Hunt Talk Radio, Randy Newberg Unfiltered | Hunting | Conservation | Politics | Tactics

In this episode of Hunt Talk Radio Randy and Field Producer, Marcus Hockett, answer the most common question we receive - How can I hunt elk, preferably every year?  This episode is the nuts and bolts of a short-term strategy to hunt elk every season, in some western state.  We incorporate the short-term ideas with a longer-term strategy to increase odds of a high-quality tag every few years.  We imposed a license and tag budget of $1,000, more than any of these states will cost you.  We also discuss the drawing process for most the western elk states and how you can get more details on each state by watching our Elk Talk videos on YouTube.  If you decide to not go elk hunting each year, that's your decision.  We've given you the road map.  Now go elk hunting.

Randy and Brady Miller get into deep discussions about everything related to hunting public land mule deer.  Topics covered include, overlooked units, opportunity to hunt every year, burn your points NOW, application strategies, over-the-counter mule deer hunts, easy-to-draw mule deer hunts, adapting your plan to the conditions, the risks of glory tags, overview of mule deer in Nevada, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah; using trekking poles, using local hunting pressure to your advantage, and why you should be mule deer hunting in 2017.

Randy is again joined by field producer, Marcus Hockett.  On this late season Idaho archery mule deer hunt, Randy and Marcus explain the vast amount of public land deer hunting opportunity in the west, left-over tags, second choice tags, unlimited tags, western whitetails, how bucks cannot be stockpiled, hunt now before the next brutal winter, muskrat backstraps, inaugural Muskrat Cook-off, Hank Shaw, trapline tablefare,"Charlie Daniels of the GPS," big woods whitetails in the Rockies, ethics of "ground pounding" versus flushing birds, why are some laws still in effect, the value of Marcus' Wildlife Biology degree, and shoot a doe or a young buck?  Also recap and highlights of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona hunts this season.

Randy mics up his field producer, Marcus Hockett, where they discuss public land elk hunting, specifically the recent Colorado elk hunt that resulted in the most challenging extraction of any bull Randy has ever taken.  Topics include, mindset of successful elk hunters, expectation gap with glory tags, public land bull elk sanctuaries, Randy's late season system for locating bulls, excitement overtaking common sense, glassing to elk success, how much gear do we carry, a day in the life of our camera guy, a call for Wilderness Production Assistants, the misery of oak brush, too much Type 2 fun, reading elk tracks, and Randy' compilation of elk hunting failures.

Randy is joined by Ty "3Arrow" Stubblefield of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers to talk about hunting politics, public lands, Roosevelt Elk, Columbia Blacktails, elk hunters of the Northwestern states, hunting with mountain bikes, Born and Raised Outdoors, nicknames, the curse of power tools, don't be handy, and as always, a bit of marital advice.

Randy is in mule deer camp with Mike Spitzer and Matthew Newberg, where they turn on the mics to talk about their success on this hunt, plus many other topics, such as; hunting rutting mule deer, play-by-play of each tag filled, how to get tags in Nevada, "settling" in hunting and online dating, public land opportunities across the west, shot selection, hunting "glory tags," chasing rumors of big bucks, allocating your time on a limited hunt, sticking to your plan and making it work, and bribing your son to elope.

Following a successful elk hunt, Randy opens the mics with guest hunter, Tim Lesser from Leupold and badass cameraman Tyler Johnerson.  After packing the last of a bull out of a miserable canyon, the guys talk about what when right, what went wrong, hunting in hot weather, full moon affecting elk patterns, strong winds change elk behavior, the mindset needed to be successful on public land elk hunts, producing TV complicates hunting, difficulty of hunting post-rut bulls, when its OK to hug another man, the Butt-out tool really works, leaving cows and young bulls to find mature bulls, behavior of post-rut bulls, how bad do you want to kill a mature bull elk?

Gray Thornton, President and CEO of the Wild Sheep Foundation joins Randy and prior guest host, Shane Mahoney, to talk about the many parallels wild sheep conservation has to the bigger picture of conservation in America. Topics covered include - Wild Sheep conservation, Citizen-conservationists, leading by example, how hunters planted conservation in the American ethos, fallacy of circling the wagons, non-game species as the beneficiary of big game conservation, America's "Big Tent" principle helped start conservation, will hunters continue to lead, how to increase your odds of drawing a sheep tag (put more sheep on the mountain), food as the motive for hunting, and two hours of hunting-related topics from a pair of uniquely qualified guests.  

Randy takes a day from elk hunting to rest up and deal with a liver flare up.  Topics include; moon phases for elk hunts, how to blame hunting problems on Obamacare, the UnderArmor bear hunting fiasco, being a hunting or brand ambassador has expectations, why the elk aren't rutting as expected, Randy's bucket list, YouTube as a way to deliver additional content, why we don't film muzzleloader hunts, complications of public land film permits, hunting not ready for social media, hunters getting more involved, source of information for public land YouTube series, and some tangents that will raise the hackles of many listeners.

