Remy Warren (0:00)

Foreign I'm Remy Warren and I've lived my life in the wild as a professional guide and hunter. I've spent thousands of days perfecting my craft. I want to give that knowledge to you. In this podcast, we relive some of my past adventures as I give you practical hunting tips to make you more successful. Whether you're just getting started or a lifelong hunter, this podcast will bring you along on the hunt and teach you how to live wild. This podcast is brought to you by Mountain Tough and Yeti. A lot of the tactics I talk about here require you to be in top physical shape. So I partnered with Mountain Tough to help get you ready for the mountain with their science based hunter specific training app. You'll get in shape and mentally tough able to tackle any hunt. Because we really believe this will help you be more successful As a listener to this podcast, we're giving you six free weeks to get you started. Just use code livewild. Welcome back to Live Wow podcast, everyone. You know, for me, hunting is about so many things. It's about the adventure in the journey, it's about the food, it's about the pursuit. It's about, especially with either rifle or bow hunting, kind of being proficient with whatever you're hunting with. But one of my favorite things about hunting is just that opportunity to explore a new place. Maybe it's a new mountain or hunt a new species is because that that adventure of just seeing and doing something completely new is really exciting to me. And I recently had the opportunity to do a hunt that I've thought about for a long time. It was chasing greatos ibex in Spain. And so for this hunt that I just did, I met up with my buddy, Pedro Ampuero. He lives over there in Spain. So it was really cool to be able to do a hunt with a friend, kind of, you know, where they grew up. I know for me, it's one of my favorite things. When friends come in and I get to share especially especially friends that are from some other part of the world and I get to share my part of the globe with them. The things that I grew up hunting or doing and the places that I've explored, it's always fun to be able to share those. So to get to meet up with Pedro in his part of the world with our bows and get to try to get on a mature ibex, Billy was just an incredible hunt. So this week I'm gonna share the story of the hunt, or at least part of the story. And then later on we'll Have Pedro and talk about his part of the Hun. And then we're going to cover something that, you know, I like to do some tips and tactics. And one of the things that I think happens on nearly every hunt, maybe it's just the way that I live, but nearly every hunt, but is rarely talked about, is just that energy drain or general lack of sleep that you get on a hunting trip while there's this constant need. So on one hand you've got lack of sleep and then on the other hand you have a need to perform at a high level, whether it's glassing, shooting, all these other things. So we're going to look at some of the details and ways that we can stay focused, alert and ready when our body feels drained. I always really like doing these kind of hunt story recaps after a hunt, especially because things are fresh in your memory. But you're also just coming off the excitement of a really cool adventure, really cool trip. And this trip was definitely one that I'd been thinking about doing for a long time. I've never actually been to Spain or hunted in Spain. And you know, being friends with Pedro for a long time, hearing his stories of chasing ibex or red deer, roe deer, and some of the things that he'd done there, you know, when we get together on other hunts or just, you know, hanging out outside of hunting, you know, to hear those stories, it's just always fun to kind of think about, oh, it would be cool to experience that particular hunt, especially with that person. It would be, you know, a lot of fun to be able to go do that. And so we kind of talked about this hunt for a while and made it work. Ibex is one of those things that I've wanted to hunt for a long time as well. I just, you know, haven't really had the opportunity to yet. I love any kind of mountain hunt, any kind of mountain species. And ibex is one of those that is pretty iconic of, you know, mountain hunting. The cool thing about Spain, so they've actually got four species of ibex that live in various parts of the country. They've got the greatos, the basetti, the southeastern, I think, and then the ronda. And they all have like their own little characteristics. But the ones that we were going to hunt were the greatest ibex. So they're in the greatest mountains. And it was just. They're really cool looking animal. Like they're, they're typical horn configuration compared to the other ones. Like they're pretty long horns, they go up they kind of come out and then curve back in is like their particular horn structure. And they generally live in like this national, I guess you'd call it like a national park, but it's like a national park where they manage the herds and the animals there. And so it's kind of a cool and interesting conservation story. Just like any conservation story that involves hunting. From what I gather, like the, the populations were down and then they created this hunting area to manage the animals. And now like the tags are issued in a very interesting way that's kind of different than what we're used to. So, like in America you get a tag and it's good for whatever animal. Although there are certain regulations where it's like many places for elk, right. You could go and it'd be like Brow Tyne bull or spike only tag or cow elk tag. Right. So we do manage that way. And in some ways also, like sheep, they have to be full curl or over 8 years old. So they're trying to manage for a certain age class. So the way that they manage the ibex is the tags are actually issued for essentially like a size, but within that size you're looking for the most mature animal. So every animal that's taken is essentially past its prime and age. And then the tags are issued based on size. So they, they break it out into like categories of like gold, silver, bronze, and within that it's the mature animals at the top. So you're kind of harvesting like a good distribution. You aren't just taking the top, like growth ones. So it'd be like, it'd almost be like them issuing tags here, where you have an elk unit and they give 100 tags for mature bulls in like the 300 class, and then 50 tags for like three, like bigger than that, and then one tag for like the largest size. It's kind of an interesting way that they distribute the pressure and really try to manage the herd based on genetics and age class and everything. Like a very, a different structure, but like a cool way of issuing tags and really managing the animals and through their management system, like the population have exploded. We saw a lot of ibex. There's quite a few animals there. And one of the things that I guess had recently moved in, it kind of reminds me of like whenever you go somewhere there's always things that are similar. Like there's now wolves in this area that predate on