Shiny Objects with Josh Wells

Shiny Objects is all about our current obsession. The Shiny Object could be a piece of gear, an upcoming adventure, or simply finding better ways to get through everyday life. The sky is the limit when it comes to an individuals current Shiny Object, and we never know where the conversation will take us. 

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[00:00:00] The one thing that we do gotta get into is our segment, the shiny known as shiny objects. And for the listeners, what this segment is, if you haven't heard about this it's just, we're gonna just basically talk about what our current obsession is. It can be archery related, hunting related.

It can be anything you want. It doesn't have to be an object. We talked about that before too. So welcome to the Range podcast. I'm Ricky Bruley, and with me as Jake Hollywood Iversson, join us at the Archery Range, where we'll tell stories from the hunt, discuss technical bow shooting tactics and gear. And pick the brains of some of the most successful people to ever shoot a bow.

Whether you're about to shoot that X for the win, or send an arrow at a trophy buck. This podcast is for you.

The Range Podcast is brought to you by Vapor Trail Archery. Makers of the best BOL strings money can buy originators of limb driven arrow rest technology and innovators of stoker eyes stabilizer systems.[00:01:00] But yeah, we'll start with you man. What is your current shiny object? I would say if I had to, if I had to the f the first place I go to with that is experiencing new places.

There you go. I've, I like that. So I get stuck in and I've had to ex explain to me in a way that. I could understand is like I put my schedule together as far as hunting and going to new places. And once I, I put a new place or a new hunt in it, I have a hard time letting it go. Yeah.

And what I mean by that is I've worked hard to find properties, I've worked to figure out properties and then to be successful and kill deer and da to, to not go on that hunt next year or for maybe two years. And replace it with a new place and replace that place with a new place and just.

So I would say that, that would be my shiny object is to just, is experiencing these new places. I just spent two, two months in the mountains in Idaho and I, it's just Hell's Canyon? I basically lived in like it. It's And everywhere I go and I get a new tag or I go to a new place [00:02:00] and I scout this or I go fishing here.

I, I, and it doesn't matter if it sucks, it's it's amazing. Yeah. Because it's new. So I think like culturally you get more experienced and you just become better and all the growth. So that in a nutshell, I would say pushing myself to, into experiencing new places.

Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah, I like it. Another hard one to beat. See, adventure. That's what I love about this. Shiny objects, man. You know what I mean? Just because it brings out so many things that you maybe you wouldn't just naturally talk about. Yeah. It might not come out naturally, but you're like, I got in questions, thought into this for a second.

Yes. And I think that's the awesome thing is like when you get a question, will you yourself, somebody fires a question and you go yeah. Why do, what is that for me? What is that? And that. Collectively, is a good exercise for yourself and you start, rummaging through stuff and then it, and it all the stuff that we talk about is connected and that's what I love about it, right?

And then it goes back into expectations and this and that, and the suck and the peaks and valleys, and you just process it all and it's. I don't know, man. Like the outdoor [00:03:00] stuff, it's like such a crazy unwritten, brotherhood thing. Yeah, that is just you're just bound by this. I don't know.

It's, there's nothing else on the planet like it. There isn't, and I love it and I'm glad I have family and I got two more brothers now, and yeah, man. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. It's a great community to be in. It is. It's, it is. It's the strongest, it's the best. Like you can meet somebody you've never met at a grocery store and they go, oh, I see you have an orange hat on.

Yeah, dear. Next thing you know you've known each other for 10 years and that's ultimately what it is. That's, it's that it's that relating stimulants that you've done that. I know that. Feeling it out. You know me saying stuff and you're like, oh, the goosebumps. And it's, yeah.

I don't know, man. You walk into a store and you see somebody with camel, you're like, That's my dude. Like you don't say nothing to him or anything, yeah. I don't know. I love it. And then we all meet in a gas station. No. Yeah. Yeah. And and the guy's actually a dick. No, I'm kidding.

In the middle of nowhere, and it's Yeah, I don't wanna see you right now. We can meet in the grocery store on the season, but right now I don't wanna talk to you. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's all good. Until you get the Ku you slash Sitka showdown in the grocery store. Oh [00:04:00] yeah. That happened to me last fall.

