Ep. 118: Answering Your Questions, Part 23

and I get really excited about that. Last week on the podcast, we were talking about gear and going over a little bit of gear. So now we're gonna switch gears and answer your questions on this week's mail sack. So far, I've already had a great season, been guiding l ot of l hunters. Last week we had five hunters in camp, killed five bull and one guy had a deer tag as well, So and a deer. You can't ask for anything better. Um, I don't know if

you've heard that shot. I've got some guys here sighting in their rifles, so if you hear some random shooting throughout this it's I'm not a war correspondent. I'm just a lowly hunting guide here and trying to record a podcast in between taking people out. So we're gonna jump into it right now. We've got questions that need answered, but first let's go to some testimonials. First message comes

from Ryan. He says, hey, Man, wanted to say a quick thank you my whole life, I've had the itch to make the transition from white tail hunting on my family's farm to western big game hunting, but with not knowing anyone who does the seemingly daunting task of taking the first steps I always put off. However, since listening to your podcast, it has given me a truly incredible amount of information and has finally pushed me over the edge to start the journey. So I wanted to pass

along encourage you because what you're doing is incredible. I appreciate that, Ryan, and thank you so much for all the other people that sent out messages um for encouragement and just saying how how much the podcasts helped you kind of get out there. Uh. Lot of a lot of success testimonials this week as well. This one comes from Bridger Smith. He says, listen to all your podcasts this summer and fall love the tactics called in my first archery bowl. Thanks for the inspiration and it's a

great bowl. Good work, Bridger. This one's from Jeff Miller. He says I was chasing a larger buck in the area for a few weeks, but he did what big mealies do, disappear after nearly walking the dog into the ground. I couldn't help myself on this buck. Kept checking the pockets and it paid off. Thanks for the advice for staying persistent and thick, hard to hunt areas, Jeff with a good nice typical four by four meal dere Awesome work, Jeff is up. Yeah, Yeah, that's a great buck. Last

testimonial comes from Brian so Well. He says, ended up taking this bull using some of your tactics on your podcast. This is a bull I've ever harvested General Tag in Montana and it is a giant six by six So Brian, congratulations. Listening to the podcast pays off. I can the proof is in the putting. I don't know if this is putting, but I've been getting message after message of guys sending me something saying this is the first elk I've taken.

This is for the biggest bull I've taken using this tactic, so thank everyone out there. Thank you guys for sending in those testimonials. The pictures I really enjoy. I'm like to always read a few here. Um, and now we'll go into a few questions. Maybe some of their testimonies will pop up. I got these questions on just on my phone, so we'll start running through some of your questions here and we'll get into it. Since last week was a Gear episode, I did get quite a few

questions on Gear, let's start with this. One's question comes from Dave. He says, hey, remy love the podcast, please do a moose hunting episode. I've got a lot of requests for that, so I'll probably be in the in the works. Here says my question for this week's Q and eight is how do you stay comfortable hiking in wet environments? If I'm marching up hill, I overheat and the rain gear makes it that much hotter. How do you keep cool and comfortable when it's too wet to

take off outer layers? How do you layer to hunt in wet weather? Um? And he's say in PS. When I say wet, I think coastal blacktail moose swamps wet. So that's a great question. When I'm in like really wet country, I know it's gonna be wet from sun up till dark, or even if I know it's like hey it's it's probably not gonna let up, or it's I'm starting out maybe just rained all night, and I know it's gonna start out start out wet, and I

know I'm gonna be hiking. I actually, we'll just wear my rain gear and um, I won't put it over like pants or something like that. So I'll have my rain gear on and if it's cold, I'll through thermals and then rain gear. So just be like a bass layer shirt, rain jacket, and it'll be um, maybe thermal pants and rain pants. I've even just gone rain pants nothing else, um, well underwear and keep from the chaffin. But um, I found like, actually that's the best way

because it kind of stays cool. Now, what I will do too, is like if it's not raining but it's just like wet country, I can then often vent my pants and a lot of times what I'll do is I'll wear like rain gear and then I'll put some gators over the top of that give it a little bit more protection keep it from dripping into my boots and other things. So I'll put my rain gear on and then my gators over the top of that, and then um, and then I can, you know, use the

zips to regulate my body temperature. So even when I've got just very light and I'm hiking, I'll start to unzip the jacket if it's not raining, if it's just like wet country where everything kind of seems wet now when it's raining and everything else, the only way your rain gear is gonna work is if it's tight. So I always one thing to think about. Just added info here is when you've got your rain gear on, use