the ibex. So that's like something that I think. I don't know if they've always. I guess they used to be in the area, kind of moved back into the area, but just kind of an interesting dynamic something that we deal with here. And you don't really think of them dealing with it there in Europe or other places, but definitely an issue with like this particular area. So that's kind of like the ibex. I don't know, a little, a little bit of backstory. So for, for this hunt, you know, it's a lot of travel to get over there. I mean I essentially left it, left my house at 3am on, I don't know, let's call it whatever it was Saturday. And you, you fly essentially all day. Get to like. I think I flew to Texas, got. And then it's like overnight flight get in. It's like morning the next morning and we just kind of hit the ground running. So our plan was we actually from where we flew into, to drive as two or three hour drive, something like that, not, not too long. So met up with Pedro and his buddy Samuel actually picked us up from the airport. He was going in with us because he has like a hunt area around where, where we were hunting. And he's actually. His family has like an outfit and everything. There's. So we went out with those guys and met. Met up with Pedro later that afternoon and our buddy Andrew was over there as well. So the three of us were going to go out and, well, four of us, I guess we're going to go out and head into the mountains to like Samuel's family has like this badass like cabin in the mountains. I guess it's like a stone hut. So the plan was we're going to, we're going to head in, we're going to take some horses in for our gear. That way we could have like whatever we wanted up there, camera stuff, all that stuff. We're gonna hike in with the horses, just lead the horses in and then hunt from there. So get, we get there, get set up, you know, do the typical check the gear, you know, assemble the bow, the trailhead kind of thing, like putting the bow back together, putting my sight back on, checking everything, putting broadheads on the arrows. I had a few prototype broadheads I was testing as well. So pretty stoked on that and just wanted to check the zeros, shoot a little bit. Pedro brought a target. Which man, I mean, if you're traveling anywhere, I don't care if you're muzzleloader hunting, rifle hunting, bow hunting, long bow hunting, you got to make sure your gear's hitting where you want it. And so we we checked the bows, everything was good. And then the plan was to head up the mountain. You know, the weather was like pretty overcast and rainy. And we're. Originally the forecast was like just shit weather. And for mountain hunting, no. Visibility is about the worst thing that you can get. So heavy cloud, heavy rain is the worst thing because you can't really spot and stock if you can't spot. Like, it's hard to find what you're looking for when you can't see. And often these animals live toward the tops of the mountains, so they're in that, like, cloud layer. But it looked like there was going to be a little bit of a break, so. So that was good. Like, it was promising, but we just didn't know what we were going to encounter because it had been socked in for like the week before we got there as well. So we hike into the hut and just an incredible, like a stone, stone hut, almost like a thatched roof kind of thing, like straw roof kind of deal. And had a little fireplace in it, outdoor, little cooking area. Actually had like a pipe tapped in from a spring. So there's like a little sink and everything there. And just overlooking this river valley, just incredible. Now this is springtime, so everything's super green, just like it would be anywhere in the spring. You know, a lot of the flowers blooming. Like, I guess there's a plant called piorno, which is like. Think of it like, it looks a lot like little yellow flowers and there's some heather, which is like a. Almost like a. It looks like a. If you're familiar with like Mormon tear Ephedera, it looks kind of similar to that plant, but a little bit softer. Like not as stiff bristles, like real green kind of stemmy brush. And then just the grasses and the rivers just cranking. So we actually. There's a old bridge over one river that we crossed and just, you know, the water's flowing pretty good, pretty fast down these, these mountain valleys. Like still snow in the peaks, just an incredible backdrop. And then like the, the tree cover. So he's starting in the bottom and then the planets kind of hunt more into that alpine type terrain. So starting in like a tree mix of a lot of oak, actually. I guess there is some pine and some other things, but mostly like oak kind of stuff. Reminded me of like the western Sierras, like the foothills going into the Sierras, where it's like that oak kind of country in like that California area where it's like brushy oak kind of stuff. And then like really vibrant grass. And then as you get up a little higher, you're in that more heather type stuff. And then as you get to the tops, it's more like that short grass and. And rock. Like a lot of granite. Just some phenomenal country. And in a weird way, very familiar country to kind of where I come from in Nevada. And like this, like I said, in the Sierra is kind of that granite and stuff like that. Like, it looked if you just replaced maybe the Manzanita and the Sierras with heather, that it would be the same. Like, you wouldn't be able to tell it apart. Like, very cool and in some ways, very familiar country. So we get it. We get all set up there, take the horses in. We've got a few guys with us that are just going to help, you know, scout some other areas and stuff. Some. Some friends of Pedro's and Sam Wells. So we decide Andrew's gonna go to a different area in the morning. And then Pedro and I are gonna go hunt together. And so we go up and I'm up first. Cause I've never taken an ibex. And so. And we go up and so the plan is just kind of like, work our way up. So we just start hiking up the mountain the next morning and glassing and, you know, looking for ibex. We saw quite a few nannies, like, down in the scrubby brush. And I guess this time of year, pretty much like most species, right? In, like, springtime, the. The bucks are bachelored up for mule deer or the bulls are bachelored up for elk. And with the ibex, it's the same. The billies are bachelored up and then the nannies are kind of in their own little group. So going up in the lower country, we saw quite a few nanny groups and then even in some of the rocks and things, but didn't really see any billies for the first part, which they call macho. So we didn't see any El Macho, you know, moving around up until we kind of started to break. Just as we started to go up the canyon and get above that, like, I don't know, oak brush, oak tree cover. We saw our first ibex, like Billy's. And they. There was like one older one and then one, you know, and kind of like just gauging. So what we were looking for is like the oldest one we could find within a certain class. So my tag was for, like, that bronze. What would they call, like, a bronze class? Like, technically, like the