I'm like, oh yeah. Oh yeah. You know me mugging each other. This is my public spot, man. Yeah. You're still wearing your sunglasses and we're inside. Yeah. You think your camel's gonna help you out? I don't think so. That's so funny that's like a real battle. Isn't it Like some of the stuff Yeah, sit too is superior.

It's okay. Jason and he was on David Brinker's podcast the Altitude podcast. They were talking about that cuz David used to work for Ska and he's, it's just amazing how these battles, like people literally get That's crazy. Fights. Fights and arguments about. The better camo or whatever. He even admitted he said, when I was working for Sika, sometimes I'd see somebody wearing something else and I'd be like, ah, but he is it's so stupid.

Why do we do that? Yeah. He's it's just like this natural thing cuz I work for him. Same thing with, thus I'm like, oh, you got a ham ski on your bow. I see. Yeah. Yeah. But again, it's like. Why, who I a hundred? Who cares? I a hundred percent do it just to poke the bear. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Just to stir some shit. I've debunked all those rules, [00:05:00] living in the back of my truck with my Walmart solids, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. That's another good thing that to cover on a podcast too sometimes is talking about you don't need all the fancy, expensive shit.

And I think that's where a lot of people are like, I could never do that. Yeah I was like, I can't afford this. I can't afford that. I can't afford that. Just go, dude, get what you can, and just go. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. There's customers that come in, they're like for me, I know I don't need the sit cup, but this dude's wearing it, so I, marketing works, and Admittingly, he goes, I'm just sitting in my deer stand.

Yeah. So it just makes me feel like I'm that dude. I'm like, You know what? That's awesome. Yeah. To your point yeah, my dad's I used to, wear a shirt and, blue jeans. What the hell? That's one of the, that's one of the best bits of advice that any I've ever heard from anything anywhere is spend money on hunting experiences, not hunting stuff.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what I do. I'll spend thousands of dollars every season on tags and it's I, I. If I could go by the top of the line stuff and everything, sure. Everybody would like that, but it's again, you make your sacrifices where you can, and I'm gonna spend [00:06:00] all my money and channel all my energy on just.

Fricking being there. Yeah. Yeah. Because without being there, all this other stuff is, you'll have guys that have, 50 new bows and all the latest stuff and all the great stuff. Then they'll turn around and bitch about how expensive gas and tags and everything are. Yep. Yeah.

You forgot I could spend three seasons with the shit you got. If I sold it on Craigslist, like I could, really like it's, the how much I've learned that you don't need much. Yeah. Cuz then you forget to budget for those. Takes. Yeah. The gas, the food, everything else. All you really need is the belly fire.

Exactly. The rest of the shit just, it works. Yeah. It'll play itself out. Play the wind. You're good. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. What about you there, Hollywood? What's your shiny tee up? Huh? I don't know. There's, I'm a lot of things I run into every day, so I just squirrel brain. We'll be right back.

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I don't know, I, it is hard for me to get the. I don't know. I keep referencing South Dakota, but I guess that's my fire right now. It was just like last year for North Dakota, it was first time there. Last year and I was all fired up all summer. And now my dad and I have an idea for where we're gonna be for public, hunting and took us all of a month to finally find a spot.

And, we're gonna probably go out there in August or late September and scout it out on, there you go. Nice. It's just I think the excitement's there again, like now, I don't know. For the last month I [00:08:00] haven't really been shooting, but now I'm like, okay we've got this spot. We've seen some inside reviews that I know it's successful.

And I'm like, oh dude I gotta get out and shoot now. So I'm like, yeah, I don't know that I'm burning on the South Dakota thing again, where I'm just like, I'm ready. And man, and again, maybe a plug for our arrow customizer here, but now that's gonna be done and live by the time this airs.

Yeah. Oh man. It's a good breath of air. Yeah. Fresh air to take. It'll be just focusing on hunting and busy season, man. Busy seasons here. So we're starting to get slaughtered in the pro shop. So focus shift for sure. Yeah, I, it was cool cuz I didn't know, when you told me, I didn't know your dad was going with you, so that's awesome.

