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From Sniper Scope to Camera Lens - Steven Laughter
38 Plays2 hours ago
In this episode, Drew Miles sits down with Steven Laughter —Marine Corps scout sniper turned full-time photographer and passionate hunter. From growing up chasing deer in Northern California to learning recon and camera skills in the military, Steven shares his evolution from sniper to storyteller. The two dive into gritty field stories, lessons from time spent outdoors, and practical tips for staying clean and comfortable in the backcountry. It’s a raw and insightful look at blending military precision with creative vision, all in the pursuit of wild experiences.
STEVE LAUGHTER
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wayupwestoutdoors/
Personal IG - https://www.instagram.com/steven.laughter.media/
Website - https://stevenlaughtermedia.pixieset.com/
TRICER USA
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#TricerPodcast #WesternHunting #BackcountryHunter #ScoutSniper #OutdoorPhotography #VeteranHunter #Fieldcraft #HuntingGear #PublicLandHunter #TyvekTarp #HuntCampLife #HuntingPodcast #PrecisionHunter #MilitaryToMountains #ModernOutdoorsman
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Transcript
Introduction and Invocation
00:00:01
Speaker
You are listening to the Tricer podcast, where we talk all things hunting, gear, and the great outdoors. Before we begin, let's start things out right and put God first. Lord Jesus, I thank you for Tricer, and I ask that you can use this podcast as a way to bring joy to all of our listeners.
00:00:17
Speaker
We lay Tricer and this podcast at your feet. Amen. All right.
Guest Introduction: Steven Lauder
00:00:23
Speaker
Pod number two on my day of my three podcast day. I've got Steven Lauder from way up West outdoors on. He's a good friend of my friend, Luke Dusenberry and his friends with Mike Hearn, a bunch of guys on staff with Tracer.
00:00:36
Speaker
And they're like, you got to have Steven
Steven's Hunting and Sniper Background
00:00:39
Speaker
on. He's just an awesome dude, a hunter, killer and a filmer. And Steven, how you doing? I'm good, man. to Thanks for having me on.
00:00:47
Speaker
I love doing these things. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. So I don't know nothing about you. And then we just talked for 15 minutes and I was like, we should have pressed record 15 minutes ago because it's been such a good conversation. So, I mean, you are like, you're kind of living the dream, right? You're kind of living the, like you're full-time hunting initiative. You're leaving your job. You're going doing this thing. And, um, who's Steven Lauder?
00:01:09
Speaker
Uh, so kind of, I don't even know where I started. So I've been hunting my entire life. Um, and then like did, you know, the whole thing started as soon as I was big enough to carry a gun shooting with my dad and my brother and California got to, right? Yeah. And California, actually Northern California, the better half, but, uh, it's a lot of duck hunting, fair little amount of deer hunting and then bear hunting when you could actually run hounds in California back, back yeah way back in the day.
00:01:35
Speaker
Um, and then joined the Marine Corps, spent four years in the Marine Corps. And then that's actually when I got into cameras, believe it or not. Um, I was, uh, a sniper in the Marine Corps.
Transition from Sniper to Photographer
00:01:45
Speaker
And then most of what a sniper's job is actually like reconnaissance.
00:01:48
Speaker
And when I was learning, we had cameras and we'd take cameras, take pictures, send them over, send the pictures over the radios back to the, you know, headquarters and that kind of stuff. So that's how I learned cameras, long exposures and use the big giant lenses and stuff. And then, uh, got kind of addicted to cameras then, and then got out, bought my first camera and went hunting and then just started toting a camera with me everywhere.
00:02:09
Speaker
And I started taking pictures and then, I just really liked it and I started learning how to film and kind of started putting stuff together here and there. And it just kind of slowly grew over the years. And then, yeah, until finally I can, I can carry a camera and run a camera for my job and full time.
00:02:23
Speaker
So. That's awesome. So I'm curious, like with the sniper stuff, like how much of that has just gone away now with the drones? ah Well, the Marine Corps scout sniper, i haven't, I've kind of heard grumblings about it. So there there might be some, there's probably definitely people that know more about it than I've, I've been out for over 10 years now.
00:02:42
Speaker
um I'm pretty sure all snipers are gone. Like the MOS 0317 has been disbanded and cut off. I'm pretty sure. Um, I think it's gone. even the hoide even sniper still The sniper schools are still there, but I think it's all kind of straight, like the, the reconnaissance guys. And there might be guys listening to this. They're telling I'm, I'm full of it from what what I've heard. What I've been told is like, quote unquote, the battalion snipers, what I am is gone.
00:03:09
Speaker
It's not, it's not done anymore. So it's just shifted because it's peacetime. I don't think it's drones or anything else. It's just the kind of the peacetime stuff. This has happened before in the Marine Corps. Uh, when this stuff goes away and then it comes back and I mean, they just, they get rid of things and then bring them back over time. So, um, yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm, I'm the last of a dying breed from what I, from what I understand.
00:03:30
Speaker
Really? Yeah. So when you got in, did you get in with the intention of being a sniper? Yeah. ah yeah Yeah, I did. That was my goal. ah The way it works in the Marine Corps you got to go in as infantry and then you get the battalion and you got to try out. You got to be lucky enough to, you know, it's just got all lineup. And for me, luckily it did all lineup. It took me two tries to actually get into the sniper platoon.
00:03:51
Speaker
tried the first time and didn't make the cut and this tried the second time and did make the cut and then, uh, got to go to school and all that stuff and then become an official Marine Corps scout sniper. But, um, yeah, it's all got to kind of line up and you got to, got to get lucky. i didn't know that, you know, that's how recruiters get you. They're like, yeah, you'll definitely be able to do it And then you show up and you're it's not how it works at all.
00:04:09
Speaker
It's going to get you in there. Yeah, exactly. They just got to get you sign the paperwork. So, but it worked out for me. So I'm thankful. So when you're ah like a Marine sniper, I'm just curious. We're kind of going down a rabbit hole, but are you guys shooting 308s or in Win Mags? 338s? What are you guys shooting? i't sit When I was in, it was a 762.
00:04:28
Speaker
Yeah. I think they switched to the 300 Win Mag a few years ago. So the 762, like 308 cartridge though, correct? Yes, sir. Yeah. Okay. Short action, 308. three away Which, man, that's what my kids... So, my kids all shoot 308s.
00:04:44
Speaker
Like, I switched them over. Actually, my... I actually did defy my 11-year-old with 6'5 Creedmoor for this year. But... ah it just works. And it's so crapped on in the industry. And I'm like, dude, it's like the sniper rifle of like all my friends who are LEO. And obviously there are more short range stuff, right? Like my, my brother-in-law who's a sniper. He's like, dude, we're a hundred yards in, man.
00:05:05
Speaker
Like when we're, when we're hunting, we're hundred
Hunting Techniques: Rifle vs Archery
00:05:07
Speaker
yards in. Right. Yeah. um But, uh, through age is proven to. Yeah. think that's the biggest thing is proven. And most of these calibers is new ones that are coming out. are They're awesome. They're super cool. But if you look at them ballistically, it's like,
00:05:19
Speaker
They're just marginally better, you know, in the grand scheme of things, they, they buck the wind better. They don't drop quite as much. um But with ballistics nowadays and computers and the, the quality of powder and bullets that we have nowadays, man, they'll all do the job. Just some do them slightly, slightly better than others, like a mag round. You know, it's a bigger round. it's going to shoot flatter. better, but it's a bigger gun. It's a heavier gun.
00:05:42
Speaker
takes a little bit more. got to have a little bit more of a muzzle brake. It's all give and take, but 308. Yeah. Just, just works, man. It just, just works. At the end of the day, it's the same bullet getting there as well.
00:05:55
Speaker
Yeah. Right. Still 175 piece of 175 grain piece of metal. So it's 175 grain piece of metal getting there, whether it's going 2000 feet per second or 2200 feet per second, it's going to do its job when it gets there. yeah long as you have the right shot placement, it's going the work.
00:06:09
Speaker
Yeah. So are you just a rifle hunter through and through then since then? Oh, no, you no, really I've actually, it's my, I shoot my bow. I'm a big archery guy. Now I don't, I shoot my rifle just enough to kind of stay proficient.
00:06:21
Speaker
Um, I shoot guns a fair amount still, but ah archery is definitely my like true passion. I'd say now I shoot my bow all the time. And that's just because you've done it. So I'm kind of in this like weird phase right now. I'm kind of like evolving. I love the rifles. I went to a 30-06 only the last couple of seasons.
00:06:40
Speaker
yeah just a Woodstock 30-06, and i've just killed everything i've shot, I've killed. um Gone away from the custom rifles. I have the custom like PRS guns, NRL guns, stuff like that. But like when I hunt musical Woodstock 30-06 and this year I'm going to a lever action 30-30 open sites for a few of my hunts just for fun.
00:07:00
Speaker
And like I kind of evolved out of like the crazy wacky cartridge because it's just like, I don't want to say it's not a challenge, but like, man there's something to be said about like laying down 600 yards away and shooting an animal. it's just like not, it doesn't really get me off anymore. It's like, oh, it's gotten pretty easy.
00:07:13
Speaker
Except for the wind. I mean, it's gotten pretty darn easy. Yeah. I'd say, so for me, cause I still like to shoot things from the, from distance, you know, uh, nothing crazy far. I keep it all pretty close. I'm never, I'm not a thousand yard guy or nothing like that.
00:07:27
Speaker
Um, but when it comes to the longer range stuff, I like it because you can be a little more picky on what you shoot. You know what i mean? yeah Like when I'm an archery guy, it's like, you see a solid four point buck or something. You're like, I'm going for it. You know, like it's just, it's yeah good enough. And when I have a rifle in my hand, I see a solid four point. I'm like, ah,
00:07:45
Speaker
you let's try to a little older, you know, you can be a little more picky and little more challenging and a little more challenging and just in a different way. You know if you're in a unit that just slammers everywhere, that's, that makes it pretty easy, but that's kind of how I like to rifle hunt stuff. You know, I'm, I just make it, try to try to shoot something a little bit bigger. Like that Wyoming bull I had last year, I couldn't get it done with a bow and let her, and then luckily I had, luckily Wyoming goes to rifle afterwards and we saw lots of bulls and I was just waiting for that one, you know, and I hunted a lot of days until I finally ran across a good bull and finally made it work.
00:08:18
Speaker
So, but that's kind of, yeah, that's how i shift the rifle to make a little more, want to say challenging. Cause like you say, it's, it's easy. You're right. You can get within 400 yards of a deer and these guns nowadays, anybody, you put anybody behind the gun and tell them to put it on the center and pull the trigger and the deer elk's dead.
00:08:36
Speaker
Like for sure. Yeah, 400 is kind of like – I kind of like that 400 mark. I like to keep it under four. I think once you get to like – I always say like 420 is a quarter mile. Like once you get a quarter mile, things can go wrong, right? The wind just starts moving a little more. The bullets start dropping a little bit faster. Things just start going.
00:08:53
Speaker
But I mean honestly, any distance now elevation isn't the issue. and so With these apps and stuff, as long as you have the correct ballistics, like you're going to be able to get elevation fine.
00:09:04
Speaker
It's the wind that gets everybody. And I'd say the other big part too, I've seen a a few times now is the movement of the animal. You know, you start getting past that, even, even 500. I've seen an elk get hit at 500 yards and ah it's on video and you can hear the shot break.
00:09:19
Speaker
And as soon as the shot breaks, that elk starts to rock forward and it doesn't take them but a half step to move 12 inches and you're in liver, you know, like, So it's not even just like if so you can screw up the wind and you can screw up. I mean, you could do everything right. And then I don't could take a step at 500 yards, 600 yards, which these guns are all super capable of.
