Speaker 1: This podcast is presented by YETI Built for the While.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Cutting the Distance podcast. I hope you've
Speaker 1: been enjoying some of the stuff we've been talking about recently,
Speaker 1: a little bit of small games. I'm still hunting. If
Speaker 1: you haven't listened to those, go back check them out
Speaker 1: for me. The small game season just ended yesterday. The
Speaker 1: last weekend of upland bird season was this weekend in Nevada,
Speaker 1: So me and my wife actually went out with a
Speaker 1: couple of friends, Mike and Dan, and we chased some chucker.
Speaker 1: It was a lot of fun, it was a lot
Speaker 1: of work. My wife did great. She shot her first checker,
Speaker 1: so that was something to really celebrate about. One thing
Speaker 1: growing up hunting chucker. You just kind of think that
Speaker 1: bird hunting is one of the toughest time so you
Speaker 1: can do, because I think after I've done a lot
Speaker 1: of big game hunts this year, and that was probably
Speaker 1: one of the more physically demanding hunts you can do
Speaker 1: because you're walking all day, it's rough terrain, a lot
Speaker 1: of elevation gain, and it was just an awesome trip.
Speaker 1: I almost got a limit one shy and it wasn't
Speaker 1: for lack of birds. I mean, in full disclosure, I
Speaker 1: was just not making the best shots, but I got
Speaker 1: a few birds. We walked out of there with quite
Speaker 1: a few birds between all of us, and it was
Speaker 1: a great weekend. But this week, what I'm going to
Speaker 1: talk about is the questions that you guys have. So
Speaker 1: what I like to do is, at least once a
Speaker 1: month or so, I try to just take a break
Speaker 1: from what I want to talk about and pull out
Speaker 1: a few of the questions that you guys send me
Speaker 1: and go over those, because I think that there's a
Speaker 1: lot of tips and tactics in those questions that are
Speaker 1: for maybe something that I am missing or haven't talked
Speaker 1: about yet, maybe people need clarification, and then there's probably
Speaker 1: just a lot of stuff that's applicable for a lot
Speaker 1: out of different people or different scenarios. So I like
Speaker 1: to just go through and answer a few questions. We'll
Speaker 1: just started off. I'm going to kind of run through
Speaker 1: bullet point questions here, a lot of the questions that
Speaker 1: you guys email in. Now, if you are listening to this,
Speaker 1: you're like, well, where did I send my questions at?
Speaker 1: You can always send them into MA via social media
Speaker 1: on my Instagram at Remy Warren or Remy at the
Speaker 1: meat eat dot com. So that's the email for this.
Speaker 1: A lot of them here from there, and some of
Speaker 1: them I either reply to or get read on the podcast.
Speaker 1: So feel free to send your questions in Now. This
Speaker 1: first question, I think is probably will resonate with a
Speaker 1: lot of people because I do specifically a lot of
Speaker 1: my podcast based on Western big game hunting, mountain hunting,
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. That's my bread and butter, that's
Speaker 1: my wheelhouse. But I think a lot of the tips,
Speaker 1: I mean, I've hunted a lot of white tails in
Speaker 1: Montana and other places, and I think a lot of
Speaker 1: these tips can also be translated to white tail hunting,
Speaker 1: especially when you're talking white tail hunting in thicker cover.
Speaker 1: So this question comes from Kel Jackson. He says, big fan,
Speaker 1: any tips for guys like me who hunt dense public lands,
Speaker 1: And then he had a little bit of a story,
Speaker 1: but he he mentioned that he lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Speaker 1: and has been struggling to connect with big game here
Speaker 1: in New England. He did some food plot rifle hunting
Speaker 1: where he's from an Alabama, but he'd moved and now
Speaker 1: he's been out bow hunting where he lives now about
Speaker 1: twelve times this past season and had zero shot opportunities.
