Middle Outdoorsman

Congratulations to one of my family members on my wife’s side with this awesome bull of a lifetime! His hunt had been brutal, but he sealed the deal the night before last. To hear him tell the story, this bull was just meant to be. Half the bull was packed out that night on a rainy night. I wasn’t there, but I know it was an absolutely brutal night, sliding down the mountain in the rain. I didn’t know about it until the next morning, grabbed my gear, and helped with the rest of it. Video up later today or tomorrow. Congratulations man! What’s an awesome monster of an elk!

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5 days ago | [YT] | 57

Middle Outdoorsman

Too funny.

1 week ago | [YT] | 0

Middle Outdoorsman

Towards the end of yesterday's video with the professional dog tracker, I turned my camera off way too early, and I regret it. What was interesting, was this trackers stories about some of the big names in the hunting industry. He cited two well known examples with sponsor's, and the shitty shots they've often made. I'd love to say who they are, but I'm not looking to step into internet drama, but I guarantee you've heard of them, and maybe even watch their content.

Anyway, he says you never see him on camera, but he's called in often to find down bulls. The reason you don't see him on camera, is because certain sponsors (think archery bow makers), don't want their name associated with bad shots. The reason these bad shots are taken is these big names in the hunting industry have to get downed bulls for content. So they often take shots most would balk at, he's called in for tracking, and never mentioned on camera. All you see is the end results with a downed bull, a supposed clean kill, and a sponsored bow proudly shown. This tracker is one of those guys behind the scenes you never hear of.

It was an interesting insight into the dark side of things with the famous. The reason why this came up, is because my Nephew in-law was kicking himself making a bad shot, and the tracker chimed in... "Hey, even (famous name) makes bad shots, you just never see it" or words to that effect, and then he went into the darker details of how often he's asked to track for these guys. It was a crazy story.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 6

Middle Outdoorsman

I can’t take credit for finding these, but i can certainly pass it along. Also one of my biggest pet peeves! I gotta sew that patch onto my pack somewhere. If this pisses you off too, you can get them here :
thefirewild.com/

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 4

Middle Outdoorsman

Managing personal expectations and putting all the pieces together:

It's almost an end to the summer scouting season, and I've got one more weekend to go. Didn't go out last weekend, cause all my outings were starting to incur the wraith of wife. The biggest reason for my "operation tempo" was starting over from scratch in terms of terrain knowledge since we've moved, and knowing full well that opening day is everything. The more "sweat equity" i put in before the season began, the greater my likelihood of having a solid game plan for opening morning of archery, which is my greatest chance of getting more elk in the freezer. Failing opening day of archery, it all becomes an uphill battle from there, that will go into November. Work now, or suffer later basically. By the time I get to November, I start questioning my life's choices, and yet I do it all over again next year. I feel I've played this game awhile, and I know the drill. I'd rather punch out opening day of archery, but I digress.

So, I've been looking over three different hunting units, and I'll name them Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. As a matter of course, I never name real names or locations, so if you know where i'm taking about, I'd appreciate it if you kept it under your hat. Anyway.......

Hunting unit Alpha: (3 trips, appears in 3 videos)
This was my preferred unit to hunt in. Very few campers in the area, in fact, the unit reminded me very much of how things used to be before 2020 and the outdoors suddenly became popular. Outside of some SxS joy riders, not much human pressure. I scouted this unit 3 times, and got into enough sign to warrant placing a trail cam down. This unit showed the most promise, and I got into where the elk were fairly quickly. I considered this unit a hidden gem. Maybe even a honey hole. Unfortunately, the entire area has been destroyed by wildfire since I was there last. Within my scouting videos (and one video where I took my daughter hiking) are the last images of how this place used to be. It is in effect, GONE now. All of it. Think moonscape. It will never be the same in my lifetime, nor that of my kids. It might be huntable in about 4 years, give or take, once the burn starts growing feed. However it's going to be wide open with little to no places for shelter. Overall, I consider the entire unit a complete loss. Unfortunately, I've seen this all before, back in 2018. The instant the fire started, I knew it was all over for this place.

Hunting unit Bravo: (3 trips, also appears in 3 videos)
This is NOT my preferred unit. Although it is the largest of the three units I was looking at, with also the largest elk herd. I don't like this unit for one main reason, too many people. Every manner of camping and recreational activity occurs on this unit. It also, historically, has the most hunters. So human pressure here is huge, and constant. I think the elk are in these small, hard to reach pockets, which in turn might make competition here the hardest as well. Anyone who understands elk, will be drawn to these pockets, same as I've been. Which brings up a point, even though this unit is my least favorite, it is also the only unit I've physically had eyes on elk several times.

Hunting unit Charlie: (2 trips, appears in 2 videos)
I both like and hate this unit. I like it because there's fewer people present. I hate it because the roads are rough, and many of the ridges steep. I've only scouted the northern portion of the unit, and not the southern. There's more private property that way, and I suspect that's probably where the elk are. It's just how it is, private = elk sanctuary. I have not seen any sign of elk here thus far, but I know they're there somewhere. Like I said, probably in the southern portion of the unit. I'm out of time though, and I think i'll come back to this unit next year.

That leaves me at Unit Bravo. I think this weekend, I'm going to look over this bowl I suspect a bachelor group might be holed up in. My last trip out, while I didn't mention it, I had a bull elk run out in front of me while I was on the road driving in. I pulled over, and dropped a pin. Where there's one, there's more, and there's only so many places they would go, and he wasn't far from where I saw plenty of cows. Another factor is I've two cousin in laws who have limited entry bull elk tags in this unit. I'm going to assume they both probably had around 5 or 6 points each. Given the points required and the waiting period before you can apply again, their hunts are at least a 10 year investment. I have offered them both my help should they want it, and I'm considering throwing my archery season, just to help them out. Although if I see an opportunity for myself, I won't pass it.

