EP 48: An Epic Season with the Epic Outdoors Crew

It's like a 50-60% kill with the youth archery. That kicked off a great season, no question. Those are unit-wide tags, sometimes they're private land-only tags, right under us, less than 100 yards. 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 Outdoors team here doing a podcast today. Going to be covering a lot of fun things, some of our experiences here hunting this fall, as well as our services, magazines, a few things that are going on. We've got a lot going on, actually, this time of year. So, anyway, before we get started, we want to thank Under Armour for being a sponsor of this podcast, as well as a lot of other things we're doing. They're a major sponsor of Epic Outdoors, our magazine, YouTube, podcasts, of course, about anything we do. They want to be involved in, and we want them involved in, as well as others. I guess I could also mention Rockstar. Sucker. They're not paying us, but they do power us up a bit and make for interesting podcasts. So, anyway, we do want to thank Under Armour again.

We'll be giving away some different items later on in this podcast. So, the Epic Outdoors crew sitting in one room. Reconvened. Turkey day's over, and I guess we're back to the... I'm Jason Carter.

Adam Bronson sitting next to me. John Peterson, my brother-in-law, or close to a brother-in-law. My other brother-in-law, Jeffrey. Jeff John, and then Chris Peterson. He's at the computer. We even gave him a mic today. How you doing, Chris? That's right. I'm good. Maybe we can get a little prelude music from Chris today. Go ahead. A little lead us off, Chris? I just haven't prepared anything. I don't have a song written for this. A little acoustic acapella. You can't do anything like an impromptu, just a little something-something? I mean, I feel like it would just be slightly awkward. Let's see what you got. Let's make this be like the highway. Start it off. What do you got? Just a little something. A little something. The highway find. Chris Peterson. Bring your guitar next time. I'll have to bring my guitar next time. Dude, you could crush something right now. Come on. All right.

You've been warned. We'll bring it up again. Epic theme song. Back to summer. You made your favorite first. That's not going to happen.

All right. For those of you who don't know, we're out there. We're trying to get Chris to sing because he's good at it. He's good at a lot of things. You Petersons are pretty blessed. Adam and I just have to work for a living.

All right. Well, here we are. Let's see. What day is today? November 28th-ish? Yes, sir. Plus or minus? That's what it is. Finally got done hunting and just talk about it a little bit. We started off, of course, what, May and June, basically. June, start running trail cameras. Big old long summer. Of course, Adam, he had a long summer. He did a lot of scouting for a lot of people as well as himself. Yeah. Seems like we, the three months went fast. We, I guess the first real hunt was the deer hunt in Utah, wasn't it, that we all were on? That was 18th, 19th, 20th in August. I can't remember. A little bit. We had an awesome trip there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm sure, I don't know when the release of that video is going to be. Chris is working his magic on that at some point. But we got teasers and all that. Huh? I think we got part of it. It's on YouTube, isn't it?

Well, we had all the cell phone stuff up. And I'm working on the other stuff later once we get rolling with magazines and everything. But that's how it all started. That was, yeah, that's been three months ago. And we've been, it feels like, everywhere since, you know, collectively around the West. We've been and done a lot of stuff. And it's been a great year. It's a little bit always depressing to have it end. But so it is. And here we are back. I don't know. My wife's pretty excited.

Yeah. Of course, I don't know why. I just come try to boss her around a little bit, you know. Yeah. But they seem to like it. So I guess I'll keep bossing.

Her excitement will last about two weeks. She'll listen to this podcast. I'm going to change things.

You've heard of New Year's resolutions, Jason? They're coming early this year.

So anyway, yeah, Bronson killed a freaking 220-inch-plus deer. We were all there. Of course, she did the work and had him pre-scouted. And we were just there to enjoy the moment with you. But what a freaking giant with a bow. It was a lot of fun. Part of the thing about archery hunting is you do get to go first. And although that opportunity kind of – And most of the deer are still alive. They should all be except for the other hunters. You know, the muzzleloader and rifle hunt is a different story. That took place on the Henry Mountains, which is a place, you know, I spent a lot of time over the last 10 or 12 years and got an opportunity to hunt it. And it was epic. It was awesome. And second evening of the hunt, we had a party on the mountain. It was pretty special. Appreciate all you guys being there. Of course, Wayne Brown, one of my guides and good friends, he was there too.

So we had a great, great hunt. Killed an awesome deer. That kicked off a great season, no question. And it seems like for all of us, the ball rolled pretty hard and fast after that. We all scattered, it seems like, all over the West. And we did a couple podcasts, one or two, from literally wherever we were out in the field. I mean, I can't remember where we all were at the time individually. I know I was in Arizona at one of them. But, yeah, it was just – In the truck, scattered across the West. Yeah. But it's been a good year. It's been an awesome year. We look forward to bringing, you know, through photos and through some video stuff and the YouTube channel we have, just showing you all about what we did and what we had a fun time chasing this fall. Yeah, that's right. It was a great year. It was. I know you guided a lot of clients. How many sheep hunters did you take this year?

We took 12 here in Utah. That's a lot. 11 deserts. It was one of our biggest years ever, maybe the biggest. And the best. Not just numbers of clients, but big sheep. We killed a bunch of big ones. For Utah. Utah sheep are doing really, really well right now. And big rocky and a bunch of big deserts. It was another one of those, you know, years you just don't want to see come to an end because everyone would just, they weren't without some grinding periods, you know, in the middle. It's not like they all just tipped over. It seemed like they did. Every time I opened up Instagram, I'm like, all right, this Bronson outfitting, whoever they are, I'm going to need to unfollow them because they're taking over my feed.

Those are the highlights, obviously. They weren't all easy. We were very blessed, but there was periods in there, and I'm like, geez, I hope we can grind another one out. You would send me a picture of a, I remember the pair of big sheep, and you're like, here's a pair of giants, and you killed them both. Yeah. I mean, like, these are what's left to breed. It was, they were flying off the shelf. It looked like, you know. It was fast and furious there. A Black Friday sale. That first week in September, the hunt, we killed, yeah, five rams in that first six or seven days, and that was the plan. And I took a quick trip to Arizona in the middle of that week. You killed an elk, and I remember you're like, geez, I guess I've got to stop hunting sheep to kill an elk. By the way, 45 minutes outside my truck, I think I killed a 350-something with masks like crazy with a bow.

And you guys don't come. And don't come, don't video, because he's dead. He's dead. Too late. Yeah, that was. I had my bags packed, ready to go, ready to head to Arizona. I was stoked. I was literally gone to Arizona. Well, I left, I was gone from Utah and Arizona and back in 25 hours. No. It was just one of those things like, how does this happen? Provided meat for the family. And that night when I got home, that night we got home, we killed another ram in Utah. It was just like, whatever. It was dead. It was crazy. Everywhere. It was good. But I had a great time. Burned my, I had 15 points or something in Arizona. And to get 27, which I think we talked about before. Just one of those hunts that, you know, got out of the truck and started hiking up a trail. And I'd pre-kind of scouted an area a little bit that figured I'd be alone on.

And I heard a bull rake and heard the unmistakable, I thought I jumped an elk first. And then I kept hearing it was really windy. I could tell that's a bull trash in a tree. I knocked up and walked right in thinking, I'm going to stick this thing, whatever it is, or maybe if it's big enough. And it went quiet. And after three minutes or so, you're always like, all right. So I let out a little half-hearted bugle. And he more or less ran me over. You know, when they rake trees and stuff, they kind of get wound up a little bit. And I think that bugle was just at the right moment. He more or less ran me over. And I saw enough of him coming through that I was at full draw when I saw vitals when he came through. And he died pretty close to the truck. We'll just leave it at that. And by myself, as he's coming, I'm like, this is a gift. This is a gift with all I got going on. He's a big bull.

And with all my schedule, I got a bunch of sheep hunters and stuff still to go. It's stressful. I'm letting one go. That's the one thing about hunting, you know, at least the guys here in this office. I mean, you know, it's stressful. It's a great time of year. It's phenomenal. It's what we live for. We're working around the clock the first six months of the year. But then when we finally get to go out, we overbook. I mean, I was nonstop, you know, with hunters. I took just a couple of deer hunters. But they're not just average deer hunters. They want the best. And so there's a lot of pressure. And then I've got my own tags. And you guys feel the same way. And that's my point of this is you go down and you're hitting, you know, Arizona elk and learning a new unit.

And with that pressure of getting back quick and helping your guys, you know, the guides that work for you and whatnot and continuing to run the show. And so we just but that's part of it. It's part of it. And what's cool about it, in my opinion, is how many states we hunted this year. You know, I was in New Mexico for deer and elk both. Killed a 380-inch bull. Chris was there. Last morning, special experience, amazing opportunity. Public land drew the tag. And it just turned out that we ended up with a giant. And he had broken off a little bit, quite a bit, actually, in inline and whatnot. And still was right there at 380, which was a phenomenal bull on a tag like that with a five-day season. And then we, you know, end up in Colorado. I hit a new unit that I'd never hunted before, the cluster unit 18, 28, 37, 371. And spent a ton of time, well, not a ton of time by my standards.