Yeah that's really awesome, man. You gotta treasure those moments. Yeah. I know you, you said your dad Yeah. Is gone. My dad died of cancer in 2018 and even then, 13 years prior to that, he wasn't really able to hunt anymore. Yeah. Just got to a point where he just couldn't go. And that was crushing a little bit, but at the same time it's I started to figure out too that it wasn't really his thing.

Yep. The only reason he ever [00:09:00] went hunting was for me. Yeah. And that's, and that itself is so powerful. Yeah. Yeah. And I was just like, but awesome that your dad gets to go with you. Yeah. So yeah, you guys are gonna have a blast. I think for me it's like that part of growing up and becoming a more mature hunters, just like we butt heads, yeah. Quite a bit. But we've been there for each other, for muskie fishing and his biggest deer and whatnot. But it's he's always talked about going west in this last year. Year. Yep. I finally text him like, one day I'm gonna want that back and want that moment. I was like, dude, give me your, gimme your license number, give me your, all the information I need.

Yeah. I'll plug it in, we'll apply together, do it. And I'm forcing him to go now. So it's likes like, yeah. Again, we're probably gonna have some moments. We all do. Whoever we're hunting with our buddies, there's gonna be a day where everything just sucked. Complete ass, and you're gonna be mad. But like the elders that like you grew up with, that were there, like helping you get into it and all that stuff, right?

And you're young, you're a young kid, and then when you become, a man and you're with those mentors, there's something really cool about being hunting [00:10:00] with them because you can take on some of the responsibility and Right, it's the full circle. And you can, it's a rite of passage, like I'm a man now, and look what you taught me and you, it's and I know that they're going, they're proud and I did a good job. And look what you're doing here and you're. It's really cool when you can have that dynamic and be able to go through and haunt it's awesome.

Yeah. He was dragging my deer and now I push him out the way and tell me, tell him, let me do it. But just like you said, like getting his information and, getting the stuff lined up for a hunt like, that's something that like maybe he wouldn't do by himself or whatever.

Now you're taking the reins a little bit, whereas where when you were younger, he had the reins and it's just this, it's this full circle deal that like when you get to hunt, like with a mentor, and a family member, it's, I don't know, man. There's nothing like, it's so cool.

Yeah. But button heads are not like, it's just. Yeah. I just love it. Like when I hear people say that they're going out with their dad and stuff it's just, ah, it's awesome. Yeah. It'll be fun. And so remember the lesson here about expectation, right? Yeah, I know. Yeah. And that's not to say it, not even about killing a deer or anything like that, right?

[00:11:00] Because I think about, so you know, I hunted with Ben out in North Dakota many years, and his dad would come with us and he just, Loves being outside. He just, he's all about he's not about getting over the next ridge, getting over the next ridge getting, he's you guys are nuts. I don't, I'm just gonna stay back here.

You guys go have fun. And we're like, okay. Crazy dude. We're outta here. Yeah. And so we bail and then we, after the day we come back and he's yeah, I saw 50 deer. I had six of 'em walk right out in front of me right here. He's I just sat here all day. And just watched him come by and he didn't even wanna, didn't even care to shoot one.

So again, if your dad's alright. I just wanna sit here, do it. Yeah. Let him and go. Yeah. Cause yeah. Right now. Or chill with him. Whatever way you want to go. But yeah, I've already set the stage like where, our plan for the first trip out is gonna be, it's scouting cuz that's what I did last time.

Yeah. I mean it's hunting season. Yep. But I. I've never been there. Yeah, exactly. I don't know any, I have no information Yeah. Of people that [00:12:00] have hunted this spot to know Yeah. Is there even gonna be anything there? I have no idea. I could see a prairie dog and that'd be it. Yeah. So it's it's for sure a scouting mission.

We find a deer even better if we killed a deer. Oh my God. That is far beyond the expectation of the first Hunts. So Trip So awesome. About those scouting trips, cuz a lot of the times, I realize that can't happen because it is so far and like the resources, but it. Again, back to the expectations is like a scouting trip really helps you curve that expectation.

You know where it's gonna be. So when you go back out there, you can go, okay, we spent three days, we saw this for deer. This is the kind of the quality of deer we saw. And that way when you go back into it, I think your trip. And that's a part of scouting where I think people don't really realize when you're just scouting, they think like you're just specifically looking for a deer and all this.