Speaker 1: So he's pretty much asking for some tips on hunting
Speaker 1: public land white tails in an area that's really thick,
Speaker 1: really dense. Now, I did do a little bit of
Speaker 1: still hunting tactics, which I think taking some of those
Speaker 1: tips works anywhere for hunting thick cover. A lot of
Speaker 1: places you hunt, it's not you. You really can't glass,
Speaker 1: you can't spot in stock in that way where still
Speaker 1: hunting is just a better form of hunting, or maybe
Speaker 1: the only form if you don't want to sit. But
Speaker 1: if you're talking white tail hunting, here's a couple of
Speaker 1: tactics that I've used. You know, I'm sure there's a
Speaker 1: lot of people out there that have a lot more
Speaker 1: experience with white tails, But for me, I think kind
Speaker 1: of one of the true things about hunting a lot
Speaker 1: of different species is there's a lot of similarities in
Speaker 1: the tactics from place to place. So in Montana, I've
Speaker 1: hunted some public ground areas for white tails, and what
Speaker 1: I did there was I like to do a lot
Speaker 1: of scouting in the middle of the day. Um, if
Speaker 1: I'm in a new area, and this goes for a
Speaker 1: lot of other deer that have similar habits that might
Speaker 1: be fairly patternable. White tails, I feel like, whether it's
Speaker 1: whether they're on private ground or whether they're on public land,
Speaker 1: they have routes and trails that they used to feel
Speaker 1: safe and secure. They have patterns that they use. They
Speaker 1: have places that they like to feed and things they
Speaker 1: like to feed on. They have areas that they like
Speaker 1: to bet in. So I try to find one of
Speaker 1: those areas, whether it's a food a betting area, or
Speaker 1: a travel area, and kind of concentrate on that. So
Speaker 1: one of the places that I had in Montana is
Speaker 1: a travel area. It's in thick timber, and I've found
Speaker 1: some good game trails and a lot of sign and
Speaker 1: I just sit up and wait. I don't really use
Speaker 1: tree stands there, but I do set up a ground
Speaker 1: blind and I'll call a lot is based on a
Speaker 1: travel route. But I think one of the tactics that
Speaker 1: I've found is a little bit more successful for white
Speaker 1: tails in areas where it's like I can't. A lot
Speaker 1: of people set up trail cams and other things, which
Speaker 1: you can definitely do, but if you're just going on
Speaker 1: public land, and you don't want to mess with all that.
Speaker 1: What I like to do is I will do a
Speaker 1: lot of my scouting in the middle of the day.
Speaker 1: The reason is because what I'm looking for is where
Speaker 1: I find the deer bedding. Now you might think, well,
Speaker 1: you want to go in and be very unobtrusive and
Speaker 1: not disturb the animals. Yes, but if it's a large
Speaker 1: section of land, you're gonna have to cover that area,
Speaker 1: and the best way to cover is just by walking
Speaker 1: around figuring out where things are. Half the time, what
Speaker 1: I'll do is I might bump a deer up if
Speaker 1: I see the deer running, or ump a deer or
Speaker 1: here a deer run. What I'll do is I'll mark
Speaker 1: that area and then I can come back later or
Speaker 1: even then maybe set up as tree stand, set up
Speaker 1: a blind, and plan on hunting there because I feel
Speaker 1: like the deer will continue to use that betting area.
Speaker 1: It might be an area that's thicker, it's shaded for
Speaker 1: most of the day. They feel really secure there. There's
Speaker 1: a reason that they're probably betting there. So I mean
Speaker 1: a lot of people that hunt private land probably stay
Speaker 1: out of betting areas. And once again, I'm not a
Speaker 1: white tail expert by any means, but there's just ways
Speaker 1: that I've been successful on public land for them. I've
Speaker 1: shot quite a few white tails that way. My first
Speaker 1: archery buck, I actually walked into a really thick area,
Speaker 1: spooked out a deer. I thought, okay, this is where
Speaker 1: they're betting. Ended up hunting in there the next day,
Speaker 1: just set up waiting and shot one of my first
Speaker 1: bucks with a bow on the ground in there. So
Speaker 1: there's just a lot of different ways to hunt that.
Speaker 1: That would be probably the tactic that I do now.
Speaker 1: You might not want to try that during the middle
Speaker 1: of the season either though, because if there's a lot
Speaker 1: of people hunting, you're just gonna be blowing out. It
Speaker 1: just depends on hunter congestion and where you're at. Two.
Speaker 1: I'm not real familiar with hunting the Northeast. I never have, so, um,
Speaker 1: that's just a tactic you might want to consider. It
Speaker 1: might it might work where you're at, but also just
Speaker 1: understanding deer movements where are they working. You know, if
Speaker 1: you've got a little bit of undulations in the hill,
Speaker 1: like pick a feature, that might be different. If everywhere
Speaker 1: is thick and there's a small opening, hunt that because
Speaker 1: there might be better food sources. Kind of pay attention
Speaker 1: to what the deer eating and moving, and then make
Speaker 1: your plan accordingly. The next question comes from Jeff from Arizona.
Speaker 1: So he says, Hey, remy great podcast on still Hunting
Speaker 1: this week. Thanks for making a question. What do you
Speaker 1: consider perfect quiver size for wide open Arizona Muli's I
Speaker 1: have a G five six arrow quiver, but I'm wondering
Speaker 1: if I'm touting more than I need sometimes. Yeah, So
Speaker 1: the thing about quiver and arrows, you could probably hopefully
Speaker 1: you only need one arrow. You should bring more than
Speaker 1: one arrow though, because in case something happens, you might
Speaker 1: need to make a follow up shot, or if you're
Speaker 1: in a situation where maybe you missed and you're going
Speaker 1: to continue hunt backcountry hunt, I like to bring more arrows.
