Modern Day Sniper Podcast - podcast cover

Modern Day Sniper Podcast

The Modern Day Sniper Podcast is your ultimate source for insights and discussions on the sniper lifestyle, from active duty to life beyond the uniform. Hosted by Caylen Wojcik, join us as we explore the art and science of precision shooting, the mental and physical discipline required, and the ongoing journey of self-improvement and mastery.Caylen began his professional journey as a rifleman in the US Marine Corps, where he served as a Scout/Sniper and instructor. He trained Marines, soldiers, and Navy operatives in marksmanship and urban combat tactics. After sustaining severe injuries in 2004, Caylen passed his experience to new snipers before leaving active duty. Since then, he has taught precision rifle skills to hundreds of military, law enforcement, and civilians.

Episodes

MDS Episode #0057: Colorado Elk Hunting with Cody Carroll

Cody Carroll joins us this week to talk about his recent elk hunt with his son in Colorado. Cody shares his experience in the mountains of Colorado, comparing and contrasting the difference between a backcountry hunt and cold weather operations versus operating as a Reconnaissance Marine in combat operations and training. The team talks about lessons learned through their experience as Snipers and how it translates over to their hunting style. Cody breaks down critical points of his hunt from th...

Nov 04, 20212 hr 39 minEp 57Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Podcast Episode #0056: Phil’s Wyoming Elk Hunt with Clayton Creel

Caylen and Phil finally get back together after a couple weeks of hunting and talk about Phil’s successful Wyoming elk hunt. In this episode, we bring on Clayton Creel, who was raised in Cody, Wyoming and was the one who helped Phil out with his hunt. Clay shares with us his experiences of growing up in Wyoming, working with several outfitters and learning the craft at a young age. Phil and Clay tell the story of their scout and hunt trip, which is an experience that many dream of completing. Th...

Oct 27, 20212 hr 46 minEp 56Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0055: Caylen and Phil catch up and talk Hunting

In this episode Caylen and Phil spend some time catching up on recent events and things going on at Modern Day Sniper and they debrief Caylen’s successful Washington state high country mule deer hunt along with some great lessons learned. The team discusses Phillip’s preparation for his upcoming Wyoming elk hunt and some housekeeping items. Good luck to everyone out there with tags! Join the Modern Day Rifleman Network - www.moderndayrifleman.com Moderndaysniper.com MDS Instagram...

Oct 13, 20211 hr 2 minEp 55Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Podcast Episode #0054: Optics talk with the Dark Lord of Optics

Ilya Koshkin, also known as the Dark Lord of Optics, joins us for this episode to talk about riflescopes. Ilya explains the basic mechanics of a rifle scope, what he’s looking for when he’s testing an optic and his guidelines to purchasing an optic. It was a refreshing conversation to talk about his unbiased approach to certain optics he’s tested, the pros and cons of some of the popular scope companies out there as well as recommendations on rifle scopes we personally haven’t used or seen our s...

Sep 30, 20212 hr 52 minEp 54Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0053: Are You Really a Trained Observer?

The Modern Day Sniper Podcast welcomes Mr. Owen Mulder, a retired USMC Scout/Sniper and MARSOC veteran. Owen’s area of expertise surrounds cognitive psychology and the perceptual psychology of observation. His combat experience as both a conventional and special operations sniper eventually led him to be a lead instructor at the Marine Corps’ Combat Hunter Program where he trained snipers and reconnaissance Marines in tactical tracking, nonverbal behavioral profiling, and observation. Owen, Cayl...

Sep 15, 20212 hr 47 minEp 53Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0052: Milling, A Legacy Skill

Caylen and Phillip dive into a contentious topic among the sniper community; the practicality of maintaining such a high emphasis on using the mil relation formula to establish ranges to targets at the basic sniper skill level. Caylen and Phil discuss the origin and history of range estimation with milliradians and how even modern reticle designs are still not accurate enough to produce ranges to targets that reliably fall within the danger space of the currently fired projectiles. Join the Mode...

