WEBVTT - Ep. 111: Dirk's Oregon Blues Elk Hunt Recap 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:15.640 And we're back with another episode of Cutting the Distance podcast. 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:19.400 I'm the host Dirk Durham today and I'm in the 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:25.120 beautiful blue mountains of Oregon, Northeastern Oregon. If you will, 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:29.120 I've got my buddy Derek Miller, who is an owner 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:35.440 operator of an outfitting business here in Oregon in some 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:38.720 of the big three units ELK units in Oregon, which, uh, 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:42.040 which are you? How many units do you guide in? 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:45.280 Here? I'm permitted to operate in all of the big 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:48.360 three that I primarily operate in Mount Emily and Wanaha. 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:55.200 Okay, yeah, nice, nice. We just wrapped up like a 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:58.600 what's a lifetime type of ELK hunt for me here 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:01.120 in Oregon here in one of the those big three units. 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:02.920 I don't know if do we want to tell people 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:04.920 where it's at or they'll probably figure it out, but 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:06.640 I always had to leave a little mystery. 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:10.920 Yeah, it doesn't matter to me. The availability of tags 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:12.600 is so small that it doesn't really matter. 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:17.520 But right right, well, I had the opportunity to come 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:23.000 hunt with Derek through the Outfitter Tag program. So an outfitter, 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:28.040 the outfitters apply for an opportunity to draw a tag 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.640 one tag in these units tell us how that works. 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:37.320 So licensed outfitters in Oregon can apply for non resident 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:40.640 outfitter tags in the Big Three and if you're if 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:42.600 you're issued one of those tags, if you're lucky enough 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:45.119 to draw it, then they'll if you for service, will 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:49.840 issue you a operating permit for that hunt. I happen 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:54.760 to have a priority permit on part of that National 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:57.960 forest and a temporary permit year to year permit on 0:01:58.000 --> 0:01:58.840 the rest of it. 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:03.240 So yeah, that's coo. And then I was able to 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:07.720 have the opportunity to buy that tag. It's it's crazy, 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:11.000 you know, some people kind of poo poo on that idea, 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:13.919 which I kind of get. You know, it's there's a 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.919 lot of folks who will spend twenty plus years applying 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:20.240 as a resident in this state trying to draw a tag, 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:23.239 and and it's probably a little disheartening for them when 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:25.400 some jerk like me comes along and buys a tag. 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:27.760 But you know this is you know, the state, the 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:30.560 state does this, They allow it. Somebody's gonna buy the tag, 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.880 and and by gully, this time, it's just a good 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:37.239 old kid from we Ipe that I would have never 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:38.880 thought in a million years I'd ever been able to 0:02:38.919 --> 0:02:42.920 hunt this unit, So I'm super thankful and fortunate to 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:46.679 come here. But man, I was really I've been really 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:49.600 looking forward to this this hunt all summer. You've sent 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:53.960 me pictures of some big bulls you've been scouting, and 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:58.279 then in September hit and you had some cool videos 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:01.880 on from from trail camps of bulls on wallows, bugling 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:07.080 and stuff, and that's really cool. I'm just I'm just wondering, 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:12.720 what is your normal what's your normal client base look like? 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:15.600 Is that? You know? I feel like some people get 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:20.200 this idea that like, oh, somebody went with an outfitter there, 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:23.600 they must not be a good hunter, or oh they 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:26.040 should have just did that theirself, or oh outfitted hunt 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:28.359 not for me. I don't want to even hear about it, right, 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:32.079 but I feel like there's some weird misconceptions about who 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:34.160 actually will book a hunt with an outfitter. 