Ep. 569: Rut Fresh Radio 9/7/2022 - Adversity Produces 4 Season-Opener BUCKS!

This is our weekly episode that comes out throughout all the fall hunting season, breaking down the latest in white tail intel from the cross the country. We're gonna be chatting with folks from different regions, learning about what deer doing right now, what kind of tactics are working right now, how different variables like weather, moon, time of year, any of that stuff is impacting deer hunting. This show is all about helping you become more effective right now in

the deer woods. So that's what we've been doing for something like seven years now, I think maybe, and it has been I think one of the most valuable things we've brought to the wire Hunt podcast. So they say, if it's not broke, don't fix it, but we've had to fix rough Fresh Radio we're switching it up because all Spencer new hearth, it's no longer with us, and he's and he's kicking, he's alive, heartbeating, he's still out there. But you're gonna hear You're gonna hear some different voices

in the pod. You just heard the very uh loud, exciting laughter of our two new hosts of Refresh Radio. Spencer is out and Casey Smith and Tyler Jones of The Element are in. Welcome to the show, gentlemen. Thanks Mark, Thank you, Mark. We're ready. We had an obituary and a birth notice all on the same sentence there. Yeah, man, I mean Spencer, Spencer was great, but I think everybody listening just new. We were just waiting for an upgrade.

Year after year. They kept thinking, Man, there's got to be something better than this, and we finally No Mark, I can remember back to the first I can't remember if it was the first year Refresh was around, but I listened the first time at least, and was pretty impressed with Spencer. Like being able to call around and compile the knowledge and stuff you know from from different directions across the country. I thought it's pretty cool, man. I like it Spencer. Spencer did a really good job,

and uh and we will miss him. I will miss him, good buddy. But he's moving on up in the world. He now hosts Met the Meat Eater trivia podcast and that takes up a lot of his time, so he simply just doesn't have the bandwidth to do this anymore. So Spencer's moving on up to the meat eater throne, and us here in the Wired Hunt world are bringing in some new talents. So the show is gonna stay the same, right, We're still going to do the same format. We're going to be hearing from folks all across the

country each week. But you guys, I think are gonna bring a different flavor to it, which I like. Um, you know, one thing I used to give Spencer really hard time about was that he didn't hunt white tails for big chunks of the year anymore, especially since he moved to Montana. He was all about elk and mule deer and stuff, and then he'd go out in November

and I always ras him about it. But you guys, I mean, with a few exceptions, you guys are gonna be getting after it all year, and um, I think that's gonna give us some really interesting insight throughout as well. So I guess before I get ahead of myself too much, can the two of you, can you each give us a little introduction for people that haven't heard, and hopefully

they know who you are. I know you've both been on the Wired Hump podcast a good amount over the years, but could you each kind of give a quick introduction to who you are and then maybe collectively tell us a little bit about what your you know, what your project, the element is, what you guys do over there? Yes, sure, man. So I'm Casey Smith. I'm from Northeast Texas. Uh, hunt deer, and I'm a family man. I'm a youth ministry. I do a lot of what I think is cool stuff

because it's I'm doing it. You probably don't, but that's okay. Uh. And honestly, um man, it's hard to Tyler will probably do better at this, he's more articulate. But um it's hard to kind of separate myself from what Tyler and I both do now because we've been doing this for so hard for so long. You know. Uh, we travel the country and hunt deer every chance we get, pretty much, and then do our best to uh experience the outdoors within other parts of the season and with other parts

of the year. So that's kind of who I am. Man. I'm Tyler Jones. I am also from northeast Texas and I love a deer hunt. But I grew up bass fishing a lot cat fishing on Lake Fork, Texas, which is a world famous bass largemouth bass lake. Um. And also have a family of four that I really love to be around. Uh it's hard this time of year to to not be around them because of all the traveling we get we do, but it is still super blessing that we get to go and do that stuff

and uh just witnessed so many cool things. UM. I am also a uh i'd call myself a small stream officionado. I'm not a lumper like Mark. Um. I do think that there are more than one cutthroat species out there and for a whole other podcast. Yeah, so we'll get into that at some point, So you'll just hold on to that for a little bit. Yeah ah yeah, Man, So I gotta tell the audience that I can I can. I can vouch for Tyler, I cannot vouch for Casey yet. But I just spent a week in the woods with Tyler,

and I can vouch for him now. Uh he is. He is the real deal and a dang good fisherman to boot. So Casey, you're gonna have to prove yourself to me here soon and maybe in December we'll get when we get together, we can do that. But Tyler, it was a great time. I'm really glad we got to do that. True. I agree, man, I thought I thought you were gonna be a bad fisherman, but you were pretty good to you so at least we were both better than Dailan. They We just had last smart

enough to take the streamer off. That's all we had to do. So so give give folks a little bit more of an idea of of what you guys produced at the Element. I mean, you do videos on your YouTube channel, you do a podcast, but if you had to describe like what makes the Element unique or or why it's worth watching, you know, what's what's your stick? And maybe sticks the wrong word, but like what's your thing? If you're in the South, stick is definitely the wrong word.

