Ep. 46: Dirk and Jim Huntsman
01:06:35 Share

Check engine light on? Take the guesswork out of your check engine light with O'Reilly Veriscan. It's free and provides a report with solutions based on over 650 million vehicle scans verified by ASE certified master technicians. And if you need help, we can recommend a shop for you. Ask for O'Reilly Veriscan today. O, O, O'Reilly Auto Parts.

There's nothing like snook hook sets at dawn or catching a tarpon in the moonlight. Find your next fishing trip made easy on fishingbooker.com and experience the magic of the Sunshine State or any other destination on your fishing bucket list. Book a blue water adventure in search of sailfish or go snapper fishing with the kids. With over 6,000 captains and trips to choose from, planning your next one just got a whole lot easier. Download the Fishing Booker app

on the Google Play or App Store or visit them online at fishingbooker.com to book your trip today. You ever get that feeling, the walls closing in, the concrete jungle suffocating you? You crave some wide open spaces, the chance to connect with nature, maybe in a spot all your own. Well, head over to land.com.

They've got ranches, forests, mountains, streams, you name it. Search by acreage. You can search by location. You can search by the kind of hunting and fishing you're dreaming of. Land.com. It is where the adventure begins. Welcome to another episode of Cutting the Distance Podcast. I'm your host, Dirk Durham. My guest today is going to be one of my favorite people. He is one of my favorite people. This guy is another host of another podcast, the Western Huntsman Podcast.

Jim and I have known each other for a few years. He was gracious enough to ask me to be on the very first episode of his podcast back in, what was that, 2019, Jim? Yes, sir. So welcome to the show. Thank you for coming on, and we're going to talk about some cool stuff today. Awesome, man. I appreciate you having me. Thank you.

Can you tell some folks a little bit more about yourself, about your podcast and what your day job is? I mean, I don't know if everybody knows. I mean, everybody thinks all these hunting industry people sit around eating caviar with deer antlers, spoons, sitting on a bare skin rug. But I feel like that's people don't always know what, you know, behind the scenes looks like for a real life hunting personality like yourself.

Yeah, man, I think you're exactly right. I think that folks kind of look at the whole hunting industry as if it's a lot more lucrative than it really is. So, yeah, just a little bit about me. I'm a lifelong hunter. I grew up out west. I grew up in Utah, in Idaho, and a big-time mule deer hunter and elk hunter. And now I'm a kind of half-psychotic bear hunter. I love bear hunting.

And I started, I don't know, roughly 2016, 2017, I started getting a bit concerned about the future of hunting and started writing for various magazines and online articles and stuff like that. And it kind of turned...

turned into this thing where, you know, my wife's always like, you know, all you want to do is talk about hunting. Why don't you start one of those hunting podcasts? And I'm like, I don't even really know what a podcast is. I'd like heard of Joe Rogan, right? And so I look it up and one of the first podcasts I ever listened to was

It was you on Randy Newberg's podcast with somebody else. I can't remember who else was on there. There was three people on there and, and it was you and Randy Newberg and somebody else talking about elk hunting mistakes. And I'm like, okay, okay. So this is what a podcast is. I, I like, I like the content and whatnot. And so after the, the elk season 2019, I,

I had hit this bull elk after, I don't know, it was like a three-hour bugle battle, right? And finally got this elk. And he went down and fell off the front of this rock face and tumbled. And because of this, he busted a bunch of antlers off of him, a bunch of the tines off him. And because of the way he fell, I lost his blood trail. And it took me like three days to find him.

And by then the meat was spoiled. You know, it was, it was like a major blow. The bears had got to him, but I found him and I, I, I recovered the, the antlers and he had a bunch of busted tines. And so, um, it was like just this moment. I thought, you know what, I'm going to start a podcast and, and talk about this stuff and protect this thing because I love it so much. Even though this was devastating, I just, I just killed an elk and I couldn't recover it in time. And,

Uh, you know, it was, it was even like a double whammy because, um, the, the tines had broken off and, and, uh, but I, I still just this burning passion for it, you know? And so, so yeah, I started a podcast. I called you up. I'm like, Hey man, want to, want to be in my podcast? I have no idea what I'm doing, but, uh, we came down and recorded that first one and I released it Christmas Eve of 2019. Yeah. That was awesome. Yeah. So, Oh, day job. You asked about the day job. Yeah. Uh, I, I'm in the commercial roofing industry.

And I run around looking at big commercial roofs and I do estimating and project management and stuff like that. So, but when I'm not recording podcasts or hunting, that's what you'll find me out there doing all over the Pacific Northwest. Awesome.

Yeah, the cool thing was I'd never met Jim in my entire life. And we just kind of messaged. Well, no, I take that back. We did meet at like a sportsman show briefly and you said, hey, my name's Jim. This is what I do. Yada, yada. And then fast forward a few months. You contacted me. And then I said, well, let's meet at the local watering hole and grab a burger and a beer.

So we grabbed a burger and a beer and shot the breeze there. And immediately I was like, this guy, he's my kind of people. Sometimes Jim just calls me up and we'll sit there and BS for an hour or two about just whatever's going on, whether it be hunting or life or politics or whatever. And that's what I love about you, man. You're always, you're just like, you're the real deal. And I appreciate that kind of conversation. So today. No, I appreciate it, man.

And the feeling's mutual for sure. It's, uh, you're like one of the most authentic people I know. Uh, one of the most solid elk hunters I've ever met in my life with, with still holding and maintaining that, that level of humility and humbleness. And, uh, yeah, just think highly of your brother. Wow. That, yeah, you're making me blush a little bit, but, uh, Well, if you ever get in trouble with your wife, just play this back to her. Yes, I will. Definitely.

So, today, I want to talk about some stuff. You know, here it is, August 7th, so we're less than 30 days until September 1st. And I really want to record this podcast a little earlier and get it published a little earlier. And by the time this publishes, it'll probably be, you'll have an even less time to get prepped for elk season. But I feel like...

there's some stuff you need to do before preseason, before we take off and whether you're going to be gone, you know, be a weekend warrior off and on through the month of September, or if you're going to take the whole dang month off, you know, I like to, I'm gone most of the month. I sleep in my bed, maybe two or three nights in September and the rest of the time I'm in the mountains. So, yeah,

It's very critical. Preparation is very critical to make sure you have success in the fall. It's not just all about, you know, all of your other homework you're supposed to be doing the rest of the year, you know, all your bow shooting and all your Googler thing and all your on X map marking and stuff. You know, there's a little more to it than that. And one thing I like to talk about, and I'm going to preface this with a little bit, I am definitely not a fitness coach.

And so, and if you look at me, I'm not a fitness athlete by no means, but I guess I have a different perspective than maybe some of the ultra fit out there. You know, some of the folks that'll send in questions to the podcast, we like to share them here. And one of those is, hey, this was off social media. Hey, Dirk, what do you do to get in shape for elk season?

So, if you see me, I'm kind of the shape, and round is a shape. That's kind of the shape I'm in. But this year, I've had an ankle injury, not an ankle injury, ankle recovery. I had ankle surgery back in December, and I've been working on rehabbing that all winter and all summer. So, this last month, I'm really starting to get a little more serious about my recovery.

fitness, because now I can push things a little bit. What kind of fitness stuff do you do, Jim? Are you out running marathons? Are you hitting the weight room every day? What are you doing? Yeah, no. So I do none of that, man. And I don't...

I don't have like, well, let me put it to you this way. So I live on a homestead. And so there is always stuff to do outside. I'm either chopping wood or I'm building new fencing or fixing the chicken coop or, you know, hauling stuff from one side of the property to the next or, you know, mowing. I'm a pretty physical guy that way. So it's not like I am not like Cam Haynes, right?