Sep 08, 20211 hr 6 minEp 52Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0051: Ohio Range Day Recap

Caylen and Phil catch up and recap Phil’s trip to Ohio for the Ohio Range Day. Phil presents the question of “how long does it take to build consistency?” and “how much time does a teacher need to get students to be consistent with a precision rifle”? The pair also discuss some common trends in the precision shooting industry regarding gear and setups. They cover a lot of information and there’s plenty of bits in the episode to grab! Join the Modern Day Rifleman Network - www.moderndayrifleman.c...

Sep 02, 20211 hr 4 minEp 51Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0050: NRL Hunter Finale Part 2

Caylen and Phil get together to wrap up their discussion on the NRL Hunter Finale. The conversation leads into discussions on competitive mindset, gear selection for competition and the difference between playing the game of competition vs. the practical use of the rifle for whatever application you’re using it for. They discuss the new Wilderness Land Navigation Masterclass and the newly released Prep To Hunt vlog series. Check out products and bags from Stone Glacier - www.stoneglacier.com Joi...

Aug 18, 20211 hr 9 minEp 50Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0049: NRL Hunter Grand Slam Pt. 1

Caylen and Phil are together down in Grand Junction CO shooting the NRL Hunter Grand Slam. They recently taught a class with Stone Glacier up at Heart Mountain to help the team there get ready for their hunting season. Caylen talks about shooting the Range Officer match, which is new to the NRL series in which the RO's shoot the whole course of fire (20 stages) in 1 day to help with the match over the weekend. They catch up on current events, mindset and also talk about new upcoming courses...

Aug 13, 20211 hr 13 minEp 49Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0048: Wind, The Great Equalizer

Wind, the great equalizer of the long range shooter. Many of us are humbled by it on a daily basis, regardless if we’re professionals or novices. We’re overdue for a technical topic so in this episode Caylen and Phil tackle this phenomenon and talk about their process for interpreting the wind and using that information to derive a correction. They talk about the influence that terrain has on the wind, wind gradients, their experiences with over-hyped terms such as aerodynamic jump, and understa...

Jun 30, 20211 hr 23 minEp 48Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0047: There is No Mindfulness Behind the Rifle without Kass

We hosted a very special guest for this episode, the member of the Modern Day Sniper team that makes it all run behind the scenes, Mrs. Kassandra Wojcik. Kass, Caylen, and Phil discuss the beginnings of MDS and how Kass’s knowledge of technology helped establish the Modern Day Sniper Schoolhouse. The statement of “there is no mindfulness behind the rifle without Kass” is the truth, and the trio discuss some of the high-level points of the psyche, the ego, and what you’re really doing when you si...

Jun 23, 20211 hr 22 minEp 47Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0046: Back to "The Why?"

In this episode, Caylen and Phillip circle back around to their "Why?" They talk about the progression of Modern Day Sniper and the building of the "Modern Day Rifleman" community and why it's important to them. Caylen and Phillip dive deep into the "Why?" they do what they do on social media, podcasts and In-Person courses. Modern Day Rifleman Network www.moderndayrifleman.com Online Positional Course Masterclass https://www.moderndayrifleman.com/plans/143968?...

Jun 17, 20211 hr 9 minEp 46Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0045: Winning the Granite Creek Sniper Challenge

Caylen and Phillip are back together in Yakima for a few weeks of June. They're just coming off their Win at the Granite Creek Sniper Challenge hosted in Montana underneath the Rifleman's Team Challenge. They bested over 40 teams, which some of them have years of experience shooting together. With this being Caylen and Phillip's first time shooting together, they talk about how they prepared for it, what gear, bullet and cartridge they used and what they feel made them successful ...

Jun 09, 20211 hr 24 minEp 45Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0044: David Baker of the Just F’n Send It Podcast

Caylen and Phil invite the hilarious and articulate David Baker of the Just F’n Send It Podcast for another conversation on all things in life, kids growing up, and balancing activities. Caylen and Phil discuss some past law enforcement sniper and open enrollment classes and the teaching points from them, as well as a recap on some matches that were shot. The trio discuss the intricacies of the shooter’s process and how important being able to handle and drive the rifle is when moving and transi...

May 26, 20212 hr 34 minEp 44Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0043: Training with Intention

Caylen and Phil discuss some of the recent matches they participated in and connect those experiences to how they view their own personal progression as riflemen and evaluate what is truly possible with a rifle in the year 2021. They discuss the mental and emotional aspects of evaluating personal performance, and ways to keep the mind in check by practicing non-attachment to the outcome of performance, as well as talking points on how to train for different types of events. The conversation prog...