smaller of them. But, you know, for me, I'm like it's more about. This is perfect. That's a great tag to have because it's all. There's still like old mature animals and that's what I wanted. Like just that, that old mature ibex that's lived his life on the mountain and like find the oldest animal we can. And so we, we get in on some and we're studying them and. And you know, having experience hunting sheep and mountain goats and all that stuff, you know, I fairly decent at aging and kind of guessing score once I kind of understand the system a bit. And so we looked at them and. And it's always good. Like one thing that I'll do this is a little trick like pop the. I'll use my mag view with my phone, boom, Take a picture and then zoom in and you can kind of start to count the rings that way. It's a really good way to analyze things because as they're moving or take a video where you can freeze it in different positions as you're looking. It's always hard. Like I tried to do it both ways where you zoom in digitally and look at it and then look at them through the scope live as well. But it's a great way to kind of gauge the animal that you're looking at. Whatever species is. It's a thing that we do quite often, whether it's trying to score elk on the hoof or mule deer. It's like that picture is so valuable, especially when it comes to aging animals to zoom in and you can kind of get a really good idea and even like point it out with other people to just kind of get that age right. So it's good to get kind of our bearings and look at some animals and get some age and like, you know, just see these things for the first time. Just super cool animals. And from there we just decided to move up, move up the valley, move up to the top, followed Samuel's lead and Pedro. And we got up to the top and nice kind of like benched out spot with big granite boulders and everything. Really cool country. And in one of the spots back there there was like a massive group of billies. Just I don't even know how many there were. 20 plus. And there were some giants in there, like some big dogs. But we were looking for a specific one because remember your tag is for like a specific animal. It's a very old animal within a certain size, which you know, we aren't used to here. But it like made a lot of sense when you see like the distribution of these animals. And if you could manage a population this way, like I think that probably people that have large private pieces for whitetails kind of manage in that way of like you're looking for in some ways, like old animals that don't have the same growth potential. And then you've got, you know, maybe take one of the big ones every year, whatever. Like it's just a good way to manage age and like distribution of characteristics. So, so we're looking within that, within that group and there's some, there's a, you know, quite a few that would be shooters. So we're, we're set up, we're looking and we, it's pretty open the way that they are. Like there isn't a real good approach, but there might be, there's like some big rocks and if they kind of go over the other side of the rocks, we can move in. So we, we get closer probably like 200 yards and the fog just rolls in, just covers them up. And I mean they were like 200 yards away. Now they don't exist. Like you can't see them. So we sit back, wait for that to clear and then once it clears like we realize they're gone. So we circle around, see where they went. Most of the group went up and like bedded themselves on this face that there's just no approach, it's like wide open. Exactly. What sheep and goats like to do is use the terrain and the openness to their advantage. And then a few of them had actually dropped down into this canyon where it was a little bit more brushy and we might be able to potentially get a stock. So the plan was just to be patient, like not rush anything because we're going in after one specific animal in these, one or two specific animals in these 20. So we really got to look over every single one, say like this is the one we're going to go after. That one's, you know, 9 or 10 year old, 11 year old, you know, whatever. So, so we, we sit there and, and we watch them and a group starts kind of breaks off. So we think that that might be a good one to, to get a, make a play on. So Samuel goes around across the canyon to glass back and we kind of start our approach. I mean we don't even get shit. I don't know, like the wind seemed good. I don't know if it was a little swirly with like the way that that fog was blowing in and out or whatever. But I mean, I don't even think we Were probably like a quarter mile away or further, maybe further. 800. I don't know, 800 yards. And it's just like they blew out one of those. One of those stocks where you go. That wasn't even close. Like, we have to get within bow range of these things, and that was not even close. And I think that it should be said, like, there. I think there are places where maybe people have hunted bassetti ibex or greatest ibex, probably greatest ibex. And. And, like, they're fairly easy to hunt. And I think that there's other places where, like, they're way more difficult to hunt. And I think we kind of picked this area because they were just like a little bit in. In some ways, like, more challenging to hunt this particular stuff. Like, it's the steeper part of the mountain. We're like, on the. The steeper side of the mountain. There's a lot of wolves in the area. So these. These animals have definitely been hunted. You know, they've had hunter pressure as well, but I think, like, the. The constant pressure from wolves keeps them on edge. So these. These were not like, walk up to them and not like dumb feral goats, right? Like, they. They actually were pretty crafty. And so we're like, well, that sucks. You know, you always hate for a stock to go bad before it ever starts. Not really sure what happened. Like, it was kind of weird the way that they blew out. So maybe there was something else in the canyon. They smelled something. I don't know. It was hard to figure out what the heck happened. But that did not work out, so. So we end up kind of pulling back, glassing more and just watching them do their thing, hoping that. Just waiting, like you would for anything, a spot. And so I was like, wait for the right opportunity. So there's a big herd. They're up there. They're kind of unreachable. But then some would kind of filter off and go to this other group or this other rock pile. And then they would just kind of jockey around. And then sometimes they would just get up and trot off somewhere else. It's almost like. Like pronghorn do, or. It's just like, I don't like being here now. Or maybe the wind shifted and they just want to be somewhere. El house, whatever. It was, like, kind of flighty. So we're sitting, watching, and we pick out another group below us. This is like, now we've kind of moved around, kind of looked. Looked all over, kind of thought, well, we don't want to sit here all day either, and just have nothing happen. So maybe we can kind of find some other ibex. And we looked around, didn't see, you know, we saw, like, those