And I don't, I think that that is super beneficial for, um, for, for hunting to, to be super athletic like that. But I also think that there's a lot of us that are, that are average guys that have, um, you know, whatever the case is. I, for, for example, you mentioned your, your ankle. Uh, I have, I have, I have super arthritic, arthritic knees. That's like a tongue twister, man.

Um, my knees are pretty arthritic from, uh, from the military. And so running is kind of out of the question for me. And, and that's, that's straight from the, you know, a knee surgeon's mouth. And, and so I don't like to put that kind of stress on my knees. However, I do throw a pretty heavy pack on and I will hike the property. I'll do like three miles, two or three times a week.

And I clocked it with my Onyx, man. If I walk around my entire property like three and a half times, that's one mile. So that's how I clock it. And I'll just throw a podcast in. And I do that throughout the summer. And in the winter, I throw the snowshoes on and I'll kind of do the same route. I usually don't go three miles. That's a lot harder. And I don't have a pack on during that time. But no, I don't go hit the gym and lift a bunch of weights. I don't go running. I don't do anything like that. I...

I never know how to say this without sounding like some egomaniac because I am anything but. But I put a lot of miles on my feet when I was in the military. And there's something about when you do that.

You just have this thing afterwards. It's like there was a show I watched one time, and it was about the Civil War, and this infantry guy, he's like, oh, it's the first few thousand miles after that, yet a man gets limber with his feet. And that's true. Once you've hit so many miles, I can just go. I can just hike. I'm like a mountain goat. Now, I'm not as fast as somebody who's...

been doing a lot of cardio or does a lot of running of marathons and stuff like that. They're going to get there before me, but I'm going to get there. And I guess that's the, I don't know, that's a summary of my workout session. I love it. You know, it's just basic stuff. I'm just an average dude. I'm not super out of shape and I'm not super in shape, man, but I can get to the top of the mountain when I need to.

I love it. Here's one thing, one level, one barrier of entry, you know, for the hunting world. I say you like a new hunter, they want to come and go hunting, but they see so much stuff on social media or videos of these elite athlete, elite type athletes, elk hunting or deer hunting or whatever. And it's for the average Joe like me.

that's kind of like an unattainable goal to be that level of physical fitness. I'm just going to, you know, I'm not going to run a lot of miles every day. I can't, you know, I have an old, you know, I have a bad back. I can't run on concrete. The different doctor told me don't do never, never run on concrete again. So I'm not going to get out and run a bunch of miles. But what I've always said is if you can't,

walk to the elk you can't hunt elk so exactly I think it's all foundational you have to you have to get out and walk and and depend no no matter what your level of fitness is maybe maybe you can barely get off the couch honestly and uh but you can start those baby steps like okay well I'm gonna walk

walk down the block first and then, okay, tomorrow, maybe I'll walk a little further or maybe you're pretty good shape, but you're a desk jockey. But, you know, maybe that first day it's a mile and then you're working on it after that, you know? So I like to kind of

let my, my, if I've been kind of been lazy and been sitting around a lot, um, not able to get away from the desk, I like to check, kind of get out and just like warm up my muscles, wake them up a little bit. Yeah. And that's just walking around, walking. And once they kind of wake up after a couple of days, you'll notice a difference. Like, okay, your muscles and your, in your legs and your feet and your lower back are like, okay, we're going to start being physical again. And then, you know, I'm going to start adding some hills in, but yeah,

The goal here is if you've, especially at this point in the time, like here we are middle of August, you don't want to go out and get injured. So now's not the time to join a CrossFit gym. Don't join a CrossFit gym and be getting nothing wrong with CrossFit. I think it's, it's a great exercise way to get your workout in, but yeah,

It's easy to like get to be competitive and then like overdo it. And then, oh man, I just tore my hammy or I messed up my shoulder or whatever, you know. That's something you want to do your CrossFit workout. Like maybe start that in January 1. That way you have plenty of time to ease into it and, you know, build and build and build and be a superhuman by September. But now's not the time for it.

I think that's super solid advice because I think people underestimate how much, how easy it is, especially, you know, dudes like us that, you know, we're, we're not, we're not spring chickens anymore, you know? So,

Uh, it's, it's not that difficult to injure our body. Like I spent, I spent the first two weeks of, uh, July going to the chiropractor three times a week. And you know what I did? All I did was, uh, I, I, I picked my dog up so, uh, I can get him in the back of the truck without him jumping. Cause he's getting old. Yeah. Cost me two weeks at the chiropractor, man. And I'm in decent shape. And I think a lot of it too, people put this, um,

So there's like this, what do you call that when there's the stigma on what kind of shape you have to be in? Man, I'll tell you a couple of things. First of all, most of this stuff is mental. If you get out in the woods and you've got a heavy pack on and it's, you know, first thing in the morning, it's maybe your first time out West and getting on a mountain. Don't underestimate how long your second wind is going to take you into the back country. I don't care what kind of shape you're in. You just keep going.

And your body will tell you when it's time to stop. And there's a difference between that thought of, man, this sucks. This is hard. I'm sweating. My back hurts. My legs hurt. I need to just stop. And that's not when you stop. Your body will tell you when to stop. The other part of it is, what was that? Two seasons ago, man, you'll get a kick out of this because we've talked about Doug Flutie and stuff. Two seasons ago, I'm like...

four miles way up this drainage. And, and it was not, you know, North Idaho, it's, it's, these are North Idaho miles. These are, it's real brush miles. They're tough miles. Um, and this isn't like four miles in Kansas. And, and so I, I get way up there and there's this dude back there and he's probably 65 years old ish. Um, he's not in great shape. Um,

He's smoking cigarettes and he's got an elk down. And so I end up helping this guy pack an elk out.

And the dude is just like, it was hard for me to get up there. And he got up there before me somehow. So I think a lot of this, I come to find, I don't know. I think a lot of it is just mental. I think a lot of it is we struggle with our own minds and mental toughness and mental endurance to get into places where the elk live. Because you're right, if you can't walk into there, you're not going to get an elk.

Right. And I think expectation versus reality sometimes really gets people. I always like to tell people to temper their expectations, no matter what it is. So, okay, getting up the mountain to that bugling elk or packing out a load of elk meat. What's your expectation? Well, we're not going to have any of that instant gratification that we get with today's conveniences and modern easy life that we've all enjoy and love every day, right? Right.

and I find myself like, like when I'm training or when I'm hiking or hunting, I'm just like, man, I really, I wish I could get to the top quicker. And I like my mind. It's almost like I start tricking my mind, like into feeling like a feeling of failure because I'm not scaling the mountain as quickly as I think maybe I should. And once I, once I kind of temper that expectation, it's like, well,

I'll get there when I'm going to get there. It's like, I'm not a Ferrari, right? I'm more of a, I'm more of a dump truck or maybe a bulldozer, right? I'm just going to bulldoze my way up this mountain. You're just a really good Chevy, man. You're going to get there. That's how I am. I'm not a Pinto, but I'm not a Ferrari. I'm just like a really good Chevy. I'm a one ton Chevy. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Sometimes in the winter, I look like a suburban.

Yeah, exactly. And we have to remember, like, we're out there to have it, to enjoy it. If you push too hard to where you push yourself past the enjoyment level, then you're like thinking, what the heck am I doing here? So temper your expectations of how fast you should go up the mountain. If your buddy weighs...