It's not really a thing that said with lapinos for sure, that's that's the stick. Um, I think that, Um, I'll toller will have a better answer than me. But UM, kind of the thing that at least makes us who we are. I don't want to say it makes us unique, because that's a perspective from someone else, not for myself, is that, Um, we have kind of a die hard attitude, but also make sure we have fun doing everything we do. Uh. And that's kind of um the way we operate, man.

We we try to experience things, tell stories, and make sure that we give a positive outlook, you know. Like uh, I think at um, hunting needs to be preserved for the future. And if we continue on as whitetail hunters, specifically with like this diehard, Um, I'm gonna go hunting by myself and this is terrible until I shoot the dear mentality, then it's not very attractive to other people.

So uh, I think it would be better to be able to portray that in a positive lot and say how awesome it is to be in all these different environments ecosystems around the country and show people how cool deer are and how much fun you can have hunting and how it's a great bonding experience and being able to convey that via video and podcasts. Is it's pretty cool man? Yeah, for sure. I mean that's that's like that's burst straight from k C to like, Um, the

optimistic side is definitely something that I've learned from him. Um, and that is why we're able to have fun even when it's not uh great conditions or you know, things aren't quite going your way. Um. So yeah, I mean I definitely agree, like, uh, the idea is to have fun because hunting is just a privilege that we have and there's no reason to go out and just suffer

and struggle. Of course it's not always fun, right, but like there there needs to be some sort of an optimist attitude to get you through those moments because overall it will make them the experience more fun. So I definitely uh concur with what case he's saying there. Yeah, well I can echo what you're saying and from a viewer's perspective, tell you that you guys are doing a great job of conveying that fun. If there's anything I if I had to lump you guys into anyone category,

I would I would call it. I would call it the fun category. You guys. Uh, you guys definitely have a good time out there, and it comes through and and it makes viewing your stuff, listening to your stuff, it makes it all that much more enjoyable too. So I'm excited about you bring in that to Rot Fresh Radio because if there's anything that Spencer is not, it's fun this podcast, it's hilarious, all right, before we crap

on Spencer anymore. Um, when you when we first started talking about this earlier this summer, about you guys taken over and you started thinking through, all right, how are we gonna put our spin on ret Fresh Radio? How are we going to do it? How are we going

to fit into our schedules and everything? Was there anything you know, when you think about the rest of the season, Is there anything that comes to mind as far as tweaks you're thinking about changing or or different ways or different things you think might be a little bit more unique because of what you're doing or where you're gonna be. I guess what I'm getting at is is what sure listeners have to look forward to over the next four months. Is there anything you you can think of that comes

to mind on that one? I mean, yeah, there's that. I mean, the first thing comes to mind there is um a can probably take up take it up an octave or so, probably in the register department. Uh also also definitely a tenor over here also, um just like that that live hunt aspect um. Uh where we're gonna be out so much this year just hunting different places

all across the US and them. I don't know, there's probably like between eight and ten states that will be in this year, and so just that that'll be another just you know, every every week will almost have like a different an extra state report, you know, because of where it will be. I think so that that's something that's exciting. Yeah. I think to um, y'all done a great job of getting a variety of of guests on in the past, but just with new people comes a

new network. So it's maybe some fresh voices, some different perspectives and things of people who we know and and know where are good hunters and can give kind of some new perspectives throughout the season. Yeah, yeah, I think that'll be great. Uh So where are you guys gonna be going this fall? What what can we be looking

forward to from you guys specifically? Oh man? Uh So the first place that will be uh in September will be basically three states, Colorado, Arizona, and Nebraska, so our whitetail stuff doesn't actually start until Nebraska later this month, I think. But we're case. He's got l hunt in Arizona. Um, super lucky tag drawl there. Um. And then I had, uh I got a mule deer hunt in the high Country that I'm really excited about. Took me a long time to draw, so uh yeah, super excited about those things.

After that, it looks like, uh, you know how it is when November hits. Sometimes it's like just you know, spur the moment, like oh, I just killed a deer. Now I think I'll go somewhere else, you know, so really um, South Dakota uh, UM, Wisconsin, potentially Illinois, Oklahoma, Kansas are all ones that we hope to go to. Arkansas uh and then of course, uh, Texas is something that will be spending some time in as well, which

we'll see you down at some point down here. UM hopefully trying to keep up, you know, with the spicy foods and stuff. I don't know how you do with those things. I like spicy food The questions can you keep up with all long strides. Luckily I don't have to film you. We'll have somebody else having to keep up with you. Oh man, I'm I'm looking forward to that hunt. That will be an epic Fresh radio episode that we record, uh during the midst of that hunt.

