8-Nov-23
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[00:00:00.000 –> 00:00:07.000] I’m loving your country. Yeah.
[00:00:07.000 –> 00:00:09.000] It was good. It’s good to be back.
[00:00:09.000 –> 00:00:17.000] Yeah, you were here. You did another one of those wild back country elk hunts, which you haven’t been able to do because of COVID for three years.
[00:00:17.000 –> 00:00:18.000] Four years.
[00:00:18.000 –> 00:00:19.000] I’m loving your country.
[00:00:19.000 –> 00:00:22.000] It was good. It’s good to be back.
[00:00:22.000 –> 00:00:25.960] Yeah, you were here. You did another one of those wild back country elk hunts
[00:00:25.960 –> 00:00:26.960] which you haven’t been able to do
[00:00:26.960 –> 00:00:29.399] because of COVID for three years.
[00:00:29.399 –> 00:00:30.239] Four years.
[00:00:30.239 –> 00:00:31.079] Four years.
[00:00:31.079 –> 00:00:31.920] Wow.
[00:00:31.920 –> 00:00:33.520] And five years since the last podcast.
[00:00:33.520 –> 00:00:35.280] Did you document the whole thing
[00:00:35.280 –> 00:00:37.280] like you did the last time in your internet stories?
[00:00:37.280 –> 00:00:38.159] I did, yeah.
[00:00:38.159 –> 00:00:41.240] Yeah, I tried to capture as much as I could.
[00:00:41.240 –> 00:00:43.200] Sometimes it’s hard because you’re stuck in the moment.
[00:00:43.200 –> 00:00:45.159] So the last thing you want is like,
[00:00:45.159 –> 00:00:46.240] a phone in your face, right?
[00:00:46.240 –> 00:00:47.799] Yeah, it does fuck with it, right?
[00:00:47.799 –> 00:00:49.679] Yeah, so I couldn’t capture it all,
[00:00:49.679 –> 00:00:52.439] but I tried to at least mention everything
[00:00:52.439 –> 00:00:53.320] that I was going through,
[00:00:53.320 –> 00:00:55.560] but there was like one stage I just felt like
[00:00:55.560 –> 00:00:58.640] I was in the war and I actually slipped between
[00:00:58.640 –> 00:01:01.600] two fallen down trees and it nearly broke me legs
[00:01:01.600 –> 00:01:03.359] like straight across the front of my shins.
[00:01:03.359 –> 00:01:04.200] Oh shit.
[00:01:04.200 –> 00:01:09.120] And it’s like, I didn’t capture it and I’m sort of hurting so you don’t get to see the whole story
[00:01:09.239 –> 00:01:13.400] But I reckon I at least give the people 80% of the story, you know
[00:01:13.799 –> 00:01:15.799] What happened when you almost broke your legs?
[00:01:16.359 –> 00:01:23.079] Well, I was fucking rooted for starters like stuff like this is day 26 or something like that. What does rooted mean to your people?
[00:01:25.959 –> 00:01:26.959] Yeah, really?
[00:01:26.959 –> 00:01:27.959] It’s guessing.
[00:01:27.959 –> 00:01:29.439] Rooted means really exhausted.
[00:01:29.439 –> 00:01:30.439] Oh, okay.
[00:01:30.439 –> 00:01:32.239] Like just, you’re fucked, you know?
[00:01:32.239 –> 00:01:33.239] Right.
[00:01:33.239 –> 00:01:38.159] And I was coming back in the dark, you know, you’re trying to, you know, conserve everything
[00:01:38.159 –> 00:01:39.159] as you go on.
[00:01:39.159 –> 00:01:41.640] So you’re trying to use your headlight as less as possible as well.
[00:01:41.640 –> 00:01:43.439] Like you’re out there for a month.
[00:01:43.439 –> 00:01:44.439] Right.
[00:01:44.439 –> 00:01:46.319] So a lot of the times your head like, yeah,
[00:01:46.319 –> 00:01:49.159] torches turn right down if it’s on at all.
[00:01:49.159 –> 00:01:51.280] So it’s turn right down and I’m coming back down
[00:01:51.280 –> 00:01:53.079] the mountain to camp.
[00:01:53.079 –> 00:01:55.000] Pretty much stepped on one bit of dead fall,
[00:01:55.000 –> 00:01:59.079] like a big fallen pine tree and then slipped off it.
[00:01:59.079 –> 00:02:01.959] And then there was another pine tree, only like a foot apart.
[00:02:01.959 –> 00:02:03.319] So I went between the two of them
[00:02:03.319 –> 00:02:06.319] and all my body weight come over the top of it.
