your name, your email, your phone number, hit submit. One entry per guy or gal. And we're going to give them away here in a week. So, anyway, we're excited to do it. Again, we appreciate Under Armour for sponsoring this, and it's pretty exciting. Great pair of boots, $249.99 value. So, anyway, somebody's going to get a free pair of boots this week. Anyway, the office has been a little slow, guys.

Of course, it may not have been in that slow, I just don't know. You just weren't here to answer the call. Hopefully, you've been answering the phone calls. How's business, anyway? Well, I haven't been here enough, either, honestly. I'm in and out, but, John, that's probably your... Yeah, we've been answering calls and helping people out when you're done. Good. Giving them hardcore hunting advice? Yes, we have. How about you, Chris? How you been? It's been good. I have people asking me questions that you should be answering.

Units that I've been to, but... Well, you know. You're hardcore. What's an example of one of those questions? Well, a certain unit, I won't say where. I'm not entitled to the whole genie of Jason's secrets, so I can't share anything. Chris, you're under a non-disclosure. Exactly. Of course, we all know what that means. All right, guys. Well, let's see. How you doing out there, Bronson? I'm doing good. I'm sitting out here in the middle of the biggest pine jungle. I probably understand in my life, in year 27 in Arizona. It's beautiful. It's incredibly green. It's unbelievable how much understory and grass. You can tell that it's rained all summer long. But anyway. How awesome is that? Yeah, it feels like you and I, we venture outside, you know, our core areas, and we're just shocked at the game and how pretty it is, and it makes sense.

It looks good down here. You know, I've only been here a day, but I've seen big coos deer today. The first thing I saw, that kind of got me sidetracked for a bit. I was trying to video with that thing. My bulls are bugling, and I've got an elk tag, so go figure. So, what else? You seeing some Milder down there? Yeah, nothing too exciting. Not like Henry Mountain's bucks or anything. Oh. But, yeah. He went there. He went there. Well, let's just talk about the Henry since we... Well, I guess since the last time we had this little five-member powwow about what we were going to be doing this year, some plans changed. I got a call, oh, I guess it was less than two weeks, 12, 14 days, something like that, before the Henry's Archery Hunt started that I was offered a tag.

And, of course, I took it, and fortunately, I'd been scouting several trips, four or five at the time, because I have some clients later on in the rifle hunt. And also, fortunately, I do have this Arizona archery elk tag, so I've been shooting my bow all summer. That's not something... I don't have a great archery tag every year, but I do this year, so I've been shooting that. So, anyway, things just more or less changed. I took off straight to the mountain and basically ratcheted up the scouting. It was on that trip that I found a buck that I ended up hunting. I came home for about 36 hours, did some laundry, got my tag when it came in the mail, got some groceries, headed back out, and then you guys all joined me, I guess it was a day or two before the hunt. Anyway, we had a great time. On the second evening, opening day, we saw the deer.

He just didn't quite, you know, he didn't go the right direction where we were, the wind was or whatnot, But the second night, it all came together and got an arrow in him with you guys all watching. And it was an awesome hunt. 221 inch buck, 35 incer, big frame, and has the look that I want. I couldn't be happier. It was awesome. It's awesome to have you guys down there. Of course, Wayne Brown was down there with us and had an awesome trip. It was awesome.

Yeah, it sure was. It was such a stud deer, a big old framey thing. Just, you know, of course, you know, you always seem to take one or two clients down there, and you've known the mountain forever, and you've killed, you know, some of the biggest deer on the mountain. And so, there was no question in my mind that, you know, you were going to find some more big deer this year. And then when you ended up getting a tag, it was just kind of like game on, you know. We had to show up and at least watch. Yeah, well, Jason, I know you were hunting hard in Nevada, and Jeff, too. You guys both had archery deer tags over there, so you took a, fortunately, it was a brief, I don't know, maybe three-day timeout, but I appreciated the help. It was awesome. Got a lot of video. Everybody was involved. More or less babysat the deer for those two, three days.

You know, when you guys all got there, I'd kind of keep tabs on some other bucks, too, but basically, we were all in on him. It was him or nothing type thing, and it worked out. So, great. It was. It was awesome. So, anyway, congrats on that. So, now, I guess... Well, I think worth mentioning, one of the fun things was right during that hunt, Under Armour called and asked you to take over their Instagram. And so, we were able to do a play-by-play on their Instagram, and we've since loaded those clips to our Instagram, epic underscore hunts. And so, you can go through and watch the whole thing pretty much, you know, play-by-play. It was really cool. Yeah, yep. So, it's all... where is it all? Facebook? Instagram? Instagram. It's on our Facebook as well, yeah. The whole thing is on our Facebook. It's nine minutes in YouTube. So, find us anywhere, basically, you can find that.

Kill scene was a little bit tough to get. When we were videoing him, he actually went, you know... Well, it kind of happened quick. Like, it wasn't like it was, you know, letting Adam creep down in. Like, Adam was just, all of a sudden, they were right there, like, staring at each other. Yeah. 18 yards or 19 yards or whatever it was. It was kind of a... I don't know. I didn't even range it. It was just jamming me too close. It was close. And it turned out it was in behind... the deer was behind some tall oak for you guys, but... Yeah, I can see my angle. He sure as heck ran out of that tall oak really, really fast after I shot. Yeah, he took off. He took off hard. And then we went around and ended up getting, you know, I ended up seeing him there. Oh, where did he go? What do you think, Brownson, a half mile or three quarters of a mile? Yeah, maybe a half mile. He's bleeding like crazy.