A ton of time is a month in Nevada. But that's a whole other story. Butt kicker. But, you know, just and then Adam drawn a Wyoming, you know, 128 deer tag. Jeff, you went and learned new stuff in Nevada, Utah, of course, Idaho. Your son drew like a 54 elk tag. 52. 52, excuse me, 52 elk tag. Yeah, 54, that'd be a deer. Yeah, that was a deer. That's the best unit in the state. But 52, which is still good. Still good. Really good. And made it happen. Tell us a little bit about that. Oh, we had a fun hunt. We went up there. We weren't able to hunt opening day because we were muzzleloader hunting in Utah on the general. Went up there. We knew it was going to be kind of tough. Tough on that hunt. Just because it's a different, that's a different style of hunt. In 52, you know, it's. Well, there are no aspen trees. No aspen trees. Not a tree, honestly. No trees.

The tallest thing you can see is literally a, is literally corn. Corn stock. But, you know, those elk were dug down into, you know, down into the lava pockets out there. I mean, you're basically hunting lava fields. I mean, weird, gnarly, craggy stuff, but short, flat, and just really choppy, rolly. And beds dug into these little crevices and stuff like that where you can tell, you know, elk crawls in here, deer crawls in here. He's going to spend a lot of time with nobody seeing him. Well, what's crazy about that kind of country, and Adam and I have hit some of that type of terrain, there's more terrain in there than you can imagine. You know, it's just one of those things where that, you know, little draws and rocks and outcroppings and whatnot can hide a lot of game. Oh, I think it would truly shock a guy what's really out there. I mean, and you see it.

You see it, some of these deer that have been shot out there this year, 52A, 52, all that country, they've killed some giants out there. You know, giants. One of our members, we were out there with an elk tag. He killed a great bull. 350. 350, yeah, 351. That's a beautiful bull. Beautiful bull. So, you know, it's just, it's one of those places. He was telling you he didn't know of any of the elk. He couldn't find any elk. Well, he worked hard. And then he killed a giant. Oh, he worked hard. He got there early. He did it right. He spent a lot of time, a lot of time in there hunting and just made it happen. He did. He did a great job. Did a great job. We got there second morning or second day of the hunt that we were there, you know, second full day that we hunted. And my boy made a lucky shot. You know, I just wasn't paying attention to him. Chris was there.

He was right over our back filming the whole thing. He wasn't really paying attention. Or I wasn't paying attention. He pulls up with his gloves on. And that gun, we picked up that gun from Thompson. That Weatherby has a pretty sensitive trigger. And he pulled up, got the, you know, got the hair in the scope and. Gave him a warning shot. Gave him a warning shot, but it was a warning shot. It hit him in the head. Hit him in the head. Dropped him like a ton of bricks. I mean, it's the best. It was over. It was over. It's the most ethical kill shot there is. If you shoot something in the brain, it will die. Yes. Immediately. Luckily, I mean, we got. And it will drop before the camera has chance to get it. Oh, yes. That actually happened. We got set up and I had the bull on the camera. And then we moved 10 feet for some reason and got reset. And all of a sudden the gun goes off.

And the bull disappeared and we're like. We weren't sure. I didn't even have my vinos up. You guys are like, well, no way he hit him. Because the gun accidentally. So he basically went off for his ready. How old is your boy? 13. He's 13 years old. So we got a 13-year-old. Real elk cunt. Yeah. Dad should have let him dry fire it a couple of times, not to sell. But. He had shot. He had shot. Oh, so he'd shot it. He'd shot the gun. Oh, okay. But he just had the gloves on. He had the gloves on. And I should have been paying attention. Pulled the gloves off and just made sure he was good that way. It happened kind of quick. I mean, it happened really quick, really. But it seemed like you didn't even know that the bull was dead. Your brother's like. We didn't know. The bull's dead over there. We didn't know. We had no clue. Like we had. My brother and my dad were set up on the opposite side.

On the opposite side of us. And we're just like. He gets down and he instantly. He's sick. He just starts going. I didn't mean to shoot. I didn't mean to shoot. And we're like. Okay. Okay. Okay. Anyway. My brother's like. Either the bull has just found some crevice and it took off. Or he's piled up. Done. Because he just dropped and was gone. And we're like. Well, we can't see him either. And I could see kind of somewhat on both sides. We're like. He might be dead. Maybe he had him. Maybe he had him. We were dying. We didn't know. So we started working our way over there. Damn. We're walking. And I'm looking. And I think Cason, my boy, is the one that spotted him. He's like. He's like. There's a horn right there. And I'm like. I look up there. And here's just one side of the six point. Just coming up off. Out of the stage first. We're like. Oh, my gosh. Stone cold dead.

Right in his tracks. Oh, my gosh. Right in his tracks. Didn't move. That's awesome. That's pretty cool. And your boy got to walk up on a six point bull at 13 years old. That's pretty awesome. Awesome. Off a draw tag. Off a draw tag. Speaking of youth draw tags. So Adam's boy draws. Something. Deer tag. Deer tag. In Idaho deer in unit 54. Which, you know, went to the end of October. All of us, I believe, took time. You know, John, I know you hunted with your boy in Utah. You killed a nice buck. Jason, you hunted with your boys in Utah. Like you said, Jeff, you hunted, I think, the muzzleloader hunt. But I took my son and daughter on Utah General. Their first Utah General hunt. 12-year-old. Anyway, it was an awesome. We killed a couple bucks here. And then went up to Idaho over the last about two and a half days. Actually, we snuck in two more rams after their Utah.

Killed two rams that weekend. Then went to Idaho. Had two and a half days there. Open spot and stock country. Yeah, found a couple of four-point bucks. Four-by-fives, actually. And he was able to kill one of those the second to last day. Really good-looking bucks for him. And it's pretty dang fun. That was honestly one of the highlights of my years. Yeah, hunting with kids. It's so fun. I don't know. The pressure is there, but it's so different. Because their expectations are way more manageable than our own or the clients we take. It's just such a relief. I mean, most of the time you're holding them back. I mean, some of Jason's kids have gotten a little bit spoiled. And they see a three-point that's 27 inches and they thumb their nose at it. Well, I had that happen. Yes. And he didn't kill one. How about that? That's right.

So on a Utah general tag, it's a three-point lip-curling does, I think, on the general. Dude, it was an awesome buck. And I'm like, really? We should kill that deer? And he's like, is he a four-point dad? And I'm thinking, well, should I add an eye guard? Yes, son, he is. He's actually an eight.

Anyway, it's so frustrating. I mean, anyway. And they do. It's just like I tell this story with Sean. I brought home a buck. It was like a 200-inch deer. And he's like, really, dad? That's the best she could do? Yeah. And I'm like, Sean, that's a giant. That was 45 days of effort. Yeah. To bring that up. To have my son say, nice, I guess. What are you going to do if you throw him on the rack? Yeah. And I'm like, Sean, that's a giant. I said, why don't you go kill a 200-inch deer?

Oh, my kids are awesome. We have talked about it before. I mean, your kids are a little tainted. There are some unreal expectations. All our kids are. And some of it's social media. They're on social media seeing what we're seeing. And we all want to be sitting behind a giant, you know? But anyway, and he's, you know, Sean, actually, he killed a buck in Utah. And then he's got a youth New Mexico tag in January. That archery. Oh, that's right. That's still coming up. That's going to be fun. That's going to be January 1st. And Adam and I were looking at statistics as we were running through writing the magazine. It's like a 50%, 60% kill with the youth archery on bucks. Unreal. Like, it's unbelievable. And so, anyway, of course, I'm getting him another dozen arrows.

It's not a bad call. But I really try. I mean, you've got to be ethical and take ethical shots. But we all get buck fever, especially when you're, you know, 15 years old. Yeah. So, anyway, it should be a fun hunt and a great experience, again, back in New Mexico, learning Unit 2B. I've never really hunted it. So, yeah, where collectively did we go? Let's, I'm going to take a stab. We hunted, obviously, Utah. We hunted Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada.

And is that all the states? Yeah, you said that. But a lot of people, we hunted multiple. Mexico in January, this past January. We didn't hunt Montana. I guess that's probably one of the main western states. They didn't give us a sheep pack or anything. But we hunted a lot. Lots of killer going on. And multiple hunts in the waterless states. Yeah. And we're planning for this next year. But I think that's part of doing what we do here at Epic is actually, you know, being in the field and putting the time in. Even Jeff, you know, spending as much time as he can spend. Of course, we've got, we all have office duties. But it's just, you've got to hunt. If you're going to talk about hunting, you're going to write about hunting. And you're going to, and you kind of got to live for it, right? Right. So, and we all do. So, it's awesome.