ones are still there. And then toward the evening now, we spotted, like, the smaller group, probably like six to 12. Well, I guess there's seven in this group and then six in another little group above them. And in the one group, there's like a definite shooter. Like this awesome old heavy, like, horns almost touching at the bases, like, super heavy. Goes straight up and then starts to tip out. And I thought I was like, that one's cool. That's like a. He's just. I like the mass of him. Just like a heavy old bastard. So the plan was going to be to stock on that one. So we. We go around. Samuel goes. We can do the same thing where someone can try to keep eyes on him. He goes to the top. And then we start to stock down and make our play. So we're stocking down. It's one of those where we're on the same slope as them. We saw where they kind of went. Went around and went into. We get there and we can't. We don't see him. We can see Samuel across the way, like, doing some hand signals. So we know that they're probably still there. But it's hard to kind of decipher what his hand signals are doing. So we peek over and we can see, like, there's this one horned billy which is like half of his horn was broken off. And we see him, and he was with a different group that was above them. So there's like, the ones we were going after in a different group. So we're kind of assuming that maybe they joined back up, but don't really know. So we start to stalk down, kind of peeking over the rocks and the ledges. And there's some smaller, smaller ones kind of passed in front of us. We go down to where we think the ones that we were stalking were. They aren't there, but we look back and we see that. We see him with this. Like, the two groups joined up. So now we're kind of below them. And the wind's not great for that approach. So we back out, circle back around, get above them, and they're kind of feeding up the mountain. So our plan is to. To move in and try to intercept them as they feed. So we start creeping in through the brush, like, getting the wind right, going slow, being patient. We get into a spot where we kind of think that they're coming in. Sure enough, here they come. And you just see like, horn chips above this heather brush moving up and super cool sight. And so we all get down and I mean, one of them's like, coming in pretty tight. And in this stuff, like, you could have them 12 yards away and no shot. The brush is. All you see is their. The top of their head. So we stay down and hope that they. They move off. And they do. Thankfully, the one that was coming right at us ends up veering away. And so they start to feed out. We continue to kind of stock in, which is good because we have good cover. And we start to stock in, and they start to spread out and get out in the open. And thankfully, the one that we wanted to take was like the last one in the group. And he's intently feeding, like, broadside kind of in the back. So we drop back down a little bit, circle around, and there's like this perfect little, like, game trail opening in the brush. Move up. It gets like 60 yards and decide I'm going to move like 10 yards closer. So move 10 yards closer, get everything set, draw back and shoot. And I hit him. And it. It to me, I thought I hit him pretty low, so I. I shoot and it's like everything was perfect, though. Like, I'm on my knees. Like, everything, like, everything felt good. I did. I did adjust my sight, like a little bit higher because it was. I noticed. Well, pager actually pointed out, like the. The felt on my wrist was worn, like, kind of starting to come off. So I actually compensated for that a little bit, which I kind of started to notice, but it did a little bit more later. So I was thinking, well, it's gonna shoot a little low. So I. I did give it. I actually gave. Bumped it up like a couple yards and I shot. And I thought that it hit low, like low in the leg. And the. He jumped up onto the rock. And Zach, who's filming's like, you heart shot him because he, I. He could see like, blood pumping out, like, squirting out, but I couldn't see that. I thought I hit him, like, low. And the. Where it was a weird angle. Like, even watching the video, it looks low to me. I'm surprised it hit where. I mean, we're talking like a couple inches lower than where I was aiming, but they're not a huge target. So it jumps up on this rock, jumps down on the bottom, like below it. And now he's. I think he was 60, 63 yards, something like that. So I reset my pin, grab Another arrow. At this point, like, as soon as I shoot, I'm already locked in with another arrow. Draw back. Actually, I was already drawn back. Pedro arranged him. That's right. And shoot. And he's quartered away hard. But, like, anytime an animal standing there, it's like, for me, put another arrow. Like, I don't. I don't care how good something's hit or think. Like, even in my mind, I didn't think he was hit that well. I think Zach had a better gauge just because he could see, like, that reaction from, like, a heart shot where it's, like, you know, spurting the blood. So I shoot him again, and he just runs over the rise and run up, and he was down within seconds, so. Which is awesome. And. And we. We went down and, man, what an absolute incredible animal. Like, just. Just a really cool species. And heavy. This, like, this guy was, like, heavy. Tall. Like, went up pretty tall. Like, everything that I would have wanted in an ibex. And it was pretty exciting. And then, you know, to have Pedro there and we. One of the things that we had said, like, with mountain hunting and especially with this hunt, is like, you know, if we get an opportunity, because we didn't know what the weather was going to be like. Like, if we get an opportunity, we shouldn't mess around. Like, if there's one that we'd like to take, try to make it happen, because we don't know if we're gonna be able to see the next day. And, you know, Pedro also had tag, and Andrea had a tag, so we had a couple tags. So, you know, the hunt essentially wasn't over. It was just over for me, for. For me to fill a tag. But I was still excited to be a part of a hunt for the rest of the week. And so, you know, we got to the ibex, like, took some pictures and videos and everything, and cut him up, packed him out. I think we got back to camp probably. It was probably like 1am Something like that. Get back to camp, 1am, start dinner. I think we went to bed at, like, 2 in the morning. Maybe it was like, got back at midnight, went to bed 1:45, something like that. I don't know. Long day. Like, it's springtime. The sun's up forever. It gets up early and stays out late, which is kind of like the same thing we encounter here with spring bear hunting. Long days. So the next morning, we get up early. The nice thing about the ibex, like, they aren't. You don't need to be on the Mountain in the dark, because they start to move, like, with the sun, almost like they kind of come out when the sun starts to come out. So we get out, and essentially we're. Oh, we get back to camp. And Andrew had gone off on his own, and he got an ibex with his bow that day, too. So he had. It sounded like he just had, like, an epic day of, like, essentially chasing these things into the snow, up over three ranges. Like, he was just cruising, and on the way back down, ended up getting a shot on one and. And connecting, and it was cool. So we get back to camp. You know, it's like, all right, let's cook up some. A little bit of meat and just enjoy this because, you know, we're here, we're in Spain, we're successful. Like, things are great. Life is good. It was just a lot of fun. And now the cool thing is, you know, Pedro still has his tag, and so we can all focus on. On that hunt. And, man, the way that that hunt turned out was awesome. I think I'll save that story for. I'll bring Pedro on the podcast. We'll talk about that. And then some of the things that happened, because it was just, like, a really cool experience. I think one of the cool things, the coolest thing for me about the entire hunt and the entire trip was, like, being there with him and even being in the country. These are hard tags to get. He's been on a lot of hunts for him with other people and other things, but he shot one himself, and so he was gonna have the opportunity. His tag was good for a really good, like. Like a really big Billy. And so. So, like, to be a part of someone's hunt, like, the way that he values these ibex, like, even though I understand what I'm looking at and I know about him and whatever. Like, I. I don't fully. You know, I don't know what the easiest way to describe it is. Like, maybe don't have, like, that history with the animal where, you know, it means, like, more to him in a way that it ever would to me. And I totally get that. Like, if somebody was to come from a friend of mine from Spain or Australia or even, like, the east coast, wherever, Midwest to hunt mule deer, like, getting in on a good meal deer, buck would be very cool, but it doesn't necessarily, like, have the same implications it would to me that's chased in my whole life and, like, grown up with them and, like, know how difficult it is to, like, get one of a certain size Right. So, so I think the coolest thing for me about his hunt was kind of having that perspective of seeing him in that element of, you know, a different level of excitement and pressure and all that thing kind of wrapped up together. It like the type of hunting in the style remind, the thing that I liked about it reminded me so much of like mule deer hunting and stalking, like getting that, you know, betting that buck, getting in, in the right position, like a lot of the same terrain features and things like that. Very mule deer esque. And so I, I absolutely love the hunt and it was cool to see, like, be on the hunt with him where, you know, he has that deeper connection with the species and the landscape and that kind of background with it. So we'll, we'll dive into that hunt story later. But I thought it'd be really fun to kind of share, you know, my hunt. And, and, and we, we did film everything too. So like it's going to be. Actually, we just finished an edit on it looks really cool. So I'm excited to, to show you guys these videos. Like, they're, they're really cool. It's just such a, it was such a fun hunt and you know, there's quite a few hunts that you go on. You go like, man, that was, whatever it was, you know, I got my butt kicked or it was, you know, cool. But now I was expecting. And honestly, I think this hunt was a lot more than I was expecting in a way. Like, I think the terrain was more impressive than I was expecting. I don't know what I was really expecting, but I think like, whatever it was, my expectations were exceeded. It was just like a phenomenal hunt. Something that you go, I would recommend that like if, you know, I thought about it for a long time, but kind of like, ah, that's something I could do later. I don't know, focus on other things. And man, I'm glad I did it. It was a, it was a really cool and incredible trip. So with every podcast, you know, I like to, I like to have those actionable steps that can kind of make you a better hunter or turn, you know, your hunter, your thought around a hunt into a, A different way. And one of the things that, you know, I realize maybe this is just me, but I don't think it is because, you know, I've, I've been with enough people and been on enough hunts to know that there's this aspect of the hunt where you're kind of always, no matter what, burning the candle at both ends really. And I've experienced this in a massive way, in a different way than most people probably because I've kind of done it my whole life and on a very, I'd say, long term scale. Right. So I'm thinking about back when, before I had a family, before I was married, before, like I was single essentially. I spent nearly every day of the year out in the wild, guiding, hunting, doing all these things. There was no time to rest. I think my biggest day, you know, I would always like journal and keep track of, track of it because I just thought it was cool. I always want to be hunting every day. And my biggest day was like 323 days in a year. And those other days were probably just travel days, right? Or were just travel days. Like there's like a Christmas and some travel and whatever. And like in that time it's just, it's go, go, go, like hunting hours. Especially as a guide, you're, you're up before everyone, you're to bed way after everyone. And sleep was not something that I ever got. I was a very high performer on very low, low reset, low fuel, like. But I think that as hunters, like whether you're, you're going out on a, on a hunt or you're doing it professionally as a guide or whatever, it doesn't matter. You're always kind of encountering this deficit where just to get there, you're, you're pretty tired, like, lack of sleep, whatever, you're already hitting this kind of energy and mental focus drain. Then you get into the field and it's like you have to be on. And that means getting up early, you know, hunting throughout the day, often getting to bed late, like long days. On this particular hunt, it was the same thing. Like it's just the same story. And maybe it's just the way that I do things. Like, I always feel like I'm full tilt. Like before I even get into it. Like half the time I show up to the trailhead, it's like one in the morning. I know probably people probably have their stuff way more together, but by the time you do your things with a family, get everything ready, whatever, pack up day before, you're like packing at night after work, you're getting up, you're doing your normal stuff. When it comes time to the hunt, you're just already running at this deficit. And I feel like that is true for a lot of people having been a guide. I think everybody kind of encounters that on their trips, whether it's a guided trip, whether it's your own Personal hunt. Whatever it is, it happens. I wish I was the type of person that had the leisurely time to show up a couple of days early and acclimate and do that. Like, dude, that's a great, that's great if you've got the ability to. But I'm often just like, hit the ground running guy. And, and even if you do have that time, I think once you're in the field