But rugged country, yeah. Yeah, good stuff, and Jason glassed him up, and he wasn't doing very good. Well, I had to go around him, yeah, I had to go around him on the Ranger, basically, just glass him up with the 15s. Just to get a different angle, and there he was. And anyway, I was following the blood trail, and when I caught up to him, he could barely go, frankly. Oh, he was shaking. And anyway, drilled him again, and that was history, yeah. Yeah, it was an amazing hunt. Your best deer, I guess. Yeah, it is, let alone with a bow. Like I said, just, I don't know. I mean, he's wide, but he's wide because of the cheaters. But I love the big foxy frame. I like big frames on deer. That's what I like the most. He's got enough trash to making it a little bit neat. A fork cheater going out one side.

It's about a six inch fork cheater. Anyway, the pictures are all on our Instagram, and we'll also, as the guys get some more time, put all the footage and what on our YouTube sometime, probably this winter when the hunts die down, and we can really dig into that. But you can get a taste of it on our Facebook and Instagram right now. Was it a tough decision picking that deer? How'd you go through that process? No. Because you had some giants. You had some big deer that you were looking at. Well, there was another deer that he was like a nine by eight, not counting eye guards, and more of a compact frame. He had more trash, but he's right out in front of the whole world. I knew there would probably be other people all over him, and there was. Another hunter ended up shooting him. So, we made the right decision. He was the only hunter on this deer,

And you can't ask for more than that. So, hunt a big deer, and just you and the deer, because having the nose of the bow, it just doesn't happen, you know, on the first try. And so, the more chances it's just you and the deer, sooner or later, it's going to all come together. And when you have to add other hunters or different things into the mix, it's just prolonging that. And sooner or later, that deer might wisen up and, you know, go underground, so to speak. So, we're just fortunate we had just us and him to contend with. Yeah, there was a few people I know. We had a few people come by, and of course, I think some other people had seen him. And then, of course, you got rifle hunters that are scouting and Muslim hunters that are scouting. There was a bunch of guys scouting us. They're scouting people that are like, oh, that's Adam Bronson. They must be a giant right here.

So, anyway, we ended up... Just fortunate there wasn't a bull hunter on the ground, but there were people around. Yeah, yeah. That's gonna happen on the handrail. There's a lot of people down there. Remember the guys that were running a little bait station? We had to stop and visit with them. Here in Utah, you can bait, you know. So, I don't know exactly what they were putting out. Who knows? It might have been applesauce. I don't know. Anyway, but that's not necessarily... That's a topic of another podcast. Yeah, but we'll have to dive into that deeper at some point, maybe. Spot and stock, you were in his bedroom for, I mean, you were next to him for all day. I think it was like 9 or 9.30 till 7, 7.30 that night. Oh, I know. It was 10 hours. And it rained. It rained in the middle. I actually lost him for several hours right in the middle of the day. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, when that shower came up, he fed to the bottom down into a thick, thick draw, and nobody could see him. And in that shower, the wind switch started blowing down the draw, so I backed out and moved down the ridge about 100, 150 yards, just hoping my scent would be east of him and below him and not knowing really where he was going to be. Well, just total, total random luck that the tree that I picked to be under that, whatever that last, what, maybe four hours, I'm just totally guessing, that he fed up out of the bottom more or less right to it. And I had to step out five yards to the one side to get an opening, and that's what you need to have go right. You know, like I said, the opening day, we had, you know, and even that morning, we guessed

He knew what he was going to do, and he didn't do it. And finally, it worked out, and the wind held. He came into a loop. That's all she wrote. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, good. Well, let's see, Jeff. Last time we talked, you were headed to Nevada. Wait a minute, wait a minute. We can't leave that, because I've got... Start talking, buddy. Start talking. So, being next to Jason, Jeff and I talked about this afterwards, and Jason's gonna deny it, but it was uncanny. We were watching the buck. Jason would go, you know, he's gonna get up in about five minutes. His hindquarters itch, and he's gonna scratch it with his tine. So, five minutes later, the deer gets up, scratches his hindquarter, turns around. Jason's like, yeah, he's probably gonna bed about 10 feet to the right. It was, it was, and it was three days straight. Jeff, I was on the other ridge. I didn't hear all that.

I didn't hear all that. When you're sitting there staring at the deer, there's nothing. A, there's no cell service. We're sitting there staring at the deer. I'm watching Adam. I'm watching Adam bed. Adam's up and down, up and down. We're all ready to kill this deer. I'm watching the deer. So, you end up watching every movement of the deer, And you have nothing to say to each other. You know? We've already talked about everything. And so, you know... But Jason accurately predicts every move the deer makes. Where he's gonna go. Where he's gonna go up the hill. Not really. I did not predict. It is true. Actually, for the evening, when Wayne spotted him, right? When Adam made, basically, the last time the deer got up and started feeding. Adam, I, nor Wayne, or you guys, nobody guessed he would be where he was at.

