Joe McCarthy knows elk hunting.

Raised in a family of hunters, McCarthy has been calling the wild since he was a kid. He started with ducks but thrives on the thrill of calling in big game. He's dedicated enough — and good enough — that he once bugled a grunting bull in so close that he was getting splashed with pee.

McCarthy put his bugling skills to the test in 2022 at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's world elk calling championships, where he made it to the final round of competition in the professional division. As the product innovation lead at Slayer Calls, McCarthy has been able to put his decades of experience to use developing calls and building elk reeds that work exactly the way a serious hunter wants them to. He's been archery and rifle hunting for elk all over Idaho for decades, scouting out reliable hunting spots, scrambling over the rugged landscape, and packing out hundreds of pounds of meat for the freezer.

In this episode of The Slayer Hunting Podcast, McCarthy shares wisdom earned from long years of hunting elk in the Rocky Mountains. Slayer Calls' Bill Ayer and Tommy Sessions get McCarthy to reveal his best advice about scouting, breaking in new gear, getting in shape, filling your hunting pack, and packing out that massive elk you bagged.

Check out posts and resources from this episode:

- onX Maps

- Garmin inReach

- Eberlestock hunting packs

- Slayer Calls brings Joe and Cody McCarthy into the blind

- Joe McCarthy takes 4th place at RMEF World Elk Calling Championships

Get ready to bag your own elk with these articles:

- Tips for choosing your first elk call

- Inside 2021 world elk calling champion Cody McCarthy's hunting pack

- Archery elk hunt: 7 tips for a first-timer

- 4 hot weather elk hunting tips

- Elk hunting tips for beginners: The do's and don'ts

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"I'd never start elk season without ______." Leave a comment or drop us a line at podcast@SlayerCalls.com to share your top tip to prepare for a successful elk season.

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Episode 10: An old pro's elk hunting tips