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Speaker 1: As a guide and hunter, I've spent thousands of days

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Speaker 1: in the field. This show is about translating my hard

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Speaker 1: won experiences into tips and tactics they'll get you closer

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Speaker 1: to your ultimate goal success in the field. I'm Remy Warren.

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Speaker 1: This is cutting the distance. Really, if you spend any

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Speaker 1: amount of time out in the wild, out hunting, maybe

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Speaker 1: even just out recreating, fishing, whatever, you'll inevitably find yourself

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Speaker 1: in country with large predators. And while you might not

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Speaker 1: see them, they're probably there. While I don't necessarily consider

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Speaker 1: many of them extremely dangerous, there are certain precautions that

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Speaker 1: should be taken. This week on the podcast, I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: be covering the different species of large predators you might encounter,

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Speaker 1: as well as the potential threat they may provide. We'll

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Speaker 1: talk about ways to keep dangerous interactions to a minimum

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Speaker 1: and the best options for defense. But before we do that,

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Speaker 1: I want to tell you this story of a few

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Speaker 1: different encounters with one of North America's stealthiest predators. Now

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Speaker 1: I'm not talking about myself. I'm talking about Puma Concolor,

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Speaker 1: the Mountain lion. I'll tell you what if I just

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Speaker 1: think of all the predators in North America. Absolutely, the

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Speaker 1: one that excels in stealth has to be the mountain lion.

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Speaker 1: I've had quite a few encounters over the years with

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Speaker 1: mountain lions. I have actually lost count of how many

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Speaker 1: I've seen just out and about. I know that there's

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Speaker 1: people that say, like, oh, if you've seen a mountain lion,

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Speaker 1: there's probably too many mountain lions because they are so stealthy.

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Speaker 1: Many people might go their entire life hunting and never

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Speaker 1: see one. I think I've I wouldn't even know. I've

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Speaker 1: probably seen over a hundred just out wild glassing, encountered them.

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Speaker 1: Um one day, I actually saw eight in one day.

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Speaker 1: But I've I've been in areas where there are lots

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Speaker 1: of mountain lions. I've encountered quite a few of them

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Speaker 1: and probably have twenty good stories. But none of them

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Speaker 1: are those um attack type stories that everyone wants to hear.

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Speaker 1: They're just encounters with mountain lions. But I think there's

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Speaker 1: definitely something to be learned with each one of these

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Speaker 1: type of encounters. This one year, I was actually hunting

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Speaker 1: down in Arizona or late season archery hunting cou'se de

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Speaker 1: or have Alina was walking back toward camp. In the

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Speaker 1: place I was hunting, it was like in these mountains

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Speaker 1: and there's these big washes that kind of worked their

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Speaker 1: way back into the flats where I was camped out

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Speaker 1: in the flats. So I was walking through and walking

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Speaker 1: down and looked down. I'm like, oh sweet, there's some

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Speaker 1: tracks here. I was like in the big drag mark

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Speaker 1: like investigating, and I see lion tracks dragging something. So

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Speaker 1: of course curious nature that, I am like, maybe it

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Speaker 1: got a deer, Maybe there's gonna be a rack there,

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Speaker 1: maybe it got a cow. There's a lot of free

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Speaker 1: range cattle. Just figured to investigate. So I started following

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Speaker 1: the drag and ends and I'm like, oh, okay. So

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Speaker 1: there's like this grass and I'm looking around and I

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Speaker 1: see this kind of like it took me a while

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Speaker 1: to see it, but there's this dead calf, like a

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Speaker 1: beef calf, and it's covered up with brush like a

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Speaker 1: the cat covered it up. And the mountains will do

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Speaker 1: that a lot. They'll kind of like stash their cash,

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Speaker 1: their kill. They'll cover it up to try to keep

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Speaker 1: other predators and things from getting it. And so I'm like,

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Speaker 1: oh sweet, that's cool. So I figure I'll just take

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Speaker 1: some pictures. I'm bent down getting into my pack and

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Speaker 1: I've got my camera just at the bottom of the pack.

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Speaker 1: It's just covered up with a bunch of crap, you know, jacket, whatever, gear,

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Speaker 1: just all kinds of stuff. So I'm digging down there

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Speaker 1: and I look I kind of like something didn't feel right.

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Speaker 1: I don't even know what it was. I look up

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Speaker 1: and at the same second like I kind of like,

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Speaker 1: I like lock eyes with this cat maybe five feet away,

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Speaker 1: crouched down, he luckily jumps off the other way. My

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Speaker 1: heart was racing. I was like, I mean, I'm bent over,

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Speaker 1: like not paying attention, and this thing is two arms

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Speaker 1: length the way. I probably could have like literally just

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Speaker 1: jumped and got it with a knife if I was

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Speaker 1: like trying to. It was like, if it was a

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Speaker 1: deer or is this like it was right there that close,

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Speaker 1: it could have easily just jumped up and grabbed me. Luckily,

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Speaker 1: though I think I had. I mean, there's kind of

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Speaker 1: some sticks and other stuff in the way, and it

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Speaker 1: was just it had probably heard me coming, moved off

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Speaker 1: the kill, crouched down and just went completely unnoticed, completely unseen,

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Speaker 1: just a few feet away, and I didn't even notice

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Speaker 1: it was there. Had I that cat wanted to make

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Speaker 1: me dinner, it easily could have because of the way

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Speaker 1: that it used its stealth in the way that I

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Speaker 1: approached that situation, just kind of like didn't see it

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Speaker 1: and really couldn't see it. Um, he was just laying

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Speaker 1: down that close and luckily jumped to the other direction.

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Speaker 1: That kind of story. Uh, it just it kind of

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Speaker 1: reminded me of how stealthy some of these large predators are.

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Speaker 1: When you're talking about large prayers, I'm kind of thinking

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Speaker 1: of mountain lions, black bears, wolves, grizzly bears, you know,

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Speaker 1: as the primary ones that we have in North America.

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Speaker 1: I guess it would have been last year. Yeah, probably

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Speaker 1: beginning of it, before the whole world kind of slowed down.

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Speaker 1: A friend of mine and I were out chasing mountain

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Speaker 1: lions and we met up with these guys and that

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Speaker 1: had a bunch of dogs and houndsmen, and so we're

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Speaker 1: just looking trying to cut some tracks and maybe chase

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Speaker 1: some cats. So towards the end of the day, one

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Speaker 1: of the guys had cut some tracks and like sweet

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Speaker 1: so custom tracks turned out the dogs pretty good sized

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Speaker 1: pack of dogs and they're running the track, and the

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Speaker 1: cat went somehow went down and and then kind of

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Speaker 1: the dogs started to get all confused and lost the

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Speaker 1: scent lost. The track is probably there earlier in the

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Speaker 1: day and really heavy winds that day, super cold temperatures,

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Speaker 1: and I think that had kind of lost a little

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Speaker 1: bit of the scent. So we went back to kind

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Speaker 1: of figure out, Okay, what was this cat doing? Where

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Speaker 1: did he go? So we start following the track, and

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Speaker 1: then that kind of track split off into another cat track.

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Speaker 1: So there's a really big tom track and then another

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Speaker 1: track that went away maybe it was it was probably

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Speaker 1: a smaller female. So we're just following these tracks out

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Speaker 1: while the other guys are trying to get the dogs.

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Speaker 1: And I followed the one tracks the cat tracks up.

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Speaker 1: And a lot of times when you're following tracks in

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Speaker 1: the fresh snow, we sometimes you might jump the cat.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes you'll find, you know, a kill. I found quite

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Speaker 1: a few kills this way. Um, sometimes you'll find line.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes you'll never catch up to him, and that's why

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Speaker 1: it's always a lot easier to find them with dogs.

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Speaker 1: So for following the tracks, and they split off and

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Speaker 1: some of the other guys went down, I went up,

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Speaker 1: and then my tracks kind of went back down to

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Speaker 1: where they were. So they rounded up a few of

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Speaker 1: the dogs and I see them all down there, and

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Speaker 1: the dogs are kind of working and doing their thing.

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Speaker 1: So I walked down and I lost kind of the

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Speaker 1: track in the The snow had burnt off and was

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Speaker 1: wind blown, so I just dropped down to go talk

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Speaker 1: to those guys, and like you know, we're all sitting

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Speaker 1: around talking and the dogs are running around all over

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Speaker 1: the place, and then all of a sudden, one of

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Speaker 1: the dogs, after they've been working this area, maybe fifty

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Speaker 1: yards away from us, boom jumps a cat pretty much

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Speaker 1: like between six of us. That cat had just been

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Speaker 1: there that whole time, laid down sitting there watching us.

