Ep. 114: Answering Your Questions, Part 22

you get to put into action during hunting season. So that's what I get excited about. And I also get excited about checking the mail satchel. Normally I called the male Sack, but for some reason today Satchell just sounds seems fancier. So we're gonna go to the male satchel today and answer your questions. There's a lot of good questions about l hunting. There's I mean, just as many questions as I got. I got testimonials, people sending pictures

of Well, here's one right here from Gerald Baker. He says, Remy, this is my first archery dear. This is all you learning the tactics, understanding how to practice with my boat, understanding the wind, understanding how animals think. Even skull Boil learned it from your podcast. Great picture of a really good white tail buck here. Congrats man. A lot of good stuff coming in from people using tactics to to

harvest their first elk. It's pretty stoked on these. So we're going to head to the male satchel and start answering some of these questions. First question, this can be like rapid fire right here, comes from Tyler. He says, do you recommend ten by forty two or eight by forty two binoculars? I would say ten by forty two. I feel like they're a little bit more versatile, a

little bit more magnification, especially for western hunting. Now, one thing that wasn't recommended in here or asked about in here. Ten by fifties are not bad. I actually just got a pair of um Vortex uh D ten by fifties and I'm going to be running those on this next hunt. The nice thing about the little bit wider field of view is you've got that magnification, but then you've got that wide field of view, so you can cover a little bit more with your eyes. At the same time,

also a little bit more light gathering low light. The only downside when you start to get into the fifty mill objective is the whole set of binos becomes bigger, heavier. You need kind of like a different bino pack. Um. I would say that's really the only the downside. But my standard go to binocular would be ten by forty two, just it's universal, it's easy to recommend. Um, it's good for a lot of different scenarios, and then if you don't necessarily hunt like open stuff, you can still use

them in timbered situations as well. Eight by forty twos though, can be really good if you like that. So that eight by four two is gonna give you a larger field of view, so you can actually see more in one glance. Um, it's really good, especially if you're hunting a little bit more timbered country, and then you do

have those long spots as well. But I would say gold standard on by noses the ten by forty twos, and then you know, kind of newer into the world of binoculars is getting just a little bit bigger with the ten by fifties. I'm just I kind of like that option for a little bit. While wider field of view more like gathering. So those are my suggestions. Okay, this question comes from Kyle. He says, thanks for all your info, Remy. We just wrapped up my first elk hunt.

Day one, got in real close to a bowl that we didn't know was there and he hissed at us. Day three ended up calling in a a moose in, but we didn't have a moose tag. Day five we had one fired up, got on him three times inside sixty. It was both are first times elk hunting, so I know we fouled it up. It was still amazing. Anyways, my question is about reading sign. How do you know how old it is? We had some snow a couple of days before our hunts, so tracks in the snow

we knew were recent. But what else can we look at? Okay, there's a couple of things that I I key in on when it comes to sign. I was working in some places in Africa and got to spend some time with some people that are just incredible trackers. I actually got to to follow some actual bushman tracking one and it's like what they see and what they know is some incredible It's like just an incredible skill that I

think is it takes a lifetime of learning. I think sometimes the idea of tracking for most hunters is kind of like this, like mystical art that never really gets talked about or or or I just don't think there's many people that are real good at it. But I think most people aren't really good at it because, um,

it takes a lot of practice. And that's something that I've learned over the years is to be a good tracker, to to really be able to read sign well, you need to spend time analyzing it and and and understanding what it looks like. But a few just like basic things obviously scat how like when I come up on elk crap or deer crab or whatever, Um, I generally mush it. I generally will probably even touch it. Um. You know, you can tell, like something really fresh is

the color of it, the viscosity of it. Like if it looks wet and slimy and shiny, then it's probably pretty fresh. If you break into it, it's like kind of looks fresh on the outside, but then you can tell it's more dried out, then it's a little bit older. Um. If you don't want to use your boots, use a stick, but just prodding scat um actually tends to be something that I find myself doing a lot to see how

fresh it is when it comes to tracks. You know, when there's no snow, a couple of the things you've got to kind of think about. So the first is whether it's snow or whatever. Kind of think about the time and day and the um and like what the weather had been doing throughout the day. So when I'm looking at like an elk track, right, let's say it's in the morning. Um, A couple of things you want

to think about. Well, generally in the morning there is some moisture on the ground, so you can kind of look for the way that the shine changes the color of things. So like if the water has been moved, or if it's like the ground seems kind of dry, but there's in the toe area where the dirt's lifted up it's or sorry, the ground might seem kind of wet, but where the toe area is might be lifted up, um, and it's dryer underneath. That's you know, generally something that's

pretty fresh. Uh deciphering Like, Okay, there's tracks in the ground, but they're they're really buried in the ground think Okay, well maybe that was the last time it rained when the ground was softer or when it was wet, and now they've dried out, they could be pretty old. One thing that I will do also is I'll feel the track, so like I like to feel the edge of the tracks.