00:09:38
Speaker
And now you're in the guts. So yeah i think that's one part. Cause it's the same thing with archery, you know, some of the ultra long range archery shots and stuff that are the arrows and flight time of a second, second and a half. Yeah. Like you can hit this, there's guys I know, but do 80 yards at a softball and but it doesn't take much for an animal to jump and spin or put their head down or take a step and you're in, you're in the butt.
00:10:00
Speaker
Dude, I watched, uh, I have it on video. we were over in Africa and we were all archery hunting and you really learned how bad everybody archery when you have everybody shoot archery. So no offense, as hunt we all suck.
00:10:12
Speaker
But like, um, My buddy from back East, he's a phenomenal archer. And dude, like he had this wildebeest and the wildebeest knows he's there. He's pinned down. He's like, i think was like 50 yards.
00:10:26
Speaker
And you watch him break the shot You see where the arrow is flying in the camera, and that thing moved in 50 yards, two feet him right in the butt. I mean, like, you watch – animal.
00:10:39
Speaker
ah Oh, it's – dude, because they're so much more on, like, just turned on over there. Like, the animals are – it's wild. how turn they moving do I guess if you lions trying to kill you all the time, you're just more switched on. Yeah.
00:10:50
Speaker
Dude, this thing jumped, it jumped the string and went forward two feet and get it right in the butt. then we had to chase this thing. We luckily we found him, you know, he broke the arrow off. We found him like yeah three hours later, shot with a rifle, like 600 yards, something to 500 yards.
00:11:02
Speaker
But like, it just jumped in. Like you look at it and I think it was more so as being an African, having so many reps, everyone's shooting like so much can go wrong with archery. Yeah. Especially at 70 yards, 80 yards, 90 yards where these people are taking these shots now.
00:11:16
Speaker
And it's almost like, I don't want to you can't do it. It's just like, There's a sense of less, like, it doesn't matter how you can be Bodie Turner best, arguably the best archer in the world right now when it comes to compound boats. Right.
00:11:28
Speaker
Yeah. And I know boys taking some pokes, but Bodie doesn't have a thing inside of them that makes a deer stand still. And that buck decides to move. That arrow is not going to get there going, but he shoots it any faster if I shoot it. He's only drawing, I imagine, 70 pounds, maybe a little more.
00:11:44
Speaker
maybe it's still right that there's Even if it's 310 versus 300, it's still... it's It doesn't matter. paris Yeah, it doesn't. it's not gonna It's so marginal at that distance, it's not going to matter, right? And so, I don't know.
00:11:57
Speaker
I just, I don't know. That's kind of why I went through the whole like long range thing with the... I have the custom guns in the safe and I'll probably build another custom gun. Honestly, I've i've got a 280 active thing. I'm going to tear apart and put on a chassis and put a shorter barrel on it and shoot that for a while. um But like I was on an elk hunt, my kid a couple of years ago. And there are these guys that shot like probably a box of ammo from like a thousand yards away. Big fat guys from Texas and no offense, Texas. I just, I was never forget that. And they were just slinging lead and just missing these out. Shoot at spikes.
00:12:24
Speaker
And I'm like, for one, they never have got down to the animal for two. It just wasn't to me. like, I can do this with 30 out six. And I made the switch and it worked for everything I did, you know, so I'm just trying to do that and just kind of prove a point that like, man, even these like factory Browning guns shoot 500 yards all day long.
00:12:40
Speaker
Wow. You know, Yeah. I've got that SIG 277
Technological Advancements in Hunting Gear
00:12:44
Speaker
and that thing is, I mean, it's half them away with factory book gun, factory ammo. I mean, you don't even really have to reload, hand reload when I was growing up. My my dad's a bigger loader and to get any kind of accuracy, you have a seven mag that's, you know, a sub half gun.
00:12:57
Speaker
It's all custom and everything else. Like you don't really have to do that anymore either. Like I remember like my first two 43, that old Ruger was like an inch and a half group at a hundred yards. Best day, you know, like say 300 yards, you're starting to go, Hey, you It's kind of pushing it, but now, man, the factory guns and factory ammo is all sub-MOA. Yeah, and that's a product of Gunworks, right? I don't know if I'm knocking Gunworks, but they came out and started making these guns that were so next level.
00:13:26
Speaker
yeah right But now it's to the point where I can go buy a gun for $3,000 and it'll have the same, it's the same gun as Gunworks, right? I mean, these guys are all running Defiance actions now. They're all running, they're all in the barrels from Carbon 6 or Proof Research or Bar-On.
00:13:42
Speaker
know, a Browning is just as accurate or damn near as accurate as a Gunworks rifle now. Oh yeah. You're talking about, you know, quarter MOA difference or something. If you're under three quarters of MOA with a rifle, factory rifle,
00:13:54
Speaker
you've got a very proficient gun out to hunting ranges. Like you don't need much more than that. You what mean? Like it's my biggest thing. I tell people all the time. That's why we made that new, i haven't even seen our new bipolar we have out. Yeah, I've seen a little bit. It's built for all these hunting positions, right?
00:14:07
Speaker
Is go out and shoot those ranges. Like it's one thing to go down the desert and shoot 800 yards and have wind calls, have all the time in the world. another thing to go shoot 800 yards across the canyon with a stick up your butt and a rock in your hips. Right. You know what i mean? Like it's just go do that and go shoot, you know, with, you know, downhill across canyon and then shoot that way and, you know, see how it feels, you know?
00:14:29
Speaker
updrafts and side wind. And yeah. You just can't, you can't make the call, man. Like it's just so hard. It doesn't matter you're the best sniper in the world. Like 800 yards is half mile.
00:14:40
Speaker
Yeah. It doesn't take much to throw that bullet. It doesn't take much for that bullet. and next thing know, got something in the guts and then you're shooting follow-up shots. And, and that's what you don't see. And I don't want to knock everybody. And like, I don't know, I probably get some heat for this, but like, these are talking to people who film in this industry.
00:14:55
Speaker
You're not seeing everything on film. No. Right? You're not. And some of these guys are shooting a thousand yards, 1200 yards of animals. You're not seeing the first or two, two shots. So they decided the gun and before they shot the elk. Right.
00:15:06
Speaker
Yeah. You know, they shot the rock off to the side. You know, you're not seeing that stuff. You're not seeing the misses. You're not seeing the gut shots. It's just, we get to, we get to decide what we show you on the internet and you don't see everything that, that is, that happens.
00:15:20
Speaker
They're not, everybody out there isn't a perfect shot. It's definitely something I've tried to, um when I entered this industry, it always bugged me when, you know, you you see the guy out of the whitetail stand, smoke the whitetail in the guts and say, good shot. And then, you know, you know, it's two days later because the eyes are all wilty and they found the buck and they say how perfect the shot was and they never admit it. And so that's something I've definitely tried to admit on when I screw up, I've definitely made a lot of mistakes and,
00:15:45
Speaker
one of the big reasons I kind of started doing the YouTube thing and all everything else is I made a lot of mistakes over the years. I've screwed up my fair share. Um, definitely done some dumb things that I'm not proud of. And I've tried, want to share them and shorten somebody else's learning curve of, you know, don't, you know, don't do whatever dumb thing I've done in the past. And you know, what gear works, what doesn't, what's a, what's a gimmick and what actually, you know, tried and true. And I, you know, over the years, I think grand thing of everything I've learned is, is, uh,
00:16:14
Speaker
there's extremes on both sides, like ultralight and then way too heavy and somewhere in the mean, yeah somewhere in the middle works pretty little good. Yeah. On everything, ultralight rifle, ultralight bow, super heavy rifle, super long range, everything that's an extreme.
00:16:26
Speaker
You're probably pretty good in the middle, you know, no matter what it is. We should talk about that. Cause I, I'm so much in that camp, right? Like I've done the like ultra, I i don't, you know, I i think and eight pound rifles. Perfect.
00:16:39
Speaker
i'm I'm actually like 10. I think eight to 10. I might run eight and a half to nine pounds. I think my, my bigger gun is like nine, nine and a half or something. But like I did a six pound rifle.
00:16:54
Speaker
No, never. You can see me carry that rifle around. Never might cause I fall around with me. Like, it's just that you're not going to be able to get stable. i want to put that thing down, have it sit. Right. And then make the shot. Right. it's just so ultra light. And then same thing when it comes to gear.
00:17:08
Speaker
Right. Like I actually have gone away from like, I've done the ultra light stoves, right? I carry jet boil now. It's in between. You know why? Cause the jet boils is just freaking convenient, dude.
00:17:20
Speaker
It works every time. but Every time it works. My jet boil is so old. Yeah, the little the little micro pockets fall over, tip over, you spill gas everywhere. you know Dude, they tip over Yeah, you the pot falls over on you. They don't cook as fast.
00:17:37
Speaker
Like, yes, they're smaller. yes it could be ultra-lightened compact, but dude, like – carry a jet boil like i can't like it's one piece of gear i don't skimp on right uh what's some other stuff i do um so i don't i don't i'm honest i don't run a tricer tripod but i'll tell you i've run the ultra ultra light tripods and i've gone to heavier just because i'm tired of that shaky you know wobbly tripod i like a little bit heavier tripod just for that same reason you know we'll get you into a tricer because we do ultra light plus ultra stable we'll get you into tricer after this call i got a few later on the office over here i'll send you I'll give it a whirl.
00:18:08
Speaker
but My tripod's pretty stout that I carry around, so mostly for cameras. We do ultra-stable before we do ultralights. That's my rule when I create stuff, is that's ultra-stable, not ultralight. and then if i can find Then once I get the stable, like figure how to make it light. so like That's where we invert our legs. People think we invert them for the stiffness of the legs.
00:18:24
Speaker
Yes, that's part of it, but the main reason is now the aluminum is the smaller on the end. Right. Instead of having the fat leg at the top, how much bigger the aluminum be, you gain all that weight. So you still have the same stability, the big legs with the small aluminum. That's how we keep our weight down so much.
00:18:39
Speaker
So yeah. Ultra stable, like stability for me is like, that's one thing I i don't skip on rides a tripod. Obviously I own a tripod company is like, man, like, yeah, if you can't kill you can't find.
00:18:51
Speaker
right So yes, there's some guys out there that have these 19-ounce, 16-ounce tripods. But if it's not stable, what's the point? Three-mile-an-hour wind and your binos are shaking like crazy. Wind sucks no matter what tripod you're on. If you get out of the hills, you're 10, 15, 20-mile-an-hour wind, you're going to have some shake. It just is what it is.
00:19:08
Speaker
But ah man, like yeah I don't want an ultra-light tripod. I don't want one of these like pencil. I don't want a tentpole tripod. I want a try a tripod that is stable.
00:19:20
Speaker
but Especially if you plan on shooting off of it too. So having a whole other game there. But that was, yeah, that was the other thing that shooting like a heavy rifle too is like I do a lot of solo hunting. I got to be able to see my follow-up shot. Six pound rifle, you'll never see your follow-up shot.
00:19:32
Speaker
yeah I don't think most people see that either. That rifle is going to bounce and then you're going come back down and you're looking into a burn. You're like, which burnt tree was I just doing? Yeah, it is. so Yeah, a nice heavy, a nice muzzle brake is worth its weight too. Like on that 30-06, I ended up spending $400 on my buddy, put a custom brake on there. That thing shoots lighter than a two forty three now I shoot that thing 50 times and can feel it, but it's, you know, $400, not like some clamp on break, like a really nice break.
00:19:56
Speaker
it yeah It's worth its weight in gold to have a break. Only problem is it's just freaking loud as heck. We can't have a silencers down here, suppressors down here. That's another game changer. Yeah. I've got i definitely got a few of those now. They're, they're big deal.
00:20:10
Speaker
Yeah. I might be making the switch over to Arizona next year, live over there for a while. And like the first thing I'm buying is suppressor. getting in a good time, too, where don't wait a year. You're going to wait for eight months or whatever. I'd wait like eight months for my first one, year for my next one.
00:20:24
Speaker
Dude, I need a pile of them. I need at least four suppressors. which is like've shot up like I've shot them a few times now. I'm just like, oh my gosh, this is so nice. Because like i owe I wear... I wear like the plastic strapper on my neck, right? Like the hard band with the earplugs. Oh yeah. Dude, half the time i don't put the damn things in.
00:20:42
Speaker
Half time, like, oh, whatever. Or, you know, or it's in my hoodie and I'm just like, oh, and you know what? don't, but you freaking blow your ears out with that. Dude, or something happens, right? A coyote runs off and you take a shot at it. Whatever. and like, I just, something that happened this year, right?
00:20:53
Speaker
A shot of coyote. And I'm like, you blow your ears out and you're just like, gosh, dang it. Like I just, I'm going to be in like my dad. I'm like, what? Huh? Huh? Those brakes. That's one bang with the brakes and they are loud as heck.
Optics and Spotting Scopes Discussion
00:21:06
Speaker
Um, let's talk about heavier. We're talking about weighted stuff, heavy stuff. Um, one thing I do go light on is I use a small spotter. Now I don't use a big spotter. I only use like a 60 mil, 65 mil spotter.
00:21:18
Speaker
Yeah. i've I've never been bigger than 65. ah No, that's not true. I guess I've run an 80 for a little while. Um, I don't know. That's a tough one because I did. I went back and forth for a little while and I ended up landing on the 80.
00:21:32
Speaker
So that was something I was waiting. I didn't mind carrying just that little clarity a little that just was a little bit clearer. so I've got like the Kawa 554, which is a 60 millimeter spotter and it's like a 17 to 45. And I feel like it's more than enough for me to figure out what i'm hunting.
00:21:49
Speaker
Yeah. I do you remember carrying that. I carried that little teeny Vortex for a little while years ago. I think it made it with me for two trips and I never took it again. So was like, that thing was, that waste. I was way too small. Yeah. I have that 56. I have one of those 56s. I'm just not the biggest fan of their glass, honestly.
00:22:05
Speaker
um i mean, whatever. don I don't want to knock it. Vortex makes great stuff. A lot of guys are on that 56. They like the new one. The new Razor is pretty nice. The new Razor 56 is nice. But like when you're someone like me who loves Swarovski and like the, the,
00:22:17
Speaker
you know Yeah, it's hard to be that. It's hard to... Yeah, I need to get that Swarovski 56 they have, that new one. That one would be great. But I run that Cal F554 and I love that thing. It's just phenomenal glass. I don't do the giant spotters anymore. More so for the space, but I do carry BTX every once a while, which is... you know because That's another thing people understand. It's not just...
00:22:37
Speaker
It's not just weight, it's volume. It's space in your pack, right? And that's what people don't get. And like for me, like a lot of my stuff I carry, it's a volume thing versus a weight thing because like I just don't want to have that big spotter in my back.
00:22:48
Speaker
Yeah. Well, that spotter we were talking about a little bit earlier, it's actually going to come out here in a couple of days. it's It's, I don't know, 12 inches long. It's teeny. Oh, the new spotter that we're talking about. It's going to be out by this podcast. coming what's this yeah i say When's this podcast coming out?
00:23:03
Speaker
This will come out. got couple days. Yeah, we got more in a couple days. Yeah, coming out at the end of July. yeah okay so Okay, so it's the 19th. It's actually when it's coming out, that new stabilized SIG spotter. I guess I can talk about it.
00:23:14
Speaker
If you're not in the industry, you don't know about this, but SIG has a stabilized spotting scope that's coming out that everyone's been talking about forever, and it's supposed to be pretty sweet. i yeah and ah like You to see it? We've seen it?
00:23:25
Speaker
i Yeah. I'll see it. yeah we'll We'll see it afterwards. It's fine. You got right there? Yeah, i do. Grab it. Oh, geez. That's It's 16 to 32, but it's, it's small. And that's the reason I bring it up just cause it's like the size I've been carrying that 80 mil.
00:23:44
Speaker
And the thing, the thing's kind of for the size it's, it's a heavier, i mean, it's got all that like, oh technology on the inside so it gets a little bit heavier but versus that 80 mil like you're saying it drops to the bottom of my pack and i forget it's there just because it doesn't take up any space at like to be able to shove it in the side of my I run straight spotters as well I don't run angled because I feel like I can take my binos off and put a spotter on I don't want have to have like reset my tripod yeah so I love straight spotters not angled spotters which is nice about that one do they make an angled as well or just a straight spotter?
00:24:15
Speaker
No, it's just straight. Yeah, it's just straight for that one. I don't think they'll be angled with that. don't know the technology. What I can't wait for, and I've heard rumor mill from SIG, is that you'll be able to play and record out of your spotter soon.
00:24:28
Speaker
I've heard that's coming. And like to to kind of eliminate digiscoping altogether and like not using your phone anymore, you're able to play and have it go to your phone. Like someone needs to do it. A stick isn't already doing it. Someone please do it. I can tell you there's like two manufacturers in Japan that make most spotting scopes.
00:24:42
Speaker
I can get you. If you don't want to invest in that, do it. But man, how dope would it be to press play on your spotting scope and have it go right to your phone Bluetooth? I mean, they do it with thermals. I mean, that would be freaking sweet. That would would change my i would change my game a little bit, make my life a little bit easier as ah when I'm filming hunts.
00:24:58
Speaker
Well, it's just the thing is like, that's the thing is like everything's going so digital. Like I think you're going to see digital spotting scopes very soon. Like digital, digital binoculars like, oh dude, why not? Like look at your camera. Look at the stabilization coming out and on some of these cameras now.
00:25:09
Speaker
yeah You can buy some of these new, I mean, they obviously they're expensive. Like some of these like $15,000 lenses from Nikon where you can have an 800 millimeter lens yeah and just and you could freehand it and get birds in the air, fully stabilized. Like that technology, this isn't like new technology that SIG has. Like is is technology like I've been using stabilized binos for 20 years in California fishing, you know, tuna fishing.
00:25:30
Speaker
Just they're just doing it smaller. It's kind of like tripods. Everyone's like, i can't believe you did this. and it's like, well, dude, it's been available. They seem to just do it, right? Like, so they're bringing it out and they're making it more available to people. So yeah, think it'd be really cool to have that.
00:25:42
Speaker
um So yeah, I like the small spotter. ah do, but I do carry a lot of optics. I do carry like two pairs of binos and a spotter when I go. So I guess I can, I always carry a larger pair of binos, like a 14, carry eights on my chest.
00:25:53
Speaker
And then I carry, i was 15s forever. Now I'm carrying the 14s. And then I do carry a little spotter most of time. Like going to go do, we're to scout goats next month in Colorado, my buddy Ed, and I'll carry the opposite all have. I'll have,
00:26:05
Speaker
eights on my chest 14s in the pack and then the little spotting scope as well just i can confirm what we're looking at for animals yeah yeah that's definitely the way to do it yeah i swap out i don't carry the two binos but i always swap out either 12s you know something and then a spotter but i'm always swapping binos for the trip really you know elk elk i'm okay with tens because they're big yellow and stupid and really easy to spot but deer you know 12s 15s something like those lines Yeah, if I was doing elk, I'd probably just be 14s and 8s. I wouldn't carry a spotter.
00:26:37
Speaker
It depends on what I'm doing. like elk yeah i My 8s also have rangefinder in them, so I like that. Do you like doing that? for Oh, you do like doing that with archery with that? Not with archery. No, but archery, I don't with archery. I'm going to go, I will go with my SIGs, my like the 16, the stabilized binos.
00:26:55
Speaker
And I'll go with a, um, a range finder. Cause like my, my anything under like 30 yards, it's so hard to get with the red to buy binoculars. um never I've done that never done the range-finding binoculars for archery. I i agree with you and I've had a lot of people ask me about it. and I always kind of steer them away from it. I've never done it, but I never thought it would be a good idea. I don't like it. It's too hard to do it. It's too hard. I like the eights. I mean, like honestly, like i run eights, and I feel like I'm just as stable as with my SIGs because the bigger field of view and the optics are just...
00:27:25
Speaker
The
Shelter Choices in Hunting
00:27:26
Speaker
glass is just so much better a Swarrow than six stabilized bino, right? Yeah. I do like those stabilized binos. I run them for a lot of stuff. I just, I'm a snob. but I'm a big Swarrow guy. I like, I like good glass. spend 10 hours a day on glass. I want it to be really good glass.
00:27:39
Speaker
It's my most used item, right? So I tell people all the time, like your tripod is your most used item in your backpack, hands down. Like people like, they chin they they go buy a 6.000 rifle and don't have a crappy tripod. I'm like, dude, going spend so much more time behind your tripod than you want anything else.
00:27:51
Speaker
Like don't chintz out on that. Yeah. We don't waste stuff. So let's talk about shelters. So i go back and forwards, right? Like I've, I'm almost, i really like my Hellebergs.
00:28:05
Speaker
They weigh a little bit more, but man, they're just bomb proof, right? Like it's like a four pound setup now for like my, i think it's my Anyon, a two person tent with a GT out the front.
00:28:16
Speaker
And I know I have like the floorless seek outsides. I do wear those, i run those a lot, like especially if i have bigger people with me. But man, like there's something about having a little bit more of a secure shelter that I like more than floorless tent. what What's your take on that?
00:28:29
Speaker
I've floorless guy for a long time. i Yeah. It's, it's definitely a little bit of a pain. i guess I do a lot of solo stuff. So I'm, I'm, there's definitely some places where I i count a few ounces and a floorless is definitely one of the ones where doesn't bother me at all to sleep on the ground.
00:28:44
Speaker
And on top of that, when it starts getting cold, I do carry a stove to warm myself up I don't know I'm kind of a sissy or what, but like when it starts with my couple of times, I woke up, my boots are frozen. Like, yeah I need something to keep that back up and try to put your feet into ice icicle boots is a, is not very much fun. So I've pretty, when it's hot, I like the floorless because you can lift that tent off the ground a little bit, get a little bit of airflow underneath that tent. And then, you know, in the, in the winter times, early spring and then late hunts, you can drop that thing to the ground and put a stove in there that, know,
00:29:14
Speaker
you know and and Now you're on you're up to the weight of what hill burger would be with the stove and everything. yeah yeah But you get warmth. so For me, it's kind of that's kind of a big deal. like I like the stove. I like that heat in the morning and at night when you're hanging out. Especially those really late hunts in November when you've got 10 hours of daylight.
00:29:30
Speaker
you know and Then you're spending hours and hours inside your tent because it's just dark all the time. bet you, yeah, November, we must have... yeah november we must have It feels like it doesn't get light till 8 and you're done by 4.30 or something like that. It feels like an Idaho...
00:29:47
Speaker
The exact opposite of my bear hunt last week where it was light from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. You get to sleep like three hours a night. The exact opposite. Yeah, I'm probably 50-50 floorless versus non-floorless.
00:29:59
Speaker
Like when I go to Alaska this year, I'm probably my Hilleberg, my bigger three-person, but I think I'm going cut a stove jack into it. Don't tell Petra. I know they don't recommend it, but they're going to buy a stove jack and cut a stove jack into it. I like having a stove as well.
00:30:12
Speaker
But in time, i'm like, man, if I'm going Alaska, drop it off by an airplane for 10 days, I just know that I know that I know that I might have no issues Hilberg. Right. And plus that's not a, that hunt right there doesn't matter on weight because I'm getting dropped off. I'm not going to be backpacking anywhere.
00:30:27
Speaker
um But I do do a lot in like the Kefaro super tarp, which I love that thing. And that's like a two person shelter tarp. And i can actually, I actually have a stove jack for that as well. I haven't run a stove in it because I'll kind of use it when it's more springy, um early season.