70 pounds less than you and he just climbs up there like a rabbit well that's cool for him because that's where he's at but if you can get there too and hunt effectively on your own terms that that's a win right and i thought i found that for me you know if i can just go at my own pace i can i can go just about anywhere anybody else can oh me too man yeah just my own pace is the key

And the key is, you know, back to the training is start now. If you haven't done any exercise this summer, start now. Get out. Start walking. Then after you do a few days of walking, start rucking. And rucking is throwing a backpack on with a little bit of weight. So,

You know, your first couple days, you're going to want to put enough weight in there to be what your normal day pack is, you know, whether that's, you know, 15 pounds or so, 20 pounds, totally loaded with all your gear. So, water, meat bags, knives, forks, spoons, whatever you carry in your day bag, right? Yeah, yeah. And then…

wear that for, you know, do some rucking with that for about three or four days, then throw some more weight on there, throw 40 pounds on it, do some more rucking for three or four days. And then that last few days, you know, that last week before season, that's when you really, this is where you really want to remind your body if you've been there before, or maybe it's, if you've never done this, um,

this is kind of like a wake-up call for your body. Like, okay, this is what we're going to be doing here very soon. That's when you put on an 80-pound pack and you're going to walk. But you're not going to walk those four or five miles that you were able to walk without a heavy pack. Let's get those baby steps. If you can carry that 80-pound pack a half mile around the neighborhood, I mean, that's great. That's a win. Now your body's like, oh, wow. Okay, that's what it feels like. Tomorrow, we're going to do it again.

Tomorrow I want to do it again and see how it feels. And maybe we can go a little further, maybe not. Because we want to remember, we don't want to injure ourselves. But getting that feeling that last week before season, putting that 80-pound pack on every day and walking with it is going to be not only get you in a little better shape, it's also going to build some mental toughness. Because your body's familiar with that heavy weight.

You've packed it, you know, you can carry it. And, you know, if, if you're lucky enough to have some hills by your house and if you're able to walk, you know, hike up some hills with it a little bit, you know, maybe put a mile or two on with that heavy weight, you're going to have so much more confidence and so much more mental toughness going into season that you'll have a better time. You know, you'll have that mindset. Like I can do it instead of I can't do it. Yeah. Yeah. And

Go ahead. It just, I think that that all adds to your mental endurance as well. Like you don't want your back muscles to be like the first time they feel that weight on opening day.

Because you're going to create a lot of pain and it's so unnecessary. So again, yeah, you know, just for, for average, average guys, average physique guys like, like you and I, you know, uh, it just, just preparing without, without doing marathons and stuff is, is just don't, it doesn't need to be overcomplicated. Do what you're going to do while you're elk hunting, go hiking, go hiking a lot. And I think you'll surprise yourself when you get, when you get out there. Yeah. Yeah.

O'Reilly Auto Parts are in the business of keeping your car on the road. I love O'Reilly. In fact, the other day, I'm not kidding you. The other day I went into an O'Reilly Auto Parts looking for a part. I needed a different thing that wasn't really in there, you know, only like tangentially related to what they carry.

They did not have it, and the dude told me specifically where I would go down the road to find it is how nice they are. They offer friendly, helpful service and the parts knowledge you need for all your maintenance and repairs. Thousands of parts and accessories in stock, in-store, or online, so you never have to worry if you're in a jam.

They'll test your battery for free. If you need your windshield wipers replaced, a brake light fixed, or quick service, they'll help you find the right part or point you to a local repair shop for help. Whether you're a car aficionado or an auto novice, you'll find the employees at O'Reilly Auto Parts are knowledgeable, helpful, best of all, friendly. These guys are your one-stop shop for all things auto, do-it-yourself,

You can find what you need in store or online. Stop by O'Reilly Auto Parts today or visit them at OReillyAuto.com slash meat eater. That's OReillyAuto.com slash meat eater. We've all seen plenty of gadgets and fads come and go, but here's one product that stood the test of time. Seafoam motor treatment. Lots of hunters and anglers know that seafoam helps engines run better and last longer.

It's really simple. When you pour it in your gas tank, seafoam cleans harmful fuel deposits that cause engine problems. I'm talking common stuff like hard starts, rough engine performance, or lost fuel economy. Seafoam is an easy way to prevent or overcome these problems. Just pour a can in your gas tank and let it clean your fuel system. You probably know someone who has used a can of seafoam to get their truck or boat going again. People everywhere rely on seafoam to keep their trucks, boats, and small engines running the way that they should the entire season.

Help your engine run better and last longer. Pick up a can of Seafoam today at your local auto parts store or visit seafoamworks.com to learn more.

This is Brent Reeves from This Country Life. What makes South Dakota the greatest for pheasant hunting? With over 1.2 million pheasants harvested last year, South Dakota boasts the highest population of pheasants in the nation. In fact, you'd have to add up the total harvest from neighboring states just to get that many birds.

There's also millions of wide open acres chock full of different landscapes, meaning the hunt in one county is often completely different from just a few counties over. But what really makes South Dakota the greatest goes way beyond just hunting a colorful bird. It's the pursuit of something more like the camaraderie that awaits all kinds of hunters from all walks of life and partaking in South Dakota tradition over 100 years in the making.

It's about taking the greatest shots and watching your dog work the greatest fields in the greatest lands, carrying on the greatest heritage and making the greatest memories. So what are you waiting for? From the rush of the flush to the stories at the end of the day, experience a thrill like no other. Learn how at HuntTheGreatest.com.

My favorite thing to do in the summertime, you'd think would be maybe beach time or river time or, you know, sitting around a campfire, which I love all of those things. Sure. But my favorite thing to do is go put out trail cameras in the mountains in the back country of Idaho. Oh, yeah. And I put them out. Number one, I'm just...

I don't really use them really for hunting because usually the elk kind of disappear about middle of August off of them anyhow. But I just kind of like to know, I want to get inside the head of an elk. Like, what are they doing? What do they look like this time of year? When do they, when are they in this area? When do they leave? When do they come back?

um just it almost kind of gives you like a like a peek behind the curtain of a of an elk's life in that in that very spot and what i'll what i'll do um i'll put i'll put salt out now if you check the regs it's not illegal to put salt out but it is illegal to hunt over salt so you can't hunt over the salt it'll kind of foul up that area for hunting so um but what i'm not trying to hunt here what i'm just trying to do is are there any elk in this country at all what do they look like

What are they, what are they doing? When do they leave? When do they go? It's just, I always want to understand elk more. Right. So I, yep. Yep. And to get, to get salt into these places, it's well, number one, salt's heavy. You know, I get it in the 60 pound bag and then,

North Idaho is very steep, very brushy, a lot of timber. It's not easy miles. And a lot of the places I go are off trail. I may use an access trail for a ways, but then I'll go off trail just because I don't want anybody messing with my cameras. So I'll get out there. And sometimes I will, the whole way, especially once I get off trail, I will question my sanity. Like, what am I doing here? This sucks. Oh my God. What am I? I'm never coming back here. I'm

I can't ever come back here. I mean, it gets to the point where it will test your physical and your mental fortitude to the limit, right? So, you know, because I got 60 tons of salt, but I got water. I got cameras. I've got 80 pounds on my back. And by the time I dumped that thing, it's so like, oh my God, thank you. I got there finally. And I set up my camera and everything. But then...