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Speaker 1: The dogs chased into the cliff. We got to watch

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Speaker 1: the whole jump and everything. That was pretty cool. It's

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Speaker 1: cool to watch the dogs work, and it's just really

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Speaker 1: to see how these animals react. And one thing that

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Speaker 1: it just reminded me is how stealthy so many of

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Speaker 1: these animals are. I don't know how many times I've

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Speaker 1: chucker hunted in this particular canyon or canyons nearby, and

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Speaker 1: it makes you think how many times am I walking

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Speaker 1: past these animals and never knowing that they're there. They're

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Speaker 1: just laying down, watching, hanging back. And of course they

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Speaker 1: aren't super aggressive, which is, you know, pretty good for

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Speaker 1: us as hunters, because if they had the temperament of

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Speaker 1: a I would say of like an African leopard, we'd

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Speaker 1: all be in trouble. But for sure, they're definitely more

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Speaker 1: of a shy predator. They use their health to be successful.

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Speaker 1: But it goes to show that even when you're looking

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Speaker 1: for them, even when you know that they're right in there,

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Speaker 1: they can just hunker down and essentially be invisible. And

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Speaker 1: because of that, I've really come to the realization that

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Speaker 1: throughout our day to day in hunting scenarios, more often

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Speaker 1: than not, we're probably encountering these things and never know.

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Speaker 1: We don't see them, but they might see us, or

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Speaker 1: we just don't cross paths in a way that we

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Speaker 1: have an encounter, but they're definitely in a lot of

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Speaker 1: the areas that we hunt. One of the main reasons

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Speaker 1: that I wanted to talk about large predators and encounters

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Speaker 1: and what to do and what to expect is because

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Speaker 1: it's a question that I get so much. It's a

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Speaker 1: question that I get a lot. It's a question I

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Speaker 1: think primarily it comes from people that maybe didn't grow

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Speaker 1: up or aren't familiar with hunting in areas where there

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Speaker 1: are large predators. The thought of being somewhere where there's

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Speaker 1: something that could eat you, attack you, harm you in

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Speaker 1: some way can be scary. It can be like you

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Speaker 1: might think back and be like, Okay, I don't really

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Speaker 1: know what to think, what to do, how real is

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Speaker 1: the situation? How should I proceed? I think a lot

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Speaker 1: of people that maybe have hunted, you know, Central United States,

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Speaker 1: or hunted the farm behind their house their whole life

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Speaker 1: or something like that, where that you haven't had these

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Speaker 1: type of encounters regularly, it makes a lot of sense

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Speaker 1: to want to ask these kind of questions. So I

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Speaker 1: think that it's really good to take the time to

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Speaker 1: talk about it, and I know that I have in

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Speaker 1: the past. I think it was even episode pretty early

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Speaker 1: on in the podcast. You can always go back listen to.

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Speaker 1: Episode two is just pretty much focused on brown bears,

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Speaker 1: grizzly bears, and how to be safe. But a lot

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Speaker 1: of people have asked, Okay, I've heard about brown bears,

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Speaker 1: I've heard about grizzly bears. What about everything else that's

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Speaker 1: out there. There's wolves, there's lions, there's black bears, there's

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Speaker 1: brown bears. So it seems like there's a lot of predators,

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Speaker 1: a lot of things with teeth that are always out

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Speaker 1: to get you. And while it might seem like that, um,

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Speaker 1: from my experience, you know, I think about it in

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Speaker 1: two ways. I think that you should not necessarily worry

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Speaker 1: about it, but I also think that you should be

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Speaker 1: informed and have a plan and be safe because there

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Speaker 1: it definitely can be a real threat, but it's not

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Speaker 1: necessarily something me personally, I think about every second of

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Speaker 1: every day, you know, if I I mean, I was

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Speaker 1: trying to do a little bit of research and just see,

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Speaker 1: like I when I comes to mind, let's talk about

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Speaker 1: maybe even just ranking some of the predators and the

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Speaker 1: type of threat that they are. For wolves is one

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Speaker 1: that you know there are in most Western states. They're

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Speaker 1: very vocal. You hear them in the area, it can

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Speaker 1: be a pretty eerie sound. I've actually been in a

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Speaker 1: pack of I think it was thirteen wolves. Um. I

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Speaker 1: never really I was afraid for my safety, But you know,

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Speaker 1: when I think about it, I've never actually really heard

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Speaker 1: of wolves killing anybody recently or really having any I

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Speaker 1: mean there's been encounters, but nothing that seems even very aggressive.

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Speaker 1: So on the list of like threats and predators, wolves

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Speaker 1: is really at the bottom of my list. I did

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Speaker 1: have an encounter with two wolves one, but I think

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Speaker 1: it was just more happenstance than anything. I was going

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Speaker 1: down this trail in Idaho is like this logging trail

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Speaker 1: I was hunting. I think it was a spring spring

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Speaker 1: bear season. It's just really overgrown logging trail. Um. I

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Speaker 1: think it was over in the Loch saw Er or

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Speaker 1: something pretty high wolf populations before they had a wolf season.

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Speaker 1: And um, I was walking down this trail and all

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Speaker 1: of a sudden, I see kind of like the grass

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Speaker 1: and brush moving in front of me. And it was

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Speaker 1: just happened so fast, And it was within a second

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Speaker 1: a wolf within kicking distance, not quite kicking distance because

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Speaker 1: I tried to kick. It was like this, all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden, something running at me really fast. I just

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Speaker 1: didn't really it first, didn't really know what it was

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Speaker 1: because it was so thick, I know, hey, and kind

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Speaker 1: of like try like make a big motion toward it.

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Speaker 1: And I was going to kick it if I could,

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Speaker 1: but it all happens to us. I wasn't thinking, this

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Speaker 1: is just like a gut reaction, hi, you know. And

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Speaker 1: it ran off the trail and I had my gun

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Speaker 1: on my shoulder. I pulled my gun off, and another

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Speaker 1: one was coming on the trail just as fast, right

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Speaker 1: at me. So I just shot into the ground right

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Speaker 1: in front of me, and that muzzle breaking noise that

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Speaker 1: anything that was gonna come running after that was gone.

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Speaker 1: I don't think that that wolf was trying to attack me.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it was running in it kind of had

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Speaker 1: like a little smile on his face. It seemed like

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Speaker 1: from what I remember in that quick glance of like

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Speaker 1: seeing it running in um, but it was more I

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Speaker 1: think that there was just two wolves kind of like

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Speaker 1: chasing each other for the most part, playing But you know,

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Speaker 1: I won't know. I mean I kind of stepped in

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Speaker 1: and yelled and and made some movements, and who knows,

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Speaker 1: maybe I thought I was a different kind of animal

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Speaker 1: was running into check it out. But for me, it

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Speaker 1: seemed like they were chasing each other, and I just thought,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's just something that happened and scared him off,

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Speaker 1: and great, no problems I wouldn't even say that it

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Speaker 1: was even scared. It's just more of like startled by

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Speaker 1: something running at you. Now, the next one on the

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Speaker 1: list would probably be a lion. I looked it up.

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Speaker 1: There's probably been like maybe the past hundred years, a

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Speaker 1: hundred and twenty attacks onwenty seven of them fatal. It

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Speaker 1: seems like most of the recent ones are in places

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Speaker 1: that don't allow mountain lion hunting, mostly California. There, California

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Speaker 1: actually has a lot of mountain lions. If you think

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Speaker 1: about it, you're like, okay, that's that's not a lot.

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Speaker 1: But also any time, in my opinion, when we're talking

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Speaker 1: about large predators and attacks, well it's not a lot

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Speaker 1: in comparison to numbers of people going outside and recreating,

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Speaker 1: but it's also those are the people that are getting attacked.

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Speaker 1: If you're on outside doing these things, you will have

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Speaker 1: zero encounters with mountain lions, black bears, brown bears, or whatever.

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Speaker 1: So because we're hunters were acting as prey or or

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Speaker 1: what those animals would see us prey, oftentimes we're probably

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Speaker 1: ones that put ourselves at the most risk. It seems

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Speaker 1: like a lot of the attacks are people on bikes,

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Speaker 1: people that you know, maybe on hikes or other things

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Speaker 1: in areas where the animals might not have as much

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Speaker 1: food source or kind of mistake people for prey. But

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Speaker 1: I don't think that very many mountain lion attacks are

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Speaker 1: like brown bear attacks, where it's more like provoked in

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Speaker 1: a non predatory response, which actually is kind of scarier

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Speaker 1: when they think you're prey. They're treating you like prey

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Speaker 1: as opposed to startling one and then defending its turf.