[00:02:06.319 –> 00:02:08.280] And then, yeah, like I just remember,
[00:02:08.280 –> 00:02:09.879] like Lee’s bruised the bones
[00:02:09.879 –> 00:02:11.319] because it was hard to walk, you know?
[00:02:11.319 –> 00:02:12.159] Oh boy.
[00:02:12.159 –> 00:02:13.199] But it’s like at that point,
[00:02:13.199 –> 00:02:15.400] you feel like the whole world’s against you, right?
[00:02:15.400 –> 00:02:17.199] Really, really tough trip.
[00:02:17.199 –> 00:02:19.319] Like, and I think a lot of the,
[00:02:19.319 –> 00:02:21.199] over the counter guys went through that this year.
[00:02:21.199 –> 00:02:23.120] It was a really difficult year for Elk.
[00:02:23.120 –> 00:02:26.400] Was that because of the heavy snowfall?
[00:02:26.400 –> 00:02:29.199] So I think because of winter kill for one.
[00:02:29.199 –> 00:02:33.599] And then a lot of the other states are not doing any over the counter anymore,
[00:02:33.599 –> 00:02:36.000] so that pushed more people in the Colorado.
[00:02:36.000 –> 00:02:41.599] And then Colorado shut down some units and limited units because of the winter kill.
[00:02:41.599 –> 00:02:44.000] So there was a lot of hunters jammed in the areas.
[00:02:44.000 –> 00:02:46.280] I think the bulls didn’t come down.
[00:02:46.280 –> 00:02:48.560] So I think a combination of a lot of things.
[00:02:48.560 –> 00:02:51.719] Colorado’s just reintroduced wolves, which is just…
[00:02:51.719 –> 00:02:56.719] It’s such a shell game because when there’s like stipulations
[00:02:58.280 –> 00:03:00.560] to reintroduce wolves, like Renel was talked about this
[00:03:00.560 –> 00:03:03.039] before, like they reintroduce wolves.
[00:03:03.039 –> 00:03:10.199] And then the idea is when the wolves get to be a certain population, then they will allow hunting. But then the wildlife
[00:03:10.199 –> 00:03:17.240] protection groups come in and they sue to make sure that you don’t open up wolf hunting.
[00:03:17.240 –> 00:03:26.039] So then they only can issue depredation permits to ranchers and people don’t like the idea of hunting wolves.
[00:03:26.039 –> 00:03:27.039] And I get that.
[00:03:27.039 –> 00:03:33.400] But you shouldn’t also like the idea of rampant wolf populations that are invading into people’s
[00:03:33.400 –> 00:03:36.960] communities and eating their dogs and threatening children.
[00:03:36.960 –> 00:03:40.960] The reason why Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood and all that shit was a story,
[00:03:40.960 –> 00:03:41.960] because they used to eat kids.
[00:03:41.960 –> 00:03:42.960] It was happening.
[00:03:42.960 –> 00:03:43.960] Yeah.
[00:03:43.960 –> 00:03:44.960] Yeah.
[00:03:44.960 –> 00:03:47.280] They ate people for a long fuck of time until people got
[00:03:47.280 –> 00:03:48.919] wise and said, you know, we should probably kill these
[00:03:48.919 –> 00:03:50.039] fucking things.
[00:03:50.039 –> 00:03:51.719] And that’s what they did for the longest time.
[00:03:51.719 –> 00:03:54.639] And then the greenies got in, like, we need to bring the
[00:03:54.639 –> 00:03:56.360] wolves back.
[00:03:56.360 –> 00:03:59.280] And it’s generally people that have zero experience with real
[00:03:59.280 –> 00:04:01.560] wildlife predators.
[00:04:01.560 –> 00:04:02.560] There should be a balance.
[00:04:02.560 –> 00:04:03.960] You know, there should be grizzly bears.
[00:04:03.960 –> 00:04:08.439] There should be mountain lions. Not like anybody wants to eradicate those things. But reintroducing
[00:04:08.439 –> 00:04:13.719] wolves, especially what they do with Montana, they took those big ass Canadian wolves and
[00:04:13.719 –> 00:04:14.719] brought them down.
[00:04:14.719 –> 00:04:20.060] Yeah. Well, like, you know, me, I like, I do think there needs to be a balance. And I
[00:04:20.060 –> 00:04:28.560] think people, hunters are part of that balance as well, you know. Yeah. And I think people, hunters are part of that balance as well. And I think a big part of that is keeping everything in check.
[00:04:28.560 –> 00:04:33.040] So if the elk population’s too big, then there should be more tags.
