Dialing it in w/ Josh Kirchner

Hey everyone, welcome to episode 184 of the Antler Up Podcast!

On this week's episode I was joined by a good friend of mine Josh Kirchner.  Josh, known as the Dialed in Hunter on his social media accounts, has made a name for himself in the hunting world over the last decade with his hard work and determination.  Josh was a guest on the podcast all the way back on episode 11!  It is awesome to have him on again and catch up with the record button hit.  Within this episode we get into a fun conversation that will not only apply to western hunters getting ready to leave to hopefully fill a tag in the short couple weeks, but also whitetail hunters.  Some key topics we discussed in this podcast are how the goal to be more consistent started his Dialed in Hunter endeavor, his insanely successful 2022 season, going beyond e-scouting, planning on what, where and when to hunt specific states and thinking outside the box on a bow hunt.

We get an introduction to Josh  and how his love for the outdoors really came about.  Moving from NY and hunting AZ with his father.  From here we get into starting his writing career and how getting into this specific space is a difficult one.  From there we dove into some great stories from this past season where Josh was extremely successful.  It seemed like no matter where Josh was hunting or what animal it didn’t take long from him to notch his tag.  Then we get into what Josh does to go beyond just looking at the map and how he leveled up his game when it comes to e-scouting. Following this discussion we get into an article that Josh wrote for GoHunt and how no matter what species you are hunting or where you are located you will get something out of this topic, I promise.  

Check it out and let us know what you think!  Enjoy this fun episode and see you next week! 

Thanks again for all the support and best of luck out there and Antler Up!

Check out the Sportsmen's Empire Podcast Network for more relevant outdoor content!

Jeremy Dinsmore: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Antler Up podcast, brought to you by tethered the world's best saddle hunting equipment. And we have a fun show for you all today.

What's up everybody? Welcome back to this week's episode of The Antler Podcast. And on this week's episode, I was joined by a good friend of mine, Josh Kirschner. Josh known as the Dialed in Hunter, is on his social media accounts and has made our name for himself in the hunting world over the last decade with his hard work and determination.

Josh was a guest on the podcast all the way back on episode 11. It is awesome to have him on again and catch up with the record button hit. And within this episode, we get into a really fun conversation that. [00:01:00] We'll, not only apply to Western hunters getting ready to leave, hopefully to fill a tag here in the next short couple of days, but also for whitetail hunters.

Some key to topics we discussed in this podcast are how the goal to be more consistent started to dialed in Hunter Endeavor, his insanely successful 2022 season, and going beyond e scouting, planning on what, where and when to hunt specific states and thinking outside the box on a bow hunt. We get an introduction to Josh and how his love for the outdoors really came about moving from New York to hunting Arizona with his father.

From here we get into starting his riding career and how getting into this specific space is really a difficult one. From there, we dove into some great stories from this past season where Josh, again, it was extremely successful. It seemed like no matter where Josh was hunting or what animal, it didn't take long for him to notch his tag.

Then we get into what Josh does to go beyond just looking at a map and how he leveled up his game. When it comes [00:02:00] to ESC scouting, following this discussion, we get into really an article that Josh wrote for Go Hunt and how no matter what species you are hunting or where you are located, you'll get something out of this specific topic, I promise.

So check it out, let us know what you think. Enjoy this fun episode. We'll see you next week. Antler up

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And if you create a free account, you can unlock $10 just for trying it out. Visit and download go wild.com to get started. All right, everybody, let's get into this week's episode. What's up everybody? Welcome back to this week's episode. I'm joined by a good friend of mine who have been dying to get caught up with over the last couple months, weeks.

We stay in touch here and there, but to have a full blown conversation. It's been a while, and I'm joined on the other line by the dialed in. Hunter, Josh Kirschner. Josh, dude, appreciate you coming on being a big inspiration

Josh Kirchner: to me, dude. Oh yeah. I appreciate you saying that, man. Yeah, no, happy to. Come on.

It's been. A minute. Yeah. Since you and I have like officially jumped on a podcast, you were telling me the last time I was on was episode 11 and we're on like 180 something here, right? Yep. That's wild, dude. Yeah, you, yeah, you and I have stayed in contact like kind of through the years of stuff through text, but [00:05:00] it's been a while since we actually got to have a chat like this, so I'm excited.

Big inspiration

Jeremy Dinsmore: to me as far as this cinematic things go, as far as photography goes, as to be a good individual, to have a good work life balance with family, even though. Again, it's been probably almost a year that we've talked on the phone, and we always do those like hour and a half, two hour, just talks on the phone.

When you have that time. Yes. And we're like, shoot, we should have hit the record button, but we just catch up, which is totally fine by me. It is just awesome to see where you're at in your life. And I do want to maybe discuss a little bit about that just because regardless of what industry or whatever you're, wherever you're listening from, regardless of what you're into a field of work, I think you could apply it to what a lot of what Josh has done.

And again, from afar it's some pretty cool stuff. So again, so we talked about how it was episode 11, Josh. Since then, we probably, I, hopefully we have a bunch of new listeners. So what. Introduce yourself a little bit [00:06:00] since that timeframe, if people have yet to really go on, go hunt or, seen you on Vortex, OnX, all these other different platforms, who are you, where are you coming from?

And you could go as short-winded,

Josh Kirchner: long-winded as you like. Yeah. So my name's Josh Kirchner. I live down here in Arizona in the desert. And dad brought me up hunting, I was fortunate to have that as a kid, brought me into outdoors, fishing, camping and hunting. I think I went on my first hunt when I was like eight.

Which came after moving from New York. I used to, I lived in New York like the first eight years of my life, and I never even saw a mountain before. So it like, All of that was so far removed from what I knew life to be at the time. And went out on my first hunt with my dad and it was literally the first time I ever went camping, ever, never slept outside.

We had elk come through the camp at night, which was wild. That was like scared to live heck out of me, being a little kid, it [00:07:00] was cold. And but my dad was nice enough to bring me out with him a few times while we were there to try to show me some deer. And I, he did. And it was like, some of those I can like still vividly. I'm 37 years old right now and I can still like vividly see those deer that my dad showed me walking into where he was hunting and That's stuck with me ever, ever since. And and then it became an annual thing, would go on deer hunts with my dad every year.

Yeah. I look forward to it every single year. A lot of it was not getting to go to school. That was awesome. But being able to go out there and just these times I had with my dad out there, it was like the first time I ever drank coffee and the, getting up early with dad and putting on way too many clothes, and wondering what we were gonna see and we never got anything, but it didn't matter.

It like, 'cause I got to spend these awesome times with my dad out there. Once I got into my early twenties though, I really For several reasons, just like wanted to take hunting a [00:08:00] lot more seriously. I was like, I really wanna, like how the heck are people successful? You know what I mean?

Yeah. I, like I got some stuff here and there with my dad. Like we got some halina and stuff, which was fun. But in terms of consistency, like I never experienced that. And I wanted to figure it out. I just dove in head first man and really tried to hit the ground running and learn about truly why, like the workings of everything, right?