We did put our hands on a few giants. And it was awesome. We even spent some time in Arizona Deer with a member of ours that drew a deer tag. And I went with Sam Derringer, an outfitter of ours that's a super good friend of ours. Adam and I have dealt with him over the years. And, of course, he's been a podcast guest. Absolutely. And went out there and killed a 218-inch deer. Super heavy. Just a couple days ago. Yeah. That's recent. A couple days ago. And, you know, that deer had holes in his feet, all four of his feet. And, like, when you actually push on, you know, right around those sores or, you know, hole, whatever you want to call them, very, very sensitive. Like, just very sensitive. You can tell. Just, I mean, you've got a fourth inch to a half inch play on the soft part of his feet.

It's just crazy what the rut does to some of these bucks and some of the habitat and terrain they live in. Sandy country. Yeah. Just wore him down. Wore him out. And he was worn out. But such a matter. I would love to have had a collar on him to see. He went five miles in one night. Knew where he was on a Friday night at 6 p.m. And the next morning he was five miles away. It would just be amazing to have known, A, where he summered. How much country he covered. And then how much country he's covered in the last 20 days. Probably blow your mind. You know. But anyway, so the December issue. The December issue of Epic Outdoors is out. And we changed it up a little bit. We wanted to cover it by species. We normally talk about the states and kind of give a brief overview.

And Adam and I and John and, of course, Jeff and Chris and everybody here at Epic, you know, came up with just kind of how to change it up a little bit. So we went species by species to kind of give guys, if you're a deer hunter, here's deer and this is kind of what we recommend you do. And hopefully everybody that gets that kind of understands that and it's well received. I think it will be. It's what we would want to see, you know, ourselves. And that's kind of how we do Epic Outdoors. It just kind of gives you a 30,000 foot overview of if you're interested in deer or elk or sheep or antelope or all the species that we went through, here's the states you should be considering. Here's those that are must apply for, in our opinion. Here's some you might consider and why. You know, based on upfront fees, drawing odds, you know, trophy quality, opportunity, all the different factors.

So hopefully it, you know, if you've not got, you know, a clear idea of why you should be doing a certain state or why you shouldn't be doing it, hopefully it just gives you something to think about. We'll obviously go in much more specific detail from January to June in each state and each species, you know, the ins and outs of why and as far as specific units and weapon types where. But hopefully that gives you a little bit different perspective than we've offered before in the past. And just what's primarily just been a, here's a very generic state overview, which frankly, when we go to print there, could change in a month or two as the new regs come out. And so we thought, you know, this makes it up. Instead of doing outdated info. Yeah. Let's just talk general speaking about the species.

And I think you'll see coming out in January and February, we intend to give a little bit more insight as to maybe our own personal application strategies, Jason and I and others, as to how we mentally approach each year going in, how, what we first consider before we start filing our applications, how we kind of base our fall plans around it and how we proceed through it. Because it does take some strategy, particularly when you've got points built up that you've got some tags that are kind of sitting out there waiting to be drawn with accumulated points and things like that. So stay tuned for that here in the next issue or two. We'll break down our personal application strategy, things like that. But yeah, the December magazine, if you haven't got it already, you should be getting it any day.

The only real, I guess, urgent thing, if you are interested in applying for doll sheep in Alaska, that deadline is December 15th. You do need an outfitter. Guide client agreement signed with an outfitter, registered guide there. That's the only urgent deadline that we cover in that issue is the Alaska, well, all species, but primarily doll sheep. You don't have to draw a tag in Alaska to go hunt doll sheep. They are better areas generally than the over-the-counter areas. But if you want to plan or see something two or three years in advance, get in contact with us. We can help you set up with an outfitter that has doll sheep hunts in guaranteed areas. But if you're interested, call us here before the deadline. We'll get you in touch with an outfitter, you guys discuss the units that fit you, both from a trophy perspective or physical limitations

or any other expectations you have so you can meet that, get an application in for Alaska. It is about $200. They've increased their license fees. So it's not an $85 and a $5 application fee like it used to be. It's going to be non-refundable. It's going to hit you a little bit. It's a couple hundred bucks. And the odds aren't great to draw, but some great hunts that await you if you do decide to put in. Yeah, if you want to go doll sheep hunting, we can send you on a hunt. So don't think you have to apply. And I think that's what Adam's point was. You don't have to apply to go hunting. But if you'd like a shot at maybe a couple of the more trophy units or units that are managed on a draw basis, then we can sure help you out with that. And so this December issue does mark a year in business. So it's pretty awesome.

While we say one year, we've been in this hunting industry in the same basic business for many, many years, probably going on 20 now. And so it's not like we're new at this. We're actually veterans. And anyway, I take pride in being some of the best consultants out there. And I don't mean that lightly. And I also don't want to sound arrogant. But we do what we talk about. We've done it for years and years and years. We live for it. And there's not a lot of other things we do in life that we enjoy doing. Obviously, you know, a couple of you guys are sports fanatics. And, of course, you've got a little more depth than maybe I have. But having said that, this is what we live for. This is obviously what Adam lives for and Jeff and myself. And, of course, Chris and John are just awesome at what they do and live for the business as well as hunting

and are good at what they do, whether it be the digital side of things. And as well as the graphic design. Being a year in business, we've been working a long time. I want to let you talk, John, a little bit about some of the new things that are coming out with the online features. You know, if you don't have your December issue, like Adam was talking about, you should be getting it any day. But it is also available as an e-mag. With that, we've had an e-mag available all year. But we're also coming out with new digital services for our $100 membership each year. Go ahead, John. Yeah, those are going to be launched here shortly. You'll be able to log in and go into your account and see the e-mags. Really easy. You can see when you expire and change your address, change your email. Some of those things that are just going to be building over time, actually.

We're going to release the Wyoming odds here really soon. And you'll be able to go on, look up any unit, and have a lot of different tools that way. And just a lot more is going to be coming. So we're working on building that. Arizona as well, right? Arizona as well. We're going to kind of release those with the states when we go over state information. Then we're going to release the odds online. But just look for that to build and build. You know, if you don't see it now, it's going to be coming in the future. Yeah, it's just another way to, I guess, analyze in a little bit different depiction. Obviously, when we print something in the magazine, we have a finite amount of space that we can actually go over a unit. And you can't always portray two or three years, you know, graphically on each unit in the magazine. Or it would be two or three hundred pages.

Every year in Colorado, for example. That's right. So just keep that in mind. It was a feature we've always planned on adding. And we're glad to just about start releasing that again. They'll be state by state as they become available or application opens up in each of those states. That's our intention. There may be some that are a month or two ahead of time. But look forward to just adding that as another service for our members to be able to look and strategize. You know, use the magazine as a tool, but also use the odds online as another reference to help see where you're at, where you're sitting, and making your application plans. Yeah. Well, I think that's a, you know, it's going to be awesome. It's one of those things. It's been a year in the making, you know, coming up with the odds and not, you know, it's not been taken lightly. We've been working on it aggressively, full time.

Having, you know, data entry isn't the easiest thing in the world. And it's not something you can just grab from the state and, you know, plug it in and it converts itself. It's a manual process to a degree. So, anyway, we're super excited about that. A lot going on with the Epic membership. Of course, you get the magazine. It's nine issues a year. You know, it's monthly from now until June, covering all the states. And then what's bi-monthly is we're out in the field and you're out in the field. And, you know, from then on. So, it's growing and we love it. We've had a course, we've had just rave reviews across the board, you know, and we're just awesome. It just feels Epic's so strong right now. And we're going to keep that momentum going. It's our goal, of course, you know, as we know in-house, but we haven't maybe said it outwardly, you know, but to be the best.

I mean, we want to be the best at Western Big Game Hunting. We're not going to go be doing overseas. We're not going to be, we may, we may do it, but it's not going to be the focus of Epic Outdoors. Epic Outdoors focus is Western Big Game Hunting, Canada, Alaska, Mexico. So, with that, I wanted to kind of kick off a little bit about our membership drive. It's a true membership drive. You can't buy it. You buy your way in. You know, if you refer a guy, you'll get another name in the hat for the hunts that we're going to give away. Or if you get two guys, three guys, there's no limit to how many guys you can get in. And you don't have to pay their membership. It's just that you refer somebody. Or renew your membership if you've been with us since last year. Yeah. Any current member will get a name in the hat.