your hood. Like if the hood's not up, the rain gear is not gonna work if your wrists straps aren't, you know, Like I tighten it around my wrists as well, so the water doesn't run down, and then you know, don't obviously keep your hands down or what ever in your pockets. One thing I also don't like to do

in wet weather. One little secret I've got is I'll put handwarmers in my pocket and then I won't wear gloves because when my hands get wet, then the gloves get wet, and I just would rather just in wet weather put my hands in my pockets to warm them up with those handwarmers and then keep them from my gloves getting soaked. But the layering system that I do in really wet country is I just go straight up

rain gear. It's waterproof, it's breathable, and the breathing works a lot better when you don't have two layers on underneath it. So I just go base layer or light layer underneath or no layer underneath, and then rain gear, and if I get cold, they just start moving. Um.

It feels pretty good. I've been in some you know, even when it's a little bit warmer out walking through that cool wet water with just the rain gear on, it almost feels it's just kind of like feels pretty cool, especially if you don't have base layer on underneath it. So it just goes straight. Rain gear keeps your base dry. And then if I've got um, if it dries out or whatever, I could have my other stuff in my pack and then just swap it on layer change it out.

So once it gets dry and say it's not raining room and it dries out during the daytime, then I'll swap out. If I need a jacket, then I'll swap out the rain jacket for say, like a soft shell jacket. And that's the way that I like to layer in really wet places. But like I said on the Gear podcast, you know start out cool. This is a good one.

This one comes from Ricardo. He says, hello, Remy, I just listened to your latest podcast about rule number one don't leave anything on the ground, and I laughed hysterically. I'm currently driving to the bow shop because I left my bow on the ground and ran over my bow with my truck. That tip hit my soul. Have a

great day. Thanks. That's um, that's very unfortunate. I I have once run over a spotting scope and I know I feel the pain man And it was on a CU's deer hunt and a long way away from anywhere, and I actually the spotting scope still operated, but the tripod was destroyed. So um, and that still wouldn't hit as hard as a boss Man bummer. But also a testimonial of don't leave stuff on the ground rule number one. Alright, This next question says, hey, Remy, love the content. When's

that ELK video coming out on the big end. Anyway, I was gonna take uh my little brother in law on a mule deer hunt. I have a two two three he can use with sixty four green soft tips. Would that be reasonable to shoot one within a hundred yards? If so, what shot would you take? High shoulder or just the sweet vital shot. That's a great question. So the first part the big Elk video is actually good timing.

Is actually out today, so you can go over to uh you can find it through go on my Instagram page. I've got a link to it there, or the Made with Meat YouTube channel. It'll be there, and then I will also on my YouTube channel put it on a playlist, so if you follow my YouTube channel, you can go there and it'll make it easy to find, you know, play list there that big that my largest bull um got the video edit done. It's ready and I think it turned out pretty dang sweet. So hopefully everyone goes

over there and checks that out. Okay, so now on to hunting with the two two three sixty four green bullets soft tip. You know, I'm a big proponent of not overgunning people that are specially smaller. So he says, here, your little brother in law um, the two two three. Yes, you can absolutely kill a meal deer with the two two three. How do I know because in New Zealand I have shot red deer which are about the size

of elk with two two three's. Um. We actually used to meet shoot with them as well, like shooting commercial meat shooting. But on that we would do all head shots. Um. However, I have seen like taking kids or whatever and taking a pretty large animals with triple two's two two three, So um, yeah, absolutely possible. I would I would definitely probably say stay away from the shoulder because I've found animals that we've taken later on with small caliber bullets

in the shoulder. So I would just go with the sweet vital shot. Um. You know, it's a good bonded type bullet would be best. I would say, there there is a lot of like you know in two three you can get some really like more frangible rounds. I would definitely get a more hunting built round for it. Uh, and that just you know, just kind of think about that when you're looking at it. There's there is a difference in the price of the box. UM, but yep,

a good soft point um would probably work fine. Just something that it depends where you're at, but UM, you know if you can use you know, a bonded soft point or something like that, UM, get one that's designed for hunting, and it will absolutely be plenty of gun and you won't overgun your brother in law. So I think that that's a great option and go for it.