00:30:42
Speaker
And I like that shelter. I do have a seek outside silver tip, which like a two man, teepee and I have like the Seagullside Twilight floorless. So I do 50-50 floorless and non-floorless. I just feel like, I don't know, I kind of like having a floor. kind of like not being dirty. But at the same time, I do like cooking in my tent. do like spitting. I do like digging a hole and spitting my freaking toothpaste out and I'm going to get out the tent. You know what Yeah.
00:31:04
Speaker
Yeah, I've had a couple shirts get ruined. I woke up. I remember it was last year when I was bear hunting. I woke up and I had my sweaty shirt draped over my rifle trying to air it out over the night. And i I woke up to, i don't know, I think I had probably 15 holes in it. There was a rat or something right next to my head all night chewing on my shirt. So there's definitely downfalls of ah of a if a floorless.
00:31:21
Speaker
You're in there with all the critters. There's nothing, you know. I woke up this year. I had a couple ticks on me this year when I woke up. like you know like It kind of sucks, but that part is... don't know.
00:31:32
Speaker
What's your go-to shelter? ah this The super... Depending. If it's just me, I'll do the super tarp. If it's me and somebody else, I'll do the sawtooth. Okay.
00:31:43
Speaker
Yeah. ah The super tarp, it's just a little bit heavy. it' just It's just... i think I call that a one-person shelter. and you know Maybe two if you're really friendly with somebody, but the soup, just the...
00:31:54
Speaker
The sawtooth is just a little bit heavier. And if you're back there for a few days, I just, that's, I like a little more room. You got plenty of room at your feet. You can sit inside the sawtooth, sit up at night, you know, if you're getting rained out whatever, you had, just little more, it's little comfortable and not really that much heavier.
00:32:09
Speaker
And that's the both Kefaro, correct? Yeah. Yeah. So I do the, ah I got that new twilight tent, which I really like. So it's like a three man, it's a four man tent, but you can do three guys in there. No problem.
00:32:22
Speaker
And it's got like almost like a wall tent style walls on it now. So it's like a little bit straighter. so that that one yeah It's new. And I really like, it and then it's got a big in the front. It's got a big vestibule, right. put your gear in.
00:32:34
Speaker
I really liked that shelter that Seagoutside came out with last year. um on it's It's super light and I have a floor for it as well. So you can run the floor as well. so if you're going to guys, you can, you know, split the weight up. It's not too bad to carry. Even with the floor, i think it's only three pounds with the floor without, without the floor. It's, it's lighter. maybe little bit more, but it's, it's, it's, I know it's under four pounds for sure. And then you can carry a stove. Like if you have, that's cool. my When you carry bigger shelters and you're doing people, you can be like, Hey, you carry the stove, stuff's three pounds or two, two or three pounds. Right. And then you carry the shelter and someone else carries the pole you kind of begin in and make it happen.
00:33:07
Speaker
And it is kind of more like a party thing. It is nice having a big shelter like that to sit in and be in and have the stove going and be cooking in there and not have to freaking ah be outside and do everything outside. You know, it's nice having that big shelter. You get so much more headroom too.
00:33:20
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And when I go to the Yukon this year, I know they'll be doing a lot of the Hilleberg stuff and like that. So it'll be kind of my first time in those style tents. So I'll be, I've done that super ultra light, big Agnes ones back in, but they about blow off the fricking mountains. So once I switched to floorless, I never kind of ever tried the Hilleberg ones because they just, floorless always works. So this would be my first year. I actually get to try though, that style tent.
00:33:42
Speaker
Yeah, they just, they're just bomb proof. It's just like, you just know for, I mean, they're built to go to freaking Everest, right? Like they're built for the North pole. They're built for that. So like, you just know you're not gonna have an issue. I've been in 60 mile power wins to my Hilleberg and just like, I'm fine. you know what I mean? And I run my, I run the lighter one most of the time and which is not made for that stuff. And I run in the snow and everything and having an issue with it and just works.
00:34:03
Speaker
I went to Nevada a few or few years ago. Now went to Nevada. I had one of those, I guess it's probably been like six or seven years now, but went to Nevada and had one those little single man, big Agnes or whatever the heck it was. Super cheap light ones.
00:34:14
Speaker
It was windy and that tent was folded over onto my face. It didn't, it didn't shred, but those poles weren't stiff enough to keep the fricking tent flat. The only thing that was holding to the ground was me. So it was a miserable night.
00:34:26
Speaker
Those lightweight shelters are built for, they're built for summer camping, built for summer backpackers. They're not not built for what we do. Hunters don't go. We're not hunting off a trail. We're out of the middle nowhere.
00:34:39
Speaker
stuff goes wrong. Like you just don't like, don't go by like a tiger wall, you know, a big Agnes tiger wall. Right. You know what i mean? Like it's like, as you know, it's going to like the spring bluebird weather. Like, yeah, it's cool to have a super light temp, but man, I want something that i know like I can survive in.
00:34:53
Speaker
Right. And that's my biggest thing is I want to make sure I'm okay. And i I know you can do that in teepees. Like, mean like Lampers and those guys, they love the teepees, right? Brian call love the teepees, but it's like, dude, like they have to do so much work to make it work sometimes with rocks. And it's like, Yeah. Something about a freestanding shelter that you can just put up and they don't take as much space up, right? As a teepee does need some space. You need a good yeah area for a teepee to get up.
00:35:15
Speaker
That's the one downfall of the sawtooth is it's pretty challenging to find that big of a flat spot. You always have like a 12 by 12 space for that thing, right? I mean, 10 by 10. The sawtooth is like, it's kind of that oblong shape. It's it's shaped like a normal tent.
00:35:27
Speaker
um It's not like a teepee. So it's it's a tall in the front and then it kind of tapers to the back. man If I remember it's like 18 feet long or something like that. Oh, it's big, but it's a giant space.
00:35:39
Speaker
Yeah, you do. Definitely set that thing up on some hillsides and it works, but it's kind of funky. um So I like that one. I do like, I really like the, ah the super tarp that you talked about. So it's kind of like a dual purpose tarp. So when I go to this goat, this ghost guy next month, I'll bring my super tarp.
00:35:58
Speaker
Cause you're in the mountains. You can throw your tarp up, run your tarp. You can use your trekking poles as pitch the stupid thing, which is nice. And they're pretty spacey. It's like spatial inside. And then do you have the, I have the vestibule for mine as well to like put a stove in it.
00:36:10
Speaker
I've never done that. Yeah. I never used a stove for that one. It's never been cold enough for when I'm running that little tent. But if I'm – normally if it's that cold, normally that I'm running with somebody else and I've got a sawtooth.
00:36:21
Speaker
Yeah. So yeah it doesn't doesn't take doesn't take much to fill those things especially when start getting some cold weather gear and puffies and all kinds of stuff. so I do feel like a tarp is always in my back no matter what.
00:36:33
Speaker
So that's one kind of like super tarp. You don't want to tarp in your head whole time? Yeah. No, I don't. I almost took it for a bear hunt this year and then I left it in the truck last minute. I just, yeah, I don't.
00:36:46
Speaker
i've I've taken it. I hunt out of the truck. I'll have it to like, you know, I hunted Nevada a couple years ago and the tarp was like necessary, but we were hunting off. We weren't hunting deep or anything like that. we were hunting off roads and just sitting off the side of the road and side next to the side by side, the tarp was necessary because you sat and there just wasn't any trees and in the glassing spot. So for like to have the shade, was it was completely necessary.
Comfort in the Outdoors: Heat, Sleep, and Cleanliness
00:37:05
Speaker
Oh, you're saying for shade, yeah.
00:37:07
Speaker
Oh yeah. For shade. Like in the rain, I'll go find a tree and hunker down, like whatever, like throw my rain gear on and hide behind a rock or something like that until it passes. Or if it's that bad, I'm going back to the shelters. You can't do anything anyways.
00:37:18
Speaker
um But yeah, I think I use a tarp. I've used a tarp more for shade than I have for weather, you know, maybe once or twice for snow, but yeah, i don't, I don't carry it very often. That's what I only have for weather, not for, I hate sitting in rain jacket in the rain.
00:37:33
Speaker
Like, I'm just like, I'd rather put a tarp up. Like, but I do like, but I don't carry that super tarp all the time. they I'll carry a lighter tarp. I'll carry like, i have like a REI, I think it's like a quarter dome or something. i don't know what it is. It weighs like 14 ounces or something.
00:37:45
Speaker
It's in my pack, throw it up. Now if I'm running super tarp, I'll have that one one instead. But I like having a tarp because man, there's nothing better than when it's raining or if you can get that thing set up and you sit under it and make a little fire and you you kind of get through, you know, six hours of rain, you know, especially somewhere, you know.
00:37:59
Speaker
ah Idaho where it's going to start riing rain all day you know that's bear season for us man it's either raining or it's 90 degrees see there is that was my last week 90 degrees the whole time we had a tarp for no reason Yeah, my last my last hunt was bad, but i got I kind of know that area pretty well where I know my all my glassing points have trees. But that but i went I went maybe two weeks ago and it was blistering hot.
00:38:21
Speaker
but Yeah, we were at the same time. We went up two weeks ago, me, Cody, and Brad hunt, and it was like I got one opportunity to bear. you know we It was so hot. I couldn't turn anything. i just thousand cubs and dinks. I couldn't. We saw, we saw, we saw 10 bears total. One, a couple boards that were just too far away. i was like, you might as well not even seen them.
00:38:42
Speaker
And they one board that got, so we got close, but it was like, he was on the move and it's like right pre rut right there. He's moving around. Like it was like, by the time we got the thousand close, a thousand year yard gap, he was probably a mile away.
00:38:52
Speaker
You what mean? Like you're hoping he's going to stay right there. And he just didn't, he didn't do, was just doing that bear thing where they kind just like go, you know, it's like all over the place. And it's like, just no rhyme or reason to them. You know, it's kind of like javelina is kind of like good luck patterning me, you know?
00:39:06
Speaker
pros and cons of hunting bears in the rut and'll you see a ton of them because they're always moving it seems like doesn't matter if it's 90 degrees outside of the bears are moving in the middle of the day but i just you just watch them just start one ridge and then they're gone out of your life it's like trying to catch an elk right like good trying to catch an elk dude like they they look like they're these giant animals they just once they start going it's just a slow track that you're never going to catch them on oh never they're so they just their walking pace is so fast All right, so we got the shelter down, back and forth on that one. We still haven't agreed. I'm probably right, but um just joking. got the shelter down.
00:39:40
Speaker
What about, so like, sleeping pad. I do have, like, I love my X-Therm. I do have, like, some of the the the yellow. I always thermo-rest. I'm a thermo-rest guy. I want a heavier pad.
00:39:52
Speaker
Like, I don't want, I don't do ultra, ultra light pads. Do not. Like, I don't do, like, 10-ounce stuff. I have, like, what's, like, the thermo-rest, like, the Neo Air, the yellow ones. Those ones work really good. I rock that one a lot. And then what I went to now is like a four inch thick, like two foot wide, 84 inch long thumb arrest.
00:40:08
Speaker
And it's like, it's like 16 ounces. It's heavy. I'm not going to, maybe it's 18 ounces. big It's big. It's like 18 ounces. It's gotta be, it's gotta weigh more than that. Doesn't it? No, i think it's it might be 20 ounces. It's not more than 20 ounces. It's not that heavy. Oh, okay. I thought that Neotherm is like 16.
00:40:23
Speaker
sixteen I thought, I thought a little yellow one. Maybe, maybe I'm 20. I don't know what, whatever it is. It's, it's big, but dude, I sleep so good. And so like, I know it weighs a little bit more, but man, like i think people don't realize how important sleep is when you're hunting. Oh yeah. And like a good night's rest. Like I carry a pillow.