Speaker 1: You never know what's going to happen. I have gone.
Speaker 1: I started out hunting with three arrows. Now I carry
Speaker 1: seven arrows, so I've been all over the spectrum. The
Speaker 1: reason I have a seven arrow quiver, and it's not
Speaker 1: something that everybody needs, but some of the areas that
Speaker 1: I hunt, you might be able to hunt multiple animals
Speaker 1: and pack in so it's nice to have a few
Speaker 1: extra arrows. But what I do, whether it's uh like
Speaker 1: a five arrow quiver, I think is great because I
Speaker 1: generally always have a couple arrows in my quiver, at
Speaker 1: least one that has like a blunt tip on it
Speaker 1: for shooting small game or even just in the middle
Speaker 1: of the day practicing doing what's called roving. And I
Speaker 1: kind of talked about that on the Small Game podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm kind of re saying what I've already said, but
Speaker 1: it's nice to have that arrow just in case you
Speaker 1: need it. You probably only need three arrows for hunting purposes,
Speaker 1: and my opinion, because you're gonna make a good shot
Speaker 1: on your first arrow and then you've got a couple
Speaker 1: just in case. But it's not bad to have that
Speaker 1: five arrow quiver and maybe put a couple of extra
Speaker 1: practice tips in there, just make sure that you do
Speaker 1: something so you don't get them out in the moment
Speaker 1: and shoot at big game with them. I generally have
Speaker 1: a blunt tip in there, and I put them behind.
Speaker 1: I liked the seven arrow quiver because I could put
Speaker 1: them behind my other arrows, so then I do not
Speaker 1: get access to my practice arrows, so that's why I
Speaker 1: have that quiver, one of the main reasons. But I
Speaker 1: think that a five arrow quiver is fine. There's no
Speaker 1: real reason. If you want a smaller quiver, go for it,
Speaker 1: go three arrow. I don't think it really makes that
Speaker 1: big of a difference. If you're noticing some problems shooting
Speaker 1: because of the weight with it, you could always add
Speaker 1: a stabilizer off the other side, like a backbar on
Speaker 1: your bow. I've done that before. But for the most part,
Speaker 1: you know the size of the quiver. It's just if
Speaker 1: that's what you've got, it probably works fine. But you
Speaker 1: don't necessarily need five arrows of course. Okay, Pete asked.
Speaker 1: He says, just started cutting the distance. Great podcast so far.
Speaker 1: Do you have any recommendations for good entry level spotting
Speaker 1: scope for my first d I y L hunt this fall?
Speaker 1: So I would suggest for a good entry level spotting scope.
Speaker 1: You know, Vortex is a company that I work with,
Speaker 1: so I'm familiar with their products and I've used a
Speaker 1: lot of their products. They've got three levels of optics,
Speaker 1: so they've got their diamond Back series, their Viper series,
Speaker 1: which is their mid range, and then the Razor series. Honestly,
Speaker 1: I've used the diamond Back. It's the sixty power with
Speaker 1: the sixty mill objective lens. I've used to that scope
Speaker 1: quite a bit and it's actually really good scope. It's
Speaker 1: still not cheap, but it's the best price option in there.
Speaker 1: It's great clarity, the objective lens. I like the smaller
Speaker 1: objective lens for l cutting because it's just gonna be lighter.
Speaker 1: It's a as opposed to a larger scope, and you
Speaker 1: might get more light gathering. You kind of sacrifice a
Speaker 1: few things by having that smaller objective lens, but by
Speaker 1: having the larger objective lens, you're adding a little bit
Speaker 1: of weight. That Diamondback scope is really it's pretty lightweight,
Speaker 1: so I think it's it's easily packable. It's got up
Speaker 1: to sixty power magnification. It's not maybe a scope you're
Speaker 1: gonna want to be glassing through all day, so you're
Speaker 1: gonna still use your binoculars, which I suggest anyways. I
Speaker 1: don't really suggest glassing through a spotting scope a lot,
Speaker 1: but it's perfect for verifying something at long distance, checking
Speaker 1: a few spots out long distance, looking through it when
Speaker 1: you need to, and you still can glass through at
Speaker 1: long distance, but honestly, your binoculars are more effective for
Speaker 1: glassing over a long period of time. So I would say,
Speaker 1: if I'm picking a spotting scope for l hunting, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go with that. I'm gonna go sixty mil objective lens,
Speaker 1: something that's got some good magnification. I would say, you know,
Speaker 1: in that twenty to sixty power range, because it's gonna
Speaker 1: give you that extra push over your binoculars. And I
Speaker 1: think that the lightweight aspect of it is awesome. So
Speaker 1: I did an episode a few back about application Actually,
Speaker 1: if you're thinking about it, Arizona applications or do here
Speaker 1: pretty soon for Elk and Antelope, just if that's something
Speaker 1: you were going to consider, if that was one of
Speaker 1: the states that you thought might be a good one
Speaker 1: for you. But Dave asks, and I had a few
Speaker 1: people actually ask this about applying as a party, and
Speaker 1: some people were kind of confused. So Dave asked, if
Speaker 1: I apply as a party with my friend who has
Speaker 1: more points, do I hurt his chances or do we
Speaker 1: have better odds of drawing by going in together. I
Speaker 1: have five points, he has ten. Should we put it
Speaker 1: in as a party? What would you do? So here's
Speaker 1: what I would do. If I was Dave, I would
Speaker 1: definitely put it in as a party because well, it
Speaker 1: also depends on the states. You have to first look
Speaker 1: up what are the rules in the state you're applying
Speaker 1: for party applications. If it's a state of Colorado, it
Speaker 1: would hurt the guy with more points, because in Colorado,
Speaker 1: everybody goes in with the guy with the least amount
Speaker 1: of points. Now, if it's a state like Nevada, Montana,
Speaker 1: I would say Montana, if you're the guy applying with
Speaker 1: someone with more points, yeah, I do it if they
Speaker 1: don't mind, but it will hurt the person with more
Speaker 1: points chances because what they're gonna do is they're gonna
Speaker 1: put you in is one application. And I think this
Speaker 1: is where some of the confusion came in. So most states,
Speaker 1: as a rule of thumb, you're applying as one application.
Speaker 1: So if you one person has more points, the other
Speaker 1: person has fewer, the average to the points and then
Speaker 1: you go in is one application with that amount of points. Now,
Speaker 1: let's say, because I also got a question from some
Speaker 1: other people about our chances better or worse supplying as
Speaker 1: a party, because I think some people are confused where
Speaker 1: two people are in, so do they have two chances
Speaker 1: in their No, you always go in with one chance.
Speaker 1: But really, if you think about it, your odds are
Speaker 1: insignificantly less if you both have the same amount of
Speaker 1: points applying for a party, because the only way you
Speaker 1: would get kicked out is if there are not enough
Speaker 1: tags to fill the amount of members in that party.
Speaker 1: So if you put in for an area with a
Speaker 1: tags as a party of two and you're in there,
Speaker 1: one time is one application. If your application is drawn,
Speaker 1: both people are rewarded tags. The only time they would
Speaker 1: not be awarded tags is if you were unlucky or
Speaker 1: lucky I guess, but unlucky in the fact that you
Speaker 1: drew the last tag nine nine tags had been filled
Speaker 1: and your party drew the hundred spot, in which case
Speaker 1: there's only one tag left and there's two members in
Speaker 1: the party on that application. Therefore you're kicked out and
Speaker 1: the next person that only has that applied as an
Speaker 1: individual would get that tag. That you would never know
Speaker 1: any of that happened. That would all be done by
Speaker 1: a computer instantaneously. So I think you have to remember
Speaker 1: if you're applying as a party, there has to be
Speaker 1: enough tags for every member in that party to receive
Speaker 1: a tag. Now, if you're applying in an area where
Speaker 1: you're playing in a party of three and there's only
Speaker 1: four tags, well you have to be pretty high up
Speaker 1: to draw. But it might be statistically it might be
Speaker 1: a hard unit to draw, and so you'd probably have
Speaker 1: to draw it as you're as one of the first
Speaker 1: people drawn anyways, so it might not really change your
Speaker 1: actual odds of drawing. I hope that kind of answers
Speaker 1: that questions for some people. So I got another question
Speaker 1: here about some early season elk hunting. Seawan asked about
Speaker 1: elk hunting when elk are not calling or very vocal.
Speaker 1: He had an archery tag in an area a couple
Speaker 1: of years ago and it was during August, and he
Speaker 1: felt like the two weeks that he hunted, it was
Speaker 1: just a long game of cat and mouse and nothing
Speaker 1: really responded to the calls. So any tips if you
Speaker 1: have happened to have an elk tag early season or
Speaker 1: earlier in the season. There's quite a few states like Utah,
Speaker 1: Nevada where the elk season for archery is actually pretty
Speaker 1: early end of August and then kind of goes into September.
Speaker 1: So one thing, it kind of goes back to the
Speaker 1: application strategy. You gotta look at the season dates when
Speaker 1: you apply and understand what type of hunt it is
Speaker 1: going to be. So some times in August, depending on
Speaker 1: where you're at, the elk might start calling, might be vocal,
Speaker 1: but for the most part hunting early September, late August,
Speaker 1: the elk aren't gonna be real responsive to calls. So
Speaker 1: your strategy on that kind of hunt is going to
Speaker 1: be more spot in stock. You might be able to
Speaker 1: throw out some locator bugles and get some milk fired
Speaker 1: up just to kind of figure out where they are,
Speaker 1: but they might not really want to come to calls.
Speaker 1: Now you can go back and also listen to the
Speaker 1: Calling Silent Bulls episode that we did. I think it's
Speaker 1: towards the beginning, maybe episode six or seven. I'm not
Speaker 1: even sure, somewhere in there. But I think you kind
Speaker 1: of have to take that as Okay, I'm gonna alter
Speaker 1: my strategy. Yes I'm bow hunting, but it's better to
Speaker 1: probably spot in stock. And then you may also want
Speaker 1: to consider sitting water. Sitting water is a great way
Speaker 1: to hunt elk early if you're in an area where
Speaker 1: there's limited water, but most of those most of those
Speaker 1: early hunts are in places that the elk don't necessarily
Speaker 1: have access to water everywhere. So it might be a
Speaker 1: tactic that you want to think about. And maybe I'll
Speaker 1: just touch about on this a little bit now. I
Speaker 1: think maybe later in the year I'll talk a little
Speaker 1: bit about tactics for hunting wallows. I think a lot
Speaker 1: of people are kind of confused on on wallow hunting
Speaker 1: because people think, Oh, I'll put up a tree, stand
Speaker 1: over a wallow and hunt elk. But a lot of
Speaker 1: guys try it early because they think, oh, it's hot
Speaker 1: and the elk aren't being very vocal or aren't running
Speaker 1: very hard. Well, you might get the occasional elk coming
Speaker 1: into the wallow, but at that time I wouldn't even
Speaker 1: consider a wall It would be more of a water hole.
Speaker 1: They're going to drink elk wallow as a sort of
Speaker 1: perfume to attract cows, assert their dominance and mark their territory.
Speaker 1: So what an elk does, what a bull elk does
Speaker 1: when he comes up to wallow is he like stands
Speaker 1: there hurinates in the wall. Then he rolls around in
Speaker 1: the mud and the mud holds all that scent on him,
Speaker 1: and it's more of a pheromone attractor to tell everything
Speaker 1: else that he's the dominant bull in the area, and
Speaker 1: he'll tear up that area. He'll cover himself in mud.
Speaker 1: It's more of a mating display and a way to
Speaker 1: attract cows and assertains dominance over a territory and over
Speaker 1: an area. And then other bulls will come in and
Speaker 1: check that wallow to say if another bull is trying
Speaker 1: to claim cows in that area. So they'll they'll use
Speaker 1: it in a lot of different ways. One is to
Speaker 1: just as pheromones, almost like a cologne station, and then
Speaker 1: another as kind of like marking their territory and seeing
Speaker 1: what else might be in there and who else is dominant.
Speaker 1: So while it was actually pick up as the peak
Speaker 1: of the rut picks up, but they're a great place
Speaker 1: to target when you might be hunting an area that
Speaker 1: the elk are call shy or not responding well to
Speaker 1: calls because they're locked into the rut. But it's the
Speaker 1: peak of the rut, so you could get those bulls
Speaker 1: that are have a harem of cows, they aren't going
Speaker 1: to come to maybe a lot of calling, but you
Speaker 1: might be able to ambush them at a wallow when
Speaker 1: they go to do their ritual of rolling around in
Speaker 1: the mud and pheromony Up now. We talked a lot
Speaker 1: about some small games stuff lately, especially because a lot
Speaker 1: of the big game seasons have been over, and I
Speaker 1: just wanted to touch on some great stuff for beginning
Speaker 1: hunters and just some awesome fun ways to hone your
Speaker 1: skills and and things to do and to get you
Speaker 1: out there. I think this is a really good question
Speaker 1: that just like hasn't been talked about very much. So
Speaker 1: Isaiah from Mountain Home says, I'm an adult onset hunter
Speaker 1: and I've learned a ridiculous amount from your podcast, so
Speaker 1: big thank you. The only successful trip I've had so
Speaker 1: far in the sense that I came home with something,
Speaker 1: was a day trip with my dog on the last
Speaker 1: day of quail season. I didn't kill any quail, but
Speaker 1: I did get a jack rabbit, and having read all
Speaker 1: the recipes on Mediator and Wild and Hole for the
Speaker 1: old long years, I was stoked. However, I got myself
Speaker 1: all worked up thinking the meat was going to spoil
Speaker 1: if I didn't skin it right away, so I hastily
Speaker 1: skinned him and wound up getting hair and dirt and
Speaker 1: whatnot all over the meat, and just felt like it
Speaker 1: was poorly handled and it's going to be gross when
Speaker 1: I cook it. My question is this, on a mild day,
Speaker 1: say about fifty degrees with no clouds or wind in
Speaker 1: this case, is it really all that important to get
Speaker 1: small game critters cleaned up as soon as possible to
Speaker 1: prevent spoilage? Or can they wait a while before all that,
Speaker 1: like a couple of hours when you get back home
Speaker 1: or to camp or whatever. That's a great question. So
Speaker 1: with small game for the most part, even earlier in
Speaker 1: the season, if I'm out chuck er hunting or bird hunting,
Speaker 1: I always wait to clean the animals till at least
Speaker 1: they get back to the truck. There you should have
Speaker 1: a cooler if it's hot out or some like. I
Speaker 1: always have a cooler and then some bags and everything.