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:37.400 Right in the Big Three, it's kind of a unique 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:40.800 situation because it takes so long to draw, and the 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:43.080 average age of a hunter that draws the Big Three 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:45.680 because it takes twenty plus years to draw, is probably 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:51.640 fifty and above. So the age demographic is probably fifty 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:55.720 to seventy on average. Those are the guys that are 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:59.240 typically booking hunts. The guy that's, you know, twenty to thirty, 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:02.080 he's still he still thinks he can do it on 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:03.760 his own, which he can. There's no reason that he 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:06.960 can't do it alone. But we all know as we 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:12.480 get older, we have physical limitations and time limitations. So 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:14.880 the average guy is going to be fifty to seventies, 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:18.800 probably either retired or a business owner. He has the 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:22.279 disposable income to hire an outfitter. He doesn't have a 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:26.039 lot of excess time to come and scout like you 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:28.120 would want to for a twenty five year tag to 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:32.919 do that tag justice and do your due diligence to 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:37.680 find yourself a bull. So he's probably the average. Most 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:40.799 all of them are hunters of one type or another, 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:44.560 all different skill levels. There's some really experienced hunters and 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:47.279 there's some that have never killed a bull. The vast, 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:51.560 vast majority of my clients have probably never killed a 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:55.360 mature bowl. They may have spy hunted or cow hunter 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:58.480 or whatever, but they've never killed a mature bowl anyway. 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.000 It's not that they're new hunters, it's just that in Oregon, 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:06.599 our opportunities are somewhat limited to hunt big bulls. We 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:08.760 don't have a ton of units that have them, and 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:10.960 the ones that do have them, it takes a bit 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:15.400 to draw a tag, so the average hunter just wants 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:18.080 to maximize what he's got. You know, it took him 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:19.960 twenty five years to get the tag, and he doesn't 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:23.960 want to waste it, so he hires a guide. And 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:26.360 the benefits of the guide, there's a lot of them. 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:29.560 But the guide knows the country better than you'll ever 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:31.680 know it, even though you may have friends that have 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:34.640 hunted it with friends or whatever. The guides are hunting 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:38.320 that every single year, two months out of the year 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:41.440 between archery season and rifle season, so they're just they're 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:45.520 familiar with the unit in waste that most people aren't. 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:48.640 It Also, you know, maybe they don't have the equipment. 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.280 It's late season, we can end up with a lot 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:55.840 of snow. Transportation can be an issue. So sometimes it's 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:58.200 equipment they don't have. Sometimes it's the time they don't 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:02.000 have the scout. Sometimes it's maybe the knowledge. They don't 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:04.080 feel like they have enough knowledge to kill a ball 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.719 that they've been waiting twenty years to kill, so there's 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:11.040 a lot of reasons. I've found. Very rarely it's because 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:15.480 the person is inept. It's just they've weighed the they've 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:17.400 weighed the odds, and they think that their odds are 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:18.960 stacked better with help. 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:22.920 Absolutely well. One thing I've kind of noticed over the 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:28.760 years is when some people draw really hard to get tag, 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:32.880 whether it's Oregon or Idaho or Utah or whatever, they 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:36.120 may have a network of friends that like are are like, hey, 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.240 I want to go along and help. But not everybody 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:42.039 has a network of friends that want to or can 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.200 you know, some of us are friends just they work, 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:45.000 you know, they can't get. 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:46.839 Out, And a lot of times you have when you 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:49.320 draw the tag, you have a whole bunch of people 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:51.920 that want to help, but as the time approaches, they 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:54.480 can't get time off, or life happens like it does 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:56.400 for all of us, and some of those guys find 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:58.000 out that they're going to be on their own, and 0:06:58.120 --> 0:06:59.800 if or maybe they have one or two friends. But 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:03.600 if you're fifty to seventy, your friends are mostly fifty 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:06.680 to seventy, and so they may not be quite the 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:07.360 help you need. 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.679 Right so right, yeah, and there, you know, it's nothing 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:14.680 beats boots on the ground, somebody that's been in the 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:17.840 unit a lot and familiar with the area and the 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:22.160 areas that help frequent and you know, it's it sure 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:23.760 saves a lot of leg work. Definitely. 