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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. This 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. If you're looking for a great gift this holiday season, Yeti has you covered with their Rambler drinkware. It's a leak. Fruit, stackable, ton of different colors and everything for drinking water, coffee, wine or beer. They even have shot glasses and flasks. They're great stocking stuffers and an awesome gift to give this holiday season. Well everyone, first of all, Happy New Year, today's New Year's Day and it's the beginning of 2026. So I just want to welcome you guys to Live Wild podcast because this week we're going to dive into part two of a Year in Review and we're going to go over my 25 takes of 2025. So I have broken it down into my five biggest mistakes, my top 10 things I did right, and my top 10 lessons I learned for the year. I like to every year take the season, reflect and build upon that and hopefully have a few people be able to learn along the way as well. So let's dive in and look few of my favorite lessons from this past season. I personally am a big fan of the new year and for me I think it's always that time where I kind of, I sit down, my wife and I, we sit down, we, we kind of write out what our big goals are, big our big aspirations for the year, things that we want to change, new things that we want to try. I don't know, there's just something Fresh about that, that new year. Yeah, it's just a calendar day, just things turning over. But it also signifies the way keep track of time and, and also kind of move and grow. And so for this year, one of the things that I always like to do, whether it's for hunting, business, whatever, I always, we always sit down and look at, okay, what are some of the things we did right? What are some of the things that we did wrong? What did we learn? And then kind of continue that on into the next year. And I think with hunting, one of my favorite things about hunting is the, the difficulty level of it and how a lot of those mistakes that you make, like, no matter, that's the thing I love about hunting, is there's a lot of other things you can do in life and make very few mistakes or what have you. And it doesn't matter how much you hunt, how long you've been doing it, things are going to happen. And sometimes when those things happen, that's kind of the fun part of it, but also the learning experience of it. There's hunts that go right, there's hunts that go wrong. And just analyzing all those things, I think that just makes us better in the end. And that's one of the things that I'm a big proponent of, and this podcast is really designed around, is time spent in the field learning from what we do and how to be better and how to be more consistently successful. And even for myself, I look back on this year and I think about it, I had a very, very successful year. I can think back. There's some seasons where, man, it just seemed like a struggle fest or whatever could go wrong, did go wrong. And definitely I had some mistakes happen this year that never happened before. Things that I thought about could happen and just, you know, I've been maybe on the lucky side or cautious enough to, to avoid those certain things. And then a few things that, that just happened this year and really when I was kind of sitting down thinking, okay, like what, what were some big mistakes this year? Thankfully, you know, I had a few, but I think overall, you know, I, I avoided some and then I had a couple that were like, pretty major. So let's dive into those five big mistakes and what I learned this season and things that kind of going forward, definitely going to pay a little more attention to. The other thing I like to do about this is just kind of a little bit of look behind the curtains, behind the hunt, and, and really just dive into my thought process on a lot of this stuff. And hopefully people can learn, learn a little bit from the mistakes, from the things that I did right or did wrong and, and even just fun just looking back into things that I've learned this past season. So we'll dive into a few of these mistakes. I think the number, maybe I should have done this last. But the biggest mistake I made this season was when my broadhead hit that cable on my bow string in the Northwest Territories on that essentially once in a lifetime type mountain caribou hunt. I got very, very, very, very lucky that it didn't cut all the way through. That was, it was a big mistake and really I got lackadaisical in the way that I did something right. I got hasty and I, one of the, so what happened was I actually, I was holding the bow and I, I put my, I was going to put my broadhead away and I actually grabbed, reached forward up by the, just to make sure. I don't know why like got in my head like, oh, I should double check that my broadhead's on tight. Stupid. If I was going to do that, I should have set my bow down. And then I'm like moving and doing. I do that and then I go to put it away in the quiver and I'm like walking and moving. It's not like I was in a rush. It was, Caribou were bedded. I was just moving to another position and, and it just was fumbly. It was bad, it was bad form. I'm like walking and doing this thing. I was holding the arrow way far down the shaft. Not like I don't even know what I was thinking. I was just like, not even, I don't know, I guess I was paying attention. It was just stupid. It was just absolutely stupid. And it bumped to that string and you know, you've got a razor sharp broadhead and it hits the string. I mean the fact that it tapped it and I nearly cut through the whole thing. I got super lucky that I didn't cut through the whole thing. But that could have been a hunt ender. And to be honest, like it caused the hunt to go away that I necessarily didn't want it to go. I, I, I got the caribou. But my, my biggest thing is like, you know, whenever I shoot, you want it to be the perfect lethal shot right away. And that shot was low. The caribou ran. I got, I mean I recovered it. It just like, I think probably more luck than anything that, I don't know, like it, it hit something. Okay. And I was able to retrieve that caribou and. And it worked out fairly quick, but that was just. It could have gone so wrong and such a. A valuable hunt to me and something that you just don't want something like that to happen in such a remote place or anywhere. Huge mistake. And it's funny because I've thought about that happening. I've had questions about that happening. Like, hey, what. What about your strings? You know, I. I always have, like when I'm hiking around, I always have a. A sling over my strings. Like we've got the day six ones and the live wild ones bow slings. And just. I don't really. You. I mean, I use it as a sling because I love stocking in with it and you know, being able to have my bow right there, not strapped on my pack, but use my binos and get to my bow fast. I like that. But also the primary reason that I use that kind of sling is the string protection. And you know, knock on. Knock on wood. I've. I've up until that point not really had any problems, but being hasty, not really. I mean, not paying the level of attention that I normally would. Just not setting the bow down and doing whatever I was going to do. Like dumb. And it had an accident that could have been catastrophic and just got lucky that it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Big