Speaker 1: So I just process them there. But I leave them
Speaker 1: whole in my vest for most of the day while
Speaker 1: I'm hunting. I've never had any birds go bad. I mean,
Speaker 1: you have to understand too, right when you shoot, say,
Speaker 1: say you just shot a rabbit, it's body temperature is
Speaker 1: going to be warmer than the ambient air temperature, so
Speaker 1: it's still after you shoot, it gonna take a little
Speaker 1: while for it to cool down because it's actually cooler
Speaker 1: outside than the animals body temperatures, so it will cool down.
Speaker 1: So it would have been no problem if you have
Speaker 1: a bird vest. Probably if you're bird hunting, you've got
Speaker 1: a bird vest, you also have to think about you
Speaker 1: aren't keeping it in the direct sunlight. A bird vests
Speaker 1: are great, or a pack or something is great because
Speaker 1: you can put the bird in it, the rabbit in it, whatever,
Speaker 1: and it's not actually getting direct sunlight. The vest itself
Speaker 1: kind of shades it and keeps it a little bit cooler. Now,
Speaker 1: if it's really hot out, I would definitely on rabbits,
Speaker 1: I'll just gut them right there. So I'll just cut
Speaker 1: a little slit in the belly, pull all the guts out,
Speaker 1: and go. I've even done that with upland birds early
Speaker 1: or ducks in the marsh. If I'm like I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be out there for a while it's warm, I just
Speaker 1: make sure to keep them in the shade. I may
Speaker 1: get them, but if there's a lot of flies around,
Speaker 1: I actually just don't because I don't want flies creating
Speaker 1: a mess going in making laying some eggs and all
Speaker 1: that stuff. But for the most part, just keep them
Speaker 1: out of the shade and somewhere cool. On a day
Speaker 1: like fifty degree weather, you're you're perfectly fine. Now when
Speaker 1: you get back to the truck, especially if it's a
Speaker 1: warm day, I'll definitely process it right there when I
Speaker 1: get back. Skin it um. You can use your tailgate,
Speaker 1: maybe even have a little pitcher stations set up. We
Speaker 1: always have all of our stuff with us, whether it's
Speaker 1: like I use a lot of shears for processing small games,
Speaker 1: so shears or knife some baggies. You don't have to
Speaker 1: get them super clean, but it's just nice to cut
Speaker 1: it up, get it clean, and then you can put
Speaker 1: it in a cooler. And that's what I do now.
Speaker 1: If you live pretty close, you could also wait till
Speaker 1: you get home. But a lot of times for most
Speaker 1: small game stuff, I will at least get it in
Speaker 1: the field if I can't, if I'm not gonna pluck it.
Speaker 1: If as the ducks or something and I'm gonna plug
Speaker 1: them at home, I like to plug them first and
Speaker 1: then get them. But that's up to you. For the
Speaker 1: most part small game animals, especially in not super hot weather.
Speaker 1: You've got plenty of time. You should be fine. Now,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't really worry about in this In this particular one,
Speaker 1: you said, got it dirty and some hair and stuff.
Speaker 1: The meat will still be fine. Just let an air out,
Speaker 1: clean it up. When you get home. You can. You
Speaker 1: can wash it off. Just make sure you dry it
Speaker 1: before you store it. So what I'll do is I'll
Speaker 1: wash it off in the sink under cold water, get
Speaker 1: the dirt and any hair off. You can even use
Speaker 1: a torch to singe the hair if you want, and
Speaker 1: then wash it again, and then just put it in
Speaker 1: the fridge and you should be fine. There's actually three
Speaker 1: questions here, so Jordan wrote three really good questions. I
Speaker 1: really liked some of these. They're great questions, but I
Speaker 1: think I can answer them fairly quickly. Here. So he
Speaker 1: says on the podcast and in Solo Hunter, you leave
Speaker 1: your pack and shoes behind a lot. I know that's
Speaker 1: advantageous for being stealthy, but does it ever impede your
Speaker 1: ability or ability to make a move on an animal
Speaker 1: because you're caught between your pack and the animal. I
Speaker 1: think what he maybe means by that is you're you're
Speaker 1: thinking like, okay, I can't leave my pack here the
Speaker 1: whole time the animals moving off. That happens a lot
Speaker 1: where I'm stalking in and then the animal moves and
Speaker 1: it's like, well, I go back and grab my pack
Speaker 1: or do I just continue restocking. It's very situational. Now.
Speaker 1: I also really take my shoes off and my pack
Speaker 1: off in situations where the animals pretty stationary, and it
Speaker 1: just it just depends on how everything's set up. Sometimes
Speaker 1: I end up stalking and not taking my pack or
Speaker 1: shoes off. If it's more of an ambush stock where
Speaker 1: the animals moving, I'm trying to get into position. I
Speaker 1: don't have time, like I gotta be there while the
Speaker 1: animals there. Then I just prefer to say, Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna sacrifice a little bit of stealth for just being
Speaker 1: mobile and not having to worry about going back. Now.
Speaker 1: A lot of times I'll what I will do is
Speaker 1: I'll have my Onyx maps ready to go, and if
Speaker 1: it's something where I might be moving a lot, I'll
Speaker 1: definitely drop a pin on where I dropped my shoes
Speaker 1: in my pack. But I've gone as far as two
Speaker 1: miles without my stuff. Now, I do carry what I
Speaker 1: like to call a pocket water, because I sometimes will
Speaker 1: put like a small water bottle or some form of
Speaker 1: water in my pocket, and I always have my flashlight
Speaker 1: or head lamp in my pocket as well. If I
Speaker 1: dropped my pack, I want to make sure that I
Speaker 1: have a couple of things that I may need in
Speaker 1: case I go a little bit further or the stock
Speaker 1: takes longer than I was expecting. So that's always good,
Speaker 1: but there are those times where you think, okay, it's moved,
Speaker 1: but then you have to really assess the stock and say, okay,
Speaker 1: if I continue now, am I just pushing it? Am
Speaker 1: I trying too hard? When I can just pull back,
Speaker 1: give it a minute, and reset and figure out a
Speaker 1: better way to stock. Because sometimes you get in the
Speaker 1: moment you just keep chasing, chasing, chasing, and pushing it
Speaker 1: in a way that because you're so close, you're rushing
Speaker 1: and you aren't making the best stock possible. So in
Speaker 1: those situations, I think, Okay, I'm gonna go back, grab
Speaker 1: my shoes, grab my pack, and really think about this.
Speaker 1: Maybe there's a better way to do this. The second
Speaker 1: question was you did an episode on Fire and how
Speaker 1: to hunt burns. Do you treat log dairy is the
Speaker 1: same way? Yes, I definitely do. If you live in
Speaker 1: in big timber country like an Oregon, Washington, a lot
Speaker 1: of places in Idaho, I mean even places I would
Speaker 1: even imagine in the northeast or other areas. They're logged
Speaker 1: areas create great habitat for elk, but also for deer
Speaker 1: because they create that new growth in that new brows.
Speaker 1: Now a clear cut might be an eyesore, but it
Speaker 1: definitely builds habitat, It bolsters populations for a lot of animals,
Speaker 1: and it's a great place to hunt. I do target
Speaker 1: clear cuts quite often, especially in heavily timbered areas. Clear
Speaker 1: Cuts are are go to for me. I treat it
Speaker 1: just like a burn. So if you're in an area
Speaker 1: where there's not a lot of burns but there's a
Speaker 1: lot of clear cuts, that's a great place to hunt.
Speaker 1: It's a great place to start. Even areas that have
Speaker 1: been thinned where they aren't completely clear cut, but they're
Speaker 1: thinned and logged out. I found those to be really
Speaker 1: productive because they get better grass growth underneath, yet they
Speaker 1: still provide shelter and everything that animals need for good habitat,
Speaker 1: So those are some awesome areas the key into. And
Speaker 1: I actually saw that Onyx has a timber cuts overlay
Speaker 1: as well, just very similar to the fire overlay, so
Speaker 1: I'll probably that actually might be a good one to
Speaker 1: talk about the future is hunting some timbered logged areas,
Speaker 1: because I do hunt those a lot. It's very successful.
Speaker 1: The third question is I have no moral issues with
Speaker 1: shooting a betted animal, but I've heard and seen shots
Speaker 1: go wrong because vitals and muscles can be a little
Speaker 1: different position when the animal is bedded verse standing. How
Speaker 1: do you treat a bedded animal to ensure a clean kill.