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:29.040 Yeah, it's nice that you can on day one because 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:30.920 it takes over twenty years to draw the tag. Most 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:33.160 people haven't scouted the unit and they think they're going 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:35.560 to scout the unit in the months leading up, but 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:39.440 they don't. Either they don't because of time constraints, or 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:42.800 even when they do. Where the elk are in June 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:46.520 and July and August and September, they probably aren't going 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:51.320 to be in November. So it's kind of you're scouting 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:55.400 country but not really scouting elk. And so it's also 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:57.760 nice that on day one you hit the ground running. 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:00.360 We've all gone places where we're not familiar with, really 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:02.520 a new place. We're kind of going in blind, maybe 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:05.240 with some scouting, but how many days do you spend 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:08.200 just kind of get the feel of the country, And 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:10.640 this way you don't have to. Your guy's already been there. 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:14.240 He's probably been there. Hopefully he's been there in the 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:17.760 days right prior to your hunt, so he already has 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:20.480 Elk spotted. You know, we knew exactly where we were 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:23.960 going this morning. We knew exactly where we were going. 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:26.960 We had videos of Elk that we wanted to kill 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:31.320 from less than twenty four hours ago. So I think 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:33.559 there's some real benefits to And it's not that a 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:35.839 guy can't do that. I'm not saying that they can't 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:39.160 do it on their own. They can, but it's sometimes 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:41.280 and for certain people, I think it's just a better 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:44.640 option if you have the ability to do it. 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:47.120 Right right or when it comes to like get an 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:49.760 animal out, you know, right, let's say once you're successful, 0:08:50.120 --> 0:08:52.360 I mean, and Elk is a big animal and his 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:55.920 canyons are pretty steep, right and rugged here and a 0:08:55.920 --> 0:08:57.839 lot of folks, you know, it's it's going to be 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:00.480 a big burden to get it out, and you know, 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:03.120 especially if you're diy do it yourself, and you may 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:06.440 not have that again, that safety rope or network of friends, 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:09.120 or maybe all your friends are back home, you know, 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:11.600 eight hours from here, and they just can't run over 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:13.719 to help you pack out an Elk man. It's sure 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:16.400 is nice to you know, have yeah. 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:18.320 A group of guys right there that can just throw 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:19.400 it on their back and get out. 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:22.800 Yeah, make it a one trip pack out and it's done. 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:26.120 And man, it's it's fun. Yeah, it's really fun. 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:28.760 It makes it a lot more enjoyable. There's something to 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:30.960 be said for the suffering of packing a bull out 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:34.560 over several days by yourself, but there's also something to 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:36.880 be said for getting it done and sitting around camp 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:40.319 just visiting for a few hours afterwards too. Oh yeah, definitely, 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:42.080 it's both ways are great. 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:48.240 So my expectations when I came on this hunt, I've 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:51.400 always tempered my expectations for all hunting because I've been 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:54.400 hunting for thirty five years, you know, do it yourself 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:57.480 type hunting, so I understand what hunting is about. You know, 0:09:58.320 --> 0:09:59.800 of course you're going to set your sights on the 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:03.600 big animal you can possibly find, and we would all 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.679 like to go home with that three fifty or three 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:09.680 eighty or whatever number type of bowl or just maybe 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.000 just I want a big, heavy six point or whatever. 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.480 So coming into this hunt, I always try to like 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:20.440 temper my expectations. I didn't have a number set on 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:23.920 a bowl. I just I wanted to shoot a big, 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:28.960 beautiful bowl. I didn't care if it was a perfect six. 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:32.199 I didn't care if it was a lopsided seven by eight. 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:35.040 I like, you know, with weird points. I didn't really care. 