Because she says, Hey, Rebby, in regards to late season spot and stalking me with your hunt, what do you do when the bucks spend very little time in one spot, typically either chasing a dough uh that's hot or on a dos centrail, particularly in those spots where the stock can be long and arduous. Tim from BC, that's a

great question. So many of the places you're hunting, if you if you can hunt that late rut season, especially when it comes to pre rut, bucks are cruising and you might see a buck three four miles away and he's just moving. He's on that trail, or like you said, he gets into a zone where he gets a hot dough and it's it's cruise city. In those kind of scenarios, it can be really hard to get on the deer that you're trying to watch. So I do a couple of different things. I mean, one thing is you can

keep watching and see where he goes. Or you can say, okay, how can I cut this deer off and get into that particular zone. Um, there is kind of this thought of you might not catch that buck that you see. Uh, And so what I would like to do is like, if I'm seeing a lot of crew sing bucks, I almost would put myself into a position where they tend

to be cruising through. More often than not, you'll notice, like there might be a place in the mountain where you're looking and watching over and you can see all this country, which is really good for spotting, but it's

not good for putting yourself into a position for that stock. Now, I tend to prefer to cover more country with my eyes, So I probably picked that spot where hey, I'm watching cruising deer, but I'm gonna pick that spot with the hopes that I'm catching that deer that can that will stop. I had a similar experience with this just a couple of days ago. Spotted a good buck. I was like, he's cruising. But then I looked over and saw a pocket of doze. So I just watched. I was like,

all right, I'm just gonna go. You know, if if I was I actually didn't have a tag, I was just scouting for clients. But it's like, all right, if I had a tag, I would just go to that pocket and see what happened. And sure enough, later on that buck hit that pocket and started doing is like hot laps around those doughs checking them. Also, if I would have made that stock and moved of that pocket,

the wind was good. You know, I've seen those doughs downwind of him and knew that he's cruising and he's gonna stop when he sees those dough So understanding where those dough pockets are can help you pinpoint a deer that's gonna slow down. Um. That's one way to think

about it. Another way is, um, you know, if you've got like a buck that's chasing a hot dough, kind of going back to that, Like if he runs that hot dough off, sometimes they'll go for miles, but many times that dough is gonna try everything she can to kind of get back to that group, and so kind of getting back once again, kind of stalking the does and then using that as the magnet to attract the bucks might be your best bet. Another option is just

watching that deer. Many times I'll see a cruising buck and he'll be cruising, cruising, cruising, like seems like he doesn't stop, and then he hits up an area and he just stands there for thirty minutes or whatever. Once that deer hits that standing point, you might think, Okay, now I can make my move. So it can be difficult, but there are things that kind of slow them down, and so I try to focus on those things and

then make my move based on that. Otherwise I kind of set up and do my glassing in an area where it's like, okay, this is a high concentration of where they might be moving. I'm looking over a lot of country, but when you see one here, you can make a quick move. And there's been many times during the rut that my stock is not a slow stock.

It is an absolute all out run and uh. And then just trying to get set up with rifle hunt, you know, get set up maybe where I still got a good view, but I like shooting across the canyon or something like that. So that's kind of your options. Questions comes from Kent. He says, sorry if you stay this before in your podcast, But being from Texas, I've never had the chance to do a true backcountry hunt

and want to next season for ELK. I know that doing public land requires getting back further and farther than usual. What would you recommend to make it easier, especially with getting a bull out, taking two friends, or trying to find a location allows something like an e bike. Uh, that's a good question. I mean, here's the thing. I wouldn't even consider those things mutually exclusive. I do when I hunt elk. I never Maybe this is the wrong way to think about, because I've done it a lot,

Like I don't even know I've probably packed out. I couldn't even count the amount of elk that I've packed out or animals um in the thousands. And I have this philosophy that it's like I never think about how I mean, not that you shouldn't be prepared for it, but I'm like, I never choose a place worried about the pack out. I just hunt and then get the animal out afterwards. And it's just always a pain in the ask, but it's just part of it, you know.