And then, of course, you can get more names in the hat by referring your friends, family, whoever. All your buddy has to do is mention your name. Yeah. And so, with that, Adam, maybe talk about the other options as far as the hunts that were giving away. It'll be somewhat similar to last year. And, yeah, we really appreciate all of you listeners that are already members and those that are maybe considering members. Here's something you might consider. We are through the, I believe it's the end of February, John, is the deadline for the entry of this, February 28th. Anybody that renews or joins our service prior to that date or refers somebody that joins our service and mentions your name will be entered into that drawing. There's no limit how many times your name can go in as long as you, you know, refer members or sign them up, give them a Christmas gift or whatever.

The winner will get their choice of a, obviously, a fully outfitted Alaska doll sheep hunt, which last year's winner took that one. Or a Utah mule deer hunt, fully guided mule deer hunt with the epic crew and participation of that as well as the third option is a Utah elk hunt once again with some of the epic crew there on that. So we want to make those, I guess, appealing. We realize everybody has, you know, maybe a dream hunt or two or maybe is in a different position in their life or whatever. And, you know, give you the choice. You want a doll sheep? You want to hunt a big mule deer or a big elk? And we'll draw that the end of February. Well, maybe March 1st. But entries are going into that through the end of February 28th. Hey, that's awesome. Super excited to give that hunt away.

You know, it's just, it's a way of us kind of, you know, obviously letting people, having our members, let everybody know that we're in business and what we're all about and what we're doing. And we appreciate you for it. And hopefully one of you guys will be hearing from you and have you on a podcast, whoever wins the hunt. So to get us out, I mean, this is kind of boring information. So I want to have some more, some light entertainment for a minute. So let's break for some light entertainment. And then we'll go into some more. We mentioned John hunting with his son. Is that where you're going? John's experience with his son in Utah. This is good. This is a good hunt. You know, there's one thing I kind of forget about before the hunts.

You know, you're preparing mentally to go and scouting online, you know, Google Earth and finding all your spots and then going out in the field and pre-scouting. And getting your kid ready. It's a little extra pressure. Yeah. And then you cannot plan for other people. You forget other people are doing that very same thing. Yes. They're Google Earth-ing. They know their glassy knob. They know where they're going to shoot a deer, drag it out, how to get it out, all those things. An opening day, that hits you between the eyes. It does. Especially on the Utah General Sea. Utah General. Yes. While there's giants in Utah General, there are also hordes of people. Giant crowds. It's often referred to as the pumpkin patch. So, here we are. At least in my, and maybe you guys can talk about what your strategy is when you get somewhere. Let's say you're not the first person.

I always have a plan B and a backup. Where I'm going to go or what I'm going to do. And so, you know, there's an option. And I also try to beat, you know, the other people there in case, you know, somebody else is going to be in the right, in the place. So, we get there. And I'd say we're set up an hour before light. We're in place. Are you up on your knob or you're waiting in the truck to hike up to it? No, we're on the knob. We're sitting there an hour before light. And, I mean, nobody else is there. Staking the claim. And your kid's like, Dad, what are we doing here? An hour before light. Let me remind you, Dad, it's public land and the sun's not up yet. Yes. And we're set up on a rock. All the while you're seeing headlights coming at you, right? Hundreds of vehicles, it feels like. It feels like.

And we did have a couple that saw that, you know, our vehicle was out at the front of the road. And we were in position. You could see us. We were up on a ledge overlooking this area that we were, you know, potentially going to shoot. And some did, you know, turn around, you know, went in a different area. We had two or three that came and parked right under us. I mean, we'd walked in. So our truck wasn't. They knew you were there. They knew we were there. It was daylight enough. It was daylight enough by the time they got there. Okay. And we had. Which is fine. Yeah, which is okay. Right. I mean, it's okay. It's public land. At least I try to go where their gun is not pointing in my direction.

Okay, so you're set up. You've got a gun in the claw aimed right where they're going to sit. Yes. Okay. So these guys come and they hike up right under us less than 100 yards. I mean, they're within. We can hear them whispering, you know, kind of thing. Like straight down the ridge. So I start. I'm like, oh, my gosh. They're not going to sit right under us. Keep in mind, you've got a plan B. Well, I'm at plan A and I'm there first. My plan B is for if someone's in my spot. My plan B is to go down and kick their butt. What was your plan B? What was your plan B? So anyway, so I mean, it's dead quiet, dead quiet. They set up right under us and I turn to my son and I'm like, I can't believe they're going to set up right, right where his gun is pointing right at him. Right in front of you. So I can tell you're going to do maybe something. You're going to do something.

You're going to teach your son how to take care of the problem. Right? Well, I'm thinking, what can I do? I'm talking to somebody else that's got a gun as well. So, you know. Yeah. Anyway, so I yell at him, hey, do you want us to just shoot over you? You physically yell. I physically yell. And how far are you? This spot is ruined. Crack of daylight. How many yards are you away from them? Less than 100. I mean, it's. Hey. Yeah. You don't really have to yell. So Carter filmed it and. Again, teaching your boy how to take care. How to take the matters into your own hands. I'm like, the place is ruined. The video's great. It really is. So, yeah, we put. I put it on Instagram and it's just. It's just amazing. Like, dude. You're. Somebody sitting in your spot. Don't sit, you know. 60 yards in front of them. It'd be better to come sit right next to you. Yeah. Instead of.

How long are you going to. Blind with your bullets. Right. And communicate. Right. Or something. And so the guy's like, well, no. Don't shoot over our head. Well. You can see it. We're set up. The gun is pointing. And you sit in front of our gun. Wow. Come on. Yeah. So. Fast forward a day or two or whatever. Yes. You guys did kill a buck. There's kind of a funny story to that, too. So then. Well, they finished him. And Carter.

And Carter's killed a nice buck on the Utah General. You know. Nice four point. In the past. In the past. So he kind of wanted that kind of deer again. Yeah. Or hunt for one, at least. At the end of the. At the end of the hunt. You know. We'll kill about anything. Yeah. And just for some meat. And whatnot. But early on. You know. He's holding out for. Decent buck. Decent buck. Yeah. So. It was still early on. Probably two, three days into it. And. We. We hear some shooting. And. There's only us. And these other guys. Down. You know. Down the ridge. That were in this area. Here's some shooting. Couple shots. And then we see a buck coming. Out of the trees. And this is early though. Right. This is early. Early. Early. Yeah. I mean. Crack of daylight. We hear the shooting. And. And then. We see the buck coming out. And it. It's got a big. Big frame. You know. It ended up being a 27 inch.

Two point. Okay. And so. Well it was a two by three. But. But it. It had a. With eye guards. That'd be a three point. Yeah. Right. Be a seven point. That's a good point. Whatever we're talking. That's a good point. With pipe mass. Yeah. And. And it's hit. And so. Obviously it's dragging something. Yeah. Or it's laboring to even walk. Or run. Or whatever. And. And it's hit twice. So we see. It's in one of the legs. And. And it's in a. In a bad way. Well. But it's beyond now. Out of sight from those guys. Yeah. Like. Out of sight. Kind of getting away. And it. It showed up. Kind of. At the base of this ridge. And we watched it for a long time. And it just kept coming towards us. And. And then we saw the. The guy. Tracking. Tracking it. Behind it. And at one point. He lost the trail. Or whatever. And kind of went. Back up the hill. Up the mountain. Into the trees. So he couldn't.

He was no longer on the trail. Comes by us. I. I asked Carter. What do you want to do? You know. There's a chance. I mean. We should probably put it down. There's a chance. We won't find the guy. In that case. You know. We'll have to tag it. He decided. Yeah. Let's put it down. We'll try to find him. Go from there. Anyway. So he. He puts. Puts it down. Puts it down. And. Couple rounds. Right? Couple rounds. Yeah. Smokes this sucker. So. Yeah. You know. Until the head's on the ground. Keep putting. Yeah. He's been taught well. Yeah. So.

Anyway. So we go up there. And. And. I think that the. The head is caught in the tree. But. We get up there. And realize. His head's still up. So he puts two more. And. Point blank. The deer's. You know. Out of its misery. Everything's great. So we. We go back down the hill. And. The guys come up. In their truck. And we're like. Hey. Did you. Did you shoot a deer? And they're like. Yeah. Yeah. We did. Well. I think we finished it off. We finished it off. It's right up here. You know. You want to. Go up and get it. And he. And I said. Yeah. It's. It's a pretty big two by three. And the guy. Looked at me. And goes.

I think we shot one bigger than that.

Like. We're the only people here. You're the only other hunters in the area. You're the only people that saw. You're the only people that saw. You were tracking this thing we watched. Yeah. We watched. Did you say it? Well. No. He was just like. I'm sure that wasn't. Yeah. Yeah. You know. Did he. They didn't see the deer. They had. No. They hadn't seen it. But I told him it was a two by three. Right. You know. Should have said three before. Twenty seven inches. Yeah. Got a book. Or just said 27 inches. Got a book typical up here from the looks of it. And they couldn't get out of there fast enough. Yeah. They didn't even walk over to the deer. No. No. Didn't even see it. Just wanted to get out of there. You know. As soon as possible. So. So. Anyway. And Carter was fine with it. A little bit disappointed. Because he would have. You know. He wouldn't have taken a shot.