Apr 21, 20211 hr 19 minEp 43Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episdoe #0042: NRL Gemstate with Patrick Lorenzo, Sniping in Afghanistan and Precision Rifle Competition Shooting

Caylen and Phil are competing at the NRL Gemstate match in Idaho and debriefing their performance after day 1. With them, is Patrick Lorenzo who served as a Scout Sniper in 3/7 from 2007-2011 and deployed with them to Sangin for their Afghanistan deployment. Patrick talks about his experiences as a combat Sniper and what he’s currently up to today after leaving the service. Caylen and Phil catch up with current events, some danger close items such as in person classes and online classes. Thanks ...

Apr 14, 20212 hr 24 minEp 42Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0041: Fieldcraft With Cody Carroll

We’re back with our weekly drops with an episode that many have asked for, and we’re happy to bring Cody Carroll back to the podcast to discuss the topic of fieldcraft. Fieldcraft is a large subject and Caylen, Phil, and Cody discuss the wavetops of the core competencies, and setting the stage for future episodes that will be focused on specific tasks within the realm of fieldcraft. There’s plenty of great information in here as the team discusses everything from navigation, route planning, equi...

Mar 10, 20212 hr 35 minEp 41Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0040: MDS's foray into the digital space with Brian Bear Butler

We’re joined by a special guest this episode, Brian Bear Butler. We’re about to celebrate our 1-year anniversary and we thought it fitting to have Brian on as a guest to discuss how Modern Day Sniper’s foray into the digital space occurred, what the past year has brought us in terms of both business and personal development, and a look into where we’re going. Brian played a vital role in our podcast creation and videography and we couldn’t be more grateful to have him as part of our team. Brian&...

Mar 03, 20211 hr 7 minEp 40Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0039: Rifle Set Up and What It Means To Be Kind to Yourself Recap

Caylen and Phil are down in Volusia County for the beginning of their 2021 In-Person training season. In this podcast, they recap on the launch of their subscription service, Modern Day Rifleman/Sniper Monthly in which the first two topics of discussion were “Rifle Set Up” with Phil and “What It Means To Be Kind To Yourself” with Caylen. They talk about some good questions that came along with that during the webinar as well as dive down many rabbit holes, per usual. They finish off with recappi...

Feb 07, 20211 hr 13 minEp 39Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0038: Western Precision Rifle and Techniques on Engaging Movers

In this podcast Phil brings on a special guest and good friend to Modern Day Sniper, Pete Kneip. Pete is the owner of Precision Shooting Solutions who fabricates moving targets. Pete and Phil discuss Western Precision Rifle and the concept of building up the shooting community in the Montana and Wyoming area. They talk about the "Why another shooting organization?" and the tiered scoring system in 3 different classes. Because Pete builds movers, they talk about different techniques on ...

Jan 29, 20211 hr 23 minEp 38Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0037: Shooter's Journal and Kraft Challenge

In this episode, Caylen and Phil talk about the recent matches that Caylen has attended. Caylen talks about his mental focus versus performance. They discuss their individual Shooter's Journal and Phil goes over his "Rifleman's List" in preparation for the release of the subscription service. Both Caylen and Phil have done Chris Way's KRAFT Challenge and talk about how they ran it and how YOU should run it in your first attempt to establish your individual baseline. In P...

Jan 29, 20211 hr 7 minEp 37Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0036: What does it take to win a military sniper match?

In this episode, Phil and Caylen bring on Tristan Ivkov and Max Miller who are snipers in the Colorado National Guard and are the recent winners of the Winston P Wilson Sniper Match held by the National Guard Marksmanship Training Center. They talk about what set them up for success for winning their division and what they experienced during the competition. Learn how these young snipers were able to stand out amongst a field of some of the best snipers in the nation! Thanks for listening and ke...