for most hunts, especially when you're talking about spring hunts, archery hunts, early season, like the days are long and the nights are short and the amount of energy and things that you're expending in the daytime is a lot. And there's not a lot of time to recover. And that's just the fact of the matter. And so like on this particular trip, this is just an example. You know, you go, you go in and like the day before, I'm packing, getting ready. This was probably the first trip that I wasn't actually packing all night before the dang trip. I don't know, like, personal problems, right? You know, you get up at say 3 in the morning, whatever, you head to the, you know, drive to the airport, get on your flight, travel all day and through the night to the next day. And for me, like, you know, sleep on that flight. Maybe I slept an hour or two, two hours. Then you hit the ground, you're like, there. It's the go time. Drive to the hunting spot, put your stuff on, start hiking, hike, whatever. By the time you, you're into camp, it was like probably 10pm Sun's still up now it's like 11:30, bed at midnight, gonna get up at, at 6am or 5am or whatever it is and go. And then it's like, you know, the next day, hey, we're successful, we're packing out through the night, we get to camp, we have dinner, boom. And then, and it just keeps repeating itself, you know. And I think that there's like a few tricks that I've learned and, and this is one of those things where I like to have tips. But I'm also, I also recognize that like there's things that I just have for a very long time feel like, you know, I've performed very like high level performance on a very low level of fuel. Like I've always got it pegged and empty and I never really fill the tank up, you know. And so I've got my tricks which I do not think that are, they're great, but they've got me by for, you know, the last 40 years of life, I guess. So I, I think this is one of those things where it's good to have the conversation about it, to address that it is a problem on hunts. And there are things that I do that I think have worked for me, but I also recognize that it's probably not the best. So I actually recently have been talking with some guys that are professionals in this like, sleep recovery, performance kind of stuff and I'm taking some tips from them, but I can't like, I think once I kind of fully understand a lot of this, I'd like to have some of these guys on and talk about it. So I like to talk about things that I'm also going through and learning. And there's a lot of things that I don't know. You know, when it comes to hunting and being in the field and all that stuff, I've just done things my way for a very long time. And I think that there's better ways to do it. I think that like with recovery and being in the field and like performing still when you're tired, you absolutely, you know, function different. Like you glass different, your, your level of detail is different, your reaction time's slower. It's proven. You know, I think that I remember reading a study a while ago that was like they took, took people and not that this is like good either way, but like they took people and they gave them like sleep deprivation and then kind of compared it to like people under the influence of alcohol. It's like the people with sleep deprivation essentially acted like, like, like they were under the influence of alcohol. Like their, their impairment was definitely significant. So you think about that in a hunting scenario, right, where you're in some ways like you aren't performing at your best level. So when we talk about like getting into the field, getting that rest, recharging on that limited amount, there's a few things that we can do and then there's a few things that like you almost just have to grind through. It's part of that mental toughness. Like, you know, it's probably going to be a short, like a extended period of time, but a limited amount of time. You know, in my case it was all time like year round, just go, go, go, go, go. But I think like for most people it's like, okay, well there's this mental toughness aspect of knowing. Like you are just going to have to get through it and like, and just focus and whatever. And so here's a couple of like the little tips that I've done not Saying they're great. Like, these are just things that I do. And then I'll talk a little bit about what I've learned recently from some people. They're experts in the field. And I think later on we should dive in with these experts after I've kind of, you know, figured things out a little bit more. But one of the things that I, I suggest right, is like, and this is something that I've suggested for like our clients and other things is the fact of, like, when you're, let's say you're even in a, a tent camp situation, hunt camp situation, whatever, you get back, you're tired. You know, the sleep is important and being able to rest is important. But some people struggle with that when they're on the mountain. I particularly am the opposite. Like, I think that I've. I talk about this with, like, my wife always laughs. Like, I sleep like I'm in a mummy bag. Arms crossed, legs crossed, don't move, right? Like, I've spent the majority of my life sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag. But I've also spent the majority of my life, like, sleeping when fully exhausted. Like, I just hiked 20 miles. Now I just crawl in the bag, go to bed. So when I'm home, it's like the opposite. Like hard to, hard to unwind or whatever. But I think that one of the things that is important on the mountain is like, being able to get that rest. And in like a hunt camp, especially if you're with other people or maybe you're by yourself, like your mind's working. You know, some people get out, they're by themselves, and then they have that fear of, like, the unknown, the animals that might be lurking around. Like it's a real and present danger, man. Like, if you're hunting in grizzly country, there's that thought every time you go to bed at night, like, something could eat me tonight. And it's true. Like, I mean, it actually does happen. I think most of the time it's like displaced, but it does happen. So on the flip side, you're maybe with a bunch of people and you sleep, but they snore, they're loud. Maybe the full moon out, right? It's bright. Maybe there's other factors. Like, it's just uncomfortable. You're on a sleeping pad, you're in a new environment. It's just uncomfortable. So some of the things that I suggest for hunters is like, one, do something that helps you sleep and makes it comfortable. Like, I, I know plenty of people is like, you know, back in the day is like, go light, go fast on these backcountry hunts. And I'm like, dude, if you're gonna sleep better with, like, a backcountry pillow, bring it for me. Those little inflatable pillows never did it. Like, I don't really, like, like a thick pillow. So I have this folding technique with my jacket, and I put it in like a. I always bring my like, yeti. They use them for luggage. It's like a, like a packing cube. And I just stuff my down jacket in that packing cube. And for me, that's