mistake. I think number two, you know, looking back on this past season, I had two bow hunts where the shots weren't what I would have liked. You know, they worked out. Like I, you know, got the animal like. So it was that caribou where the bow string. And then an elk hunt and I was using a bow, a new bow that I got. I got the bow kind of late in the season and I really wanted to use that new bow. But I think that I just kind of. I didn't have as much time to set it up as I would have liked to. I didn't get it as dialed as I. Not it was shooting very accurately. But then I started tinkering with it too close to the hunt. I never do that. And I did too much too late. Like, I started. It was good. It was set up, it was tuned. It was. And then I just started changing stuff. Why? I don't know. And I felt like as I got closer to the hunt, like it wasn't as tuned as I would have liked, but it was fine because it was shooting good. You know, I just don't think I was getting like the perfect arrow flight that I could. But I started changing one thing and then changed another. I changed the draw. I just started changing a lot of stuff late in the season. And then for me, it probably wouldn't have been. It wouldn't have been a problem. But, you know, I've talked about my wrist. You know, a lot of you that have been following along for a while. I had a wrist surgery. I learned to shoot with a mouth tab. And to be honest, like, I've. I've had a lot of improvement in healing in it. A lot of strength, you know, been able to work out. But if I shoot my boat a lot, like, just constant shooting, it starts to get sore. And then I start to shoot bad. I start to have bad form, and I try to avoid that. So I. So I ease up, and it was just. I did a little too much to the bow too late. Like, I don't know what I was trying to achieve. Is one of those. One of those stupid things where I can't even remember. Oh, yeah, I was trying. I was like, I'm gonna try this new peep. And then I put the new peep in and then decided to. I don't remember what. I just did a bunch of stupid stuff, like, real close to the hunt, thinking, oh, yeah, this will make it even better. And it was fine. Like, I was shooting fine, but I just didn't get it to exactly where I wanted, and I just messed around with it too much. I don't think a lot of people do that, because why would you, right? Like, you get your bow down, but, dude, it happens all. You know, it happens where you get a bow set up, and then something happens to it. Like, oh, man, I should have replaced. I've had this happen on. Not. Not a new bow or not new setup where you go, like, you've got your bow, you're shooting great, and then you're like, but these strings are getting old, right? And you just keep shooting, like, ah, maybe you'll be fine. And then you get real close to the hunt. You're like, dang it. Like, it's not gonna last. Like, why am I going on a hunt with these old strings? And then you swap it out, and then you have limited time. It's like, just do all that stuff early. I'm. I'm the type of person that preaches that. And yet here I am making some, like, big changes real close to a hunt. And I didn't feel as confident with that setup as I would have liked. But also, I was like, well, I'm calling in bulls. I'M gonna be real close. Like, it doesn't really matter for this particular hunt. Like, I'm not taking far shots or anything like that. Like, it's shooting great, but I just felt like my arrow flight wasn't optimal for that. I hit a bull a little further back than I would have liked. He ran a little ways. I stopped him. I moved up, shot again, and the bull died within 20 yards of where he was standing. Originally, it was fine, but I just feel like in some ways, for myself personally, I let myself down a little bit by just making some changes that I didn't need to do too close to a hunt and not really going in with that bow with the confidence that I normally would have. That's all. I'm really glad I used that bow. I just wish I wouldn't have messed around with it too much so close to the hunt, that's all. Big mistake number three. I would say probably one of the biggest. The bigger mistakes that I made on the hunt was on that or during the season on that caribou hunt, the bull that I ended up getting, which, you know, in the end makes a better story. You know, you wanted a little bit more. But I. I had that bull bedded in a good spot. There was another little bull with him that wasn't in a great spot. And there was a couple different approaches. I chose the approach where I'd be exposed for a little bit. It was a really, really bold stock. And normally I err on the side of patience. And I chose to just go with, like, I don't know, like, the quick, easy way, you know, instead of some. My big thing is like, go the best way, not the easy way. I say that every every time. That is, like, if you were to think. My one rule of advice. Go the best way, not the easy way. That should be the first thing that pops in your head if you're ever thinking about what to do on a hunt. That's it. And I didn't do that. I was like this. You know, if we crawl through this while they're sleeping, it'll be fine. Well, there's three of us. And that was just stupid. It was. It was a dumb stalk, and the caribou blew out. And that could have been my only chance. It turns out I ended up finding them. It. It worked out. But then, you know, I had the string cut thing and. And all that stuff. And it was all because I did one stock early in the hunt that I didn't go the best way. I really kind of went like, oh, we're here. If I get down to this, then I'll be within range. Or instead of sitting, waiting it out, sometimes you just have to be more patient. And that was one where I chose to go. It's like just rush. I rushed it and the result was a rush stock and a missed opportunity. And it was kind of like I knew that was gonna happen. It didn't take rocket scientists to know that that's what was going to happen with that. Right. But just in the moment I thought yeah, it was like bad conditions like raining, wind, whatever, bad wind. And, and I didn't want to approach from a way where they could see where I was coming in from. But in hindsight it would have been a better approach from down below and just being patient, waiting for them to get into a better position. But I rushed it and it didn't work out. Thankfully the hunt worked out fine. But you don't know that, right? It could have gone the exact opposite way. And that could have been my one opportunity, a long way to travel to, to, to blow it on a, on a good chance. Number four, this one. I don't think anybody would have known this was a, this was a mistake, but this was something for me that happened. I don't know. Like this isn't a real common thing, but sometimes it is, especially in places where you have to apply for tags or maybe you apply in multiple states. In some ways I felt like I over, like I had it. So I actually, I drew a Nevada mule deer tag this year and I knew that it was in it, it was an area that I really wanted to hunt and so I was like, okay, archery tag. And I really wanted to, to hunt this area. I've been, I've been trying to hunt it for quite a few years and just an area that I think would be really cool to hunt and been wanting to hunt it. And so I finally got it and I kind of over committed on hunts. Like I knew I had this long hunt, the caribou hunt, and I really should