1 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: As a guide and hunter, I've spent thousands of days 2 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: in the field. This show is about translating my hard 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:17,599 Speaker 1: won experiences into tips and tactics they'll get you closer 4 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: to your ultimate goal success in the field. I'm Remy Warren. 5 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: This is cutting the distance. This week, I want to 6 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: start diving into some advanced hunting tactics for out in 7 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: the field. The word a spot and stock hunting gets 8 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,879 Speaker 1: thrown around a lot by myself, and just like the 9 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:43,840 Speaker 1: style and type of hunting that I do, I would 10 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,839 Speaker 1: refer to as spot and stock hunting. But what that 11 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,560 Speaker 1: actually means is not just one specific tactic, but so 12 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: many tactics involved in the art of being good at 13 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: getting close to animals that you go out and find 14 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: that day, As opposed to maybe like a lie in 15 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: weight tactic, which would be setting up an ambush in 16 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: a blind or tree stand. Spot and stock hunting is 17 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: very fluid and it uses a combination of so many 18 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: different tactics, many of them all at once and some 19 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: just singular tactics that you might use once a week 20 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: or once a season. But if you're waiting for that 21 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: perfect opportunity that you have in your mind, if I'm 22 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 1: going to go spot and stock hunting, and this is 23 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 1: how it's going to play out. That opportunity probably won't happen. 24 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: There's so many hunts. In order to be successful, you 25 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,959 Speaker 1: have to make the opportunity. So this week I want 26 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:36,960 Speaker 1: to cover a segment of spot and stock hunting and 27 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,479 Speaker 1: a tactic that I refer to as the cut off. 28 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 1: There's so many stocks I believe that include and like. 29 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:45,840 Speaker 1: In order to make it work out, you have to 30 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: have an advanced prediction of what the animals gonna do 31 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: and then plan accordingly. I think that this cut off 32 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: tactic can be one of the most widely deployed stocking 33 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: tactics for a variety of big game species. What it 34 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: involves is understanding where the target animal wants to be, 35 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 1: how to use the wind, a little bit of hustle, 36 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: and then the decisions to wait or move in the 37 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: final moments. But before we get into that, I want 38 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: to share a story of an early season archery mule 39 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 1: deer hunt for this goofy looking lopsided buck in one 40 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: of my favorite hunting spots. This hunt takes place in 41 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: a remote section of central Nevada during the early August 42 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: archery season for mule deer in one of my favorite spots, 43 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: the place I like to call the Bowl. Now I've 44 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,519 Speaker 1: talked about the Bowl before and probably will many times. 45 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: It's because it's a place that over the years I've 46 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: hunted a lot. I really got familiar with the area 47 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:52,360 Speaker 1: by spending a lot of time there the deer habits, 48 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: and became really successful hunting this particular area. And outside 49 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: of that, it's just a really remote spot where very 50 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: few people. We would run into and just really enjoyed 51 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: the experience hunting there, so I would go back year 52 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: after year. On this particular year, I happened to have 53 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:11,640 Speaker 1: an early season elk tag and my brother and I 54 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: always applied as party for deer tag, so he had 55 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: a tag, but I was away on an elk hunt 56 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: and tagged out on my elk and then drove out 57 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: there to help him on his deer hunt, and figured 58 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 1: I would hunt as well after I helped him, because 59 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: he'd been out there longer. So I got into the area, 60 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: and I think my brother had two days before he 61 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 1: had to get back to work, so I figured i'd 62 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: help him out and we started off the way the 63 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: terrain is in this particular spot, one of those particular 64 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: spots here the bulls like this big sage flat about 65 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: a thousand vertical feet below the rim of the top 66 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: of this high ridge and the ridges maybe like nine 67 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: feet in elevation or something like that, and then the 68 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 1: bulls around eight thousand somewhere in there, depending on where 69 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: you're at in there. And so we started out, you know, 70 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: he had seen a few good bucks, he'd been chasing 71 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: a few deer, but just unsuccessful so far, and I 72 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: only had a couple of days left to hunt. So 73 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: he decided we're gonna just like hunt together glass and 74 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: then that way if we see something, you know, I 75 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: can help direct him in or whatever. While we're glassing 76 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: the first morning, I spot this group of deer and 77 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: there's this buck in there. It's just like this three 78 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: point kind of goofy, lopsided deer. It wasn't a big deer. 79 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:27,039 Speaker 1: It wasn't necessarily a young deer either. It just was 80 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 1: like a mid age deer three points on one side, 81 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:32,280 Speaker 1: kind of like three on the other. But it kind 82 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:34,799 Speaker 1: of drooped down and made this like the antler actually 83 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: kind of dropped it down past his face. And I 84 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: just thought until my brother. I was like, chasing, you 85 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: should go chase that