But alright, guys, well, I am really really excited for this. I appreciate you joined the team and helping us out with rough Fresh this fall. And I guess from here, I'm gonna let you take the reins and run with it. It's your baby now, so take good care of it. All right, sounds good man, he's been practicing. I got a couple of babies, so we got all right. Appreciate it. I'm excited to hear the hear the stories this week. Cool. This week, we're gonna talk to Jared Larson from on

X who's been wyoming. We're gonna talk to the Elements own hunter Dickens hunting in Tennessee, Mark Haslem in Georgia, and then we're gonna wrap it up with Alex Comstock from Wait Till d NA who's been up in North Dakota on the phone. Now, I've got Jared Larson, the Killer from on X. He's been hunting Wyoming, dude, how are things Casey? Good to hear from your buddy. It has been hot. Uh, not ideal weather conditions, highs in the nineties, lows in those upper sixties. But so far

in camp we've done pretty well. Um, we've seen the fair amounted deer movement for the given weather, both morning and evening. Uh. In fact, that to the three deer that have now been killed in camp, we're all killed on morning hunts, which is pretty atypical of this time of year. Um. But I'd say I'd say hunting has been solid, you know for the first week. Unpressured deer. Uh they seem to do. They seem to be doing unpressured dear things. Yeah, that's an exciting time to be

in the woods. Is whenever the deer just aren't used to people. It's a it's a good time. And you actually capitalized on that and shot a cranker of an opening day buck Man. Well, I appreciate that. Yeah, I mean, uh, I can't really take a whole lot of credit here. My good buddy Aaron helped put me on that deer. He had hung the stand for me. Um, I've gone out there with him you know, the evening before we blast some deer. UM actually didn't see the buck I

ended up killing the next morning. But it was one of those stands where we were either gonna see a buck that we wanted to shoot, or we weren't going to see a deer at all. We were tucked in a bedroom. Um, you know those morning hunts in September while they're still out feeding, particularly here in northeast Wyoming, you know a lot of egg pivots at their feet and on coming up back into the draws for betting.

And so that's where we were sitting and shoot. I mean I first saw him at twenty three yards and shot him at ten yards. I mean it was a whopping you know, fourty five second encounter as they are sometimes, but yeah, it was. It was a great buck, and uh, I was stoked. I've never shot one on September one. Dude. He's beautiful, had some kickers and stuff, and he's big framed. What what how many scorebol points he end up having? Yeah? Fourteen? Actually he has, Uh, he's he's just a main frame eight.

But then he has six different daggers that are over an inch like coming off of his bases, and I mean a couple of them are three four inches. I mean, just a really unique buck as far as you know the character. He's got all over his bases. And he actually must have just came out of velvet within the day or so because he just had that blood red stained Antler's. It was super cool Buck. Yeah, that's cool. How are you gonna preserve that? Guy? You're gonna so

shoulder mout? You're gonna do a euro? What are you thinking? I'm a year o guy, rose euros for sure. I have a few shoulder mounts, and uh they're tough to move and expensive, so your euros are are my style for a while. You kill as many big deer as Jared Larson does, you can't just don't have enough room for too many shoulder mounts, you know you got. Well that's that's more pillow fluffing than I deserve. But I

appreciate you. Yeah, you're welcome, man. So, uh, did you expect to go in and kill on that morning hunt? Is that a thing that you you felt good about or was it kind of a taking time until the standard evening killed time that most people associate with early season. Yeah? No, I absolutely did not expect to go in there and

shoot a deer in the first season. I figured, you know, we're gonna sit those bedrooms, and you know how it is hutting the buck bedroom Like any time that you're in an area that, especially early season, a buck is habitually using whether it's um on a particular wind direction or you know, there's other patterns that you can start to put together if you're able to watch some dear

for uh, you know, a couple of days in advance. Um. And so my buddy Aaron has been able to do that out here and uh, and so he sounded it was probably about at shot whether a buck came in there is how he felt about it. So. Um, but I expected this to be very much an evening hunt thing. But again, with highs in the nineties, the mornings have

been much cooler. The weather is supposed to drop off over here in this part of the world in Wyoming, Montana, the west here North Dakota, UM in about five days. You know, the highs are in like the sixties, low seventies, So I would imagine the evenings will really kick in here pretty quick. Yeah, that's cool. So are you seeing deer also relate to water sources with it being so hot.