If I see a deer on a certain hill, okay, why is that deer on that hill right there? All those things. And through that I started a blog called Dialed in Hunter, and it was a basically a way for me to have an online journal and kind of document. Everything really just like my failures, my, the little bit of successes I had and just everything I learned along the way.

Like maybe I found a new piece of gear that I didn't know about and I was excited about it and I thought it helped me out and [00:09:00] I wanted to share that. And really just have something to look back on for myself. But in all honesty, I didn't really know anyone was reading it. I was just writing and leaving it at that.

And through that I got some editors started emailing me and asking me, Hey, would you be interested in writing this story, for our magazine, right? For our online publication? And I remember the first time that really happened was I shot a bear. It was my first black bear ever in Arizona.

And the editor of Bear Hunting Mag emailed me and wanted me to write a story, and he's yeah, and we'll pay you X amount. Like he, I'm like, what? You're gonna pay me to write about hunting? And I couldn't believe that man because the only way I've ever known how to make a living dude is so I was a roofer for 15 years, so the only way I've ever known how to put food on the table is by real hard manual labor, I didn't think I was gonna get rich off it or anything like that, right? I didn't think I was gonna quit my job, but it was really cool to [00:10:00] know that. So I wrote that story and honestly, from there it just snowballed and I just started writing, for more magazines and more online publications and stuff.

And it kind led me to the point of, I got really into photography because my wife was a wedding photographer and I was bugging her to come out and take photos for my articles. And she's I need to teach you how to do this. So that's how I learned, that's how we, that's how I learned photography.

And and then we branched, I branched into video, honestly, because not everyone reads right, sadly. We live in a very visual age right now, and video does really well. So I try to combine like what I love about writing with what I love about imagery into video. And it got to, it just got.

It snowballed to the point where I had no choice. I had to quit my job 'cause it was getting to be way too much and wrote a book and now I am sitting here talking to you and just, living the dream, I'm just waiting [00:11:00] for someone to pinch me, yeah.

Because it's just, it's amazing. I'm grateful every day I wake up and get to do this.

Jeremy Dinsmore: Dude, I want to talk about, the one thing about your story that I find very fascinating is the fact that when you moved out there as a young kid and you were hunting with your dad, you had to learn the ropes right from the get go.

It wasn't this, you moved to Arizona and already had this foundation of hunting, right? It's not if you were to move now to Pennsylvania and totally revamp your hunting lifestyle from Western to, to the whole white tails side of things, you would have a great base, like you would know how to get after it and go where, when you were starting as a young kid out there, that was something.

Totally fresh and new, and I love the fact that you were so curious enough to go and say to yourself, I want to be more consistent. Like you said, you had fun doing all killing the halene, but to be more consistent when it came to either the bear, which I know you felt, you have a whole, that's a whole part of your heart, I know you're big into that, but like the mule deer and going out to other states for [00:12:00] elk and Utah for elk.

It's just so fun to, to just see your growth and development as far as that goes, because I think that fire. And that drive of what you have there is what is really instilled to a lot of myself and the listeners out there just because it's, that's, I think in the end side of things, that's where we wanna be.

We want to be more consistent. And heck, even last year, even though I killed a only a doe during the rifle season, that was my last year was my most consistent year. Consistent, seeing deer being on deer, seeing deer being possibly have an opportunity. So that's, that, that was the name of the game. So even though, and I took that leap up, I think, and this past spring, I had a great spring with Turkey hunting and I'm hopefully going to carry that into the fall, man.

So it's just so awesome to hear. And I love the other side of things of learning the camera and the cinematic as far as photography goes and the filming goes. And let me ask you a question here. 'cause when I was out scouting in Ohio this past earlier in the week with two buddies, he, we are, we got into discussion, like I still do read the magazines and I know, like you said, you [00:13:00] do a lot of online publications.

Where do you see that line of. The written stuff still going on in the magazines and all that. And compared to the publications for online, which one do you feel like is more viewed in a sense?

Josh Kirchner: In terms of getting eyes I personally believe that I, before I say this, I want to, I wanna express my love for magazines.

Like I, yeah. I am like you. I truly love a physical Yeah. Thing to hold in my hand, and get to flip through the pages and the sounds of that is addicting to me. The pages flipping and stuff and reading these stories and from people I've never heard of. Yep. Like this is like regular Joe's out there getting after it, writing hunting stories.

I love that. But in terms of eyes, I think online publication crushes, print. Because for a few reasons. One it's the internet, so it's a deep pool, right? Yep. And that, that pool [00:14:00] never goes away, right? So what I mean by that is you get a, like a, magazines get lost, right? You, and, but for somebody that wants to learn about deer hunting or something like that, they just go on Google and be like, okay, da.

How do I, hunting whitetail deer during the rutt or what, whatever they wanna know about, and there is a massive library of articles that are evergreen. That are there, and you can read 'em whenever you want. It's not, where did that magazine go? I can't find that. Yeah, I remember I really liked reading that, that article, and I don't know where the heck that magazine went.

And to go through the process of being like, okay, maybe I can buy it again. That's that's just like too much work for today. There's too many steps, so it deters, I'm seriously, it's sad, but that's what it is. And it deters, I think people from going through and following through with that, I still subscribe to I think I subscribe to two or three magazines that I still really like.

But in the past it was [00:15:00] outta control. I was just, I like, I was just like getting stacks of magazines all the time, man. Just like trying to like, soak up as much info as possible. And then the other thing with the online thing is the barrier to entry. Magazines can be tough to get into, if you're, if you want to like, start writing and stuff.

I remember like cracking that code. It I did have help, because some editors contacted me, but if No, that hasn't happened, man, that's hard. You're sending cold emails to editors and you wanna try to get into magazines and they get so many of these messages all the time.

And to know that they actually read your email or not is up in the air. You don't know. So you're, so what I'm getting at is for online stuff, like anyone can start a blog, and just start writing. And I think the barrier to entry on online freelance is lower too. Like for people that wanna write for like a website or something like that that, that's not like nearly as [00:16:00] tall of a hill to climb than a print magazine.

As much as I love magazines what I have noticed through the years, and this is no secret, okay? I think some magazines are gonna remain, but I'm noticing year after year, some magazines are coming out with less and less issues per year. So like maybe five years ago, this magazine over here had 12 issues.

Now maybe there's only four, right? I hope they don't completely go away. But the online thing definitely crushes, man. Yeah it really does

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Au to save 15% off your Tailored Arrow order@exodusoutdoorgear.com. That's what I've seen from my own personal experience, just because I'm like, man I'm only getting four of those magazines, like you're just saying it in anymore. It is tougher. Yeah. People will consume, and heck, you could go online and just how to prepare for a backpack hunt.

You're going to get tons of information and the one really cool thing is you actually wrote a book about that and from that first podcast that we did on episode 11, dude, you just dropped it. At that point in time, I was getting ready for my first Utah hunt. I used that to help me get prepared and all that stuff.