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Speaker 1: It's more going to be something where it's it's stalking you,

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Speaker 1: sneaking in and making this attack because they are so sneaky.

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Speaker 1: But still, you know, mountain lions, I think that there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of them around. I think that you probably

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Speaker 1: don't encounter them. They're very reclusive, they're very shy, they're

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Speaker 1: very timid. That's just the nature of their species, and

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Speaker 1: I'm very thankful for that. There's a lot of other

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Speaker 1: large cats that don't have that temperament, jaguars in particular,

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Speaker 1: African lions, tigers just like other rand leopards that have

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Speaker 1: kind of a completely different temperament, whereas mountain lions are

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Speaker 1: very timid, very shy. Whether that's um just how they are,

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Speaker 1: or maybe that's the fact that maybe they were chaste

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Speaker 1: enough to fear people are or larger predators. Um, I

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Speaker 1: don't really know, but I do know that they're just

295
00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,760
Speaker 1: general temperament, even when backed into a corner not to attack,

296
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Speaker 1: is to try to scare, but mostly backing up, backing up,

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Speaker 1: backing up. They aren't really the type that likes to

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Speaker 1: be aggressive. Now, the next one on the list would

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Speaker 1: be black bears. And if you're like a threat, you

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Speaker 1: you see black bears higher of a threat than mountain lions.

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Speaker 1: I would say, yeah, probably. I mean, I was looking

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Speaker 1: and it's hard to find some of these statistics and

303
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Speaker 1: I don't necessarily know if any of them really matter,

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Speaker 1: but you know, on average, maybe the past twenty years,

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Speaker 1: there's probably been like from what I've seen, a couple

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Speaker 1: of places, maybe up to twenty five deaths from black bears.

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Speaker 1: So that's greater than one per year. So it's a

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Speaker 1: real it's a real thing. And I think black bears

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Speaker 1: probably because there's so many of them, there's higher populations

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Speaker 1: of them, they're in a wider range of places, and

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Speaker 1: you're they're encountered in day to day life, and they're

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Speaker 1: also kind of the things that provoke bear attacks might

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Speaker 1: be um more common. They're more people in bear kind,

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Speaker 1: tree that contains black bears. Black bears, you know, I

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Speaker 1: would say, if you're ever gonna be attacked by any

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Speaker 1: kind of bear, it's probably over a couple of things.

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Speaker 1: It's going to be a sow protecting cubs, or getting

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Speaker 1: between a food source and them. And many times that's

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Speaker 1: human provided food source. Maybe somebody didn't take care of

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Speaker 1: their trash properly. That bears a fed bear, and then

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00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:24,320
Speaker 1: he becomes territorial over that trash. Cancer it's something it's

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Speaker 1: like interacting around people's homes, interacting in places where there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of people and a lot of people that

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Speaker 1: might not even be prepared. There's also I've seen black

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Speaker 1: bears in just random places that seem very comfortable. People

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00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:39,800
Speaker 1: get comfortable with them, and then they do stupid things.

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Speaker 1: They get too close. They maybe they see it, they're like, oh,

328
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Speaker 1: look at this cute little cub, and then there's the

329
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Speaker 1: moment bear there. Now, many of those kind of encounters

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Speaker 1: might not necessarily be fatal, but they are encounters. They

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Speaker 1: can be negative encounters, and then you can find those

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Speaker 1: negative encounters you know in the wild, I've heard stories.

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Speaker 1: I know two people that have been attacked by black bears.

334
00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,080
Speaker 1: One was hunting in California. Um, I just kind of

335
00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:07,680
Speaker 1: heard the story secondhand from someone else archery hunting and

336
00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,960
Speaker 1: got charged and scrapped up a bit. And then another person,

337
00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,719
Speaker 1: a friend of mine's cousin, was guiding and river guiding

338
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Speaker 1: in Idaho and she got pulled out of her tent

339
00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,560
Speaker 1: while sleeping. So those are the kind of encounters that

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Speaker 1: really freak people out. And I think that those are

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Speaker 1: kind of encounters that you know, when you're thinking about

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00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,360
Speaker 1: being out there alone, being out in a new environment,

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00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:31,400
Speaker 1: those are the things that are running through your mind

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00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:33,840
Speaker 1: like they constantly happen. But I do think that black

345
00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:37,159
Speaker 1: bears actually are a real threat, whether it's life you know,

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00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,560
Speaker 1: maybe there's more encounters that aren't life threatening, but a

347
00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:43,200
Speaker 1: lot of encounters. The plus light is black bears are

348
00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:46,320
Speaker 1: fairly timid when it comes to bear species compared to

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Speaker 1: the next one that we talked about, brown bears. Black

350
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Speaker 1: bears they like to do the bluff charge, they like

351
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Speaker 1: to swatt at trees, they like to huff and let

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00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:56,360
Speaker 1: you know that they're there. Because they don't really want

353
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Speaker 1: to have that negative encounter. They're just trying to say, like,

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Speaker 1: I'm here, I don't want to mess with you, but

355
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Speaker 1: I'm trying to scare you away. And then the next

356
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Speaker 1: one would be brown bears, and these are a legit

357
00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:13,080
Speaker 1: I would say threat. They're the highest in lethal encounters

358
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Speaker 1: and they aren't really to be messed with. I don't

359
00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,679
Speaker 1: really think any of the large predators are to be

360
00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:20,080
Speaker 1: messed with, But if you're in brown Bear Country, you

361
00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,480
Speaker 1: definitely need to use certain precautions. Then hunters are really

362
00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:25,040
Speaker 1: going to be the ones that are going to encounter

363
00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,639
Speaker 1: them the most. You're dealing with meet you're dealing you're

364
00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:33,119
Speaker 1: walking off trails in their territory, You're being quiet, you

365
00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:35,920
Speaker 1: aren't letting them know you're there, and so because of that,

366
00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,560
Speaker 1: I would say that that would be your largest threat.

367
00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:42,040
Speaker 1: But even if you aren't in brown Bear Country, there

368
00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:44,679
Speaker 1: are other large predators that you should consider and just

369
00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:48,080
Speaker 1: kind of take things into consideration on how to be safe,

370
00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,560
Speaker 1: how do you think safe, and if you're uncomfortable, how

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00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:53,720
Speaker 1: to be prepared in case you need to defend yourself.

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Speaker 1: You know, I was thinking about it and I was like, man,

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Speaker 1: I could dive into statistics and be like, tell you

374
00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:01,400
Speaker 1: all the barracked acts, this, that and the other thing,

375
00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,200
Speaker 1: and get the exact numbers of And honestly, it doesn't

376
00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,440
Speaker 1: mean jack ship because when it comes down to it,

377
00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:10,359
Speaker 1: you just have to ask yourself, are you uncomfortable? And

378
00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:12,760
Speaker 1: if you are, then you need to take certain precautions

379
00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:15,760
Speaker 1: to make yourself comfortable. And then the other question you

380
00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:17,679
Speaker 1: gotta ask yourself is are you being stupid? Are you

381
00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,760
Speaker 1: in a place where there is a real potential danger

382
00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:23,879
Speaker 1: and you just they're ignoring it. So I think that

383
00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:26,400
Speaker 1: you need to find that balance between thinking you're gonna

384
00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:31,000
Speaker 1: get attacked behind every tree and being completely stupid going

385
00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:33,920
Speaker 1: to sleep in grizzly country on top of a carcass.