Oh yeah, absolutely, quite a few folks here have been hunting, you know, just just water holes, um, you know, guzzlers, that type of thing. Do you see them doing that earlier in the afternoon or is that a last lot top thing? Yeah? From from what I've seen it, it's pretty much seemingly right when you start for in those gear, getting up out of bed to head into a water source, getting to drink before they go find food. Yeah. Cool, So definitely plenty of shooting lot if you're hunting over

a water source on a hot day. Are you seeing bucks still in bachelor groups? Are they already pretty much split up? You know? So about half the bucks out here are still in velvet, about half our out. In fact, we saw one last night that was in full velvet and this morning he was completely shed. You know, just luder at antlers was super cool in the sun. Um. And so they're definitely hanging out in groups. And my experience, you know, that will really purl along through quite a

bit of September here. Um from what I've seen, particularly in the west here Da go to Montana, Wyoming's own area. Um. So yeah, I would, I would expect to sea bucks together. Yeah. Cool. So if you were predicting for guys that maybe had to work, you know, for the opener, but about to get out on this weekend and throughout the next week, what's your predicted buck movement level if you say like

zero as opposed to just them going crazy? Well, so the high tomorrow is a hundred at least where I'm at. So I would definitely, um, if you can and you are able to pinpoint a betting area, I'd be sitting as tight to that as you possibly can. Uh, if you can slip in there undetected in the morning, UM to get that, you know, first half hour of shooting light movement. Uh, and then in the evening just focus

on shade, you know. Again, if you don't know exactly where a buck is betting, if you can find a combination of of shade, good green food sources and water. That's the other thing I've noticed out here. You know a lot of times you's just so much of what you're looking at is dry, and uh, there's just in in the shady wet spots. Just me on green grass, um, as compared to everything around it and to no surprise. That's where we've seen the most dear congregate in the

evenings when they go out and feed. Is just that best food source avail a bull that also can keep them cool. Yeah, dude, killer info there. Man, Really appreciate that, and congrats on that dead gum cool buck. Man. That's so awesome. Well, I appreciate it, Casey. It's always a pleasure. And hopefully do this again at some point later this fault. Yeah, hopefully you kill like seven more when we get to talk every time on the phone. Now we have got the elements own h t H as we call him,

or Hunter, the Hunter, Hunter Dickens. What's up, dude, Hey k C. How's it going? It is great? I hear you. Uh just got off the road from slopping a bunch of doves and you actually slocked Sweet Tennessee velvet buck in the special velvet season that they had recently. It is between those two hunts, it's been quite the quite the week for me. I've got a full freezer which we're about to start gnawing into here pretty soon. Do you have some special recipes plan to combine that, uh,

that white tail and the doves together. I'm thinking about a stuffed uh white tail. Oh yeah, it's kind of like a turn ducking, but different. It's like a turn yeah deer duven. That's hilarious. So you went up and uh hunted some pretty early dates for it's at least what the Midwest would consider in the special velvet seave its season in Tennessee. Um, you kind of went up there side unseen, a little blind, I understand. And how did that go for you? Yeah? It was, Uh it

was very side unseen and blind. Uh. Season started the twenty six and ended the so real short uh hot season for this time of year too. Uh. With that being said, though, the weather we had a couple of breaks and weather, thank goodness. Um, And so most of the the scouting was kind of done from the standard on the ground deering the hunts. It was all just information I was taking in dear in the hunt we did.

We showed up one day early, so we got to scout the evening before season started, and that was all the knowledge we basically had. Now traditionally, uh, deer are just hitting soybeans this time of year pretty hard because they're still green and it's just a really great protein source. Did you see that that was the case. On your hunts idea, I noticed a lot of deer real close

to the egg. So I was really focused in on betting areas just within probably two to three hundred yards of the egg, because again, temperatures are hot, those deer aren't gonna be moving a ton. They're gonna be sticking close to their food sources and their water sources, uh for this time of year. So that was something that I really took consideration on. Got you and that actually helps you set up. Man. You're like the last morning dude.

That's just I'm lining with you for a few years, and you like to shoot stuff on the last morning fall sable. I just to give it some drama, and that's exactly what you did. I think you were up there hunting with her buddy Chad from Cruiser Saddles and uh had the intent of going in and doing just that, but kind of had to call an audible last minute. Yes,

yes we did. So we got dropped off early that morning. Uh. Greg was the cameraman with me that day, and when we got dropped off, I said, Greg, we're gonna be super tight on these deer going in because these deer in a very uh kind of nocturnal stage right now. They haven't lost any velvet, but it's hot in the day, so they're just feeding when it's most comfortable and casuals to them. So I told Greg, as we're going through these beans, we're gonna be right on top of deer.

So we're not using lights. You just I'm gonna lead the way. You step where I step. We're gonna be as quiet as we can. And we walked past deer twenty yards away. You could hear their antlers breaking in the soybeans as they were eating. I mean, it was just hair standing type situation. So it sounds funny snug past some monsters in the dark. I'm assuming they in the dark. They at least had to have been two

inches by by how much soybeans they were moving. We got past them, and we're going to set up in this bedding area. I dropped a pin on it the night before. I was like, man, this is the spot. Is about a hundred and fifty yards down to draw in a bedding area away from the soybeans. I was like, we're gonna get in here and set up. And once we broke the crest of that draw I could hear

dear relatively close to us within forty fifty yards. Uh. I mean we were walking very very quietly and carefully, and so I was whispering to grads, like, we can't go into the bed and area. They're already in there. So let's turn around and go get up on the cusp of this this drainage, um and see if we can catch some deer coming out of these soybeans. And we had a little buffer zone probably or stage in area,

whatever you want to call it, probably about sixty yards wide. Uh, And it was just beautiful habitat and we're working our way. We'd only gotten into this drainage maybe forty yards, and we turned around and there is a buck skylighted or moonlighted on the crust of this ridge. And Greg goes to turn the camera on and I you know, he kind of forcefully hit him in the chest to stop him from from lightness up real bad with the camera.

And it's just one of those things it just kind of takes experience to know, because that buck was working his way to us and ended up getting within about fifteen yards of us and milling around, and we could hear him eating and he eventually worked off. That's what happens when you got a good wind and you're super stealthy. But we walked up to the crest the crest and uh could hear deer around us, and I'm like, you know, I talk Greg, I said, it's just too quiet to

try and get in a tree right now. Is the best thing we can do is get on the west side of a tree and stay in the shade. As this sun starts to come up. We'll just be a shadow in the woods and when these deer come out of the field will be ready. So that's what that's what we ended up doing. And how did that work out for you, sir? That ended up with a twenty yard on the ground, perfect broadside shot on a in my book Monster Tennessee velvet buck. That's what I'm talking about, dude.

It's so cool, And you know, I kind of have a little extra insight into this, just because you and I were talking through the whole hunt, and uh, that was a well appreciated deer for sure, just because of how hard that hunt was for you. I know, Yes, So that was actually aside from deer in the dark, that was the first buck we saw in legal shooting light, so the opportunity was not going to be passed. Hey, you're one from one dude on Tennessee doublet bucks. So congratulations, hunter,

I have a thousand percent that's there. I'll sell you out. It's an awesome buck. And it sounds like you had the camera guy Gregg with you. So does that mean this thing is on film? That means it's on film and it's gonna be up on the Element YouTube here pretty soon. Awesome dude. I'm excited to get to watch that thing and it's entirety folk show. Uh. So, with all that being said, congrats on the great buck in Tennessee. Um, as more seasons start to open up, we have, you know,

like the Kentucky's Velvet season that opens this week. What do you expect buck movement to be going forward here? With some cooler temperatures. I looked at the actual forecast for that area and we're looking at some pretty rainy weather really for the upcoming days. Oh man, I wish you could see me right now. I've got goose bumps on me. That just makes me get that just makes me get all excited. Uh. But these cooler temperatures rolling

in them. Those bachelor groups are gonna break up. The bucks are gonna be off for a couple of days, losing their velvet. So if y'all losing on camera for a while, UH, don't be too worried. They as long as you've got your cameras in the right spot, they're gonna show back up. But they're gonna venture off, lose that velvet, and come back in. Uh, mostly in singles.

You may have some of your smaller uh more uh in mature bucks uh still grouped up in twos or threes, But your mature bucks are gonna be getting ready to start roaming here soon. That's cool, Yes, sir, established in there there their home ranges. So put a number on it between one and ten, which you expect the buck movement to be in daylight over the next week. Uh,

I think it's gonna be a lot better. So I would say probably i'd expect a six or seven versus you know here in the past two weeks, I would expect you know, I judged that to be a four to five, and I think with the velvet coming off, it's gonna be a six to seven type situation. It's it's gonna be more than favorable. Awesome, well hunter again. Congrats in the great buck, dude, and I can't wait to see what else do you put down this season. Oh yes, sir, more monsters coming ye all a way.

I have got Alex com Stock with whitetail DNA on the phone right now. And late at night last night, while I was proving the socials, I saw this guy post a story picture and it was just an obscure angle of a big velvet buck, which is what these guys like to do to us, see, like to tease us. Now, man, apparently you have killed a buck? Is that correct? I did? Yeah, I was able to send an arrow through on us for sure. Sweet dude. Congrats man, I know you have

been working hard out there. That's in North Dakota, right, Yeah, yep, we're out in North Dakota. Yeah, so North Dakota. You've been hunting for a long time. You're a Minneso, a native. Uh so it's just kind of a hot skip and the jump over there for you. But it seems to have gotten the spot lot as of late. And I'm sure there has nothing to do with the big bucks you've been putting down out there. But did you see

a lot of hunter pressure while you're out there? Um, we've seen a few people hunting, which, honestly, even though just a few people hunting that I would call that an uptick over over the past years where it would be maybe not seeing anyone else on him. Yeah. Yeah, did you see that that was affecting buck movement as you were scouting and kind of leading up to the hunt? Um,

you know, I'm not, I don't. It could have especially opening night, Um, I was going after a particular deer and had someone get dropped off and shoot right into where I was, um expecting the buck to be betted. So that might have affected it. But that's more of a I wouldn't call it a general generalization of like pressure, more so isolated case of someone going right into where