buck. I think it's cool. And 86 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,840 Speaker 1: while there's other deer in this particular bachelor group that 87 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: are really nice, typical four points, and my brother just 88 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: started getting into archery hunting, but he's like, man, I 89 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: want to get one of those better deer. So I'm like, 90 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: all right, whatever. I was like, man, I would chase 91 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: that goofy looking buck that thinks sweet. So he ends 92 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: up make, you know, play on these deer and it 93 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: just doesn't work out, and the next day hunts hard 94 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: and ends up not getting on any deer. Um, We're 95 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: getting within arrange, not getting any shots on a deer 96 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: that he wanted. So he had to pull out and 97 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:15,599 Speaker 1: go to work. And I figured, oh, I'm gonna stay 98 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 1: a couple of days and just hunt around try to 99 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: get a buck. Um. I had actually had a California 100 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: archery tag that I drew. I just was one of 101 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: those years where I drew a bunch of good tags 102 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 1: and I wanted to try to hunt them all. So 103 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:32,280 Speaker 1: the California season started in a few days, so I figured, well, 104 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: I'll just hunt this for a couple of days before 105 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: that California season starts and then I'll head over there. 106 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,799 Speaker 1: And so he left like mid day, and that evening 107 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:44,040 Speaker 1: I'm up on the glassing spot. And the way that 108 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: works in this this particular like Sage flat is it's 109 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: timber kind of all around and then drops off the 110 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: mountain below the flat, and it's just like thick mahogany 111 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,039 Speaker 1: juniper type country. You can't really see into it. The 112 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 1: deer going there in bed during the day, and then 113 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:04,239 Speaker 1: they filter out into this giant like opening in the evening, 114 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: and you think that they'd be super easy to see 115 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: in there, but it's quite a ways away. The sage 116 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:11,840 Speaker 1: can be tall in certain places, and it's like two 117 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: or three miles across, and so they pop out of 118 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,039 Speaker 1: the timber, but you just never know really where they're 119 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: gonna pop out. Sometimes you try to watch where they 120 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: go in and then plan accordingly, but sometimes they come 121 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: out on the other side or whatever. It's just one 122 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: of those games. Plus, the wind generally blows into the 123 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,359 Speaker 1: direction that they're bedded in from where they're feeding, so 124 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: they feed out into the wind most evenings. So I'm 125 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:38,479 Speaker 1: sitting there glassing and I'm looking into a few of 126 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: the pockets of timber on the back side, and I 127 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,159 Speaker 1: see that lopsided buck. I'm like, oh, sweet man, I'd 128 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,279 Speaker 1: love to get a chance to chase that. But the 129 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:49,720 Speaker 1: wind wasn't good, and I started thinking. I'm like, all right, 130 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: I'm gonna try to cut this deer off. I know 131 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: where he wants to go. I know he wants to 132 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: be in the sage flat. I just gotta get that 133 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: sage flat. But I have to time it, because every evening, 134 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: once the sun goes behind the ridge that I'm on, 135 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: the thermals start to drop and this this flat sort 136 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: of tapers off downhill, and then that wind shifts and 137 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: starts going downhill. So as soon as he gets in there, 138 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: I'm hoping that he'll be feeding slow. I don't want 139 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: to be out there too soon, but I don't want 140 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: to be out there too late. So I just start 141 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: watching him, watching him as he gets closer to the 142 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: edge of where he's gonna pop out in this stage flat. 143 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: It's about the right time when the shadows should start 144 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,240 Speaker 1: hitting and I can make my move. He pops out 145 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:33,920 Speaker 1: and starts feeding. I think this is perfect. I've got 146 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: my route planned out. I literally just start running down 147 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 1: I'm out of sight, but I'm trying to run to 148 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: a place where I can cut off while he's distracted 149 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: and out of sight, because there's a few undulations in 150 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: this flat, So as long as I keep him behind 151 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: the couple of trees that are in there, I'll be good. 152 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: So I go, I use the cover that I have available, 153 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: and I'm get down in there as fast as possible, 154 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: because I don't want him to get out into the middle, 155 00:07:57,960 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: because once he's out in the middle, there's just no 156 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: way to get close. There's this one little knob in 157 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: the middle of this flat, and I'm behind that and 158 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: I don't see the deer, and I start creeping out 159 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: and then I peek up over I think where he's 160 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:13,800 Speaker 1: going to be, and I can see him feeding, and 161 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: he's maybe like a hundred and fifty yards out. I'm like, 162 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: oh sweet, and his head's down. So while his heads down, 163 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: I've got like my bow on my back, just army 164 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: crawling out through this flat, trying to get to any 165 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 1: kind of sage cover. And as he's feeding, he's picking 166 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: his head up looking. Luckily, he happened to be with 167 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: the first deer in the group, and I could see 168 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: some other deer further back, but I was working. He 169 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: was quite a bit ahead of the other deer, so 170 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:39,439 Speaker 1: I was still paying attention to the other deer and 171 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: making sure they wouldn't see me or spook, but also 172 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: like trying to anticipate where this buck was going in 173 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: this three mile long sage flat and try to cut 174 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: him off. So as he's working towards me, I'm like 175 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:53,719 Speaker 1: moving and crawling, and then as it heads down, I'm 176 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: making my moves and I finally get into this spot 177 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: where the sage gets a little bit taller, and I think, Okay, 178 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:03,040 Speaker 1: there's this set ship of where he's feeding and then 179 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 1: this section of kind of no real good feed and 180 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,320 Speaker 1: then feed behind me, and I think this is the spot, 181 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:11,400 Speaker 1: and so I set up and get ready and wait, 182 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:14,079 Speaker 1: and sure enough, he kind of like picks his head 183 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: up once he gets to the edge of the no 184 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: feeding zone like the smaller lower stuff, and kind of 185 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 1: starts walking fairly briskly in my direction. I see that 186 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: he's going to be a little bit too far out, 187 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: so I kind of crawled to continue to try to 188 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: cut him off because what I'm trying to do is 189 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: not so he stocked him, but intersect his potential path. 190 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: He gets within range and starts feeding again. Like perfect, 191 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: I draw back and raise up. Unfortunately I raised up 192 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: a kind of the wrong time, because he happened to 193 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 1: put his head up just as I was at full draw, 194 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: and so I knew that he didn't see me, because 195 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:55,679 Speaker 1: I was just watching his body position and scene as 196 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:58,600 Speaker 1: tail flick and feeding and looking around. He wasn't focused 197 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 1: on me, but I was just holding back, waiting for 198 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: him to move, waiting for him to put his head 199 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: back down again. He put his head back down, feeding 200 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,800 Speaker 1: and I released the arrow. I don't know if it 201 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,000 Speaker 1: was like the sound of the bow. It must have 202 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:14,240 Speaker 1: been the sound of the bow that the buck actually 203 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: jumped to the string. Fortunately, at the time my bow 204 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: wasn't very fast, the buck actually jumped to the string 205 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:22,439 Speaker 1: I could. I watched him like duck down. I thought, 206 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: oh man, that's not gonna be good. But he duck 207 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 1: to this string early enough that by the time he 208 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: got back up he was at his original position. He 209 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: didn't run, and the arrow hit exactly where I was aiming. 210 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: Buck ran off and it's just this big white open 211 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:40,320 Speaker 1: He ran maybe twenty thirty yards and fell over I 212 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 1: was like, that was awesome, you know, And then of 213 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:45,960 Speaker 1: course I'm thinking, oh, that was funny. My brother was 214 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 1: out here for a week. And then that buck that 215 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 1: I thought was really cool, the one that I saw 216 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: that was ended up being the one that I got. 217 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:55,560 Speaker 1: So I go to the buck, I'd set up my camera, 218 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,720 Speaker 1: I took like a couple of photos, and then quartered 219 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:01,199 Speaker 1: him up, cut him up, and then packed him out. 220 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: By this point, it's a pretty good climb to the 221 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: top to where I need to get out from. I 222 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 1: just loaded the whole deer in my pack and actually 223 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:11,199 Speaker 1: went down in the bottom pretty light like not a 224 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 1: whole lot of stuff in my pack, left most of 225 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,560 Speaker 1: it up on the ridge. And the one thing I 226 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: will always remember about this hunt wasn't necessarily the stock 227 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: or how all that played out, but the pack out. 228 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 1: It happened to be on night where there was no moon, 229 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:28,960 Speaker 1: and it was like during a huge meteor shower, and 230 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 1: as I was walking up to the top of the ridge, 231 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 1: I remember looking around and just in that high desert 232 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:36,400 Speaker 1: is really high altitude, and you can see there's like 233 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:38,960 Speaker 1: stars below you as you're packing out, and it's one 234 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:41,560 Speaker 1: of the most incredible meteor showers I've ever seen. So 235 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: I've got the buck on my back packing him out 236 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 1: looking down on this meteor shower is like, I've never 237 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: seen anything like it, and it was just like a 238 00:11:49,679 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: really cool experience that I'll never forget if I think 239 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: back to like just successful hunts over the years, many 240 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,679 Speaker 1: of them, especially with a bow, mule, deer, elk antelope. 241 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: It's hard to think of any kind of hunt, even 242 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: hunts with rifle or muzzle or whatever, it doesn't really matter. 243 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,440 Speaker 1: A lot of them involve some form of what happened 244 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: in that story of the lopsided buck. Where you see 245 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:26,960 Speaker 1: the animal, you don't have an approach where they're moving, 246 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,320 Speaker 1: and you need to figure out where they're going to 247 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:32,199 Speaker 1: be in order to get close, to cut them off, 248 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:36,439 Speaker 1: or to make a good stock. And while it might 249 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:40,040 Speaker 1: seem like, yeah, just cut them off, there is a 250 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:42,840 Speaker 1: tactic that can make those movements and the moves that 251 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: you make and the decisions that you make a lot 252 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: more successful. And it starts with understanding where your target 253 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: animal wants to be, Like, well, okay, they've got this whole. 