So we will talk about that. I have a question regarding that later, but man how was your spring and. I know you could e however you want to go about it. I want to hear a recap of your spring, but man, last year you had a killer year and that you had that [00:18:00] redemption buck. So if you want to go into that redemption buck first or you want to cover your spring, you go for it.

I,

Josh Kirchner: yeah, no, I'll yeah, no, last year was incredible. I I'm not big on like size. I've never been that guy. I don't get me wrong. I like big bucks and bears and stuff like that, but I'm not the guy that goes out and says, oh, he needed to be 180 or nothing. Yeah. That's not me.

It's, and it's probably never gonna be me. Yeah. I love that about you. Problem. But the last year, dude, I just I got the biggest of everything I've gotten so far, which I'm not saying I killed 200 inch deer. That's not it at all. Okay. But it was these feats, like the year before that, that, like right before last year, I killed the biggest bear of my life, and it was the biggest packout, the most gnarliest packout I ever had too. I was like legitimately worried about my friends of getting hurt. It's, it was [00:19:00] gnarly. But I came out with what? I was like, dang, I killed the last grizzly in Arizona. It was like a big bear band. So then after that, I got my biggest co archery kuck, and it was just it was just really cool.

And I didn't plan it like that. It just happened, and maybe that is maybe it's a patience thing. Maybe it's just, you do something for a while and you're you gain this sense of being calm, and looking stuff over more stuff like that, but I was by no means shooting for numbers. That Buck was awesome. He ended up in full draw film tour. The film that we did called Adoration I was just beyond grateful to be a part of that. I have been an admirer of full draw film tour since the beginning since, the born and raised guys had it, and I remember being at my first one in Arizona and it was like, there's a 15 people there now.

It's sold out right here. So to see that grow has been great. So to, and to be a part of that was a privilege. And then after that, I went, I had a great spring bear [00:20:00] season in Arizona. I killed a great, just a solid jet black boar with my bow solo. I think it took six, seven days or something like that.

And he was the first bear I saw actually, I was on these bears like every single day, just two ships passing in the dark. I could see their tracks and the sign of them and everything, but we just never crossed paths. And then finally, last minute, like basically last five minutes of light, here he comes sauntering in, like a ghost and 30 yard shot and he went 20 yards and fell over.

It was just unreal, man. Wow. And then after that I went to Utah and that was solo too. First time doing that hunt solo. And packed in and shot a buck on the first day. The first full day I was there, I went in and slept and woke up and was seeing a bunch of deer. And then I moved basins 'cause I wasn't seeing like any I, I kept seeing like little dink bucks.

Like little spikes and fork keys and [00:21:00] stuff. And I was like, man, I'm not there yet. This is the first day. You know what I mean? So I went around and topped out over at a southern basin and found this buck bedded alone. And I was like, I was, man, he's in a perfect spot. I went down there, just got everything on film, 35 yards.

Really proud of the shot because the distance wasn't a lot, but he was betted and there was like a overhanging branch here and then a boulder right here and he was in between it. So I had to like really be like precise with the shot. I was like, man, I hope it don't hit that rock because this is gonna blow up if I do.

But made a perfect shot and, got to pack him out solo that night back to camp, and then packed him out with my camp all in one go the next day. And I literally just a few weeks ago, my, I had bruised toenails from that hunt in last August. Yep. They just [00:22:00] finally went away. A few weeks ago, we're in July.

Okay. And I told my wife, I'm like, I'm gonna go do that again.

And then and then after that what happened after that? I had a real short hunt in, I. In Colorado, which was more of like a nostalgic thing. I just I went back to this area that I, it was the first place I ever went backpack hunting outta state. And just had a cool experience.

Being alone. Didn't really, yeah. Didn't run into any bears or anything like that. And then I had a great hunt in Idaho in October. Tried out this camera guy for the first time ever. We met for the first time ever at a trailhead at one 30 in the morning in the middle of nowhere in Idaho.

And we hit it off. He is gonna be with me pretty like throughout most of my hunts this year. Cool. He filmed my last cozier hunt and the spring bear hunt that's gonna come out pretty soon in September. Sweet. So got along great. We killed a great buck. It was. Kind of a [00:23:00] mirror image of the August hunt.

Like we packed in, gnarly pack in took us like six, seven hours to get into camp. And slept. Woke up the next day, first light, found a buck, went over there. I was like, wow, that's a great buck. And shot him. That was it. Like we packed and then we packed and that was a rifle hunt, and we packed out that night and got back to the truck at 1130 at night.

And just that was that incredible. Wow. Incredible journey. And then I tried to do your dealie. I went out to Nebraska to try to get after some whitey. Okay. Yep. And and that was cool. I need to, I, I need to learn more about that. That was, so I, the first thing I tried out there was, so they have the Sandhills in Nebraska.

So I was like, okay, I feel like I could do that. I know how to do that. The spot in stock thing. I couldn't buy a deer track though. I tell you what, man, it was tough going, man. And then I talked to, I did find a couple small bucks in one of them. I was like, he was like a, just a, like a small basket [00:24:00] rack, little dink three point.

I'm like, I don't care. I'm trying to, yeah, I'm gonna try to go over there and get 'em. And he winded, he, I ended up getting winded on that. And then but then a buddy hooked me up with a, like a small piece of what do you guys call those? Like wildlife? Area or something. Like it was just a strip, just like this little strip along the highway.

It was so weird for me. Okay. And that had a bunch of deer in it. But I didn't get there until I only had a day to hunt there. And I was like, man, I feel like I've had another couple days here. Maybe I would at least get a dough out of the area. But it was so weird sitting there there's trucks going by.

Yeah. Semi-trucks going by in the background, and I'm just like, that is so weird. So foreign to me. Yeah. Yeah. I. And then so that was cool. And then went home, hung out January, came along, had a great cous deer hunt shot the wrong buck, which was just funny. What are the odds he had this, I won't go too much into it, but he had [00:25:00] this, so one side of his head had this like hook that came down.

Okay. And the other side, he's only like a, he's only a two point with a little eye guard, I think. But the buck I was going after had this same exact hook that came down, but he was a big three point on this side, like same side and everything has to be like the same genetics. And They played a switcheroo on me, and I saw that hook, saw this butt come out running these dos.

I saw that hook and I'm like, there he is. Schunk went down there and I was like, that's not the same deer. Yeah. So that was cool. But that was a, just a great hunt with friends and stuff, just out there in the, back, in the back country with buddies hunting. And then this past spring, I I went to Idaho with that camera guy and we packed in and found a great bear.

The first morning we were there not a big bear by any means, but just a real pretty bear. And saw him at seven 30 in the morning. Made a big go at him [00:26:00] and shot him at five 30 I think. And didn't get back to camp until midnight, like midnight 30 or something. And I think we did 7,000 feet elevation gaining a loss that day.