Dec 23, 20201 hr 19 minEp 36Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0035: What's a Webinar, the year in review, and course debriefs

Caylen and Phil are back on the mic talking about an upcoming live webinar that Caylen will be hosting, the year in review and a recent military course they taught for the Marines of 4th Reconnaissance Battalion down at Rifles Only with Jacob Bynum and Lindy Sisk. The course debrief points talk about training scars imparted on both the body and the brain resulting from improperly focused training. It’s a good episode with lots to glean. Live Webinar: Alchemy of a Rifleman MDS Training MDS Instag...

Dec 16, 20201 hr 14 minEp 35Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0034: Training, Mindfulness, New Courses, Holiday Sales

Caylen and Phil jump right into the mix of things opening the discussion on training, mission statements, definitions, what it means to be a volunteer, and debrief bits from the recent Advanced Law Enforcement course in south Florida last week. They discuss some upcoming events and releases such as the pre-release of the 2021 schedule and new online learning opportunities. They wrap the conversation speaking about what it means to be present, the generalities of ego, and non-attachment to outcom...

Nov 26, 20201 hr 26 minEp 34Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0033: Pigg River 2020

Caylen and Phil are in Rocky Mount, VA for their PR101 and Positional Clinic at Pigg River. They talk about the Pigg River Precision Facility and the true southern hospitality they've received since coming to Virginia. The Modern Day Sniper team talks about the current class and the different backgrounds the students come from. Phil talks about his experience as an "Assistant" instructor observing Caylen conduct his first few days of PR101 and the progression of the student and a ...

Nov 26, 20201 hr 3 minEp 33Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0032: Phil Discusses Current Events

While Caylen is in the mountains chasing deer and bear, Phil takes up the mic to talk about some current events. Phil briefly discusses his podcast with Frank on the Everyday Sniper Podcast and congratulates Allison Zane for her first 2-Day national level match. Phil then dives into his current Tikka budget build rifle set up and how it's configured and what gear/caliber/equipment he plans on running for his 2021 competition season! Live Webinar: Alchemy of a Rifleman MDS Training MDS Insta...

Oct 29, 20201 hr 13 minEp 32Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0031: The Summit, being busted on bears, and into the future!

Caylen and Phil are back on the podcast doing a recap conversation on the last couple weeks of activity at Modern Day Sniper. Saying that they’ve had a lot going on is an understatement, and the conversation starts off talking about a recap of the Modern Day Rifleman Virtual Summit and extending thanks to everyone involved. The guys cover some points on positional shooting from our last PR 101 course, some of Phil’s learning points from their bear hunting trip last week and a discussion on long ...

Oct 14, 20202 hr 33 minEp 31Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0030 Army Sniper Series Part 1

In this episode we brought on special guests from the Army Sniper community, Christopher Roberts and Christopher Rance. Both Roberts and Rance have spent some time not only as Snipers but as instructors at the US Army Sniper School in Fort Benning, GA. At Modern Day Sniper, we want to ensure the term "Modern Day Sniper" doesn't just revolve around what "Caylen and Phil" are up to, but to ensure all of our audience understands that being a Modern Day Sniper is a mindset t...

Sep 24, 20201 hr 28 minEp 30Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0029: Modern Day Rifleman Virtual Summit

In this episode, Caylen and Phil open up with some housekeeping items, such as our current In-Person class schedule from now until March 2021. On the books, we currently have classes in Yakima, Virginia, Texas, Florida and California! If you're interested in any of those please head to the Modern Day Sniper website to find out more information. They also talk about the Modern Day Rifleman Virtual Summit which consumed most of their time this summer. The summit will consist of 25 guest speak...

Sep 09, 20201 hr 9 minEp 29Transcript available on Metacast

MDS Episode #0028: MDS Live Podcast to talk Assassin's Way for 1 Year Countdown

Modern Day Sniper hosts live podcast with Jacob Bynum of Rifle's Only, Frank Galli of Sniper's Hide, David Baker from Just F'n Send it Podcast, Hagen Dobrautz of Australia who is the Match Director, and Tom Fuller of Armageddon Gear (who is competing in it). September 01, 2020 starts the 1 year countdown for the start of the 23 day match that will be hosted in 8 different locations. Tom Fuller gives us his perspective on how he plans on preparing for it and Jacob breaks down his i...

Sep 09, 20201 hr 10 minEp 28Transcript available on Metacast
Modern Day Sniper Podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast