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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 podcast is brought to you by Mountain Tough and Yeti. Now for those that don't know, Mountain Tough is an online based training app that's designed for hunters to train you both mentally and physically for the mountains. So you can go on. And there's programs designed with workouts that are specifically made to get you ready for the things you're going to encounter out there in the wild. And while a lot of you probably know that their programs are designed to get you ready, they also have programs designed to keep you ready during the season. It really is a year round process to help you be the best you can be on the hunt. For me, a big part of the hunt actually comes after I get out of the field. It's that cooking process of wild game, whether back at camp or at home. And my Yeti cast iron skillet is one of my favorite ways to cook. I'm actually personally a big fan of cooking on cast iron, but it has to be high quality cast iron and there is a big difference. The Yeti cast iron skillets are actually made here in America in Wisconsin and they use that vintage casting method. So what that does is that it yields a hyper smooth finish and you get that non stick barrier. They're also a lot lighter than other cast irons, making them a lot easier to handle. Each skillet comes pre seasoned by hand, so it's ready to use right out of the box. And there's four different sizes available ranging from 8 to 14 inches. I've been cooking on mine for a while and I highly recommend it to anyone. Welcome Back to the LiveWild podcast everyone. You know, when it comes to filling an elk tag, especially when you're on public land, there's just certain steps that can help you get to that success. So this week we're going to look at a few of the key components that lead to being successful. I mean, I honestly can't believe September is already over. It's come and gone and throughout it I had quite a few epic hunts and some really incredible moments just out chasing elk this year. For me you know, it was one of those Septembers that I think just kind of goes down in the book is being very action packed. But with every hunt there's always things that can go right, things that can go wrong, and it's just all part of the adventure, all part of the fun. Recently I got the opportunity to take some friends out, friend Joe and Casey, and they're actually their nine year old daughter hunted with us and we just had a great week chasing bugles and getting on bulls. So this week I'm going to share the story of that elk hunt. It's kind of a mid season update and then we're going to share a few of the strategies of when it comes to getting within range and getting a bull within bow range. Some of the things that we did to make that hunt go right. But first we're going to talk about an archery elk hunt where something happened that I had honestly never seen. For me, when it comes to September, I think that, you know, for me it's like twofold. I enjoy hunting elk for myself, but I also really enjoy calling elk for other people. I think that like for me calling elk has to be, I mean it's like the most exciting thing you can do during the rut. And really in some ways too you can almost as the caller like when you're, when you're more focused on trying to bring bulls in, you can have a little bit more freedom to, to draw that bull in and play that strategy right. And I don't know, I think like just work that elk when you aren't necessarily also focused on trying to get into position for the shot. And so I recently on this, on this particular hunt got to go out with my buddy Joe and his wife Casey. And then their daughter Harper hunted with us as well. And at 9 years old, like she just absolutely crushed the mountains. Like it was very impressive because the area we're hunting is like a general area, public land spot, lots of deadfall, lots of steep climbs, you know, lots of other hunters, all the things that you get with those kind of hunts. And also on this hunt, one of the things that I really, I think is fun is when you get to be in on someone's like first successful archery elk hunt. And so my buddy Joe had taken, you know, elk with his bow, but his wife Casey had not been successful archery elk hunting. She's taking, she's been successful elk hunting. But this was like, would be, you know, the hope was to get her, her first bull with a bow. And so we kind of Set up with that, you know, with that in mind. But everybody had tags, or. Well, I guess Harper didn't have a tag, but everybody had tags. So we were just going out and trying to get Casey a bull, but depending on the situation or what have you, See how things go. So the first day we went out, and it was actually. So we get to the spot where I wanted to call from, I rip a bugle, and a bull bugles off in the distance. I'm like, okay, this is. This is great. You know, we're. We're in the zone already. Like, that's all you can ask for when you're calling elk. Just that when you get that reply, like, all right, game on. We have. We have a plan for this morning. And one of the first things that I noticed this particular day, like, it was a weekend. I don't know. I think. I think the weekends now are the days where nobody's out hunting. Everybody thinks that, like, we were a little nervous, like, oh, man, there's just going to be people everywhere. And it was like we had. I swear, it felt like we had the entire area to ourselves. There was. You know, sometimes you, like, pass vehicles and other stuff. Like, we're on the weekend, and we see zero vehicles. It's like, this is crazy. But we left pretty early. So we get into the zone, and sure enough, like, bull bugles off into the timber. So. And I actually spotted. I forgot about that. I guess I. I spotted the elk from a ways away, like, out in this meadow. So we worked toward that meadow first and then got a bugle in response, because sometimes you'll see elk, and by the time you get there, there's just, like, no noise, no nothing because it was pretty thick timber. We were hunting. So. So we. We get over there, bull bugles. We're like, oh, perfect. Now, unfortunately, I guess the way that the wind was going is just like that early morning kind of overcast. Like, the. We'd had some major, like, every afternoon was just like, major, massive storms. Like, crazy storms. I actually said. I was like, man, we are not gonna hunt the afternoons. Because the storms were so bad. Like, lightning was just hammering the mountain, like, downpouring rain past few days, and it was forecasted to do the same. So. So our plan this day was just like, all right, get in there, hunt. But try to be off the. Honestly, like, I was like, I don't want to be on any ridges at 5pm 4. 