Ep. 14: Answering Your Questions, Part 2

ton of emails. I've responded to as many things on social as I can. However, the emails, I just can't even get to all of them, especially during hunting seasons, but they do get read, and then I'm pulling out a few bits and pieces here and there and putting those into this Q and A as well as I'm taking a lot of the input and building out future podcasts things to talk about. UM. I think that that's extremely helpful because I want it to be about what you guys want to learn as well, so I'll tell

you what I think you need to know. But then there's some stuff I'm not even thinking of that people need to know as well. So I really appreciate all the interaction. I think that that's the best part about doing this podcast. That's what's keeping me going is just the awesome response that we've gotten so far, as well as you know, the interaction between everybody. So many awesome success stories that I've seen so far. That's my favorite part,

just seeing seeing the success. So thank you very much. And yeah, I brought Ben in today to just give me a hand read the questions. I like the questions to be fresh, so I'm not scrolling through. I'm letting him pick the questions. Then I will read the questions or I will answer the questions. He will read the questions. And as he said, and as Remy said, like, we're reading all your email. So if you send an email in a ramy at the media dot Com, we're reading

them all. Um. If you don't get a reply, we apologize. This is our reply, which we are reading all these things and crafting the content um based on this. So we got some good would ready to Remy? I'm ready? Yeah? Okay? Blaine? Was that Blaine Anderson wrote in He said, stoked for you. I would love to hear about advice and tactics on reading wind and how exactly it affects your decisions, as well as how and when exactly thermals work. So I

think the headline there is like tell us about thermals. Yeah, covered it a little bit in the Mule Deer podcasts or the spot stock just planning a stock as far as you gotta consider wind. But I wasn't able to really dive into wind, and I think that I'll answer it as the question, but I'll also gotta would be a great podcast in the future is just really deep

diving into the way wind works. So if you think about fluid dynamics, wind is actually counted like when you're when they calculate the air flow, the flow of air, it's the same as water. It's a fluid dynamic. So you also when you're looking at the landscape have to think of wind acting like water. If you were to pour a bucket of water at the mountain, how would it flow? Think about the way a river flows when

it hits a rock. What does it do? Well? If it hits a rock over the top, it creates what's a bed where it goes over the top and then jets smooth or it hit makes it eddy when it hits something and swirls as it goes around the rocks on the edges. Water does the exact same motions as air. So when you're thinking about the mountain and the way the air is flowing, think of it like the direction of the air is pouring water, and how that water would react on the features is how the wind will

react as well. That's the best way to think about it. Now. Thermals are interesting because they can be consistent, but they can also really mess you up when you're planning stock or trying to get in close. So I'll just tell you the way that I think about thermals. There's a ton of You could go on Wikipedia and probably get the most scientific explanation of exactly what a thermal is. But think of a thermal the way I think of

it is like a hot air balloon. Hot air rises, so in the mountains, it's particularly consistent in most places because there's a lot of temperature swings between night and day. So in the morning, when the sun comes up, it starts to heat the ground. That hot air then rises, so the thermals rise in the morning. What that does is that pushes the air or the current up into the air as well as when you put a hill in there, it pushes it up a hill. So in the morning, the thermals rise up a hill. Now in

the evening it's the exact opposite effect the cooling. The cool air then drops below the warm air, causing the current or the thermal to go down hill. Now here's a couple of little tips that they don't tell you in the thermal textbook and things that I always think of is that first part of the morning when the thermals first start going. That's when they seem to be

the fastest but the most inconsistent. Now, you also have to remember when you're in mountains, the thermal might be rising on the sunny side of a hill, but it's drawing down the shaded side. So there's been a lot of times where I've planned my stock the wind where I'm standing, where the thermals are going up toward the animal. Well, I know if I get into the shaded side, it will be drawing down that other side of the canyon.

So I play it a lot where yes, it's rising in the morning, but you get in that shaded spot and you can. You can actually get around animals and make a better stock by trying to stay into the shade where they're gonna bed. It'll be drawing or dropping down, so it is consistent of thermal's rise in the morning and fall in the evenings. But you also have to there's that timing issue where you can play the shade on the north faces to get the wind right or

the thermal right now in the evening. That's the hard one because when the sun's out you might be stalking from above, which is generally the best, and then it switches once that sun starts to go down. At some point that thermal is going to drop, so you've got a time clock ticking. What I like to do is I like to try to anticipate what that thermal is gonna do and then stalk into a place where either way I'll be okay. And that's hard to do sometimes,

but it's something to consider that. I love it. Man, that's it's clear and concises. I've heard you know, wind and thermal's explained. I mean it is. I mean standing wind is the most important because wind is what gets you busted. A lot of people ask, well, what about sent a limit in the when you're hiking and hunting, None of that stuff works. You just need to play