00:40:43
Speaker
I would carry just like the freaking whatever that sea to summit two ounce pillow. Like I will never not have a pillow in my pack. Like you I know you can do your puffy, puffy, but dude, I carry a pillow because it is, I want to sleep and I want to sleep good.
00:40:54
Speaker
I use the puffy. I don't like the air pillows. You don't like them? I think they're so uncomfortable. feel like you move your head and your head just rocks. There's not like a pillow where it kind like settles in. Yeah, do agree with that.
00:41:06
Speaker
I've tried that a few times. where I end up using my puffy most the time. The only time I know I'm bummed when it's cold and I'm wearing my puffy. See, yeah I can do the puffy if it's like in like a stuff sack or in like a game bag. Cause I re, I re my game bag. So that's something people don't realize too. You can reuse your game bags for a lot of stuff. I'll like, I'll hang food in my game bags.
00:41:22
Speaker
I store food in my game bags and bring them in, you know, instead of using a stuff sack, like I kind of re-previce those. So you can put a puffy in that. My problem with a puffy is like it flattens out on me because I move so much. uh, that I just, I like having the pillow. Like I'm, we'll get into that too. So like, I like a bigger pad now.
00:41:37
Speaker
So I, I, I do like a bigger pad and I do do like, even my Neo air one is like the extra large, the long one. Cause I'm just like, I'm six foot tall. I just, I want to move around. I do a quilt, which saves me some weight.
00:41:51
Speaker
So do you quilt or do you quilt a sleeping bag? I'm a sleeping bag guy. I'm good. Yeah. Quilt. I just, I don't know. I couldn't, I tried, I mock tried it.
00:42:04
Speaker
I guess it wasn't perfect. But instead of spending the money on it, I just opened my sleeping bag one night kind of laid in it like that kind of draped it over me and see if I did it. And then I found out I move a ton at night I kicked that thing off of me and it kept drafting up. And I know you can tie them down and stuff like that to make help. never tie down.
00:42:19
Speaker
No, you just, you just lay there and just don't move. No, I move like crazy. i just don't have a problem with it. I don't know. I've, I've run. So that's where, so I can have your packs. wearing a quilt. Right. So like it like, so I run, I've ran the same enlightened equipment, 10 degree quilt now for,
00:42:36
Speaker
geez, eight years. I think I've washed it twice. don't even know. One time my kid washed it. oh One time my kid washed it. I was so pissed. He threw it washing machine.
00:42:47
Speaker
Oh, it was like, it was all the feathers were the bottom. I thought it was ruined. i was able to get it saved for a bunch of tennis balls in the dryer, but um ive probably washed it more I've washed it in the bathtub. I'll do the bathtub or the swimming pool and wash it out, you know, trying to get it out of it because they are pretty gross.
00:43:00
Speaker
Yeah. Especially after 10 days hunting. Oh yeah. you You smell so bad, dude. Like you smell, we smelled so bad last week. 90 degree weather. dude. Oh man. You smell bad. I made into like first glassing point. I sat down and I could just, I was like six hours in this hunt I was like, I can't even still understand the smell myself already. It was bad. Oh dude, we were like a mile from the truck and I'm like, could you smell already? Yeah.
00:43:23
Speaker
yeah Oh, dude. It was like, it was cause it was so hot, dude. You couldn't help it to sweat. And you're like sweating, soaking into your freaking Reno's and just, Oh dude, the ball sweats the worst. Like anyone, like anyone who hunts a lot knows it. Like you go to take a leak and you're like, Oh God, I smell so bad.
00:43:38
Speaker
Oh dude i smell so bad I love the freaking, dude wipes are a man's best friend out there, man. Taking that dude wipe shower. i like doing, um, little like Dr. B's or whatever that soap bring that with you as well.
00:43:52
Speaker
Oh, really? Oh, dude, if you wash a little bottle of that, go to a stream and it put some that in your hair, get that tea tree in your hair, ah do you feel like a new man? and just i've I've definitely taken my fair share Creek Bats, but I have never brought soap for it.
00:44:05
Speaker
I'll just bring a little bit of Dr. B's like day four or five, put that thing in your hair and you get that, do you know, the teacher that has like that tingle to it, you know? Yeah. You feel so clean. You feel so good. Four inch pad teach for you. So man, kind of bougie, aren't you?
00:44:18
Speaker
I'm getting there. I'm getting older. I'm almost 40, bro. But I've got this, i but I'm i saving away. Cause it might, my, so keep in mind that aligned equipment quilt weighs like 18 ounces. think it's like 18 or 20 ounces and it's a 10 degree quilt. Right. So I can save weight there on that. Right.
00:44:33
Speaker
um I am using Tyvek tarp now for my base. I used to use like a regular tarp, and I use a Tyvek, which is kind of nice. So what do you use for... if i If I'm tarpon, it's Tyvek. I've been doing Tyvek since I was a Boy Scout when I was 12 years old.
00:44:47
Speaker
I remember like I just had a freaking Scoutmaster back in my day show me how to sleep in a Tyvek burrito. and Almost my entire Boy Scout career, I slept in a freaking Tyvek burrito. That was my tent.
00:44:58
Speaker
yeah I just burried myself up in Tyvek. That thing was seasoned. It didn't even make any noise anymore. It was so warm. They're so crinkly. They're so crinkly. Oh, they're so loud. Yeah. yeah Mine's breaking in. I spot a brand new one for the season. I'm like, oh, it's got to break in. It's pretty noisy. Yeah, you can just roll it up and unroll it 50 times a day until it breaks in and it's not so bad.
00:45:17
Speaker
Oh, they do. They weather almost like leather. You know what i mean? Like once they get done, they're like kind of like weathered in, but it just takes some time to get there. Right now it's just crinkly. But ah yeah, so I like, I like having Tyvek for the base. It's nice. And I try and do a wider one, right? So I think mine's like three foot.
00:45:30
Speaker
just feel like you roll, you move around too much you just don't your stuff hitting the dirt. There's nothing worse than a popped. And even with Tyvek, like i I put the Tyvek down and I rub my hand over the Tyvek, right? Cause like that I can just feel anything sharp, anything sharp. I'm picking everything pulling it out. Cause it will pop your pad.
00:45:45
Speaker
Yeah. Oh yeah. I've had pretty good luck with that so far. i yeah I got like one patch on my pad and I've had it for like five or six years. So I have one patch on my, my Neo air, but my Xterm dude, it's gross. I've had it for over 10 seasons. I blow it up my mouth. actually went to look at more bougie.
00:46:02
Speaker
Like I've never had a hole in that thing. went to one of those freaking pumps, dude. I got one of those little electronic ones. Oh dude. Like it's like, cause like, do you ever use, do you blow yourself in your mouth or do you use like the whole? Oh yeah.
00:46:14
Speaker
Yeah, I don't do it. Yeah, I just blow it up. Like I want, when my X-Term finally goes out, I want to cut it open and see what's inside it. Because i want to see if it's real, like the whole mold thing. It's got to be so bad. It's got to be so disgusting. Yeah, you can't dry that out in there at all.
00:46:26
Speaker
Oh yeah, it's got to be so disgusting in there. But ah actually got one of those pumps because that 4-inch pad's pretty big, dude. I'm so winded. You're pretty, up to 10 or 12,000 feet. You start passing out. Trying to blow that thing out, you're passing
Trekking Poles and Safety
00:46:36
Speaker
out. But you can share, that's one thing you can share, right? You pass around a little pump and do it. They waste nothing. yeah.
00:46:40
Speaker
And Remy Warren uses one. So like once I heard Remy did it, I was like, oh, Remy's doing it I can do it. Right. Cause Remy is still tough. So Remy's using it, right. match your purse too. No match my purse. It does, dude. It does.
00:46:52
Speaker
So ah I still use ultralight stuff. I mean, I'm not that heavy. We're probably the same weight right now. I think i was doing my ba i think I'm like 29, 28, 29 pounds for food and water. It's kind of like my thing. I, we had an app going this morning. i was looking at it.
00:47:05
Speaker
Um, It's funny. One thing I get held for on from a few of my friends is trekking poles. People make fun me refusing to trekking poles a lot. I'll never leave. I'll never leave those things behind. Those things my life. You could do so much stuff with them, dude. Like so much Like when we were this last week hunting, I swear you were crawling half the time. It was so steep. Like having trekking poles coming down.
00:47:24
Speaker
What's that again? If you don't let me ask that. Montana. Montana. Okay. said, Idaho the same way. I know some of that stuff, man. We very, very close to Idaho. We were, we could throw a rock in Idaho. Let's put that way. Um, that's steep country. It's big. It's, it's so steep and having trekking poles and it's putting them almost all the way down. so you can just freaking climb up with that thing.
00:47:43
Speaker
Dude. And then like, the best thing is like when you do find the kiln animal and you can do that whole like way against your trekking pole thing, you know, when you get the heavy pack on, you put the weight on. Oh, dude, that's the best. I love that. So trekking poles are always in my bag.
00:47:56
Speaker
Um, I do run a little bougie trekking pole. I run the Black Diamond, the carbon ones they have. Carbon Summit. yeah there I mean, they're $200 something bucks, but dude, I've never had one break. And I've broken i broken man a lot of trekking poles, and those ones just have always lasted. All my buddies run them the same. Never had a problem with them, so I run those trekking poles.
00:48:17
Speaker
Yeah, mine basically don't have any paint left anymore. I've used them so much. One thing I'll say to people out there is don't buy those damn Z-Pole ones. You've run those before. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I've never used them because they they break. ah And then also like, they're not as like, like I want multi-purpose products. Right. So I want able like set my tent up with them or set my tarp up with them. And like, you kind of get limited with those poles because you're kind of limited to the height of them. You know what I mean? yeah Yeah. Yeah. I, I, I use them for, don't know, maybe a season and I blew out one of the sides cause there's just not enough purchase to like where they connect, you know, or the wire breaks and some of them, they don't last for anything. So anybody listening to those, don't, don't buy those.
00:48:53
Speaker
So the same thing. So like, I know guys who run them. Cause like a lot of times you don't run your trucking poles, right? Like you just kept them in your pack the time. So it's kind nice to have that for that reason. But like, what people don't realize is like where are we hunt, right? It's very steep.
00:49:06
Speaker
When going a pole, it's not because you're breaking off flat land. It's because you're falling and having to put your, like you have, you have 80 pounds on your, you need it. And that's when I've broken poles, right? It's like, I probably break any pole. I think I've broken like three pairs of poles over the years or bent them. and most time they replace them. Right.
00:49:22
Speaker
Um, It's like you you lose your balance and your pack is now going to go all the way down and you're rolling and you put your hand down and the pole will catch, but it'll save your freaking ass, dude. You know what I mean? like like It's like, yes, you broke a pole, but at least you made it.
00:49:37
Speaker
like But you want to have the strongest pole possible for that situation. that's going to take the most bend and flex because it's you know it's the force of that. you know It's all that leverage of your pack coming down on it and doing it. Oh, yeah. I'll tell you one other.
00:49:48
Speaker
One other lesson hard lesson I learned to do with trekking poles is to start somewhere. don't remember where it is. But the hand straps, um don't don't use those. I've done it twice now where you go to fall and you have to let go of your trekking pole to catch yourself.
00:50:02
Speaker
And if you have your hand strap in the trekking pole, that trekking pole hits the ground and ends up acting like a lever. And it go you can only go somewhere because that trekking pole lands and it acts like a pivot have a point.
00:50:13
Speaker
So you can't put your hand where you want it to go because the trekking pole is in the way.
Water Filtration Methods
00:50:17
Speaker
And so a couple, actually it's happened to me twice now. think it's actually might be covered up with my tattoos now, but um I swung and slammed my wrist down on top of a rock and it was a big old cut. And I remember had like sat there and just like held it until my buddy caught up with me because i thought I was like, I'm going to die. Like it was bleeding pretty bad. And think it was pretty nasty. I've done that twice where I've really kind of messed myself up because my hands were inside those straps.