Wow. It was wild. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and that's just gonna, I'm so excited to release that film. Really proud of how it turned out. I told him next time, I was like, dude, next time we need to stay out here a little longer. Yeah. This feels like that's the thing that happens with us is we sleep one night and then find something the next day.

It's let's go, let's go get 'em. But that, yeah that's been my, that's been my up until right now, man. Sorry to be long-winded, dude. I love it. Yeah, I was just very eventful and I just can't wait to see what 2023

Jeremy Dinsmore: brings. Oh man. I need to steal like a little mini sliver of that Lucky Horseshoe man.

Just like a paint chip of it. Just send it my way. Send it to PA, dude, because I could use some of that dude. Yeah. That's awesome. I, like I said, from watching from afar, it's just been so great to see [00:27:00] all the adventures you're going on and obviously the success makes it even like it just adds to it, I don't want to say it makes it better just because it's not about that, and I know it's not about that for you. Like you even said going to the Colorado to that nostalgia area, like just even that is probably just a joy, here's a question though for you, Josh, when you are planning, especially more so locally for your Arizona Hunts I've known you've done this in the past, are you having the opportunity to.

Scout at all, head out for a weekend trip, and especially when it comes to a spring bear to have an idea of, okay, this is where they are have going and heading. And like what's your game plan as far as like the scouting goes and how does that differentiate when you do the out-of-state hunt?

Josh Kirchner: Yeah, so for sure, so the good, the Arizona obviously like I live here. So like it's a big difference between. I'm gonna go drive an hour and a half and go on a scouting trip than it is, like when I go to [00:28:00] Utah, that's a, like a 14 hour drive. Yeah. I just don't have the opportunity to do that to just go scout.

So I'm really relying on e scouting previous experience where I tend to find whatever animal I'm looking for based on topography and elevation and time of year and stuff like that. And then but like to go back to the scouting thing here in Arizona, like I, I'm, I still doing that.

Like I scouted, I've got a big fall black bear hunt coming up here in October. I scouted for that. In March and in April. I've been on two scouting trips so far. So I've put in I did one big day, did 16 miles look, just looking around. And then I packed in for a night, a couple weeks later to go even further than I did to look around.

And it's all, it was all really like I, I didn't, I knew I wasn't gonna see any bears, or I knew the likelihood was low, but like it was more [00:29:00] through the years I've just learned. I think you need to focus on where animals are going to be, not where they are, so for me, okay, what I'm doing I was like, okay, I'm planning a fall bear hunt in October.

What is the food source in October? So I'm looking for those plants and stuff like those trees that are not, so for me it is, it's oaks. That's what it is. Oaks, they're gonna, and they're gonna be hitting acorns like mad. So I wanna go find where those certain oak species are, that are fruiting in October.

Okay. Along with that, where can I see these oaks from? So this is a glassing intensive hunt for me. So I need to have the vantage points to be able to see where these, where I think these bears are gonna come into. Where's the water? Water's mandatory In Arizona? Okay. So putting this like these pieces together.

Also, it's a backpack. [00:30:00] Backpack, so where am I gonna sleep? Where am I? Where am I gonna get water? Yeah. What are the routes to get around and stuff like that. So what's the wind doing? So I try to pay attention to all this, like while I'm out on these scouting trips and I used to keep like a, like notes in my phone, I.

Which I should probably go back to that 'cause this is, has gotten foggy Yeah. With dad life, yep. But that's what I, that's what I'm looking for, man. I'm trying to figure out you, you're really trying to predict the future in a way. And I almost, like when it comes to deer, our, a big part of our deer season here for bow hunters is we were, is in December and January.

We get to hunt them during the rutt. So in the past I'd go on scouting trips for that and if I saw buck, so if, say I go out in November, if I saw a buck, I would I would leave. I would go somewhere else. I'm like, because he's not gonna be there. So I would try to find [00:31:00] several groups of dough because the do are pretty predictable.

And those do are gonna be there in December and January. So I try to find several groups of do and keep tabs on them throughout the weeks. Yeah. And their pattern, their situation never really changed too much unless a lion moves in or something. And drives 'em out, which that's, that can happen, but it hasn't happened too much with me.

So that's the same thing. You're, you, it's the same exact thing as the food, like where the dough are, the buck is going to be. So you're predicting where he's going to be, not where he is, which is, which I would get asked questions in the past and be like, oh, did you see any bucks? And I'm like, no, I don't want to.

Yeah. And they're like, why? It's you're trying to it's a head trip, but you're trying to think ahead of the game. Yeah. So that's what I try to do here in Arizona. And then, outta state, it is very esc out driven. Like not just looking at maps. Like I look at maps in all the time to so for backpack hunting, I'm looking for flat spots using satellite imagery to find [00:32:00] out where I can sleep. Okay. Where's the water in relation to where I think I'm gonna camp. Okay. Where's the gla, where are some, what are some glassing routes?

Maybe I can hop up on a ridge from camp and use this ridge to move along looking, look off both sides, seeing in the different basins and stuff like that, try to come up with these like plans. And then along with that, it's like where where is, where do I think the deer are going to be?

Okay. Given the time of year. So if we're talking early season, so like early season for me, I really like focusing on east faces. Okay. So what I mean by that is mountain sides that face. So this is a mountain. Okay. It faces to the east. Okay. The reason for that is that's where the sun is gonna hit in the morning, which tends to be where the most food source is.

It's a little more open. And in the early season, like for mule deer they hit, their coats are like [00:33:00] red, so that pops in the sun. Okay. So it sticks out like a sore thumb. So I'm looking for stuff like that, but not just maps. I go on like when I'm like scouting for bears and stuff like that, or it, anything, it doesn't matter.

I'll go on like hiking websites. Okay. Like backpacking websites and look at people's trail logs because they lay it all

Jeremy Dinsmore: out

Josh Kirchner: right. No one's trying to be secretive with a, they're like yeah. When I got to this point we saw a bunch of bear scat and I'm like, woo.

And then they'll have pictures. So what I was talking about for food source earlier by the way, bear hunting, you're gonna learn more about plants. That's good though, than you'll ever learn. Okay. But people will take pictures on their backpacking trips and stuff like that, and I can see the trees in the brush, and I'm like, oh, that's, that's Manzanita.

Yeah. Or that's a scrub oak. You know what I mean? Yep. And they're at this point, there's, they say, oh [00:34:00] yeah, when I got up and all this top here, it was just all this. So I try to really pay attention to all that stuff. Yep. And I think that right there is what, that's like the next level of ESC scouting.

Yeah. To me. Because that's

Jeremy Dinsmore: It's not, I was gonna ask you that. I was going to ask you like, what are, other than just looking at the maps, what other little nitty gritty things are you taking advantage of? And that is one I know, like my buddy Tim, he goes really hard into looking at what the weather forecast did for that area, almost like for the entire year.

You know what I mean? Is it going to be green or is there could there still be snow? Like all that type of stuff. So that's what I really, I'm so glad you're diving into this, Josh, because it is critical for anybody that you could even take this. In translation into the white tail side of things, even for an out-of-state hunt.