254 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: You know, they can go any direction, especially mules here 255 00:12:57,960 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 1: they like to you know, you might think as soon 256 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:01,679 Speaker 1: as you think you've got to mel your pattern, he's 257 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: going to do something different. But the best way to 258 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: predict what an animal is gonna be is not necessarily 259 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: seeing where they are right now, but where are they 260 00:13:10,559 --> 00:13:13,720 Speaker 1: right now? What is going to change, and what do 261 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:15,920 Speaker 1: they need when things change? So what are they gonna 262 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: want next? If you can identify what they want next, 263 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: you can put yourself into a very good position to 264 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: close the distance and get that shot where the animal 265 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: does a lot of the moving for you. You know, 266 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:32,840 Speaker 1: spot and stock. You think of it like, oh, I 267 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:36,680 Speaker 1: spot the animal. Maybe like classic spot and stock spotting 268 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:39,120 Speaker 1: an animal, it beds down, you creep in on it. 269 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:43,760 Speaker 1: But that happens only a certain amount of the time. 270 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: If you're only waiting for a certain type of scenario, 271 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:48,839 Speaker 1: you're probably gonna be waiting a long time and you're 272 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:52,840 Speaker 1: gonna be blowing a lot of potential opportunity. Those potential 273 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: opportunities are going to come by just understanding what that 274 00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:00,200 Speaker 1: animal wants. So let's just break it down and kind 275 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,160 Speaker 1: of identify the way that I look at it. If 276 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:07,760 Speaker 1: I see a mule deer in the morning and it's 277 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: out feeding a big sage flat. Well, what's going to 278 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:14,560 Speaker 1: happen next? Well, the sun's gonna come up, the animal 279 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: is gonna get hot, and then the animals gonna want 280 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 1: to bed down. So what I'm gonna look for is, Okay, 281 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 1: how much time do I have to get into position, 282 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: like where is the sun in relation to or the 283 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: shadow in relation to where this animal is? And how 284 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 1: long is it going to take for it to hit 285 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: this animal? And then what kind of temperature is it 286 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 1: going to be that day before it needs to get 287 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 1: into some cover. Then I'm going to say, from where 288 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 1: he is right now, which way is the wind going? 289 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,200 Speaker 1: And where is a good potential betting spot? So where 290 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 1: is it going to go to bed? Where it's going 291 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:50,720 Speaker 1: to have the wind in its favorite It's going to 292 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: be bedded comfortably, It's going to have good shade, you know, 293 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 1: based on the orientation of the hill where that shade 294 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:00,200 Speaker 1: is now going to be cast from that sun into 295 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 1: a spot where it can sit but also have like 296 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: an advantage wind, so it's protected and safe while it's betting. 297 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: Where's that spot going to be? Once I narrow down 298 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: that spot, then I can have a high likelihood of 299 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: knowing where that animal is going to go from where 300 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: he is now to where I predict he wants to 301 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: be now. Obviously they can do other random things that 302 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: you might not think about, but for the most part, 303 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:28,400 Speaker 1: those predictions play a huge role in deciding where you're 304 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 1: gonna go to make that cut off. To make that stock, 305 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,600 Speaker 1: also understanding possible travel routes and habits of the animals, 306 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 1: especially like for elk. You know, you might see the 307 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: elk feeding in one place and they might have a 308 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: trail where they like to go into the betting area 309 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:46,720 Speaker 1: from there or come out to feed in the evenings. 310 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: Knowing their routes, knowing their habits is key to the 311 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,520 Speaker 1: ambush and the cut off as well. But if you're 312 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,200 Speaker 1: just like glassing spot deer and elk for the first 313 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:00,480 Speaker 1: time and having not necessarily an I D of its 314 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: routes or habits, you can kind of analyze where that 315 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:06,920 Speaker 1: animals gonna go by understanding what they want next. The 316 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: same as the reverse. You know, if you see an 317 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:13,240 Speaker 1: animal bedded in one spot and it's got shade, but 318 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 1: you know that the sun is gonna move and it's 319 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:17,320 Speaker 1: gonna get hot at some point, and once that sun moves, 320 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 1: it's not really gonna have shade where it's at. Well, 321 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:22,080 Speaker 1: where can that animal go to where then it can 322 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 1: re bed and get shade. They often, like mule there especially, 323 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 1: often will bed in the morning one spot, and then 324 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 1: they'll move once that sun kind of hits them again 325 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 1: and and makes them hot, they'll go to a second, 326 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 1: more long term bedding zone. So maybe not necessarily waiting 327 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: for them to bed that second time, but if you've 328 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:41,280 Speaker 1: got an advantageous wind and other things in your favor, 329 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: you can kind of catch them and cut them off 330 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 1: where they want to be. I think most of the 331 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: way that the cut off tactic works is really catching 332 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:58,040 Speaker 1: animals moving to and from bedding and feeding, and that 333 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: seems to be general, but it's not always the case. 334 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: You