That's the one thing about deer. No, not where he was at. He ended up lower and down the ridge a little bit. We thought he would come up and kind of go where we've always seen him, or at least Adam's always seen him. So, I mean, that's the one thing about deer. I mean, you can predict little things, but a lot of times, they surprise you, no question, on what they're gonna do. So, Jason can predict when they're gonna scratch themselves, and which direction they're gonna sit, and where they're gonna feed, and when they're gonna get up. But it was uncanny.

I knew, I predicted Adam was gonna kill him too. Yes, you did. And where Adam should be. I knew Adam was gonna kill him that night. He was just in the right spot, and we were all ready, and Adam was ready, and anyway. And then after he hit him, you even predicted where he was gonna go, that he was gonna J-hook up around us, and we missed it. We were watching for that, you know, him to go through that spot. Well, the thing is... Ended up he went and did exactly what you thought he would. Well, there was a ridge, you know, Adam was on a ridge, the deer goes down, and it's natural for, they don't just They always hook. Well, there was a natural hook that goes up over the saddle, you know what I mean? But it was thick trees and tough, and luckily, thankfully, and it had been raining, and Adam made a great shot.

The first shot was a great shot. It didn't look like a great shot at first, but he was running so hard we couldn't tell. And just bled like crazy, and Adam could stay on his blood trail. Helped a lot. Blood trails are nice. And then not to have it rain and wash out the blood, that was nice, you know, that it held off for a minute. So, Jason's a little bit modest, but you ever have a chance to hunt next to him, then you get blown away. Just saying. Well, anyway, anything else you want to add on your hunt, Adam, about that? No. I mean, obviously, this is a hunt of a lifetime, tons of pressure. You know, you made a couple of comments to me, too, a couple of times. You know, you don't want to let the pressure of some of these tags get to you and actually ruin the hunt for you.

Or, you know, and it's funny in this social world that everybody knows everything that you're doing, and so it adds that, well, what did you kill? And if you fail, you want to fail in peace, and of course, you can't fail in peace in this world anymore. Anyway, and so, you know, there's some of that. The unique thing about this experience is, like I said, once I confirmed I had a tag, I went straight to the Henry's, and I came back for literally 36 hours, did some laundry,

He got my tag that had come in the mail and groceries and went back. So, nobody really knew you had the tag. It was kind of a secret, and I just decided, you know, no reason to get on, you know, social media and tell the whole world. It was just like, hey, when a deer dies, they'll find out. And that's the way I kept it. And I even know there's a lot of close friends that were like, I didn't know he had a tag. And I'm like, well, there really was no way. No way. And, you know, the last thing I'll say is just, you never forget, you know, I've hunted that mountain for over 10 years now, killed some giant deer, predominantly the majority of them with muzzleloaders or rifles. Yeah. I've taken some great archery bucks down there, but the anxiety of killing a giant deer with a bow is off the charts. Yourself.

There's nothing for me, for myself. There's nothing that makes my anxiety higher, of everything needing to go right, and not always going right. I was hazzled at the end of that 10 hours. I had to drink it all day long, because I knew I was going to be getting it. You walked up to me, and you're like, you can have this archery deer hunt. I'm done. And this is after the deer's dead? Well, the deer's day is like, I'm done. I can't handle it. I don't like it. And I'm like, Adam. And then about three hours later, he's like, forget what I said. I love our tremulous. Well, I hadn't had a drink all day long. I took Gatorade before I started to stop. That was the only thing that I drank in 10 hours because you get that close to a deer, you can't use the bass of them 50 yards from a deer because that's not good.

You know? Yeah, and you were essentially within 50 yards of the deer for what? Yeah, you were 60, 9, 10 hours. 50 or 60 yards for lots and lots of times. Yes. Yeah, so... What time was it that you shot it? Oh, it was 7, 7.30, something like that. I forget exactly. And we found the deer at daybreak. We watched that deer all day long. He was within 50 yards for 10 hours. Yeah. Oh, there's no question. I know. And then that's what, and that's what Adam's saying is, you know, you roll a rock, you snap a branch, whatever, open in your pack, you unzip them, Packs aren't quiet. Pretty soon, you just limit what you're drinking. It's cool. It's semi-cool in the shade. Yeah, it wasn't too bad. I was over there with a beanie, shaking. I could see it, you know.

Yeah, you know, you don't have all your clothes, you know, and all that, but it's just, you're reminded about how many things have to go right when you're spotting, stocking, mule deer hunting for it all to happen. You know, especially on a deer of that caliber. You know, you're hunting one deer. We weren't deer hunting. We were hunting one deer, and that's typical when you got a special tag like that. And you're just, you got a lot of anxiety all pinned up, and part of it's, you know, self-imposed. You know, it's a unit, like I said, I've been on there 10 years. Killed a lot of great bucks for clients and helped them do that. But never for me. My turn, and I didn't have the build up from May to see it coming. Maybe that was better. I don't know. But it worked out, and I'm very humbled about it all. Thanks for your guys' help.