like the perfect pillow. I would sleep with that at home. Like, it's super comfortable for me. But bringing something that like, adds a little bit of that comfort. The weight to comfort ratio is absolutely worth it in this scenario, especially on these backcountry hunts where you're like, dude, I'm gonna have to get rest. I'm gonna have to refuel. I'm gonna have to, like, be able to perform the next day. And so just that added little bit of comfort helps you sleep, not wake up tweaked and kinked and whatever. It makes a big difference. So, like, having whatever it is for you for that comfort level. Like, my dad brings like a little. I used to give him so much shit for bringing like a pillow, like a, like a packable pillow kind of thing on his. On backcountry trips. And now, like, I think about him like, dude, he probably. He was. He had more wisdom than I did. I. I always laugh because it's one of those things where when you're young, you think you know everything, and then when you get older, you realize you know, nothing. It's like, you know, I thought I knew everything. I was like, just gave him so much. And you know, and. And honestly, like, it was probably the smarter move. Like, there. There's no reason that I. I wouldn't be able to do it. Like, I was strong enough, I could carry it, I had the room for it. But, you know, I kind of feel bad about it. Like, I did give him a lot of for that. But I think, like, that's one thing. Another thing that, like, we always suggest in our gear list to. To clients is like, bring earplugs. You know, if the guy next to you snores, pop those earplugs in and, and help you sleep. Like, because it's going to be important because we're going to go hard. We're going to go for a long time, you know, all day. We're Going to just like hunt all day and you're going to come back and be tired. And if the person next to you is snoring, throw some earplugs in, whatever it is. Another thing that a lot of people do, I don't do is like take something at night, you know, melat. Something like that. Wilderness Athlete has like their. What is it? Like some kind of sleep, dude. I should know what's it called? It's called like rest or something like that. But I've used that like for traveling on the planes. Just like a vitamin kind of thing. Help you sleep. I don't really like to take stuff, but I mean, it's just my personal thing. Like if you, if you got stuff that you take, whatever, bring it a lot of times before bed. Like I'll take like a Tylenol or something like that. Just relax the muscles, any soreness or whatever so you aren't just, you know, moving around, getting stowed up or. And. And you can sleep a little bit better. Another thing that I utilize a lot and I talk about it all the time and it is a, you know, it's like a company that I work with is the energy and focus. Like, hey, man, like, I'm a. I'm a wake up and drink coffee guy. Like, I've got my. If it's a backcountry, I've got like my black rifle, you know, instant coffee. Or if I'm like half the time, I prefer like real coffee. So I just bring like either pour over or something like that. Like, I'll pack the extra weight. I'm a big, A big fan of coffee. Like, I drink a lot of coffee in my life, like a pot a day kind of guy. But I, you know, so in the backcountry, on a hunt, like, it's one of the things that I always bring. I will like, like forego other things, like food and other stuff for coffee. I'm just that type. But not saying that that's a good thing, but if you're used to it, right? Like, I. There's been hunts. I don't know, I'm just kind of going down these rabbit trails because it's fun and it kind of gives you a look into the behind the scenes of like, what a lot of hunts look like for a lot of people. But dude, there's been. There was a couple hunts I've had to have this happen on two months. I always pack like my own coffee. Like, it's just in my. I have some, like, I have Four packs of the black rifle, instant sticks in my first aid kit. Because I'm like, worst comes to worst, that I've got something. There was one trip where someone's like, yeah, I got coffee and everyone drank coffee and the coffee wasn't there, or they got coffee, but it was like decaf. I can't remember what happened, but I was the only one with coffee. And dude, people, it was like, it was a 10 day Alaska trip and you could see the mutiny was about to start on day one when I was just like drinking some good coffee. I'm like, well, I got a ration, dude. I got enough for me. You can have my leftovers. Like, you could have the leftover grinds, but honestly, like, for me, the caffeine thing helps. And then midday hit in energy and focus and, and the amount of like, extra focus and boost that I get from that is huge. Like, I, you know, I'm not saying it's like good to rely on stuff or whatever, but like, you definitely on hunts, you're gonna, you're gonna feel the brain drain, you're gonna feel wore down. You're hiking, you're hunting, you're. You want to be fully focused and like, it helps. And that's not just a sales pitch. It's like, absolutely tried and true. Worked for me for years. That's why I work with them. And I've talked about the stuff before, but that's one of the products that like, I pretty much won't forget on a backcountry hunt because I don't need a lot of it. But just in that midday lull, especially on those long days, like, bam, pop my head back in the game and get focused in the glass, get focused on the hike, have that extra energy to go that extra mile. That little bit goes a long way, especially when you've got a limited amount of time to hunt and you want to make it, it, make it happen. Now, I mentioned I was talking with some experts. I mean, there's, this is one of those things like, as you, as you get older, get wiser and you like, you learn through trial and error. I've done things my way for a very long time, but I do know that there's people out there. It's like, dude, they, they absolutely excel in like performance recovery, right? Like, that's their, that's their thing. I was talking with this guy recently and he was talking about just like, they do a lot of a breath training, which, you know, I'm familiar with in the free diving world. Like spearfishing, diving. I've done, you know, almost five minute breath holds and deep dives, you know, down to, I don't know, 70ft, something like that, 30 meters, 90ft, something like that. But you know, to understand like the, they, they do a lot of like testing how much your CO2 tolerance. So it's like breathing in through your nose, like doing steady breaths through your nose and then kind of a deep breath in through your nose and then like how long you can like let that breath out through your nose some. You know, like, as I get more into it, there's a lot that I don't know about. I'm just talking off of like very recent interactions thing that I've been trying. But, but the guy was saying he's like, you know, that's just to kind of test your CO2 tolerance and then kind of doing controlled breathing where you're breathing in through your nose out like a very steady, controlled thing when you're at home and then when you're at the