WEBVTT - Ep. 103: Mid-September Checkup 0:00:13.400 --> 0:00:15.760 Welcome back to another episode of Cutting the Distance. We 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.680 are in the middle of September, well, not quite the middle, 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:21.560 it's September tenth. I decided to call up my good 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:24.520 buddy Dirk and see how his seasons went. I know 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:26.639 he's got to go out on a hunt with his 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:30.000 son Austin already. I've been out in the woods until 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.640 the six and we're just gonna kind of jump into it, 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:35.080 you know, talk about what we're seeing, what we're hearing, 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:38.120 and then see if we can't, I if some of 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:40.639 our experiences can't can't translate and help you guys out. 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:41.560 Welcome to the show, Dirk. 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:43.239 Oh, hey, how's it going to day? 0:00:43.760 --> 0:00:48.120 Oh it's excellent. It really sucks, though, to be sitting 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:50.640 in my office on September tenth not hunting. I don't 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:51.319 like it one bit. 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:55.600 I know this is the first time that being employed 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:58.240 at Philip's game calls it. I've actually been home the 0:00:58.280 --> 0:00:59.760 first two weeks of September. 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:02.960 Yeah, it's weird. I don't want to spoil the story 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:04.880 that's coming up. There's a reason in your home right now, 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:08.520 but we'll get we'll get to that. Yeah. Uh no, 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:11.080 we're gonna start off we've we've been doing some episodes, 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:13.679 I haven't been getting into the our Q and A session, 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:16.160 But today we're going to get back to you know, 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:19.840 season opens up me and you've got Instagram, Facebook messages 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:21.520 kind of rolling in on social media, and so we're 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:23.520 gonna share some of those with you and we're gonna 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:25.960 jump into it. But I'm gonna have Dirk bring us 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:27.039 into the Q and A. 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:30.920 You mean the the Pendleton Whiskey Q and A. That 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:32.800 Q and A Letterbuck? 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:36.039 Is that the leading? 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:38.240 Is that? Yeah? 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:41.600 All right, all right, thanks Dirk. Yeah, so Pendleton's bringing 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:43.760 us the Q and A today we we uh, we 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:48.360 went and cherry picked three pretty decent questions, you know, 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:51.200 from from our listeners and our followers and our customers. 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:54.000 So our first one comes from Tanner Bartlin. I hope 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:56.680 I got that name right. He's an organ he's on 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:58.560 the coast. He said he's seeing lots of elk but 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:01.960 just can't get them to respect. Are there any tips 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:06.000 to get those elk to respond? Give them your best shot? Derek? 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:09.919 Yeah, that's a tough one. I feel like we get 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:14.359 this question quite a bit. In fact, I kind of 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:18.799 questioned myself quite a bit you'll be out there, you'll 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.960 be seeing elk and they will not talk. And there's 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:27.760 no amount of like special calling or secret, super secret 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:31.440 little calls that will make them talk sometimes and it's 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:33.320 just a game of like they're on the mood to talk. 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:38.720 I've set there just out of archery range of bulls 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:40.680 and called to them and they didn't even raise their 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:44.600 head before. So timing is everything, I guess. So don't 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:47.760 get discouraged. There's a couple of things you could do. 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:51.799 You could just sit back, wait by your time. I 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:55.880 know that elk calling can work like a light switch. 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:59.079 Like one day it is completely off, there's nothing working 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.000 elk or not. You're seeing elk and they're feeding, they're 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:08.040 not running, and the very next day it can be mayhem. 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:10.560 You know, it's just gonna take a cow coming into 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:12.640 heat or whatever to get them going. And it seems 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.040 like once you start getting some cows coming into heat, 0:03:15.120 --> 0:03:16.880 and even if you don't have one that's in heat 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:20.320 that particular day, bulls know it's that time. It's like 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.600 they've smelled it. They've they've chased around, they've played around, 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:28.200 they've might have even courted a lady. So they're more 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:30.720 callable at that point. But but if it's at a 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:33.160 maybe earlier in the season and they're just not talking, 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:37.080 maybe you're better off to kind of lay back and 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:39.720 bide your time. That's typically what I'll do. I'll kind 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:44.040 of lay back by my time and either watch those 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:47.960 elk from Afar or this is what I'll typically do. 