And it's you can go back and take this lump of data that you've gathered through these days and go, maybe I'm not gonna go into this thinking I'm gonna shoot this huge deer. I'm gonna really enjoy the camping and maybe a little bit more of the fishing and and this part of it's still gonna be fun.

And I think overall that scouting just helps like the aesthetics of You know what you [00:13:00] walk out of that trip with. Yeah. And that's a part of scouting that I think a lot of people don't. They just go, oh shit, we didn't see much. It sucks. That just made you going back into it like you now, when you actually do go, you're gonna have a better time. You just gain that knowledge, man, because if you rammed into this thing thinking you're gonna just blow everywhere, behind every tree, and you go there and it does kinda suck. Then you're really gonna be let down. Yeah. Oh yeah.

Yeah. So maybe you bring a little bit more fish and stuff, or you spend a little bit more time doing this or exploring that and yeah. Yeah, man, our plan is just to hang out and have fun. Yeah. Bring some binos. Heck yeah. And the bow will be there. Bow will be there on opening days, so hell yeah.

It's such a cliche thing to say, but yes. Just have fun. Some people forget about that. I've been hunting with some people where they just, like I, I'm like, I can't hunt that. A person anymore. It's just, it's too much kill negative too, I get it, dude. Yeah. Like it's just. Yeah.

And that's the one thing too, if you guys can, if you guys can, that's funny. Hang out. And even though you said you butt heads, right? [00:14:00] Yeah. But you can still work through it. That's huge too. Yeah. Yeah. Just like Griffin and Damon, same thing with what they were talking about. How, they just get at each other's throats once in a while or they get mad at each other or whatever.

And that's normal. Just how do you deal with it? Or, whatever. So that's what I think what makes a really good hunting, hunting buddy. Yeah. Compromise. There's a lot like. Because again the levels, like for me, like it's hard for me to go at somebody that has that's gonna get up on the 16th day and go, today's the day.

Yeah. They're just gonna look at you and go, no, it's not, I'm sick of this shit. This is enough, dude, you're nuts like this is it like I'm slipping. Clearly sucks. We've been doing this for two weeks, like it's not it's hard for me. That's why I do a lot of stuff solo because my balance is a lot different than people and by a week they're like, yeah, you're not living the dream. This sucks. Yeah. So like when you do go on a trip with somebody, there is a level of compromise that needs to happen. Absolutely. This, just like your buddy that you said that, you guys go ahead. Yeah, I'll stay here.

Like I'm okay with staying back. If you guys are okay with me staying back. Yeah. Cool. And it just works out. [00:15:00] Yeah. Yeah. It's fine. Especially when you see, he's like just, he's ripping layers off and he's just what this is not what I signed up for. Yeah. It's if you did that for the next week, you'd be miserable and you wouldn't have a good trip.

Yeah. And that's okay. Again, it's all about, it's totally okay. What are you there for? The fulfillment for him was to be there with his son. Yep. And to experience. The outcome. Absolutely. And also just be out there, be outside. All that kind of stuff. He doesn't have to hike 10 miles to get the fulfillment he needs.

He's perfectly fine. Just chilling right there. Yep. And he saw more deer than we did. Yeah, exactly. So there's a lesson to be learned there. So yeah. But my my shiny object right now is this guy, this is the I just got the ultra view. Button. So I have actual object. But I've always wanted to move to this style of release just cuz I know that technically speaking, the way that I draw a bow and my form and everything isn't really the way that it should be, but it depends. I've, for as [00:16:00] long as I've been shooting a ball I've been just like, whatever, I don't care about all that, right? What I do works for me, right? Yeah. But now I'm starting to get this. Hearing more and more from people, the more you shoot a bow the more likely you are to develop bad habits and then get target panic.

And so I'm trying to avoid that by, rectifying that and just starting to fix my form, starting to shoot better starting to use different tools. It doesn't necessarily mean that this is the best tool to use. Just always wanted to try it, always wanted to play with it. And I'm just loving it.

It's just Yeah, just sitting there, if I'm sitting at home or something watching a show, I just sit there with the DLO material and just, yeah. And just keep doing it. And then, so you got me on the train of, with the Joel Turner thing. Yeah.