I'm trying to do two or three of those a day because, you know, I don't have a lot of extra time to be throwing around. So I may have to fit this in kind of a long weekend. So I'm just like business from daylight to dark. As much as I'd like to be swimming in the lake or paddling around the river, I'm up in the brush sweating and cursing, putting out these stupid trail cameras. But what that does is later on, when I strap a quarter of elk meat on my back,

I know what it feels like and I know what I can do. I know that this is going to suck for a little bit, but once I get to the better part of the trail or I get to some flatter ground or whatever, things are going to get better and I can do it. I just, I know I can do it. And then I'm going to take, I know the time, the time it's going to take to get there. I'm not going to have some

weird expectation. Like I should be able to, okay, I should be able to get there in like 20, 30 minutes. It may take me an hour or two to get, to get this meat out, you know, but I'm okay with that. And then I don't feel defeated. Right. I, I, it takes me the hour to get it out. It's like, okay, cool. I can go back and make another trip. I gotta go get another load of meat. So it's just building that mental preparedness, I think, and, and some physical preparedness around it.

I I'd love to add, you know, because I love what you're saying and I've been doing actually your, I think you're the one that taught me this whole, let's go set some trail cameras and like the most random, uh,

you know, areas that you're thinking about hunting. Cause I, I think it's important. It tells you so much about what the elk are doing, the elk behavior, how they're moving. It also tells you if there are wolves moving through there consistently, it, it also builds your stamina and, and, and, you know, it's like the opposite. You, you pack in heavy and come out light because you've dropped the salt in the camera, you know? And so, yeah, I think that's critical. If you have, I understand that's going to be hard for guys coming from back East or whatever to,

to be able to do. But for the locals hunting out west, I mean, it's a great tool. It's a great scouting tool.

Yeah. In some States, it's just, you just can't do it. It's illegal, you know? Yeah. And I've looked, looked this up online several times just to make sure I'm following the letter of the law. Cause I don't, I want to make sure I'm, I'm legal, legal. Right. But in some States you can't do it. I don't think you can do it in Wyoming. And I think, I don't think Montana allows it either. Either. I haven't got it too far into it. Cause I haven't really tried. I don't really set trail cameras in those places. I think it's Arizona and Utah. I actually, I don't know.

I'd have to look it up. I don't want to speak at a, at a turn there. Yeah. Yeah. Look it up. If you decide you want to do such a thing, I would say, look it up, see if it's legal. If it's legal, go do it. Um, have some fun with it. And if it's not legal, you know, maybe you're going to do some backpack trips. Maybe you've got a really great trail system or some really, I feel like anywhere in this, anywhere there's elk, um, is almost better than Idaho for like

traversing the mountains, right? I think, you know, the West, the West coast of, you know, Oregon and Washington's pretty bad too. But yeah, as far as the high country, man,

Idaho is pretty, pretty rough. If you want to get out there, maybe throw a nice, you know, 40, 50 pound pack on and back, backpack in weight, you know, for a few days and set trail cameras and maybe Colorado or, or Wyoming, wherever that would be like really a really good test is, you know, give yourself some endurance and give yourself some confidence to know you can, you can get through those mountains during September. Yeah, totally, totally agree. Yeah.

Now, I'd like to switch gears here. I had another message come in to the email. It says, what kind of boots do you guys recommend for elk hunting? And I don't like to recommend a certain brand because everyone's feet are so different. And then another thing is like a lot of the high-end boots, they come with just kind of a basic insole that should be replaced.

I've ran everything from Dr. Scholl's to those really cool custom sheep feet. Yeah, I was going to ask you. You've run those sheep feet, haven't you? Yeah, which they're awesome. But I'll say that even the Dr. Scholl's inserts are better than what they put in most shoes. Yeah. That question is going to segue in to what the most important piece of gear is that you're needed for this fall. And I think it kind of couples with the most important exercise you're going to do, right? Yeah. Yeah.

You have to be able to walk the elk. Well, if you can't walk because your shoes are garbage or your boots are garbage, then it's going to be really hard to get up the mountain and get to those elk. So you have to, you know, I always say buy a pretty, the best quality pair of boots you can afford. I know everybody's got a little different budget, but try on a few, wear them around the store, you know, buy the best ones you can afford because high quality boots will definitely make the difference in the backcountry.

Mm hmm. I, I have said, and I feel like, again, I don't mean to sound like my grandpa always talking about the military thing, but but I have told people on my show, the most critical piece of gear that you that you go into the field with is going to be your boots. And I speak from a place of authority.

I was in the Marine Infantry, and I don't know that there's anybody that walks more than Marine Infantry do. And so I have run the lowest quality jungle boots in foreign places, and I could just speak from a place of great confidence when I tell you that your boots will make or break you. And you want to make sure whatever boots, like Dirk said,

getting the best boots that you can afford is critical. And I have my recommendation, but like Dirk said, everybody's feet are different. Everybody's kind of, you know, their budgets are different and whatnot. And so,

like get the best boots that you can, you can afford and, and make sure those boots are broken and you want to make sure they're waterproof. Make sure they're, they're fitting tight. If, if you wear a, if you wear a size 10 tennis shoes, sometimes hunting boots, you're going to want to get like a size 11, but you don't want to get like a size 11 and a half because then your feet are going to move around and, and your feet get sweaty. And it's like the socks are going to rub your blisters completely off. And you're going to be in a world of hurt. And so, um,

I do believe that boots, this is always my number one recommendation when I get gear questions, is boots are the most critical item. And I think second to that is having a good set of socks to go into those boots. And I don't know, man, what's your opinion? For me, nothing beats a good wool sock. What say you?

Yeah, I agree. You know, great, you know, good wool socks. I've ran the ones from Costco. Um, I've ran, uh, the first light wool socks I've run, um, darn toughs run a lot of different wool socks and they're all great. Um, they're, they're all better than tube socks. Yeah.

Yes. If you're hunting in cheap socks. Right, right. But I have a buddy that, I mean, that guy could probably put duct tape around his shoe box and walk around the mountains because he's just tough, right? But I feel like the rest of us are not nearly that tough. You know, take care of your feet, high quality socks, whether you're buying the ones at Costco or, you know, some really nice wool socks from a reputable company. That will, that will...

Save your bacon. It will save your bacon. Yeah. You may not notice on day one and two, but if you're on an extended hunt, if you're on day nine and 10, that's when all these little things really come to play. You know, if your feet are still going good, feeling good, your boots are still comfortable, they're dry. They're not, you know, you're,

here's a funny story. I've got a buddy, his dad, him and his dad went hunting and like on the second or third day of season, his dad's sole of his boot completely fell off. Oh no way. And luckily he had some, yeah, he luckily had some duct tape wrapped around his Nalgene bottle. There's a pro tip. Always wrap some, some duct tape around your Nalgene bottle. I like to drill a tape best because,

But wrap that around your Nalgene bottle because it's lightweight. It doesn't take up any more space in your pack. And you have tape because you never know when you're going to need some tape, maybe to tape your sole of your boot back on. Yeah, man. Like, yeah, yeah, it's critical to have that. That's actually a great idea. I've never done it around the Nalgene bottle. I've actually taken, like, a toilet paper roll and run, like, I don't know,

25-30% of a duct tape roll around that and pack it in my pack. Yeah, that works too. Yeah, that's a great idea. I have an anecdotal story about high quality boots. So it's rifle season in Idaho and I had a camp set up and my good high quality boots were out at camp but

My son had a football game. So it's like, well, I'm going to stay in town tonight, watch the football game and just get up super early in the morning to hit opening day. Well, I've got like a two and a half, three hour drive, you know, so I get up at I'm supposed to get up at three. Well, I get up at 330. So now I'm late.