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:50.720 I will I'll change zip codes. I'll just keep moving. 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:53.520 I will move and change areas until I can find 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:58.080 one that's that wants to play. It's crazy. You can 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:01.440 drive ten twenty thirty miles away from one group of 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:03.840 elk to a different group of elk and they'll be 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:07.400 acting completely different. So that's typically what I'll do is 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:09.840 if I can't find out that the bugle in one spot, 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:11.440 I'm going to switch areas. 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:15.000 Yeah. I when this question gets brought up or we 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:17.320 get asked, I always go back to that hunt that 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.920 I had in twenty eighteen with Tyson and Idaho. It 0:04:21.000 --> 0:04:23.960 was maddening. I was so frustrated because we would glass 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:26.800 bowls every morning. You know, you weren't spooking them. They 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:28.719 had no idea you were there. You were bugling into 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:31.440 their canyon, and they would literally maybe turn their head 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:34.040 maybe acknowledge that a bugle came from that way, and 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:35.560 they go right back to what they're doing. And so 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:37.920 then now I'm starting to get worried as we go 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:41.040 by these timber patches that I can't see into, like 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:44.839 are these elk not responding? And as much as I 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:47.600 want them to respond, I don't think you necessarily need 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:50.039 to to be effective at hunting at times if you 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:53.920 are obviously tanner seeing the elk, you know, you can 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:57.400 go into you can go into you know, spot in 0:04:57.400 --> 0:04:59.440 stock mode. You know a lot of times if you're 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:02.120 gonna use just cow calls early in the season, that 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:04.200 bowl may come in silent anyway, so you can still 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:07.760 go in and maybe effectively call without you know, getting 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.440 them to bugle on their way in. So there's there's other, 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:13.680 you know tips as far as like forcing them to call. 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:16.040 I'm I tend to agree with Dirk, like there's just 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.960 maybe sometimes there's nothing in your in your your your 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:22.600 toolbox it's gonna get him to work. I will typically 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:25.560 go from like the high note typical location be agle 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:27.479 to like a midnote bugle, try to get you know, 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:28.840 change it up to see if I can get them 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:31.680 to answer. But at times you're just gonna have to 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.479 sit back, wait it out, you know, hunt them, spot 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:37.000 in stock and and and make that work. If if 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:39.359 if the country in the layout, you know, lets you 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:40.000 hunt that way. 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:43.400 I will say too, depending on the day of the hunt. 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:45.240 If this is early season, you've got a lot of 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:47.960 time to hunt yet in the season, you know, maybe 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:50.000 get to hunt. This is opening weekend and you got 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:51.839 every weekend the rest of the season to hunt, or 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:54.400 maybe you have a lot of time off. I just 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:55.680 don't push it that hard. 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:56.000 Now. 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:58.920 If we're at the bottom of the ninth and it's 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:01.839 your your time is short into the season, short into 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:05.320 your time off as short, that's when maybe you know 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:07.520 you don't have enough time to go relocate some elk. 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:09.760 Maybe that's the time we dig in and yeah, we 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:12.039 try to make something happen. Get in get in tight, 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:14.400 get in close, maybe put the calls away. You know, 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:17.600 I love calling elkin, but dang it, you know, if 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:19.960 I got to sept the calls aside and sneak up 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:22.640 close and shoot one, I will I will do it. 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:23.960 Definitely do it. 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:27.920 Yeah, all right, So our second question comes from Abe Clark. 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:32.240 Do we call differently in the morning versus the afternoon 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:33.120 versus the evening. 