386
00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,399
Speaker 1: You know, there's there's just like a good balance between

387
00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:45,159
Speaker 1: that from what I gather. And I think that, like

388
00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,400
Speaker 1: you could probably ask five people their opinions on these

389
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,120
Speaker 1: things and you probably get five hundred different answers. And

390
00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:55,480
Speaker 1: I think that, like, in my opinion, I just like

391
00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:57,560
Speaker 1: to let people know these are my opinions. I don't

392
00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:00,119
Speaker 1: think that if anybody claims that they're an expert on

393
00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,120
Speaker 1: like what to do and how it happens and all

394
00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:05,800
Speaker 1: that stuff. I think that they're just like it's not

395
00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:10,000
Speaker 1: actually truthful. Um, you know, everybody's got their own opinions

396
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:11,919
Speaker 1: on things, and these are just kind of some of

397
00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:15,520
Speaker 1: my opinions. But I think that the best way to

398
00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:19,679
Speaker 1: kind of like it's like, well, what's the best course

399
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:25,479
Speaker 1: of action? And that's just preparation to avoidance. Um, you know,

400
00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:27,880
Speaker 1: you you have to use certain amount of caution when

401
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,120
Speaker 1: you're out hunting. It doesn't matter what you're doing, You're

402
00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:31,919
Speaker 1: you're gonna be out there, and so you kind of

403
00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,399
Speaker 1: need to always in the back of your mind be

404
00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:37,480
Speaker 1: thinking about being cautious. And one thing that I kind

405
00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:41,200
Speaker 1: of consider is, like, you know, I'll go through kind

406
00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,000
Speaker 1: of my list of places where you're especially cautious, and

407
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,399
Speaker 1: it's like set up with caution when you're calling or

408
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:51,080
Speaker 1: acting like prey. So you're a hunter, you're you're you're

409
00:20:51,119 --> 00:20:54,680
Speaker 1: trying to mimic things that large predators eat. Mountain lions

410
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:59,720
Speaker 1: and wolves eat them, um, bears eat elk deer. If

411
00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:03,640
Speaker 1: you're crawling around calling and mimicking those animals, you will

412
00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,199
Speaker 1: probably have encounters with the things that eat those animals.

413
00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,520
Speaker 1: If you do it enough. Times while hunting elk, I

414
00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,760
Speaker 1: have called in wolves, I have called in mountain lions,

415
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:14,919
Speaker 1: and I have called in bears. It's something that's gonna happen.

416
00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:18,240
Speaker 1: But as I'm moving, I'm always well, I'm always paying

417
00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:20,560
Speaker 1: attention to try to find and make sure I'm not

418
00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:22,760
Speaker 1: seeing elk. But if I'm gonna set up calling for

419
00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,280
Speaker 1: a long time, I generally like to set up like

420
00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:27,560
Speaker 1: I would which is good for a hunting scenario, with

421
00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:30,160
Speaker 1: something at my back and somewhere where I can see

422
00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:32,560
Speaker 1: a little bit, because it's actually the best way for

423
00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,600
Speaker 1: if that whatever I'm calling comes in. But it's also

424
00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:37,800
Speaker 1: something you think about that, hey, it's a it's a

425
00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:40,000
Speaker 1: real thing that I could call in an animal. There's

426
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:41,760
Speaker 1: been times where I have called in mountain lions that

427
00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:44,760
Speaker 1: are literally stalking up to the call, and it's those

428
00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 1: kind of things where you're like, Okay, I'm glad, I'm

429
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:50,199
Speaker 1: paying attention. I'm glad, I'm I'm aware that this is

430
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:52,800
Speaker 1: a thing because hey, I'm acting like something that they're eating.

431
00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,080
Speaker 1: It's not like they're in there to try to kill

432
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:57,240
Speaker 1: me as a human. They're just in there to get

433
00:21:57,480 --> 00:21:59,480
Speaker 1: get a meal, and they think that I am that meal.

434
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,560
Speaker 1: In that scenario, I generally, unless I'm trying to kill

435
00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:06,000
Speaker 1: a really big bull, generally let them know that I'm

436
00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:10,320
Speaker 1: there and try to get them to go away. The

437
00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:12,960
Speaker 1: next one would just be, like it goes to say,

438
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:14,760
Speaker 1: is you should do this all the time. Be aware

439
00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:17,600
Speaker 1: of your surroundings. It's when you're hiking, look around when

440
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,560
Speaker 1: you're when you are in an area that's thicker, timber,

441
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:26,720
Speaker 1: or more likely a large predator's bedroom. When I'm in

442
00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,640
Speaker 1: grizzly country, you know, when I'm walking through really thick

443
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,080
Speaker 1: stuff where I smell something dead, or I'm you know,

444
00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:34,120
Speaker 1: I'm using my nose, I'm using my eyes, I'm using

445
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:36,680
Speaker 1: my ears. When things don't add up, when things don't

446
00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:40,200
Speaker 1: seem right, when something seems like, hey, this is a

447
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,600
Speaker 1: an area where there will be a large predator a

448
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,400
Speaker 1: high likelihood of that, I use extra caution. I pay attention.

449
00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,160
Speaker 1: I'm not walking with my head down. I'm not um

450
00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:51,600
Speaker 1: going and trying to do stupid things. I'm just kind

451
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:55,360
Speaker 1: of being aware of my surroundings. Another thing that I

452
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:57,840
Speaker 1: do for avoidance is just to kind of keep a

453
00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,040
Speaker 1: clean camp and don't invite trouble. So I generally even

454
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,800
Speaker 1: if I'm in like black bear country and there's no

455
00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:07,479
Speaker 1: grizzlies around, or I'm in an area where I know

456
00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,399
Speaker 1: that there's like a high density of some kind of

457
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:13,879
Speaker 1: you know, mostly black bears, I still keep a clean camp.

458
00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:16,520
Speaker 1: I hoist my food up into a tree. I don't

459
00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:19,399
Speaker 1: generally keep like things in my tent. You know, you

460
00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,080
Speaker 1: might think, like, well, they smell this sack of meat

461
00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:24,639
Speaker 1: sleeping in the tent. But for the most part, you know,

462
00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,200
Speaker 1: when a bear catches your wind. Think about when you're

463
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:29,040
Speaker 1: hunting black bears. As soon as they catch your wind,

464
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:31,720
Speaker 1: they're gone. Even when you're hunting brown bears or whatever.

465
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:33,960
Speaker 1: When they catch your wind, they're out of there because

466
00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:38,440
Speaker 1: they still know that humans are predators to them or

467
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:42,000
Speaker 1: in some way they know that um and so they

468
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,719
Speaker 1: generally don't like that kind of trouble. But if they

469
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:47,400
Speaker 1: smell something that's kind of like an easy food source

470
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,560
Speaker 1: for them, something sweet, like I generally keep my toothpaste

471
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:52,359
Speaker 1: and my other stuff out of my tent, like in

472
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:54,879
Speaker 1: my bag. I love to bring Snickers bars. If they

473
00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,000
Speaker 1: smell my five D Snickers bars inside my tent, I'm

474
00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,200
Speaker 1: using it as a pillow. Like the generally not smart

475
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,320
Speaker 1: thing to do. There are times where I do keep

476
00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,199
Speaker 1: stuff close to my vestibule or whatever. So it's like

477
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:10,199
Speaker 1: if I did hear something or whatever, I would think

478
00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:12,119
Speaker 1: that my human scent would spook him away, and I

479
00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:14,359
Speaker 1: could scare him away if I've got something to defend

480
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:17,280
Speaker 1: myself with, great, But I generally don't try to invite

481
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:21,040
Speaker 1: trouble as far as like having a meat and cooked

482
00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,040
Speaker 1: stuff poured out like baking grease poured out inside my camp.

483
00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:26,800
Speaker 1: Like I'll go to a safe place and get rid

484
00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:29,320
Speaker 1: of things that might really attract bears, because you don't

485
00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:32,960
Speaker 1: want to feed something and then cause trouble by it

486
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,960
Speaker 1: going for food that thinks it's it's food and you're like,

487
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:37,960
Speaker 1: this is my food, and then there's a problem. Then

488
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,240
Speaker 1: there's an encounter. One thing I like to think about

489
00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:42,919
Speaker 1: is like instances are rare. You could look at all

490
00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:45,760
Speaker 1: the statistics, but really as hunters were in those high

491
00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:49,120
Speaker 1: likelyhood places, so if something were to happen, it would

492
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,600
Speaker 1: be to somebody out there in their environment. You know,

493
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,720
Speaker 1: you read about statistics of bear attacks and you you

494
00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:57,840
Speaker 1: can look at it from any group side, but the

495
00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:01,199
Speaker 1: groups that are like bears don't teck they love people.

496
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:05,000
Speaker 1: And it's really you're more likely to get struck by

497
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:07,560
Speaker 1: lightning twenty times than attacked by bear. It's like, yeah,

498
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:09,000
Speaker 1: that's true if you live in a city and you

499
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:13,720
Speaker 1: never encounter bears. But if you live in Rule, Wyoming

500
00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:16,280
Speaker 1: and you spend the majority of your fall in the wilderness,

501
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:21,199
Speaker 1: you're probably highly likely to encounter bear. And based on

502
00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:24,760
Speaker 1: what you're doing, carrying meat, shooting an elk in their home,

503
00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:27,440
Speaker 1: in their turf, the odds are a lot higher that

504
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,679
Speaker 1: you're going to have an encounter and potentially a negative encounter.