So I'm hurrying around and I get up there and I'm like, well, I throw in these other boots I had and they were some, uh, some Walmart specials. Um, they were Herman survivors or some Wolverines or something. And, you know, for walking around flat country, they weren't bad, but I'm like, well, I'll just wear these. Cause I don't want to take the time to go 30 minutes out of the way over to my camp and back to get my good boots. Cause I don't want to be late. I want to be

in the spot on opening morning at first light. So I get there, I got my crappy boots on, I hike down in this hole and I'm like, all right, it's just getting light. And I start calling. Well, I start calling those too soon and a bull comes in. And anyway, I can see him, but I don't think it's safe or maybe even legal quite yet to take the shot. So I don't take the shot. And he

He skedaddles on out of there. Anyway, but there's a big bull down in the bottom of the canyon. I can just hear him ripping big bugles just. So I start making my way down. Like I start, you know, going further and further and further down. And then it starts getting really steep. And it gets to the point where every step I take, my sole of my foot on my boot is rolling up over the side of my foot and over the top. And now the bottom of my foot is just on the side of the boot. Like if you can imagine that.

Um, so at this point I can't go any further because the boots will not stay on my feet. I've, I've laced them up as absolutely tight as they possibly go. And they still are just rolling up over the side of my foot. So, um,

I'm like, well, I'm going to call that thing over to me. So I sat there all day and that bull bugled all day long. And we went back and forth and I sat there trying to call him across and he never would come in. But if I'd have been smart and hindsight is 2020, right? If I'd have been smart, I would have hiked out of there. I would have drove over to my camp, grabbed my other boots, hiked back down there and shot him. But you don't think of it. Sometimes you get kind of caught in the mode and you're like, you don't think of that kind of stuff.

But tell me, those are the those are the supreme lessons learned, brother. I love it. I think one thing that I do for foot care, I pack and I don't care if I'm well, I most often I don't do a lot of backcountry stuff where I'm spending the night in the backcountry. You know, most often I'm day tripping and I still pack a pair of flip flops in the pack.

And what I do is I'll go out at first light.

you know, that time there's like this hour for me and maybe, you know, you're between the two of us. You are the pro man. So you tell me if I'm off base, but I feel like there's this this hour between like nine ten o'clock ish where where I just don't have any luck calling bulls in. I don't I don't get any responses or maybe they're responding, but they're moving. And so I'll sit down. I'll take my my boots and my socks off and I'll just I'll

I'll just kind of relax for like an hour. And then, then I go into this midday madness thing, which is again, when you, something I really picked up on from you, um,

And it happens to be the most, I don't know, it's the best time for me, that midday and right before sundown. And then, you know, you get through that and then you have that kind of late afternoon time frame where there's not a lot of things going on. And again, I'll take my boots off. I'll take my socks off, let the socks kind of dry out. They've been, feet have been sweating. And I'll just mill around for a minute. But I've got my flip-flops out there. It doesn't really weigh much to add a pair of cheap flip-flops in there. And it just, the only bummer part is,

I did have a bull pipe off one time when I was sitting there in my flip flops and my, my pants are rolled up, you know, and I looked like a total dork and I had a, I was like doing one of those peak refuels or something like that in the, in the jet boil. And this bull starts bugling to my left, but he's just trucking. He's like side hill and trucking, like, I don't know, 50 yards in front of me. I couldn't get up fast enough to even respond with, I couldn't find my, uh, my bugle tube. It was under my pack. Um,

Um, and so I, I couldn't go after him because I did have my flip flops on, but I do do that. And it goes a long way to help dry your feet out. Uh, and keeping your feet dry is critical. Um, and that's, that's why waterproof boots are super important, but also after you've been sweating for a while, man, try those socks out and keep an extra pair of socks in your pack. And, uh, it, it just, it goes a long way to helping your feet out. I agree a hundred percent. Another thing a guy needs to take a look at or a gal needs to take a look at is your bow, right? Yeah.

You need to make sure your strings are good. You need to make sure your, your cams are still straight in a line, make sure it's still tuned. Um, if you don't know how to, you know, take a look at that stuff, take that to your local pro shop and let them go and give it a once over. I know guys that'll take their bow in every year and have it gone through, um, whether they take a, take apart the, the, the wheels and the axles and, and clean them and grease them. And, and they, they tune them. Um, they make sure you, it,

to make sure the drop-away rest is running right. Those drop-away rests, I mean, they're amazing, but...

They, and they can take a lot of abuse no matter what brand you have, but I found that mine, mine can get dirty and that can start causing little quirky things with them. So, you know, whether you do it yourself, you know, you need to make me need to take it apart, clean it, put it back together. Just make sure your bow is shooting darts, shooting perfect holes through paper and tuned right. Because that way I'm going to segue right into broadheads. That way your broadheads fly right. Yeah.

If your arrow is flying, fish flopping through the air with your broadheads on, something ain't right. You need to get your bow tuned. And then make sure all your broadheads and all your arrows are all the same weight. Jim and I had a funny conversation the other day about, you know, arrows and stuff. But I have a buddy that he drew a once-in-a-lifetime moose tag and...

Long story short, he got close to the moose and he pulls back and he shoots every single arrow he has at the bull and he doesn't touch it. Oh no. And he's in the bull finally wanders off. And I'm like, what the heck? And he's like, well, I don't know. What, what could it be? And he's like, I've been shooting my bow all summer. Um, and it's just shooting great with field points. And I said, well, did you ever target practice with your broadheads? Well, no, I didn't want to dull them up. He says,

I'm like, well, what kind are these? Like, well, I got a couple of these and a couple of those and two or three of these. And a buddy gave me some of these arrows that had something on them. I didn't know what the brand was. It turns out he had a hodgepodge of arrows and broadheads. None of them were matched, matching weight, matching spine, matching broadhead. I'm guilty of that, man, from like 10, 12 years ago. I'm not even kidding you. I have leg out.

Yeah. Eastman's arrow mixed with a Walmart arrow. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. You just, it's just so critical for you to, to hit your target and then do a good job to make sure all your components are, are the right ones. Right. Yep. Um,

And then elk calls, you know, you know, of course I'm in the elk call business, but make sure you have, you know, a handful of them in your pocket. Um, I liked, I don't, I don't like to put them in my pocket. What I like to do is keep them in a little, uh, call pouch. It hangs around my neck, um, keeps them organized, keeps them dry. Then I put a couple in my pack and then I have a couple back at camp because that way, no matter what, if I, if I, and I've done this, I've forgotten, I've taken my, my, uh,

my little, my little pouch off at the truck or whatever and left it, you know, whatever. And you get over, you know, two or three miles from the truck and you're like, Oh, where's my out calls? Well, I've got some of my pack.

Or let's say you've lost something or maybe your buddy's lost his calls. You've got some in your pack or you've got some in your truck. You know, you're always prepared. And trust me, a lot of these places where I've hunted elk, you can sometimes be 80 or 100 miles from the nearest town that would even sell anything that looked like an elk call. And it may or may not be the type or brand that you like to use.

So you may get desperate and buy something that just doesn't work. Right. So I want to make sure you got to it. You know what I found, man, is so I'll keep, I'll keep like, I I'm, I'm a big fan of these Mavericks and I'll keep, I'll keep I've got that pouch. Actually, I need to check and make sure I didn't burn that sucker down in that truck fire I had last year. But I keep like three or four in there.

And then what I do, you know, I'm like you, I've got a couple in the pack, a couple in my truck, you know, I've always got a bunch. But what I do is I,

I'll use, I'll use one of those reeds all morning and then I'll put it back in the pouch and let it dry and grab another one. And I found that like you get this perfect stretch instead of just using one until you wear it out. You get a lot of life out of these reeds by, by just kind of rotating them through the day. I'll have three or four of them in that pouch and I'll, I'll probably use all three or four of them throughout the day.