So one thing that I would say is like it's it's a good idea to be prepared to pack it out, and especially on your first one, having some people with you is never a bad thing, I would say if it's your first trip, either way, the having a couple of extra people is going to make it a lot easier. Like you can you can share in the toil, you can share in the experience. UM absolutely take to people

with you. Now, I'm saying that to say that having an hunting an area where it's like, hey, I've I've got the option to take an e bike in or whatever can be part of your hunt plan that doesn't necessarily have to involved like be saying well, I'm either going to take the e bike or I'm going to

take two friends. You can do both. But if you have the two people, no matter where you get the elk, you've got help packing it out so you can go back as far and then you can hunt with that mindset of not worrying about how I'm going to get it out, but hunt and then get it out. And you just got to know that that work is going to be involved. Now, I know people are probably saying like, well, you gotta make sure you can't shoot something where you

can't get it out. That's absolutely true, so you wouldn't want to go beyond your limits. But having those two people you won't have to think about it, is what I'm saying, Like you can just go out and hunt and you know that you'll be able to get it back. And so I like that option. I also like the idea of like, hey, it's never a bad idea to

you know, find find other ways to access areas. So if it's you know, hiking in on a logging road where you can go like, okay, I can get in here and then access the ass Arian and bush whack up here. Great. You know, if you can use an e bike greade like that part doesn't matter. That's just more of like the hunt strategy and planning, like how you're going to get into the area, areas you're going to look into access. But if it's your first trip, I would just say take a couple of guys with you,

have a good time. It's a little bit safer that way, like you can you know, it might keep you a more motivated to hunt harder if it's the guys with kind of like a like mindset, and you know, if everybody's got a tag to it might give you more opportunity to experience like a successful harvest and a pack out. If if everybody's got tags and maybe they split up, and then you come back to camp and you're however you're gonna do it. It's never a bad thing to have.

Um some help. I remember many years ago I was doing a solo hunt and then my buddy Mike help me pack out, and I said, and I think one thing that I said, and that just rings true, and pretty much every hunt is, even a solo hunter makes a great team packer, Like, no matter what, if you can get help packing out, take it, it's great. Question comes from Tom says, Hey, I'm a big fan of your podcast, love your content and how you break everything down.

What are your thoughts on bipods, shooting sticks or tripods? Also doing my first Elate season Blacktail hunt in November in Washington, any tips or suggestions? So the first part, um, I think all three have their place in some way or another when it comes to shooting. I always like to be field ready, and I think field ready involves being able to get steady on whatever is around. The first thing that I always try to get steady on

is my pack, laying down using my pack. Uh. If you have a bipod that works, great, you just need to be no matter which one you use, practice with them all. If you're if it's gonna be something you're gonna hunt with, practice with it, and not necessarily just saying like practice shooting with it at the range. That's kind of I mean, that's just like part of it.

But I would say that's the smallest part I would I would much rather prefer to see people like getting out hiking around with whatever they're gonna use, and then you don't even have to shoot. Maybe it's dry fire practice where you just get set up and pick something like okay, you don't get on that fast, and see which one works for you. In a lot of situations, bipods are very difficult to get steady with unless it's the right situation, I would say, out of all of them,

but I throw iPod on many times. And when you use a bipod and have the right set set up, it's probably the most steady thing you can get. Now, if you have shooting sticks, it can get you a little bit higher up so you can get above some of the brush and grass. It's not going to be a steady as being proned out on your packer on the bipod. But um, shooting sticks kind of give you that upper hand of still being steady while maybe being more advantageous to different, uh say, hunting scenarios I like

as opposed to shooting sticks. I actually use my treking polls. I talked about this in the last one. But use those treking polls as a shooting sticks that works really well or just I mean, I do have a para shooting sticks that I bring along as well. And then tripods. Yeah, it's like getting steady on anything you've got. So if you've already got a tripod, there, practice getting steady on it.

The way that I use a tripod. I'll extend the legs, put the like spotting scope down, and then set the gun in that kind of arm between the spotting scope and the tripod. The worst part about the tripod is it's not super adjustable. Um. So I would say between all three of those, the one if I was to carry one, I would say carry shooting sticks because I can find ways to get steady with the other without the other two by using my pack or using the

tripod that I have. But um, shooting sticks kind of give you that kind of in between that's a lot faster movement. So that's why I think on that when it comes to late season, uh, black tail tips. You know, I guess it depends if you're hunting more of that jungle type country temperate rainforest type stuff, or if you're hunting, you know, more open stuff. But late season is is kind of like it's very similar to mule deer, and

I will also say very similar to white tails. Um black tails are kind of that perfect in between where they have those smaller home ranges, so you can pattern them. You can use trail like you can use um waiting tactics like tree stands and other things on trails in that thick country. But one thing you're gonna want to

focus on is definitely focused on those does. Bucks will be more at to cruising later in the season, and that's gonna be your best time to find deer moving around, So don't forget to glass those clear cuts, those openings where you can actually see and then finding that that good sign in those trails. Probably i'd focus on like places that deer will cruise, like actually like finger ridges and those ridges in the timber where it's a lot easier for them to walk around and move fast, just

like anything. You know, if if you think of a buck's cruising looking for does he's walking along trying to send the dough and he's going to take the easiest path. You know, there's times where they might be in that thicker stuff. But if they're moving around, find those trails that are easy to move on where it's like, hey, this is a natural way that I would move, um.