505
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,640
Speaker 1: So for the people everybody else in the world, yeah,

506
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:35,400
Speaker 1: it's great, But for us who are out there all

507
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:38,639
Speaker 1: the time, yeah, you probably have a higher likelihood of

508
00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,560
Speaker 1: those instances. And because you have that high likelihood, you

509
00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:43,560
Speaker 1: kind of have to just throw those statistics out the

510
00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:45,439
Speaker 1: window and say, am I in an area that's highly

511
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,639
Speaker 1: likely that all encounter a predator? And if so, I

512
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,960
Speaker 1: need to be prepared for the worst case scenario. I

513
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,439
Speaker 1: think the last thing that you want to do as

514
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,040
Speaker 1: well is just listen to your instincts. And I've told

515
00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 1: this story before. I don't know if on this podcast,

516
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:03,120
Speaker 1: but humans we definitely have this instinct to know when

517
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:05,359
Speaker 1: something's not right. We I don't know if it's something

518
00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:08,479
Speaker 1: we hear something, we smell something, we see something just

519
00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:10,239
Speaker 1: makes the hair on the back of the next stand up.

520
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:13,360
Speaker 1: And sometimes maybe it's in our head, but oftentimes it's

521
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:17,240
Speaker 1: worth listening to that instinct. A few years ago, UM,

522
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,720
Speaker 1: my wife was with me and we for outfitting business.

523
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:22,399
Speaker 1: We stay in this little tiny cabin we've got like

524
00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:26,639
Speaker 1: our lodge, our bigger cabin down the way across across

525
00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:29,639
Speaker 1: the field. And she was going out to cook and

526
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:31,560
Speaker 1: it was like really early in the morning, you know,

527
00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:34,960
Speaker 1: probably like three thirty four am, something like that pitch

528
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,080
Speaker 1: black out, no moon. And she started to go out

529
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:40,000
Speaker 1: and she came back in and she was like, I

530
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,160
Speaker 1: don't feel right. I feel like something's watching me. I'm like, okay, well,

531
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,960
Speaker 1: maybe you're scared whatever, but it doesn't like I don't know.

532
00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:48,840
Speaker 1: Sometimes you just get that weird feeling like you're being watched.

533
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:51,960
Speaker 1: And I'm like, yeah, I'll walk you over. So I

534
00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:55,879
Speaker 1: grabbed a flashlight and you know, walk her over to

535
00:26:55,880 --> 00:27:00,840
Speaker 1: the cabin and walk back, and I really think anything

536
00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:02,959
Speaker 1: of it. I've got my flashlight and I look and

537
00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:07,240
Speaker 1: right there, maybe I don't know, five ft off the

538
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:11,800
Speaker 1: cabin is mountain lion tracks crouched down and she wouldn't

539
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:13,840
Speaker 1: have been able to see it where the railing was,

540
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,439
Speaker 1: but it was like crouched down right there in the

541
00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:19,640
Speaker 1: fresh snow, feet away from where she had gone out

542
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:23,320
Speaker 1: the door, and it probably didn't slink away until she

543
00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:25,159
Speaker 1: had come back in, would be my guess. It was

544
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:27,440
Speaker 1: like definitely in that you could see the tail, you

545
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:31,000
Speaker 1: could see the pause, you could see everything, and I'm like, wow,

546
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:33,760
Speaker 1: you know that was whether she heard something she didn't know,

547
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:37,080
Speaker 1: but she just felt like something was off, something made

548
00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:40,000
Speaker 1: her feel scared, and she was like, I'm not gonna

549
00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:42,200
Speaker 1: walk down that path, and it was a good thing.

550
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:45,720
Speaker 1: Who knows what would have happened, but you know, listened

551
00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:49,119
Speaker 1: to those instincts because there was, unbeknownst to her, a

552
00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:52,560
Speaker 1: mountain lion in a very close proximity to where she

553
00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,920
Speaker 1: was going to be. One question that gets asked the

554
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:57,800
Speaker 1: lit I was like, well, or it's like one of

555
00:27:57,840 --> 00:27:59,600
Speaker 1: those fun things the reading the books, like what do

556
00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:02,080
Speaker 1: you do if you get attacked by mountain lion? What

557
00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:03,760
Speaker 1: do you do if you get attacked by a black bear?

558
00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:05,760
Speaker 1: What do you do if you get attacked by a grizzly,

559
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,160
Speaker 1: I think the first thing you do is just try

560
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,800
Speaker 1: to scare it and fight it and defend yourself or

561
00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:14,879
Speaker 1: protect yourself. It's like, well, how do you what's the

562
00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:18,960
Speaker 1: exact order that you do. It's like anytime something charges

563
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:21,800
Speaker 1: in on me, your your initial reaction is to yell

564
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,240
Speaker 1: at it for the most part, and I think it works.

565
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:26,400
Speaker 1: I mean, I've told this story as well, but I've

566
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:28,679
Speaker 1: had a kyote like run in. I think I was

567
00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,040
Speaker 1: like all camed up, had my hands out, and I

568
00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:32,480
Speaker 1: think you just saw my hands and thought it was

569
00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:35,680
Speaker 1: like a wounded rabbit and came running in and it

570
00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:39,600
Speaker 1: just like mock three, just running for me. And I

571
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:41,880
Speaker 1: went to go like punch it in the face, and

572
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,760
Speaker 1: that thing when I popped up, was like, hey, you

573
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:47,520
Speaker 1: know it hit the brakes and just started rolling down

574
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:50,960
Speaker 1: the mountain. I was like, okay, um, you know. But

575
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:53,680
Speaker 1: there's that like instinct that just kicks in that just

576
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,800
Speaker 1: tells you to let them know that you are not prey.

577
00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,000
Speaker 1: And for the most part that in think to just

578
00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:04,400
Speaker 1: be like hey, get out of here, or that yelling

579
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,640
Speaker 1: that that being big that's spooking them. Off. I think

580
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:10,480
Speaker 1: for the most part, they think that they're attacking something

581
00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:13,160
Speaker 1: that maybe they didn't really realize what they were going after.

582
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,000
Speaker 1: I think in the most cases with like a predatory

583
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,360
Speaker 1: response is kind of just an accidental identification, you know.

584
00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:21,200
Speaker 1: You see that with sharks and other things, where it's

585
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:23,640
Speaker 1: a surfer that they thought was a seal. But it's

586
00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:26,000
Speaker 1: random that. You know, not a lot of people are

587
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:29,280
Speaker 1: attacked by certain sharks when they kind of know it's

588
00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:32,880
Speaker 1: it's a person for the most part, which is strange

589
00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:35,120
Speaker 1: to me. I don't I don't really understand that. The

590
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:38,400
Speaker 1: one thing that I've seen that doesn't necessarily tend to

591
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,440
Speaker 1: not attack people would be crocodiles, and I've heard that

592
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,360
Speaker 1: is also true with polar bears. But um, for the

593
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:49,600
Speaker 1: most part, you know, there's an innate fear of humans.

594
00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:51,800
Speaker 1: I think this, I don't know, this is just my

595
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:55,120
Speaker 1: own philosophy here, but like when they haven't been hunted

596
00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:57,520
Speaker 1: for a very long time, maybe maybe they start to

597
00:29:57,560 --> 00:29:59,720
Speaker 1: lose that innate fear. But for some reason, you know,

598
00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,440
Speaker 1: you're initial fight or flight instinct is generally true, generally right,

599
00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,880
Speaker 1: and can probably save your life. So for me to

600
00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,160
Speaker 1: tell you exactly step one, Act big step two. I mean,

601
00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:11,360
Speaker 1: it's it kind of seems to be something that you

602
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,280
Speaker 1: naturally do, but maybe not everybody does. So I think

603
00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:17,080
Speaker 1: that that's just something to think about. Let that thing

604
00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:19,920
Speaker 1: know that you are a person and you aren't going

605
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:23,160
Speaker 1: to be taken lightly. Um And that kind of brings

606
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:27,320
Speaker 1: us to the defense portion. There's so many options people

607
00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:29,520
Speaker 1: love to know, like well, what should I carry. For

608
00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:33,480
Speaker 1: the longest time, in non grizzly bear country, I really

609
00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:35,760
Speaker 1: didn't carry anything, And even in grizzly bear country, I

610
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:37,520
Speaker 1: didn't and I look back now and I'm like, that

611
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:39,840
Speaker 1: was just stupid. As lacks of daisical, it is just

612
00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:43,320
Speaker 1: it probably wasn't the best way to do things, and

613
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:44,960
Speaker 1: part of the reason I didn't have a lot of

614
00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,640
Speaker 1: encounters with stuff. But I would say over the last

615
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:52,160
Speaker 1: ten years, I've seen an explosion in large predator populations

616
00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:53,960
Speaker 1: in a lot of the places I hunt, whether it's

617
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:58,479
Speaker 1: black bears, whether it's wolves, whether it's especially grizzly bears.