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:38.240 I pretty much run the same play all day, whether 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.320 it's the first of September or the later in the month. Now, 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:45.599 I will say first part of September, when bulls are 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:51.920 maybe not quite as vocal, maybe they're not getting wound up. 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:54.719 It's more of a just a kind of a communication 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:56.920 where they're kind of saying, hey, they're to each other. 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:00.720 You'll you'll don't You'll know whenever you get those replies 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:02.640 from bulls, when they're just that kind of that money 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:07.640 bugle that you know they're not just doing full bugles 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:10.440 and screams and chuckles and stuff. You can just tell 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:13.640 by their attitude. Then if the elk are doing those 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:16.200 mony bugles, I'm going to start doing those mony bugles. 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:20.640 Like use that the old phrase win in Rome right 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:23.960 when in Rome doing this the Romans. So if those 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:27.000 those elk are not being super aggressive with their calls, 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:32.240 I'm pretty pretty non aggressive with them. But but I'll 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:34.600 do that in the morning at first light, if it's 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:36.720 the middle of the day, if it's evening, I will 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:38.920 do I will run the same place. I will run 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:42.400 location bugles to try to hear bulls bugle back, I 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:45.640 will use a few cow calls. I will usually typically 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:47.880 kind of The first bugle will be a pretty light, 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:51.160 non aggressive bugle, the second one, I'll turn it up 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:54.640 a notch. My third bugle will be like Max ten 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:59.560 and with a big, heavy, scream lit ball with lots 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:03.960 of giant, thunderous bugles, and in between those all cow call. 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:06.920 But like I said, if it's early season and I 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:09.560 haven't been hearing any kind of bulls doc like that, 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:11.760 I'm probably just going to keep them simple to just 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:14.280 mony type bugles. 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:17.480 Yep. Yeah, we'll get into our season recap, but I've 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:20.040 got some points, you know, when we get to there. 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:21.920 You know, I've been communicating with the cows more and 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.040 I have the bulls it seems like in this early season, 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:26.080 and so I'm going to piggyback on that. But I'm 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:28.680 gonna save that more for for the current action we've 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:32.640 had here in Washington. The third question, and I apologize 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:34.720 I didn't get this guy's name. I just remember answering 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:36.360 the question. I couldn't find it when I went to 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:39.120 go go back and look his name up. He asked, 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:40.600 we had a pretty good hot streak there. I think 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:42.480 you had you were in the nineties and Idaho I 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:45.520 was just in the nineties here, you know, the September 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:49.120 sixth and seventh, during that hot weather, are there times 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:51.640 where you just go and sit wallows and try to 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:53.240 take advantage of the heat and what they elk are 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:55.280 going to do. And then if so, how do you 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:57.400 use your calls when you're sitting at wallows? 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.840 Yeah, if that's what I'm left to do is sitting 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:05.400 at wallow. First off, it's going to have to be 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:09.200 an active wallow because if if you've walked around the 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.240 September woods too very much and you're an area there's 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.400 where there's quite a bit of water, you'll come across 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.640 wallows pretty frequently and they may or may not have 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:22.280 been used that day, and sometimes they just may happenstance 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:24.880 just walk by, flop down and roll around and keep 0:09:24.920 --> 0:09:27.080 going onto the you know, to carry about their day. 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:29.200 If there's lots of water, I mean not set at 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:32.640 a particular wall wallow and hang out. But if there 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:35.760 is a wallow with a lot of traffic and there's 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:37.640 not a lot of water close by, I would definitely 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:40.839 put some time into it. And how I would how 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:43.040 I would call there is. I would. I would sit down. 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:46.680 I'd make a few cow calls. I might even whenever 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:48.600 I first get there, I might even grab a big 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:51.520 stick and splash it around. I did this one time. 