And that's why I love this. Yeah. 'cause it's so applicable to wherever you are. But specifically for right now, for us individuals or anybody that's going out west, and these are little snippets that if you have not done it already, hopefully you could [00:35:00] throw it in there before you head out here in a couple weeks.

I love that the tra like the trail thing, dude, like that is really clever.

Josh Kirchner: Yeah. And then like another, so in terms of like satellite imagery, like something else I've learned is, so on Google Earth you can do historical imagery. Okay. So the reason why I really that is because if I'm looking for oaks, I can look back into October of last year or November or something like that.

And the oak leaves turn colors.

Jeremy Dinsmore: Yep.

Josh Kirchner: So I can see 'em from above. So I then, I know, oh, this strip right here is all gamble oak. Okay. So I know that right there, that's a point of interest for me come October if we're talking bear hunting or whatever. Yep. And then like for water, like water's very scarce here in Arizona.

Okay. So in, in terms of this works for snow melt too, if you're trying to figure out like so a couple [00:36:00] things. Let, lemme touch on the water first. I'll get into the snow after that. The water thing here, you can use that historical imagery. So I'll peruse canyon bottoms via satellite imagery and look and notate pools of natural pools of water that show up.

And then what I'll do is I'll go back in history to the driest time of the year that I can think of, which is normally in June. Okay. If that water is still there in June, I know that's a reliable water source, not just for the animals, but for me. I should be able to get some water out of there if I'm backpacking, I can filter water out of there.

To, on the snow side of things though like so that hunt that I did the Idaho one, mul deer last October that was so ESC scout driven, like probably more like I, my, the reason I feel like the reason I killed that buck was because of e scouting. I had no, I had never hunted mule deer in October ever in [00:37:00] my life.

Everyone has always told me how hard it is, and it really is. It really is. But I took what everyone said to heart about, okay, what is the mule deer doing in October? Okay. So they're in this like transition period. Between they're not quite, like in the early season, you'll find them up, at the tops of the mountains.

10, 11, 13,000 feet. They're up there in velvet. But then as this, the fall moves on, they start moving down. They'll start moving down a little bit. Okay. So my thinking with that was like, okay, I'm gonna find this area like a, like an area that I would think they would be in the early season.

Then what are some likely travel routes that they could get down? So like big long ridge lines and stuff like that, that they could take down to get to lower elevation. Okay. So I would use the the whole snow melt thing, the historical imagery, like where is the snow tend [00:38:00] to be? Yeah. If there is any snow during this time of year, yeah. And you like, okay, I don't think they're gonna be up here because I don't think they're gonna wanna be up in that stuff, I just found like big, long, like big swings in elevation, 10,000 feet to 6,500 feet. Stuff like that goes all the way down to entering type ground.

And I'm like, I'm gonna put myself in between, I'm gonna put myself in between that and what are some good glassing spots? And like the d like I have been looking at this hillside on OnX for nine months. Okay. Yep. Nine months. 'cause Idaho makes you buy a tag in December. Yep. Okay. And that's where the mule deer worked.

Not saying I, I'm not a mule deer expert. Okay. But with ESC scouting, I was, I, it just wor it worked. Yeah. Like the plant, sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't. That time it worked, there's definitely value there, man, in learning. It's just, it's not like [00:39:00] pounding ground is there is no information greater that you're gonna get than getting out there and pounding ground with your feet.

Okay. But there is if you can be calculated okay. I feel like you could be more efficient. Because just walking around aimlessly. Yeah. Okay. That doesn't, you, maybe you get lucky and you run into something, but I. If you can put yourself into areas of interest where you have the highest likelihood of not just seeing an animal, but you have the highest likelihood.

Another thing I was doing, I was measuring distance. Yep. From like certain, from one hill to another. Be like, okay, can I shoot from here? Like figuring that stuff out. Is it even huntable? Because if you're like three miles away and there's a giant gorge in between you and this really rad face that deer are gonna be on, that doesn't do you any good.

Next level. That's, yeah. Anyways, sorry dude. Next level. I nerd out on this stuff and but I think there's value there, man. It, like the off [00:40:00] season is never truly the off season you could be. Yeah. You could be sitting there and doing your homework on with your maps and doing research and stuff like that.

And no time

is

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Top of the line customer service. So see for yourself why so many made the switch to Exodus and experience the Exodus difference. Use code au to get 15% off your first camera. Today I'm able to take a lot away from this because I believe when. That ESC scouting gets thrown out so much, and I think a lot of people will just go onto a map, look at it, and do you know, like you said, measure No.

One aspect that I love that you said Josh was being in calculated right and going back to the historical thing, but to really key in on that, that calculated move I've been learning, look at my map. And find those areas of interest. Just like you said, going off the historical data and all that type of stuff.

I will do almost like a pre walk line and in a general area. So when I get there, pull up my, my, my phone and follow my track basically. And obviously I deviate from it just 'cause I'm in that [00:42:00] area, but I'm able to find and have a precise calculated move through the woods. So then that way I know if it's a, hey, this warrants either a camera or to come back in here sometime in the hunt or to scout a little bit more.

And then there's other times where it's okay, I cannot hunt this area and one or two. It's just the sign's not there. And maybe you just know you crossed that off. So I really, there's a lot that what you said, not only for western hunter, but o obviously for white tail. Guys take a lot out of that because Josh, that was really great information and I like you.

I can nerd out on that stuff. And that was really informative and you're getting me the itch out west again with all this talk about basins and the mountains and all that stuff. But, when you look at your planning process and the e scouting is obviously in that, how else do you go about dictating on where you want to get a tag and where, 'cause you're in that mecca hub, like you have that capability of mule deer, cote bear, mule, deer, elk bear, all that stuff.

[00:43:00] So how do you plan your process of coming up with the, the 2023 hunting season for yourself?

Josh Kirchner: There's a few things there. Like one of them is just honestly what do I wanna do? Yeah. What and what I mean by that is what, like what kind of experiences do I wanna have in 2023?

I still consider myself to be a new high country mul deer hunter. I think I've been doing it now for five years or so. But I'm, I feel still feel like I'm new, I still feel like there's a lot that I want to experience and honestly it's just addicting just being up there above the trees.

Yep. And seeing those, the big velvet mul there and stuff like that. And it's the spot in stock thing is so in line with how I learned how to bow hunt in Arizona, that it's just in, I just feel at home when I do that. So that's another thing for me is it's what do you want to do?

But also, I wanna be successful and what am I successful [00:44:00] at? Like what are my strengths and what are my weaknesses? I try to do the hunts that I know I'm gonna be able to do, okay. Like opportunity, like what? Like high draw odds, that type of stuff.

The hunts that I wanna do, given the style. But also I like to throw in one, like last year I went to Nebraska because it was com I had never done it, right? Like it's completely that is not in my wheelhouse at all. But I want to get good at it, and the only way to get good at what you're not good at is to go do what you're not good at, right?

So I try to sprinkle stuff like that into like the bear hunt I did last year in Arizona, that was an ambush hunt, which is something I'm not really used to. I'm used to glossing bears and trying to sneak in on 'em. Okay. So I was like, I'm really excited to do this because it's different. Yeah.

But for the most part, I try to cater the hunts to me and my style. And obviously like driving distance too, [00:45:00] like I drive. I'm not like, I'm not opposed to flying, but I just prefer to drive. Like around me, Colorado, Utah Idaho's a poke a bit. So I hunt in those states mostly because it, they're within striking distance of me.

They also offer a lot of opportunity and I don't really go too much off of like people like look at success rates for harvests. I don't really pay too much attention to that. That's good to know. And I'm more, yeah I more pay attention because there's so there's there's units here where I've, I've gotten co deer out of that's a 1% success rate.

Yeah. You know what I mean? I think it depends on who has the, who's hunting, like who, how good they know the area and how good they know deer and how good they know the animal and stuff like that. I think that's way more what is that saying? 10% of the hunters kill 90% of the game or whatever.

I think that's true, dude. It really is. And I'm not I'm not trying to say that [00:46:00] I'm part of that entirely, but I, I'm, I think I've gotten to the point where I'm consistent. With hunting, with my bow, hunting, I never, I don't kill something every time I go out but it seems like I've usually, I'm fortunate most, a lot of times, so that's how I go about the planning thing and then The time of year is also yeah, that's key.

What do I wanna experience? So like here, for instance, like here, so I have a late archery bull tag here in Arizona this year. I really like hunting elk in September. Okay. But I like high country mule deer more. And they happen during the same time. Okay. So so that goes back to what I wanna do, but it also lets me hunt elk in my home state more often than not.

Yeah. The point thing is really a shame, like it, it just I understand why it's there, but it sucks man. Especially outta staters. It's gonna take sometimes 20 points to draw an elk tag here in Arizona. It's wild, and [00:47:00] so on these late archery.

I drew one last year, or no, I drew one the year before I drew one again this year. It it's not like in like super hard to get 'em. But I get to hunt the same elk, these trophy bulls or whatever that dudes are hunting in September. Yeah. Yep. It's just a spot in stock thing.

They're not bugling, which again falls in line with what I like to do. Yeah. Yeah. A weakness of mine is calling. I don't spend a lot of time calling. I'd like to learn more about it and I think maybe that's been a hangup of mine in September in the past. Is my ignorance to calling spot and stalking though I can spot and stalk the heck out of elk, so that's how I go about the year, man. Yeah. I don't know, like this, so this October A hunt for me in Arizona that I've never done before. That's cool. In this way. Yeah. It's a a big, a fall black bear hunt, which I've done plenty of that here, but I've [00:48:00] never done just a big gnarly backpack hunt for black bears in Arizona in October.

With my bow I've packed in before with a rifle. And I haven't been successful doing that yet here. But with my bow, it's something I've never done. Ever. And it's always been something I wanna do, but I've never dedicated the amount of time. I've got eight or nine days planned back there.

And I think we're gonna find some bears. But, so that right there is something I wanted to do for years, boom. And I'm like, that's it, I'm doing it. Yep. This is a year I'm gonna do it. So I early spring started scouting for that get, like really taking initiative, and 'cause I think it's important, man.

I think you can get in a rutt, right? Yeah, no doubt. Like with yeah. Like doing the same exact thing every single year. And just like never really expanding past that. And it's yeah, you can, if you got one spot where you know you can be successful every single year, that's fine. But that doesn't really in my [00:49:00] opinion, help you grow as a hunter.

Agreed. 'cause you're only in one situation. In order to grow and get better, you need to put yourself in multiple situ, like multiple situations so you can learn how to adapt to all of those. I love that. And then through that you can apply that to a even wider range of situations.

Jeremy Dinsmore: So

Josh Kirchner: yeah. Yeah. That's how I don't know if that made sense or not, but that's how I go about planning the year. Yeah.

Jeremy Dinsmore: 100%. Now this is a great continuous topic to, to this, and you made it a, you wrote an article for Go Hunt on this and I, I took a lot out of, so it was the thinking outside the box on a bow hunt.

And you know it, this really applies to anyone with a bow in their hand. I don't care if you're out in Arizona where Josh is climbing the backwoods with going on a bear hunt or trying to chase, co steer to Idaho then or here in Pennsylvania for white tail. I just there are certain topics in that obviously really do [00:50:00] pertain to the Western things.

But in the grand scheme of things, there, there's 1,000,001 ways to skin a cat, to, so to speak. But you have to find what works for you and what you were just talking about. Like you, you know what, you're good at and you do it, but then there's things that you know you're not good at, so you do it to get better at that.

So just I don't know. I guess maybe discuss a little bit about where this article topic came from, because it's, obviously you wrote it and I don't know. I just think that a take home, that take home message really could pertain to a lot of bow hunters in general. I know you talked about like different styles about being aggressive like just, just, you always hear podcasts like, do this, do that, or articles do this, do that, but you don't have to. And that is the one aspect that I feel. For me personally, that I've done a better job over the last year and a half of doing is instead of trying to take 1,000,001 different of these amazing whitetail hunters to make it my own, like I'm gonna be, try to be the ultimate no do what [00:51:00] works for me and improve upon things that I suck at.

So then that way I could become the baddest hunter that I could be. Man dive into this article of thinking outside the box on a bow hunt where you just, you know why did you write that basically?

Josh Kirchner: So the reason I wanted to write that was because when I was just first starting out I was trying to obviously ingest as much hunting knowledge as I could from other sources, be it hunting forums, magazines, videos, whatever. And I. Everything came across as like it had, there was these rules. Like for instance like when I was trying to learn how to spot and stalk deer with my bow, everything said, you gotta bed the deer down.

You gotta bed the deer down, bat him down. Bat him down. In Arizona that doesn't work all the time because we have this going on with topography. Okay. Okay. If you're looking at a [00:52:00] big giant basin, a big bowl where you can watch a deer do everything that's different, but in rolling country deer disappear in a hurry.

Okay. So I spent a lot of time trying to bed deer down and never doing it, which kept me from going after the deer in the first place. So I wanted to write that because I think that is for new hunters especially, I. They hear these like rules. Okay. And they get, they really attach themselves to those.

Yeah. Okay. Like dude, here's another one. Ready people might argue with me on this. Always have the wind in your face. You know what, I've had success finding animals with the wind at my back. Yep. Okay. The bear that I shot last year, the wind was at my back, but it was a rising thermal. Yeah. Which means that the wind, my scent went towards the bear, but over him.

Okay. And that was the [00:53:00] key to killing that bear. Yeah. Before that the wind wasn't, the wind was like it wasn't right. And I was like, man, what can I do? And I learned this trick from a good friend of mine. In Idaho when we were elk hunting, and he was like, oh yeah. I never, it's so simple, dude.