So if there's a track in dirt or mud or whatever, I kind of feel the edge and feel like, Let's say there's a track going through some fresh mud and I go, okay, how does it feel like and what time of day is that. If it's later in the day, then that track will have dried out a little bit. So if I hit the edge of it and it starts to crumble, then I know, okay, that's gonna be a little bit later. And what I like to do is I like to compare it to my track, like

at that moment. So I make a track and I say, what are my footprint doing at this point? So that's like something that shows you here's a timestamp, this is right now, and then you can kind of tell like how was with this degrade over that time from now. So one thing that I've done in the past is like had tracks. Let's say I watched it an elk or something go through an area and then I see those tracks and I go analyze it, and then just I keep going back and looking at them over time.

Where I've got a good indicator, it's a good way to teach yourself how to understand and read sign that's on the ground. Um like understanding how that track degrades or time how it breaks down. It can be a really good skill. Another another thing that I think, um kind of gets overlooked is like the sheen of what

they might even call like a pock mark. So when when you're tracking something, this is just now I'm kind of going into tracking, which might not be the same as looking at sign but um, like what I'll do when i'm tracking something now I'm just taking a tangent, but I like it. It's fun. Um Sometimes what I'll do, like let's say we've got a wounded bowl and I'm I'm tracking it and you kind of like lose tracks.

What I do is I get down on the ground and I put my head there and I look over the ground and you'll see like the pock mark where it's not even even actually a track, but it has a different shine because when you put pressure on dirt and other things. It actually changes the way that all that like the dirt is sitting in there, because now it's compressed and it has this like weird shine to it with the right light. And I've actually found bowls

following these these like shiny pock marks. It takes a little while to kind of figure out what you're looking for and then knowing where it'll for a track. So what I'll do is, if I've got two good tracks, I'll get like a stick, I'll break it for that bull's stride right, and then I will or a trekking poll.

I make it the length of the stride of the one side, and then from the last track, I put it in that track, and then I know if what distance should I expect to see that pock mark where the tracks have disappeared, And then I can keep doing that from area to area to kind of help until I can find tracks again. Completely a tangent, but I say that to say that sometimes figuring out the age of sign is just kind of experimenting and just like really spending a lot of time understanding it um and

like how it's going to degrade over time. Now with ELK, this is the awesome thing with elk. A lot of the time you can actually smell their presence are where they've been. So one one really good indicator of when elk has been somewhere recently is using your nose. I even like will go to a rub or something. Now, a rub is a good way to a really easy way to tell like how fresh a rub is because you look at it, Oh, is it fresh? We can

pull off the branches. You can say, okay, is this branch still like the other branches that are on the tree. Maybe this roub was really fresh. Is that sap really pitchy or has it dried out? Are the um the bark curls that have come off, are those super dry or are they still wet. Take your knife or a stick and rub it on a tree and make a comparison and say, this is just like that. This is fresh so within this amount of time. Now, if there's

dried branches and you know, that's probably last week. If the whole thing is real dry, you go, huh, shoot, that could have been last season. Um. So that's a good way to kind of also decipher sign. And then when you get into elk, notice the sign that's around when you know that there's elk there, and it kind of helps you say, like, Okay, this is how fresh something might be. I hope that kind of explains it.

That might just be like five podcasts of just like understanding tracks and signed but tried to do it to run down quick. This comes from Rourke. He says, Hey, remy new elk hunter here from Michigan, but just moved to Colorado and went on a week long o t C. Elk hunt definitely improved over the week by finding more slash fresher sign each day when moving areas, but couldn't seem to lay my eyes on elk. The main question is how do you plan a route through the area

you want to check out. Do you stay on top of the ridge mainly on the trail once in a while checking off trail for sign, or do you just brush busts the whole day to stay away from hunters. Elk weren't vocal in Colorado the second week seems due to pressure and heat. The last day of hunting, we were finding fresh rubs and droppings and ended up within a hundred and fifty yards of a bull. We were

half a mile off trail in thick stuff. Once in a while doing cow party calling, my brother broke a stick and his bull started going crazy bugling at us, even cut off my bugle. But the second time I bugled, he seemed to shut up because I was too aggressive. Chuckle and rake definitely caught us off guard, laughing. That's