00:50:39
Speaker
So I don't, I don't run those straps anymore ever. They're, they're little death traps to me now. yeah. Really? I like the straps. want to I can't. know what you're talking about because I've had that fall thing where your hand is stuck and then you have that whole pivot thing. you know what you're talking about, but like I like lock it in. like I do like half the strap. You know what I mean? like the way yeah do it i guess but I remember using it and putting it right at that base of your hand. It gives you the extra force coming up. It's a part that helps you kind of climb. People realize, chugging pulls kind of like, the math they probably take 30% off your load. You're using your arms as well as your legs. It's
00:51:12
Speaker
yeah Well, I know my, I know I feel like hard climbs. If you have like a big pull out of the bottom and use your trekking poles, like the next day, my forearms are sore. My lats are sore because you're pulling so hard. way out That's for for me. Like I'm putting my lats in my forearms, get smoked. Yeah.
00:51:25
Speaker
just because I'm using trekking poles that much. So I know they, they do a lot of work if you're getting sore from using them. So, yeah, but they've saved me a bunch. They say, I'm sure my knees are still intact today because of trekking poles. I've taken some nasty falls and they've saved me quite a few times. Oh, it is save you. It's catch you. catch you So what about a water? So I'm kind of like all over the place on water.
00:51:44
Speaker
um I've done the I have, I always have a thing of pills in my back, no matter what, there's always pills in my pack. This is little, little ones that, you know, you use every couple of seasons, but something wrong goes wrong. I was running like an MSR, like micro light pump filter.
00:51:58
Speaker
Don't like it. I switched over to MSR gravity filter and I love that thing. And it's like a 10 liter bag. It's just big bag. And I'll bring like three, what I'll do is I'll bring like two, six liter drama lights and one, four little drama light.
00:52:11
Speaker
And I'll have like, carry one. This is one of the things you're sharing weight with. Right. Yeah. And I'll use that and I'll just fill 16 liters up when I get to camp. And like, I love that setup. It's awesome. But at the same time, like SteriPen's pretty bitchin' if there's a lot of water around. So where are you at with water?
00:52:28
Speaker
haven't built SteriPen. One, because let' I actually had a buddy I went on a bear hunt with this year. His battery died. So ah luckily I had a filter. um But yeah he actually had two batteries die. he'd put another one in, I think might be something wrong with it. I'm not really sure, but the first one died, he put a new one in and that one died after like one use or something like that. You know, he said he had that other battery in there forever. It was fine.
00:52:48
Speaker
So something went wrong with that. So stuff for batteries for me, ah i don't know. I've never used them, the SteriPen. They kind of make, they weird me out a little bit. um Yeah. It's just a mental thing, I think. but ah so I just used it for the first time two weeks ago and I was like, yeah i'm kind of mind I'm kind of into it.
00:53:03
Speaker
I keep going. Yeah. yeah Okay, so I use the, it's a platypus, let's see, what's it called? Squeeze? Squeeze? It's the squeeze one where you just, it's like, cause it's like the Sawyer squeeze, but the Sawyer squeezes, they kind of suck.
00:53:18
Speaker
So and they're so, so slow. And then the bags that come with the Sawyer squeezes pop on the first trip. They're, they're garbage, but the platypus, whatever, when they make the one, it's basically a squeeze one. It's like three and a half ounces or something like that. then it has a bag.
00:53:31
Speaker
And I've been using that forever now. And that thing just sits in the bottom of my pack. The only thing you worry about is like, if it's, you know, if you can blow freezing, you gotta throw out your sleeping bag with you and make sure the filter doesn't freeze. Um, but the, I've been using that forever and they it's, I feel like I can get a, I can get a liter out of it in like 30 seconds.
00:53:48
Speaker
They're so fast. Yeah. And they're just, fill them up and you can just wrench on them. I haven't popped a bag or nothing yet. And then the other thing I kind of like about it too, is the one bougie thing I got is I always have coffee with me. I always have a coffee in the morning.
00:54:00
Speaker
So I'll fill that thing up. I'll fill that little bag that it comes up with. And then I take it up down with me, get to my glassing point. And then I can filter my water and then cook it for coffee. And it's kind of handy. You can take that little bag with you to have, have I'll have analogy and my camelback and then I'll have my extra water. Cause I don't, i don't know what it is about me, but I feel like I drink more water than anybody else. I know.
00:54:19
Speaker
Like I can go through four liters of water in a day. no problem. I'm like a three liter guy. Three liter a day is what gets me through. Get me today. Yeah. I drink so much water. I feel like I have to. i don't know. I just sweat more everybody else. don't know what it is, but I know other guys will go through a half a liter, a liter day, and I'm like, I'm out.
00:54:35
Speaker
Yeah. But if I'm doing a hunt, like a backpack, kind I guess it I'll bring those those MSR bags if I'm in a spot where I'm going to away from water. The drama light bags. yeah Yeah. I'll bring those if know going to be away from water.
00:54:48
Speaker
Pumping water If I'm not right next to a creek, I'll just... I don't bring like the bear hunt. i I'm right next to a creek on the bear hunt and I just bring the camel bag, Nalgene, and then the little bag for my filter and that's it. So we rocked the Steri pin in Montana and I was pretty
Camping Coffee and Backpacking Food Preferences
00:55:02
Speaker
into it. Cause it was like, ah you do have some floaters. I mean, there's some times like we we had filter over river one time and it was weird. It was chocolate. It was chocolate and milk.
00:55:09
Speaker
We're drinking. They got to get over. You to get your head over on that. Like you're going to be drinking some floaters, but like once you don't care about that, like it's fine. I wouldn't want to do it. I wouldn't want to do it. Yeah. There's some hippies that pay a lot lot of money for that water.
00:55:20
Speaker
Trust me. So, uh, yeah. So I like that. I like that. I, one thing I like about the gravity filters, I like just getting it done. 16 liters done back to camp. Here's 16 liters. You can run it for three two days, three days on that.
00:55:32
Speaker
good to go. Um, and then but obviously a little, the little pump filters. I don't like them. Like they just take too long. It's a pain in the butt. You gotta to like put a rock on it, get it down in there. You're pumping and pumping and pumping. And it's just, it works. It's just not my thing. I've, I've got one here. Everyone wants it. Call me.
00:55:47
Speaker
god check From some of the other filters I've used anymore. I can't believe think they even sell those anymore. They're such a pain in the butt and they're so slow. so slowugh Yeah. Yeah.
00:55:58
Speaker
yeah It takes forever. I can't do the gravity filter. i do need to, you know, backflow it a couple times to get it work right. but yeah I'm a fan of them. I like that for big groups. ah there's the ohbook You're hunting for three or four people. You hang that bag in a tree and have a little on-off switch. and ah like that first When we go to Alaska, I'll bring all that with me. because it be Alaska's great.
00:56:17
Speaker
You're going to be right on the lake right there. We'll be fishing. We'll ground your filter everything. be easy. yeah Set it up. so Let's get into coffee. because now this is i dude i feel like I'm getting heavier and heavier. The older I get, I'm getting more.
00:56:29
Speaker
so dude
00:56:31
Speaker
you ever used an AeroPress? Yeah. My brother has one. Yeah. My brother's kind of bougie too. no Bro. Like I just, I went hunting with Cody Ranch because I've always been like a Folgers teabags guy.
00:56:42
Speaker
I use a Folgers teabag, the coffee bags. Cause like, I don't like like even like the black rifle or the, um, the Starbucks instant coffee. Like it tastes instant coffee to me. I don't like that.
00:56:53
Speaker
Right. And I'm not going to pour over. Like I'm not going to be that hardcore, but dude, that's right. You do pour over? Have you heard of, ah what is it? A totally ah dark timber? little pour over bags?
00:57:04
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But those are expensive. Yeah. They are expensive. So this Aeropress weighs, doesn't weigh that much, dude. it's i use I use the Aeropress for everything now at home. I haven't had, since Montana three weeks ago, I've only drank an Aeropress coffee.
00:57:16
Speaker
You literally like make an espresso shot in this thing and you pump it through into your cup and put hot water in there. he Almost like Americano. Dude, it it's awesome. You bring your coffee. like I'm going to be carrying this thing with me. i have a little kit. going to be carrying with me. It doesn't weigh nothing. You have like the best coffee. like You take a drink of this.
00:57:35
Speaker
You drink this coffee and you're like, holy crap, I'm jacked. like It's strong. Dude, the Aeropress. definitely have to get a link of that. I've never seen that. I didn't know. I've got to see the home ones. I didn't know you actually have backpack ones for those. Dude, they have a smaller one. It's like 383. So you do it like, we'll give you like a coffee. I want to do YouTube video. We should do it together.
00:57:54
Speaker
I want to do like a YouTube video. We should it Luke. It'd be fun to do with Luke. And I want to do like Aeropress coffee, tea bags, the pour over, then do like instant coffee. And then maybe even like, have you seen this coffee paste they have out now?
00:58:07
Speaker
No. I was texting Brady Miller about it. They have a paste that you can do a coffee with too. like You can you drink it or you can like put it in there and it makes your coffee. It's like a paste. um I want to five things. like Try it out. like A backpacking coffee type deal.
00:58:19
Speaker
I really feel like the AeroPress... It's a blind taste test. right I really feel like the AeroPress is like it's little bit on the heavier side, but dude, it's where it's at. You can make some legitimate coffee and there's like tricks. There's like full-on... like I went down the rabbit hole of just like, I'm like an AeroPress guy now. Like I've watched, like I'm a psychopath. don't even know that about me yet. Like but whatever I do, like I'm just like hundred percent all into it. All in. Right. So I'm like watching all these videos and like, so you have to do it. You have to do upside down and do an AeroPress. You don't do it the right way. You do it the upside down way, which is wasn't made that way, but it's so much better because then you don't get any leaking or anything.
00:58:52
Speaker
And dude, like I'm all in on the AeroPress for back country. i'm gonna be carrying a sucker everywhere with me because it's a phenomenal cup of coffee. like that's a chip so like i even have like so it's for this way i'm traveling so i just got back from hawaii i have my own grinder that i bring with me when i'm traveling now i'm grinding my coffee and my beans like i'm going to i'm going to china vietnam next week for 10 days i'll bring my own thing with me because all those people drink are lattes over there they don't know what coffee is over in asia right i'm always bringing these things going with that brought me to utah this year because like i hate like the little you know you get like the crappy motel six coffee in your room like just making my own coffee do wherever i go
00:59:26
Speaker
So when I try, like when i go to Alaska, I'll bring ground coffee. I'm like, i bring my grinder. mean, maybe bring my grinder. It's Alaska. Maybe it'd be kind of fun to get made fun of by these guys on video. But like, you just bring some ground coffee, put in the AeroPress, put a little hot water in there, stir it up 30 seconds, put a little more water in there, turn it over, press it into your cup, and then just pour some hot water in like an Americano. And it's the smoothest cup copy of it coffee I've ever had.
00:59:50
Speaker
Hands down. That's what I say about that, that dark timber stuff. Like you said, it's expensive. Like I love that coffee so much that i don't know if it's cause you're in the mountains or whatever it is. Like it just tastes better cause you're in the mountains, but I would drink that dark timber coffee every single day. If it wasn't like two 50, a fricking cup or whatever the heck it is. you know is it other more than that don't you fifty I think there, I think it's cause I bought you buy them in like, you know, no the big packs or whatever you make a little savings the more you buy type of thing. I think like two, two and a half bucks. I can't remember, but yeah.
01:00:16
Speaker
I stopped looking because I just know it's a must for me. but Yeah, it's like buying peak refills. like Eating peak is not cheap. i mean You're talking $30 day. You know what I mean? like It's $15 a meal now for that stuff. and You just buy it and do it. I actually make my own granola now.