Randy and Jonathan O'Dell talk about small game hunting as a gateway drug to a lifetime addiction we call hunting, squirrel cook-offs, best squirrel meat, dove taxonomy, dove recipes, Hank Shaw as our small game cooking mentor, history of small game hunting, best hunting options for the urban hunter, Yuma AZ as dove Capitol of America, and why Randy is craving more dove tacos

Randy's guest, renowned wildlife photographer Tony Bynum, talk about many issues including public land threats, the importance of every hunter telling "their story," Randy's "public land story," how hunting's image is being crafted by accident, how outdoor media is funded, what each person can do to be a hunting ambassador, how hunters end up living where they do, how hunting forms some of our most important life skills, how lucky some of us are, the tragedy of losing your hunting spot, the value of public lands for hunting, Randy's focus on the "story," being judged by those disconnected from the natural world.

Randy and Matthew sit down to talk about Montana Initiative 177 and public perception of hunting. Finally, Randy shares a few stories from Big Falls.

Randy does a Q&A with the HuntTalk.com forum members on topics of pre-season planning, scouting, his low-intensity workout regimen, how to have home-cooked meals for camp food, keeping meat cool if you do fill a tag in hot weather, what a crazy travel schedule looks like, his best effort to convince you that this really is a "job," and a lot of commentary on public land politics with heavy emphasis on "What and Who" is behind the effort to sell your public lands.

Randy is joined by Janis Putelis from the MeatEater crew.  Inspired by heated emails Randy received for critiquing another hunter's decision to move further away for his shot in search of a "personal best," Randy asked Janis to discuss the perspectives of animals as living creatures versus long range targets.  Topics covered are physics of shooting and ballistics, Randy's use of a "lethality index", distance amplifying every shooting variable for every projectile, update on Janis' HuntToEat project, gutless method on elk, bone-in or bone-out when hauling elk quarters, what parts of the elk you keep, and upcoming schedules for the Fresh Tracks and MeatEater crews.

Randy is joined by Mark Kenyon of the Wired to Hunt podcast.  Topics discussed include, western whitetail hunting, expensive nature of producing public land TV, unrealistic expectations, when does hunting critique turn to criticism, hunting politics in an election year, provincial outlook hunters have, traveling to hunt widening perspectives, media message in hunting, never quit, cornering the market on hunting mistakes, narrow vision gets you blindsided, hunters as conservation leaders, bright future for hunting if we make it so.

Randy shares the mic with Dana Gleason, Founder of Mystery Ranch backpacks and Ryan Holm, Mystery Ranch Marketing Manager.  Dana explains 40 years of backpack design and business philosophy that results in the highest quality backpacks on the market.  Built for no failure and no compromise to quality, Dana and Ryan explain how the Mystery Ranch business ethos pervades all the company creates.  There is a reason why we use Mystery Ranch backpacks and this podcast explains why.  When a company builds products for intense users, such as military and wildfire personnel, the technology and product development migrates to consumers at all levels, in our case, the hunting consumer.

Randy is joined by Mark Seacat, Founder of Seacat Creative, as they talk about public land elk hunting and how their vision of hunting is crafted in the media they produce.  Topics include mental aspects of hunting success, how finding pleasure in hunting is all about your perspective, that each hunter gets to define his/her definition of success, family being important to the hunting experience, finding happiness in the success of others, aspects of mountaineering that translate well to hunting, is there such thing as a bad hunt, and as always, a bit of marital advice about how to balance family as the top priority with the heavy hunting schedules their work demands.

Randy discusses big topics with Shane Mahoney and Keith Balfourd (Boone & Crockett Club).  Recorded from the Professional Outdoor Media Assoc annual conference in Kalispell, Montana.  Topics covered include "petri dish bacon," hunting image in the post-Cecil era, what really is trophy hunting, the "Total Hunter," is grizzly hunting the next "Cecil the Lion," is reality for hunters "reality" for the rest of the world, do hunting motives match the expressed behavior and images, wrapped up with a bit of election year advice.

While battling a serious sinus infection, Randy explains to the audience his method of "desk scouting" for an elk hunt, from home, even for a hunting area he has never seen.  Detailed discussion of day-by-day strategy for executing the plan on public land bulls, reasons he selects areas he does, the value of a scouting day, how the map gets "whittled down" by desk scouting, how seasonal period influences your map spots, morning versus evening spots, using your time wisely, and when to be aggressive and when to be passive.  Additional discussion about YouTube segments with more depth on elk hunting topics, public land issues, and why some hunts/locations are filmed for TV and some are not.  And, the new YouTube-only elk episode coming in late June.

In this episode, Randy invites two long-time grassroots hunting on the podcast to start giving ideas of where listeners can start with their own advocacy.  They helped form and lead a very effective local rod and gun club, Headwaters Sportsmen's Association, which is probably similar to organizations in your state.  Past podcasts tell of issues and problems facing hunters.  Listeners have made it clear they want some sound starting points to become hunting leaders.  Shannon and Vito have been doing this for two decades.  They have been involved in politics, policy formation, and building grassroots interest.  Not all solutions are the same, but their story and their commitment will give listeners some starting points.  Lesson of the day- Policy will be formed by those who show up and those who engage in the debate.  Let that be you.