the wind. And just by understanding the wind, I think a lot of people think that the wind swirls or is finicky and is unpredictable, But by spending a lot of time out there, I've really understood that it's not as unpredictable as you think if you know what it's doing where you're at, and a lot of that is maybe it takes a couple of days to understand what

the winds like to do in that area. And you know, certain times of the day, midday when it's hot out and there is no win like, the thermals are still your scent will keep going uphill and that's always good too, because the thermals are going throughout the day. And then you just kind of got to anticipate what's going to happen as things change, as the sun moves, and start

thinking about it critically. Yeah. I mean, in the white tail world, everybody's always sent control, send control sad control, But having the knowledge of where you're sent is traveling at Alice, traveling through landscapes is as if not more important, as important than those things, alright, what else we got? Yeah, Donovan Billings, He said, Um, and I know you were saying, and then my readings too, there's a lot of people asking about solo hunting. D I y hunting always, but

solo hunting being he said. Donovan said, I would like to hear some stuff for the first time, d Y solo public land hunters out there. I'm planning my first out of state hunt this year. I'll be camping in a tent and most likely going at it alone. I could just use some tips on gear and anything else that may come to mind. Yeah, So I have a lot of experienced solo hunting and there and there was a lot of questions that I noticed as well about hunting alone. Um, for those that maybe maybe they found

this podcast through some other means, who knows. I have done a show for the last this or and just finish our tenth season will be eleven years now, called Solo Hunters. You can find it on Amazon Prime the

newest seasons and then older seasons on YouTube. Still So if you haven't seen those and this has just happened to be a random solo hunting question, start by binge watching those seasons because there's just you're gonna pick up a lot of stuff watching, especially on What amazes me about this isn't exactly what Donovan's asking, but how you film those things, like how you specifically captured I know it's hard to get it done without a camera, but

the best thing about solo hunter is seeing how you guys capture these hunts by yourself. Yeah, because it's very frustrating for the most part, but we try to leave the frustration in there the challenge of it. Um. But back to Donovan's question, some of the gear, now we have such good When I started hunting alone, there was no satellite text messaging. There was sat phones that were way too expensive for anything that I could afford. Um, there, I don't even think we had cell phones when I

started hunting alone. So I think that there's a couple items that you can take with you. But then I think there's a few things that you just have to do old school. Um, you should always let somebody know where you're going and give a I'm going to be back by this date time. This is where I am, This is what my truck looks like. This is the kind of boots I'm wearing. Just in case God forbid something happened. Now with so much technology, I also highly

recommend some kind of SAT messaging system like worst case scenario. Um, they've got I call them delrms because mine is ancient. But I think it's garment now reach. Yeah, that's a good one. Um. The spot ones are really good. I always thought the Garment was because that one can connect your phone, and then my buddy had that one on his Nevada deer hunt this year and broke his phone, so then to send a message took him years and it was just like old school texting. So that I

think the spot one has its own keyboard. The in reach can out your phone. They've got the Mini or another one. That's a that's a great piece of equipment. UM, and you can start and stop the service whenever. But UM, definitely a good investment. Now. The other thing, when you're by yourself, you gotta carry all your own stuff, You

gotta rely on yourself. I think that the best tool you can have hunting alone is being self reliant, and what that means is just having the knowledge, being a little bit bushy, having the knowledge of if a situation arrived, arises, how to get out of that situation. And also, you know you're gonna have less ability to carry a bunch of stuff if you if you've got another guy with you, you can split up tent and wait and other things. So everything in my pack I critically think about and

I make sure that everything has multiple uses. Um, you know, if I've got a let's see some I'm trying to think of some stuff that's in my pack. Always. I just try to every trip take out the things that I didn't use the trip before until it's about bare bones. Um. But I try not to double up on anything, Like I know some guys will have a multitool and then a skinning knife and then all this extra stuff, you know, really cut down the weight of the extra things you take.

Make sure everything has a purpose, and it's like this is what this is for, this is what that's for, and and bring those kind of a few items if that makes sense. That jumped around a little bit there. But yeah, I mean the end reach is a huge and I've I've used that all over the place, so I don't I don't go anywhere if I don't have service without it. I clip it to the the shoulder shop of my pack and just leave it there and it's always there, it's always charged. It's then on leave

one without it. Yeah, And if you're by yourself to like just being self reliant, you need a little bit of extra Like I always have some duct tape wrapped around my water bottle. Um, that's always good for patching yourself up. Have some knowledge and what's in your first aid kit? Go through your first aid kit and no, it's in there because you know, the difference between a bad situation and whatever I mean I'm talking about the dark side of solo hunting is just no one's there