I thought a buck was betted. Got you. So when you go out to North Dakota, I know you use a variety of tactics just depending on you know, what cameras are lining up or you know, I'll let you tell me that. But did it seem like you were doing the traditional early season uh, you know, bid to feed top thing or where you getting creative or doing something different there. Yeah, pretty much pretty much the traditional

early season bed to feed patterns. And so what's the major food source up in that northern part of the country. Like where I'm hunting, it's a lot of bean fields primarily. And then in this neck of the woods of North Dakota, there's a lot of areas where a ton of acorns are dropping, and that can definitely tell bucks are shifting off the crops a little bit into those acorns. You So, from the picture I saw that this buck was in velvet,

how many are giving me a ratio? I guess of what you would say you saw bucks that were in velvet versus ship that first week of September, I still say like nine of the bucks are in velvet. It's act their most We've only got out of all the bucks we've seen a pictures of I think pictures of a couple that are have a hardcorn. Now that's cool. So it's still definitely a good spot to go for

opportunity at a velvet buck. That's nice. I know that other parts of the country, like down in your Texas, I think over half of our deer shed, so it's kind of cool to see the discrepancy across the country. Is it pretty wet up there? Where would you say it's a drier year? Um, I would say it's probably on the like right in the middle. Yeah, it's not you know, it's not overly uh wetter, overly dry. So

I'd say, yeah, cool. So some of the other guys I've talked to that have uh taking bucks this early season, Uh, they've all shot there dur in the morning. But you're the standout I believe of an evening hunt. Um. Is there a specific taketic or thing that you were seeing there that allows you to take a deer on an evening or was that just when you felt like the stars aligned for you? Yeah, I mean I feel like

I'll here. Primarily it's weight, it's it can be pretty difficult for the spots that I hunt to get in to a morning spot without booker and stuff up. So we're hunting, you know, pretty tight to betting in the evening and even so, I mean we get into it more. But like this buck came out at you know, like the last couple of minutes of shooting light. Yeah. Wow, okay, So tell me a little bit about that, hunt man.

How did that go? Down. Yeah, he is coming kind of on the edge of a wood lot and wheat field. And um, it was a slow night, only had seen a couple doing a fan and then with about five minutes to go kind of just blew open and had a bunch of small bucks and doors around me. And and this guy came right along the edge of the wood lot and wheat field and worked his way by it twenty yards with about a minute last a shooting light.

Oh wow, that's uh, that's cool. It's not when they're close like that, because man, when starts getting dark, those shots are hard to make. Yeah, that's yeah, it was. Yeah, exactly is this the deer that you have some history with? Um, no, he's We have really no clue what book it was. So, you know, this time of year, you know a lot of those deer even though he lets his velvet yet, but you know kind of you know, shed and velvet slash kind of starting to shift, you know, potentially where

they're kind of gonna be spending their fall time. And um, did not know this buck. Yeah cool, So I don't know, I've only seen that one side profile picture. What is he? Man, He's just you know, a solid uh, seven pointer. Actually probably, I don't know if he's a three and a half year older uh, two and a half year old buck. He's nothing crazy, but he's a he's a good looking deer. And he came in and you know, we had one night left hunting, and he was got me fired up.

And you know what I mean, Hey, dude, it's all about getting excited. You know, that's what If the deer makes you excited, it's fun to shoot him, dude. That's that's why we do this thing exactly. Yeah. Cool. So going forward, if guys were thinking about going and exploring some of this country, um, as kind of the temperatures start to cool a little bit, what do you expect the buck movement to be for the next week or so up there in North Dakota. You know, I'd expect

it to be. Um. You know, it looks like with temperatures it's be pretty high for the next few days and then dip back down over the weekend. So I definitely say there'd be room for uh for some good buck moving here over the next week. If you had to rank it between one and team, what are you gonna call it? Let's call it. Let's go with the five five. I think we're gonna go right in the middle, right in the middle. Yeah, So definitely reason to get out there. Still just expect to have to work for

him a little bit, and that's okay, right right. I'd say, you know, getting tight ish to betting and you know, um, I I don't think you know it's gonna go crazy, but I definitely think there's potential. Yeah. Cool, dude. Well, congrats on the great buck. Dude. I know you work hard out there and it's cool to see that rewarded. And I hope you have a great rest of the season. Man, appreciate it, dude. We are on the phone with Mark