And then where it's like they can cover a lot of country and be moving for doughs and then kind of hunt still hunt do however, whatever your tactical hunting is, bush stocking, sitting, waiting, whatever, um, based on those areas where they're going to be moving more often. This question comes from Ivan. He says, Hey, there, I'm about to go on a mule deer trip up here in BC. What awesome coincidence. You recently did some podcasts on the topic.

I'm wondering if you have any recommendations on calls to use. Thanks when it comes to deer calls. Lately, I've been using the Rocky Mountain game calls grunt Tube. It's got like this slider bar on it and so I find it works better than the rest everything else I've tried, because some of them, like the other ones i've used, the kind of stick when it's cold and freeze, especially if you're like up in BC or Northern Montana or whatever. Um, it's like a lot of those calls kind of freeze

up on you. And I like this slider bar because I can change the tone so I can go like that more deep like deep grunt, or I can even just do like an estrus bleat, like a kind of sound. Um. With that same call, it's got like a great tone, and I think it it carries really well. I use that same call for white tails meal deer. Um. I've actually even used it for big horn sheep. So I I really like that call in particular. Um, I'm sure you can find it online. I can't. I wish I

knew the name of it. But it's got like this little on it, and it somehow got like some little slighter thing that's kind of I guess like a trombone slider, you know, But it's built into it so it changes, it puts different pressure on the red inside the call. That that's the one that I recommend and then when it comes to rattling, I mean just anything um I've used. I like to use like big mellier antlers. Sometimes sometimes I use just shoulder blades that I've taken off of

something dried out. Sometimes I use like a rattling bag or whatever, just something that's easy. I found that the like plastic rattling antlers, uh, don't really work that well in the cold. Like I've had them break a lot. Maybe it's because I I tend like they're outside a lot or something. I don't know. I've got a lot of those break um, so I've kind of got away from those. But um, any kind of like small rattling back there's like this shoot, It's like this little rattling

box that I've used worked, okay. Seems like just sometimes bringing a set of meal deer sheds seems to be like the best or deer sheds for white tails amuled there? All right? This question comes from Scott says here, emmy, just listen to your latest podcast about gear. I was

surprised to hear you like the smaller spotting scope. Me and my buddies utilize a pair of ten by fourty two bonos and twenty five or thirty magnification rifle scope depending on setup, and bring a sixty five millimeter spotter. What's your thoughts on that setup? So here's my thought on that. The first one, the ten by fourty two by nos awesome, the sixty five millimeter spotter great, the twenty to thirty magnification rifle scope. I would never use

a rifle scope for spotting glass, NG verifying anything. Um. I just don't think it's good practice. And I mean that's and I and I also don't think it's like a very great tool for verification. Like, yeah, you get a little bit more magnification whatever, but you're just better off like using your binoculars and your spotting scope. UM. I have been in the field and like had people like walked up on people that don't even have binoculars and they just use their rifle scope to verify something.

That's absolutely unacceptable. I mean, I'm not saying that that's what you're doing. Maybe you're like, oh, it's a deer, and maybe it's something you can legally shoot out, but I am so anal about gun safety that that gun, whether unloaded, whether the bolts out, whether it's anything, should never be pointed at anything that you don't intend to

shoot at any time ever. And so like there's been times where I've been walking down the trail someone sees movement and I've they've got their gun point at me, and I'm like, that freaks me out and I get pretty piste off and I and I let them know about it. Um. I've seen people glassing other people with rifles across the ridge. You're glassing, you know, like using rifles to to look at things, And it's like that

should never be a way that you do anything ever. Um, And I think that just bears repeating of Like I mean, whether that's how you use it or not doesn't really matter, or I just think it's like something good to talk about. Um, That we have rifle scopes for shooting the gun and that's what it should be for. We have binoculars for glassing and finding animals. We have a spotting scope to zoom in and verify. So if you've got the spotting scope,