know, if you think about maybe depending on the 335 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,080 Speaker 1: time of year you're hunting, but maybe it's a rifle hunt, 336 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:09,400 Speaker 1: archery hunt, whatever. Let's say it's a elk hunt during 337 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:12,480 Speaker 1: the rut. You see a bull out in one area, 338 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: and the bulls by himself. Where's that elk want to be? 339 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: He wants to be with cows probably, but you've got 340 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,199 Speaker 1: some cows over on this side of the hill that 341 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 1: you know, maybe he's making his way toward that. Well, 342 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 1: you want to cut yourself off in between that elk 343 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:28,240 Speaker 1: and those cows or a mule here during the rut, 344 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:30,520 Speaker 1: where are the doze at, where's that buck at? What's 345 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:32,920 Speaker 1: his travel route? You really have to try to get 346 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,120 Speaker 1: into the mind of the animal and anticipate what they 347 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: want next from where they are right now. By successfully 348 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,479 Speaker 1: doing that, that's going to guide your path on. Okay, 349 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:45,399 Speaker 1: here's where I'm gonna go, and here's how I'm going 350 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,440 Speaker 1: to make my move. Once you've decided that, then it's 351 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 1: time to make the plan. When I make the plan, 352 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,640 Speaker 1: one thing that I think about is wind and cover. 353 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: This kind of cut off ambush tactic works really well, 354 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: especially if you have an area where the thermals will 355 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 1: change and the animals aren't necessarily in an advantageous spot 356 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:07,960 Speaker 1: for right now. So there's so many times where you 357 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,120 Speaker 1: see something and you go, oh, man, he's going this direction. 358 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: But you know, if you go to try to cut 359 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: him off right now, it's not gonna work. It would 360 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: be better to be set up and have your time, 361 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:19,399 Speaker 1: and you might just say like, well, why don't I 362 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 1: just go out and set up where they're gonna feed 363 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 1: and wait for them to come. That might work, but 364 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 1: it also might not because of the way the winds 365 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,159 Speaker 1: are going. There might not be a good spot and 366 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 1: it might be too large of an area to accurately 367 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,760 Speaker 1: predict exactly where they're gonna go. And once you're down there, 368 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 1: you might not have your vantage. So what you need 369 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: to do is you gotta wait till you can see them, 370 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:42,160 Speaker 1: see what they're gonna do, anticipate, make that plan based 371 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: on where they're going, the direction they're heading, and what 372 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: might be over where they want to go to pinpoint 373 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:50,359 Speaker 1: where you think they're going to be headed, then you 374 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:52,879 Speaker 1: now have to think about the contours of the land 375 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:55,440 Speaker 1: and the direction of the wind. Are you going to 376 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,560 Speaker 1: have a route that works to get into position, and 377 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 1: are you going to have a ever will wind when 378 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:03,119 Speaker 1: you get there. A lot of animals do like to 379 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:05,640 Speaker 1: walk with the wind in their face because then they 380 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: can smell danger. Certain animals like antelope may not necessarily 381 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,480 Speaker 1: be is keyed into that because they use their eyes 382 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:15,959 Speaker 1: a lot better. So every species is a little bit different. 383 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: Keying in on what the winds might do later though, 384 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:24,200 Speaker 1: is also like a huge factor in the ambush. Many 385 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,199 Speaker 1: times I use this cut off technique early in the 386 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:29,639 Speaker 1: morning or late in the evening when I know the 387 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:31,760 Speaker 1: thermals are gonna switch, so I try to time it 388 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: where I can get into position to have that advantageous wind. 389 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:39,679 Speaker 1: And a few podcasts back, maybe a month ago, we 390 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:43,200 Speaker 1: talked about understanding winds and thermals and all that stuff. 391 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:46,119 Speaker 1: This is where I'm talking about. If you think about 392 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 1: spot and stock hunting, how many different tactics are used 393 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: in combination. So in order to cut off an animal, 394 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,640 Speaker 1: you're gonna have to also think about everything talked about 395 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,080 Speaker 1: in that podcast with the wind, but it may play 396 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:01,280 Speaker 1: into your favor where instead of knowing, okay, I'm gonna 397 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:04,240 Speaker 1: stalk in now, you can wait in time it to 398 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 1: where you can stalk in with that favorable thermal or 399 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,360 Speaker 1: wind shift. And that's probably when I use this tactic 400 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:13,920 Speaker 1: the most, or think about it in that term of okay, 401 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 1: now the animals on the move. I didn't have good 402 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: winds before, but I know in a little bit, based 403 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:22,160 Speaker 1: on what the weather does here, normally, I'll probably get 404 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 1: that down draft in the evening and I can go 405 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 1: make at ambush where I'm in position the thermal shift, 406 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: and then the animals start continue to move towards me. 407 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,159 Speaker 1: The good thing about this cut off tactic is instead 408 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:41,200 Speaker 1: of having just stalking to the animal, you know, you're 409 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:44,440 Speaker 1: you're allowing the animal to do eight of the work, 410 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 1: and you might be doing twenty year or as far 411 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,320 Speaker 1: as like closing that distance to say bow range that 412 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: two hundred yards to twenty yards to thirty yards. You're 413 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 1: you're allowing them to move into position to where you are. 414 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:00,600 Speaker 1: Because they're a lot less key to into a few 415 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 1: of the little noises and other things they're moving around. 