have turned that tag back in, but I felt like I was like, well, I'm going to try to. I think I can squeeze it in between this and that or if I get tagged out early then I'll have time and. And I just, I didn't have time and I ended up not even being able to hunt that tag and that's this the first tag that I've ever had like that that I didn't even get to put any days in and it sucked. Now I I was in a party with my brother, and so if I would have turned it back in, he would. Had to turn his in, but I could have talked him into it, and he would have been like. Afterwards, he was like, dude, we should have just done that. I don't know. But it was. I think in some. Sometimes I've had this happen before where, you know, you start to apply for tags. This is probably just a me problem because I. I do hunt a lot of different places, but I'm kind of getting to that point where I've got points. I'm starting to draw stuff, and I really have to say, like, okay, man, there's been places where you just used to putting in because you never know where you might draw. And then you draw one or two tags. You're hoping for maybe drawing one tag, and you draw two tags, and you go, oh, crap, now what am I gonna do? And instead of having the one and committing more time to it, you're like, well, I'll just keep this tag and keep that tag and maybe get a hunt on both. And then you kind of split your focus or hunt runs along, or you kind of. You play it a little. A little weird in some ways. And I think it's just better to have fewer, like, for anyone. If I, you know, I've recommended this to friends or whatever, they're like, oh, yeah, the combo hunt. And I'm going out to, like, some guys will be like, look, I'm going to say it's Wyoming, and it's like, I want to hunt elk, but then I think I'm gonna get the deer tag and the antelope tag, too. Because then if this and that and all these other things and you got all. All this, and you start to rush and. And you kind of lose focus on the thing that you were originally thinking about chasing. I've had it work the other way where, yeah, you tag out early, and it's nice to have an extra tag in your pocket, but really, I think it's just better to have time and commit to a specific tag and not have to rush the process. And this year, I felt like I. Thankfully, I had a really good elk tag that I drew somewhere, and I turned that one back in. It was a state where I could turn it. Turn it back in. But that's something to think about, is when you do an application, you know what. What's the. Is there a refund policy? Can you turn this tag back in? What are some of the options? And every state's a little Bit different. Something to think about. Like, if you're applying in multiple states because for the most part, you. You're like, I want to get a hunt somewhere. So you have to apply in a couple different places. And then the question is like, well, what if you draw both of those? Well, do you. You know, can you return one? Is it. Is something you. It's part of the application strategy you really have to look at is like, okay, what. It's nice to kind of lay it out where you're applying in somewhere and find out the results before the other place you apply. So looking into future application strategies, that's something that you might want to think about is like, where are places that I can apply their sequential. Where I find out the results of this before that and then go into the season with that knowledge of what you drew. Or maybe you could go points on the other thing or. Yeah, I got. I got a tag or I didn't get tagged. Now I got to keep applying for something else. So just, you know, for me, I felt like in some ways I did a good job of trying to balance that. There was one tag that kind of slipped under the. I just kind of was like, I really want to hunt this, and I'm going to try to. But I knew it wasn't really going to fit in there, and kind of bummed about that, to be honest. I guess it's a good problem to have, though. At least you got a tag okay. And then number five, I think a big mistake that I made, it ended up being very beneficial. But that's like, you can't. Like, sometimes the mistakes lead to the ultimate success. On my wife's goat hunt, I kind of overestimated the ability of the group. Like, I was bringing some fairly new people in, you know, like, into some very rough terrain. I, like, simultaneously overestimated ability and underestimated terrain. Where we were trying to get into the first day was just not doable with the packs that we had, with the skill level of, you know, like, I mean, I. I could have got in there myself, but even then it was super dicey with heavy pack, and I would have, like, hated. And then getting back in there and then with the snow hitting and being slick, like, I don't know, it would have been hard to get out of there without ropes and stuff. So it was good. Like, it was good knowing. Sometimes you just don't know until you go right. I think that I kind of over. I think I overestimated my ability to lead people into, like, rough terrain. Be like, yeah, I think it'll be fine. Thankfully, you know, I'm smart enough, too, as the safety coordinator to pull the plug on it. But going in, like, our original plan, I put a lot of, I don't know, weight into trying to get into that one spot. And I was like, this is where we're going to go. This is. This was going to be our plan, and it just wasn't feasible. Like, overestimation and overestimating the ability to get in there and underestimating the severity of the terrain led to not being able to get there. And we spent, you know, a good part of a day trying to get in there, and it didn't work out. So I think that next time, I probably, I don't know, try to make, like, a better contingency plan or, you know, maybe not. Maybe not try for, like, the most aggressive place ever. Like, sometimes I choose my zones based on the way that I hunt. I guess that was the mistake. Like, I. A lot of times choose places where it's like, this is where I would hunt because it's very difficult to get into. Like, I was with two very. Like, my wife is in really good shape. Her sister's in really good shape. Like, they're very capable, very fit. But also, like, there is something to be said for having a lot of mountaineering experience. And sometimes, like, I just pick my places based on no one else can get in here. And then I. And then I bring people in there with me, and I've done that multiple times. And I probably. I have some friends that have hunted with me, and they're like, dude, why did we do that? Why did we go there? Like, you know, I definitely have pushed people to their limits, and as I get older, I'm like, that's just not. Not solid way to go. So I think that that was kind of a little bit of a mistake on that particular hunt. It worked out, but. Which I can talk about in the things that I did right category. So we're going to move over to the 10 things that I did right. I think one of the coolest things that happened this past season was I got to take a wolf with my bow on that caribou trip. And the thing that I did right was I had a wolf tag, obviously. Like, I wouldn't shoot a wolf without a wolf tag, obviously. But what I'm saying is, you know, there's some hunts where, you know, thinking about it, it's like, dude, yeah, I'm gonna buy this. It wasn't even Expensive. You're like, all right, money's been spent. I'm gonna buy this wolf tag. I knew I was going on the hunt