You're just doing somebody a favor. Yeah. But you know. In Utah. Utah. A lot of the last bullet. So. Wins. Yeah. Which. And he was fine with that. I think it was the right thing to do. Because the deer was sick. But they weren't going to find it. Well. And the deer was moving toward thicker trees. Right. And they would have. Definitely lost it. And. Yeah. They wouldn't have found it. So. Good lessons there. I mean. Yeah. He ended up killing a deer. Maybe not optimally the way he'd want. But. Good lesson. Still a 27 inch deer though. Got four rounds in turn. Sounds like. Got four rounds in turn. I mean. You can put a half pound of lead in there. That's always exhilarating. I mean. And that good. A good deer didn't go to waste. Right. Which is what I think is important. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. But just crazy. You know. They obviously. It was big enough for him to shoot it. At daylight.

You know. Yeah. And. That's general season hunting for you. Or public land. I mean. Things like that are going to happen. And that's. Good. Good teaching opportunity there for you. John. Obviously. Things you can't. Plan them out. Especially on a hunt like a Utah general. Yeah. That's the thing I was going to say. There's going to be things dealt to you. Instead of you. Making things happen. You know. All the time. Yeah. A lot of these guys come from California. Or wherever. They come. And we all know they kill big deer on these general hunts. They really do. Like. It happens. But. Be ye prepared. Because. You're going to see a sea of orange in the morning. You are. It's just the way it works. You are. And the ethical thing to do is to clean up everything that's wounded. As long as you have a tag. Be prepared to put on it. Okay. Good point. Good point. If you have a tag. Right there.

To put on it. Yes. You did the right thing. I mean. You did the right thing. So. All right. Well. Cool story. Cool story. Do you want to fast forward to Colorado here?

John. To what extent? I don't know. Where are you going to Colorado, Jeff?

Take. Take two. Let's start over. I don't know. Well. We might as well go there.

All right. So I'm up there. I pre-scout. And John ends up with the same tag I've got. Which is a four season 18 cluster. And lots and lots of deer. But not a lot of big deer. I did end up finding a good buck. He's probably. Jason found a great buck. Low to mid 190s. And I should have maybe been more aggressive with him. But I just. You know. I want to kill a big deer. A giant deer. Yeah. And so anyway. John. I guess. Well. For a little bit of background. I wasn't up there. Because I was doing the December issue. Yeah. So I had. And I told you. I told you. Don't sweat it. I got it. I'll go scout for us. So I had two days in a row. I had a couple of problems with my computer. And things like that. Just things didn't go smooth. And so I put in 23 hours the first day. The first night. Went home. Got an hour of sleep. Then came back. And put in 20 more hours. On the magazine. On the magazine.

Finally got it to the printer. And was able to leave. Hard to believe. Don't you think Adam? Do you think you really put in 20 hours? Whatever he says I believe.

That's unfortunate. Because once. Jason and I get it. Get it refined. And edited. And passed. We're literally like. We wipe our hands. We're like. John it's all yours. We're going hunting. Good luck. Good luck with your computer. Good luck with all the glitches. Those aren't my problems. We can't graphic design. I can't do paint. I can't make something in paint. You know. I can barely use those little GIF. And those little emoji things on your phone. You know. Those are kind of cool. That's as far as my graphic design stuff goes. So. So anyway. It is truly in John's hands. Yeah. So I was. I was sleep deprived. And then we've got an eight to nine hour drive. And luckily I had my wife that made the drive for me. So. Yeah. Yeah. You know. I was fairly delirious by the time I got up there. And then. You know. We went out. Jason and I went out. Was it second day? Opening morning?

Opening morning. Opening morning. Yeah. Well you got there late. And I'm like. Hey. Just show up at my truck at 530. Let's go. Yeah. So. I got a spot. Jump in there. And I'm like. We're going to kill this buck. I pre-scouted it. I'm going to put John on this deer. We're going to smoke it. Yeah. Yeah. Five day season. Yeah. So. Jason puts me on it. Well no. We see it right off the bat. Of course. We got the orange coming. It's. You know. There's a lot of tags. Yeah. But. We see it. And nobody else is really glassing. They're just truck hunting. Yeah. You know. And we glass him up. Oh. He's good. 700. 800 yards away. And it's pretty windy. So we're like. Well. Instead of making a marginal shot.

Get closer. We're about 550 probably. Right. Yeah. And. So Jason. Jason finds the deer. I am. I am struggling. Like. I can't. I didn't even see the deer. I couldn't. You know. I was barely functioning. You might as well be on drugs and alcohol. For all. General. Intents and purposes. You weren't. You weren't thinking straight. So I'm like. Where is he Jason? Where is he? Are we hunting deer or elk? Deer. It's an outward genre. What are we doing Jason? And do I have the right tags? What state are we in? I'm just teasing. So Jason got me on him. You know. Got. Got a great shot off. I thought. Jason was videoing it. And. The camera says it wasn't a good shot. It wasn't a good shot. It was high. So. Yeah. After looking at it. Yeah. Oh. Clean miss. Yeah. The first time. Totally missed. Yeah. And then. Thanks for. Yeah. Got that. For the record. Yeah.

You're supposed to be honest. The first shot was. You're supposed to be honest in all your dealings. Okay. You can answer that question. Full. Full. You're good. You've answered. All right. Keep going. And the second shot was I. And. The second shot. You. You. He was done. Yeah. Above his spine. It looked like. Yeah. And just. Well. It just felt like he was done. Of course. There was a little ravine. You know. He was in the ravine. We couldn't see him anymore. We're high fiving. The deer's done. We go over there. No deer. No deer. No deer. And he had gotten up. And. No blood. And you know. When you do that. And we looked at the video closer. You know. He's just fine. He'll be fine. He's alive. Creased him within an inch of the hairline. Probably. Yeah. Just right out of the hairline. Shocked him. He got up and. And. Is happy. Yeah. And so. I looked for him for two days after. Yeah. Just.

Yeah. It was a bummer. It's harder in a five day season. To spend two days. Yeah. Well. And you. And it's one of the top deer. In the unit. It was. One of the biggest deer killed. Yeah. It was a warm. Warm year. And. And. Anyway. Oh. And I was just sick. Sick about it. You know. It just. Yeah. Oh. But. You know. It was. It was. 18 degrees. And windy. And cold. Miserably cold. And. I think you probably had a slight. Dose of buck fever. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. Kind of excited. Kind of excited. Tired. Excited. The whole thing. Yeah. And so. Anyway. It was a great. Fun. Fun. Fun hunt anyway. Yeah. You know. Of course you ended up killing a great buck. Yeah. Then I killed a buck. You know. Nothing compared to what. To the one that I could have had. But. It ended up being a great hunt. And for me. It was also just a break. Yeah. You know. From the office. You know.

I stay in the office a lot of the fall. And cover a lot of the office stuff. And the magazine. And all that. And. And didn't draw. As many tags this year. So. It was. Man. It was just great to get out. Great to. To hike. And to. To look at bucks. And learned a new unit. Found some good areas. And then. You know. So the last day. Last morning. You know. Best buck I found. You know. Might go 160. But nice four point. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And filled the freezer. And had a good time. My wife was there to help me. You know. Pack it out. And. So it was. It was good times. Of course. You know. With having five guys. That are very aggressively involved. In the hunting experience. We had Chris in Colorado. In a different unit. We ought to talk about that. At some point. And we ought to talk about Jeffrey. Hoping we'd avoid that. He hunted. Yeah. A whole different unit. And. Yeah.

So there's a lot of hunting going on. And. So anyway. If you guys want to share your stories. At some point. Every one of us hunted deer. Colorado. Right. Third. Third season. Yeah. Pretty much. Third and fourth. Third and fourth. It was warm for Adam. It was just warm. It was warm for everything. It was very much like 2016. I didn't think we could have. Two back to back years. You don't. Bad as 2016. It's like we're due. They carried over to deer. And. I'll be if we didn't have. Pretty much a repeat. Very little snow. If you have it. Had a. We're in a unit. That had a lot of high country. You know. There's no reason for deer. To come down. They didn't need to. It was 60. 65 degrees. A little bit of storm. Two or three days into the fourth. On some units. And more central. And northern end of the state. Southern end didn't. And so. I think they carried over. A lot of bucks again.