And, and it just kind of, I don't know, they, they tend to sound better. Like you have more control over them. I, does that make sense? Yeah, I do the same thing. Um, yeah, because when you take, you take all you take, let's say you have three of them in there, you take three brand new diaphragms. And if you slowly use them throughout the day to trade spots with them, you're breaking all of them in at the same, right. Right. And when they get to that sweet spot, which they usually do,

It's very reliable. And then a dry diaphragm is always going to perform better than a wet, soggy one. So by doing that, you're keeping your diaphragms crisp and dry and they're going to last longer and they're going to sound better. So no, you're, you're right. You're spot on there. Okay. Yeah. I've, you know, it's funny. I've been meaning to ask you about that for like two seasons, but that's what I've been doing. And I, I,

that sweet spot that you finally get to after, after, you know, using it for a little bit, man, once you do hit that sweet spot, you can maintain it by keeping that thing dry and swapping them out like all September. And they sound terrific. Yep. They sound better, last better. For sure. For sure.

O'Reilly Auto Parts are in the business of keeping your car on the road. I love O'Reilly. In fact, the other day, I'm not kidding you. The other day I went into an O'Reilly Auto Parts looking for a part. I needed a different thing that wasn't really in there, you know, only like tangentially related to what they carry.

They did not have it, and the dude told me specifically where I would go down the road to find it is how nice they are. They offer friendly, helpful service and the parts knowledge you need for all your maintenance and repairs. Thousands of parts and accessories in stock, in-store, or online, so you never have to worry if you're in a jam.

They'll test your battery for free. If you need your windshield wipers replaced, a brake light fixed, or quick service, they'll help you find the right part or point you to a local repair shop for help. Whether you're a car aficionado or an auto novice, you'll find the employees at O'Reilly Auto Parts are knowledgeable, helpful, best of all, friendly. These guys are your one-stop shop for all things auto, do-it-yourself,

You can find what you need in store or online. Stop by O'Reilly Auto Parts today or visit them at OReillyAuto.com slash meat eater. That's OReillyAuto.com slash meat eater. We've all seen plenty of gadgets and fads come and go, but here's one product that stood the test of time. Seafoam motor treatment. Lots of hunters and anglers know that seafoam helps engines run better and last longer.

It's really simple. When you pour it in your gas tank, seafoam cleans harmful fuel deposits that cause engine problems. I'm talking common stuff like hard starts, rough engine performance, or lost fuel economy. Seafoam is an easy way to prevent or overcome these problems. Just pour a can in your gas tank and let it clean your fuel system. You probably know someone who has used a can of seafoam to get their truck or boat going again. People everywhere rely on seafoam to keep their trucks, boats, and small engines running the way that they should the entire season.

Help your engine run better and last longer. Pick up a can of Seafoam today at your local auto parts store or visit seafoamworks.com to learn more. This is Brent Reeves from This Country Life. What makes South Dakota the greatest for pheasant hunting? With over 1.2 million pheasants harvested last year, South Dakota boasts the highest population of pheasants in the nation. In fact, you'd have to add up the total harvest from neighboring states just to get that many birds.

There's also millions of wide open acres chock full of different landscapes, meaning the hunt in one county is often completely different from just a few counties over. But what really makes South Dakota the greatest goes way beyond just hunting a colorful bird. It's the pursuit of something more like the camaraderie that awaits all kinds of hunters from all walks of life and partaking in South Dakota tradition over 100 years in the making.

It's about taking the greatest shots and watching your dog work the greatest fields in the greatest lands, carrying on the greatest heritage and making the greatest memories. So what are you waiting for? From the rush of the flush to the stories at the end of the day, experience a thrill like no other. Learn how at huntthegreatest.com. So one thing...

I see people still using these things and I'm like, man, you gotta do something different is, um, meat bags. So the cheesecloth type, you know, the ones that are super cheap, you get, you can get four or five of them for like 12 bucks or, um, whatever they are. Um,

do yourself a favor and do not use those kind of meat bags. I've had to actually flies blow right through those things. Get some, you know, there's lots of brands out there of the synthetic high quality game bags. The cloth is antimicrobial and they're reusable. You know, they're kind of expensive. You know, I've, you can spend anywhere from 40 bucks to 80 bucks for a set of these high quality synthetic meat bags. But if,

If you take care of them, you know, make sure you clean them up after the hunt. I just machine wash mine, you know, with bleach and some of that stuff that Willie Mays or Billy Mays used to advertise. What is that stuff? Oh, OxyClean. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I was going to say, I was totally drawing a blank. Yeah.

Anyway, I wash them with that stuff and I've used them for multiple years. So, so, um, and then your, your meat stays clean. It stays delicious. And that's the number one thing. We don't want it. We don't want our meat to go bad. Yeah.

Uh, couldn't agree more. I think, I think 60 bucks on a set of game bags is kind of that sweet spot and make like, I have a set in my, my pack right now. I've had two bears in a, in a big white tail in that particular set and they've been washed each time and they're still in the bag ready to go. And then I have a backup set, the same pair. I think they're the ones I got from the, the elk collective guys. And, um, and, and those, those ones, I just, I just wash them and man, they're, they're good as new. Um,

Uh, they keep, like you said, those, have you ever, have you ever like dropped a meat bag, those old cheesecloth ones and it falls in the dirt and like, you can never get that dirt off.

Oh yeah. Pine needles. Yeah. Pine needles. And, and next thing you know, you're, you're getting home and you're like having to cut some of that meat out because it's all dirty. Yeah. Um, doesn't happen with these higher end meat bags. I think, I think that's a, that's a good point. You bring it up. I didn't even think to talk about meat bags. Yep. Absolutely.

And as far as gear, you know, the last thing I'd like to talk about is a med kit or a first aid kit. Everybody says, well, make sure you get a med kit. But nobody really tells you what to put in a med kit, right? Yeah. And if you just go buy one off the shelf somewhere, most of the time it's going to have some aspirin in it, some antiseptic salve and a couple of Band-Aids. And, you know, it's just some, you know,

basic things like if you cut your finger at home. But this is life or death type situation stuff. So it's good to know what's in those things. And I met a guy at Elkshape Camp a few years ago. His name is Jimmy Grunewald. Oh, yeah. And I call him Jimmy Kits because he builds these little med kits.

And Jimmy, you've had him on your podcast. He's the real deal. He was a combat medic. Yeah, like special forces combat medic, multiple tours. Like the dude knows how to patch people up. Yeah. He's seen it all. From as bad as it can get, he's seen it and coped and dealt with it and saved lives.

Um, and he said his number one thing to put in the bed, I'm going to just going to read off the things that he puts in his med kit. And then I recommend you should have in yours too. Um, number one thing he says is a tourniquet. And you hear a lot of bad press about tourniquets, right? People like, oh yeah, never use a tourniquet unless you really, really have to, because you'll probably lose your limb.

Um, if you apply the tourniquet, but he's like, I've put lots of tourniquets on a lot of people and they didn't lose their limb. He's like, but you have to, he's like, number one, you have to stop that massive blood loss immediately. So a tourniquet, that's his number one thing, uh, in the kit. I think his kids come with like two or three different types of tourniquets too. So yeah. Yeah. Or sizes. Right. Yeah. I think you can pick.

Then he's got a, you know, compression gauze, a vented chest seal pack. Let's say you, you know, you puncture a hole in your chest. I mean, you're going to need to seal that thing up. Elastic bandage wrap to keep that compression gauze on better. A SAM splint.