416 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 1: They're a little bit more distracted, probably with feeding or 417 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,360 Speaker 1: just travel and looking out for danger, but they might 418 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,479 Speaker 1: not just be like a bedded animals solely focused on 419 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:17,080 Speaker 1: danger and listening and smelling and watching. So you've got 420 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:19,879 Speaker 1: a little bit of advantage and that's probably why this 421 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 1: tactic does work so well. But one thing you will 422 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:25,960 Speaker 1: realize is say you're sitting on a mountain, you're looking 423 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:29,639 Speaker 1: across the canyon. You see some bucks below, some big rocks. 424 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:32,240 Speaker 1: The wind's good, and you think, man if I was 425 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:34,760 Speaker 1: there right now, I would kill that deer. But how 426 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:37,240 Speaker 1: do you get there right now? That's the hard part 427 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:40,720 Speaker 1: of it, where you're always two steps behind that. Animals 428 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 1: always moving and trying to stay ahead of danger, and 429 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: you're that danger. There is a certain amount of hustle 430 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:52,000 Speaker 1: that makes this tactic much more successful. And what I 431 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,639 Speaker 1: mean by that is there are times where I see 432 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,399 Speaker 1: an elk or a deer or whatever. I've got my 433 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:01,240 Speaker 1: bow and I know, okay, it's feeding down low. I'm 434 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:03,719 Speaker 1: looking at the mountain. The sun is gonna come up, 435 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 1: and I know as soon as the sun hits that 436 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:07,800 Speaker 1: deer or elk it's gonna want to go to bed 437 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 1: and it's probably gonna go up the mountain for that. 438 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:15,240 Speaker 1: So I look at where there's potential places. Okay, here's 439 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 1: a saddle above where they're at. It's probably going to 440 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,399 Speaker 1: go through that saddle because it's easier, or you know, 441 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: they go kind of near a saddle and side hill 442 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,160 Speaker 1: around it. That happens a lot. But I think, Okay, 443 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,800 Speaker 1: if I'm up there, I could cut this deer off. 444 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: The trouble is will I beat the deer up there? 445 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 1: So knowing that, okay, if I just go at a 446 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:35,960 Speaker 1: regular speed, I'm probably not gonna make it. I have 447 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,639 Speaker 1: to put a little pep in my step now before 448 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:42,240 Speaker 1: I do this. I like to look and make sure 449 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 1: I I've identified other animals in the area, possible things 450 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 1: that are gonna spook whatever. And I like to take 451 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 1: a route that is out of sight and out of 452 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:54,440 Speaker 1: the way. So if I do spook something, okay, well 453 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 1: I'll just chalk that up to I blew that one out. 454 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:58,680 Speaker 1: But I've got a mission and I'm going there for that. 455 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 1: There are so many times where the success of my 456 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 1: cutoff has been the speed that I got there. I 457 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:09,119 Speaker 1: really recognized this guiding people when I'm like, Okay, we 458 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: gotta get to this point at this amount of time. 459 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:13,280 Speaker 1: If we don't get there, we're gonna be just a 460 00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: little bit late, and then you're gonna have to redo it. 461 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,199 Speaker 1: This is where a lot of that training, conditioning, and 462 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: fitness comes in, because there are times where you know, 463 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,040 Speaker 1: you think, like, oh, it's stupid, You're like running after 464 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: an animal. I'm not running after an animal in this instance, 465 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 1: but I am running to kind of beat the clock, 466 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:33,520 Speaker 1: the buzzers going. I've got to get into position before 467 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:36,720 Speaker 1: that animal gets there, and I need time to set 468 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,440 Speaker 1: up and you know, make a play and make a plan. 469 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: So a lot of the cutoff is actually based on timing. 470 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,240 Speaker 1: If you're gonna be a little bit behind, then you're 471 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: almost better to not attempt it and wait for those 472 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:52,040 Speaker 1: opportunities where you have the right amount of time and 473 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 1: you can put in the right amount of hustle to 474 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,359 Speaker 1: get there. Honestly, the faster is better for me. I 475 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,639 Speaker 1: see something, I'm generally like, Okay, I'm buzzing over there. 476 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:02,719 Speaker 1: I'm gonna get there as fast as I can. And 477 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: because of that, I've been very successful on many of 478 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:09,440 Speaker 1: these cut off strategies, just beating the animal to where 479 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:13,439 Speaker 1: I think it's gonna go. Now, the final challenge in 480 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:16,080 Speaker 1: the cut off is going to be that final approach. 481 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:20,680 Speaker 1: If we're talking bow hunting, it's getting within range. And 482 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 1: the real conundrum comes around when you go, Okay, you 483 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:26,640 Speaker 1: see an animal, you you think you know where they're 484 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: gonna go. When do you sit and wait and when 485 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:33,639 Speaker 1: do you move? That really is the crux of the 486 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:38,000 Speaker 1: whole success that comes with this. Because they're moving generally 487 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 1: in your direction, they're looking out for danger in your direction, 488 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,120 Speaker 1: so you have to figure out a spot where you 489 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:48,200 Speaker 1: can get in close unseen, and you're it's always easier 490 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,200 Speaker 1: to be unseen when you're stationary sitting waiting in that 491 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:54,200 Speaker 1: lion weight ambush. So it's almost like just like you 492 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: would set up a tree stand on the trail that 493 00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:00,400 Speaker 1: they're going on. This tactic is obviously no tree you stand, 494 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:02,879 Speaker 1: but it's the same approach of the animals coming to 495 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 1: you and you're waiting hiding. That is the best for 496 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:09,359 Speaker 1: not getting busted, but it's also not the best for 497 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,080 Speaker 1: getting into position and getting close. Sometimes if you're too timid, 498 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 1: the animal walk just out of range. Sometimes if you're 499 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:18,479 Speaker 1: too aggressive, you spook them. So how do you know 500 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: when to move when to sit still. Here's a few 501 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,359 Speaker 1: of the things that I think of every time I 502 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:29,320 Speaker 1: go in. So when I'm closing in, I make two assumptions. 