that's a great question. So you know, it really depends. Like, here's the thing that trails are really good to access areas, and ridges are really good ways to cruise and cover country. So if I'm just like I just need to get somewhere and do something, I'd probably be on a trail. But generally when it goes to like, hey, I'm trying to get in and try to find elk and I'm not finding them in these particular areas, I'd say majority of my time is spent off of a trail. Very

rarely do I spend my time hunting on a trail. Now, ridges isn't That's a different story, Like I do travel those ridges because um, one of the things that is good about the ridges you can kind of cover both sides and broadcast your sound and it's also an area where elk will bed. But I have found like in those areas, like especially over the countertype areas where there might be a lot of hunters. I try to find the places that are difficult to get into, and that's

generally some thick holes. I've killed some of my best bulls in those thick spots. It's it's tough sometimes to get shot, but it's also they do come in closer, tighter. That's what I like about hunting, that thick stuff. Um, I like bush stalking. So it's just a way that I like hunting. I think. Um, that's one thing I

was going to mention on the podcast. I hate the words still hunting because it's so I talked about it before, but I think we're just gonna from now on call still hunting bush stalking because it just makes a lot more sense because you're you're stalking through the bush. Um. And so all my friends from New Zealand will be like, yeah, that's what we call it, Like, yeah, that's that's what we should call it here. So I'm starting a revolution

or changing it. I don't know what guy a guy hunts and a tree stands started to call it still hunting, where he's like, I don't know who started that that's another chance. But um so, I think getting getting off trail is good. Um Like, like you said, you you found that bull a half a mile off the trail and that thick stuff you were doing the cow calling party and you got a bull to bugle. So it could have If I was just guessing when that happened, it might have been the middle of the day kind

of thing. Could have been that bedded bull scenario that I talked about a couple of weeks ago, or even just in the evening when they start to get up and move around again. Um So that's a good that's a good way to find elk. But if you need to cover country, you're like, hey, I don't know even where to start. Maybe getting on a trail and getting into accessing some spots and then going okay from here down I'm back here in little ways, the crowds have

kind of calmed down. Now I can start cross country going over to the next canyon, up that next ridge and moving around off that trail, like away from the trail. It would be kind of the way that I would hunt it personally. Next question comes from Tony says, Hey, Remmy, I know you've touched based on taking kids out a few times, but I wanted to know if you had any good tips on taking older people out. I started getting my dad into Western hunting a few years ago.

He hunted back in Wisconsin when he was younger, but he's not quite used to hunting the Big West. He's gone on a few of my deer hunts, but mostly hung back at camp because I hike a lot. He pulled his antelope last year and was able to get him a pretty decent buck, but I feel like I might have pushed him a little too hard getting on it. I love the podcast, looking forward to every Thursday. That's

a great question, you know. Actually, as a professional elk guide, I have a lot of experience taking older gentlemen out. It's one of those things, man. It's like when I first started guiding, it seemed like it was all guys that were in their seventies. And they they show up at elk camp, They're like, Okay, I want you know, I've been waiting my whole life to go on an elk hunt. And they're like, but I can't walk or can't go very far, And just like, oh ship, what

do I do now? You know? And I over the years kind of developed some ways to hunt effectively with people that might be older or have trouble getting around. Um, it's not that they can't do it, it's just that I kind of found, like I started hunting, when I first started guiding people like that, it was like, all right, we just go. And then by day one I burned him out and I was like, well, now the rest

of the week is shot. You can choose your tactic based on the ability of the person that's with you, And I say that when you're taking kids out, I say that when you're taking maybe somebody that's older out, I mean um, or maybe somebody that's not in great shape or whatever. You just gotta hunt to the tactic, like create a tactic that works and can be successful

for the people that you're with. So let's say it's somebody that can't and it's like maybe older and can't really hike real far, but you know, they can get going, they can do it. But it's just like it's not a lot of it's not a lot. And then I change my tactic, like maybe I'm gonna glass a little

bit more. Maybe I'm gonna pick glassing spots that are real close to a road where I can access, I can pull up, i can hike to this little knob that's like a hundred yards away, and I can glass, And I'm gonna we're gonna spend our energy going after something like once we've identified something that we can go after. Whereas if I've got a guy that's in really good shape, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna bust country. I'm gonna get back in there, and I'm gonna be in places

you can't see from anywhere else. That's just the way I'm gonna do it. Now, it's a guy that maybe, you know, you gotta take it a little bit slower, So you gotta kind of think, well, what tactics can we do Like you said, you know, I mean sitting and stand hunting, it can still be effective if it's elk. You know, there's there's the opportunity to potentially hunt wallows. There's the opportunity to kind of go to travel areas or even just like walk flat logging roads that are