field where it activates your body to relax and go into that rest state to kind of get better sleep. But talking with these experts on it, there's a lot to it and you guys are probably like, so I'm listening to this podcast about how to whatever and this guy really doesn't know. All he says is like, take caffeine and keep grinding 100%. That's the way that I've done it. But I am going to kind of dive in and look at some other methods for, for like performing and recovering better in the field. Because I think that that's one of the like areas that, you know, I've done it along like a long time, a certain way. But then that brings us to our last point of like, there is this mental toughness aspect to every part of the hunt where it's like the physical, the mental of like things not going right, things not working out. And on top of that, you're tired and you aren't recovering well. And you kind of have to know going in that that's, that's the way that it goes. One thing that I've always done is like, I like to shoot my bow like in that when I'm tired, like when I wake up, I'm not. I kind of like wake up and I'm a little bit groggy. First thing I do, like at home, first thing I do, I grab my bow, I walk out and I fling some arrows and try to get those like when I'm like, when My eyes are having trouble focusing and all that stuff. That's when, you know, I think that, like, you train yourself to make those reps, and that's where kind of that repetition comes in, of shooting your bow all the time. So you understand, like, in the field, when you're. When you don't have to think about it, it just becomes automatic. And I think that there's a lot to be said about people that do that. I've hunted with a lot of people that have a lot of really good success, and they kind of do that similar thing, like train till they're tired. Like the time that they shoot their bows, like after working out, when they're exhausted. Absolutely. That's a smart idea. When you're tired, when you wake up and you haven't had your coffee yet for the morning, before you get going, grab your bow and shoot some groups, see what it looks like, understand how your body functions and performs when it's lacking in something, whether it's sleep, whether it's food, whatever it is. Knowing that before you get into the backcountry makes a big difference. I like to test myself at home and then prove myself out there. And if you kind of keep that mindset of test yourself at home, prove yourself out there, you become more prepared for things that you're going to encounter. When I see people what I consider, like, bonk on the mountain, where they just kind of lose it, whether it's mentally, whether it's physically, like there's those physical bonks where they just, like, I cannot climb another mountain. That happens a lot. As a guide, you see it happen all the time. Time. But probably more often, you see those mental bonks where they're like, they're tired, they're kind of wore out, like, the elk got away, whatever, and just they're mentally defeated, their heads down, and it's like, how do I keep going? And honestly, it's a repetition thing and building that mental toughness. And you do that outside of it. And then when you're in the field, you kind of prove it and hone it and make it better. And it's kind of a broad statement in a way, but just doing those things, like when. When you are tired, when you feel, like, fast for a day, work out hard and get tired and. And then shoot your bow or shoot your bow enough to know that, like, in those situations, it becomes automatic. Like that training in the off season and that preparing makes you so much better. And I know the guys that I think of, like, off the top of my head that I know are just continually successful. Always find that success kind of seem to eke it out like they're the guys that do that. They're the guys that think about that, and they're the guys that are honestly the most successful when it comes to, like, being continually successful in the field. And so thinking about it in those terms, I think gives you an advantage when you might have that be working real hard for that one opportunity each year during whatever tag or season to make. To make it happen when you're kind of already running in a deficit. So doing those things outside of the hunt and preparing for it can really be beneficial when it comes time to perform during the hunting season. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that podcast. It was fun to be able to recap that hunt and then just talk about some stuff. I think it's good on these podcasts to talk about that mental aspect. Some of the things that you just don't see in every hunting magazine or hunting article, some of the stuff it's like behind the scenes of, like, dude, you're just going to be tired and it's going to suck, but you just got to grind it out and get through it. I think some of that stuff's fun to talk about and it really does, in my opinion, you know, make you a more successful and better hunter, more ready to kind of conquer the things that the mountain throws at you. One of the other things I wanted to talk about, just to kind of remind you guys, I've got my store, Remy Warren dot com. You guys can go on there. You can find, you know, a lot of the stuff, some of my favorite gear on there. I've got pretty much my own gear shop with. I'm continually adding new stuff. So I just got some marsupial gear stuff in there. We've got peak 44 tripods as well as vortex tripods. You know, anytime I find some cool gear, I try to, I try to acquire it and put it in the shop. We've got a ton of stone glacier stuff in there. Continually adding things constantly. We've got live wild swag like just logo wear lucky hats. I'm wearing my lucky hat today. Nevada tag draw. When I'm recording this. Nevada tag drawer should be coming out. So I've got my lucky hat on. We'll see if it, if it, if it pays off. You can find yourself a lucky hat on there. We've got even some, some. One thing that I think you probably should get. I've got like just a little optics cleaner. So it's super. It's like a credit card size squirt bottle thing with like lens cleaner and then live wild. Just lens cloth, dude do that. Like having clear glass and cleaning them. It makes a big difference. So you know, just in that like clarity of. I've talked about it on other podcasts like keep your glass clean man. Makes a big difference. Those are available now. We've got some other stuff coming back in stock here pretty soon, so if you haven't been on there, check it out. It's just my website, Remy Warren.com you can go there. You can also find, you know, blog articles, plenty other stuff, always cool stuff and links to other content or videos and other things. So check it out. If you guys enjoy this podcast, feel free to always, as always, drop a comment, drop a rating, you know, rate it wherever you listen to it. Make sure to to subscribe to the podcast. If you don't, if you listen, every time you go log in, just subscribe to it. It always helps us out. So thank you guys so much and until next week, say in the words of a Spaniard, adios. Catch you guys later.