So you break a bone, break fingers, break something, you'll need that splint to help keep it, you know, things back in place. And then reinforcement tape, you know, that tape, you can wrap it around that splint or wrap it around other things, other wounds to help keep your bandages in place. Mole skin, of course, just for your basic injury to your feet. Remember what we talked about, your feet, you have to be able to walk, right? Well, some of us, even with high quality boots, some of us just got weird feet.

And you're going to get some blisters during elk season. So if you got that mole skin, you can put that on your feet. But yeah, he sells all these kits online for about 150 bucks if you don't want to access them yourself. But you can go and you can go piecemeal these things together very easily yourself on Amazon or your local pharmacy. A lot of these things, I don't know if we can get a tourniquet on there. Probably not. You have to probably get that on online somewhere, but.

Yeah, the key is you don't want 35 different Band-Aids. You don't need all these different types of medications unless you're specifically for some, if you've got these prescribed to you or whatever. Why I like those Jimmy kits is because they're super light and they're super functional. And those are the things, you're thinking trauma. You don't need a C-collar. You don't need all these goofy things that I've seen a lot of these kits come with.

Um, you just need to remember, like I took EMT school. Now this is like almost 20 years ago. So bear with me, but it's like, you know, stop the bleeding, start the breathing and call for help. That's kind of what you want to have in your mind when you're, when you're packing for the back countries, you want to be able to stop the breathing, start the breathing, um,

Did I say that? Did I say that the right way? Start the breathing, stop the bleeding. Because in the Marines, it was the opposite. You know, you stop or you start the bleeding and you stop their breathing. But then when you're talking about this EMS stuff and the EMT kit or first aid kit, it's just, you know, simplicity is best. You want to stop that bleeding and start the breathing. And, you know, I was throwing like ibuprofen or something like that, but nothing else really. Sure.

Sure. Yeah. But really the things that are going to save your life, you really want to have. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, I don't know if this falls in line, but, uh,

Some kind of satellite emergency phone or GPS that connects. I have one of those Zolio things that just Bluetooth off my phone so I could text people. And that kind of stuff, you know, that way they'll have your exact location. If you do fall down a cliff face, break both your legs and you need help getting out of there. I think that's a critical piece of gear.

Oh, absolutely. And it gives, you know, um, your family at home, you know, peace of mind to know that you're okay. Um, and a lot of times it, that gives you some staying power in the back country. You get to missing your family. And if you have no way to contact them, then you start worrying about them and stuff. But if you, if you're able to, you know, send messages back and forth and then, um,

your family knows you're safe and you know, they're doing good and, and they can give you, you know, you know, they can root for you from the other side. You know, a lot of times my wife will,

will give me that little extra encourage. Sometimes I'll get kind of, kind of pouty on a little bench. She'll be like, Oh yeah, this is what always happens, right? You're always going to have the lowest of lows and then, you know, get that little pep talk, you know, and then before the highest of highs come, you have to have those lows. And, you know, so she'll give me a little pep talk sometimes if I'm feeling poopy and, and, uh, but those, those things make all the difference, you know, or maybe you need to phone a friend. Maybe you need to text a buddy and have some help. Last fall, I,

I killed a bull and messaged a good buddy of mine and, and he was in the area and he's like, Oh, I'll come help you pack. So, um, and I would have been happy to pack my bowl by all by myself, but you know, why do it if, if you have another, if you have a friend that'll come help. So we made short work of that bowl and, and it was so, so much appreciated. So, um, well, I, worth the squeeze there.

I had messaged you at one point because I hit a bull like and it was a bad shot. And I was trying to get your opinion on what I was seeing with the blood trail. And I had messaged you and you helped me kind of determine, you know, whether or not I was going to find that bull. And so stuff like that, you know, it's just it's just always good to have that communication. Like I said, keep in touch with the family, emergencies, friends, help and packing, you know, whatever.

Yeah. And you really should, you know, go to your hunt planning for, you should plan for success, but you should plan for, you know, disaster too. So that's where your truck comes in, right? Your truck, a lot of times is your lifeline out of the back country. So you got to make sure that thing's in tip top shape, you know?

don't, don't, don't go to the back country with a bunch of lights blinking on the dash. You know, let's say if you're a long ways from home and, and maybe somewhere where somebody can't help you out tires. I mean, boy, howdy, do I know what I'm last year? I had a lot of issues with tires last year with tires. Yeah. And I usually try to try to keep really good tires on my, my stuff, but you know, even with good tires, you can have issues. So make sure you got the appropriate tires, you know, heavy duty, 10 ply tires,

Make sure your battery is clean and strong and

you don't want to have battery issues and have to be walking back to camp. I've, I've been there with a friend and it's, and it sucks to like hike all day and hunt all day, your guts out and then get to the truck and the truck won't start. And then you have to hike another four, four to six miles back to camp. That's no good. Yeah. Chains, chains for your tires. Last fall, Phelps had this tag for Washington, the blue mountains of Washington and it come a big snow and

And geez, when we were trying to get out there, he had to chain up all four tires on his truck. Oh, geez. If he wouldn't have had those chains, we wouldn't have got out of there. Yeah. It was just that the snow on the road was just the right temperature. It was just like...

It was, yeah, it was like this most slickest snow, like snot, just like you said. And yeah, the chains made all the difference. It wasn't like we were bucking snow drifts. We were just trying to stay on the road. So, and then make sure your spare tires got air in it, you know?

Toe straps. If you suck at driving and slide off the road a lot, or maybe you want to be a good Samaritan, pull somebody else out. It's always the ones that suck at driving that need to need to get pulled out that don't have a toe strap on them too, man. Everybody needs a toe strap. Right? Yeah. Everybody needs one. Not just, not just the guys that are good or bad. Everybody needs one. And then here's something I'd like to talk about. So let's say you're traveling from, from, um,

You're going to hunt out of town somewhere, out of state maybe, or long, long ways from home. So you have to transport meat from a long distance. And this was a question from Instagram. How soon do I need to get my elk meat out and into a cooler? And then how do I get it home? So, well, first off,

The first number one thing is you want to get your elk skinned out right away, right? As soon as you recover it, you get your pictures and stuff, get the work skinned in that thing. You don't want to let it sit out on a hot hillside with the hide on it, right? I saw a YouTube video the other day of a very popular YouTuber, and he was cutting the quarters off and leaving the hair on them, but it was September.

I wouldn't recommend that. I would recommend make sure you get the hide off those quarters because that hide is very, and hair is very insulating to that meat. You want it to be able to cool really quickly. So get the hide off, then cut the quarters off, put them in your bags, get it hanging. If you can't hang it in a tree, maybe prop it up on some logs with some other little sticks so that you can get airflow underneath of it and on top of it.

Just want to get that stuff off the animal and in the shade as quick as you can. And sometimes that means, you know, maybe you're on a open, dry, hot hillside and you're going to have to pack the elk meat the opposite direction downhill.

down into a wet drawer or a cool shaded draw. And that's what you may have to do just because you want to make sure that meat doesn't go bad. You can't let it sit out on that hot hillside in the blazing sun. Get it down the draw, let that cool air in the draw and the shade, cool your meat. Last year, for instance, I killed my bowl. It was pretty much in the middle of the day and it's New Mexico and it's hot, right? It's probably 80 degrees in the middle of the day.

Yeah. And so, Dusty and I go to work. We get this thing boned out, or not boned out, but quartered up. And it's still hot out. But luckily, we had like the only shady spot on this big hill, on this big flat top of a hill. So, we had this thing hanging in the shade. And I told Dusty, I'm like, you know what? I think...