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:39.520 I just wanted a cool opportunity, a cool bowl that 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:44.319 I that I liked when I seen it. And sometimes 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:48.080 you find those on the first day. Sometimes a guy 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:50.840 don't find those at all in a season, or maybe 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:56.240 you find them on the last day. But today, man, wait, 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:00.760 the elk gods smiled on us, like they put one 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.000 right in front of us. We We've done a little 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:05.079 bit of due diligence the night before and spotted a 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:08.200 really nice seven by eight, And I'm like, oh, man, 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:12.320 I want that thing. And but I know hunting, and 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:16.360 I just know how it works to where just because 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.400 you see one the night before and they're and and 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:21.280 and you guys have been watching them for a for 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.720 a day or two, and it's like, it doesn't mean 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:26.439 it's a gimme tomorrow morning. 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:30.760 That elker they have seen killing two different things entirely. 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:34.680 Yeah, yep. And then you have you have some other 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:37.160 things in the equation. We're not out here just this 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:41.240 is not like an exclusive private land place. You know, 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:44.440 there are a few uh mature bull tags, you know, 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:47.760 branch bull tags. But there's a lot of spike hunters 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:51.079 out hunting, so you know, it's public land, so we're 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:53.480 gonna out We're to be out here competing with those guys. 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:56.880 And you know, we always hope and that everyone's gonna 0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:59.560 be respectful because we're going to be respectful. But sometimes 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:04.440 you just ever know what could happen till it could 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:06.800 you know, we could have the whole hillside to ourself, 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:10.080 we could be sharing it with twenty other people, right, 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:14.240 So I just kind of tempered my expectations, like I 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:16.080 just want to have a really fun hunt. I've never 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:19.240 hunted here for myself before. I got to hunt this 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:22.559 area with Jason Phelps here in twenty twenty one and 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:25.520 enjoyed it, and I thought it was a really cool experience. 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:28.559 And I just thought, you know, I just want to 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:31.280 have a good time and see lots of elk and 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:35.760 see lots of bowls, and maybe I'll get fortunate enough 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:38.400 to get a nice one that I want to shoot 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:39.679 within range. 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:43.680 Right, And I think I think people should temper their expectation. 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:46.600 We all, I had wind Aha in twenty eighteen, and 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.160 of course I had high expectations. But as you go 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:52.199 into the hunt, you when you're thinking about it, you're 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:54.600 only thinking about the end result. I'm going to kill 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:56.439 a three fifty bowl or three sixty year or whatever 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:59.400 your number is. But you don't realize. And we talked 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:01.680 about it last when we saw that seven by eight bowl, 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.240 and we're like, we pretty much had that thing already 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:07.360 on our backs at that point. We were like, this 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:09.920 is going to happen on the wall, right, Yeah, But 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:13.120 then you start to realize and then, like I think 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:16.839 I said, anything can happen, we start to get these 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:20.320 wild card things that come up, and like last night, 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:22.840 we're watching that bull and all of a sudden, there's 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:24.959 other people that hadn't seen the bull but just kind 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:27.360 of showed up randomly looking like they're doing the same 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.280 that we were when we found the bull. And so 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:31.920 now you've got other DIY hunters with branch boll tags 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:35.320 that are watching the same bull. And like you said, 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:39.760 there was sometimes people are respectful, sometimes they're not. Uh. 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:43.040 We had spike hunters rolling on us this morning, like 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:45.080 walk right up next to us while we're glassing for 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.079 the bull. That was a wild card. We had wind, 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:49.559 We had snow, we had, fog, we had There's all 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:51.680 these wild cards that come in that you don't really 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:53.880 think about, and those are the ones that kind of 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:57.720 beat you down mentally to where a guy will either 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:02.240 settle for something way less than they wanted or or quit. 