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:54.520 I splashed the stick and splashed wallow mud into my 0:09:54.520 --> 0:10:00.760 friend's mouth, so it tasted like lp. And you know, 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.600 be careful with where you're swinging that muddy stick. But 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:06.600 splash around a bit, do some cow calls, and then 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:10.400 maybe some bugles. Splashing around, and then just go down wind, 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:13.480 you know, get down wind of the wallow where you 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:16.720 could still shoot towards the wallow, and if there's a 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:19.400 bowl at the wallow, you can still hit them. You're 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:21.560 within your effective range. But I would sit on the 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:24.079 down wheel it inside in case they come circle around down. 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:27.640 Why do you yeah, yeah, We've got to watch quite 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:31.040 a few out the last couple of days come out 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:33.960 into water and they do exactly that. They you know, 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:36.680 even the older mature cows were out there splashing around 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:38.640 and you could hear it from seventy eight hundred yards away, 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:41.480 you know, those oak splashing and playing in the water 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:43.600 when they'd come out of bed. You know, real hot day. 0:10:44.480 --> 0:10:46.480 But I'm with you. I think I don't got the 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:49.000 patience to sit a wallow for very long, but I 0:10:49.040 --> 0:10:51.880 also know what it sometimes takes to kill. And if 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:54.320 I think those are my my my best bets, which 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.400 it obviously would have been this last week, you know, 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:03.280 splash around you natural sounds. And then when when real 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:05.840 bulls get to a wall they will sometimes you know, 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:07.959 if that herd's coming out and they're kind of scattered 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:10.679 or they're kind of single file, kind of sporadically, that 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:12.559 bowl is still calling when he gets there, So it's 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:19.400 it's not it's not necessarily you know, you're allowed to call. 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:21.360 You know, you don't want to necessarily be quiet, so 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:23.120 you want to let yourself, you know, let the other 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:25.520 elk know that there's a bull out the wallow. You know, 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:27.600 just use natural calls. Now, if I was sitting on 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:30.079 a wallow like mid day and I think that I'm 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:31.640 just trying to maybe you know, those bulls will get 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:33.760 up out of bed and maybe go check a wall, 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:35.200 or if they're bedding close to the wall, he may 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:37.640 able get a drink or kind of cool off. I 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:40.400 may not elect to call as much in that situation, 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:44.520 but yeah, you're you're you're you're allowed to call and uh, 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:46.360 like I say, get down wind from where I think 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:47.760 the elk are going to come. You may have to 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:51.840 give them, you know, ninety degrees a wind to get 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:53.440 him to come in. But you as long as you're 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:57.320 you're conservative, and uh, the the wind isn't blowing in 0:11:57.320 --> 0:11:59.600 the direction you think they're coming from. I'm gonna get 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:01.640 on that and make sure I've got good shooting lanes. 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:05.600 But yeah, this this hot weather streak sometimes it's your 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:08.480 best bet to lay eyes on a bowl. 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:13.520 Have you ever seen that movie Predator with Arn Schwarzenegger. 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:15.760 I'm the worst movie buff ever. Like, I don't watch ar. 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:17.760 This is an old one. You've probably should have seen 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:17.960 that on. 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:20.320 Your Maybe have, but I don't remember it if I did. 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:23.880 Yeah, Well, towards the end of the movie, when he's 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:25.840 getting ready to kill this Predator guy, you know, he 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:30.000 gets Arnold gets pretty serious and he covers himself with mud, 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:32.160 and you know, and well, the only thing that's not 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:35.080 covered in mud is his eyeballs because he's covering up 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:37.120 his heat signature. He wants to be cold. He jumps 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.840 in a cold lake and covers himself in mud. That way, 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:45.760 the predator can't see heat signature and anyway, uh. In 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:50.200 twenty twenty two, I got the pleasure hunting this this 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:53.240 big track to private land and I had to hunt 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:55.840 with a guide and it was really weird. But you know, 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:58.160 you know, when you get an invite like that, that's 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:01.679 who's going to turn that down, right. So we're hunting 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.160 and the guy says, hey, I know there's some good 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:05.880 wallows down here. Let's go down there and we'll do 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:08.679 some Maybe we'll sit by a wallow and do some calling. 