618
00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:01,160
Speaker 1: I mean there's places where I gone where we used

619
00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:03,760
Speaker 1: to go look for black bears, and now seem more

620
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:06,440
Speaker 1: grizzly bears than you would see black bears. It's just

621
00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:09,760
Speaker 1: like things have changed over the time, and there's gonna

622
00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:12,240
Speaker 1: be more encounters, and there's gonna be probably more attacks,

623
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:16,000
Speaker 1: and there's probably more need to be prepared. There's very

624
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:18,400
Speaker 1: rare times that I don't go out with some form

625
00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:22,240
Speaker 1: of predator protection, when in the past I probably would

626
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:25,280
Speaker 1: rarely use it um And I just think that that

627
00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:28,160
Speaker 1: incidents and just being smarter and having a little bit

628
00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:32,600
Speaker 1: more more to lose now probably lends itself to that.

629
00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,640
Speaker 1: So I think when it comes to any kind of protection,

630
00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:39,239
Speaker 1: whether it's for black bears, whether you're worried about what,

631
00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:41,800
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter what what you're worried about what's in

632
00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:45,040
Speaker 1: the area. I think there's gonna be two methods. One

633
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:47,320
Speaker 1: is going to be the spray bear spray, and one's

634
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:51,960
Speaker 1: going to be some form of lethal weapon, not the movie,

635
00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:57,560
Speaker 1: but a pistol, a rifle, a shotgun, something to kill

636
00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:00,600
Speaker 1: whatever is trying to attack you. So they're pros and

637
00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,000
Speaker 1: cons to both. I think there's a lot of sides

638
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 1: that particularly root for one or the other. I personally

639
00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:09,440
Speaker 1: feel safer with the pistol if I look at like

640
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:13,240
Speaker 1: stories that I've heard in statistics that I've seen you're like, well, yeah,

641
00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:15,120
Speaker 1: maybe you gotta make a lethal shot. Maybe you need

642
00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:18,040
Speaker 1: to be Um, you could wound it and make them

643
00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:20,840
Speaker 1: more mad. But I feel like the bear spray works

644
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:23,880
Speaker 1: in certain scenarios and not in others. I trust myself

645
00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:27,640
Speaker 1: more with the pistol. Um, and I feel like, well,

646
00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:30,280
Speaker 1: you know, there's also things about the pistol that maybe

647
00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:32,560
Speaker 1: you get attacked and mauled up a little bit, but

648
00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 1: you don't die, or it might scare them away before

649
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:38,000
Speaker 1: the attack even happens. The loud noise of taking a

650
00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,440
Speaker 1: warning shot. If it's out there, a black bear or

651
00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,280
Speaker 1: something out there slapping a tree and getting aggressive and

652
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,480
Speaker 1: you just shoot one off and say, hey, I'm over here,

653
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:50,000
Speaker 1: And that loud noise pretty much every time I've needed

654
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:54,040
Speaker 1: to has scared him away. Um. You know. But I

655
00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:56,240
Speaker 1: also see the benefit of the bear spray. So the

656
00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:58,960
Speaker 1: bear spray, you know, they say you don't have to

657
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,240
Speaker 1: be as accurate with it. You can spray kind of

658
00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,840
Speaker 1: like the grass that they're going to run through. Um,

659
00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:08,040
Speaker 1: it maybe has like a it's like a steady stream,

660
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:10,680
Speaker 1: so you can adjust as the things going coming at you.

661
00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:14,200
Speaker 1: And you weren't thinking as much, and that's true. There

662
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:17,200
Speaker 1: are also, though, those kind of scenarios where you might

663
00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:19,800
Speaker 1: encounter something in the winds blowing really fast in your face.

664
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:22,880
Speaker 1: There might be those encounters where, um, you know, it

665
00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:25,360
Speaker 1: seems like a lot of stories I've heard where people

666
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:27,440
Speaker 1: have sprayed the bear and it didn't stop them and

667
00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,920
Speaker 1: then they died, or there's you know, an empty canna

668
00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 1: bear spray, or they've used the canna bear spray and

669
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:36,360
Speaker 1: had to use a pistol. Uh. But there's also probably

670
00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:40,480
Speaker 1: just as many stories of the spray helping stop something.

671
00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:43,040
Speaker 1: But I don't think, in my opinion, it's just my opinion,

672
00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:46,360
Speaker 1: I haven't heard as many stories of guys, like you know,

673
00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:50,960
Speaker 1: having a pistol and using it and then being fatally killed.

674
00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:54,400
Speaker 1: I'm sure there are, but um, you know, it's just

675
00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:56,320
Speaker 1: in my mind, it doesn't seem like there's as many.

676
00:33:56,480 --> 00:33:59,360
Speaker 1: So take that with what you will. Is conjecture at

677
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:02,280
Speaker 1: this point, I'm just giving you my opinions on things.

678
00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:05,280
Speaker 1: But I feel safe, like if I'm in big bear country,

679
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:08,160
Speaker 1: I feel safer with a pistol I like, and sometimes

680
00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:11,120
Speaker 1: like if I'm bow hunting in grizz country, I generally

681
00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:13,760
Speaker 1: will honestly have both I'll have bear spray and a pistol,

682
00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:16,719
Speaker 1: because I don't think that every scenario like maybe you'll

683
00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:19,920
Speaker 1: get to one faster. Maybe it's like that's the instinct,

684
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:23,720
Speaker 1: you grab this one, and that's what works. I don't know, um,

685
00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:26,280
Speaker 1: but sometimes it's light enough that it may not matter.

686
00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:30,160
Speaker 1: So that's my thought on that. As far as pistol models,

687
00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:33,359
Speaker 1: I mean, there's so many you could ask. Like I said,

688
00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:36,520
Speaker 1: this is one of those things. Everybody's got their favorite gun,

689
00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:40,400
Speaker 1: everybody's got their own theories, Like, just have something that

690
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:45,400
Speaker 1: you're comfortable with. I like the Smith and Wesson forty

691
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:48,400
Speaker 1: four mag for a lot of reasons. It's super lightweight.

692
00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:51,200
Speaker 1: I like the Revolver because I just feel like it

693
00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:54,239
Speaker 1: it's gonna go off when I needed to, um, not

694
00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:57,839
Speaker 1: as my any moving parts and whatever. And on mine,

695
00:34:57,880 --> 00:34:59,800
Speaker 1: I actually it came with a wood grip. I swapped

696
00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:02,920
Speaker 1: it out for synthetic grip. And then I've mentioned this

697
00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:06,000
Speaker 1: maybe in some Q and a's before, but uh, the

698
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:08,440
Speaker 1: cylinder actually has a lock on it. I didn't realize that,

699
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:11,440
Speaker 1: but mine malfunctioned and the cylinder locked on me. So

700
00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:14,560
Speaker 1: I took it to a gunsmith and had that lock removed.

701
00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:17,200
Speaker 1: I'd probably just suggest that straight out of the box.

702
00:35:17,239 --> 00:35:18,880
Speaker 1: If you go with a revolver and it happens to

703
00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:21,439
Speaker 1: have a cylinder lock on it, it's like this weird

704
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:23,919
Speaker 1: thing a safety feature to lock it with a key.

705
00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:26,319
Speaker 1: I didn't even know that was possible. But if you

706
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,600
Speaker 1: have it, I would just spend the money right to

707
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:30,080
Speaker 1: have a box and get rid of it. If it's

708
00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:32,319
Speaker 1: for like saving your life, you know you don't want that.