I never thought about this. When you hit your puffer, you're smoke, you're smoking a bottle. Too many people pay attention to the direction. Okay. The horizontal direction that goes. Very few pay attention to the vertical direction. Yeah. Okay. You'll see the wind, you'll see it go up or go down.

So you put those two things together the directional and the thermal. Yep. Now you have another piece to work with. Okay. And the, it's been said before, a lot of animals, they like walking into the wind. 'cause they're trying to smell that bear, the wind was blowing up towards, up. So I was on an elevated position.

[00:54:00] Spring was down below me, and across from me was a soft ridge. Okay. And the bears were like betting up in that area. So I was above that. Okay. Wind was going towards that area, but over it. And that the and then if the other thing the wind would do was it would go to my left, all paralleling.

Okay. Paralleling the trail that the bears using, were using across the drainage man. Okay. Yep. So theoretically they shouldn't have worked. Based on these rules. When in all reality it, it was the perfect setup. Wow. So I think paying attention what you said. Okay. It sums it up. You need to find what works for you when you find something that works on your own in the field, no matter what the rules say.

Okay. These, quote [00:55:00] unquote rules, you need to pay attention to that. Yeah. Okay. So like another thing for me was like, we're talking about betting deer down during the rut. Like I, I'll try to bed, I'll try, like if it happens. I'll try to bed deer down in the early season.

But in the rutt, I never do that. Yeah. I'll take note of, but where Bucks are. Make a loop around and try to get ahead of 'em or just move in on 'em right off the get go. Okay. Because my thinking, the thing that I have found, like the years that I've spent spot and stalking, running bucks is they, that buck is being aggressive.

So you be aggressive. Yep. And I think too many people are timid and they are afraid of blowing up the situation because it's bow hunting. This is a very, we're walking on eggshells here, right? Okay. But here's the thing, like there's a deer over there and you have a deer tag.

So go over there. Yep. Go over there. Okay. Even in the early [00:56:00] season I'll stalk deer on their feet feeding, because one of the things I like about that is the deer's attention is on its food. Food. Yep. It's head down and it's moving around, it's making noise. Walking through the gra, walking through the brush and stuff like that.

It's chewing. You hear yourself chew. Correct. When you're eating. Okay. So when they're beded down, they have nothing to do, but to stay alive. That is, that, that is the only thing that they have to pay attention to. Yeah. Okay. So while there's pros and cons to both sides, right? So don't be afraid to do the thing that kind of makes sense.

Yep. Like the common sense thing. Don't be afraid to do that because here's the thing, what's the worst thing that's gonna happen? You're not gonna get 'em. Big deal. Big deal. Go on to the next one. And but what might hap, I guarantee what's gonna happen is that whether you blow it up or not, you're gonna learn something.

Yeah. No doubt. You're either gonna learn, no doubt, I'm never doing that again, or you're gonna learn, [00:57:00] wow, that might work out. Like for me, like I, something I learned early on was some people will do this. I just won't, just, maybe I'm just bad at it. I will never approach a deer from below ever.

Like it, it has never ever worked out for me. Ever. Yeah. Take the long route. Like I'll, I at least wanna side hill into a deer. Okay. Or whatever it is, elk. It doesn't matter. The animal, I never wanna approach from below. Yeah. But I hear about people being successful doing that. Yeah. For me, it just doesn't work, so I don't do it, so there's nothing wrong with thinking for yourself right out there. I know guys, I've heard of guys literally walking into deer and I think I mentioned this in that article, but guys walking into running bucks with their bow here, like walking slowly because it looks like Ambers.

Yep.[00:58:00] I've never done that. Okay. But people do it. And obviously it works Okay. It's just not my thing. So yeah, just make sense of it for yourself and don't feel like you need to do, tie yourself to these quote unquote ways that you're supposed to do things. Another thing is aero setup.

I absolutely grinds my gears, dude. Like the informa I understand like people are putting out information on like the heavy arrow thing and the extreme. F o c, all that. We've all seen it, right? Yep. Like it's all, it's out there. People are saying it's the best thing since sliced bread, blah, blah, blah.

And on paper, okay, what I'm about to tell you shouldn't work. Okay. Last year though, in November, my buddy we, he had this late archery bull tag that I have this year. Found this great six point feeding by himself. He makes a loop around, comes in over top. 60 yards. Okay. He shot that bull and the bull ran about 50 yards and fell over beneath me.[00:59:00]

Now here's the interesting part. His bow was at, okay, like his bow, I believe was at 65 pounds. It was a Hoyt Power Max, which is like a entry level bow. Entry level bow. Okay. He was shooting like a 350 grain arrow. Which is basically useless in today's society. Yeah. Yeah.

Jeremy Dinsmore: How dare you.

Josh Kirchner: He was using a hybrid broadhead.

Okay. So it was like it was fixed and mechanical. He can't find the arrow. It like full pass through, blew up the Elk's heart. Wow. Okay. In theory, this shouldn't work.

Jeremy Dinsmore: Yeah. At 60 yards, right? 60 yards.

Josh Kirchner: At 60 yards. In theory, this shouldn't work on paper. Okay. But it just goes to [01:00:00] show some of this stuff is so blown out of proportion oh yeah, I won't go into the field without a 600 grand arrow for elk.

It's dude, like you do not have to do that. No. You know what I mean? Like for any animal, the only way that I see it being I don't even know if beneficial would be the right word, but like pr like kind of practical, like the best situation for a really heavy arrow in my opinion is like you're hunting like dark timber, very short shots.

Okay. A lot of brush and Yeah

and

Josh Kirchner: like for you, like why tell hunting you guys are getting really close shots. Like you can't from what I experienced, a lot of times you can't even see 40 yards. Yep. So having a heavier arrow in those situations, it doesn't make that big of an impact because you're not having to deal with arrow traje trajectory as much.

You're shorter shots. Whereas out here, out west, like how I hunt arrow trajectory is a thing. Yeah. Okay. And I [01:01:00] messed around with the heavy arrow thing for a bit and I lost animals doing it. And it was, and once that happened I was like, I did it for a couple years and I'm like, I'm out.

Yeah. And right, like the month that I switched, I started filling all of my tags. Yeah. Okay. So again, do what works for you. If that makes you comfortable shooting at a 600 grand arrow, then do it. Yeah. But you damn sure don't have to. Yep,

Jeremy Dinsmore: man. I agree 100%. That's the, I like when I read that article, I had that written down and I saved it on a tab just 'cause like even in your sum, in your summary of what you said, man, just, I think we overcomplicate things and you've done a really great job explaining what you just did, but also I don't know, like you have a great way of just like you were saying earlier, just going out [01:02:00] there, experience, have fun.

And if a lot of people could take anything away from that is just that. Go out, go have fun, test things out, see what works for you. Go out there and. Just have fun. I don't know. I don't know what the I just, we overcomplicate things. Yeah. It, and I, that's just a frustrating part.