01:00:31
Speaker
I do too. I just i just buy you go buy granola the store. i buy i buy the bags, the peak refill bags, and I buy powdered milk, put it in there. I make my own granola because like I can't stomach $15 for a bag of granola from peaks.
01:00:43
Speaker
like I love peaks. friend of tricer friend of the show we we trade some all the time but dude like you would go bo good you can go buy some like awesome bags granola at sprouts or whatever your farmer's market is yeah and make and go buy some powdered milk and make your own and it's so it's just as good put some chocolate chips in there dude the calories are so much higher too so it's like i make the granola i do the granola and then i do the there's because there's powdered milk you can get that's like fat free and with yeah And the with fat stuff, you it's, it's tons of calories in the with fat. And then I also throw protein powder in there ah for every single morning.
01:01:19
Speaker
Yeah. And I, I, I think it makes a big difference. that's something I've actually started doing the last couple of years, either, even if I'm hunting from the truck or just day hunting whatever else, if I get back at the night, I normally have a protein shake at the end of the night.
01:01:29
Speaker
You know, you'd have a protein shake after you're done working out. Elk hunting is a fricking workout, man. Like you get back to ah more work are than anything you ever do. Hunting is more, you burn more calories hunting than anything.
01:01:39
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, every night i have ah my frickin' omega protein shakeup and then eat dinner. That's a good idea putting the protein there. didn't even thought about that cause i don't do – Oh, it makes it taste too. don't lot protein. It messes me up. But ah you can do some like chocolate protein powder in there. Dude, it'd be golden. Some cookies and cream protein powder.
01:01:56
Speaker
Vanilla would be be great in there. and van Vanilla is vanilla. Vanilla, wilderness athlete. That's up because i've I've had that protein powder mess me up and as well in the past. especially do you have too much of it, but the wilderness athlete daily stuff has been, is really easy on my stomach and the vanilla tastes good. That's what I put in that, those granola and the girl. And then that fat, high fat and then throw some nuts in there or something else or whatever. And dude, it's, a you know, it's like 800 calories for a small bag granola.
01:02:22
Speaker
That's a, it's a stout little breakfast. I feel like I'm already farting enough with just the peaks. Like I couldn't imagine, like I had peaks on the podcast. I'm like, what makes you fart so much? Like, I don't understand. He's like, oh the huster they couldn't give me answer.
01:02:35
Speaker
I'm like, it has to be, that's rehydrating. It has to still be rehydrating inside of you. Right. I mean like what makes you fart so bad? Eat dehydrated meals. I mean, it's like you get four dudes in a tent. Oh my gosh, dude. Like, Oh dude.
01:02:46
Speaker
I was hanging my Cody rich and like, I got a mouthful. It was disgusting. I'm like, Oh God, like um what flavor you had the night before i'll do i was like, Oh yeah. i did Stroking off. Let's go. Like, dude, like it's just like it, dude, those things, man, don't what is. They get me so good. I imagine if I i was doing that and protein powder, nobody would own out with me ever again.
01:03:05
Speaker
i don't get it too bad from the protein powder, but the peak, yeah. Peak's bad. Like it's maybe that's why that no one hunts with me, but Dude, I think it's because my, is my theory and I'm a redneck engineer.
01:03:17
Speaker
My theory is that it's still hydrating inside of you. So you get gassy, right? Like it's ah hydrating and like creating stuff inside of there, right? It has to be like, why else would it make you fart so bad? don't know. I do.
01:03:28
Speaker
Yeah. I couldn't tell you. I can't, can't argue with you. it It makes you fart like crazy. I can tell you what, like what's your go-to coming off the mountain? Like I always want like a cheeseburger and a Coke. ah Pizza typically. yeah Pizza. We did pizza last time. We did pizza and a Coke.
01:03:43
Speaker
I don't drink soda. I drink soda water for everything. But like when I'm hunting, I want like a Dr. Pepper and like we had pizza last time or a burger, some French fries. Like it just sounds so like all you could think about like day six, you know?
01:03:56
Speaker
Yeah. Pizza and a pizza a beer for me. Pizza and season a beer. Pizza and a beer. So good too we're talking to talk about food a little bit. So, um this kind of podcast got all over the place, which is fun. It's kind of this your backpack kit, which is kind of cool, right? I spent, I mean, it's been a hundred days in the field. of know what I'm doing now when it comes to like my kit, right? That's why like, you hear me say like, this is what i you learn what works for you, right? You can listen this to this be like, Drew's dumb. Don't use that. i'm like, well it's fine.
01:04:21
Speaker
Then you're going to things that i don't have, right? We're going we don't, that both of us don't like, but like, it kind of works. Like, I know it makes me comfortable, right? Like I sacrifice some areas and then I add other areas, right? So one thing that I do is um a lot of cheeses.
01:04:35
Speaker
a lot of nuts, uh, dried berries. And then I love salami. So like a stick, like a stick of like the $10 stick of salami, like one of those, I can do one of those a day. And like, I much rather have that. Like then I hate bars.
01:04:49
Speaker
I hate bars. Like you, yeah I don't want, like, I don't care what bar it is. i like, especially like those pro bars or like the meal, the meal to go things like, Oh gosh, I would much rather bring a seat.
01:05:01
Speaker
What's that? Yeah. I can do it for a few days. And then after a while. So like, I remember, uh, dude, it was one of my, one of my very first really long backpack months. I think I was packed. I was like, I was ready for like 12 days.
01:05:12
Speaker
And I went in, and my food and you you know With your experience, you'll understand. Oatmeal was my breakfast, and then it was bars. and I remember I brought like a thing of peanut butter with me, and it was mountain houses at the time for dinner.
01:05:24
Speaker
I think my lunch was a mountain house. Everything was the exact same texture. and I remember it was like day six or day seven. I'm i'm not like... like again I'm a garbage disposal when it comes to food. I can eat anything. like Nothing bothers me.
01:05:37
Speaker
I almost puked on day seven trying to eat the oatmeal. It hit my tongue and that texture. i was like just it was It was not good. So I definitely have to like mix it up the Granola, nuts, ah dried fruit. It's been a big one for me lately. like Dried mangoes, dried peaches. Dried cranberries, those bag of cranberries and some almonds.
01:05:54
Speaker
That's good. Some bananas. um Yeah, I've definitely started leaning more into that more – like real food type thing rather than just like all the protein bars and crap. So I feel way better.
01:06:06
Speaker
Yeah. When I first started backpacking, backpack hunting, was like, that's like when Jason Harrison was still like super prevalent. He's kind of the guy that kind of like, kind of like pushing this thing. Right. And you like, remember watching him, he's like, Oh, just Fritos.
01:06:17
Speaker
ah Reese's peanut butter cups. Like it doesn't matter what you eat out there. Snickers bars. It doesn't matter what you eat. All calories, calories, calories. And dude, I remember going on like a 10 day hunt and my buddy, like I'm doing Jason's meals, right? Which is this like Fritos and like just gross food, which I don't eat at home.
01:06:33
Speaker
And my buddy has like cheese and salami. And I remember just looking at him and now you will never see me not have baby bells. Those little like those Tillamook cheeses from Costco and then like a thing of salami. I could do like a thing of salami every single day because it's just that good. I just eat salami and you get all that. Salami has all that fat and it's just like real food.
01:06:50
Speaker
So me say about non-process. Like if you don't eat – like I eat pretty healthy at home. Like I don't eat processed food at home. Don't go in the mountains and eat processed freaking garbage, dude. Like Yeah. good And that's, that's a ah game changer and itself right there. Just having like, you know, almonds or, and I also always have some like gummy worm or something in there as well. i always throw in like, and might have like six to six to 10 gummy worms and for each day at the hunt. Cause I like having something like that, something sweet in there, you know, something nice about having some peanut butter or something else in there.
01:07:20
Speaker
Yeah. Gummy bears are my go-to. Gummy bears my big treat. And then, yeah, a lot of, like said, I just cranked the fat, everything, macadamia nuts, those F-bomb packs. Have you ever done those? No, but I – They're just literally a pack a little pack of calories. They're pretty cool. I think i have tried those. I like the – Like the almond butter packages, know what I mean? Like those things, like those, whatever those are sprouts, you know what it's like, they have like honey, they have chocolate, they have all those. I'll do those almond butters, go sprouts. Like I try to stay out of like too much of the snacks from like REI. Cause I like it's so gimmicky.
01:07:51
Speaker
Like so expensive. know what I mean? like I can go to, I can go to sprouts. Like when I make my stuff, like same thing, like I'll go to like, you know, the bin where you can get a scoop, you scoop out a pound and it's just like four bucks and I'll make like, cause I package out my stuff into Ziploc bag. So I get a gallon Ziploc bag and then I fill it up with all my snacks. So like, you know, I'll make Ziploc bags for each day with like my nuts, my almonds, my, a lot of, ah a lot of nuts, honestly.
01:08:12
Speaker
then like my cheese and put it all in each bag and do that. And I feel like it's a lot easier to do that than go to REI. It's like $6 for a thing of whatever, love love joy nuts and it's like yeah well i could just buy the freak freaking about two pounds of it for ten dollars at sprouts you know and made it myself you know and and it's just as good yeah i agree 100 and then always finish the day with a peak refill or pretty much peak refill all the time now i have some mountain house still as well but pete kind of like they kind of took over when it comes like a thousand calories at the end of yeah but it's Yeah, you can't beat the peaks.
01:08:47
Speaker
One other one, it's not it's not peak refuel that I used to like a lot. It's Next Mile Meals. Yeah, same kind of idea. They have like cheese. and their they're They're sourced to be like a keto type deal. but and then myber I'm not keto or nothing like that, but in my brain, it's just really heavy and fat.
01:09:02
Speaker
like It's just a lot, a lot of fat, which just means means through a lot of calories. They're little smaller, so if you like get really hungry at night, they they don't like you don't get that full feeling, unfortunately. But like calories to weight ratio is pretty, pretty killer on those. It's been a while since I've had one of those, but they're pretty damn good.
01:09:16
Speaker
That's another thing that's gimmick is this whole like ah two servings thing on every one of these peak refills. I'm like, I think that it has to be like an FDA thing. I don't couldn't get to answer them on that either. But like, dude, like I don't know anybody who shares those. I've never shared one in my life. And like, typically I want to eat another one, right? Like,
01:09:31
Speaker
yeah i probably I probably have one and a half in me each night if I wanted to, but I don't. definitely could. Oh, yeah. i We tried to do two. hus This last time, we're like oh, we can eat two we're coming out. We came out early. And then I couldn't get two down. I got like one a half down and tossed it. But the thing about the peaks is like I first started doing this, you get like 400 calories and you took 16 ounces of water for a mountain house. Well, now you could do these peaks, right? Eight to 10 ounces. You get like a thousand calories out of these things. Anywhere from eight to 1100 calories. Yeah.
01:10:01
Speaker
They're good, man. Peaks is just next level. been They're my go-to backpacking meal for hunting and doing stuff. This stuff's gone a long ways, man. yeah This stuff's gone long ways. from
First Aid Preparedness in the Wilderness
01:10:11
Speaker
When I was backpacking when I was 12 years old, you know as a Boy Scout, the food was whatever, Pop-Tarts and under whatever crap you'd get in you.
01:10:19
Speaker
Yeah. Well, let's end with, uh, that's a good pod. I guess I was like, my first aid kits and stuff. I won't do that. Um, we always, you don't carry like electrical tape, Luco tape, some Benadryl.
01:10:37
Speaker
That's it. Dude, let me grab my story real quick. Let me tell you, let grab mine. We're not going to end. Let me grab mine. Try here on the ground.