503 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 1: I always assume that the animal has moved, and I 504 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:35,920 Speaker 1: always assume that the animal is on its current path. 505 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,480 Speaker 1: And this is the same with every stock that I make, 506 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:41,240 Speaker 1: whether it's an animal that's bedded or an animal that 507 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:44,160 Speaker 1: I'm trying to cut off. So I assume that it's 508 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: doing exactly what I thought, while simultaneously assuming that it 509 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 1: is not. You know, like that makes no sense, But 510 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:53,919 Speaker 1: what that allows me to do is constantly pay attention 511 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:58,199 Speaker 1: on the lookout for other potential scenarios of where they 512 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,439 Speaker 1: might be going, what they might be doing, while you know, 513 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 1: going forth with my intended plan of action. So what 514 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,200 Speaker 1: that allows me to do is it gives me equal 515 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:12,720 Speaker 1: attention to both options, and that really is the best 516 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:14,920 Speaker 1: way to do it, because there's times where you're gonna 517 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: blow a stock by going in and thinking okay, it's 518 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:19,880 Speaker 1: especially if you have to lose sight of the enemy, 519 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:22,359 Speaker 1: think okay, it's not going to be there. I don't 520 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:25,640 Speaker 1: see it, and then you kind of go into where 521 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:28,600 Speaker 1: you think you're going to go. You're not as stealthy 522 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: as you should be, and you blow the animal out 523 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,080 Speaker 1: and it was right where you expected it and you go, oh, man, 524 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:35,680 Speaker 1: I knew it. Or you go right where you think 525 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:37,520 Speaker 1: he is, you aren't looking around, and you blow it 526 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:42,400 Speaker 1: because they did something different. So it's being on focus 527 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:47,960 Speaker 1: to both potential scenarios. Now, the idea to wait or 528 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:51,800 Speaker 1: to continue to stock really comes down to whether you 529 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:54,640 Speaker 1: have eyes on the animal and how well you know 530 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:58,520 Speaker 1: their habits and their movements, also where the types of 531 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:02,120 Speaker 1: advantageous places are, and if you're going to have another 532 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:05,680 Speaker 1: reapproach later. So if I know that I can get 533 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 1: into a position sit and wait, but if it gets 534 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,280 Speaker 1: messed up, I can probably see what's going on and 535 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:15,080 Speaker 1: then have a reapproach potentially later, like another cut off option. 536 00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:17,840 Speaker 1: I'll do the sit and wait. If I know I'm 537 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: not going to have another reapproach I'm not very familiar 538 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:23,200 Speaker 1: with the patterns or the predictions, then I'm going to 539 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:27,119 Speaker 1: be more on the aggressive side and plan on trying 540 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:30,480 Speaker 1: to get eyes on it, move in and do more stocking. 541 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:32,600 Speaker 1: And I would say if I was to count up 542 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:34,400 Speaker 1: the times I've done both, I would say I would 543 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:38,119 Speaker 1: probably do the more aggressive approach more often than not. 544 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:41,280 Speaker 1: For me, it works out. But I'm also very observant. 545 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:43,639 Speaker 1: When I'm moving in. I try to stay quiet, and 546 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:46,280 Speaker 1: I try to find places and move in ways that 547 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 1: it's less likely for the animal to see me. But 548 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:53,240 Speaker 1: I am generally taking that more aggressive approach. So if 549 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:55,159 Speaker 1: you're sitting there thinking, Okay, should I sit here and 550 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:58,080 Speaker 1: wait or should I continue to move and try to 551 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:01,840 Speaker 1: figure out if the deer's here or whatever, I kind 552 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:04,280 Speaker 1: of error on the side of being a little more aggressive. 553 00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:07,719 Speaker 1: But that's always personal preference and situational But it's just 554 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,520 Speaker 1: something to think about. As you're moving and you're thinking 555 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:14,199 Speaker 1: whether you should move or wait. Now, I'm gonna just 556 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:16,880 Speaker 1: add one more little point to the mover or weight. 557 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:22,120 Speaker 1: If you see an animal coming towards you, wait, because 558 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,760 Speaker 1: there's so many times that it's easy to get impatient 559 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: and second guess your decisions. There's just a few things 560 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:29,680 Speaker 1: that I like to tell myself in my head while 561 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:32,119 Speaker 1: these things are going down, and helps keep me calm 562 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,560 Speaker 1: and make the right decisions. And I like to think 563 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:36,320 Speaker 1: it's a lot easier for him to come to me 564 00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:38,240 Speaker 1: than me to go to him. And if I can 565 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:40,720 Speaker 1: make that happen, I let it, and that gives me 566 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 1: that patience and that confidence to know it's going to 567 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:46,520 Speaker 1: work out. I think some of these tactics really get 568 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:50,360 Speaker 1: blown by indecision and just kind of second guessing