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:04.720 There's the success rate is high in these units, but 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:06.719 it's not one hundred percent, even though there's a lot 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:10.560 of ilk. And I think really my favorite clients are 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:12.400 the ones that say, well, I've never killed a big bull, 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:14.839 I've never killed a bull, or I've killed a bowl 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:17.440 three hundred inch bul and so they just want that 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:21.960 to be the best bowl of their life. And it's 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:24.360 not that I don't think they can do better than 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:28.680 that goal, but that's a realistic goal and you'll never 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:31.720 feel shorted if you can achieve that goal. Or maybe 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:33.720 they just want to kill a mature bull. That bull 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:38.920 you killed was a mature bull, beautiful bull. It wasn't 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:41.560 a seven by eight, no, but it's a beautiful bull. 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:43.640 There's nothing wrong with that bull, you know what I mean. 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:48.120 So I think it is important to temper your expectations 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:50.440 with reality. And if you talk to people that hunt 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:55.000 the unit a lot frequently, guides or other people. You'll 0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:59.320 realize that there's not three eighty bulls around every tree. 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:01.840 You're not going to to see three fifty bowls every 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:06.000 day or even every week, right and so, and weather 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:09.360 is huge too. You know, the first week we generally 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:12.080 have pretty good weather, and in the area that we're hunting, 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:14.600 the first week there's no snow, and the elk are 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:16.760 still here. But by next week, if we've got a 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:19.040 foot of snow or six eight inches of snow, these 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:22.320 elk are gone. And so sometimes you shoot the elk 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:25.200 that's in front of you if you like the bowl, 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:28.080 instead of waiting and trying to hold out and getting greedy. 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:30.360 And then you know, later in the week it's snows 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:32.880 and there's nothing, and so you've kind of shot yourself 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:35.640 in the foot over some pride, you know what I mean. 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:37.800 Yeah, yeah, And this is a short hunt. This is 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:39.400 a five day hunt. You know, it's not like we 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:43.440 have two weeks to enjoy these mountains and turn over 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:47.360 every rock and just be choosy and super choosy. So 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:51.640 I thought, you know, with everything considered, a lot of 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:55.080 hunters around with weather coming. 0:15:54.840 --> 0:15:56.520 In, it's snowing right now. 0:15:56.600 --> 0:15:58.440 Yeah, you guys may hear the wind, and we got 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:02.440 the generator going, and it's snowing outside now, like it 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:05.640 could snow a couple of inches tonight. It could snow afoot, 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:06.040 it could. 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:07.360 Yeah, you just don't know. 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:09.040 We don't know what that's going to be, but we 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:12.320 do know it's going to affect the elk one way 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:16.040 or another, and probably not in our favor. And a 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:18.680 lot of times, well I was just glad, like where 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:21.160 we packed packed this bull out if I can't imagine 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:22.720 if that had been snow on the ground that we'd 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.640 have had it had been dangerous, like it was switch dangerous. 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:27.720 And I carry I carry a couple pair of crampons 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:30.000 that I can give guys that are like one inch crampons, 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.440 regular mountaineering crampons, and those help immensely on that really slick, 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:35.520 frozen ground. But luckily we didn't need it. 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:40.360 But yeah, thank goodness. But anyway, I was able to 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:43.120 make a good shot. You know, we had some pretty 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:47.480 gusty winds this morning, and then right it when the 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:50.640 shot was when I was able to take that shot, 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:53.040 the wind kind of switched to be kind of blowing 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:55.440 right in her face, so you know, wasn't left or 0:16:55.520 --> 0:17:00.160 right and made a good shot and then the I 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:02.040 hit him pretty good, but I ended up having to 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:06.200 make a follow up shot, which made a okay shot 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:07.879 when when I took the follow up shot it was 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:10.520 really windy then. So you guys will be able to 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:12.760 see all this whole. I shouldn't even I shouldn't even 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:15.840 spoil it because you'll be able to see the video 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:17.520 where you have the video come out and we'll let 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:19.959 you know when it's out. But you'll be able to 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:22.280 And if you want to go, check out my Instagram, 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:27.680 it's the Bugler and I'll collaborate with Philips game calls 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:29.520 and you'll be able to see the bull on there 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:32.600 the picture of it. But he was a beautiful six point. 