Haslem of Southeast Whitetail dot Com. Mark, you went or are in South Carolina and shot a great great velvet buck that I am doing the best to not be envious of. Of course, Man, it looked like you had a great hunt last week. I did. I appreciate it. Um. Yeah, thanks for having me on. Yeah, I um had a great hunt. Uh went the farm with some other other guests hunt Tuesday through Saturday. In my hunt in the Thursday morning, so I couldn't I couldn't be. I'm still

riding high. I would imagine, Man, that's super cool. So, um, I'm assuming this is a hunt that you do on a yearly basis where you're able to go and hunt, you know, kind of a velvet type hunt there in South Carolina. Do you usually expect to see pretty good buck movement that early in the season. Um, most years, yes, but there's some years where it's just kind of based on our food plots and based on and based on

what what a farmer plants. I felt confident based on trail cameras and knowing where they're feeding at night and which is historical data, historical observations, knowing where they bed, I thought pretty confident that we could maybe get maybe filled two or three tags last week. Yeah, and so did you go into that hunt's hunting that buck specifically or more just uh, just historical patterns of where bucks tend to be? So um, we I they were there.

There were two large bocks that they were they were running together. They were in a bachelor group. But but but but these two big boxs are kind of sticking together almost like a tag team. And Josh Hilliard came down from first light. I'm sorry, man, I'm just kidding. He's a good friend. Yeah, he's a class guys. That's like he's one of those you know, like you follow people on social media and you and you it's like

you know them and then you're finally me. But no, Josh is super cool guy, humble, down to earth, great guy to have at the year camp. Um. And he had a guy, Hunter Rudd from Capture Creative, super nice guy, just a lot of fun. But I showed them that first afternoon when they got in there, um, some of those peanut fields and where I thought these two bucks were betting. And they did get within seven five yards um of both of those bucks about an hour after

first light, gone by the bedding. But they but he had a bow and there a bow hunting at that point, and um it just you know, I said, if I shot said up yards shows obviously too far. Um. But that was and then they were chasing those bucks for most of the week and then the buck I um I shot Thursday morning. That was simply based off historical data,

historical hunting. I I shot two velvet bucks back to back in the same hunt within two hundred yards in my tree back in nineteen, same same same time set up morning hunt catching them going back to this betting thicket and UH shot a butt last year on the other side of the property. Employment is pretty much doing

that having that same strategy. Did you go in boots on the ground style and find a betting area to set up on there, or are you just assuming from map scouting or what have you that deer would be moving from food sources to where you're at. Pretty much just assumption, but based on one based on real data. They're gonna come out of the coolest part of every single day. I mean every single day. The coolest part of the day is gonna be overnight the summer. I

thought August, they're gonna come out. It might be an hour of four daybreak and might be at two am, but they're gonna feed all night because you gotta remember these these years. To stay healthy, they on average, per you know the National Year Association, they've got to eat six to eight percent of their body weight every single day. That is a ton of pounds of a single day. So they're probably they're probably gonna gonna consume most of

at night. UH works relatively safe, and then they're going to make their way back. These bucks will within about an hour first light. And that's exactly what this buck did. Um. You know, came right by my tree about forty five minutes after first light. Man, that's great. It's a great buck too. Man. Tell us a little bit more about that, Dear. I don't really have much history really at all. I am about nine percent sure that he's the last year

I saw of my last hunt. In December of last year, I saw a buck kind of the same area and he just appeared a gray light on my trail, look in my direction, and I tried to get on them, but I really couldn't tell exactly what he was. I mean, I knew he was probably shooter, but I couldn't tell what I was looking at. And it just didn't make sense. And Thursday morning, I was raining and I picked the I picked the pine tree to climb rifle hunting my him or faces the tree, so I've got some good

levers kind of brace up against the tree. And I was about fifty yards from a nasty bedding thicket. Um, and I was kind of in line to where I should have some deer filtering out of those few plots and added fields going back that bedding site and that area that pine block has a lot of oaks that were left um from the last time it was clear cut. So that was good because I picked the tree where I had an oat right behind me and the branches were like right up right up against my back. I mean,

I had an awesome backdrop. I did not have a silhouette at all, but those other oaks created blind spots for me. So what happened is this buck. I had had to go groups that pass by early on in this buck just appeared. He he just stepped out from behind his oak, you know, going out of trail about thirty five yards and it's well at the first light,

but it's still raining and it's still very overcast. I couldn't make out even that close exactly what he was, and thankfully he put his head down and kind of shifted over under some branches of that oak, and that's when I raised my gun. And I've learned from mistakes in the past. There's there's one bug I can think of in the twenty sixteen season where he stepped down on trail and I raised my binoculars first looked at him.