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:10.720 And it was hot. We get down there and we 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:12.840 walk up on the wallows and we're just kind of 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:15.400 you know, we just walk and not really paying too 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:18.200 close attention. We walk up to this wallow and all 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:20.439 of a sudden, out of the mud erupts this bowl. 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:23.040 There was a bowl laying sleeping in the wallow, and 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:25.520 he was covering head to toe and mud. He would 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:28.360 he looked like mud. He looked like he looked like 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:31.800 Arnold Arnold on Predator. The only thing that wasn't covered 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:34.839 was his eyeballs. And it's like we caught him sleep 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:37.760 and he jumped up like oh, like he was caught there. 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:38.080 In the headlights. 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:40.600 And then just booked it bolted out there. So we're like, 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:42.360 oh man, this is going to be great. So we 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:43.880 set down, We did a little bit of call and 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:46.719 did just like I said, splashed around a little bit, 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:52.720 set down, Me and Dave. Dave framed cameraman Dave. I'm like, Dave, 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:54.720 you can sit in the shade. I'll sit in the 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:56.920 sun because you know, I don't want to be a jerk. 0:13:57.280 --> 0:13:59.480 So I'm sitting there in the sun and the flies. 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.280 The flies were so bad and it was like eight 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:04.160 hundred degrees. 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:06.559 No. And once again, if you guys have any questions 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:09.280 for me or Dirk or any of our guests, uh, 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:13.480 feel free to email them to us at ctdapp phelps 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:16.319 Game Calls dot com or seems like the way we 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:18.600 get the majority of these questions just through social media, 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:21.920 either Dirk or my social media pages. 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:25.360 Yeah, we even have a super secret number. Yeah, if 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:27.720 you'd rather, if you'd rather, just call in and leave 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.360 your message and we'll play your message on the line. 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:33.880 Call in at two zero eight two one nine seven 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:38.840 seven zero one. Leave a message and it can't be 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:41.320 over three minutes. I think it's three minutes and it'll 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:43.840 cut you off. So keep it, keep your question short, 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:46.320 get to the point, and we'll see if we can 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:46.760 answer it. 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:50.600 Yeah. Yeah, So we appreciate all of you guys for 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.520 sending your questions in so we can answer them here 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:55.000 on the podcast. But now we're going to kind of 0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:58.720 jump into what we've seen so far in the you know, 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:01.920 first first week, accept t plus or minus, and then 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:04.520 what we're kind of you know, we're we're I feel 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:07.360 like we're lucky. We get updates on hundreds of guys hunts, 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:09.960 you know, whether it's you know, text or this or 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:12.240 that or sea bulls before they're ever posted. And and 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:14.640 so we've got a pretty good idea what's happened the 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:16.200 last couple of days. So we're going to jump right 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.240 into that. How about you know, your your son, Austin, 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:22.240 I believe, hadn't killed a bull for eleven thirteen years, 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:24.080 and you guys had made it a made it a 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:25.520 point to go out and hunt this year. So give 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:28.720 us a little recap on early September before I even 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:29.400 got to go out. 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:35.640 Yeah, so Austin hadn't really put any effort or time 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:38.280 into hunting in the last thirteen years until this year. 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:40.520 He's like, dang, it. I want to get an elk. 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:43.760 I want to get some meat. He's married, got a 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:46.280 baby on the way. I think he's trying to be 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.040 a man. Maybe he's becoming a man. Maybe he just 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:52.400 wanted to spend some time with the old man. But 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:56.480 so he shot his bowl all summer and we went 0:15:56.480 --> 0:16:00.920 out hunting, and we I went out early. I put 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:03.280 out some trail cameras and stuff. I had some some 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.120 elk on trail camp. I'm like, oh, yeah, I got 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:08.120 a good spot. But the bad part is it was 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:12.040 fairly close to town. It's pretty close to civilization, and 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:16.160 I look close to a little mountaintown and sometimes, you know, 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:20.880 I always figure sometimes there's these little places that are 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:24.080 overlooked by people. They're like, uh, yeah, there's no elk there. 