Speaker 1: That's a really good question. Now it's kind of a
Speaker 1: funny thing where some people think, oh, it's not ethical
Speaker 1: to shoot a bedded animal, but it's very situational. I
Speaker 1: think if you just throw blanket ethics over everything and say, oh,
Speaker 1: it's betted, so you shouldn't shoot it, that's not always
Speaker 1: the case. Sometimes you get a better shot on an
Speaker 1: animal that's betted. It's not alert, it's not moving. It's
Speaker 1: vitals might be perfectly exposed, while in animals laying down,
Speaker 1: their vitals are moved in different positions. Sometimes the shoulder
Speaker 1: protects it. But there are shots on bedded animals that
Speaker 1: can be an extremely clean, ethical kill, and I don't
Speaker 1: think that there's any It doesn't make it give the
Speaker 1: animal any less advantage because it's it's laying down. So
Speaker 1: there's a lot of times that I've taken a shot
Speaker 1: on an animal that's bedded. What I do do, though,
Speaker 1: is if I'm going to take a bedded shot, I
Speaker 1: really analyze it because you if you're taking a shot
Speaker 1: on an animal that's bedded, you probably have a lot
Speaker 1: more time. I'll only take a bedded shot if I
Speaker 1: have a clear line of side of the vitals, and
Speaker 1: you kind of have to understand the way that the
Speaker 1: animals laying so a mule deer. I actually just did
Speaker 1: a deer hunt this year where I shot a bedded
Speaker 1: deer with my bow in Nevada is on a ridge
Speaker 1: reeper film. But that deer provided a perfect, clean broadside shot.
Speaker 1: I had a spot that I could aim at, and
Speaker 1: I looked at it closely with my binoculars to see
Speaker 1: where the bone structure of the shoulder was before shooting.
Speaker 1: That's something that I'll do a lot on a bedded animal,
Speaker 1: even if i'm bow hunting, I'll use my binoculars at
Speaker 1: that close range because you can actually see the ribs,
Speaker 1: you can see the shoulder, you can really see a
Speaker 1: lot of the definition by looking up close at close range.
Speaker 1: And then I can say, okay, here's where I'm going
Speaker 1: to aim. Now if it's quartering. To me, it's really
Speaker 1: hard to make a successful or ethical quartering two betted shot,
Speaker 1: So I try to find those shots where okay, he's betted,
Speaker 1: I can maybe move and shoot quartering away or broadside.
Speaker 1: I see where is the way he's laying and where
Speaker 1: his vitals might be, and I really just pick a
Speaker 1: good spot, analyze the shot, and shoot It's it's no
Speaker 1: different than an animal it's standing. You have to really
Speaker 1: analyze where you're gonna shoot, pick the right spot, and
Speaker 1: hit the right spot. But it can definitely be done
Speaker 1: ethically and successfully on a bedded animal for sure. That's
Speaker 1: all the questions for this week, but as always, feel
Speaker 1: free to write any questions, and if I if I
Speaker 1: didn't answer some of your questions you might have, feel
Speaker 1: free to write him in. You can reach me at
Speaker 1: Remy at the meat eat dot com, or you can
Speaker 1: always get me on social media as well at Remy Warren.
Speaker 1: I generally try to most of the ones that I
Speaker 1: reply to you on social media. It's just easier for me.
Speaker 1: But please keep sending the emails in because those are
Speaker 1: generally the ones that get read on the podcast. If
Speaker 1: you have a question you think a lot of people
Speaker 1: might want to hear about, shoot us an email at
Speaker 1: Remy at the meat Eater dot com and I'll try
Speaker 1: to get to as many of them as possible. Also,
Speaker 1: just keep them flowing, because it would be nice to
Speaker 1: add a couple of them to some of the other
Speaker 1: podcasts as well. I love just hearing from you guys.
Speaker 1: I've said it a million times, but I'll say it
Speaker 1: a million one times maybe well, and then a million more.
Speaker 1: This is really just to help make you better hunters.
Speaker 1: So if you have ideas on podcasts you'd like to
Speaker 1: hear things that you want to know about, I just
Speaker 1: compile all that and then I start talking about it.
Speaker 1: So some of the stuff about the new Hunters, some
Speaker 1: of the small game stuff, it's all from everybody that listens.
Speaker 1: So I want to make sure that there's stuff out
Speaker 1: there that you're hearing. And I think some some of
Speaker 1: the things that I've been seeing a lot stuff from
Speaker 1: guys in New Zealand and Australia about some of the
Speaker 1: species there. So I think in coming episodes it's gonna
Speaker 1: be fun to maybe talk about some different species where
Speaker 1: you got the guys from over there, gotta listen to
Speaker 1: all of the species from over here. But I think
Speaker 1: a lot of the tactics are transferable, so I'm gonna
Speaker 1: talk about some different stuff. I've got a lot of
Speaker 1: questions that I didn't talk about yet on spring Bears
Speaker 1: and and a lot of seasonal things, some applications stuff.
Speaker 1: So until next week, keep the emails rolling. See up