Yeah, I think more than anything, the patience was just awesome because it's so easy to get in a hurry. And the day before, you know, we talked about sitting on the deer for 10 hours the day you killed it. But the day before, I'm sitting there watching through the scope. I've got phone scope footage. You can see Adam in the screen and the deer in the screen. 40, 50 yards. 40, 50 yards, and Adam's got the patience. The wind turns and goes bad. Adam's got the patience to back out and not go after the deer and just let him go. Yeah, no sense kicking him into the next county. If he winded you at 50 yards, you may not see him for a day or two. Right, right. But anyway. Yeah, this is pretty awesome. And then walking up on the deer, of course, there's nothing like that. That's what we all kind of live for. And he was exactly, I mean,

we had him, Adam, I know you and I discussed that, you know. Nailed down, exactly. Yeah, like I was, I said 219 to 223, and I don't know what you said. Exactly where he was. Yeah, he was 220 and change, H221, basically, and 35 wide. Just a stud, one of those, you know, just phenomenal deer. One of the top on the mountain. So, that's all you can ask for. That went well. So, that was something new that we didn't talk about a month ago on every other podcast. As for the rest of the stuff, we're pretty much kicking off. I guess you and Jeff have been after it, huh? Yeah, yeah. Jeff, Jeff, grind us.

Let's talk about Jeff. Don't talk about me. Jeff, we're praying that he makes it back alive every time. Yeah. Jeff's gone through, how many tires have you gone through? Two. How many tires did your brother go through? He went through two in one trip, one weekend. I've been through two through the season, but I, you know. Somehow my wife got word that he went through five of them. Oh, no, I haven't been through five. Now, that's not, that's two new tires. So, I had new ones on. I've been through two new ones since then. Both Toyota AT's? Toyota AT's? That's not, I'm not gonna get in a bash. I told you to get different tires. I know, I know. But I did have to put in three blocks. I'm gonna take minivan tires on my hunt down there in 27. We're gonna get some hate mail. I mean, I did, I'm telling you, I went through, I did have to put two brand new tires on the truck.

I went through a few tire plugs as well. Are they under warranty, or did you have to pay for them? Well, they're under warranty at the store that I bought them at, which is a lot, which would cost me They don't need to get them back, dude. And they're only prorated, and pretty soon you just like... Oh, yeah. And dude, the tires are thrashed. They're just, you know, toilets are just soft rubber, and those, that hard rock down there, oh, it's brutal on tires. Yeah. But no, it's been a struggle. But you got on some good bucks. Well, eventually. Like, I put plenty of time and money into it, hunting a particular, you know, one side of the unit. Yeah. And I just, you know, we had that like 32, 33 inch buck. Yeah, it's a great deer. Great deer. He's just a wide four point, really crabby on the front. He wasn't a great deer. Crabby funts, but no, he was a pretty big deer.

But he's big, and he's got the biggest track. I mean, you got Adam and I looking our chops, Jeffrey. But, you know... Yeah, 30 days ago, we were giving you crap. And now, we're like, thanks for scouting. Now, it's the first choice going to be archery, muzzle, or rifle.

First choice, second, and third, Jeffrey, all three seasons. And you know, the problem is, and Jason, you know this, the problem is these desert deer are not. They're very unpredictable. They're very hard to glass. It's not like, it just doesn't feel like places up north, like in more open sagebrush country, or even high alpine. It's a different type of hunting. It's really terrain that shouldn't be hunted. I mean, honestly, it feels like a, and in temperatures, and in temperatures that you shouldn't be hunting in. I mean, it's just flat out. It was 101 in my country yesterday. Down where you're at is probably 110, 115. Yeah, it was. The other day I hiked back into a water hole that was 111, and it was like, I realized at that point that you are taking your life in your hands. Like, whether you like it or not.

Our brother-in-law said you didn't take enough water, and you kept wanting to go back to the truck. He's like, I look back, and Jeff's like, you know, I know we're not going to find this spring. Let me see. Let's go back to the truck. And he's like, no, come on, Jeff. I heard you. I pull up, like, I look at the map, and I'm like, okay, I know where the spring is, and it's 1.8 miles, and we start hiking, and it's this soft, sandy soil. Like, so you're just, like, every footstep takes a little bit extra. And I get back, and I just, I left my pack. I grabbed a trail camera, grabbed a bottle of water, and I just took off. I'll just run up there, get that set up, and get back. And we get back in here, I realize that there's some forks in the canyon. And I'm like, okay. Where is it? We're at this point, and this is after I've been hunting hard for three or four days.

I'm a little ticked off at the world right now, anyway. And I'm getting to this point, and I'm like, I'm done. I'm getting out of here, because I ain't gonna freaking be dragging my butt off of this mountain. I'm gonna get in my minivan with my Toyota ATs and drive home. And I'm gonna drive home. Because at that point, dude, you're stressed, because, you know, you've been, I mean, three hours of sleep at night, because you don't get back till 11 o'clock at night. You gotta be up at three. That's why Adam camped closer to his deer. You know, those summer nights are short. Days are long. It's hard though when it cools off to 86 degrees, you're like, well, I gotta get somewhere where there's AC so I can sleep. So, even if you're just going back for three hours, even if it's just for three hours, you go back. Like, you go to where you can get AC. And so, did you make the hike?