In Colorado this year. Now. So barring a heavy winter. Something like that. Better be back. Because. You know. We're due for a good year. They did kill some. Great bucks. But there is a lot of. Spotty. Yeah. Just. Seems like. Spotty here and there. Wasn't consistent. And it wasn't. Even in one unit. They didn't. Have an incredible hunt. In one unit. It was. Pretty scattered throughout. All the. Yeah. Yeah. Well let's talk about our license application service a little bit. We do. Do a lot of. Licenses for. For guys that. You know. Don't have time. Or. Or just don't. Or just don't want to deal with applying in the application process. Of course. With our service. You know. Guys can. Call in. Any and all times. We cover the states with them individually. As it comes time to apply. Or we just. Adam and I choose the units. We specifically hand. Pick units. And.

And different hunts that pertain to them. And so. Anyway. It's a full service. Where we apply you. As if you applied yourself. And so. We've got. I don't know Adam. Just a super response on that. It has been. And I think. You know. That is one thing. Even though. I think you alluded earlier. Been in business for a year. That's been. I guess. The full service of Epic Outdoors. With the magazine. Everything else. But this is. What our fifth. Or sixth year. Doing. Of a licensed application service. Maybe fifth. I think it's fifth. Yeah. So. That's something we did. You know. And consultant. And writing magazines. Yeah. We've been doing it for 17 plus years. And so. Licensed application service. We realize. That. That getting tags in the west. Is a totally different ball game. And. Our job. In. In helping. Take care of that. From a full service license application standpoint.

We don't view that as just an X's and O's. We'll get your applications done. Trust us. Are really. Our job. Is to get you drawn. Or try to get you drawn. On the hunts. That you tell us. You'd be happy with. Yeah. Based on the criteria. You've given us. With. Weapon preferences. Any physical limitations. Whether you're going to do it. Self-guided. Or guided. Trophy expectations. Which varies across the board. Some people have killed. A few big mule deer. But never a big elk. So maybe they're fine. With a 300. Or 320 inch bull. Just get me drawn for that. But on deer. Maybe they have. So they want 180. 190 plus. If they draw a mule deer tag. Sheep and goat. And moose. For most people. They don't hunt those. More than once in their life. So more people. Than not. Are happy with. A really good representative. You know. Moose. Sheep or goat. Until they kill one. And so. Our job. Is to tailor.

Your applications. To fit what you want. Not. Not do a cookie cutter approach. Throw you in with the masses. Is wipe our hands. And say. We got you. We got you in for the draw. And built your points. Because. Our job is to get you on the hunt. You want to go on. We want people to draw. We want them to draw. Well we want to draw. We want to look for every angle ourselves. And getting tags. And so we use that same mindset. It's good for business. To have people drawing. And hunting in the field. And submitting stories. Photos. Going with outfitters. It's good for business. We want guys to draw. Having said that. We don't want unhappy customers. But you know. With seasons like we had in Colorado. You're bound to have hunts. That just. The weather plays a role. And maybe aren't. Don't go as well as. As you wish they would. I had hunts that didn't go well this year. And that's part of it.

But having said that. It's not. It's not indicative of the unit. Or my effort. Or anything like that. A lot of it is weather dependent. Or depends on the year. And there's so many levels. To the license application thing. I mean. And it's not just. We just do this service for you. To you know. Get this off your plate. I think. I think. Part of it's that. But part of it is. You know. A guy can sit there. And be applying. In Colorado. And he's got 16 elk points. And he's been doing it for years. Well. Maybe you should have talked to somebody. And you could have been building points. In several other states. This whole time too. So it's just that. It's not just. We do it for you. Just because. Maybe you don't have time. It's also the advantage. Of having. Jason Carter. Adam Bronson. Going through your specific strategy. And applying you for a hunt. Say the guy has 16 points.

And he's fine with killing a 320 bull. Talk to. I talk to guys every day. Well. I got 14 points. In all these states. And. You know. I've never killed a 320. And I'm like. You should be drawn. Why do you still have 14 points? Yeah. You. You can go hunting three times. Yeah. In that. You know what I mean? Oh yeah. And. And just. It's just easy for a guy to. Instead of just. Doing the same thing. Just. Let us help you. Just talking them through it. From a. I guess. Adding some confidence to them. As they're talking about their points. And their situation. Obviously. Obviously. You have to have a time. In 2018. To go do it. We all know. We have. Family vacations. Weddings. Maybe a. A big hunt. That we plan. Or book around. Or a family. That's going to draw something big. That we want to be there on. That we have to first. Block out on a calendar. But. Once that's done.

And you have time to hunt. Then. Yeah. Just going through the motions. And building points. We all know. It's expensive. You know. It's you know. 50 to 200 dollars. To apply. For some of these states. Non-refundable. And that adds up. You know. You can spend a thousand. Or fifteen hundred dollars. Non-refundable. Pretty easily. In the western states. Every year. Just. Just applying. Just getting it done. And I think. You know. All that planning. And preparation. You know. Of building 15 years. Where the points. Or 10 years. A point. You know. Is awesome. Because you never know. When you're going to actually. Want to go. Adam and I. And you're. Obviously. Jeff. And John. And Chris. Everybody's plans change. From year to year. Adam and I. We look at what happened this year. And we're like. I don't. I want. I'm going to avoid. This and this and this. I. This. You know. And then.

We learn something. Every year. Yeah. We learn stuff. You want to. I want that again. Or. No. I'm going to tweak it. Or no. I'm going to change it. And I'm going to tweak it. And same thing. With now. Now that you're Arizona. And you used your Arizona elk points. You're on to. Something different. I've got a different mindset. You've got a different mindset. I may try a late rifle. For some reason. And I've got a different mindset. Maybe I'm tired. Of relying on bad weather. In Colorado. Oh. I tell you. You know what. Maybe I'm tired. Of waiting for that storm. I'm thinking. Archery or muzzle. And Adam and I. Talked about that. Maybe. I'm going to go. Make it happen more. By scouting. And all that. Prior to the hunt. And hunt a deer we find. Versus. Let's hope they come out. Of the high country. And they're looking for us. Trophy hunting. In my. In my opinion. Is in large part.

Due to controlling. As many variables as you can. Yeah. I'm going to. I'm going to go hunt. Where there's less hunters. I'm going to go hunt. Where the deer are old. And then. I'm going to go hunt. Where I can scout. Because I can control my scouting. I can't control the weather. Having said that. Adam and I. Probably end up doing an archery. A muzzle. Or hunt. And we'll have four feet of snow. Yeah. On a third rifle season.

You'd be. You'd be dumb. If you didn't kill a 200 inch. 200 inches. You're just falling off. We've been on those hunts. So we know it can happen. And that's why we keep. Fooling with it. You know.

We spend our time scouting in Utah or something else that's closer to us. And so. Anyway. That's always going through our minds. And that's what goes through our clients' minds. And. And they're. They're. Obviously. Plans change like ours do. And so they get to visit with us. And we get to. Adjust that strategy. And like Adam says. Not just cookie cutter. They get to adjust that strategy. Every year with us. And so. Anyway. With that. We are giving away. A Red Rock Epic Series rifle. Giving it away. An 80. What? $500 value? It'll be December 31st. If you. Anybody that's a current 2018. That renews. License application member. Will get a name in the hat. If you refer anybody. Including. Your family. Or friends. A lot of guys pay for their daughters. Sons. Whatever. And we do give a discount for. For children. But. Anyway. You'll get an extra name in the hat. For that.

If you refer somebody that isn't current. A license application member. So. Or if you're just somebody that's listened to this podcast. Or gets one of our mailings. And. You've been considering having somebody do your applications. Or if you're having somebody else do them. And you feel. You know. For whatever reason. You're not satisfied with that service. Or. Or whatever. Or want to make the switch. Like I said. What we've talked about. In terms of our approach. To helping you get the most out of your application strategy. We feel. Is the biggest reason. You should consider us. Is. But. As another incentive. Make the switch. Do it by December 31st. You'll be entered into the drawing. For a. A free. Red rut precision. Long range. Custom rifle. Which. You know. We all have and use. They're awesome. And. You know. So. Got about a month to get that in.

And we'll draw that the first week in January. Even if you've. Done your own applications in the past. And you want to change it up. Those points. Do stay with your social security number. Or your hunter ID number. And so. It. Makes no difference who files those applications. So we're happy to do that for you. Well. And every year we talk to guys who. Miss a deadline. And. Miss out on a year's worth of points. And. They call us. And. That's worth pointing out. Because. In all reality. Some states. Take Arizona for instance. I don't know what my elk tag. Would have cost. Because you can't buy landowner or outfitter tags. In Arizona of any kind. You know. With exception of statewide governor tags. Let's call it 15 to 20 grand value. Yeah. Probably. Really. It really is. And you look at. You know. What points are worth. In other states. For mule deer and elk. Yeah. You're.