01:10:45
Speaker
I have a scale somewhere. i could probably weigh this thing. It's big. It's big now. okay It used to be a Ziploc bag that was like the same band-aids from like five years ago. Leukotape. always have Leukotape in my pack no matter what.
01:10:56
Speaker
Yeah. So my first aid kit, I went to Ryan Lampers has the Western hunting summit and he they do like a first aid thing and it's like hardcore.
01:11:08
Speaker
And I'm sitting there, I'm like, Oh my gosh. Like I'm always hunting with who hunting with my two sons, my three sons now, right? My father-in-law is 70 years old. And I'm like, and I'm carrying around some band-aids. And like, it just like, it shook me because I'm thinking myself, like, I'm never going to regret carrying an extra 10 ounces to be able to save of their lives. because That's really what it comes down to, you right? Like, I mean, I cut my wrist a couple years ago at home.
01:11:29
Speaker
was spraying blood everywhere. I'm like, dude, I was the hills. This would have sucked. was cleaning the deer. So like now my kit, dude, it's, it's pretty hardcore. Like, um, and definitely have like my original Ziploc bag, right. With, uh, a lot of Steri strips in there, band-aids, Neosporins, all that stuff.
01:11:45
Speaker
I do always have Tylenol PM in here. like ah I love Motrin. I have a lot of Motrin and a lot of Tylenol eat Motrin like candy in the backcountry. I have a bag of Motrin all the time. And now take two Tylenol PM. It helps me sleep.
01:11:58
Speaker
um I have these zip stitch things now. Have you seen these? Uh, yeah, I have seen those it's a zip tie. So you can put it on like this cut on my wrist. Like no joke went into the artery. I was spraying blood. It was gnarly.
01:12:10
Speaker
You can actually put this thing on there and you pull two zip ties and it closed the sucker up. It's like a, um, butterfly bandage on steroids. Right. Right. I got those in my pack. I have one of these rescue splints. Doesn't weigh nothing. So it's a piece of aluminum with foam on it.
01:12:24
Speaker
You could build a splint out of it. So say I say it's to break the arm. You could build this thing out, wrap them up with some, just use your tape, use whatever you got in there. um It's a big transparent dressing pad, right? So something goes wrong, what else have in here? I do have a mouth-to-mouth thing, which I don't think would really matter.
01:12:42
Speaker
like guess if you're covered in blood that bare bit get you mouth-to-mouth, it'd be nice to have this on me. um And then obviously Leuco tape. There's your regular tape, strap tape. What else have in here? Oh, I do have a What's the stupid thing called where you tie it off? yeah Tourniquet. I have a tourniquet. An actual tourniquet.
01:13:01
Speaker
That's the one thing I want to add to my bag. Because if there's any – most of that stuff you you you carry. you know You break an arm. you like You can find sticks or you can find a way to get around it. The tourniquet is the one thing that you know a belt works okay. but ah you know Or maybe if you rip your shirt up just right, you can get it. But the tourniquet is the one thing that I think I'm going to add to my bag because that's the one thing that's like legitimately life-saving.
01:13:22
Speaker
You know, where if you stab yourself with a broadhead or you cut yourself bad cutting, cause we're all, we're, we're using broadheads, we're using knives, like guns. We're using surgical knives now, all of us, most of us. yeah Yeah. And so you could really cut yourself bad, pretty good. So tourniquet is the one thing I think I will add to my bag, but everything other than that electric electrical tape and a tourniquet and I'm good to go.
01:13:43
Speaker
Yeah. So I do have a pair of tweezers in there now. Right. And then I have like a little syringe just so you can like actually clean wounds out. So you get dirt and I can clean it out, spray it out, keep yourself out there.
01:13:53
Speaker
And it, oh, and I think it might weigh a pound. It's not that heavy, but it's just way more than like, originally it was like a bag like this, right? It's a little Ziploc bag, just full of band-aids and you know, there's some gas pouring in there and stuff.
01:14:06
Speaker
But now I've got, you know, it weighs a pound. it's got everything I need in it. And if something goes wrong, I'm not going to regret, like, I'm never going to regret having this stuff if I need it. Right. Like knock on wood. Like I've never had I spent a lot of time in the Hills.
01:14:18
Speaker
I've never had like a major accident. Um, but I just kind of you kind of expect that at some point when you spend as much time as we do in the field, you're going to have something go wrong. right? Someone's going to, I mean like how many close calls you had coming off some shale, shale cliffs or, you know what I mean? Like there's been some stuff where I'm like, I did a tumble a couple of years ago with my boys over a rocket. I was going backwards. My foot caught, I did a backflip, landed my hand caught in a rock and ripped my hand open. But like, if I would have not caught the rock, I would have been, ah I won't for ride.
01:14:48
Speaker
You know what i mean? i didn't, nothing got broken. Go ahead. my ah My, uh, I, I, I had somebody, they advised me to carry Benadryl because of like getting stung or something. have Benadryl as well too. Yeah.
01:15:00
Speaker
And that was one thing i was like, okay, stuck in my bag. I I think I had Benadryl, Ibuprofen. ah And that's pretty much it. And then that next trip, I was my buddy in Nevada and he got bit or stung by something and going through some bushes and dude, his face swelled up, his lips swelled up, eyes shut, closed, like everything else. And like I gave Benadryl and it was, it took, it took a while, but I think the Benadryl definitely was like,
01:15:20
Speaker
I was like, okay, Benadryl's a big one. Like, that's that's that's a big one. Benadryl and Tourniquet's probably pretty big because I actually, this last trip, I'm i'm not allergic to anything as far as I'm concerned. This last trip, I went through a really, really thick bush just crossing the creek, and then I got up to my ridge and I sat down, dude. All sudden, dude, like, my eyes were itching like crazy and everything else, and I, like, took i took a selfie of myself and looked at myself. My eyes were about swollen shut.
01:15:42
Speaker
don't know what went through, but something messed me up bad where everything, like my gut, like a rash all down my chest and my eyes were swollen. I could barely see anything. I was all goofy the next day. It was weird. I got no idea what I went through, but it took a half a minute drilling. You were out there at the same time as me. You could see the pollen releasing.
01:15:59
Speaker
When you were up there a couple weeks ago, we could see the pollen. Where we were in Montana, we could see the pollen releasing the whole time. It was gnarly. I always have bandryl on there. I also always have antidiarrheals. So a couple of those in there as well. Cause like telling you what, like when you got those around, like every once in a while you get the, you get the mountain runs. know I mean? nice have it. bad day.
01:16:18
Speaker
Yeah. Oh dude. I had it in the desert. You can ask Gavin Swinson about this, uh, from Gila monster outdoors. He filmed the hunt last year in the desert. And there was like no shelter. So I'm like, I just got, I got to take a crap right in the middle of the desert. I i had to stop like five times coming out of the hills.
01:16:31
Speaker
but Gavin, it got me good. But having those pills in back. That's definitely, is Is where dried fruits come into play for me a little bit too. Dried fruits helped out quite a bit on that. Yeah. Over the, with, you know, the peak refill stuff like those peaks get me, man.
01:16:44
Speaker
But I, I like having the anti-diarrheals there too, because you never know. It's not just me, it's other people too. Right. So yeah. kind My kit's little more hardcore than, you know, than it used to be, but it's not that heavy and I'm never going to regret having it.
01:16:55
Speaker
Like I said, no something goes wrong. it's nice to have that stuff there. I'm never going like, Oh man,
Hunting Experiences: Near Miss in Wyoming
01:17:00
Speaker
I'm glad I saved four ounces on that tourniquet. Now my son's bleeding out here. You know what i mean? Cause he yeah took a 300 wind mag through the arm or something. Who knows? You know, whatever. Yeah.
01:17:10
Speaker
It's crazy. Shit happens, man. Every year. something happens somebody every year You know, yeah every year. So dude, we always end with a hunting story. Uh, it doesn't have to be your biggest animal, your best animal. just be ah your first animal. I don't care. Whatever it is, gives a hunting story, campfire story. And we'll wrap the sucker up.
01:17:24
Speaker
Oh man. Um,
01:17:31
Speaker
All right. Last year that at Wyoming elk I was telling you about last year, he came at it. I'll keep it, keep it semi-shore, but I found him the night before i was hunting with a few friends that, that trip. And then everybody had to leave and go back to work. And so I actually ended up being solo that night.
01:17:44
Speaker
And that was the night I finally turned up this big bowl and I was solo. I tried to get close to him that night. Couldn't like thousand yards as close as I get. So I backed out and said, I'll try to try again in the morning. um ah I found him the next morning, a couple of races over him in another bowl and they bedded down some trees. I went over and got close. I was like 350 yards away from him and they were in this big patch of trees across the way. And I searched and I searched and I glassed and glassed and all fricking day, I got over there and they were bedded down by maybe nine or 10. I was over there shortly after. And so all day I'm glassing trees and I couldn't find them, couldn't find them. i know they're in there.
01:18:16
Speaker
ah Couldn't find He finally gets up he starts moving through the trees, but the trees are too thick for me to get any shots. I just kind of see, I see yeah antlers going through the trees and then, you know, I'll see a different bull and I'm not sure which bull it is. So I'm waiting, waiting, waiting. All sudden I lose him.
01:18:29
Speaker
And ah luckily he broke a stick and he disappeared because i don't know how those big critters move that they do, but I looked up and he was 60, 70 yards up out of the top the trees about to go over the ridge last year. And I, and you know, I had this whole hunt filmed and then he was, I was about, he was about to go out of my sight and I wrenched up range dialed and pulled the trigger and, and smoked him right there. he didn't turn on a camera and nothing. But,
01:18:52
Speaker
had 97% of the hunt filmed except for the shots, but he almost walked out of my life after a whole fricking day of sitting. But that's my, that's actually my biggest ball to date. So, which is pretty damn cool. So, yeah, it's no not, so no, no cameras come second.
01:19:08
Speaker
Hunting's first cameras come second. And then, uh, yeah. And then it was after, from me pulling the trigger to the last load of the truck was 26 miles over the next 24 Yeah. was going back and forth.
01:19:19
Speaker
so Do you do that bowl in three trips? Not two trips. Yeah, three trips. Three trips. great trips yeah three tips Yeah, I think three trips is probably my minimum I would do. Four trips is nice. worth It is way so much. yeah They get you. and you get it You get 100 pounds on your back and you go down those hills like – it's a yeah I love I love having two guys two trips right that when you can do like do the rears and the other do the fronts and the fronts and the backs you know back straps know what mean like that's that's a nice load for me like front fronts and back straps neck meat in one bag and then rears in the other bag like that's a nice load come down on an elk but man when you try and do that sucker like I've tried to pick up a half a bowl and it's like no I'm good like I've done that a couple times and during I always regret it and then once I get to camp I'm like I'm so glad have to go back right now but
01:20:05
Speaker
that uh yeah that's i've only ever done that with people i've done i've done half a bowl a couple times but man that one hurts it's it's the four days afterwards it still hurts you know or you can't hunt the next day because you're stuck in your tent yeah i've done that for a couple years i was a little younger when i was doing that so yeah but uh steven man it was fun you on the pod doing a good pod everyone got some something out of all the stuff for gear and people love gear podcasts anyways so a little taste of what you spend all time out in the field meeting the time in the field and this kind of learn what we're doing uh where can we find you way up west outdoors is kind of the so kind got two things way up west outdoors is me and what i'm doing and then i got steven lauder media and that's me behind the camera for every everybody else most of time so those are two places youtube and instagram that's pretty much it yeah
01:20:52
Speaker
Awesome, dude. That was a fun pod. Thanks for having me, man. Yeah. Thank you for listening to the Tricer podcast. Do us a favor and like and subscribe on whatever platform you're listening on.
01:21:04
Speaker
Give us a follow on Instagram and Facebook at Tricer USA and go and check out all of our innovative gear at www.tricerusa.com. Until next time, shoot straight, have fun, and always put God first.