[00:04:33.040 –> 00:04:36.439] It’s a really good system over here in that sense in America.
[00:04:36.439 –> 00:04:41.399] And then if there’s a winner kill, like they just has been in this last season, then yeah,
[00:04:41.399 –> 00:04:42.959] limit the tags and things like that.
[00:04:42.959 –> 00:04:45.500] So, because I’ve been on a few hunts now
[00:04:45.500 –> 00:04:49.560] where you don’t feel comfortable shooting the nelk
[00:04:49.560 –> 00:04:50.800] because you’re not seeing any.
[00:04:50.800 –> 00:04:54.040] So it’s just like, I actually don’t wanna shoot an elk here.
[00:04:54.040 –> 00:04:55.399] It doesn’t feel right.
[00:04:55.399 –> 00:04:57.040] Doesn’t seem like there’s enough elk here
[00:04:57.040 –> 00:04:59.079] for me to be shooting them.
[00:04:59.079 –> 00:05:01.959] And I experienced that in a few areas this trip.
[00:05:01.959 –> 00:05:05.560] And I remember the last time I hunted,
[00:05:05.560 –> 00:05:07.240] so four years ago,
[00:05:07.240 –> 00:05:10.079] and Kimmy, my wife actually said it to me,
[00:05:10.079 –> 00:05:12.319] we, I think we hunted for 14 days
[00:05:12.319 –> 00:05:14.439] and we hadn’t seen a bull elk.
[00:05:14.439 –> 00:05:17.000] And she’s like, even if one steps up at this point,
[00:05:17.000 –> 00:05:17.839] I’m not shooting it,
[00:05:17.839 –> 00:05:19.120] because it doesn’t feel right.
[00:05:19.120 –> 00:05:19.959] Yeah.
[00:05:19.959 –> 00:05:23.160] And it’s true, but there could be lots of elk in that area
[00:05:23.160 –> 00:05:24.079] another time of the year,
[00:05:24.079 –> 00:05:27.079] but hunting season starts, hunters go in and sort of pushes them out.
[00:05:27.079 –> 00:05:29.920] So it’s a little bit hard to say, but yeah, you don’t feel right.
[00:05:29.920 –> 00:05:32.839] You want to shoot something that’s a good, healthy population.
[00:05:32.839 –> 00:05:37.480] And now considering the fact that you are getting these over the counter tags, how do
[00:05:37.480 –> 00:05:40.120] you know what units to pick?
[00:05:40.120 –> 00:05:41.120] You don’t.
[00:05:41.120 –> 00:05:42.120] You’re just guessing.
[00:05:42.120 –> 00:05:43.120] Yeah.
[00:05:43.120 –> 00:05:46.240] So are you going online and doing any research? Yeah, it’s hunting full or?
[00:05:46.240 –> 00:05:47.399] Lots of research.
[00:05:47.399 –> 00:05:49.759] Yeah, hunting full super handy and stuff like that.
[00:05:49.759 –> 00:05:51.319] Talk to the guys pretty frequently
[00:05:51.319 –> 00:05:53.319] before coming up to a trip.
[00:05:53.319 –> 00:05:56.240] And then sort of just leaning on the hunting community
[00:05:56.240 –> 00:05:57.839] a little bit, you know, and you’ve got guys,
[00:05:57.839 –> 00:05:59.040] and this is what happened this trip,
[00:05:59.040 –> 00:06:00.439] because I’m starting from fresh again,
[00:06:00.439 –> 00:06:02.199] it’s been four years.
[00:06:02.199 –> 00:06:04.160] The spots that I used to hunt elk in
[00:06:04.160 –> 00:06:06.600] aren’t like that anymore, or they’re limited entry now, so, and I been four years. The spots that I used to hunt elk in, aren’t like that anymore or they’re limited entry now,
[00:06:06.600 –> 00:06:08.439] so, and I didn’t draw.
[00:06:08.439 –> 00:06:10.439] So I am starting from the, you know,
[00:06:10.439 –> 00:06:12.279] from scratch from the draw board.
[00:06:12.279 –> 00:06:14.519] And then, so I sort of leaned on the hunting community
[00:06:14.519 –> 00:06:16.839] a little bit and I had a few guys reach out.
[00:06:16.839 –> 00:06:19.160] Well, I had actually a bunch of people reach out,
[00:06:19.160 –> 00:06:20.560] which was really nice and, you know,
[00:06:20.560 –> 00:06:22.879] try this spot, you know, I hunted here last year.
[00:06:22.879 –> 00:06:24.360] You’re welcome to join me in this camp.