And Josh, I don't know if you're familiar with him, but Shot iq. Yep. So this gentleman was a SWAT sniper, police officer, all that kind of stuff. Taught people how to shoot, but didn't really know how to shoot himself. Sure. And then so had to really push himself to figure out what do you, how do you figure [00:17:00] out the the mental game of knowing that.

There's this explosion that's coming you like, you can't really, can't do it. Yeah. You know what I mean? So getting over that and then just going super into detail, which we won't go into here cuz I won't get any of it. But that's really been my thing. I've really been focused on that and just trying to figure out, cuz it's really intriguing when you break it down to the scientific level.

Yeah. It's not about, oh, you just do this and it works. Like he's really breaking it down. Yeah. Yeah. To a psychological level. And I love how he. He, when he was on Rogan, he related it to how martial artists train bow hunting is different, or shooting a bow is different because you have to, you draw the bow back and you just have to shoot it, right?

You don't go through classes and they go, okay, this is how you draw a bow, and then this is how you shoot it. And most people just pick up a bone and start shooting it, and then they get better and better, and then that's how they do it. So this concept of understanding and making decisions.

As opposed to just letting [00:18:00] things happen. Yeah. It's really interesting. So that's my thing for sure. That's awesome. Plug for Joel Turner. Hopefully we're, we wanna try to get that guy on here because boy, could we go down a rabbit hole with that? Oh God. It'd be bad. But yeah, I don't, I don't know.

Yeah. That his style of shooting, I've listened to some of his stuff and it, I've been working on it for, two, three months now and, I don't know, it's like one of those things, it's Almost placebo, maybe. Like he's definitely on or something. Yeah. But I'm just like, yeah, maybe my shooting has gotten that much better because now I'm more Yeah.

Actively thinking about for sure every single step that I'm in and what I'm doing. Y yeah. Yeah. Like I think you were saying earlier too, you can apply it to real life actively think about what's going on here. And just thinking through everything before Yeah. It happens, and I talk yourself through it, dude, I've shot, some of my best games.

Having the right equipment helps though too. Having an eight power lens, when the target's that big, scope. Yeah, that helps. Having some of that. Shot execution is just huge. And yeah. Listening to what he's got is pretty sweet. And I actually got to play at that new release [00:19:00] just yesterday and it's pretty nice. And what gets me going is cuz initially my thought was, this, how does this really apply to hunting? This is, to me, this is all about trying to hit a penny at 20 yards. Yeah. And do it 60 times in a row. Yeah. But really the kinda the way, what made him really wanna start doing this was all the times that he had.

Missed animals. Or had a bad shot in an animal. And then when he started having good shots, he started thinking back as to, okay, what was the process that I went through to do that? And he wasn't really what he calls blueprinting it. He was like I didn't really blueprint what I was doing, so I'm not sure what to do next time to make sure that I do it again.

Yeah. And then he started just making a more conscious decision of. Always making sure he is making the perfect shot no matter what. And so again, it's part of that decision making process. Cuz I've had, I can't tell you how many times I've shot in an animal missed, and I can't even, I couldn't even walk you through my process.

Yeah. I'm like, did I even look through my pee? Yeah. I have no idea. Yeah. But I see, I think too, like [00:20:00] on the flip side of what you're saying, there's also that level of you can get inside your own head with so much stuff. Yep. Yeah. Yep. It's like shooting, shooting traditional is that way.

Oh my gosh, dude, I read so many books. And so cuz it's and you'll shoot and you're like I'm not this isn't it's here, but I wanna be here. And then you, so you start adopting like some new form stuff. And some new techniques and stuff, and then this and then that.

And then it's just I've gotten to the point where I'm like, I don't even know how to shoot this thing anymore. And anyways, I just say, piss on it all. I'm just gonna look at my target and shoot it. And by God. Yeah. Yeah. Once you flush that outta your head, there's a point of Growth and wanting to learn.

And I guess that's all internal is like where that line is for you. But I know that I've crossed that line. Yeah. To where I've given myself so much information and research so much. It's so like you shoot your longbow, it's like you, you don't get to Roll back and fall into that pocket.

Yeah. And get everything ready and how does this feel? And you can let down and go, okay, da. No, it's cuz I know as soon as I feel this touch here and here, it's happening. Yeah. It just has to happen. And then, like you said, during practice, it's I'll shoot boom, and it's [00:21:00] shit, I don't even know where did I touch that?