just use that and just use the binoculars now. UM, I would much rather carry the weight of a large spotting scope than use plan on using a rifle scope to check something. So that's my thought. On that. I think the binoculars are great. I think the spotting scope is good. Um, and it's also you know, having that

spotting scope for a little bit extra verifications awesome. Now, if it's something you're lining up to shoot and you're like, oh, there's a good buck, I've got a tag for it, I might want to shoot it, and you're using the rifle scope to check it out, see if you get ready to get your shot. Whatever, That's all cool, but never use the you know you never I never think of using a scope as a more verification on something because we have better tools for that. This question says, hey,

big fan of your work Slash podcast. I like your transparency and drive. I've been hunting cues white tail in Arizona for about ten years. I've got three smaller ones, but can't get over the hump and kill a nice wallinger. I'm not even archery hunting, just can't find the big bucks. I hunt October, which is not the most ideal time. No ruts slash can be hot. I hunted harder last week than I ever have tried to find isolated areas of food. Water shelter than glass and makes stealthy approaches

into high probability areas by incorporating wind sound site. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I used told by fifty vipers. Is the buy not too cheap to hunt effectively? I spot deer at a thousand yards, but couldn't tell if they were bucks. Granted, I'm sure if it was a monster buck I probably would have noticed. Anyways, I'm not pure trophy hunter. I just like the meat, but at some point would really like to get on a big public land cues. Thanks for your time, Danny. That's

that's a great question. I do love hunting the cues bucks. And I will say this, so we were just actually talking about spotting scopes. I on accused deer hunt. That's a that's a hunt that I take a good spotting scope on. UM. I glass with it, I get, I

use it for verification. UM. You know, seeing those deer two thousand yards, you've got to be able to zoom in tight because during that October season, those bucks are not moving and uh, you know what what you see Sometimes you've got to be able to get really tight in that, like cover in that where they're hanging out in those holes that they live in and really really pick it apart, like inch by inch, because I've seen

the best bucks I see that time of year. It's um, it's really really picking the country apart and being able to zoom and say, Okay, that's what I'm looking for. That's that's a good buck. Sometimes even just zooming in on something that might not be a good buck and you'll find a good buck. Now. I will also say in full transparency, if you want to kill a big cus dear during that October timeframe, but you're only I guess quote unquote looking for them in October, then you're

doing yourself in justice. The way that you would kill a big cous deer is by putting in more time outside of that hardest time to find them. So if you're if you're like, I mean that to say that, to kill a big cus deer buck, it's going to take more time outside of that October time so you can pinpoint where that big bucks living and then when it's October and they're like in their holes, you know

that buck's home range. I would say that, you know, starting out going out in January, it's gonna be like a You're gonna have to put in a lot of time outside of the season when you're hunting. January would be when i'd start, and I would go during the rut when the deer out and their cruising and whether you're archery hunting or not, say okay, there's a big buck here. Then I would continue that on through the

summer when they're in that velvet phase. It's hot, you know, but you're you're gonna be able to pick them out and figure out, Okay, here's where that buck's living. And then before they kind of like in that September phase as well. So it's gonna be kind of like a year round endeavor where you go out you understand and like, Okay, this area has a high population of big bucks. I

see them here. I'm they're running, you know, as long as it's on area where they're transitional, moving from like a big high mountain down to the low stuff during the rut, and say like, okay, here's a here's the area that these bucks are in. I know that there's a big book there, because you don't you gotta be in an area where big bucks live to shoot a

big buck. Start number one, so you're gonna find them when it's the easiest time to find them January, then you're gonna go back and try to like pinpoint that deer because what coups do you do is they actually have a fairly small home range, Like you might even find that that buck in September, like when he's out more. You just find that buck and you're like, Okay, he likes to bed here, he likes to bed there, he

likes this kind of canyon sweet. And then when that October time comes, like when it's the hardest to find these bucks, when there's a lot of people out, when they're pressured, you're like, you can go and you can really just get in that spotting scipe, get in those binos and just pick it apart because you know that you're spending your time looking in an area where that buck probably is, and you can really focus in on that that thick cover kind of stuff, and then you

can you know, hopefully pull out that buck that you've already located and know like this is where he's at, this is his zone. Now I just got to find him. And I would say that that's going to be the way that you're gonna be most successful taking a big cus deer during that time of year, and the same goes for I mean really anything big meal dear can

be like that as long as they're super transitional. If it's more of like a buck that has a home range and they're you know, they don't cruise a big distance, but cuse dear, they've got like I would say, a mile radius maybe two mile radius that they like and