4 or 5pm because it was just like, every day, these, like, crazy lightning storms are Coming in. And so. So we're like, all right, we're gonna. We're gonna make the morning count. We get in there, and the bulls start firing off. So we're moving down. We're going through some, like, deadfall stuff and some thick stuff. And I call and I hear. I'm like, okay, the bull bugled it. Let's say it was, like, hard to tell, but let's say it was, like, 600 yards away. And then I hear another call, like, probably 300 yards away. I'm like, I think. I actually think. I don't know why, but I think this bull's coming in. Like, sometimes you call the elk and, like, you know, you got to cover a lot of the distance, but like, this. This elk's coming in. And so I'm stopped, listening, waiting for another reply, and I hear a stick crack. And I look up, and that bull is about 60 yards away. And we're in, like, these really. This really thick, kind of thick pines. There's, like, some little pines, big pines, just thick country. So, like, not clear. I throw out a few more calls, and that bull starts to come in, and he's coming on a string. Like, there's a little bit of a trail. And I'm like, he's gonna pop up at 30, 40 yards. And I'm like, this is, like, first thing right out of the gate, you know, we. We just kind of got in here, and. And we've got a bowl coming. Like, Casey's set up. I'm right next to her, and Joe and Harper are just right behind me. And the bull, like, walks, starts to walk in, and that wind. I can just feel that wind's just. It's the morning. It's when the wind's real unstable. We're kind of near the top of the mountain, and that wind starts to go down. And unfortunately, like, the route that that bull is coming, I'm like, there's no way. Like, you either need an open shot him to stop, or he's just going to wind us on the way in. And sure enough, he catches our wind, and he blows, like, past us at, like, 30 yards. And so I rip a bugle to try to stop him, and the herd bull, like, screams back. Practically the same place that that bull was coming from. So we try to drop down, get a better wind, have Casey go down a little bit, because I'm thinking if he steps out, you know, I'd rather have her, like, further ahead maybe where that other bull stopped, try to get the wind right. So she drops down a little bit. And I mean, sure enough, here comes the big bull, like, a little bit further down. So he came in further down and it was like, I mean, similar scenario. I'm like, I can't believe it, right? It's like, not very often does a bull, like just right away decide to commit. And then like two bulls in the same. Like the actual. I pretty sure must have been the herd bull decided to just like, check it out. I'm like, oh, my gosh. Like, what a morning, right? So that bull starts to come in, and it's just too thick for a shot. Like, I don't even. Like, you could barely see the elk in there. But I knew he's there. He's probably like. He was like maybe 80 yards from me, so probably like 40, 50 yards from Casey. I'm not really sure. Cause she was up a little bit further. And unfortunately, like, you know, wind or whatever, the bolt maybe just his cows moved off. He. He goes back and moves off. So we tried, you know, like, the calling kind of stopped. So we. I'm assuming that they just kind of continue. There was some wallows and stuff, like in this where the creek came down. So I figured maybe they're just moving off that direction. So. So we, you know, kind of start working our way through the timber and stuff that way. It's fairly slow go because it's kind of like dead fall and other things. And I'm just throwing out calls along the way, and we get a reply, like, behind us. So I don't know if that. This is like probably an hour later. I don't know if that bull that blew past us must have been now trying to find the herd. And we thought, oh, this is probably going to call this bull back in. But he only bugled like once and then disappeared. So we continue on to where I think maybe those elk might have gone. And we get into a place where it's like this little. Like, I would almost call it a meadow, but it's not. It's just like one of the. I guess it could be kind of. It was kind of a meadow, like, but you're in the timber, maybe where water comes down. There's just like a little spot in our trees, probably 40 yards across, 60 yards long little spot. I'm like, you know, like, we haven't heard any bugles. Nothing. And so I'm like, well, I think we'll go up here. And I was actually thinking of maybe just sitting here for a little bit and calling. And actually it's like, I don't know, mid morning by this point. I always get hungry mid morning. So I was like, let's probably just stop here and have a snack here in a minute. I was like, we'll go up, go up a little bit. And then I'm like, I actually was like, I'm going to take a leak real quick. So I walk off and all of a sudden this cow and a calf are running through the the woods. Like just absolute sprinting. And I know what that means. It's probably like a bull is chasing him. So I'm like, get ready. Like this, this. A cow is running and so she runs. I'm like further back. She's sprinting. The cow and the calf are sprinting. The cow goes right and the calf. So I throw out a couple of calls. Like maybe I can direct him our way. So I throw out a couple calls. Well, when I do that, the calf breaks off full speed and is running like right at Joe and Harper. I mean, I think Joe had to like push Harper aside because that her neck is down and just full tilt running. And she runs like, almost runs him over. I would say like an arm's length, two arms. Like there's like this big stump and runs between them and this giant stump runs right toward me and then busts off down and, and starts going back the direction that she came. And as she does that, the bull came out. And so he was going exactly on that path. And if he took that path, I mean it would have been like a, a very close shot or at least when he first popped out a 30 yard shot. And so when she runs by, he's now like behind everyone kind of where I'm at. And so he stops and starts going that direction. So then I get on the calls again, start calling and draw the bull in. But it's like similar. It's just the problem that you have in thick timber, right? It's, it's easier to call him in, but you just. No clear shots. So the bull comes in. I don't know, he's probably 40 yards or something. And then no, no clear shots. And then moves off and. And then that was that. Like we, we ended up doing a lot of hiking, trying to relocate the bulls and never found him again. Never heard of elk bugle. Never heard that big herd again. But I mean, man, what like, what an incredible morning. Like that's, you know, on like those kind of hunts you go that might, that might have been our chance. You just don't know. Like it Was such a good morning. So, you know, next day, we're like, all right, well. Oh. So we end up. We end up hunting around, not seeing any more elk. And then we work our way back to the truck, and it was like, a good. When we got back, dude, this storm just hit. Like, it was, like buckets of water just being poured out and lightning everywhere. We're like, all right, well, you made the right call. And so the next morning, we're gonna go back into that same place and try to get on those elk