really timbered and kind of still hunt those out. When it comes to elk, when it comes to antelope, you know, you can kind of adjust your tactics being like, Okay, let's let's get into a spot, let's set up a blind, let's sit in this water hole and wait or or whatever. So you've got to just adjust those tactics based on the people that are with you. And I think that in the long run, like they'll just have a more they'll just have a better experience about the whole thing,

and they'll still find success. My buddy Mike, I mean, I'm not saying, like, you know, drive around and hunt, but I am saying, like my buddy Mike always says this thing. He's like, we have this guy that had need like a permit to hunt from a vehicle, right, so he just was disabled enough that he couldn't walk around and that happens, and there's a lot of people it's like, you should still be enjoying the outdoors, no matter your your level of activity. And he was kind

of feeling bad. He's like, man, I just wish I could get out there and go hunt elk and climb the mountains and do all this. And my buddy Mike was guiding for me and he looks at me goes, look, man, He's like, you can't shoot him from the truck if you're out there walking around, and it's kind of like the joke of the week. Well, at the end of the week, this guy shot the biggest bull in camp and a giant meal that you're one of the biggest

meal that we've ever killed. And it happened to be a mule there that I was watching like miles in the back country and ended up like hip, Like we were still even hunting this buck, you know, we parked and hiked in whatever, and this buck ended up like for the rut moving down lower country and Mike found him off of a road. So like, there is ways to hunt for the people the way that you cannot, Like you can't you aren't gonna kill a bull in an easy spot if you're always hiking to the hard spot.

So that's something to kind of keep in mind when you've got somebody that maybe doesn't have the mobility or the energy to just keep hiking all day every day. Just something to think about. And it's fun to say, like, can't kill him from the truck if you're out there walking around, which is actually true because I think there's been many times I've complained, like, man, I've never had an easy elk I've never had milk that's like within

even a mile of a road. And then yeah, when I think about it, I was like, well, I've never even hunted within a mile of the road, and like it's always they're always just elk back and I'm always back in those holes, those places, and that's where I kill elk because that's where I'm hunting. So something you think about food for thought. This is just another testimonial comes from Kevin. He says, Hey, Remmy, my brother had a Nevada bull tag and the bulls are pretty quiet

accept at night. We heard your podcast about silent bulls. So he changed up our tactic and cow called a nice six by six into twenty two yards. He made a good shot. I wanted to say thank you for all the information to give us. It's an awesome bowl man, Congrats, Like that's what I like to hear. See some of these tactics working for people, and that's that's for me, is what it's all about, all right. This question comes

from Kevin. He says, a Remy super big fan. Love all the meat eater and solo hunter stuff and all around Remy content that you put out, super informative and entertaining one like that. I was wondering if you might have the time to answer question. I know you've answered it before, but I can't remember which podcast it was, but I'm trying to figure out what arrows you use.

I've been playing around with some builds and I'm tossing up between six millimeter and five millimeter and the cost difference. Uh ps, I'm from Canada, so the micro's and fmj's around a little price here, unfortunately, But I want what's best in the end to be most effective in the field. Thanks again, Kevin. That's a good question. I mean, I

get a lot of questions about arrows. I have talked about them on you know, multiple podcast but I think sometimes like the gear stuff is always good for these Q and a's, it's a little bit just easier to kind of go through gear things when it's a specific question. I personally shoot, so I've shot a little bit of everything over the years. I now shoot day six arrows. Um you can pretty much only get them online and then through solo Hunter has their own version of them

as well. But uh I shoot right now, I'm shooting the h D two seventy five and I shoot a four fledged um partially because I I just started. I just switched to a four fledge this year, and I've really liked it. I think I feel like it stabilizes my broadhead a little bit better, especially because I shoot all fixed blades. Um Now, the two seventy five that I'm shooting, you know, that's the spine is spine for my arrow, and it's heavy. It's the arrow I'm shooting

right now is eleven point eight grains per inch. I do have a pretty long draw, so, um, I've got like a third draw right now. I think the bow machine is twenty nine and a half. Just depends on the bow. But um, so I've got a pretty long arrow I shoot. So that arrow is what I would consider like a micro diameter shaft. I really like the micro diameter shaft because it's like less surface area, so there's better returned, there's less resistance and then less wind deviation.