that's their zone. And so if you can pick them out in the summer and then kind of learn that buck zone even year after year, you're gonna just start like you're gonna start rolling into big buck after big buck by just knowing that area so well and knowing where those deer are before the season starts. The question I actually really like because it hits home for me. Um let's tell a little story here in a second, but comes from NICKI says, Hey, remmy, how a mountain

lion take a deer just yards from the house. They have been getting too bold over the past decade, but especially in the last couple of years. As you are well aware, options for hunting lions in organ are limited, but most of our lion trail camp photos are in daylight, and we usually get one on camera within sixty eight weeks. I hear that lions in this area run circuits that can take roughly two to six weeks. I've never hunted lions, and I'm intimidated by the idea that they might only

be coming through once every two to six weeks. What tips do you have for lion hunting when focused on one location? The cameras help a bit and add a few pieces to the puzzle, but are not enough alone to pattern them. Are there some rules of them for patterning lions? Love the show? Sincerely, Some dude from a brush patch in western Orgon h that's a that's a

great question. And I say that's a great question because just last night I had a lion kill a buck white tail essentially I don't know, ten ft from my cabin. Um I could. I woke up and I was like I heard. I'm like, jeez, what's going on? And a cat killed a deer right behind me there. Um, It's not the first encounter or first time I've had cats

doing the same thing. We can chase them with dogs, but not this time of year I've had I've probably I've had a lot of deer killed just you know, within a spitting distance of where I sleep so UM. I think that's one of the things that I've found. One weird thing that I found is like there they tend to be more concentrated in the wintertime, like they've got that smaller range, especially if it's really hard to decide what those cats are doing where you're at, not

knowing enough about the area. So I don't know how how big the property is that you've got, you know, access to hunt, if it's just like a small neighborhood plot, or if it's like you know, you've got public land and then it comes in your private and they're just killing the deer because they're concentrating in like your yard. That's kind of what happens for me. So it's got a big area where they roam, but you know, sometimes the deer concentrate here. But also got some really thick stuff.

Tend to find that they the cats seem to be like clustered up in some of this stuff. Certain times a year. Um, they do move through, but it's also crazy how tight they'll hold sometimes. I guess really the number one thing I would do is if you've got to kill, um, you can hunt off that kill or like hunt the cat as he's coming and going to the kill. Another option is waiting for snow. If you can't hunt with dogs and you can't do whatever, your

only options spot in stock then tracking him yourself. I've actually walked down quite a few cats myself. Um. You know, generally they jump up pretty close. You could use I'd have maybe two different types of ways of shooting, like a shotgun or something if it jumps up and runs because it's kind of the brush a little bit um or you know, just going slow and glassing as well, but waiting for that fresh snow, cutting that track, then following it. As far as finding the pattern, it would

be really tough to do unless you have more information. UM. But I will say one thing I have noticed is I find a pattern not necessarily in like looking because I've got the same thing where it's like I know that these cats are coming through certain times, And what I do is I just keep all the data in one spot and then I go and look back, and it's almost it's like crazy, how within the day or two days it's like this certain time cats start coming through,

and you can kind of look year to year, it's like, what's this pattern overall? And sometimes You've got to kind of just step back and say when you're trying to pattern certain animals that seem kind of unpatternable, where they've got these really big circuits, saying like, okay, well how often is this cat coming through? But like look at it from year to year? Is it is it coming through?

Like and then start to piece together, like look over historical data of what was the moon doing, then, what was the weather doing, and what was was it a dry year? Was it a wet year? Was it a year where it's like, hey, maybe it's a really dry year. The dear higher concentrations, a deer on your property and they're coming through kind of uh when there's no moon,

or they're coming through when it's a full moon. You know, kind of deciding those kind of things and looking at those patterns and trying to decipher, okay, well when are these cats moving through and when it's gonna give me my best opportunity to try to pinpoint where they're at and win hunt. And that's that's what I kind of gathered from that. I got one more gear question here It says uh Q and a question I'm looking to purchase my first bow. I'm looking at a one piece recurve,

something classy and deadly. I'm expecting to spend some money on this, so I want to make sure I purchase exactly what I'm looking for. My question is I'm right handed and comfortable shooting my rifle right handed. The problem is I'm left eye dominant. When I shoot my buddies bow, naturally, I shoot right handed. Should I buy a bow left handed decater to my dominant eye and learned to overcome