and 569 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 1: then making moves at the wrong time. And I'm guilty 570 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 1: of it as much as anyone. But the cutoff works 571 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:57,760 Speaker 1: the best when the animal can come to you and 572 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:00,480 Speaker 1: you can get ahead of them where you can intercept 573 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,800 Speaker 1: their path and let them come to you more than 574 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:06,959 Speaker 1: you have to go to them. That doesn't often always 575 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 1: work out, so there are those times you have to 576 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 1: stock in and be more aggressive, and in those times, 577 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:14,880 Speaker 1: that's when you don't necessarily have that option. So if 578 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:17,400 Speaker 1: you get into that kind of scenario and you're thinking, Okay, 579 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:19,400 Speaker 1: everything's working out, I think the deer is going to 580 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:23,280 Speaker 1: go to this particular betting area. You've moved around, You've 581 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: got the wind right, you hustled, you got in there. 582 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:28,720 Speaker 1: You know, once you get on his own hillside, everything 583 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,520 Speaker 1: looks different. You probably don't have as good of a view, 584 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:33,920 Speaker 1: especially if you don't have somebody to help guide gian 585 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: or whatever. So that's when this kind of decision making 586 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 1: comes into play, and the decision that you make is 587 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:46,239 Speaker 1: generally the most critical out of this whole tactic. I 588 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 1: hope this week's episode really gets you in the mindset 589 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,440 Speaker 1: of just trying to understand and anticipate the movements that 590 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: the animals that you're hunting are gonna be making, and 591 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 1: then how to exploit that and cut them off. You know, 592 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: if I think about spot and stock hunting is a 593 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:02,920 Speaker 1: very fluid form of hunting, involving many different tactics at once. 594 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,040 Speaker 1: So next week I really want to kind of touch 595 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:08,640 Speaker 1: on an aspect of spot and stock hunting as far 596 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:11,080 Speaker 1: as stalking a bedded animal, and I think that that's 597 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:13,920 Speaker 1: one that with a bow, I particularly like it's a 598 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,960 Speaker 1: great set up. It's it can be very successful, and 599 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 1: it kind of is the epitome of sneaking in being 600 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:25,640 Speaker 1: stealthy quiet. It's a very adrenaline charged kind of approach 601 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: where the deer might be in one place and you 602 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,800 Speaker 1: have to very quietly get within range. That's one of 603 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,720 Speaker 1: the things that just really gets me most excited about 604 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 1: early mule deer hunting with a bow or some of 605 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:41,280 Speaker 1: the early elk and archery antelope seasons is just that 606 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:44,160 Speaker 1: fact of like moving in close and and kind of 607 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,920 Speaker 1: kicking in those predator instincts. So I want to help 608 00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: you with that, like get better at that, hopefully maybe 609 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 1: get you thinking about it in a different way. And 610 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:54,360 Speaker 1: maybe these are tactics that you do but you just 611 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,520 Speaker 1: don't necessarily think about all the time. So if you 612 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 1: can really be strategic with it, and especially with like 613 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:04,240 Speaker 1: cutting things off and anticipating where they're going different animals, 614 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,520 Speaker 1: you can really be successful in a short amount of 615 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,960 Speaker 1: time by just understanding what the animal that you're looking 616 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,040 Speaker 1: at is gonna want next. I like to use kind 617 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,640 Speaker 1: of this closing section to just thank everybody for the support. 618 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:21,400 Speaker 1: I truly do mean that. I really appreciate everybody who listens, 619 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,360 Speaker 1: and you know, definitely get a ton of great messages 620 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:27,200 Speaker 1: on Instagram, and I really appreciate that. You know, a 621 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:29,800 Speaker 1: lot of a lot of great support. We had the 622 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:31,640 Speaker 1: Q and A last week and just a lot of 623 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 1: great questions came in. So thank you guys all for 624 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:37,080 Speaker 1: getting so involved. That means a lot to me. Hopefully 625 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,520 Speaker 1: everybody's staying safe. You know, I was thinking back, it's 626 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:44,440 Speaker 1: like March started talking about COVID, and you know, just 627 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:47,160 Speaker 1: in that period of not knowing and what was going on, 628 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:49,520 Speaker 1: we're thinking, oh yeah, you know at that time, you're like, yeah, 629 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:53,600 Speaker 1: it'll clearly be over by by hunting season. But you know, 630 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:56,120 Speaker 1: now it's not looking like that. I actually have had 631 00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 1: a cheap tag in Canada this year and it probably 632 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:02,480 Speaker 1: is not going to happen. But that's just you know, 633 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:06,360 Speaker 1: adapt and overcome. And that's like one thing that you're like, 634 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:09,400 Speaker 1: oh man, that's something that was really cool looking forward to. 635 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:11,720 Speaker 1: But you know, there's gonna be a lot of cool 636 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:14,560 Speaker 1: other things that um, I'm looking forward to as well. 637 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:17,120 Speaker 1: So it's gonna be nice to get out and get 638 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:21,600 Speaker 1: into the field bow in hand. This August September whatever, 639 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:24,560 Speaker 1: or you know, hopefully everybody out there has some hunts 640 00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:26,959 Speaker 1: planned or something to look forward to UM, and hopefully 641 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:29,520 Speaker 1: everybody's staying safe. So thank you guys so much. I 642 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:33,040 Speaker 1: appreciate you all and looking forward to next week. So 643 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 1: until next week, let's um cut off some animals and 644 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,440 Speaker 1: cut off some jeans, might as well. Summertime. Catch you later.