So if you're shooting, and you know, you think about a thicker diameter arrow, the winds affecting it in a certain way. Less surface area means less wind drag, which just makes it move less in the wind. Everywhere I hunt, where I live, where I shoot, it's windy. So, um, that's something to think about. I do like that micro diameter. Now here's the downside to a lot of arrows that are those micro diameters is you know, your standard insert

your broadhead has to fit in it. So some arrows have like a that deep six, which is just like a different threading pattern. I don't like that. I just it really limits the amount of broadheads and options you can do. And to me, it's just I just I had that once and I just got away from it. I didn't like it. I don't know if many people still make that, but um, I didn't like it. But at the time, you know, there wasn't like a really good,

like outsert insert kind of thing. So that's why I started shooting the day six ones because they have like a really good so it's like an insert with an outsert caller. Um, so it's kind of like a I guess it's a it's not really an outsert. It's not it's like over the arrow shaft. But then it is an outsert because it's got it goes. You know, you can put a standard size, you know, threading broadhead on a micro diameter aero and I found that the caller

and everything is super strong. So I just have the aluminum ones. I have used the titanium ones as well. It's just you know, they aren't cheap. It's kind of like, yeah, they're super I mean they're super um accurate, they're super straight. I think they're to the thousand um straightness yeah and hundred thousand Yeah, exactly. Um, So that that's what I like. But I do, I would say, now I'm kind of moral. It's weird because I used to shoot with bigger arrows and but yeah, so now I do like, I do

like the idea of a micro diameter arrow. I think that there's the benefits to it. Um. I've only seen increase in accuracy and I've had a lot of pastors and it's a real heavy arrow. Two So that's nice. You know, you may you can you can choose different weights based on your whole setup. You've got a short draw. I don't think i'd shoot an eleven grain pringe arrow um, but maybe you know, you get that gives you a little bit more kinetic energy. You're just gonna have a

little bit more drop. So there's a lot of there's a lot of different thoughts out there when it comes to arrows. But that's what I like, um, and I've been shooting. I just switched this year to two five grain broadhead just to kind of it gives it a little bit um for my setup. It's a little bit better and it adds a little bit of weight. So right now this overall arrow I was shooting about six hundred ten grains overall. Now it's about by I think it was at five eighty something like that. So it's

a pretty solid set up. And man does it just like it just blows through elk and other things. So I've got a moose hunt coming up. It's just like a perfect combo for that perfect combo for elk, and it doesn't really it bucks the winding pretty well. So that's what I do. That's something to think about Heremy I'm new to archery hunting, and I have a question about calling for elk. I'm hunting in Pacific Northwest Oregon, where it can go wet to dry to really wet

all the same day. My question is, what do you do if you really mess up a call? I asked because I let out a locator bagle the other day and I think there was moisture in my too, because it sounded awful and slobby. Is it best to just stop and be quiet, try it again or just move on when you feel like you just announced your there. Thanks in advance, and thanks for the podcast. I look forward to listening every Thursday. That's a good question, because

it happens. Man, I've got you know, I might have a read that it's like a little bit war out and you just make a bad call. It just depends sometimes what I do. Like I'll throw out a couple of little cow calls, kind of recover and then let out another bugle. You know, to be honest, I don't necessarily know that elk care as much as we might think they do. I mean, they do to a certain extent, but they also you know, it's like, you made one bad call. I don't think it elks and be like, Okay,

we're gonna run away now. They just hear it off in the distance and it sounds like whatever it sounds like, and then they hear another one. It's like, oh, there's Elk there. Cool. I will say, like, the better your

calls sound, the easier it is to call bulls. And I found that over the years like, as I got better at calling, and maybe it's just maybe knowing how to call a little bit better, but as I got better at actual calling and making those really good elk sounds and changing the pitch in the tone and all that, it's a lot easier to call elkin. I'm not gonna lie about that. But also I have seen elk and have in the past called in elk, which just terrible calls.

So it um I think that I would just kind of recover by just letting another one rip, maybe a couple of seconds later. Though. All right, this one comes from I don't I don't know no name, but it says, hey, remy love. The content had a question for you. In Saskatchewan, we don't have a huge abundance of elk, but numbers are good. I finally got into chasing elk about three years ago now and have yet to fill a tag,

which isn't a problem. But I'm curious. What would your top three tips for elk hunting be to someone fairly new to elk coming from always focusing on mule deer hunting, It's hard to break some habits. Cheers, Here's the thing I would think about the top three tips for elk hunting. I would say if you're new to lk hunting, the first thing I would say is you really have to understand the elk behavior where you're hunting. So you kind of got to figure out what are these elk doing

and why are they doing it? You know, everywhere's a little bit different. In the mountains of Montana or Wyoming, you know, it's like whatever that region is. Maybe it's like there, I've hunted places where it's more desert type country, and it's like those that elk are out in the stage and they're in different places than they are when you're up in like the high country of Colorado early season or even then same area late Like what are those elk doing? Understanding elk is the first step to

being a really successful elk counter. So if you're in Saskatchewan, it's like, well, maybe you're in like agg country, it's like, just like anything you're hunting, what are these animals doing and why are they doing it? When you unlock that secret, you're going to be really successful. And the second thing would be just as a as a blanket statement for tips for hunting elk. I mean I think that it's