You're very easily. Four or five thousand. For fairly minimal tags. Yeah. You know. It'll take five years to draw. For an equivalent landowner tag in Colorado. So. You do want to get the most out of something. When you draw it. And. And. As we talked about a minute ago. You can't always predict the weather. And things like that. But. Missing out on a year or two of points. Is. Can be worth thousands of dollars. Yeah. Especially if you fall out. Of. A top tier maximum point type level. If you have that. That will hurt you. It can be devastating. If you missed a year in Arizona. For deer and you're at max point. I might not get out of bed. That's a 50,000 dollar deer. You may not get out of bed. For two weeks. All right. Because. You not only lose one point. But you use. You lose your loyalty point. For another five years. There's just things like that. That. That. The stakes are high.

Don't want to beat that. Too much. But. But. If you find yourself. Too stressed. Not picking the right units. Or just find yourself. Picking points only every year. Because that's the easy way. To just keep up the pace. And you want some expertise. To help you pick your units. We're here to do that. For anybody. That. That. That. Renews. Or joins our license application service. And adds at least three states. Might add that. Then you'll be in for that Red Rock Precision Rifle. So. You know. Maybe you. Maybe you got your own home state. Or a couple of states nailed down yourself. But maybe there's a few states. Or a handful. That you want some help on. We're glad to do it. We're glad to do three. Four. Five. One. Two. You know. All your applications. You know. It's. You know. We can do it. A little bit about the Red Rock Rifle. It's. It's one of the best. Custom long range. You know.

Of course. I say long range. You know. Even if you're not into long range. They're an amazing rifle. They're. They're. They're as lightweight as you want. They've got several. Several different models. I've got one that comes in at like seven pounds. Mid seven. With the scope mounted. Everything. And it's nothing to shoot 700 yards plus. And so. Everything I point at it dies. Point. You know. It's just crazy. So. Anyway. It's a. It's awesome. It's in the. Ridge Reaper. UA. Baron. Camo. And. It's just a good looking rifle. It's state of the art. Dialed. With the guys up there at Red Rock. Who are good friends of ours. And. And know what they're doing. And so. We're extremely excited. To give this away. Of course. The Epic Series. Is going to be a 50. Rifle series. That we're coming out with. You can buy those rifles. Or reserve them. But you know. Choose your serial number.

It will be a numbered edition. And mine was the first. I think it's zero zero. Or zero. A 50. But. Anyway. Love the rifle. Used it extensively this year. And. And can't say enough about those guys. And the rifles they're making. We also went up. To the range. This summer. All of us. And we got to shoot that rifle. As they. Built the first one. And. We have a YouTube video on it. You can go check that out. If you want to. Yeah. Awesome rifles. Well. Let's wrap it up here. I mean. I can tell a hunting story or two. Maybe reads 215 at some point. But. And maybe that's for another. Podcast. But. The January magazine. We're working on it right now. It'll cover Arizona. Elk and antelope. As well as all species in Wyoming. Except for deer and antelope. You know. As those. May deadline. Come for those. Yeah. Later deadline. And there's going to be. You know. Maybe some effects from the winter.

And whatnot. And so there's various reasons for that. That they have a separate deadline. And we will also cover the wolves. Some wolf hunting. As well as conservation tags. And a few other opportunities. Where guys can bypass the draw. And obtain a conservation tag. Some sort. So.

Pretty awesome. We're going to have a few other items there. In the January magazine. As well as Jeff will be covering. Booking hunts. And some of the different hunts. With guaranteed tags that are available. Yes. And we do that. We work with the best outfitters. Here in the west. Just continually. You know. Adding. Adding guys that are good. That are proven. And that represent epic well. And so tell us a little bit about that Jeff. Well. And we're seeing it now. A lot of the. A lot of our hunters. A lot of our members. Who have been on hunts with these outfitters. Are getting home. They've had incredible. Incredible hunts. You know. Talking to a guy. I actually just got a text back from today. He said. Let's see. I think we sent three guys with them. I think they've killed a 335. A 345. And a 355 bull. Wow. With this outfitter. And. What did that hunt cost? Under 12.

That hunt was under 12,000 so far. With tag. Yeah. Not a draw tag. With tag in hand. So. So that. So that is a guaranteed hunt. I mean. You can go back and do it every year. Not guaranteed kill. But a guaranteed tag. Yeah. Guaranteed tag. Yeah. Yeah. Guaranteed tag. So. We have a lot of opportunities like that. The other thing that. You know. We really need to get. You know. At the forefront of our minds. Is. Is coming up this next year. On these guaranteed tags. You can buy landowner tags. Pair them up with a great outfitter. And kill some amazing animals. Whether you're going to be. And sometimes those are unit wide tags. Sometimes they're private land only tags. But. For the most part. We're going to be hunting. You know. Unit wide tags. Say you want to go on an elk hunt. Let's find you. A landowner tag. Landowner voucher in New Mexico. Say. We'll pair you up with an outfitter.

Get you on a hunt. Most of those outfitters have tags for you too. And let's go hunting some good animals. So to keep. Do the same thing in Colorado. Yeah. Yeah. So to kind of take it from there. For just a second. Av and I and Jeff. As well as of course John and Chris. Have discussed this landowner tag situation at length. And it is a viable way to get a tag. It's. As. As. Getting tags is. Is. Is. Key. If you don't have tags. You're not going to kill anything. So. So. So getting tags is key. And part of that process is. Supplementing your draws with some landowner tags. And guys are willing to buy a landowner tag. Landowner tags are not necessarily good just for the private. Generally speaking. But people are buying tags to be able to hunt the public ground as well. Just to be able to hunt the same as if you drew the tag. And that's what we concentrate on. So. Starting this month.

We are going to accept $500 deposits. If you want a particular landowner tag. We're going to accept $500 deposits. It's basically an escrow account. We're holding it. It's going to go toward the purchase of a landowner tag. That money is your money. If you ever want it back. We will give it back to you. No problem. But what it does is. And we went through this this last year. Where these guys say they're interested in tags. We find tags. We buy tags. They weren't that interested. We buy tags. Yeah. We bought tags. And we're holding the bag so to speak. And then we have the tag. And it's on us to be able to sell it. Because the guy doesn't really want it. That $500 basically tells us who's serious. If you're not willing to put up $500. You're not that serious about getting a tag. It's true. And we'll work hard. So we're going to work hard. Starting right now.

At buying some New Mexico tags. Being New Mexico and Nevada. I mean we're not. Just to clarify. Colorado changed their regulations a few years ago. We're not facilitating or brokering anything over there. So we're not talking about deer tags in Colorado. Which is a very very big demand. As we all know. This is talking about. New Mexico elk and antelope. You know. Maybe some Nevada tags. Which are a lot tougher to get. But just to clarify. That's it. And just to add on what Jeff and Jason are saying. You know we've talked a lot about now being kind of the time of year. To get your game plan ready for 2018. And whether it be a guided hunt or a landowner tag. That's a great way to ensure in December or January. Here you know six ten months in advance. You're going to have something to go hunt this year. Now obviously they cost. They cost money. It's not like drawing a tag.

And getting a quote freebie. If you will. Out of. Through the draw system. But that's totally unpredictable. And whether that's going to happen. Unless you know you've got the points built up. So if you have the means. Or have the time. Or both in your schedule. This fall. And you know you want to hunt an elk. Or a deer. Or an antelope. Or something. That we can secure. A unit wide landowner tag. And let you go do it. Or you know you're going to go guide it. And you want to get something on the books. Now's the time to do it. So then you can plan around it. With all of your application strategy. I know I booked a Utah elk hunt. On a private land hunt. September 15th to the 22nd. And I'm going. I can stay away from that. With all my other application plans. And if I draw something. Great. Then I have a couple good hunts. But if I'm left in June with nothing.

Your options then are a lot more limited. They're not non-existent. I don't want to say that. Hey you better get your deposit in now. Or you won't be able to get landowner tag. But your options get a lot more limited. In June or July. After all the draws are out. It is. It is. It is. And so it's one of those things. If you know what you want now. Tell us what you want. If you want to go on a sheep hunt. Or something with an outfitter. Call Jeff. Call us here at the office. Of course Adam and I work with Jeff. On a daily daily basis. And we can help you as well. But Jeff is primarily responsible. For working with our outfitters. Adam and I can help you. With landowner tags. As well as all the draw on application processes. And kind of your long term. Short term strategies there. Having said that. I want to just revisit the license application real quick.

The most you can spend with us is $500. We will do all states for $500. Or it's $50 a state. For two species or less. $100 per state. If it's three species or more. And then $500 cap. Can't spend more. I mean in there. I can tell you from experience. We get people that switch to our service. All the time. As recently as yesterday. That spend over $2,000. For other services. To do the same thing that we're going to do. Which is crazy. That's a lot of wasted money in our opinion. And like I said. We rest on the merits of our research. And our expertise. And us helping you draw what you want. And we really want to emphasize that of being the main purpose. That we would recommend you trying our application service. Well and you're in control. But saving $1,000 or $1,500 is another. You know. Put that towards a guided hunt. Or a lander tag. Three years you've covered it. Put it in the bank.