Oh, yeah. We found it. He said he encouraged you. Well, it was Alan. You know, Alan, he pushed me on because I was like, dude, like, this is grind point. Like, I've been grinding for a long time at this point, and I'm like, you know, we need to go back. We need to get the GPS. I need to know exactly where the spring is. I need to know. I'm not willing to sacrifice both of our healths, you know, the health of both of us, to be up here just traipsing around for fun. Yeah. Like, I need to... So, you got it set. Now you need to check it. I need to check it. The end of the season's like... Yeah, it's pretty much here. Kind of need to go check that camera when we get off this podcast. Yeah, I probably ought to. Yeah, are you still hunting, Jeff? You got to what, the 9th? You got to the 9th. Yep, that's the end of it.

That's four days, or three, or something, whatever we're at. I've lost track of days. I know. This hunt, you know, if I go back, if I decide that there's a buck there worth hunting, It's going to be put the backpack on, take two gallons of water in the pack, and go and stay in there for the last three days of the hunt. That's the only way to do it. You can't go back and forth on this one. It's just too far. Yeah, well, a couple of nice bucks anyway. It's a good experience for you. I mean, didn't have to use much for points. Jason, what about you? I don't want to tear a scab off or anything, because I know it's been much the same,

But you've got to give your report. Yeah. We give north. Well, it's tough out there, and I get, of course, people out there in Nevada, they want to know where you're at. You know what I mean? And which deer you hunt. And how many other deer you got. And so, I'm always a little bit careful there. But it's good. It's just kind of a tough year. Like, I think the April and May, and Adam, you and I have discussed this a lot, there was really dry April and May. And, you know, it was a good winter. It was a good fall, good winter, relatively good early spring, moisture-wise. And then it just turned off, and I've got a number of big deer that didn't come back, and I've got a number of big deer that shrunk a lot from last year. And so, I mean, we've got, you know, 235-inch deer that are now, you know, maybe lucky to break 200.

So, it's really hard, you know. So, yeah, I've been out hitting it pretty hard, and we've got a little hit list of deer. Like this morning, we glassed up everything but the deer I want, and we've done that two days in a row now, and actually glassed up a new buck that I don't have on water. I have no idea where he's watered. It might be a hole in the rock, or it's got some rainwater from these monsoons or something. But wide deer with big four or five inch eye guards and multiple eye guards and heavy-based, but not a real stud. Anyway... When you're seeing the shrinkage from year to year, we always said that last year was a great moisture year. Is that age, or is that definitely due to moisture? No, this one's due to the year. Some deer obviously will shrink. You know, as they get old, they'll shrink a little, or they have a little bit of a hiccup.

Maybe they get wounded or get injured in the hills, or stuff happens, just like our health as humans. But, you know, this one is statewide. Yeah, when you're seeing across the board, bucks that you knew from last year, they're smaller this year. And then, obviously, there was a Governor Buck killed that was 260, and there's a few deer that, you know, for whatever reason, maybe they had a little more moisture in that particular five square miles. Maybe it's just the feed that they're on, the spring that they're on. However, you know, all those plants are getting water. I mean, there's, there's the, it's not a hard, fast rule. But, generally speaking, it seemed to be down, didn't you think, Adam, from everything you've heard, too, from other people?

Yeah, it is. And I would agree, the last two years, it seems like our late April and May, which normally are pretty dry, have been incredibly wet, except for this year wasn't. And then going on into June, it was baking hot. So, I think that was part of it. You know, they got a good start, and then they kind of had to just survive after that. Not that it's terrible. The strip and things like that are awesome. I would still say the Henrys spent a lot of days down there this year, obviously, and it's an average to slightly below average year for the Henrys, by Henry's standards. It's not stellar.

You know, and so, sometimes mountain range to mountain range, you know, we think we have, you know, uniform moisture throughout Utah, or southern Utah even. You know, Poncegont versus Henry's, or Poncegont versus Henry's, or Nevada. And it's not. It's timing. It's obviously, the mountain timing isn't the same. And, you know, deer are more susceptible than elk and things like that. So, it's what it is. You've got to make the best of it. Which months do you look at as being the most important when you're looking at, you know, moisture? Well, you need all of them, because if you have a really good winter, you know, you'll have your, as soon as the temperature warms up enough that you're going to have any kind of green up, which is normally, depending on where you're at, but March and April, it'll green up and get going.

But then, if you don't have anything to follow it up in April and May, then that green up's kind of short-lived, and you don't have any really, you know, steady green. Yeah, it cures out quick. They end up having to go to their browse early sometimes, which is good. And like I said, some deer, you know, eat browse 365 days, because there's not enough or very short green-up periods. Maybe it's only cheatgrass or things like that that they have in short, you know, different places. But, you know, from the wide range of where mule deer live, there's so many differences throughout. We're just talking about a few of the places here that just seem to be a little bit off, but still a good year. Yeah, it's still a good year. You've got a landowner tag, so you're still hunting. I know you've got some clients you're going to be talking about. I don't know if it's this week or whatnot.

Yeah, Bronson Guide Service. I mean, you know, of course, I work under you. Yeah, I definitely do have a couple of really good friends of ours now. Now, I've just known him for years and years, and we're excited. We've got some big deer to hunt. You know, it's still a good year. I mean, I'm not...we got 20 bucks, probably over 200. I mean, that's a great figure, but it's also been three months getting that. It's a grind. It's five, six days a week. And the best deer, I mean, you know, kind of the one that, you know... I'm hunting a deer that I didn't recognize at first because he changed so much from last year. He just dropped 25 or 30 inches. And then I find his shed, and I'm like, I didn't realize he's that big last year. And I found the small side. The small side doubled to 215. The big side's amazing. And so, you know, I'm like, alright, I'm not going to kill him this year.