709
00:35:32,520 --> 00:35:34,920
Speaker 1: Like mine malfunctioned and I couldn't fire it again, I

710
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:38,480
Speaker 1: couldn't open the cylinder, I couldn't do anything. Um So

711
00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:40,799
Speaker 1: that's that's something you think about. Another really popular one,

712
00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:44,279
Speaker 1: and I like this one as well, glock twenty in

713
00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:47,399
Speaker 1: ten millimeter. There's a lot of good reasons to carry

714
00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:51,360
Speaker 1: this instead of a revolver one. You've got sixteen rounds.

715
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:54,160
Speaker 1: You got fifteen in the magazine and one in the chamber.

716
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:57,040
Speaker 1: That's a lot of firepower. When things go down, you

717
00:35:57,040 --> 00:35:58,960
Speaker 1: can go through a few rounds pretty quick. You can

718
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:01,400
Speaker 1: probably stay on target faster, you might be more accurate

719
00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:04,160
Speaker 1: with it. Um So that's another good choice as well,

720
00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:06,799
Speaker 1: and people now I would say that's probably one of

721
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:09,920
Speaker 1: the more popular calibers for even large bear defense like

722
00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:12,600
Speaker 1: brown bear, grizzly bear defense in Alaska. I see a

723
00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:16,080
Speaker 1: lot of guys carrying it. It's lighter, it's lightweight. UM,

724
00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:20,000
Speaker 1: it's pretty durable. It seems to be a pretty good standard.

725
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:23,120
Speaker 1: I actually had a a SIG ten millimeter, but the

726
00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:26,040
Speaker 1: one I got it was like the Sig Hunter. It's

727
00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:28,720
Speaker 1: more of like made for hunting. It's a little bit heavier,

728
00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:30,439
Speaker 1: and so I don't really carry it that much because

729
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:35,280
Speaker 1: it's it's pretty heavy. UM with anything, I actually say,

730
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,719
Speaker 1: you know, make sure you just get good ammo. I

731
00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:42,400
Speaker 1: like having like a solid you know, hardcast bullet or

732
00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:46,080
Speaker 1: um full metal jacket, something that's just pretty solid, a

733
00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:49,080
Speaker 1: lot of weight, and you know, maybe souped up with

734
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:52,719
Speaker 1: a little bit more powder, something that's got just a

735
00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:54,440
Speaker 1: little bit of snap, a little bit of pop, a

736
00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:57,880
Speaker 1: little bit of kinetic energy. What's probably gonna kill the

737
00:36:57,880 --> 00:36:59,520
Speaker 1: bear is shooting it in the head if it's a

738
00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:02,319
Speaker 1: large or anything. But I think that that sound of

739
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:06,560
Speaker 1: the gun going off, um, in that kind of defensive action,

740
00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:10,200
Speaker 1: especially with things like mountain lions, black bears, whatever, it

741
00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:13,160
Speaker 1: will probably it could be enough to scare them off.

742
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:15,520
Speaker 1: Even if it's not going to be fatal right away.

743
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:19,920
Speaker 1: When I'm in non big bear country, I generally, if

744
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:24,520
Speaker 1: I'm considered like thinking, okay, defense from black bears, defense

745
00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:27,120
Speaker 1: from mountain lions, I want to carry something, I generally

746
00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:30,520
Speaker 1: just take nine millimeter. I've got to pick some solid

747
00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:33,200
Speaker 1: heavy rounds available, and it's more just peace of mind.

748
00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:35,960
Speaker 1: The nine millimeter is a little bit lighter. It's kind

749
00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:37,960
Speaker 1: of my e d C anyways, So I just kind

750
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:39,960
Speaker 1: of take that on a lot of hunts where there's

751
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:43,799
Speaker 1: not where I'm not expecting to encounter big bears. And

752
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:46,799
Speaker 1: I have read a lot of stories of guys that

753
00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:51,360
Speaker 1: have like killed brown bears or stopped a brown lethal

754
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:54,240
Speaker 1: brown bear charge with a nine millimeter, So it is possible.

755
00:37:54,280 --> 00:37:57,400
Speaker 1: I don't think it's recommended by anyone, but I don't know.

756
00:37:57,440 --> 00:37:59,640
Speaker 1: I mean, I know guys that carry them in Alaska

757
00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:02,160
Speaker 1: when they're fishing and other things because they're accurate with

758
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:05,880
Speaker 1: it and they feel safe with it. And that's I

759
00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:08,600
Speaker 1: think is like just feeling confident, like you feel safe

760
00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:11,040
Speaker 1: and you're gonna do your best you can to survive

761
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:14,120
Speaker 1: if something does happen. I think the last bit of

762
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:17,800
Speaker 1: advice is just whatever you choose, you really want to

763
00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:20,000
Speaker 1: make sure that you know how to use it. Uh,

764
00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:22,040
Speaker 1: there's a couple of drills that you could do, or

765
00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:23,799
Speaker 1: quite a few drills that you could do that I

766
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,719
Speaker 1: think you should do. Whatever you're gonna use, know how

767
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:28,800
Speaker 1: to use it, no how the safety catch works, know

768
00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:31,719
Speaker 1: where you keep it, keep it something that's like you

769
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:33,880
Speaker 1: don't even have to think about it. You've practiced drawing,

770
00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:37,040
Speaker 1: you've practiced shooting, You've practiced all these things. What I

771
00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:39,040
Speaker 1: like to do with my pistols is just put targets,

772
00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:43,360
Speaker 1: you know, a bare head sized target out at varying ranges,

773
00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:46,480
Speaker 1: and then make it that I've got to shoot in one, two, three,

774
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:49,560
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Really fast, Just draw, shoot, draw, shoot,

775
00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:52,160
Speaker 1: just like you would in any kind of self defense

776
00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:56,720
Speaker 1: shooting scenario. It's a fast draw, fast, accurate shot, and

777
00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:59,279
Speaker 1: understanding how that gun works in the best way for

778
00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:02,799
Speaker 1: you to make that quick, fast shot. The same thing

779
00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:05,400
Speaker 1: goes with the bear spray practice pulling it out, flipping

780
00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:09,040
Speaker 1: off the safety. They actually have practice canisters. I've lit

781
00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,000
Speaker 1: off a few um old ones that I feel like

782
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:14,200
Speaker 1: now they're expired and I just want to see they

783
00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:16,360
Speaker 1: put it out a decent fog, a decent stream. The

784
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:19,279
Speaker 1: amount of time they last seems like a long like

785
00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:21,680
Speaker 1: thirty I don't know how long they last, but I

786
00:39:21,719 --> 00:39:24,879
Speaker 1: feel like some last for like ten twenty seconds. That's

787
00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:27,160
Speaker 1: a long time. It seems like a long time. But

788
00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:29,560
Speaker 1: you also think about it, You're like, Okay, don't do

789
00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:33,640
Speaker 1: it with the wind blowing towards you. Um. I've actually

790
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:36,239
Speaker 1: been toying with this idea of building like a I've

791
00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:40,280
Speaker 1: kind of got this like plans for this robotic not robotic. Um,

792
00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:43,120
Speaker 1: I'm gonna hook it up to a rope, like a

793
00:39:43,239 --> 00:39:46,719
Speaker 1: toable target that kind of rolls towards you. I've seen

794
00:39:46,719 --> 00:39:49,720
Speaker 1: guys use tires with targets and it just practice shooting

795
00:39:49,719 --> 00:39:52,719
Speaker 1: it a moving target. There's lots of lots of good

796
00:39:52,719 --> 00:39:55,600
Speaker 1: ways to practice. But you know, you shouldn't like feel

797
00:39:55,640 --> 00:39:59,239
Speaker 1: super confident with yourself going out and not practicing, because

798
00:39:59,239 --> 00:40:01,319
Speaker 1: it's just like anything. I would never go out on

799
00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:03,239
Speaker 1: a deer hunter or an l hunt with my bow

800
00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:05,600
Speaker 1: and not know how the bow shoots and not shoot

801
00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:07,960
Speaker 1: it really well. So I wouldn't trust my life with

802
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:10,239
Speaker 1: a pistol and not on how the pistol shoots are

803
00:40:10,239 --> 00:40:13,120
Speaker 1: operates or shoot it really use it really well. So

804
00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:15,360
Speaker 1: I think that those are all things to kind of consider.

805
00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:18,560
Speaker 1: And then the last thing. Anytime that I'm in backcountry

806
00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:22,880
Speaker 1: scenario and I am used carrying something for predator protection,

807
00:40:23,840 --> 00:40:26,279
Speaker 1: you definitely got to maintain it while you're out there.