Was it just, ah, and so and it becomes like it's super addicting. Like you just can't get enough of it. But. You can really, you gotta be careful cuz I'll tell people like you, you'll get inside your own head. Yeah. And you're trying to go through these processes that you have a split second to go through and you just gotta shake a lot of that stuff off.

Yeah. Information overload and just stick to like with what you're doing and like what? And then you can. Once you get this kind of down, then you can start working on, your release. And cuz everything with trad is so exaggerated. Like it's the tiniest pluck is there's no forgiveness on stuff, it's the only forgiveness you really have is the length of your bow, yeah. Yeah. It's to go back to what you were saying about that. His, so one of his things is the biggest mistake that people make is they're aiming.

Like they're actively Yeah. That's where their focus is. Where your focus really should be on the process. Yeah. Going through the motion. And then you, and he had this saying that I thought was really interesting. I wanna see if I can remember it. It was something about being able [00:22:00] to pull the trigger slow enough.

Oh, to stop it. To stop it. Yeah. Having enough control over your trigger to stop it. Or the motion to stop it. Yeah. And go back. Yeah. Because that's a big thing for hinge. Hinge shooters like myself, like rolling it over. It's like going outta speeds fast enough to where you'll get there, but you're not there for so damn long that you're aiming forever, and then you're in your head.

Then everything goes down the window. Yeah. But if something's not right. Whatever it might be. You can still let down. Yeah. You can still back out of it. Yeah. Yeah. I really want to dive more into it cuz it's really it's a little bit like overwhelming because, when he talks about his son Bodie, who won Vegas, 15 years old, right?

So this is how this whole thing started and everybody started paying attention. Whoa, what, how's it, what's going on? Yeah. Yeah. And he talks about how his focus, just the way that he's very his. Son's very intentional on every shot. And he was just like, I just, I can tell that he's gonna put it in the X every time I can just see it.

And he's then you see some of these other guys and it just starts getting in their head [00:23:00] and they're just like, yeah they're over there. Oh yeah. Moving around and, yeah. Twitchy and nervous. Yep. And all that kind of stuff. And yeah. But then, Rogan had made a comment about concentration and he was like no, it's not about concentration though.

He's it's, again, it's about having that process and it's about mechanical things, like you said, the string touching a certain part of your face or like how, he's got that new release now that has a clicker or some bows have a click on it. Those kinds of things are really important.

You don't necessarily need that, but he was like, some of the things that you do, like the last thing I heard him talk about was how people talk themselves into the fi, here we go. Release that sort of thing. Like going through that motion. Yeah. He was like all the most successful shooters that I know, say something before they shoot.

I'm like, that's interesting. Whether you have to physically say it or mentally say it, I don't know. He didn't really get into that, but it's just interesting to me because I'm not really so interested about hitting the penny at 20, but I'm really interested in never missing a deer again. Yeah, ever. Yeah. And not having that. Yeah. You know it, it's the worst [00:24:00] feeling when you've worked so hard to get there. Yeah. And the odds are against you, like we talked about, and then you blow it. Yeah. And you're like, yeah, that's tough. What happened? Yep. How did this happen? I shot 15,000 arrows in my backyard and every single one of 'em hit where I wanted to.

And then, again, obviously what happened? You got. The animal was in front of you. It's a different ballgame. But having, being able to have that control. Yeah. And maybe make the decision like maybe I don't need to pull the trigger right now. Or knowing when to wait or just knowing to go through your process so you're not after the fact going, geez. I'm not sure I even had my people lined with my sight. I can tell you what went wrong, that deer took three more steps closer down hill. There's that. And too to me, a lot of that, A lot of that is, it just boils down to just being in front of animals.

Yeah. Yes. Like in guiding, you can really tell people like, this and that, and how they react when this target animal comes in and all this stuff, and it's just a matter of you learn a lot of that [00:25:00] just. Through the years of experience of having yourself in that situation.

Definitely. And there's no substitute for it, unfortunately. And for us living in Minnesota, it's tough with like super tough meal deer. Yeah. But it's I know that feeling now where it's I could totally pick up that person too now. Yeah. Cause I, I saw it in myself where it's having more experience in front of that deer.