That's the buck I want to take. Raise my rifle and he's gone so when you see a bug, you know, in the woods like this, you gotta raise your rifle, you know, glass him with your rifle and said it said, especially if he's in shooting range, go ahead and get get your gun up. So thankfully there was a blind spot where being that close, um, I could raise my

gun because his his trail was angling towards me. He had two bucks behind him that were much smaller I think they were, you know, like like a little six points maybe a four point um they were behind them so they didn't see me raise my gun up. And he probably put the shot around twenty five yards and he was quartering to me, which you know, um, um, I've taken that shot before close range. I prictness, my prightness, rifle shooting a lot, and I know what my gun does.

And I put that bullet on a fifty grain seven man right between his between his shoulder and his chest, went in there, blew his shoulder up, took out the vitals and it and the bullet got hung up in him didn't exit, so he so he took the entire force, did a jay hook and just crashed. And uh, it's just it's one of those haunts. Where like it's happened so quickly. You know, I wasn't seeing other bucks trickle

through to getting excited. All of a sudden, there he was. Man, there's nothing like the satisfaction of having a rifle drop one close. You know, it's just pretty exciting when you just boom and it's over. That's very cool, man, very exciting and gets me super excited for the rest of the season coming up. I looked at the weather forecast for uh, you know, the extended ten day right now and as seasons start to open up. Uh, there's a lot of rain in the forecast and some cooler temperatures.

Do you expect the mornings to still be the time to be employing that tactic of hunting near the bedding areas? Um? Or would you see more of a food source type thing be the thing to look for in the coming week? UM? I would say both, Um, based onm what I'm about to say. If you get some good food plots um or active or some good food sources that have not been touched and there's not much pressure on them, hunt them and just see what you see. But we noticed

this last week, this early part of the season. I mean there are hunters that that are gonna be blowing the woods up over the next five days just hunting, doing work in these gear have not been around humans for the most part, um, especially around hunting hours, you know, daybreak and and uh and last light and you know, six, eight, ten months, So we should I mean, these these bucks in the South are so skittish they get bumped off their schedule very quickly. Say if you have some good

food sources, hunt them in the evening. Maybe don't get too aggressive and going too close, um hunt them. But then also hunt those mornings, figure out where they bed, um and see if you can't try to get flush up in the bed. And I see what you see. People people talk talk down about hunting, hunting mornings until the first cold front and the rut, and I really just don't understand other than you know, I equate it to when people like to hunt certain moon phases, are

certain kind of weather temperatures. If they're not hunting the other south the spectrum, they don't know what they don't you know, they don't know what they're missing because they're not out. So yeah, I agree, I think, Yeah, it's also very much a um more Midwestern type thing to

not hunt mornings. But whenever you're from the south like we are, you understand that it's uh until eight pm, you know, nine eight degrees and the coolest part of the day is the first thirty minutes of the morning, and that's when the deer are gonna be on their feet. So looking forward to this next week here, I know that it traditionally would like to put a number on it, so somewhere between zero and the deer jumping the blind with you, what do you expect the buck movement to

be in the coming week. I would say it's gonna stay consistent from what we've seen the past two weeks. And I would say probably uh six or seven, you know, good, good movement as long as you're understanding of pressure. Because and when I say that is because these deer are still in their summer schedules. They are right now. They are eating in their hiding. They are they are consuming that six aberish in their body way in their hiding.

It's all they're really doing for the most part. And of course I know they're simian animals and they do different things. But a point being is that velvet most most the velot right now in these bucks are going to be off bigger box typically show the velvet first, but that testosterone is gonna start to spike. They're gonna start to make more signs, rubs, scrapes, bashilor groups are

gonna break up. They're gonna start sparring. And that's when you see that big September shift to where they separate and they're really kind of going in the next next phase. What's the pre roud So right now they're in that summer mode. They're eating and they're hiding, and so I mind go to you move exactly. What explains you earlier is figure out where they're feeding. But I don't really hundle of food swords. I hunt them coming back, um, coming back at first light, because they are if you

can get on them, they are. They are much more relaxed. They've been out all night, they've been feeding, haven't been harassed for the most part, and they're just making their way back to bedding. Yeah, man, man, sounds like a good plan to me. I'm excited to get the season started. Pretty awesome to see you get the season started so well. Mark. Thanks for coming on and sharing your information. Absolutely appreciate it. Thanks for having me on it's been a blast. Be

congrats to all these guys on their opener bucks. I know it can be a grind out there in the hot month of September chasing these deer down, and I know that those guys put in some work and rewarded in a huge way. If you haven't go, be sure and subscribe to the Element YouTube channel. You're gonna get to see hunters hunt for the Tennessee Velvet buck on there.

Also on the wire to Hunt blog, there's a cool article for how to take care of meat in the hot weather, which you're gonna need to know if you're gonna go chase some deer in September. Also the Foundations podcast on the wire to Hunt feed that Tony did recently about giving yourself some options when you're headed out to make sure that you have plenty of options in places to ambush. From that way, you don't pigeonhole yourself. Check that out. If you haven't remember, Stay Fresh. This

has been rough. Fresh Radio