And so, it's changed. It changed everything. It changes your plans, it changes whatever. And, uh... That's a bold thing to say. I'm gonna pass on this 200-inch deer. 200, and he's bigger than 200, right? He's, what, 208, 210, you think, right now? I don't know. But, yeah, you just gotta let him go, and it's just like, you know, Adam hunting big deer. You guys hunting big deer, you know, if you don't let him go, you know what I mean? So, they don't get really big. Not a lot of us are gonna pass on 200-inch. And I'm not saying I passed him. I'm just not gonna hunt him. You're passing on the buck. And so, anyway, and there's another deer I'm on to for myself. That deer, you know, would be probably for one of our clients or something, Adam and I. But, you know, like the deer that I'm on, I'm hunting a deer that, I mean, I've had him on camera since 2014,

except for the water dries up. The water dries up, I don't get him. Water comes back, boom, I've got him again. So, anyway, I've had him since 2014. He's obviously maxed out. Ginormous body, sway-backed, pot-gutted, huge monster. He looks like he has a 300-pound body. I haven't even shown Adam the pictures, I don't think, but just for timing-wise, and we've missed each other and been out in the hills a lot. So, anyway, I'm probably going to hunt him because he's maxed out, and he's never going to be giant, giant like the 230 potential. And I like him. I'm fond of the deer, you know? You got a relationship. Yeah, I got a relationship with this guy, you know, put him on my wall.

So, anyway, it's still fun. We're hunting good deer. It's a grind out there. You know what's really frustrating, and I think Nevada should consider changing their law on this, but hunting hours are a half hour before sunrise to sunset. And you know what it's like when you've got a full moon. Right now, we have a full moon. It was a hundred and one degrees yesterday. And in 101, it's one thing to say 101, go stand out there for a minute. Yep. Go hike. When there's no trees, there's no greenery, it's literal freaking desert. And so, when are the deer going to stand up, you know? Are they going to stand up before sunset? I mean, so, they should go a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset. That's normal state. That's what you call us. Which is what most states do. That's what most states do. Or, if you want to go to sunset, then why not just start at sunrise?

It's, you know, why a half hour before? So, you know what I mean? Like, be consistent. If you're gonna, it's plenty good enough to shoot. The hours are plenty good enough to shoot after sunset, just as it is before sunrise. And my biggest buck, he never stood up until it was basically half an hour past sunset. I mean, it was just light enough to get his phone scope. And people are still killing him. People would kill him. Normal people are breaking law. You're, they, and they don't think about it. Because you can see for a thousand yards. You can still see 500 yards or a thousand yards. Your dots are glowing. In my opinion, it should be changed. It should be more liberal, because you're dealing with that kind of a state. August, September especially, those hunts are so brutal. The deer are not...

Well, and you're talking about a bow. You've still got to be within, let's just say, 50 yards. You know what I mean? If you're 50 yards, you see a pin. Yes, yes. You should be able to let one rip. We're not talking about fading light at 800 yards into the shadows somewhere. We're not talking about that. Right, right. So, anyway, yeah. But anyway, it's been fun. Some years, you kill a buck in a couple of days on an archery hunt out there in Nevada, and your luck couldn't be better, and it couldn't be easier. It's just, man, an archery hunter for life. And then some years, it's 20 days packing that bow, and you can't wait to get rid of it. And then when you look at those 20 days, and you look, well, the most valuable or sometimes the only useful part of the day is the morning. Yeah. It's hard to put in that much effort.

Like, I come back today to do this podcast, and to clean off my desk for a minute, and grab some food and stuff, because I'm out of food out there. And you just say, I wouldn't see, I did not see a buck last night. I didn't see a doe last night. Yeah. Okay? And me and my brother-in-law and my boy were out there. And so, between three of us, and Sean's a dang good glass there with 15s, we didn't see a deer, you know? That's... It's full moon. That's Nevada. It's hot, and that's Nevada. And that's like when Adam's giving us the report in 27, and we start talking about the Henry's. Keep in mind, I was on the Henry's for three days. It's like, I never wanted to step back to the Nevada. The Garden of Eden. Yeah, I looked at Nevada, and I'm like, I wouldn't pay $3 for a tag in Nevada.

It's true. It's so true. It is so different. It is so hard. People don't have respect for it. Adam and Jeff and myself, we've been up in Idaho, and we go and hunt Idaho. It's game-rich. It's amazing. You go up there, and you're just like, why do we hunt anywhere else? Why? It's just like our plans in Colorado next year, Adam. Like, there's no... I mean... Yeah, we're already scheming on what to do and mixing it up and things like that. And like I said, like I've alluded, I'm down here in Unit 27. It's unbelievable. It looks like the Garden of Eden down here. They had a bumble moisture. These elk, the oak down here that's regrown in a few of the burns is incredibly tall. They're whistling a little bit, and that's always, you know, I haven't been in the elk mountains yet. I got done with the deer hunt and went straight to the desert scouting sheep,

We're scouting sheep, and I've been doing that for about the last week or 10 days off and on, and roasting like you are in Nevada. And so, this is like my first day, literally, in the elk hills, and it's pretty cool. I got out of the truck today, was getting my vinyls out, and I heard a vehicle from the truck. I mean, my mic came out. That's awesome. Yeah, and I know we're about 10 days before my hunt starts, but... Yeah, but it's gonna obviously be good. It's still great. Yeah, I mean, they bugled till 830 this morning. Wow. These bulls, you know, didn't have cows. They were, you know, the bulls that I classed up and saw were feeding and bugling, you know. But they're starting to go down that road. How nice is that? And that's cool. So, you get to change it up, and I'm looking forward to changing up my schedule, too, by the way. It's nice to change species.