And that's the great thing about letting so many whitetails walk Yeah. Is you learn so much more about 'em. Both like meal deer, like I had to learn so much in Yeah. 16 days. Yeah. So it's yeah. Just. Just spotting 'em takes a little while, right? Knowing what you're looking for.

Oh my gosh. Yeah. All that kind of stuff. Cause I can't tell you, when I first started, Ben would be like, oh yeah, there's some deer over there. And I'm like, where? Yeah. He's see him yet? Nope. See him yet? Nope. Yep. And then he is like, all so he sets his binoculars up in his tripod. He's like, all right, come over here and look through mine.

And then I'm like, oh yeah, there are deer over there. You know what I mean? And then eventually when you first, when you start to see 'em, then you're like, okay, I know what I'm looking for. Yeah, but then the Dakotas are always great, especially when you get a little bit of snow and every little spot of snow looks like a mule tail.

Yeah. [00:26:00] Yep. Yeah, that happened to me, man. What I struggle with a lot in them scenarios is like you, you can pull up to some ground and walk out on a high point and go. No deer. But it's full of deer. Yeah. Yeah. It's just tiny little micro deals and and then all of a sudden you're like, wow, I'm just gonna sit here and I'm gonna eat my sandwich and a little bag of chips and just hang out for a while.

I don't really have nothing else to do. I'm, and then all of a sudden it's like, what the hell? Yeah. Deer stands up out of its bed and it goes to shift, and get out of the sun. And it's And then you're like okay. And then there's spots where it's like you'll sit there all evening when the deer really start to get up and start moving, and it's like boom.

It's you just, you really gotta learn to just chill out. Yeah. Like I physically like out loud, tell myself that a lot. Slow down dude. Like Yep. I remember Rick telling me that when I was heading out there. Slow. Just sit for a bit because you wanna look at it and go, there's nothing here because we're so programmed to this.

There's stuff everywhere. They pull her opposite, and you go out there and it's What the, I remember the very first time I walked through these, like little drainages and stuff, whatever, and it was a western South Dakota, and it's this is stupid. Yeah. There's [00:27:00] nothing here. This is a dumb, this is so dumb.

I started walking, I started blowing mule deer out. That bitter brush, like just like crazy, just, I'm just like, whoa, geez. Oh, there's a buck. Oh, what the heck? And it was like, it's a learning curve and you gotta give yourself grace too, because, say you're there for two weeks, that's a L, two weeks like, Think of what you know here, you spent your whole life learning it.

So you gotta be, give yourself a little grace and not be hard on yourself and realize it is a learning process. Definitely. And one of the things we had to learn too, and learn the hard way a few times, is I guess knowing when you're like, oh, there probably isn't a lot of deer in here.

I need to move on. Yeah. Because we've done that too, where it's just no, just sit it out. And you'll sit a spot for three days. Yeah. And then we're like, yeah, dude. And then we go to this other spot and it's Yeah, they're everywhere. Yeah. This is where we need to pull. And, but, and that's mule deer.

That's something I've really learned with Mule deer is they're like, they're, you're in 'em or you're not. Yep. Yeah. That's just not say you're in 'em or you're not. Yep. It's one or the other. And it's, I'm not saying you can't go to spots and see a handful of deer and dah, but Right.

But you, [00:28:00] when you're in deer, it's oh dude, there's a couple over there. Oh, there's one. See that clip like there? You know you're in 'em, like you're in Yeah. There's a pile of them there. When you find the ground that the deer, whatever they're correlating to whether it's a certain type of grays or there's more water that year than there is anywhere else. But when you're in them and you find them, you're in 'em. And it's thick. Yeah. And it's that's just like the thing too is like going slow and giving yourself grace. It's like just keep hitting your spots and stay with it and stay persistent.

And it's oh, there's no deer here. There's no deer here. What the hell are we gonna do? And then all of a sudden you're in a. Yeah, and then now all of a sudden, the shittiest trip just turned into the best one for sure. Vapor Trail is now offering an exclusive discount to the Range podcast listeners enter promo code T R P 15, that's T r p 15 at checkout for 15% off VTX post strings and Vapor Trail and Stoke Rise, branded t-shirts, hats, and other gear.

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