you know, hunt to your strength as well. I think there's a lot of guys that come out elk hunting and they're like, they got lkhunt, Like I lk hunt, which is is really good, you know, it's the way you lk hunt. But also it's like, well, what are you used to hunting and then kind of adapt those tactics to whatever new species you're gonna hunt. So there is a lot of things that are very specific to hunting elk. But I think that there's things that people

kind of forget about. It's like if you're really I know a guy that he's a really good tree stand hunter, and he comes out and kills an elk every year from a tree stand, and it's like that, I've never killed an elk from a tree stand, you know. But that's also not the way that I hunt. So there are those things where you can take cross everythings of things that you already know. If you're like I, I'm really good at hunting mule deer, you know, it's all

spot and stock. A lot of my friends is probably some of the bigger bulls every year taken by spot in stock. So adapting some of those tactics that you already know and are already good at two elk. So you've gotta understand elk in their habits and then you can use your own tactics to kind of like do the attack plan. So figure out what elk are doing, understand why they're doing it, and where they're at, and then use the tactics that work best for you, UM

to go in and chase it. That's always like a good thing that I kind of think about when I'm hunting anything new. And then the third tip would be I don't know the third tip. I guess, like when I talk about anything, it's like the three steps there would be like find the animal, shoot the animal, bring pack the animal back to the truck. So the third tip, let's say it's before even getting packing it back to the truck. You know, practice you're shooting being proficient. You

might only get one opportunity. You know, you gotta make that one opportunity count, So practice those infield shots and

for when it comes to elk. I think that the infield shot that I find the most is like being able to thread the needle, understanding the arc of the arrow and being able to shoot through stuff, um and knowing whether you're gonna hit that branch in front of you or not knowing how to Like, um, you know, so many people will be standing up in an area where there's like a bunch of branches and when you could be down low and shooting below those branches, you know,

so kind of just understanding the terrain and how to how to make a good shot, and then just being proficient with whatever you're hunting with. Those would be my three tips today off the top of my head. So when it comes from Raymond, he says, Hey there, my name is ray I'm a student in Northern Michigan University. I started listening to your podcast this summer while at

work and love it. I have a question, not sure if you have answered it before, but what is the proper care for both such as string wax and what do you do if it gets wet? Is there a difference in shooting when it's cold or wet or both. I'm just getting into archery and bow hunting, just got a bare white tail legend and have been practicing indoors because my backyard isn't big enough to shoot. So I'm wondering if when it gets cold, like in late October, Michigan.

Does that affect how my bow will shoot? Thanks for doing what you do. Keep up the great work. So that's a that's a good question. Yeah, the weather definitely affects all kinds of shooting, whether it's a bow or it's rifle or whatever. But I would say a bow is more affected. Um Now, it just depends on the distances that you're shooting. You know, maybe the effect is negligible. Um So in some ways you might not have to consider it so much, but in other ways, yeah, you

definitely want to think about it. I would say, here's the things that I've I've come to realize. When it's cold, I generally find that the bow shoots higher. Um It, Well, everything shrinks when it's cold. You know, heat expands, cold contracts and contracts. The strings are tighter. Everything is a little bit tighter. So it shoots a little bit higher

because it's generally shooting a little bit faster. When it's wet, the string slows down it and if it's driving rain, that can even actually uh increase the impact down as well. Um So then if it's wet and cold, then maybe it just equalizes out. I don't really know about that. Um. But another thing you want to think about isn't necessarily the effect of the flight of the air or anything,

but also the effective the temperature on you. One thing that you want to think about it is like what's your effective range while you're shooting, But that's gonna change when you get cold, when you're shaking, when you're whatever. I know, a few years back, I was hunting white tails with a recurve and it was like, I don't even know, it was cold man, and I did not

have sitting in cold weather clothes. I think I had just like a was it like a probably like can you jacket and like the lightweight guy jacket and pants and stick of pants or something. I don't know, and um, I had a miss a mixed match of everything. I think I had a pair of thermals and I had some like bootwarmers in my uninsulated boots. I had like a neck gator and a beanie. And it was twenty below zero, you know, and I was just freezing. I was like so cold, and I had sat there all day.

I think it's probably the first time I actually sat all day before getting impatient trying to stock something. And this buck came in and I was like sweet, And actually I used one like Montana decoy kind of thing, and then I think I was like I also brought my three dr tree target and I was getting bored

in the middle of the day. So I was shooting this target like from the tree stand like pretty regularly when I knew nothing was coming around because I had a pretty good sight, and I crawled down, pull my arrows to go back up and just trying to warm my feet back up. And when it was cold, you know, this buck came in and I was like, he was

probably seventeen yards. I don't know, maybe I can't remember how far it was something like that, and I'm like sweet, but I was so it was the end of the day and I was just freezing, man, I was just shaking shivering, and I thought, oh, this is an easy shot. And when I pulled that bow back like, I shot and I made it. I mean, I killed the deer. It was just like a lucky I don't even know

how it killed the deer. Um. I pretty much shot it like in the back hind quarter back leg and I think it went through enough hit the fomoral artery or something hit something must have been the form because it ran like a hundred and fifty yards and fell over dead and I was like whoops, But okay, um, you know, like a lucky break. But I think, like you know, when when I was warm and eever, that was not a hard shot for me. It was just a fact that like I was so cold, my hands

couldn't feel the string, my body was shaking. I think that like that impulse of like being cold and just like let that arrow rip, you know, like you can't hold back because you just lost that strength and whatever. Um, it's something you think about, like it's it's definitely a factor. So I like to practice in the cold in the elements and say like, well, how how does that even affect my shooting? So if you can, you know, get out somewhere where you can practice and shoot in those

cold temperature because it's gonna affect you. It's probably gonna affect you more than it's gonna affect the arrow, to be realistic, Like it's gonna affect the shooter as much as it does the flight and trajectory the arrow. Um, but it'll probably affect your performance more than anything. All Right. The question comes from John he says, Hey, I really enjoy your podcast. I've started at the beginning and worked my way through almost all the way, uh to the

most recent ones. I appreciate the time and effort you put into that so much great info. I'd like to get your opinion on a quiet and I have dreams of sheep hunting in the future, specifically a rocky mountain big horn. I'm questioning what would be the best strategy to get a tag one day. I'm still in college and I live in Tennessee, so I'm not a resident of a sheep state. I have heard a lot of people say that it's impossible odds in many states for

those who don't already have lots of points. So I've also heard many people say that you'd be better off putting money into an investment account rather than wasting it on applications and use that saved money to buy a tag later in life. What's the best strategy as a nonresident for year old to one day have a good chance of getting a tag in the future, preferably before I'm seventy. Thanks. Well, that's that's a really good question,

and there's a lot of answers. Um. I mean the first thing that kind of comes to mind is, you know, yeah, playing the draw game is just it's it is a random thing of luck. And when you're talking about places with a lot of points, um, you're probably on the losing curve of that. You know. It's like, I mean, me, I'm sitting on in many places twenty five points and probably will never draw some of those tags. But you know there's people who could apply their first year and

maybe draw that tag. If you're talking about draws and applications, I would look towards the states that don't require points. Um, there's a few states out there that have points. Now, if you're looking to hunt Rocky Mountain Big Horn, I would also kind of say, like, okay, Rocky Mountain big Horn or California big Horn. California big Horn is like a subspecies of Rockies, but they're a little bit smaller in the horns. Um, but they're like organ has no

points for that. So I'd kind of like look for places that have no points where it's like, hey, it doesn't matter if you've been applying your entire life, you're going to be on equal footing is everyone else. Another thing to think about it is like if you want to go the draw route. UM, you know, there's there's things other than state draws. There's like raffles. I my dad just accomplished his Grand Slam, which is killing all four species of North American wild sheep, and he's not

paid more than an application fee for it. He's drawn every tag. So he drew too as a resident in the state of Nevada, California big horn and then a rock and then a desert big horn. He won the um Doll sheep hunt at the Wild Sheep Foundation they had like a one more for they used to have a half slam drawing so everybody that had two sheep could get in for that, and then he uh won his fan in sheep hunt at the Grand Slam Cup Club over as gs c O. They do like a raffling.

So there's a lot of ways to get sheep tags that are not just state raffles, and some of those other ways are actually probably honestly statistically better odds UM. Now, when it comes to specifically big horns, you're in luck because there are other options as well. I mean, if if I was you and I was like, man, I want to go hunt big horns, I would go to an unlimited unit in Montana and just plan on hunting

it for four or five years. Um, you're gonna learn it and you'll get a sheep or you know, you you'll be sheep hunting. Um. It's difficult. You know, it's not for everyone, but you know, if you've got the drive to do it, that's that's a good way to do it. That's one of the only sheep tags you can do that with. So, um, that's not a bad option. And then you know the other option of saving money

and buying a tag. You know, especially when it comes to like if you're like, hey, I want to hunt a doll sheep or something like that, that that would be the option that I would go with, um, because it's kind of more you're actually gonna get a go and you're gonna have a good hunt. And to be honest, like the money that you put away every year, it seems to be a lot is a chunk, but over the years it like it kind of goes fast. That's