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:37.199 He was every like I said, everybody comes here with 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:39.760 stars in her eyes, including me. It's like he never 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:41.600 know you might get a three eighty bowl. 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:43.480 But that's the attraction to the Big Three. 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:43.879 It is. 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:46.480 It is the wild like you never know, you never 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:48.680 know what might walk out. You just don't know what's 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:51.439 going to walk out. We didn't expect that seven by 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:53.080 eight to be what he was when he walked out 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:55.719 last night. Either. We had seen him in the timber 0:17:55.880 --> 0:18:00.159 the day before that, couldn't really see his whole frame 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:02.200 and everything he had, but he was a really cool, 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.960 unique bowl that anybody would have shot. Yeah in that unit. 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:08.640 Yeah, and the bowl I squeezed the trigger on. Yeah, 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:11.080 I'm so happy with it. I'm very happy. He's a 0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:14.480 beautiful bull. If I was to draw a picture of 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:16.679 a bowl in my mind before it came, I would 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:19.760 probably draw a picture the shape of antlers like that. 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:24.400 It's just he's pretty, he's well proportioned. He's symmetrical, yeah, 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:26.879 which I was kind of laughing last night. I'm like, 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:29.600 I I typically, if you look at my horn pile, 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:33.360 I've got some asymmetrical stuff. It's like not like non typical. 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:35.800 It's just like one side's really good, one side's not 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:38.679 so good, or one side's a little different. And I 0:18:38.720 --> 0:18:40.520 thought for sure it was like, oh yeah, I'll probably 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:42.359 get that seven by eight, But no, I got a 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:46.480 beautiful symmetrical six by six, which was surprising to me. 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:50.880 So really yeah, so that was really fun. Well, listen, 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:52.960 we're gonna shift gears here. We're gonna do the old 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:59.400 Pendleton Whiskey question and answer segment. And first question, Now, 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:01.800 this might be all sensitive and I and I think 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:03.800 a lot of people are thinking it, but not a 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:05.960 lot of people are saying it. But why are the 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:09.000 costs of guided and outfitted hunts so expensive? 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:14.520 You know, there's a wide there's a wide variety of 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:20.720 costs for outfitted hunts. Bigger, more established outfitters charge a 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:24.160 lot more. They've got a history of maybe killing big bulls. 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:25.840 If your goal was to come in here and kill 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:28.919 you know, one of the top five bulls in the 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:31.840 unit that people know about, you're going to pay for 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:34.919 that opportunity. Yeah, and so those are some things, but 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:37.520 there's it's just like any business, there's costs. Every guy 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:42.679 that we have helping, whether he's glassing, guiding, cooking, whatever 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:45.399 he's doing, that guy's getting paid every day. And I 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:47.800 pay my guys for the entire week, whether we hunt 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:51.480 one day or whether we hunt a week. And so 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:56.000 that's an expense. Our permitting cost, money for service wants, there, 0:19:56.840 --> 0:20:00.440 share insurance, you know, fuel for the rig, the side 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:02.520 by side, someone's got to pay for the side by side, 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:05.600 and you know, hey for the horses all year, even 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:07.119 though we use them for a few months out of 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:10.359 the year. So it it just is it seems like 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:12.960 a lot, and it is a lot. But you know, 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:15.240 if you if you break it down, it's it's not 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:18.840 you can you can justify every expense. It's just unfortunate. 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:21.119 It feels even as an outfitter, which is part of 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:23.879 why I started outfitting myself, because I was working for 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:27.000 other outfitters that were charging whatever they were charging. I'm 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:30.119 not going to say they were too much, but in 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:33.080 my mind, I felt like people were being priced out 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:37.240 of an outfitted hunt. And I kind of like the 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:40.480 idea of just being a regular, like every man's outfitter, 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:44.000 and so if I can keep my prices lower. It's 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:46.159 not a lot of people say raise your price, you 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:48.200 need raise your price. But I just feel like I'm 0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:52.159 I feel like I'm not serving the clientele that I 0:20:52.160 --> 0:20:53.679 want to serve. I want to serve the guy that 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:56.679