Big Fin's Link
All the episodes from our old show, On Your Own Adventures, are now online on our YouTube channel. The season we just loaded, Season Four, was one of those season when everything went out way. Oh, if it was always that easy. The following year, nothing went our way.
The episode at the link above was probably our most watched elk hunt of that series. Mostly because people can relate to doing something stupid in pursuit of a public land elk, then shaking your head as you question the sanity of that decision. Many ask the cost of flying into this landlocked parcel. For a group of 4, without all the production gear we carry, the cost is about $750 per guy.
If you are interested in watching the wolf hunt for that season, you will find it in two parts. It was the first Lower 48 wolf hunt televised. And I can assure you that if you televise a wolf hunt and the NY Times covers it, your email, FB, personal phone, and mail box will be full of hundreds of death wishes. That episode is in two parts.
If you want to watch some old fashioned humor, almost a hunting version of Grumpy Old Men, watch the whitetail deer hunt from that season with Ole and Neil. Probably one of my most memorable hunts to get two old vets out in the whitetail woods for what would be Ole's last deer hunt.
Thanks for watching. We are in the process of loading up the episodes from our current series, Fresh Tracks. Those will be coming in the next month or two. All our podcasts are now on that same YouTube channel. Feel free to subscribe and share. By subscribing, you will get notified when we post any new videos to our site.
Continue to do the great job you do as a spokesman for all of us that love the great outdoors....you're doing it with class!
Mark
Enjoyed your video almost as much as your podcasts. I'm curious about some of your hunts where you kill elk on what you say is your last day to hunt. Do you usually factor in an extra day or two for getting meat out?
In the system I have developed, it will probably come down to the last day or two, just because of how I approach it. I've developed this system over eight years of filming in public land areas where I have often never stepped foot. I'll try to explain my approach for our five hunting days allocated to each episode.
From my pre-scouting, I need 10 spots on a map that I think are very likely options. Each will have a different reason for being on the map, though all will have a few features in common, mostly distance or topography that will result in less pressure and higher likelihood of elk. I want 10 spots, as that gives me an average of 2 spots per day on a 5 day hunt. Most often I never get to them all or I can cross some of them off the list based on what I find in my hunting of some of the other spots. By the last two days, I want 1 to 3 spots remaining where I can dial it in with all my effort. With a big dose of good luck I will have filled my tag in the first three days.
I try to have at least one day of scouting. I use that day to figure out my plan for the next morning. I then hunt that plan the next morning and assess the results. I seldom go back to camp for lunch or naps. I use that time to go to the next areas on my maps and plan out my afternoon/evening hunt. That afternoon/evening hunt is intended to find elk, but also help me eliminate more terrain. And by that I don’t just mean eliminating that particular area, but eliminating similar areas I might have on my map.
My results from Day 1, determine the Day 2 plan. I either focus more on one of the morning or evening areas from Day 1, or I go to some of my other spots and repeat the process. I repeat that process until the end of Day 3 and hope I kill something along the way.
By the end of Day 3, I need to have eliminated most the areas on my map and have my focus dialed in on one or two specific spots that are the best potential. I then use my last two days to hunt those spots with the best strategies I can think of.
Given I have invested the first three days eliminating spots and almost scouting as we go, the last two days are all hunting. That is why most of our animals are killed on the last day, sometimes second to last day.
Fortunately for most, they are not burdened by these complications and they can just hunt from start to finish.
Personally I would have enjoyed it nearly as much if you hadn't killed the bull. That was icing on the cake. I will be checking out your other videos.