what I mean. I saved up for um a long time and then night end up drawing a lot of the tags that all the sheep tags that I've hunted, So I go back and forth and you're like, oh, man, um, but I know I've got a lot of friends that have done that way, and man, it seems like, you know there's people that will we never draw tags, and and then you just like you're betting on yourself. You're just you're you're putting away and you're gonna say, Okay, this many years, I can save up this much. And

that's a really good strategy. When it comes to Rocky Mountain Big Horns, though, it's tough because even when you buy that that hunt, it's a pretty tough hunt. So I would say for Rocky Mountain Big Horn, that's where it's kind of a little bit different. If you're like, oh, I want to go on a doll sheep hunt, I'd say, yeah, I just just put away or or do the draw thing. But I would say for this, you know, you've you've

got a lot of options. Um. But you know, for for when it comes to sheep hunting now these days, man, putting away and just being able to in the future potentially you know, book a hunt somewhere is is a pretty good Uh, it's like way more guaranteed. Um. So it's just I don't know, I don't really know the right answer. I play the draw game and I've been fortunate in it, but I know that it you know, I've started a long time ago as well. The question says, Hey, remmy,

my name is Brady. Just to actually started listening to your podcast maybe about two or three weeks ago, and I've listened to nearly every episode now. I'd like to thank you so much for the awesome content. Wow, it's been informative. I'm heading out this weekend to do my first el khint, hoping the advice you have been giving will pay off. I live in BC, Canada, so I'm sure it will. Anyways, I did have one question, kind of a funny one, I guess, just kind of touching

on the scent blocker stuff. I totally get what you're saying about clothing and how it won't really work when you're hiking around so to go Further, is there deodorant that you use for cover at least a bit of the body odor, especially going on long hikes in the backwoods. Is there a scent free deodorant that you use or do you just rock the smell? Thanks again for all the info and given out really appreciated. Cheers, Rady, that's a good question. Me. I'm I'm gonna make a lot

of people mad. But this is the truth too. I rarely get winded, um, and I don't use anything. Maybe maybe I've just like maybe I've just adapted to be like an animal out there. I mean I was, I've walked like I've just had those winds swirl moments where I should get busted, And I don't know. When I'm with someone else, I always get busted. So I like to tell people like I never get winded, but the people i'm with two, So I don't really know what

what that is or why that is. Um. Maybe it's just like I think there's a few things that factor into animals winding you, and people are gonna just be like, now you're just making stuff up, and maybe I am, because like I think there's like this this I don't know if we just like release some hormone when you get real excited and you're like I can't mess this up. I feel like you're just you're kind of like releasing something that's that predator like excitement level, and I feel

like the animals can sense that. I don't know, I mean, that's just me. Um. But I will say this, here's what here's my scent control things like I wash my clothes and regular tide uh, laundry detergent. If I feel like I smell bad to myself, I just put on whatever right guard, deodorant, whatever. And honestly, like I do notice at the beginning of a hunt, like you generally get winded less when you're clean, and I don't use

anything special. I just use regular soap and whatever. I mean I've put out like just to see I had a trail camera and I just put like a little thing of laundry detergent like on a stump and ELK, we're still like wallowing right there. They gave two craps about it, so they it's not the deodorant or the detergent that they're smelling that they freaks them out. It's like that animal human sense. It's like this is a

human predator and he's trying to kill me. So when you start sweating, I think you're just like releasing that even more um. And it's hard to block. The key is in every scenario, just use you get the wind right, and there's gonna be those times where that wind swirling. And I don't think that there's any amount of like crazy deodorant that you can use that's gonna help you.

What I do do sometimes, like if I'm like, oh man, it's a hot day, gonna go to the top of the mountain where it's swirly, I'll just grab some like pine boughs and I just rubbed that all over my clothes. That it and I smell like pine and um or something natural like that. And you know, I don't know. I mean, I don't like if I can smell my pits, I'm like, oh my god, I stink um. I generally just grab some pine stuff and rub it, or I'll take some deodorant and and I just don't think about

it too much. And to be honest, like I probably get winded a lot less than a lot of people. So I don't know. It's just knowing how to play the wind, you know. No, I'd rather just spend my time understanding how the wind is going to change, how the thermals react, and in getting in there, and then if you can get a little bit of advantage, maybe you just like you just feel like it makes you

feel more confident. Use whatever you feel good using Thanks everybody that sent in a question that concludes this week's Male Satchell. I'm Remy Warren. Thank you for cutting the distance with me and asking me questions and listening and leaving awesome comments, and telling your friends about the podcast and your family members, and then sharing that success back with me. Full circle. M