again. Like, we feel like, okay, they were there. You know, no one was around. So it's like, now it's a weekday. I think it's like, Monday morning now. And driving up, there's, like, a car, a truck, something parked everywhere. Like, dude, okay. So we get to. We get to our spot. There's no one there. And so we start hiking up, and we see some lights coming. Another truck is actually driving up to, like, where we're at. So we're like, well, we better. We know where these elk were. We. We should probably, like, just get in there and see if we can get them fired up. So we get. We get into position kind of where we were the morning before. I let out a couple calls, and sure enough, a bull response. But at this point now there's people, like, parked behind us, and I don't want to call too loud because I don't want to, like, draw people to our location. But also, you know, I want to work this bull. And so the bull's, like. He's responding pretty good. But I'm trying to call quiet. I'm trying to not do anything too crazy. Like, it was kind of a weird. Kind of caught between, like, doing calling the way that I wanted to and trying to draw the bull in before anybody else, like, got in here and blew it out. So doing the call thing, and we decided to move up. Like, the bull sounded like he was actually coming in. We get set up. We're in some, like, short little pines. So I thought this actually might work out, like, if this bull comes in now. And then it just, like, went quiet, and we could hear the other people calling. And so I don't know if it, like, we were actually probably just probably. It probably passed us and went to the other guys, But I don't know. We just, you know, don't know what happened. I don't know if it was, like, maybe got a wind swirl, whatever. It just, like, didn't fully commit. And then we just hunted the rest of the Morning without really much. Without really much, like, action. So we got. We headed back about midday and decided, let's go try to find another spot. So we checked a couple other spots, you know, didn't really got some bugles, but I actually think that there were other. Other dudes. It just seemed like there's people everywhere. So I was like, all right, we're gonna go just completely different area. And went into a new spot. And it was like, probably three o' clock at this time. And let out some bugles and got, like, a couple bugles in reply. One just, like, absolute screaming, like one of those growly, awesome bugles down in this canyon. And then another bugle, like, up higher. And the other bugle up higher sounded a little weak. So it was like, well, we're definitely going after that lower bugle. And I don't know, we're like, man, is that upper bugle like a person? We kind of thought that. And so where this bull was is just like, in this hole. And just absolute mess of deadfall to get down there. And. And the way. The way the wind was, like, the good route in there couldn't go because the wind would be blowing right turn. We had to, like, loop around, go up high, drop down on him from the other side. And so we decide to do that. And I'm a little. I'm like, man, I don't. Because. So Casey actually has, like, a completely torn ACL and was just. I mean, going everywhere we went. Zero complaints, tougher than nails. And I'm like, all right. Well, I was like, are you good dropping through this? Because it's gonna be. Yeah. She's like, let's go. Let's do it. I'm like, all right. And then Harper, who's nine's like, this is a jungle gym. Like, I think she. Half the really bad deadfall. I think she did twice. Like, she's going back and forth underneath, over, like, just keeping up. And so we drop down through some bad deadfall, climb up the other side, get in position. I know that that other bull, like, where that other bull was, was, like, still a ways down and in the canyon. And so we get kind of above that and bugle, and we hear that, like, that above bugle kind of close to where we're at now. So I'm like, man, we look at each other like, dude, I think that's a dude. But what do you do, right? I mean, I don't know how many times I've called in an elk that I thought was a guy. So you just kind of have to go with it. So call bull calls. You know, I cow call and I get to. I'm like, I gotta just like, I get up on this rock where I can look, and sure enough, here's a guy with his bow and his whatever. I just like wave at him like, sorry, dude. And so he. He goes off up. And I don't know if, like, so where we're at, we, you know, I don't know if he could have ever heard the bowl in the bottom the way that like it benched out. I'm like, man, I don't know. I think he was just heard our bugle, you know, was working that way and then whatever. So we're like, now we're committed. We've already gone this far. We got to drop down anyways. Like, let's go a little bit further and see if we can get that bull to fire off again. So I'm going over to where I thought the bugle was because I dropped a pin on it. I'm like, I think that it was off this little knob. And as we bump over the knob like it, there's this little section of burn. And we bump over this knob and this cow pops up the exact same time like 30 yards away and blows out. And there was no. I didn't see a bull with her. But we're like, okay, well, there's clearly elk here where that bull was bugling. So we do that and then they kind of go off, but I stop them. We kind of sneak down there again and they didn't fully blow out. So we look around for the bull, keep calling, don't hear the bull. And then here we did get a bugle like further down the canyon. So we try to get down there, we hear another bugle. It's like this. Is that definitely that same growli bull. But he just goes quiet. So we end up hiking back up to the other side toward where we came from. We get back to where we started bugle and sure enough, it was like it was a ways down, but that bull maybe just pushed cows off or whatever. He's bugle. He's like a big six point going up the mountain. So we're like, well, at this point now, there's no time to get there. It's already. It's about dark. So we're going to start where that like tomorrow morning where that bull's at. So the next morning we get in there where that bull was. Bugle, bugle, bugle, nothing. So now the plan Is to like. I'm like, okay, if he's not here, then he. He went wrapped around the mountain into that other draw. So we're going to. We're going to work our way back to. Because we got in there, like, way early, like, in the dark bugling, just to see if we could figure out where this bull's at. And sure enough, nothing. So we start wrapping around the mountain calling, and we get a bugle back on the way. And of course, some people. So we called in some more people. So I'm like, all right. Like, those guys seemed like they were going where we just came from and we were already headed. Like, I'm like, I'm pretty sure these elk are going to be in this other canyon. Like, we now know that they aren't here, so they got to be over. So we make haste to go into the other canyon, get to the other canyon, Bugle and