Like what you were saying, Adam, like you go in there, you've been there for, I don't know, let's call it, was today your first day actually being there? Yeah, I drove down last night. You've been there for, you've been glassing for four hours, right? Been glassing for four hours this morning. You see a coos deer that beats the Boone and Cock a minimum by 10 inches. It's big. It's kind of locked. Okay, and it's over the counter tags. You know what I mean, like what are we doing? What are we doing here? I don't know. We got over-the-counter tags. But it made me realize that in those years that I have nothing going, which doesn't seem like very often. But I'm watching 110 to 15 or maybe better inch buck, and, you know, game on. And I saw five or six coos bucks today. I saw another probably 90 or 100 inch, and, you know, a few mule deer, plenty of elk, lots of turkeys.

I mean, it's just, it's like Wild Kingdom down here in my car. It's like Wild Kingdom. And here we are, you're in at four hours. We're coming out of the desert. You're from Utah. You've never been there before. Although, you know, you do have a few good friends that have kind of get you started. Yeah, I've talked to some good people that have hunted this before, and pointed it in the right direction, and people that have hunted it in recent years, and I'm very appreciative of that. But yeah, just basically because of that, you know, that Henry's tag that came up, I wasn't able to come down here in August, for obvious reasons. So, I'm here now, you know, I was going to go the week right after the Henry's, and then I found out that General Archery Hunt opened down here, and then the next weekend was Labor Day. General Archery, meaning over-the-counter

deer. General Archery in Arizona, yeah. Like, all of a sudden people can hit the hills with I didn't want to be down scouting my elk unit the opening week of archery general deer down here. So, I put it off, and now, like I'm saying, these bulls are starting to bugle. You know, if I find a bull here, they might be here. Yeah, that's the thing. You can only scout the rut in the rut, and so I think it's really okay that you didn't scout early. You know what I mean? It's okay. It's not the end of the world. You're still going to do it. You know, just mainly getting to know the unit, you know, finding some water, find some places where I can glass. The bulls aren't new when I come back in 10 days, 4 days. And so I can, you know, have a good 12 to 14 days. I'm probably missing the first day or two of the hunt, trying to take care of some sheep hunters right off the bat.

Things are really looking good there. We found some really, really good rams. I'm trying to babysit, frankly, and so, you know, we've got, you know, 10 days to prepare for that, and I'm down here for four days or so, and then back to babysitting and finding sheep in the desert. There's a, yeah, so, you know, we've got, of course, this is just the start of the season. It's just kind of wanted to give everybody a little bit of an update. We've got a lot more to come, and a lot, and every day is a new day out in the hills, and that's what we're all doing between us all. Anybody else got anything going on recently or upcoming? No, I think what Adam said about he talked to people before he got there, I think that's really important, and it's part of what our members can do with our member experience program. If you draw a unit, call in, tell us, and if we've got guys that have hunted

in the past, we'll send you their contact information. That can be so valuable. Yeah, I agree 100%. Yep. So, let's see. How about you, Chris? You're over there grinning. What have you been doing? Well, I'm grinning about one thing, and before we leave, talking about the Wild Kingdom, I saw a trail cam picture today that... Oh, the Wild Kingdom. Oh, my God. Let's hear about what you got on trail camera down in your country. Well, I'm a coyote packing a chicken. That coyote packing a chicken picture. A live chicken. A lot of dead chicken. It's like a rooster, and we're talking not sage hen. It's a Rhode Island red. Yeah. 30 miles.

How far from civilization is that, Jason? Dirty miles? Yeah, at least. Somebody dumped a chicken off out in the hills. I don't know how this rooster ends up on this. And then, here's a coyote packing it in its mouth, and I'm like, yeah, I'm kind of hungry for some chicken, too. Jeez. That's got to be one of the best trail cam pics you've got this year. Well, yeah, a tough year. It was kind of exciting. Yeah. Part of the funny thing, too, is that rooster looks like it's still alive. It's still alive. His eyes, I got three pictures of it. I've got it on a fast burst, and yeah, his eyes are open. He's just like, okay, I get it. Do you see his spurs on that thing? I'm thinking that coyote might have taken a spur to the chin. I don't know. I don't know. But anyway, we'll be back in the hills shortly.

So, what about you, Jeff? What have you got coming up? Oh, we've been... Adam's gonna need a packer. Yeah, I'm gonna, I'm going down. So, I just gotta hear, I gotta know when he's done sheep hunting, and then we'll be jumping and rolling. I got a couple guys I'm gonna go with, more than likely on their elk hunts that are gonna be starting off the rifles. So, just that first day or so, I might go help him, but then basically heading south with Adam. Good, good. That's good to hear. I'd be there, too. I've just got...that's the muzzleloader hunt, which we got... Maybe you'll kill three bucks in five days. It's happened. It's happened. I don't know. It's been 30 days with a bow. I'm ready to throw the bow off the cliff. I'm like Adam. I want nothing to do with archery deer hunting. I want nothing to do with it.