808
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:28,600
Speaker 1: It's a pain, but it's something you need to think about.

809
00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:31,640
Speaker 1: If the components are rusted, then it's not gonna work.

810
00:40:31,719 --> 00:40:35,160
Speaker 1: So throughout the day, I generally like clean it the

811
00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:37,080
Speaker 1: best I can. Every night when I get back to

812
00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:40,720
Speaker 1: the tent, I always carry like, um, I just carry

813
00:40:40,719 --> 00:40:44,080
Speaker 1: like an extra lens cloth. I don't like vortex binoculars

814
00:40:44,239 --> 00:40:46,320
Speaker 1: came with like a lens cloth. I used that mostly

815
00:40:46,719 --> 00:40:50,560
Speaker 1: like a shammy type towel thing. Dry them off, and

816
00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:54,000
Speaker 1: then I often we'll take one of those just like

817
00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:57,759
Speaker 1: oiled rags and kind of coat them up. And then

818
00:40:57,800 --> 00:41:00,239
Speaker 1: I take all the ammunition out, take all the bullets out,

819
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:02,920
Speaker 1: line everything out, dry everything out, laid out in my

820
00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:05,480
Speaker 1: tent for a little bit, and then put it back

821
00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:07,880
Speaker 1: together once it's all dry, and make sure everything works.

822
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:12,439
Speaker 1: And you know, generally don't when at night, I don't

823
00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:14,160
Speaker 1: stick it back in like a wet hole. So you

824
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:16,719
Speaker 1: just make sure you've got it somewhere safe where it's

825
00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:19,640
Speaker 1: not gonna you know, you're gonna accidentally discharge it or

826
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:22,520
Speaker 1: anything like that, but um, just somewhere where it's dry.

827
00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:24,719
Speaker 1: Make sure the holster's dry. Make sure everything is dry.

828
00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:26,680
Speaker 1: Could even like if you got flown in you could

829
00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:28,520
Speaker 1: even just have like a backup holster that you put

830
00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:32,120
Speaker 1: it in. Whatever. Um, just make sure that everything's dry

831
00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:34,239
Speaker 1: so you don't get a rusted gun. When you need

832
00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:36,920
Speaker 1: to use it, it doesn't fire, so you just maintain it.

833
00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:40,160
Speaker 1: And with all those things, you know, you should have

834
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:42,319
Speaker 1: a little bit more confidence when you go out there.

835
00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:45,240
Speaker 1: I will say, like kind of as my closing thoughts,

836
00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:47,400
Speaker 1: I think that it's something that you need to consider,

837
00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:50,640
Speaker 1: but I don't think it should be something that detracts

838
00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:52,799
Speaker 1: you from going out there. I also think though that

839
00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:56,320
Speaker 1: if you're like, hey, i've never hunted in big Bear country,

840
00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:58,840
Speaker 1: maybe just or any country where there's a large preders,

841
00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:01,080
Speaker 1: maybe go somewhere where there's black bears and mountain lions

842
00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:04,600
Speaker 1: and no grizzly bears for your first trip and kind

843
00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:07,759
Speaker 1: of say like, Okay, I'm comfortable. I understand like these

844
00:42:07,840 --> 00:42:11,240
Speaker 1: encounters are very rare. I'm ready in case something does happen,

845
00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:14,359
Speaker 1: but it's not detracting from my entire experience. And then

846
00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:17,439
Speaker 1: as you kind of build up that experience and that confidence, yeah,

847
00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:20,719
Speaker 1: go into areas where there's larger bears and just understand.

848
00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:24,280
Speaker 1: It's a recognizable threat. It's something that can be dangerous,

849
00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:28,080
Speaker 1: but just like anything, you're prepared for it. You're taking

850
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:31,799
Speaker 1: proper precautions and not doing stupid things, and for the

851
00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:36,360
Speaker 1: most part, you should be okay. That's my disclaimer, you

852
00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:39,720
Speaker 1: should be okay. But yeah, I think that it's something

853
00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:41,920
Speaker 1: that I think a lot of people get sketched out

854
00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:43,439
Speaker 1: on or it gets in your mind and you start

855
00:42:43,520 --> 00:42:45,480
Speaker 1: thinking about it. I think that you should think about it.

856
00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:47,359
Speaker 1: You should be prepared about it, but you shouldn't let

857
00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:50,120
Speaker 1: the fear of it kind of ruin your outdoor enjoyment.

858
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:55,600
Speaker 1: And that's just my two cents. I hope that answered

859
00:42:55,600 --> 00:42:59,239
Speaker 1: a few questions. Speaking of questions, next week, we're gonna

860
00:42:59,239 --> 00:43:02,480
Speaker 1: be doing a Q and A that's I really enjoy

861
00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:04,160
Speaker 1: those Q and A s. And actually I've been getting

862
00:43:04,160 --> 00:43:08,440
Speaker 1: a lot of great questions already, so keep those coming. Um.

863
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:12,920
Speaker 1: I will compile all those here. Probably the day after

864
00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:15,879
Speaker 1: this this episode air. So if you're on the front

865
00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:17,560
Speaker 1: end of listening, if you listen to it every the

866
00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:21,360
Speaker 1: podcast every Thursday, your questions are probably gonna get answered first.

867
00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:23,759
Speaker 1: Because I like to just compile those questions as soon

868
00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:25,680
Speaker 1: as I get them. The best way to send them

869
00:43:25,719 --> 00:43:30,040
Speaker 1: to me is at Remy Warren on Instagram and um

870
00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:31,960
Speaker 1: the way I do it, I generally kind of like

871
00:43:32,080 --> 00:43:35,040
Speaker 1: scroll through, see good questions or questions that are similar,

872
00:43:35,120 --> 00:43:38,160
Speaker 1: screenshot them, and then I sit down and just kind

873
00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:40,520
Speaker 1: of randomly start reading through those or find ones that

874
00:43:40,600 --> 00:43:43,120
Speaker 1: had a lot of people kind of asking similar questions.

875
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:46,560
Speaker 1: I also try to tailor a lot of these episodes

876
00:43:47,040 --> 00:43:49,399
Speaker 1: to those questions. So if you're like, man, I really

877
00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:51,840
Speaker 1: want to see this podcast this direction or this direction,

878
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:53,960
Speaker 1: you gotta reach out. You gotta let me know, because

879
00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:55,680
Speaker 1: if I don't know that, I can't talk about it.

880
00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:58,480
Speaker 1: Um So next week is going to be the your

881
00:43:58,560 --> 00:44:01,040
Speaker 1: chance to interact with me and me to answer you know,

882
00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:04,400
Speaker 1: your specific questions. I do generally try to keep a

883
00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:07,000
Speaker 1: lot of like identifying stuff out of it, as far

884
00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:09,440
Speaker 1: as so many people say, Hey, I'm hunting in Montana

885
00:44:09,480 --> 00:44:12,440
Speaker 1: in this mountain range, right or whatever. I will leave

886
00:44:12,480 --> 00:44:15,520
Speaker 1: that out just because not for that person particularly, but

887
00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:17,680
Speaker 1: anybody else that might hunt there. I don't want to

888
00:44:17,719 --> 00:44:20,240
Speaker 1: blow spots out or anything like that, but I would

889
00:44:20,239 --> 00:44:23,440
Speaker 1: ask that if you want um put your name, you

890
00:44:23,440 --> 00:44:25,719
Speaker 1: can either do first and last or just first name

891
00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:28,880
Speaker 1: and where you're from, city, state, whatever, anything you know

892
00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:32,520
Speaker 1: something to kind of um let people know where you're

893
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:33,960
Speaker 1: from and where you're at, and I'll give you a

894
00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:37,160
Speaker 1: little shout out. And I appreciate I appreciate you guys

895
00:44:37,239 --> 00:44:41,000
Speaker 1: listening into the podcast, especially the guys that listen kind

896
00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:44,280
Speaker 1: of every week, and and definitely everybody that leaves a comment.

897
00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:47,000
Speaker 1: I've been reading through some of these. I really appreciate those.

898
00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:50,520
Speaker 1: If you guys can feel free to, you know, subscribe,

899
00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:53,279
Speaker 1: leave a comment, leave a rating. I appreciate all that

900
00:44:53,320 --> 00:44:57,920
Speaker 1: kind of stuff. So until next week, just be bear

901
00:44:57,960 --> 00:45:01,400
Speaker 1: aware and don't get eaten by a mountain