bulls light off below us. It's like, all right, it's gonna be another drop down, climb up kind of thing. And I'm like, I can tell that they're moving up the mountain. There's some low, some high. I'm like, this is actually pretty good. Because by the time we get there, we're just. Our plan's now gonna be there's like, big timber and then a burn, and we're gonna go all the way to the top. That thermal is going to shift. We're going to wait for that thermal shift, and then we're going to move down into them. So we. We dropped down. It was like, pretty steep going down, and. But Harper's doing great. Then we get down to the bottom, going through the deadfall stuff. And sure enough, there was like, those guys that we'd called in decided to kind of do the same thing. Like, looped around and we meet there. And they were pretty cool about it because we talked. And I'd actually met one of the guys before. Like, it's just kind of funny coincidence. And. And they were like. They were. It was really cool because they were like, man, you got like. They thought they was like, there's no way a kid's going to drop down in here. They were. They're going to drop down in here with a kid. And so they're like, hey, you guys have committed to this. Why don't you go after him? Like, thanks, man. That was like. It was really cool. So we decide. We just continued on with our plan. Like, went all the way around to the top. Like, really pushed it to get to the top. Try to go as fast as we could. And we made a really good time. And we get to the top, I let out a call and we get the they bugle in reply below us. So everything's working right now. We just got to get through this patch of deadfall and into position. So we go get into position through the deadfall, get into above where they're at. I let out another call. I'm like, okay. They're actually quite a bit closer. And one of the bulls came in. I could see him in the timber probably like 90 yards out, just working. And so there's actually, you know, going into the calls, I didn't know what kind of herd it might be, right? Was it like a bull with a bunch of cows? What was it? And it seemed like where these elk. Where we were. I'm. I'm looking and I'm hearing little bugles here and there. Nothing, you know, no growly, crazy bugle. It's almost like it's just like a little bachelor group of satellite bulls or maybe it was like a group that had been on the herd and moved off together or whatever. I think there's like three or four little bull like, you know, three year old bulls type bulls in there. So I'm like, oh, this is perfect. We just got to play it right. So there's a. We can't really go any further. I would have liked to be set up in a different spot because if we were set up like the way that they were working, they kept going back. I was like, I don't know if there's a wallow right there or what. They kind of kept going to this little benchy spot and then coming back over and all kind of messing with each other, sparring a little bit, doing their thing. So I'm like, we're just gonna set up here. I wish we could be 20 yards further because if we were, we'd have shots sooner. But we're kind of in a burn on the edge of the timber. There's a lot of stuff in the way. It's even hard to see these ones coming, but more set up. So I. Casey was in front of me on the log, and then I had Joe move up to like right where I was at. And then Harper was like tucked down behind us so she could watch everything unfold. So my plan was I'm just gonna throw out some cow sounds and some bugles because I know that these elk are like the thing about elk, you can call and they can pinpoint exactly where you're at. So I'm like, eventually, these ones are going to get curious and come check it out, you know, calcall. And they would bugle and reply like, they're going to come in here. We just got to be patient. So do that. Start calling and just kind of letting out a few calls here and there. And sure enough, I can see. I was like, one of the bulls in the bottom is coming. So he's coming, and he's just taking his time. He's looking, like, exactly like they do. Like they know where the calls were coming from. They just, you know. So now at this point, I'm like, okay, he knows we're here. We just got to be quiet, stay frozen. And this bull's coming in. He's, like, behind the trees at, like, 30, 40 yards. And, like, just no clear shot. And I'm hoping he takes this trail left. He'll put him, like, 20 yards away or maybe 30 yards away broadside. And he just keeps coming, like, exactly where we are. Hits the log where Casey's at and is, like, coming right up super close. And it's one of those where he's looking around, and it's like, almost like he's, like, staring. I swear, when Elker, like, doing that look and close, like, I feel like they can see your thoughts, you know, you just. Everything in your body is, like, freaking out because you think that this bull can see you. And so he's coming in. I tell Casey I'm like, draw back, you know, because he put his head down and he was behind a tree, and he's going to step out. So she draws back. And I see, like. I mean, sometimes in those situations when it's just so close and, like, staring at you, I can see her just shaking. And she draws back. And I don't know if his, like, head was down or whatever. He. He starts to go. She shoots, and I'm pretty sure there's, like, some sticks and other things. And I think it, like, the bull, like, lifted his head at the same time. And I think it. I think it hit. It's like, antlers and threw the arrow up. And the bull, like, runs off, starts to run off, and I just rip a bugle. And. And he stops. And at this point, Joe, who's right next to me, is at full draw. The bull's still with, like, he was probably 15 yards on the or 18 yards, and now he's like, probably 24 yards, something like that. And the bull stops. Joe shoots and hits the bull. I think he kind of Spun toward the arrow, like, tried to move a bit. And so it hit him, like. Like he was quartered away. And I think he, like, turned into it kind of hit him quartered in, maybe even hit some sticks on the way there. And so the bull runs off, starts to run off. I call, and he slows down. Like, we try to finagle another shot, and he just, like, starts to walk off. I'm like, okay, everyone, just. Let's just wait. Like, that bull, like, he. He was hit good enough, But I do not want to push that bull. So I throw out some calls and just keep calling. I tell Casey to move up to that other spot where. Where I really wanted to be, like, so she creeps up to that. And I keep calling because there's still three other bulls around. So I keep calling, and I see another bull kind of work in our direction. So they were looking at that other bull move off. I'm sure he's right there. So keep calling. And the get set up. And another bull starts to come in. It's probably like 20, 30 minutes later. Probably. Yeah, maybe 45 minutes later, this other bull starts walking in, and I can't see the. I could see the bull, and then it disappeared. And I see Casey draw back. She shoots, and, you