I think we'll just keep this stuff in the shade with the air blowing on it. You know, it's not cool air, but it's better than being out in the hot blazing sun. And if we were to start packing now, we get back to the truck,

There's not good shade at the truck. Maybe I don't have my coolers with me that are pre-cooled with ice. Then I put my warm meat into a hot cooler or have to leave it in the sun by the truck. We're better off to just let it cool. We'll take a break after we've, you know, after you break down an elk, you need a break anyway. Let's just wait till this evening. Once things cool off a little bit and the sun goes down, then we'll start packing.

And that's just what we did. And man, I'll tell you, it makes it so much easier to pack elk once it's, once the sun's kind of gone down. It's not so hot for you and it's not so hot for the elk meat and your, your meats had a good chance to have air circulate around it for, you know, most of the day.

And then packing at night, you can pack elk meat at nighttime, which is awesome. If you have a headlamp and a flashlight, if you're prepared, it can be really fun because bugs aren't an issue unless you got mosquitoes around, but bugs aren't an issue. It's usually a lot cooler. And then you're not burning daylight, right? You can get that bowl packed out and

in the dark and then you can get up early the next day if you're tough like jim and go hunting the next day for your buddy wrong jim you're taking the next day off depends on how far it was but yeah that that's a great idea actually that because there's you know how you pack meat back to the truck kind of thing and it's still like midday or late afternoon or early afternoon or whatever and there's that

that stress in your gut, that, that, that feeling that you have, man, I am just worried about this meat and, and it just alleviates that. And, and I just, I like worry about meat a lot, a lot more than probably I should, but yeah,

I don't know. I was listening to some meat scientist talking about how long he lets his meat hang and whatnot. That's not my thing. For me, I need that meat cooled. I need it in the shade. I need it gone into the cooler. I like to get it home as fast as I can so I can process it or drop it off at a processor, whichever way I'm going there.

Uh, cause I, I just stress about it. Oh, I know. It's, it's so, so important to make sure that, that, uh, you get the meat out and I always stress about it too. Well, Jim, do you have any last words? I think we need to wrap this thing up. Uh, do you have any last words? Yeah. I think the one thing that I, I always like to have people come away with these episodes, these types of episodes with like,

Just key takeaways. You know what I mean? Just key takeaways where if you don't have to be some high-performance athlete, but you do need to work at it. Don't sit on the couch all year and then get up on August 31st and hit expecting to go 10 miles into the backcountry in Colorado or something. Be realistic with what your expectations are, but also be gritty.

Elk hunting is freaking hard. Like, be gritty. When you think you're wore out and you're tired, you know, maybe take five minutes, but get back after it. Get after those elk. If they're moving further than you think what is possible for you to move after them with, you might surprise yourself. Go after them. Just keep at it. Be gritty.

Get out there and work towards it because this is – I think we live in a society where we have this high level of comfort around us. We can call an Uber Eats or whatever. If you live in town, I can't, but you can call a pizza delivery and have food delivered in 15 minutes or whatever. It's free.

And we have this mentality where things can just come naturally and easily. And that's just not elk hunting. And elk hunting is for people that like that self-reliance and that greediness and that toughness and that challenge to go out and get something done. And, you know, I think that that mentality, having that mentality with the level of difficulty and understanding how hard it is,

Those are the people that get in front of elk. I think that's important for everybody to understand whether you live out west or you're coming out west to hunt elk. I don't know. I think that's my biggest message, my takeaway for folks.

Yeah, I agree. That's, that's very good, you know, and I'll be the first to say, you know, the better shape you're in to go hunt elk, the funner it's going to be, right? If, if you're, if you can move quicker, you know, through the mountains with a lot, with relatively a lot more ease, it's going to be a funner, funner hunt, you know, definitely, definitely. So I'm not going to say, you know, you shouldn't have a good level of physical fitness to hunt elk, but I will also say, you know,

You should also not let that hold you back. Like if you don't, if you're not some elite athlete, get in good walking shape, get to where you can lift, you know, a heavy load, you know, an elk quarter, an average elk quarter on a five to small six point boost, but bull is about 65 pounds. So 65 pounds plus your pack, you're looking about 80 pound pack, be able to pick that off the ground and put it on the tailgate of your truck. You know,

you know, whether you don't have a fancy gym to go to, maybe that heavy pack you were, you were packing earlier, you know, pick it up off the ground, set it on your truck back and forth a few times, you know, don't overdo it. Don't kill yourself, but build some, build some muscle that way to build some strength in the last days before your hunt. Yeah. But, uh,

But probably my biggest takeaway is like being prepared, you know, and, and getting organized will help you have a successful hunt. So make a list, check it three times, everything that you could possibly need for your hunt. And you'll probably have your panic pack moment like me, like you'll have all your stuff. And then the last,

few hours before you leave to go hunting, you'll be running around the house like a, like a chicken with your head chopped off, throwing like, Oh, I need some of this. Oh, better grab one of those. Oh crap. There's an extra charger. Oh, you know, just all this stupid random stuff that you probably will never use once you get there. Dude, I have bins of hunting gear that I just throw in the back of my truck and I never even touch them. But if I needed them, man, they're there. Right. So yeah, it's, it's good stuff. And, and, uh,

You know, I, I think, I think you nailed it when he said, you know, the more fun you have, the more you're going to get out of elk hunting. And, and, and that's the key. Go out there and have fun. Enjoy, enjoy this experience with, with these wild things that are gigantic with giant horns on their head and, and screaming at you. You know, it's nothing will connect you to nature, like communicating with a, with a big elk, you know? And, and so, uh, yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's incredible.

Yeah, that's awesome. And I'd like to remind the listeners, if you have a question that you'd like us to answer on here, you can send an email to ctd at phelpsgamecalls.com. We'll read your question on air and answer it the best we can. And if you really want to take things to the next level, I have a Google Voice phone number you can call.

And by calling that number, you can call in and leave a message. And make sure your message is three minutes or less, or it'll get cut off. And I will play your message on air, and then I will answer your message the best of my ability. So that phone number, the super secret phone number is 208-219-4255.

And yeah, look forward to your calls. I've done this before with my old podcast and I've got some goofy messages and I've got some really good questions. So we're always looking to have a good time here. So please do call in or send us an email with your questions. And just remember, monsters are coming.

And I think that'll be about it. Thanks a lot, Jim. Appreciate you coming on the podcast. And we should do this again sometime soon. Yeah, for sure, man. Thanks for having me on. Thanks, everybody. Maybe I can get on yours sometime. You should. You should. For like the 10th time, I'd love to have you back, brother. I never get sick of it. It's always my pleasure. Thanks, Jim.

Hey, we're going to take a little break here and talk about interstate batteries. Now, if you're like me, enjoying the great outdoors, you need gear that is as reliable as it gets. That's why I power my adventures with interstate batteries. I use interstate batteries in my boats. I use interstate batteries in my camper. Great for your truck, too. From Alaska to Montana, they're outrageously dependable.

Battery is essential. With over 150,000 dealer locations, finding one is easy. For all your vehicles, land or sea, choose Interstate. Head to interstatebatteries.com and find your power today. You ever get that feeling, the walls closing in, the concrete jungle suffocating you? You crave some wide open spaces, the chance to connect with nature, maybe in a spot all your own. Well, head over to land.com.

They've got ranches, forests, mountains, streams, you name it. Search by acreage. You can search by location. You can search by the kind of hunting and fishing you're dreaming of. Land.com. It is where the adventure begins.