Here, give me a little rest. Give me some water. I'm going to be just like Adam. I love archery deer hunting. Where can I hunt next year? Yeah, where can I go next year? Where can I use my points on an archery deer tag? That's right. That's right. It is a rush. It is. You're up close and personal, and that's what makes the anxiety level so high. But it's a love-hate relationship. You know, Jason and I, we've done that in Nevada, what, five years ago? I think you hunted like 18, I hunted 14 days, and we lost. I had an archery only. I drew a tag, and fortunately, he had a landowner tag. I think the first or second day, he killed one of the bucks. We chased all those 30-something combined days of the bow and never could kill. Oh, in the muzzle? Yeah, I killed one of the typicals that we were chasing, you know.

And, of course, everything else still lived. It was crazy. It is. It's crazy. But it's fun, and, of course, it makes the success all that much better, you know. But they're killing some big deer here in Utah, that's for sure. I know some big deer on the Ponce. The strip. Some giant deer on the strip have killed some big archery bucks. Oh, they've killed some big bulls down there in Arizona. I mean, I saw one picture floating around, just a giant 450-type bull. Wow. I saw that. Governor bull, or raffle bull, perhaps. Governor raffle stuff, yeah. That's about the only thing that's open. I need one of those. I need one of those. I just need a 400 straight typical six. Not a big deal. Not a big deal. What about you, Bronson? What are you going to hold out for? That's what I keep waiting for.

Well, this is, you know, this is 15 or 16 years in the making, and so, you know, I'm not here to kill an elk, and so I'd just soon kill a good one or don't kill one or go down swing it to the last one to the end. Well, I mean, not as much of the bow, though, but even then, I mean, I've killed a few bulls with my bow. I haven't archery hunted that much. We can't archery hunt in Utah, general season. I don't normally make time to go to another state, but I want to hunt for a big bull, or, you know, hopefully the rut only gets better the deeper the hunt goes on. So, it only takes once, and looking at this country, it borders San Carlos, and it's just giant. So, there's so much escapement here in September. I have no doubt there's a kind of bull here that, you know, if I get a glimpse of one or something like that, it's probably gonna, you know, be,

alright, that's the bull or nothing type thing if I end up seeing a special bull. Well, and I know you're a lot like me in the fact that, but John's pushing us to do this podcast, but I just like to not talk about my hunts until you succeed, and then let's talk about it. But I like to fail in silence. I like people to just be like, well, I wonder what Jason's doing. And I'm over there like, I just failed 30 days and I didn't get jacked. Yeah. But I don't like talking. I don't want to prep everybody. I got this up tag. And then you go down there and you're like, man, you know, and then you didn't get one and you feel, you know, you know, you're a lot like me like that.

But then, John's on you, and you're like, alright, fine, let's talk about it. Somebody's gotta drive it. But you'll do good, no question about it, one way or another, and you're learning a lot already in the first four hours. I can't believe what you've learned. So, it'll be awesome, and I'm sure we'll end up snagging something in Nevada and Utah and a few other of these states we're gonna head to. Yep. It's gonna start happening fast here pretty quick. Yep. So, anyway. One after another.

Well, sounds good. Anything else anybody want to add? Next podcast, we've got to add a fair amount of fib and, you know, throw people off a little bit. You mean lies? Yeah. We did. We just didn't tell you. We peppered it in. All right. It's in there, John. All right. That'll be the fishing podcast, man. I got some fish stories. There I was. There I was, on Lake Powell, raw double dover, you know. Using my sandwich meat, because we ran out of anchovies. Never knew there were sturgeon in Lake Powell. Yeah, that's right. Exactly. All right. Well, sounds good, guys. Well, you guys be safe. All right. You too, Bronson. Until we talk again. All right, good luck. Yeah, sounds good, man. Good luck. All right. Talk to you later. Here at Epic Outdoors, we publish a Western hunting publication nine months a year.

The Epic membership includes nine issues of the magazine, where the first six months of the year We are totally geared to breaking down all the western states' draws, their application process, their deadlines, units, kill rates, drawing odds, everything that we feel is very important for you to make a calculated decision on whether you apply for that state or not, and how you want to apply for trophy, for more opportunity hunts, but do it from a current year perspective. We also have, you know, a bunch of different articles in there from biologists from the states, Hunter Next Door articles. What else, Jason? Yeah, the $100 subscription, you know, includes consulting, so we deal with our clients on a regular basis over the phone, help them develop their hunting plans, and anything to do with Western Big Game. Once

guys draw tags, they can call in, we'll put them on a list, give you a list of members who've hunted We've got a lot of experience across the West, and it might be that you draw a unit that we've got experience in, we have no problems helping you. So, anyway, this is just a very interactive service, $100 a year. Try to be all-inclusive on Western Big Game, and of course, from a trophy perspective, we all like the big stuff. And so, we really try to capitalize on the changes that are happening and some of the different great opportunities out there. Yep, so if you're interested, you can find us on the web at epicoutdoors.com or call us at 435-263-0777.