Anyway, unless something changes (and it probably will), my opening morning game plan is to glass the calving area, see where the elk bed if their still there, and drop down on them after the thermals shift and shank one in it's bed. After that, I think I'll just be winging it. Although with my luck, they'll be 4 or 5 other guys with the exact same game plan for opening morning, in which case.... I'll probably just shove off and go help my cousins somehow.

So, no expectations of grandeur here. I expect a long, hard, and frustrating slog. That said, you never know. I didn't expect to fill my tag last year but I did. There's a reason why I put in the thumbnail, "Beating the odds".

3 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 4

Middle Outdoorsman

I saw it on the internet so it must be true? Right? RIGHT?!

AI assisted stuff is everywhere now, and this now seemingly includes the hunting space. I have to wonder what can be accomplished with something like Google AI, ChatGPT, and a teleprompter. One channel I stumbled into recently has this air about it. (edit: and I'm not the only one who thinks this. ) I'm not going to name names, I'm staying out of it, but this much I'll say: If your following some guy who sounds authoritative, but you *never* see him in the field getting his hands or boots dirty, I'd have to wonder about that guys bona fides.

To end this on a positive note, here's one of the channels I subscribe to. He's the real deal if you want to learn more about turkey hunting, though he's all back east, not out west. Just the same, hes genuine:

youtube.com/@daleoutdoors17

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 2

Middle Outdoorsman

So I got this email the other day; and while I'd sooner pull my teeth out with rusty pliers than give these guys an effing nickle, I always wondered how much people were paying for those guided hunts on private property. I knew it was in the 4 digits, but daaaammnnn. This explains some of BS I've seen personally or heard of from people I trust in the past. Fudging property lines, cutting down tree stands near the boundary, actively patrolling the public boundary during hunting season, etc. I've even heard of elk being driven onto private before opening weekend, though that might be a stretch. I hope it's a stretch anyway. I always knew there was big money involved, I just didn't know how much.

For 7 grand, (not counting food and lodging? REALLY?) I could pay off my Jeep, and upgrade the suspension with some Bilstiens. This is nuts. Those big time influencers like Joe Rogan or Collion Noir that like to brag about elk hunting? This is how much their paying to have their hands held, on private, not counting food and lodging. Absolutely nuts.

1 month ago | [YT] | 4

Middle Outdoorsman

Got my annual Elk tag. Now I just hope it arrives at the right address since I've moved. Things are going to get a lot more serious soon. As soon as we get into August, i'm liable to be gone almost every weekend until November. Figured i'd spend this weekend with my family, instead of scouting. That and I noticed the brake pads on my Cherokee are paper thin, so that's gotta get done .

That's one issue I have with the Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. Sure it's got good gear ratio in 4WL, lots of torque, and mechanical rear lockers., but...... you can't really ride a gear downhill without over revving the engine. It will still want to run away, so I have to use my brakes more than I would my other vehicles. It's quickly becoming my biggest aggravation. My Chevy 3/4 ton can ride downhill in 2nd or 3rd like a champ. My old 2nd gen 4 runner the same. But this Jeep Cherokee? Nope. Yeah you can downshift into a lower gear, but once the grade gets a little steeper, and the jeep goes a little faster, it will redline the tachometer if you don't catch it. Dumb.

1 month ago | [YT] | 5

Middle Outdoorsman

A lot of thought goes into a video. I've found that video editing, is as much an art, as it is a science.

It's almost like writing a story, because every video tells a story, teaches something, or conveys a message. Particularly hunting videos. When editing, there's always decisions to be made: Do I include this clip or not? Does it contribute or distract? Does it break flow or continuity of thought or presentation? Is this segment getting long in the tooth? How long is this video getting? Can I shorten it? Do I include music or not? Which track? Where? Is it in time with the video? Does it match the video? Does it create the mood I want?


Anyway, it's for some of these reasons I took down the video I posted yesterday, edited a bit more, and re-uploaded it. The intro was a little long in the tooth, the segment I included on talking about the moon broke I thought broke the flow of the video, the background music I added didn't really match the scene (I used it cause I liked it, not because it was the best score for the video), The title didn't really match the overall theme. Often there's a TON of info or things I would like to cram into a video, but I can't (or shouldn't) because doing so effects the finished video in some negative way.

I try and make video's that I would like to watch later when I'm old...er. If I wince at all after editing, it means I didn't do it right - and I did a little while my wife was watching yesterdays video post. So I pulled it, to fix it. I'm just like everybody else who watch's videos on YouTube. I hate the really long and repetitive intro clips, I'm not going to watch a really long video unless there's a dam good reason to, and odds are unless it's a video that really has my interest, I'll click off after a couple minutes too. Just like everybody else.

I do however, like to sprinkle in tidbits of knowledge in my videos, but often I don't outright say it, and just imply or point. Though sometimes I'll spell it out. Mainly in hope that one day my Daughter will take interest in hunting/outdoors later in life, and she'll still have her Dad to learn from in video form. Or at the least, have something to remember me by. Right now she has ZERO interest, but maybe someday, I hope she will. After I'm gone, she'll still have these to learn from. She doesn't appreciate it now, and in fact she doesn't even watch them. However, being public, you the viewer/subscriber, have the benefit to learn from my stupidity.

Stupidity... One thing I've learned on the mountain, once you think you've got something figured out - you really don't.

Never stop learning.

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 5

Middle Outdoorsman

Capped lug nuts are effing retarded. Who thought this was a good idea anyway? No way your getting these off in the backcountry if you sidewall a tire or something.

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1 month ago | [YT] | 5