to help you if if stuff goes bad. But that's everything else is just hunting, you know. But as far as gear goes, you just need something that can get you back safely. Really, that's the only difference. I would say. This one came the email. I thought it was interesting. Just one major question. I haven't harvested deer or bear yet, and my success is only in bird hunting. How do you deal with disappointment in the field, not allowed to

carry into other hunts. It's seriously hoping to be successful this year. And that's from Aaron Pearson, just asking about disappointment how to deal with it? I thought that was an interesting kind of off the wall question. Oh yeah, that's there's a huge mental aspect to hunting. Um. You know. I I've said it a million times to people that I've been guiding or friends that are on a hunt calling me, tell me how the hunt good. I mean, one of the best things you can take on a

hunt is a positive mental attitude. And the way that I approach a hunt, especially really hard hunts, Like I've got a hunt coming up that I know is just going to be grueling, So before I go, I set my mindset of I'm here to have a good time. Now.

I think you just have to anticipate that things are gonna go wrong and set your mindset that when those things go wrong, how you deal with them really determines how long, how hard, because once you start getting down and you start you start getting frustrated, you start making mistakes, you stop thinking clearly you want to go home, and

you start carrying that into other hunts. Instead of saying it as I'm unsuccessful, see it as what today I learn this trip, look at it as I'm going out for the experience of the hunt, and then take those experiences, keep your attitude positive and learn every time like it's a learning experience. You go out, you aren't successful, Well, what did you do that time that cause you not to be successful? You should be thankful that you learned

that this time. You know, you should be constantly getting better and and that should be your mindset. So it's really just a shifting of the way you're thinking of looking at things. I know, there's so many hunts that I've been on that have just been especially when I'm by myself, grueling, and every day things go wrong. It's just part of it. But yeah, it's how you react to the things that go wrong. Is it something that pushes you forward or is it something that kind of

drags you down? And that honestly, like your mindset is a decision that you make when you get up every day, and that can be taken into daily life, and I

think you decide your attitude. That's why hunting, especially the kind of hunting you do most the back country hunting, is the most rewarding, at least to me, because it's it's constant challenge and you're always left with even if you're successful, you're always left with something you didn't do right or something you could have done better every single time. And that's if you're not out there for the challenge, then you got the wrong, wrong mindset in the first place. Yeah,

but I get it. I've had those tough hunts. You're like, nothing's going right. Is this ever gonna work? This sucks? But you just have to kind of take it and say, well, this is what I learned, this is what I'm going to do different. And you might do it different and that doesn't work, but at least you just I mean, I almost wake up every morning on a tough funt and think this is freaking awesome. Look where I am? How cool is this? Like? Be stoked, keep the stoke,

Embrace the challenge, be intrinsically motivated. I don't like the situation. Motivate you like that. Um here's the one from Dan. It just says Dan. Um. A lot of people are asking these questions. There are a lot of people writing and asking very specific questions that I don't know that we can answer. But this is a good example of what it looks like. Um. He said, I'm a white tailed bow hunter from Georgia who has decided on a d I y mule deer hunt in southeast Idaho or

at least putting in for general tax. Any advice you want to throw my way would be greatly appreciated. To keep up the great work and continued success from Dan. Yeah, okay, I think well. First off, the drive from Georgia, Idaho

is very long. Download every podcast because that by that time it will be like fifty two of them, and then stunted, start from the beginning and listen through again on your way out there, because I think the whole point of the podcast is to answer those kind of questions. I hope that when you listen to the tips and the other things, some of them might seem kind of random or maybe not in your wheelhouse. But overall, what I'm hoping it does is give you a database of

things to think about when you're out there. Honestly, a lot of this hunting isn't based on the spot and go oh where should I go? Where did you hunt? I want to hunt? Where you hunt? Like that doesn't even matter because most of the hunts I go on it's the first time I've ever been there. The place, honestly is the least important thing. It's the little tactics of just pick a spot. I don't know how many

hunts I've just picked a spot. I mean you could say people could be going, oh, Idaho is going great right now, but I mean find any spot. A lot of time. Most of the hunts I look for places

that people aren't talking about. But you just take the things that I've talked about, the little bits of scouting, some things from the stories, and just kind of formulate a plan in your head, create a picture of what you should be looking for, and then just pick a random place where it's legal to hunt and you can get a tag. And then employees started employing those tactics. I mean, you know, if you're asking where should I go?