[00:06:24.360 –> 00:06:26.759] So I had a lot of that, which was really nice.
[00:06:27.660 –> 00:06:29.560] But even those guys don’t know,
[00:06:29.560 –> 00:06:31.839] you think you’ve got an animal figured out,
[00:06:31.839 –> 00:06:34.959] like fuck, think again, and that’s,
[00:06:34.959 –> 00:06:37.120] I think that’s why I love bio hunting so much,
[00:06:37.120 –> 00:06:40.160] and it’s so, I’ve constantly got a passion for it
[00:06:40.160 –> 00:06:43.079] because you never actually fully work it out.
[00:06:43.079 –> 00:06:44.759] Like, as soon as you start thinking
[00:06:44.759 –> 00:06:46.399] you’ve got something worked out, you’re fucked.
[00:06:46.399 –> 00:06:47.600] Like, they’ll change it up on you.
[00:06:47.600 –> 00:06:51.360] And that happens to me every year in just about every species, you know.
[00:06:51.360 –> 00:06:53.360] So you can go in there with as much knowledge as you like,
[00:06:53.360 –> 00:06:54.399] and obviously that helps.
[00:06:54.399 –> 00:06:57.839] But at the end of the day, that’s why it’s so good, so appealing.
[00:06:57.839 –> 00:07:02.079] Well, you like a crazy hard hunt, but these are nuts.
[00:07:02.079 –> 00:07:03.680] The ones that you go on are really nuts.
[00:07:03.680 –> 00:07:06.360] Like, the one that you did last four years ago
[00:07:06.360 –> 00:07:09.699] that you documented where you had that close encounter
[00:07:09.699 –> 00:07:11.959] with a grizzly bear and you had a bad pistol.
[00:07:11.959 –> 00:07:14.279] Yeah, fucking pistol.
[00:07:14.279 –> 00:07:16.240] Ah, shit.
[00:07:16.240 –> 00:07:18.839] Yeah, that was a terrifying encounter.
[00:07:18.839 –> 00:07:21.319] The video of you with your gun pointed out
[00:07:21.319 –> 00:07:24.600] where you can clearly see that the round’s not chambered
[00:07:24.600 –> 00:07:27.079] because it literally doesn’t fit in there.
[00:07:27.079 –> 00:07:28.399] Wasn’t a good situation.
[00:07:28.399 –> 00:07:29.000] No.
[00:07:29.000 –> 00:07:30.759] Yeah.
[00:07:30.759 –> 00:07:33.319] I’ve sort of fucked myself because I
[00:07:33.319 –> 00:07:35.360] want to go to a place where there’s just elk running
[00:07:35.360 –> 00:07:37.000] around everywhere and stuff like that.
[00:07:37.000 –> 00:07:40.079] But because I’ve done these hard hunts now,
[00:07:40.079 –> 00:07:42.399] it’s like I can’t go backwards.
[00:07:42.399 –> 00:07:48.399] And I’m not lying to myself up for a disaster as hunt, but like I want it to be
[00:07:48.399 –> 00:07:49.399] that tough, you know?
[00:07:49.399 –> 00:07:52.639] Like I don’t want to go in on the first day and kill one, the trip’s done.
[00:07:52.639 –> 00:07:56.639] Well, what would you do if you walked in and you saw a 350 bull in the first day?
[00:07:56.639 –> 00:07:57.639] I’d still shoot it.
[00:07:57.639 –> 00:07:58.639] Yeah, yeah.
[00:07:58.639 –> 00:07:59.639] I would.
[00:07:59.639 –> 00:08:00.639] You have to.
[00:08:00.639 –> 00:08:01.639] Yeah.
[00:08:01.639 –> 00:08:02.639] Well, you should never put this the old saying, right?
[00:08:02.639 –> 00:08:04.639] You should never pass up on a bull in the first day that you would kill in the last time.
[00:08:04.639 –> 00:08:09.220] I don’t agree with that, eh? No I don’t why’s that because what do you what are you in it for?
[00:08:09.720 –> 00:08:15.759] Well, you’re in it to kill a bull. Yeah, there’s also luck. Yeah, but I can’t spit on luck
[00:08:15.759 –> 00:08:19.560] Yeah, I think like day 27
[00:08:20.160 –> 00:08:27.000] Broke me on this last trip when I say broke me just, I just got to the point where I was completely satisfied.
[00:08:27.000 –> 00:08:28.420] So I still didn’t stop hunting,
[00:08:28.420 –> 00:08:30.439] I was still gonna hunt for the very last day of season,
[00:08:30.439 –> 00:08:31.27