know, I think, unfortunately, shot over his back. I think just the combination of, like, nerves and all the stuff, it just. It happens, right? Like, it's just one of those things. She's like, after. She's like, I don't know, like, I can hit a grouse no problem at that distance, and then couldn't hit the elk, like, and it just happens. I don't know if it's. You know, it's just the adrenaline, all of it. Like, it's just. It's. It's hard. That's what makes bow hunting. I was like, that's what makes bow hunting so fun. We've all been there. It happens. So decided we're going to give that. That other bull a little bit of time. We actually gave him. It started to kind of creep in to see if we could see, and he was still standing there. This is like, after she shot, just to make sure, you know, I went to where to make sure there was no blood or anything, just to verify and see that bull. And he doesn't see us, but we're trying, maybe trying to get another shot, kind of take our sh. Creep in. He moves off, and I'm like, we just got to back out, you know, we got to give him, like, at this point, it's probably, I don't know, 11am so I'm like, we gotta. It's like, if I'm sure that bull will be down by 5pm but we just gotta be patient. So we pull back and wait. Because I was like, if we bump this bull, like, in this thick stuff, even if he's within 300 yards, we're never gonna. It's gonna be so hard to find him. So we just back out and give it the right amount of time, start moving, and we're like. I was like, we're going to move in at 5pm but we decided to, like, move in at 4:40. You know, you're like, okay. So we start to move in. We find the blood tracks and everything. And sure enough, like, I hear a little something down below, and I'm glassing, and I catch one tine, like just a 2 inches of a tine through all this thick stuff. It's like, probably 60 yards below us. And I'm like. I can tell. I was like. Based on the way that I start looking, I can kind of see. And I'm like, okay, he's gonna. He's gonna expire here pretty quick. So we just give it like 15 more minutes, and at like, 4:58, the bull just flops over and he's done. So. All right. Okay, cool. Like, we. We got him. We went in there and. And it was just pretty cool. Like, Harper was there. Like, to have their daughter there with us and to actually just get after it. Like, she did so good, Saw the whole thing unfold. Like, what a epic day of elk hunting. And while we're actually processing the elk, we're like, cutting him up. A bull lights off right below us. I start bugling, and he starts coming in. I'm like, we're gonna double up on elk right here while we're skinning this. This other elk out and quartering this other elk out. And sure enough, that other bull, like, another bull comes in, but just. It was too thick. And then I don't know if he winded us or circled us or what happened, but ended up not seeing him. But he was right there, like, probably 20, 30 yards from us in the trees. Like, it was pretty wild, but it was a. It was just an awesome day. And I never had that happen where calling a bull, one person misses it and another person shoots it. I was like, that was pretty cool. Like, that doesn't happen in archery. Like, backing someone up in archery doesn't happen very often. I've never seen it so to have that opportunity and to get a bowl down was. Was pretty awesome. And, yeah, it was. It was really cool. Like, we. We ended up packing out all the pack out. Like, I was like, well, we're. We're up here. I was like, let's just get it to the bottom, you know, so Joe and I and, like, split up the elk, and we're like, let's just get it to the bottom and we get to the bottom. And I'm like, it was one of those where you're like, okay, you've got. We boned it out and, like, you've got half an elk in your pack and all the stuff and get to the bottom. I'm like, man, like, there's so much deadfall to get back up this ridge in the dark, it's hard to figure out the best route. And yet, I don't know why. Just decided to, like, push through and trudge up the mountain in the dark through all the deadfall with the heavy pack and all the stuff. We made it. You know, it was, like midnight, but it's one of those. The best feeling in the world, like, when you've done, like, a hard pack out and you've got it to the truck and you're done, you know, you don't have to come back tomorrow. You know, I don't know why I do that every time. I'm like, oh, just get it to the bottom. And then we're like, I'll just get it up a little ways, and then we'll find a better out in the morning. And then you're just like, no, we'll just struggle through the deadfall and get it out tonight. And so we did. You know, I ended up, like. Ended up leapfrogging, like, the last bit, just trying to find a good route, like, bringing the head up. Go back, grab the pack. Grab. Take the pack up, go back, grab. You know, like, just ferrying stuff. But we made it out, and what a fun hunt. You know, unfortunately, like, we end up. We continue to hunt, try to get Casey a bull. I didn't get any more good opportunities, but we just had, like, you know, what an epic day of, like, calling essentially getting three shots in one one setup and getting a bowl with everyone there. Like, it was. It was just such a fun hunt. And one of the things that just makes you, you know, keep going back. One of those days, it's like, you remember. You remember those kind of days, which is. Was a lot of fun. So whether you're bow hunting, elk rifle hunting, Elk muzzleloader, hunting elk doesn't really matter. There are a couple of steps to that success that I think are very important. And some of the things that, you know, like, some of the things that I kind of always. I'd say, like, always ascribe to when there's that opportunity to find success. And some of the days it works out, and some of the days it doesn't. Right. But you just have to kind of keep doing what works, and then eventually it's like that persistence part plays in. But one of the things with elk hunting is there's this. I think, like, one of the steps to success is this element of effort. And what I mean by that is, like, it doesn't matter if you're. Wherever you're at, public land hunting, private land hunting, rifle hunting, archery hunting, but especially archery hunting, there's like, this certain amount of effort of you have to get to the right place. And often, well, when it comes to archery hunting, like, when they're bugling, you need to be where they're bugling when they're doing it. And so there's this effort element that says, like, okay, to get on those elk, I have to go this way. And it kind of falls into my. You know, the one thing that I always come back to, my number one mantra, if you take anything this podcast is like, that go the best way, not the easy way. And I think that, that, like, in some ways, maybe that, like, first. Maybe that second day, right. I think I. I don't. I don't know. Like, we didn't really have the time to. To get around, but, like, the way the wind was going and going to go, it's like sometimes you have to drop down through the deadfall and come up the other side, right? You got to put in that effort to get into the right position. You have to, like, it's like, okay, the elk. Or across, like, say it's a late rifle, and you see the. You're like, okay, the elk are way over there. Okay. To get into the right position, I'm gonna have to put in this. This amount of effort. And that's just the way that elk hunting goes. Like, of course, people get lucky. You know, they. Of course you can. Yeah. You can't shoot them from the truck if you're out there walking around. Right. I guess, like, people do find success all different ways. I'm not. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying every. Every successful elk hunt has to be ripping through the deadfall and climbing and going around the mountain and getting in the best position. But the people that are consistently successful are absolutely doing that effort. And that's the cool thing, like, you know, that I think I. My takeaway from this hunt is like, look, we had, I mean, she plays like soccer and is active and has very active parents, but we hunted elk and got into bulls and had success with a nine year old girl with us. And she did incredible, right? But she was willing. Like, we put in the effort. And I think if you just do that effort and go where you need to go, I'm not saying take kids that can't make it down into holes that you gotta hike out of. But like, I think that the, the reason that we were successful was because we were. Everyone was willing to just do the effort that it took to get to where the elk are. And that I think is, is a big thing. Like, there's so many times where, and even, you know, I even do it right, I know better. But like so many times where you're like, okay, the elk are over there and you look at the draw and the drainage and like you're physically capable of doing it, but you just kind of don't want to. That happens every time. Like, I go to a lot of places that I don't want to go into. I know I can. I'm not saying, I'm not saying doing something stupid anytime I'm talking about this kind of stuff. I'm not like, push yourself to the limits where you can't get out. And we weren't doing anything silly. We weren't doing anything stupid. We weren't doing anything dangerous. Just things that are uncomfortable and you don't really want to do. I don't really want to drop. And so a lot of times what happens is people debate it. They debate it so long that the opportunity has passed. I see it all the time, like with other hunters while guiding even myself, like, oh God, I don't really want to. I just dropped down. Like, did this happen to me? Well, I'll tell the story, you know, here next week probably. But like where you're. You drop down into a hole, you call the elk, go quiet, whatever, you climb back out thinking it's all done, and then they fire back up exactly where you were. And you're like, I don't want to drop back down there. Right? You don't want to do it two or three times. It's just like a pain. Okay, let's see what they do. Let's just hang back and wait. And sometimes, sometimes you just have to put the effort in to be there when you need to be there. It's more of a timing issue than anything. And so I think that, like, the steps to that success is being willing to just put that effort in. Like, okay, here's the opportunity. Here's where the elk are. Let's do the effort that it's going to take to get those elk, and let's not waste our time doing it now. There. There is that other thing where you need to. You need to have the timing right. And I think that the other step to success here is. Is understanding that wind and playing that wind. Elk put themselves, like, they like to go to the places in the certain times of day where the wind is. Is moving a lot. Like, where we were at, it seemed like mornings and evenings they were down in the bottoms, because as you get those shifting thermals, the wind's going up. Like, the prevailing winds pushing down, the thermals are going down. Like, everything's directing the wind and swirling it around and making it very difficult to get within bow range and stay within that wind zone in the mornings. You know, in other places, they were, like, up near the tops and the knobs, and you get this prevailing wind that's coming downhill toward them, and then you're also getting the thermals that are coming up, and there it's at that time where it's starting to switch, so it's swirling, and you're like, dang it. Every time I go in on these elk, the wind's bad. Well, sometimes you just have to wait for that, like, that right moment, you know, and maybe they're bugling now, but, okay, well, they're going that direction. We need to now back to effort, go round, get on the top, and then by the time we get to the top, hopefully that thermal and wind is lined up, and now we can move in and have a good wind. We had on the day that we killed, you know, one of the reasons we killed was because we had the wind and thermal right. You know, it was a lot of extra effort. It would have been really easy to go, like, side mountain, try to side into these elk. And then some would have been above us, some would have been below us, and it. Eventually we would have got winded. We never got winded all day. You know, essentially, sitting on the elk all day never got winded because we took that effort to. To get the wind right and play that correct thermal and that correct wind. So it's a lot of moving fast and then being patient, moving fast. And being patient. Being patient at the right time is probably one of the most successful tools you can have. Like, there is that. I am. I'm big proponent of, like, okay, you have to get in there. You have to get the action. It's like, now's the time making that move. But I'm also a proponent of when it's not the right time. You need to wait, and it. Sometimes it kills you. You're like, dude, they're right there. But this is a terrible scenario, terrible setup. Like, the wind's bad. Everything's bad about it. I just need to hold off and wait. And when it changes, when that. When the. The deck stacks in my favor, you know, it's the thing that I think is the most important for successful elk hunting is, let's say you're. It's like, in some ways, it's like gambling, right? It's like, okay, you got all these things that can go right, can go wrong. You might not know what's going to happen. But then there's a point. Let's say it's like 21, right, where you're like, okay, the deck's almost done, and there's a lot of tens and aces left. I know that I have the deck stacked in my favorites. I have a higher percentage of getting what I need, and so that's what I do. Elk hunting. It's like, I wait till one card comes in. My favor was like, okay, I have a little bit higher odds, higher percentage. I'm playing the percentages. So I was like, okay, sometimes the percentage is, I got to get in here now. Everything's right. I got to charge in here. They're fired up. I got the good wind. We got to go. We got to make this happen. We got to get there fast, and we got