I think you're already at a loss. You should be asking like, what are things that I should know that are gonna make me better? And those are all the things that I'm talking about in my mind that will make you better. So I think that that's going to be the best thing. Yeah. I mean, I'm like, I work on this podcast. I work here in mediator, but I'm a fan of of I mean, you're talking about learning how to dog and elk. I mean that's like

four oh four class level elk hunting learning. But you can you can know even if you're a one oh one guy, you can listen to this podcast and and understand where you need to get to or understand like the movement of an animal. You may not be able to call like remy, but you can understand the movement of an elk or what that elk is thinking, so you can. It'll fast track your calling to get you

to that next level if you understand those things. So that's just one example, but they're, in my opinion at least are tons of examples of that. Yeah, get you there, all right? You got Well, we got one more dialed up here. It's from Matt Middleton. He said, I'm new to hunting and I'm preparing for my first archery elk season here in eastern British Columbia. That's great country over there. Having trouble finding hunting partners, so it will be solo.

I'm curious you have some tips or pointers to help a rookie adult onset hunter be successful. I've been scouting and spotted a few cows, but not a lot past a rut sign. I'm a little lost on what elevations I should really be targeting. I'm in the Columbia Valley region, which is very steep and rugged for the most part, with quite a bit of open and grassy wetlands in the valley bottom. Again, great podcast, huge fan, thanks for the help. And he's l hunting correct, he's elk hunting.

He's really I think asking kind of the elevation he should be hunting a lot of questions, but the specific question is if you're in this situation, how do you target elevations or do you target elevations? So I don't necessarily target elevations, but I target the type of habitat that i'd be looking for. So we're talking elk um. It sounds like archery, you know, maybe that's a September type thing. It doesn't really matter the time of year as much um. I would say look for so elk

are grazers. So let's just break it down. Anytime I'm I'm talking out hunt, first, break it down on your knowledge of the species. So, and this can go for anything like let's say you've got you're gonna go mule, you're hunting for the first time. Your best bet is to understand the animal that you're going after. And then once you understand that, then understand the type of area you're in and then break it down after the type of area in Okay, how does this animal interact in

this area? So based on my limited knowledge of that region, but just based on what he said, it sounds like it's probably fairly timbered. UM. There's open meadows in the in the valleys, fairly steep kind of country. So elker elker herd animal and they're a grazer. UM. What that means is they prefer grass, whereas like deer like brows, the lead the bushes, whereas the grass the elk eat the grass. So first thing i'd be looking for is

feeding areas. UM. Now, if it's super timbered, i'd be looking for those maybe north slopes maybe more gentle north slope UM, but maybe those valleys maybe not necessarily an elevation thing, so you might have above timberline and then open in the valley and then maybe some little openings in the north slopes UM in that country, So I'd be looking at first for the food. Then I'd be

looking for areas that contain water. In that country, there's probably water everywhere, so that could just be you could almost dismiss that, UM and then cover well, is it all open or is there some places where they can go from food to water to cover in a short area. UM, focus on those areas that have that elk habitat. Now, every area is different. I'd say a lot of elk like that top third of the mountain though, but in

your area, who knows. Maybe maybe hunting those meadows is the way to go a good way to check it out and be to scout some of that look for sign. If you don't see any sign in those lower meadows, then yeah, the key is maybe get up higher. Also look for some of those benches and some of those finger ridges is coming off the main ridge. UM. Elk live in some steep stuff, but they like to bed in less steep stuff. So anytime you can find a flat spot or a bench in steep country, you're going

to find elk there, whether it's timbered or not. And using your topo map is a great way to do that. Yep. And so yeah, that's a good. So the answer really is understand the terrain, and hell, he'll accuse it you don't. You're not picking numbers when you're looking at elevation you're like, oh, the elk wive eight thousand feet. No, but once you start finding them, um, God, this year I had a

mule your hunt in his early season. It's like I was up high and I saw it, no bucks, And then I get to six thousand feet and start seeing bucks and everywhere I went, they just happened to be at that elevation that time here. So if you start seeing elk at a certain elevation, you're probably on the right track. Try to replicate that other places or deer

or whatever. I mean, it's not a bad theory of Okay, they like this elevation, but also really investigate what else is here that time of year, because now if you're hunting that same area later, the elk will be lower snow and other things Like winter range is a lower country, more mild country, has a lot more north slopes and a lot more grass. That's what they need that time of year. So yeah, I hope that helps. Well that's

all we got. There's there's hundreds of emails here that we're reading and answering, um, And so I'm sure we'll do more of these, won't we Yeah, definitely, And like I say them, you know, I try to respond to as many on my Instagram or whatever that I get as I can. I pulled a few those questions from there, and then the remiant meat Eator dot com is where you're reading a lot from Remy at the metator dot com, where those last couple came from. And there's there's many,

you know, the good thing or or convenient things. There's many that are similar to the ones we're reading. So we're trying to cover off on the most popular topics that we're seeing in the inbox. Yeah, appreciate it. And next week we'll get back into more stories and more tips and more tactics. But yeah, thanks for all the support and let's keep it going. Appreciate it. So yeah,