the awkwardness? Or should I buy a right handed bow and shoot with my less dominant I I'd really love your input on this big dilemma from me right now. Thanks Remy, keep crushing, Eric. That's a great question, Eric, I've got it, you know, if you go through a lot of the Q and a's. I think I've answered this question in one form or another many times, but bears repeating, Um I would I would get the one left eye dominant. Um, I would shoot the bow left handed,

especially if you haven't really started. I think for a couple of reasons. I mean, when when I talk about like bow shooting, you know you're shooting for your eye dominance. Well, shooting a rifle right handed, you're you're bringing the gun to your right shoulder. You're controlling the weapon with your right hand, which makes sense, you know, you're right. I mean, it's for your dominant eye. But it's also easier to control the weapon if you're right handed as well. But

think about shooting a pistol. You shoot a pistol with your right hand, why would it not be more easy like easier? I mean, it's it's like using your dominant hand to control the bow if you were left eye dominant and right handed. It's actually not a bad thing because you're controlling the bow with your dominant hand and drawing back with your non dominant hand to your non dominant eye. So in many ways, it's actually better, um to shoot a left handed bow or you know, to

your left eye dominance. Now, if you're already kind of accustomed to shooting a bow the other way, it could be very difficult to train yourself in which case I don't really know the answer, you know, but you're gonna be a lot better shot, especially um with the traditional bow, if you can uh shoot to your dominant eye. So I would say that, and then as far as uh gear goes on, like a solid recurve. I definitely look into.

You want like a really classy piece, go for a stalker stick bow like those you make some South Cox makes some incredible bows, so that's one to definitely check out. That's like a piece you can pass down for generations. In my opinion, UM does a great job with them. So I've definitely look into that and I but also I mean also think about possibly doing a takedown recurve

of some kind as well. UM. That's just my suggestion because I have a one piece one and I'm like, man, it's hard to travel with, so it's nice to have a takedown, but you know, different strokes for different blokes. Last question comes from uh Federa, says Remy love the podcast UM. The questions deal with hunting big mountain white tails out west or eastern Washington. The area hunt steep mountains with lots of ridges and draws. Is there a mix of clear cut selective logging in dense forests? Um?

They The first question says, I see a lot of deer, but almost all of them are groups of three days two year lin deer? Is my area at a white tailed nursery? Is there such a thing as a nursery and if so, will bucks come to the area where I should where should I spend my time to bag a big buck? And question number two says, do you ever use techniques like drag scene h drags, estris is, estris calls, grunts, rattling decoys, etcetera. I want white tail

hunting out west. That is actually sorry, this was a cented from this the wife's account, so it's from Sean. Uh, great question Sean um, And I'll tell you what. So the first thing, yes, there is such thing as a nursery. Uh, it's just kind of you know. The other thing is maybe the deer where you're at just um, you know, like how do you distinguish where doughs are going to be from like where does and fawns are And that can be difficult. I will say, yes, bucks will cruise

through there, but they probably won't hold. So if you're pre rut hunting, you're definitely gonna find dear you know, checking those areas where there's does and fawns. Um. And if there's a lot of doughs, then you're gonna find a lot more bucks. And then there if there's the occasional dough it's like, Okay, here's a pocket with more doughs. It's just like anything during the rut, the does will

attract the bucks and so hunt the dose. Uh Now, question number two Calling techniques, gonna have to tune in because we're gonna be doing a white tailed Western white tail calling episode here shortly, so check back in next week. I think I'll do it next week, but it remains to be seen. So for the answer to question part number two, if you want to know some Western white tail calling tactics, you're going to have to continue to

listen to the podcast. Appreciate everybody tuning in. That concludes our mail sack for the week. Thank you guys so much for sending your questions. I appreciate every question out there. I hope that UM answered it and maybe somebody else had that same question. So thank you guys for you know, stepping up being the ones that raise your hand in class and say, hey, I got a question on this because it probably helped everybody else. So I appreciate you guys.

Thank you so much for listening, tuning in, Stay tuned because coming up for the rest of the month, we've got some late season tactics. Like I said, maybe some white tail uh calling and rut stuff, you know, white tail. There is a lot of white tailed deer hunting still out west, and maybe some tactics you could take back home to wherever you live when it comes to calling deer. So we'll stay tuned for that and best of luck everyone, keep the questions coming. And how are we gonna end

to this one? Uh? Just get out and hunt, Just get out and hunt. H