No, for sure. And

Josh Kirchner: in terms of like bow hunting, it's go out there remember why you're out there. Have fun. But in terms of the gear thing, like you need to go out there with what, the thing that you're gonna be the most accurate

Jeremy Dinsmore: with. Yep. Yep. The

Josh Kirchner: most consistently. Accuracy is way more important.

Dude. It don't like the shoulder blade thing. Okay. I'm sorry dude. I get fired up about this stuff. Like the shoulder blade thing. You know what, you shouldn't be hitting

Jeremy Dinsmore: the shoulder blade. Shouldn't it? I agree

Josh Kirchner: That's it. I, so instead of like people, I feel like a lot of people plan for failure.

Yes. And not, they don't plan for success. Yes. Yep. Like you're plan, it's [01:03:00] like you're almost like planning to mess up. It's why? Just a don't shoot there. I know things happen. I've made bad shots. I've made a lot of bad shots. I have. Okay. But that's my fault.

Jeremy Dinsmore: Yeah.

Josh Kirchner: That's, that is my fault. I shouldn't have done that. And that's how things go sometimes. You know what, like I've gotten trail camera pictures of deer that have claw marks on 'em from mountain lions and stuff like that. Yeah. Guess what? That lion

Jeremy Dinsmore: didn't eat that day. Yep.

Josh Kirchner: Yep.

Okay. The deer got away and sometimes that happens. Yeah. So go head into the field with the thing that, that you, when you come to full draw, you have no doubt in your mind that if you do what you're supposed to do, golden, that arrow is gonna go exactly where you want it to go. Yeah.

Because any, here's the other thing with with broadheads, like this gets blown outta proportion too. All the broadheads kill animals. They all do. If you put 'em where they're supposed to go, they kill animals. So you need to use the one that. Goes where [01:04:00] exactly where you want it time and time again.

Yep. Whether that's a fixed blade, a mechanical, whatever. Yep.

Jeremy Dinsmore: Yep. Shoot the

Josh Kirchner: one that is gonna go, you can put on a dot. Yeah. And go into the field and just have a good time man. And learn. Yeah. And I think you're going to, I think you keep doing that, you're gonna be successful.

Yeah. If you

Jeremy Dinsmore: like what Josh just said, now go to his YouTube channel, the Dialed In Hunter, and follow along that the the road to Bo season, because Josh has done great videos covering things, but also has written a ton of great articles regarding target panic, all that type of stuff. And I'm, I don't know.

It's just you do a great job of all that content, Josh and that stuff was what I found very helpful for me for certain things that I was going through and have helped. Myself over the last kind of year and a half of my shot process and shooting in general, but then also like last year in, in the field actually hunting, just being, like you said, calm, cool and up here into mine.

Being confident and knowing that if I do my part, I'm [01:05:00] good. To see how much you've grown as a, to be able to do this full time and just still be to your roots and just to continuously get better. Man. A lot of people, and this is what I was saying earlier, like earlier in this conversation, that no matter what I field that you are in, whether you're a barber, a a lineman, a a construction individual, like just seeing the hard work or if you want to write and get into the hunting thing, just seeing the hard work that you've built, man, you are the same person from three years ago that I've talked to, and it's just so cool.

Again, like I said, to see your. Enhancement, your development and just what you're doing. I couldn't be more, more happy for you and I can't wait to see what this year has in store for you.

Josh Kirchner: Thanks, buddy. I, that, that means a lot. It really does. I try to just, I'm just a, I'm just a hunter, and I like talking about what I'm passionate about, and trying to [01:06:00] inspire younger, newer hunters. Yeah. To get out there. And the hunting thing is almost becoming a pastime, right? Like fewer and fewer parents are bringing their children up into outdoors.

Yeah. So I think, and we're seeing more and more adult onset hunters. More. And why is that? Yeah. Why is that? It's because I feel like it's like in your d n a, no doubt. Like we are, you and I are sitting here talking right now because at some point in history, our an your ancestors and my ancestors were putting arrows through animals.

Yep. Okay. That's why we're sitting here, so I think, so I I take a lot of pride in trying to be honest with newer hunters and try to be a humble resource Yeah. For them. And I talk to everyone. Yeah. It doesn't matter how experienced they are, and it's always a pleasure.

And I, on your note, dude, I'd like to say I'm like I can't believe three years has gone by, by the way. That's, I know. It's scary. That's unbelievable. Yeah. I'm glad you're [01:07:00] still doing this, man. Yeah. Crazy. I am, it's crazy. It's awesome. I, it shows that you like it, you love what you do. I do. And it's really cool, man.

And I'm happy to always come on and chat with you,

Jeremy Dinsmore: Yeah. Yeah. I'll tell you what, man. Yeah. And like I said earlier that was obviously talking about you on that professional side, I, you're also a family guy. You're also a husband and father, and you have that great balance and we've talked about certain things in the past about all that, and what a great job you do.

But again, to do a little shameless plug if you are interested in learning a little bit more about, I. Josh is backpack situation of what he's done in his past and how he's I would say, really honed in on it and made it his bread and butter. He did write a book, like I said to you earlier in the podcast.

It's becoming a Backpack hunter, a beginner's guide to the behind the back country. When I say this helped me out tremendously because I was green as greens gets for my first Utah hunt, and again, this came out the perfect timing for that that I think spring before I went obviously then in, into that [01:08:00] summer in August into Utah.

So I did literally, and I know we just talked about, there's rules and all that stuff. We, it's contradicting, but it was a guide, right? It was a guide to help me. There's certain things on there where I was like, okay, that won't apply to me. So just to get a good sense of a grasp under it.

Give it a read, and I, I highly recommend it. So Josh, Where could people follow along and read and watch?

Josh Kirchner: Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, man. So I am dialed in Hunter on everything like Instagram, Facebook, whatever, YouTube, just search dialed in, hunter and you'll find me. I'm happy to, I try to answer all the messages and stuff like that.

Sometimes it takes me a little bit to get back, but I know it's there. And I try to get back to everybody, yeah. Feel, yeah, do that. And then if you want, you wanna check out the book. It's on Amazon. Really proud of how it came out. And it's really, you mentioned the rules thing, right?

Like it, and it's and what I lay out [01:09:00] in there, what I, my goal with that was I wanted to give beginners a stepping stone. Yes. Perfect. Yeah. Here, try it out. By you read this book, you've never done this before. You're gonna be able to go and do this thing for the first time and then run with it, do your own thing.

I just want you to get out there. Yeah, no doubt. To be able, have the confidence to know, have a blueprint of how does this work. And then make it your own. Yeah.

Jeremy Dinsmore: That's, you said it perfectly better than I did 'cause you wrote it. So I'm telling you everybody please go follow Josh if you already do not because he's a great individual, extremely talented, and an awesome hunter.

We'll see you next week and be on the lookout as we get off here. I'm going to talk to Josh about one more thing that hopefully before the season starts, we will be able to get him on for a quick mini session. So thanks again everybody for joining us. We'll see you next week. Antler up.

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