with a bow. I'm like, the odds of getting a wolf with a bow are pretty much zilch, right? Like, I was thinking, like, that's. That's not gonna happen. But I decided to buy the wolf tag anyways because guiding. I've been so many times where I tell people, oh, yeah, get the wolf tag in Montana, and. And they're like, oh, yeah, that'd be cool. And then they don't get it, and then we'll see. Like, I tell people, if they want to see a wolf, don't buy a wolf tag. Like, every time. I mean, I've had hunters have wolf tags and it work out, but it seems like the majority of the time, we have really good opportunities on wolf. Someone's like, dang it, I didn't buy the wolf tag. So, hey, if you're hunting, if you're a hunter, buy the wolf tag. As somebody that really likes to see ungulent. High, strong, ungulent populations, that's my thing for conservation. And the other thing that I, you know, here, look, I haven't talked about this on this podcast, but, man, do some predator hunting. It's like, okay, you people, whatever. Everybody's got their philosophies and other things. I think that the. Some of the biggest threats to our ungulate populations is habitat. I think that, like, especially mule deer habitat is. Is huge. But I think another big portion of it is predation. Coyotes, bears, wolves. Like, it's all part of the equation, and it all needs to be in check. I feel like when I was growing up, there was a lot fewer predators on the landscape. Fewer mountain lions, fewer wolves, fewer coyotes, fewer, like, bears. Fewer. Fewer predators, and a lot more mule deer. But there was also, like, a lot better mule deer habitat. Fewer big fires, less cheatgrass, fewer wild horses. Like, it's all this very complex system. But, you know, I don't think it's one thing. I think it's all the things, but I think that the other. The other. This is me just on a soapbox right now. But I think that managing predators is. Is a. Is a portion of that, and I will always think that, and you cannot convince me otherwise. It's like, there's animal. There's a lot of animals on the landscape that eat a lot of animals. There are fewer animals now. They absolutely have to have. I think first and foremost, they have to have the habitat. Habitat is the biggest thing. So it's like, if you want more mule deer, then you should be working on habitat projects, Reseeding winter range corridors, migration corridors, protecting those things. Habitat's number one. You have to have the home. You have to have the water, the food, the COVID a place to live. And then within that, you know, then you've got the habitat. Then you can grow the population by potentially limiting tags, increasing harvest on predators. If they've got habitat and the habitat can sustain a higher population, then you need to grow the population. And so those are, I don't know, soapbox thing. But having the wolf tag in my pocket was good. And if you're going somewhere where there are wolf tags or whatever, get the. Get the tag, do it. That was the thing that I did right. Number two, I feel like this season I called elk really well. I got to. I just got to immerse myself in elk calling. I feel like I made the most out of every day that I had this elk season with a bone in my hand. And just. I felt like my calling was on point. Like, I was. I was very aggressive with my calling this year. Like I said, I killed both my bulls personally, sneaking in on him. But I had a lot of opportunities calling elk. I had so much fun calling elk. I was calling him elk from sun up till dark nearly every day. And it was just. It was an epic elk season of calling elk. And it was so much fun. And it went really like. It just. I don't think I could have had, thinking back, like, a more fun elk season than this year. It was. It was awesome. So I was super aggressive with my calling. I was very bold running in, doing a lot of bugling, direct, challenging, just the real kind of pump you up elk calling. I put on so many miles in September, just chasing bugles and going after elk and. And being super aggressive. And, man, it was a wild ride and a lot of fun. So that was good. And number three things that I did right, you know, I actually passed a lot of elk this year, I think, and even just passed a lot of animals this year, But I think that I made the right call and harvested the right animals I was looking for. You know, I never. I wasn't going into the hunts being like, there's got to be a certain score wise, but I just wanted to take mature bulls. The bull that I shot, the first bull that I shot in September, wasn't the biggest antlered bowl that I found, but, I mean, when. After I took that out, I. I was gonna get the teeth aged. But it like had hardly any teeth left. It didn't look like a big bull. You know, it's one of the things is like antlers are never really a predictor of the age of a bull. You got to go off body size and condition and things like that. But this bull, like his ivories were like wore down to the gums and just, you know, his back teeth really wore down. So an older bull and then the other bull that I took was similar size, maybe even a little smaller, but also once again just a nine, nine year old bull. So that part is cool of just taking the right. I mean for me it was like the right animal and just enjoyed the ride. I was having so much fun. I got to put in a lot of days. I took all my hunts to the very bitter end. But it was more out of really just waking up every day and being like, this is an absolutely awesome, awesome day to be hunting. You know what? I forgotten the mistakes. I did miss a bull this year. Shooting through some stuff and hit a little stick. So I guess that was a big mistake. Like I. You can't. Just because you think you can thread the needle doesn't mean there isn't little sticks you can't see in there that will obstruct it. I probably could have waited, but that was also my one chance. So that arrow was flying great and just connected with something in between myself and the elk and. And that happens too. So I don't know. It's a mistake. It was a mistake. But yeah, it was a. It was a overall good elk season. I think another thing that I did right this year, and this is like, you could maybe tie this back to a mistake. But I ended up so mule deer hunt late season. I was. I spotted a good. Like I really wanted to shoot a. An old mature buck. I didn't care. Antlers. Like it was a big three by four, I think it was. Or maybe a three by three. It's a big three by three. Like old mature deer. It wasn't going to be any bigger. Wasn't, you know, it was a. It was an old mature buck. I watched him cross this opening, you know, held back a bit, decided, okay, I'm going to just track this buck. His last day of the season. I'm tracking the buck. I think I told this story, but tracking the buck. Ended up getting on the buck track where there's a deer bedded and then got on a buck track. Deer gets up right in front of me at point blank range. You know, in the timber, shoot the buck. I get up to the buck, and I realize it is not the buck that I was tracking. Like, I shot the wrong buck, but I had the right attitude. I wouldn't say it was a wrong deer. It was just a different deer going into it. I was expecting a big, old, mature buck and ended up shooting, like, a smaller, younger buck, which, for me, personally, I. I love mule deer hunting. And I haven't. You know, I. I don't. I generally, like. I'm big on passing a lot of mule deer and whatever. Some years, you know, it's the right deer in the right situation, and you go, yep, this is. This is the deer for me, based on what I'm seeing and. And what have you. Right. Okay. I. I ended up with a deer that wasn't the deer that I thought I was going in for. But also, it was an epic hunt, an awesome stock. Like, everything was right. And to be 100% honest, it didn't really matter. It was. It was a phenomenal hunt. And I think that sometimes, you know, it was like, wrong buck, right attitude, and that's the right way to go about it. Whenever I pull that trigger or release that arrow, that's the. That's the animal that I'm going after. And, you know, the thing that I hate to see is people. It's like, oh, I shot the wrong. You know, it's like they get down on the entire hunt because of what they ended up taking. It's like if you took something and that's what you chose to take, whether it was a, you know, the right thing, the wrong thing. I've only had that happen, like, one other time, and I've told the story before. I was on my desert sheep hunt, and that, like, ate at me, and it almost ruined in, like, one of the best hunts of my life, to be honest, in this situation, it was like, you know, general tat. Whatever, Right it in. You know, I don't have an ego that I need to. Whatever. It's just more like was the wrong deer with the right attitude. And it was a lot of fun. And still one of my favorite hunts of the season. My brother got a great deer. I shot a buck. Like, it was an awesome deer, an awesome way to take a deer. And it was a really fun hunt. And so I think that that was, like, something went right. Number five thing that I did right. I pulled the plug on that goat hunt, and we regrouped. We were going up somewhere that was too difficult to get into. I Was like, all right, the right move was to pull the plug on. Not just, I think past me would have just kept pushing forward. I would have climbed up to the top with my pack on left, my wife and her sister down there. I then would have like dropped my gear, gone back down, taken it. Like I would have made it work. And it. And I don't know if it would have been great. Like it ended up working out. We got a really like everything that we wanted. We got a big billy. Everything worked out because we pulled the plug and regrouped. And sometimes you just gotta do that. Sometimes you gotta go, yeah, this isn't the right zone, this isn't the right place, this isn't the right whatever. This was my plan and it's not going to work out. Pull the plug, regroup, refocus, and sometimes that leads to the success that you ultimately get. I think number six things that I did right, I involved the family on a lot of hunts. My wife and kids were on quite a few hunts. I got to hunt with my dad and brothers and father in law. And those are some of the best memories that I had of the season. Number seven, on a rifle elk hunt that I had like a late season elk hunt, I had a bull, there was like this. I told the story where there was a spike and then the bull was behind it and I could have moved over and got a shot, but I felt like, you know, they were going to move up. They were moving up and then they moved up and the wind shifted and they started to move off pretty quick. I could have made a rush shot and probably shot that elk, but in the, in the moment, like I didn't want to risk it, you know, it's not worth making a hasty bad shot isn't worth it. And I'm very, I think that that was something I did right. Sometimes the, the best shot is the one you don't take. And that's the truth. Like there's, there's two sides of the coin. You can't hit what you don't shoot at. You know, if lead ain't flying, shit ain't dying is what the old timers like to say. But sometimes the best shot you is ones you didn't take. You miss all the shots you don't take. But sometimes in hunting situations, the best shot is when you don't take. Thinking about the ethics and the animal and the, you know, whatever that moment is, if you don't think with 100 certainty that you can make a clean, ethical shot, then that's then not shooting is the best shot. And in that case did that. Right. Number eight. You know, I entered a lot of hunts both physically and mentally prepared this year. Not that I haven't in the past, but I feel like this year I really just made a bigger effort for it. And I felt like, you know, I felt really good going into a lot of hunts that I knew were going to be tough. And that just carries through and allows you to just hunt hard till the very bitter end. And it paid off this year. Number nine, things that I did right, I think taking over day six arrows, buying the day six arrow company was a great decision. Time will tell, right? It's one of those things that was a big decision for myself and my family. It changed a few of the things that I'm going to be doing going forward as far as the guiding and the outfitting. Kind of changed the course of our life in a way. But I think that as we get into, closer into the middle of the year and other things, it'll have panned out as a big decision. Very like, it's just behind the curtain. It's a very scary decision. You know, you kind of had to sell everything and everything that I'd worked for and all that. Just kind of starting over. Also, like arrows and broadheads, I think is a very seasonal selling period. So there's this period of like having to build a lot of stuff because we're manufacturing it all and a lot of costs and all these other things and trying to balance that with knowing that we're going to make sales later on and all that. So there's some sleepless nights, but I think that overall, like, is a good decision. And I'm. I'm really stoked on that kind of next chapter and where, where that's going to take us. And then number 10 thing that I did right, I think on my wife's mountain, on Daniel's mountain, I was I in the. In the kind of with in the vein of liking to use gear that I've, you know, super been just super dialed. I got the new live wild, whether it be carbon fiber rifle, fairly close to the season. And so I was like, I'm not, I'm just gonna not use it till later for Danielle's hunt. And I started shooting it and I was like, this is absolutely the tact, like the best shooting rifle I've ever shot. And so, you know, I, I didn't have as much time with that rifle as other guns that I had. But with her, I was like, okay, she kept shooting my other gun and she shot it fine. You know, she shot it great. But right before the hunt, I pulled out that one. I was like, look, I've been messing with this gun a little bit. Like, I think it's more dialed than anything else. Take one shot and. And she absolutely just like hammered the black out of the little 1 inch orange sticker that I had at the. On the gong at 400 yards. Like, we're absolutely taking this gun. And she made one of the best shots I've seen hunting, just like getting down, getting steady, getting on that goat. I gave her the dope, I set the scope and I'm like, here it is. This is your shot when he turns. And it was just like the absolute perfect timing, perfect shot. It's pretty far, is a further distance. But you know, I had all the confidence in that, in that new rifle. And I'm really glad that I took that rifle because I think with the other rifle that we were going to use, so we, we ended up going with the seven backcountry and I was thinking about having her hunt with her six five Creedmoor. And I just. Mountain goats are freaking tough animals. And I just felt like that 7 backcountry was just a little bit better round for that. It was a short, right? Short barreled rifle. Still have the longer action, but short barrel, higher velocity, still had the suppressor on it. And I'm really glad that we went with that because I probably would have been, I don't know, like a little. I don't think I would have had her shoot. And it worked out like, it worked out perfect. So I was really glad that we made that call a little bit last minute to use that gun because it, it worked out and was awesome. All right, to wrap things up, we're just gonna go into the 10 things that I learned in 2025 just based off of some of the things that happened to me this past season and, and maybe something that I'll do going into future hunts. Number one pretty much on every hunt going forward, I will always bring an extra set of strings and cables. I don't know why. Like, I have the take a field system for my Matthews bow. I could have swapped those out. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna. This is something. If you're gonna do this, do it now. So what I'm gonna do, I'm getting an extra set of strings and cables for my bow and then I'm going to shoot my bow like from now until March, I'm gonna pull those ones off and then swap them out beginning of March. And those are gonna be my backups. And then. Or vice versa, whatever, you know, I'm just gonna. I'm gonna get some that are shot in, sighted in, everything's ready to rock and roll, and then have that with me on every hunt and especially on hunts where there's no, you know, there is no ability to go get replacements. I don't know. I have a lot of friends have done that. I used to do that. I just kind of. I don't know why I didn't. I thought of it a lot, but I didn't have an extra set that it was like with the time to break it in and feel comfortable and confident. And my bow is so dialed. I'm like, I don't want to dick with this. And that goes to. This is a very big pre planning thing. It's probably the most important thing that I'm going to do going forward and I'm going to do it at the beginning the year. So I've got my. The bow that I'm going to actually pull the strings and cables off my bow right now because it's. It's ready to rock and roll and then get a new set, have plenty of time to mess with it and get it dialed not right before the hunt and just feel confident going into next season with that kind of backup plan. Number two, I've had problems with it before, but never this big. My bow, like on that mountain caribou hunt almost didn't show up. And I'm just gonna say, like, dude, I'll probably, I probably won't adhere to this, but there's so much, so many problems with Air Canada, probably. Sorry, guys. If you work for Air Canada, I'm sorry, but dude, it was like the absolute worst customer experience I've ever had. Just, I'm like the most patient guy too, when it comes to travel. And I was, I was, you know, I'm very patient, but I don't yell at people or do whatever. Maybe I should, should. But there was like not even a person to contact. I ended up getting it. Not because of their tracking. Like, it was just so bad. And then to return, they went on strike and we had to get different flights. It was just an absolute cluster. So I just think I'm probably done doing that. And there's other guys that didn't have any problems and were like, yeah, we never fly Air Canada. And they're like, everybody got all their stuff. I don't know, maybe I, maybe I should give Air Canada another try, but I don't know. Or reach out. Give me a message. If you guys are, if you're like, you're like, no, they, they've done you right, then I can, I can maybe give it another chance, but let me know. Maybe I'm like, misguided on that, but I feel like I've had two really bad experiences. And then every time I talk about it, everyone's like, why'd you fly Air Canada? So I don't know. That's just. We'll see. Not trying to disparage a company, but I felt like, I felt like it was just like one of those things where it didn't, it didn't matter. It's like almost. It just almost felt intentional in a weird way. I don't know, Maybe that's a conspiracy theorist in me. Like, I felt that about other places that I've flown through, and I feel like it was true, but there's a little bit of conspiracy theorist in me, so who knows? Number three, do get out with family and friends. Make time. If it's a duck hunt, a bird hunt, a white tailed doe hunt, it doesn't matter. Make some time to hunt with those close to you. That was kind of the big thing that I learned in 20, 20, 25, because those are some of the, the, the coolest memories that you're able to build is, is getting out in the field with people that are close to you. Number four, when it comes to elk hunting, in your approach, be flexible. You know, I, I did tons of calling this year, and because the calling was really good and the bulls, like, it was the right temperature to get. Not, I'm not talking like actual temperature, but the temperature of the bulls. The, the atmosphere was great for calling elk. I was getting responses, I was getting action. I was just in areas where there was a lot of elk and. But yet the bulls that I killed, I moved in silent. So you got to be flexible in your approach. Same as, like, if you're playing on stalking and, hey, maybe there's an opportunity to call. It goes both ways. Number five, I think, is, is, you know, get in shape, stay in shape, but eat right and feel better going into whatever you're doing, feeling good. I think one of the healthy habits that, that I took from 2025 is the beginning of the year. I did the mountain tough challenge, and it was more. There was a working out aspect of it, doing the mountain tough workouts five days a week. When I was, when I was home, but also the eating and it was super. They, they laid it out in a way that I felt like I always eat good, but I think I was never intentional about it. And for that reason I kind of mentioned this last week. But they laid it out in such an easy way of all right, have three meals a day, which I'm actually of the camp where I got a little bit bad on this. I'm the type that I can wake up, I can drink coffee and not eat till 4pm that's just the way that I've lived my life. I don't know why that's probably not super healthy, I don't know. But started just being more intentional about the food meals, having that protein every meal, but then also having a vegetable and carbohydrate and, and really just balancing it out. And I felt so much better and more sustained energy throughout the day. Not just living off that two pots of coffee, whether that's good or bad, I don't know. But in drinking water though. Yeah, that was part of it too. Like drinking a lot of water. And man, I've never felt so good. So I think that eating right and like eating intentionally helped me a lot this year. Number six. You just got things I learned in 2020. You just got to grind it out. It doesn't matter. Sometimes you just got to grind it out. Some hunts, you want it to happen, you want it, whatever, you do everything right, but you still just got to grind it out. And if you keep hammering away and hunting hard every day, you're probably going to find that success. There are times where you don't, but I think that just grinding it out and being able to do it day in, day out is one of the biggest tools in the toolkit is persistence. Sharpest arrow in the quiver. Number seven. The best piece of archery equipment is just a well tuned bow. They're, you know, you can, you can have the best arrow, you can have the sharpest broadhead, you can have all the doodads and do dangles right. You can have the latest and greatest. But if you don't take time to have a really well tuned bow, you aren't getting perfect arrow flight. And that affects you in ways that you might not notice just shooting in your backyard. I think that having a bow that's well tuned for your broadheads, well tuned for like a, a bear shaft or even if you're shooting mechanicals, having that well tuned bow makes a big difference. Arrow flight is king. And I think that a lot of people ignore that, and now's the time to start thinking about it. Number eight, if you make a mistake, you make a bad shot, you make a bad stock, you make a. Whatever. Focus and recover a lot. I've seen it happen in the field more times than I can count, where the mistake isn't the worst thing that happens. It's the falling apart from the mistake. It's the getting down. It's the, like, it's never going to work anyways. It's the. Or it's the like, oh, man, I made a bad shot. Well, how. Let's recover. Let's. Let's get another. Let's make another. Let's make a good shot. Let's focus. Let's not rush. Let's do it right. When you make a mistake, you should take that time to focus and recover. And I felt like I did that really well. I made a couple mistakes. I really wanted to just beat myself up about clipping the string cable and like. Yeah. Was my stomach in knots? Yes. But when that moment came. Focus and recover. Focus and recover. It. Whatever happened, happened. But now we're going to focus and recover. And I think that that's a. That's a huge lesson and takeaway. I think another thing to think about, number nine, you know, it can happen on the first day or can happen in the last hour. Success. I guess it's like, you know, if you get it, if you get the opportunity that you want, take it when you can get it. But you got to go through that hunt knowing that it can happen on the first day or the last hour or the hour. If you had five days planned and you got us, you get to stay an extra morning because the season's still open. And whatever. It can happen in any moment. When you're in the field, it can happen. And so I think that that's a good lesson for everyone is spend that time in the field. Treat every. Every moment, every opportunity like this is the time that it can happen. You got to kind of keep. I think that goes back to the persistence of keeping your mindset in that mental game. Right. Of, like, it can happen. Now, when you go into a hunt, you shouldn't be hoping that it happens in the first early. I guess, like, you got to keep your mindset in that. Like, it's probably. It's. It can happen the last hour of the last day, and I'm gonna hunt every second until that as hard as I can. And I think that that is a good driving factor for success. People that treat the hunt like that where they go in knowing, like, we might take it to the bitter end, but we're gonna do it. And I think that that. That plays back into that persistence and that hunting hard. And finally, number 10 lessons that I learned. I think you just have to. I think that this is more along the lines of me personally on, like, the business side and, you know, taking over the Day Six Arrow Company and that kind of thing. But I also think that this lends itself to so many hunts as well. You really have to adapt to change. And I think that a lot of times you go season to season, maybe mistake to mistake or struggle to struggle or whatever, and sometimes, you know, I think previous peaks become plateaus sometimes, and you feel like you're starting over, but in fact, you're just restarting at a different level. And what I mean by that is, like, that can apply to the hunt, that can apply to business, that can apply to family. I think that there's so many times, like, think about a hunt where, let's say it's an elk hunt. You've been. You've been in the unit five days. You got seven days to hunt. Yeah. You find a bull, right? You, like, sneak in, it's on a knob. You blow a call, it seems interested. I don't know. The wind shifts, blows out, and you're just like, damn it. Right? That was my chance. That was my whatever. Now I'm starting over. It's like you're looking at it going, it took me five days to get to this point to even get close to a bull. It took me five days. I have two days left. How can the next two days be better than the last five days? Right? But I think that one thing is a shift in the mindset of being like, you got to that peak of getting close to the bull, and now that peak kind of became a plateau. You aren't starting over. You're starting up. And what I mean by that is you now have five days of knowledge that you didn't have before. You had an encounter where it went wrong, but you can learn from it. And when you get that next encounter, see that next bull, you can do things that different with the new knowledge that you have, and that puts you ahead. You're starting over, but you're starting up. I think, for me, on a personal level, like, I feel like that in business where, yeah, I ran the same business for almost, I guess, over 20 years, and I'm like, okay, now we sold everything that we had, and we're just, like, starting over. But we aren't really starting over. We're just starting at a new level. We're starting with all that knowledge of running another business and doing this and doing that and doing all these other things. I'm not starting over. I'm just resetting at this, this different level. And I think to me even just as far as a mental toughness and a mental factor, it gives you a lot more, I don't know, strength and perseverance. I'm a big fan of the mental aspect of hunting and, and I think that especially for me, I've spent a lot of my life doing the solo hunter thing where I was filming self filming hard hunts, very difficult hunts, archery hunts, traditional archery hunts, general unit hunts, hunts in foreign countries and in mountainous terrain and being completely alone. And this is a lot of those like being in countries and with dangerous like in the top end of Australia with crazy snakes and all this other stuff and like, and this was a lot of that was without. I didn't have an in reach. I didn't have a cell phone. I didn't have or I had a cell phone, but it was in an area that it worked. Like I didn't have a safety net. You know, I was going out for 7, 10, 12 days at a time just, just you know, ripping it alone and being like, I got, I gotta get, I get myself in here and I gotta get myself out of here. And I think that there's, there's. Through that I learned so many resilience and mental toughness things. Like of course I, I ran into struggles and like dude, I got my vehicle stuck one time and spent me four, like took me four days to get out. Something like that. Like it was just. I, I think I, I carry like 2 ton of rock to build a, like a little road out of this bog. Just like stuff like that where you're like dude, and, and not once did I ever think like, oh, like I just, you just build that resilience and mental toughness. And I think that it happens in, in hunting so much where you need to call up that, that toughness aspect of, of your mind. Like your body's willing but your mind or I guess your, yeah, your body is able but your mind isn't willing. And I've seen so many hunts crushed between the years. Like so many as a guide or what have you or been on hunts and seen people on once in a lifetime dream hunts and they just fall apart because something that they can do, but it's something that their mind wasn't ready for. They were expecting this, and this other thing happened. So mental toughness, to me is. Is the. I mean, like, like I said, if persistence is the. The best error in the quiver, mental toughness is what puts that best arrow on the bowstring. And it's what you need on a lot on so many hunts to find success. And so anytime that you can have these little tricks that keep you going, to keep you motivated, to keep you in the game, to keep you focused and. And giving it your all, I think that that's big. And for me, you know, I think this year, really, it was more. Maybe not in the field, because it's something that I've learned and utilized in the field a lot, but I think just doing it in life and outside of hunting, it worked. It works as well. So I think that really, when you do step back, you realize, like, yeah, okay, I worked my ass off to get to this particular spot, and now it feels like I'm starting over. How many times does that happen? No, that happens every hunt, right? You're like, now we're starting over. That sucks. But you're starting over to a different level than the first day when you came in. You might be a little more tired, might be a little more fatigued, but you have some knowledge that you didn't have before. And what was previously kind of the peak, the hardest place to get to, is now a plateau, and you've got another peak up higher, but you've already made it so far. So I think that that just kind of going into the hunt, going into life with that mindset, when things like when you have the setbacks, when you have fallbacks, when things. Whatever, I think that, you know, propelling yourself forward that way is a huge advantage to finding that ultimate success. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that podcast. And looking back and taking what we learned from 2025 and moving forward into 2026, some of the stuff that we've got coming up, we're into preparing for the season ahead. So I really love to talk about fitness this time of year. Getting prepared, you know, getting your gear dialed, and then even going into that application strategy and finding those hunts and being successful in that part of the game. Because the thing about Western big game hunting is a lot of the nuance happens now. And. And for some people, you've already missed some of the application opportunities. Like, as you hear this, you're like, oh, well, there was. I didn't know that was going on. I think, really, for the most part, everything's we're going to catch everything, so don't freak out too much. But I do think that this time here I enjoy talking about prep and planning, scouting gear and gear focus and really just getting your mind and body ready for the mountain. Speaking of that, an awesome company that we work with, great support of this podcast, Stone Glacier. If you're looking at getting a new pack or maybe a tent or sleep system, now's a great time to do it. But especially for the packs because I think that it's awesome to be able to throw on that pack early and do some of the other stuff before the season starts. Like packs and boots are one of those things that it's the pinch point of things that are uncomfortable. So as you build uncomfort or you get comfortable using what's uncomfortable, it becomes more comfortable and you can go further, hunt harder, hunt longer. So if you're thinking about getting a pack or whatever, now's a great time to do it. You can always use code livewild for free shipping on your Stone Glacier gear. Or you can check out, you know we've got it on it they've got at their website stoneglacier.com you've also got resell a lot of their stuff on my website, Remy Warren.com so you can find it there as well. Another thing to think about is as we go into some of the sporting conservation expos, it's a really good time to get your hands on some of this gear, especially the Stone Glacier stuff where it's like, okay, know what kind of hunt you're going into, look online, look at a few things. But it's a really awesome way to just get your hands on it, kind of get fitted and get, get everything right. I know they're going to be at the Wild Sheep show in Reno, Nevada, the Sheep Foundation's national convention. And that's going to be January was 22nd to the 25th, I believe. 22nd. It's like a Thursday to a Saturday. Yeah, that would be 22nd, 25th. And so yeah, if you, if you guys are within driving distance or like, well, I'm planning on going to a conservation expo this year that is one of my favorites. I, I really enjoy doing that. Not only is it in my hometown, Reno, Nevada. So it's, it's nice for me, but it's also, I will also be exhibiting there with my own live wild brand and our day six Arrow company. So we're going to have, if you, if you're like, yeah, I want to check some of that stuff out or you need some arrows, other things. That's. That's an awesome place to do it. I think the signups for the Tough Sheep. So the coolest thing about the. What I. We call it the Sheep Show. The coolest thing about sheep show your ability to win a sheep hunt. I think that it's the, the if you're like going to go to a sporting expo and travel for, this is a good one. Especially if, like sheep hunting is the pinnacle of hunting in my mind. And sheep tags are very rare, but there's a lot of opportunities to win them. They have incredible raffles for sheep hunts. I've actually won one of them before. My dad's won one. I know other people that have won them. They have the Less Than One club. If you've never killed a sheep, you're in for that. Like, it's a cool event. They have less than one eye, which is less than 1 international. So maybe you've taken a sheep here, but you haven't hunted abroad for wild sheep or goat species. That's a really cool thing to be a part of. And then there's also the Tough Sheep event where it's a mountain tough workout. All you have to do is finish it. If you finish it, you're entered to win. I think there's 500 spots. I'm pretty sure they're sold out, but you could check that out as well if you're signed up for the Tough Sheep. You know, I think that's awesome. Like, get ready, prepare for it. It's such a fun event. We're actually going to be sponsoring heat with Day Six Aero company So I don't know what heat it is or whatever, but if you guys. I'm excited about that. We'll have a little something for everybody that competes in that little, I don't know, discount for our arrows or what have you. For everybody that's in the. Signed up for Tough Sheep. So I'm excited about all that, you guys. If you aren't, if you haven't traveled yet, haven't been to it, it's an awesome event. I'll be there. I'll be in the booth. I'll be walking around. I'll be doing. I think I'm doing a seminar. I do like, like to do some Q&As. Come find us at the booth. You know, I try to walk around a little bit too, see what's. See what's about, you know, but really fun event, awesome place to potentially want to sheep hunt. You can check out Stone Glacier. You can check out day six. You can check out our live wild stuff. I'm excited about it. So if you. If you show up, say, hey, find me. I'll be there. And anyways, until next week, I'm just gonna say happy New Year. Catch you guys later.