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:25.600 They're gonna just drive because they want to get to 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:27.840 the middle of dang nowhere in the mountains. You know, 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:29.080 drive it the end of the road and then hike 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:31.360 another ten miles. But I thought, well, we'll try to 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:34.160 hunt this opening weekend because it's hot. We want to 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:36.200 be close to be able to get it out and 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:39.440 get it to the locker while the meats, you know, 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:41.320 get it cooled out. So we don't lose any meat. 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:44.680 So we set up our hunt there our camp and 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:48.960 opening morning, went out, walked around and the trails were 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:51.400 just beat down with elk tracks. It looked like it 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:55.800 looked like cattle trails, but elk tracks and no elk, 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:58.120 not a peep, not a We didn't spook one that 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:02.320 we saw. We didn't hear one, but it's pretty quiet. 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:07.879 And that the night before and that that morning on 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:11.040 the trail cams the elk had been in there, but 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:14.360 we just didn't see him. So we go back there 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:17.680 in the evening and we're getting our way over there. 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:19.760 We waited till the wind was right. So it's later 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:22.040 in the evening and look up and there's a dude. 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:24.800 He's whistling at us, waving. I'm like, ah, dang it, 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.720 there's a guy. Well checked the trail cameras and there 0:17:27.760 --> 0:17:29.520 was no more elk on the trail cameras. Like the 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:33.280 next day, they're just like they're gone. So it's time 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:36.399 to branch out. So we drove two hours from camp, 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.120 away from camp into a place we'd never been before. 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:42.000 I've never driven there. I've never been there in my life. 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:44.960 We went out there. Phelps had given me a tip. 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:46.760 He's like, I go out. There's one spot. There's a 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:49.159 pretty good spot. You and Chuck had got into some 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:52.320 elk the first time he went to Idaho. By the way, 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:54.000 we didn't get any into any elk there. 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:56.119 Oh dang, I was waiting. I was waiting for you 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:57.040 to tell me it worked out. 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:01.560 But about another hour past that spot, it was mid 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:04.480 morning and pretty warm out, and Austin said, hey, we 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:07.159 should check this place out. So we get out and 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:09.520 it was kind of a kind of like a high 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:12.840 alpine meadow, you know, a little bit of scruff timber around, 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:15.359 and there'd been a fire and stuff. I'm like, yeah, 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:16.960 this looks like a good place you'd find some elk. 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:19.480 And we pull over and did a little bit of calling, 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:23.440 and we get a little reply and like, is that 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:27.280 a moose? It just like, oh, almost like a moose 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:30.600 would sound. I'm like, and it was kind of moosey, 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:32.159 you know, it's kind of by these little meadow e 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:35.520 boggy meadows, And so I kept calling a little bit. 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:40.520 Pretty sooner made another little a little kind of a 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:43.560 groany noise. I'm like, oh, that sounds like a bowl maybe, 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:45.960 And then he chuckled a little bit, and I'm like, oh, yeah, 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:50.400 that is a bowl. Well it's like ten o'clock and 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:53.760 the sun's bright overhead, there's no shade and it's brushy, 0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:56.720 and I'm just like, ah, this is going to be 0:18:56.760 --> 0:19:00.119 a low percentage move. If we move in on this elk. Now, 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:02.600 it's gonna we're probably not going to get this bull 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:06.560 so hard. As hard as it is, we're going to 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:09.200 back out. So we back out. We go, we'd take 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:12.399 a nap, we have lunch, we'd lay around, we'd go 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:14.640 drive around some more and see the country. And man, 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:16.800 it seems like that time of year when it's hot out. 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:19.880 The day is ticked by pretty slow. So we get 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:23.280