Yeah. And so I think that's key. We're not out there to convince you to switch. If you already have somebody doing your. If you're happy. Stay there. No problem. We're just putting it out there. That we do a great job for our clients. It's our goal to be the best. We feel like we are. And we're going to continue down that path. That's our goal. And anyway. First and foremost is hunting. The hunting experience and whatnot. And then rolling that into the epic business. And helping our members succeed in the field. So anyway. I guess that's about it. Is there anything else you guys want to bring up? Or anything you want to talk about? I don't know. Jeffrey. Christopher. John. I think we saved some of the other stories for another podcast. Oh there's a lot of good stories. There's some good ones. Yeah. Some classics. But. Everybody's healthy. Your families are good.

Fat and sassy after Thanksgiving. A little emphasis on the fat. But. We're already. We've all. Hey. I've already heard the. Hey. The plans of a few of us. Myself included. And I'm working out every day. To not. To not slip back into the winter. No. No. Softness. We'll just call it that. Jason. Did you say you're going to start supplementing. And working out. I mean. Hey. Wait. Jim Rat. Is that what we're hearing? There are certain people on Instagram. Okay. Now. I want to address that right now.

There are certain accounts that I do follow for inspiration. Having said.

Having said that. You will not see a Jim selfie from this guy. Jeffrey though. We're excited to see some from you. And. Just. Amen. Keep them from. And Chris is single. It's a natural. He needs to be doing. That's right. Jim selfies. Country singing selfies. It's advertising Chris. You got to advertise. There is no. There is no bad advertising Chris. Bad is good. Good is good. All is good. If you want to see a Jim selfie from me. Better show up at the gym. Take it yourself. Yeah. Take it yourself. You're going to pirate your own picture. So by the way. Doesn't it. Like. If you take the picture. Isn't it legally your picture. Yeah. Even though you're in it. Yes. But if you're going to publish it. You probably need my permission. Oh. I'd have to sign a release. Sign a release. Yes. Oh. Well that would require. We'll just say the female taking a picture of you. Asking you for your number.

So she could text you for permission. Oh boy. So I see where you're going with this Chris. I see where you're going with this. So you need Chris's permission. You need his phone number. All right. So. The rest of us. Yeah. You will not even see as much as a beat of sweat on my head as a Jim selfie. That's. You won't even see that. Let alone a muscle in action or working out or squat. By the way. Or dead lifting. None of that. By the way. This office today and this podcast is powered and energized by Rockstar.

Because they were on sale this morning. Yeah. What's that about? We broke the mold. It's kind of like. I refuse to pay full price. From white monsters. So we send him to the store. Get some white monsters. They're full price. He comes back. Paying full price. He comes back with white Rockstars. Who in this room has ever had a white Rockstar before? I have. But somebody gave it to me for free.

Anyway. They were. Instead of $2.69. They were $3.55 or something. Whatever. That's right. Speaking of which. I rewarded them for the monster. We told him we'd reimburse him for the white monsters. There is nothing in writing about white Rockstars. That's right. Thanks. Thanks for. You're out of your own pocket. Thanks for the drink today, Jeff. Thanks. Tell Angie things. There you go. I will. She's powering the office today. All right. Okay. Well, with that. Yeah. Look forward to a lot more of these. Now that we're back on a regular basis. We appreciate the support we've had from all of you on the podcast. We've been almost a year doing those, too. Nearly. Yeah. Come January, February is when I think we started publishing. Chris would know better. But we started cranking in January. It was just an idea. And for guys to kind of get to know us a little bit better.

And it's been good for us, too. We've had some incredible guests. We want to say thank you to everybody that's been on. And, of course, we're going to have some phenomenal guests lined up. With that, I do want to throw another plug in there. If you want to hear from somebody, let us know. And you might even preface it with them. Say, hey, maybe you do an epic podcast. I'd love to hear from you. And have them hit us up. We'd be happy. And a lot of these guests have hit us up. And that's how we've got hooked up. And so, anyway, we'll be doing these. We'll be cranking out a lot of them. And, again, strictly Western big game hunting or something to do with it. Maybe a little entertainment here and there sprinkled in. Yeah. And if you like what we're doing, go on iTunes. Leave us a review. You know, subscribe, follow. Speaking of that, let's give something away today.

Let's do – how about we do a pair of fat tires? No? Yeah. Let's do it. All right. Let's do it. So let's give a pair of fat tires away. It's Under Armour. We do want to thank Under Armour for sponsoring these podcasts. They're a phenomenal partner of Epic Outdoors. And we appreciate them. You know, they're in the magazine. They sponsor the YouTube. They sponsor the podcasts. They sponsor a lot of my hunting because I've dealt with them a lot in the past on various projects, as well as many of us here in the room in various fashions. And so, anyway, we want to thank them for the support they give us and the fact that they believe in what we're doing and know that we're doing the best we can. Yeah, and some of their new clothes that we got to use this year were just phenomenal. The wool was awesome. Wool pants, man, I just loved every minute of them.

I don't think Adam has a pair of wool pants. Thanks for bringing that up, John. That's what happens when you're in the throes of probably a three or four week stretch out guiding sheep hunters nonstop. And all of a sudden the gear comes in. And some people, which will remain nameless, get very – Jason said it – Get very eager to ship it out to a lot of our partners, outfitters, people with some great tags and all that before he checks in-house. And before you know it, I'm a fairly, I guess, common-sized guy, you know, pants-wise. Skinny and tall. Mine, they're out of stock. And so I've watched a lot of clients bring them on hunts with me as well as my guides wear them with me. And they love them. And rant and rave. And I just look at them and say, huh, I'd like to know what that – Where did you get those? Yeah, where did you get them? And they said, Jeff, your office.

And I said, okay, well. So, anyway, I'm waiting. I guess I can try hunting coyotes in them or something if and when they come in. So, anyway, but appreciate the response and support from Under Armour helping us outfit some of the people with some great tags as well as some of our outfitters. I'm only making light of it just because I didn't speak up soon enough. That's really, I guess, what it's about. You're letting Jeff off easy. Yeah. But having said that, let's do it. Let's give away a pair of fat tires. What episode number is this? Oh, I think this is going to be 48. Okay. Let's go into epicoutdoors.com. Go to the podcast page. There is a giveaway spot where you would put in the code. Let's go with FATTIRE, F-A-T-T-I-R-E, 48. And you'll receive – FATTIRE 48. And you'll receive a – We'll do a random drawing of the guys that register. A United Kingdom size 48 boot.

Bronson. I don't know. They have weird sizing. Whatever size that is, you have to make it work. 9, 10, whatever size you are. No, your size. Exactly. So, once again, what's the code that they need to type in? FATTIRE, F-A-T-T-I-R-E. Double T. Double T. FatTIRE 48. Go in there, register, and we are going to give away a pair of fat tires. I believe they're $199. I'm going from memory, full retail value. And they're going to be shipped to you free of charge on Epic as well as Under Armour. So, anyway, appreciate everybody that's listening. Let's give that away. And then, is there a way – people give away stuff for reviews. Can we give away something for a review too? We can do anything we want. Yeah, all right. Let's do it. One of my favorite products that they just came out with that I tried this year was the wool base layer. It's reversible. It's gray on one side, barren camo on the other.

I loved it. I wore it. Let's do it. I wore the heck out of it. All right. Let's do that. So, if you leave a – you do it, Chris. Tee it up. All right. So, we're going to give away the new Under Armour base layer. It's made out of wool. Top and bottom. Top and bottom. I wore it this year and absolutely loved it. It's not like the squishy, whatever they call it. It's not compression. It's not compression. It's fitted, but not compression. And, I mean, I wore it. Dude, I loved it this year. Okay. So, let's go top and bottom. You leave a five-star review on Epic Outdoors Podcast. We're going to go through there and give a random – give it away randomly. Right? Yes. Yep. Sound good? The awesome thing about that, too, is it's reversible. So, if you're not in hunting season, you can flip that over and – Got a great shirt. It's great. Go out to dinner. It is awesome.

Leave a review by December 5th. Let's give them a December 5th. Leave a review by December 5th. We'll go on there. We'll give that away. And so, you get a base layer, and then we'll give away a pair of fat tire boots also. So, anyway, go to epicoutdoors.com to the podcast section. Enter Fat Tire 48, F-A-T-T-I-R-E 48, to get a pair of fat tire boots possibly. And then, of course, leave a review, and you're in another drawing as well. So, anyway, kind of an expensive podcast for us, really, guys. Who came up with this idea? Jeez, we're losing money as we speak. So, all right, let's go back to work, and appreciate everybody listening. We're going to have a bunch more podcasts coming out. It'll be pretty interesting. So, with that, we'll talk to you later. So, you're going to have to do that. Thank you.