to, like, hustle. And then other times, like, okay, we're here, we actually got to sit and wait. Like, even though everything in my body is like, I got to get. I want to get in on these elk, it's like, nope, you got to. You got to get that wind right? You got to wait for that thermal to shift, because otherwise you're just going to blow elk out left and right, and you're going to lose a really good opportunity. In a lot of places that you might hunt, you aren't getting it to turn up the good opportunity. You might only get a couple of them if you're lucky, you know? So you got to make good on those opportunities and sometimes have the right patience when. When it's needed. And I think this third thing, very specific to elk calling, but I think one of the important things is. Is, like, for successful elk calling. And I was talking to my brother, ended up. He was on a, you know, similar hunt this last week and came home empty, you know, had some close or good opportunities. But I think that, you know, one of the things that we were discussing was saying, like, you know, you just have to know. And this. I think this comes from, you know, probably messing up a million times, but, like, knowing the right calls to make and. And, like, when and how to call. So, like, when we got in on those. Those elk, it's. It's understanding the elk that you're calling to sometimes, like, let's say we're. We're calling. It's like, man, this bull's just ripping off bugles to cow calls. But, like, okay, is he a lone bull? Like, the way that I call to a lone bull is different than the way that I call to a bull with a bunch of cows. The way that I even interact, maybe it depends on also what you're. What you're trying to target. And I think next week will. I mean, I just. I had another hunt where I was, like, absolute rut fest, calling, calling extravaganza. And it was fun because I got to do all the things that you get to do when it comes to elk calling. Every strategy, every tactic, every little thing and. And really play the bulls. But, like, the calling that I was doing on those elk that we moved in on was different than the calling that I was doing a couple days earlier in the timber when we had that, like, herd bull coming in. Because what. What I was essentially doing is knowing, like, okay. I even told him. I'm like, okay, we're gonna sit here, and we're gonna be patient. We're gonna let these calls out. This isn't, like, bust in here and get them riled up. Big bugle action. This is. They're gonna come in quiet. They're gonna be sneaking around. They're gonna, like, look and see what's going on. They're going to take their time to get in, but eventually, you're going to filter in here and check us out. Two different kinds of calling. There's one where it's, like, breaking sticks, smashing branches, ripping bugles. There's another one where it's like, cow call, cow call. Mew. Light bugle. Stay quiet for 10 minutes, right? And so understanding the temperament and the bulls that you're calling to make a big difference in actually drawing that bull to your location. And I think that that's one of the things that probably comes with experience, but also, you know, something that could be taught. Like, one of the. A couple of the things that I'll do is, like, sometimes you can't see what kind of elk you're calling to. So one of the things is how the bull is responding to your calls. If I let out a bugle, and a bull immediately bugles back. Okay, what kind of bugle is it? Is it a. Is it like a real deep, growly bugle? If I let out a light bugle and that bull never bugles, but then I let out like a. Just an absolute hammer bull bugle, like, and every time I do that, he bugles back. Okay, we've got. We understand, like, that's probably a herd bull. He probably has cows, and he doesn't like the challenge to the cows of, like, another mature bull. He's like, he's responding in kind. But if I throw out a cow call, and with that cow call, I'm getting those bugles back. Okay, well, maybe that bull is probably trying to call that cow to his location or potentially could be a lone bull that might want to come in and check us out. Okay, are his replies getting closer or are they not? Are they staying where they're at? If they're not, then we're going to have to move into him. If they are coming closer, we should probably get into a place where we can get a good shot, a good setup, and not be behind a bunch of stuff when he does come in. If we can find a place like that. Because the majority of the time you're elk hunting, calling, you're probably going to call in an elk and not have a shot. That's just the nature of the beast. Like, half the challenge is finding a place where you can get a shot when you're calling and when that bull is going to come in. And then the other thing is like, okay, well, maybe they're interspersed. We're within a proximity to the herd. Now we're going to throw out the kind of calls that might draw the bull in that we're looking for. Or I mean, sometimes you go like, okay, we got a herd bull. We're on the edge, and we're going to throw out the calls that draw in the other bulls that are around. You know, they're. They're. Just because a bull is a satellite bull doesn't mean it's not a bull that I don't want to take. Like, I. Half the time Might even target those bulls because they're ones. They're as good a bull as I can get anywhere. And it might be the one that's like, I can pull in with the strategy that I'm using. So I think, like, the call and the understanding what the animal's saying, why they're saying it, and how to respond is pretty key. And I know, like, I've done a lot of podcasts on different calls and the different tactics and other things, but it is one of the things, like, if you're calling, you know, understand, like, read the situation a little bit. I think that that's one of the things that people struggle with, is like, okay, maybe the situation doesn't just call for. It's like, I'm cow calling is. I don't know why the bulls aren't coming in. I'm making the cow calls. It's like, you aren't hearing any cow calls. They aren't. The cows aren't calling. The bulls aren't responding to it. It's not going to work today. Might tomorrow, not today, but when you let that bugle out, they like that. They're, you know, it's getting them fired up. Okay, keep doing that. Like, that's going to be the call that we're going to get. Work this bull with, you know, so being flexible with your calling and understanding why and when certain elk might call and how to potentially respond in kind is going to draw more bulls into your location if you're in that scenario where you're going to be doing some calling. So I think that those things just, you know, the things that lead to success are often the little things. But it's that effort. It's that understanding and trying, you know, like being patient for the wind or moving aggressively to get that wind, right? And then in the calling scenarios, understanding, you know, matching the type of calling for the scenario, like, and it might change, right? You could be calling to a bull, and it's like a rut, bugle, scream fest. You get, it doesn't work out. They move off, they go into some. They park up and some stuff. And now it's switched to light cow calling and other things. So I think next week I'm going to share the story of the hunt. After this hunt that I just talked about and talk a little bit about, it's fun to just kind of talk about the intricacies of calling and drawing a bull in, because I got. I got to do a lot of it last week, and it was fun, man. I probably called in more elk last week than in, in a five day period than I have in any other five day period, to be honest. Maybe one other time. But I'll share that story next week because I think it's, it's a real good one to, to understand maybe some of the, I think sometimes just like talking through encounters helps people kind of build a picture of like, okay, I encounter something similar. What would, what would I do? What should I do in this scenario? Because if you haven't encountered all these scenarios, then it's hard to decide, you know, oh, what do I do? What's going to be the strategy that works the best here? So we'll talk about some of that stuff next week. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that podcast. It's always fun to recap some of the stuff from the season and then look back and say, like, what strategies worked, what, you know, maybe you've got a hunt coming up or just things to think about for next season. You know, maybe you're thinking about your hunt like, okay, I was successful and this is what worked. Or man, I didn't find success. But he's right. Like, I sat, I waited, I debated too long, right, for that to put in that effort. It's all good. It's just, it's good to reflect and it's fun to talk about those things, you know, when it's fresh in your mind. Just want to thank you guys so much again for all the support, you know, all the comments, ratings on the podcast. We always really appreciate that. Another thing that I wanted to mention, you know, incredible supporter of this podcast, Montana Knife Co. As we're getting into the season, if you're like, hey, I'm ready, I need a knife, I need some new gear. Montana Knife Company. I just, look, there's some really good in stock knives going into this season because in years past, I know once you hit this point of the year, it's like there's nothing available. I'm looking right now, they've got some mini stone goats, mini speed goats in the magnacut. They've also got one of this one, this knife. I actually really, it's the sharp tail. I think they make it as like a, like they see, you know, it's advertised as like a upland knife in a way. But like, dude, it's a great, it's a great big game knife I actually haven't used. I like, I like it because it's like that smaller blade, really good for caping and other stuff, but got a little bit longer handle and it's like, it's actually, I actually really like it. I actually took that on a hunt recently and just used that. Oh, another good one. Like that. There's a few left of the Blackfoot 2.0. I like the, I like the size of that blade, like a little bit shorter. And then there's, there's even some other drops coming out. So if you want something, you know, you can always check out the drops, get on their email list. They. They drop same day. This podcast drops, but at night. So on Thursdays. But yeah, I think that like the mini stone goat or mini speedgoat, those are, those ones are awesome. Like, they're, they're definitely lightweight. Great for the backcountry. Just an awesome size knife for kind of all around use. You can check those out. I think you guys will really enjoy those. So check that out. Montanaknifecompany.com Another thing I want to mention too, for those of you, maybe you're shopping for arrows, maybe broadheads. We've got, we're rocking and rolling with my Day six Arrow company, our Evo broadheads. A lot of people have questions on, like, which ones to get. So I'm gonna just, I'm gonna run through my Evo broadheads. So I, I generally use the Evo. I mean, I shoot. So whatever grain you use. So this is day six. You can go day six gear.com, check them out. But there's a couple of things that I really like about the broadheads. One is the blade angle. Like when you look at these bleeders, they're up front. The angles, like you look at the thing, it looks like a, it looks like a stealth bomber, you know, like every edge of these broadheads is sharpened, so it's like the back sharp and the front sharp, and the whole thing is sharp. It's an incredible design. And they fly really well. Like, if your bow's tuned, these fly as good as anything that I've ever shot. And that's, that's the reason that I shoot them. And then you've got, you know, addition to, of penetration and other things. Now we have three different styles. There's the Evo, the Evo X and the xl. And what those are is different, different sizes really. So like the Evo, I just shoot the standard Evo. It's the, the 116 main blade width, and then it's like an inch and 316 length. The difference between that and the X is going to be the size. So the X is an inch and a quarter main blade width and then an inch and 3,8 length. And then the XL is going to be like, that's your like trad bow, heavy, big arrow. Like you aren't shooting very far with the xl. They're huge. They're like inch and a quarter main blade width and then an inch and seven, eight blade length. And it doesn't sound like a lot, but in a broadhead, as you start to get bigger and wider and do all those things, you know, you change a few of the dynamics of it. So the Evo X, those come in like 125s, 150s and 175 grain. The standard Evo comes in 100 grain, 125 and 150. And then you can choose your bleeder size. So you got, you know, depending on what's available, like half inch or three quarter inch. I just shoot like the half inch, you know, stand like that's standard. But so like, if you're, if you're like a white tail hunter, you can always go with the, the larger blade length or depending on like, you know, how much weight you're. You're shooting. You know, you can adjust there if you're like, I might want some distance and other things, and I'd probably just stay with the standard Evo style. So that's just a little bit of a breakdown of the broadheads, because I've been getting a lot of questions like, okay, which ones should I go with? Which ones should I do? So something to look at, but thank you guys so much for all the support, especially on the day six side. Those of you that are like, dude, I switched my arrows and or I got new arrows, got new broadheads, send me. Send us your success picks and all that stuff. Stuff, man, we love to use that stuff and, and really enjoy seeing all your guys success. Throughout the season. It's been busy, you know, been on the road and out hunting and doing all the stuff, but when I get time, I, I check all those things and, and appreciate the messages and all the stuff. So thank you guys so much. And I'm gonna say, until next week, just keep hunting. We'll catch you guys later. Sam.