The Purity of Western Hunting

On this episode of The Nomadic Outdoorsman Dan talks Colorado big game hunter Silas Morris about his adventures chasing deer and elk across.

Silas has been hunting big and small game for 18 years. He has always been attracted to the outdoors. Silas have harvested 5 elk and many deer, although he is still searching for a true 4 point mule deer and his first bull elk. Colorado has driven his passion for hunting but he has recently caught the whitetail bug and was able to take his first whitetail last year. Dan and Silas talk about Silas’ upbringing and how it has shaped him into the hunter that he is today.

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Dan Mathews: [00:00:00] All right guys. Welcome to today's show. And joining me on the show is Silas Morris. Now Silas is a Colorado native, a big game hunter, small game hunter, fisherman, and he just likes to do it all. But it's funny 'cause he actually knows my brother and my brother reached out and he's dude, you gotta get this guy on the show.

Silas also filled out a form to be on the show, and so I'm pumped to actually make this happen. Now if you're listening to this on Thursday, the 27th of July, I am actually up in Superior Wisconsin right now at Bow Fest. If you are anywhere in the area, even if you're not, just get up there, do whatever it takes.

They've got a ton of archery courses that you can shoot. They've got live music, they've got vendors. Food trucks, you name it, they've got it. I'm gonna be their recording podcast live at the event, and if you want, stop by the booth. Fill out a time and day that you want to come and hang out and chat and be on the show.

[00:01:00] And I would love to have you, but know more about that. Let's jump onto this episode with Silas,

like he was doing things that were just badass. That was one of the coolest moments of my life. I was really scared, but knowing that Dane had the gun, I did have the rifle, like we would be okay.

All right guys. Welcome to today's show. I'm really excited about this episode. I'm sitting down with Silas Morris and we're gonna be talking all about hunting in Colorado. Shed hunting elk. Dear you name it. And it was funny. I got a guest submission form from Silas. I believe you said Hey, I know your brother.

And then my brother called me and he is Hey dude, you gotta have my buddy Silas on. And I'm like okay, yeah, sure, let's do it. So we've been planning it for a while, but dude I'm pumped to have you on.

Silas Morris: Thank you very much. I'm excited to be here, man. I

Dan Mathews: appreciate it. [00:02:00] Yeah. So you're out in Colorado.

You've spent basically your whole life out there and Yeah. What I mean, Colorado is like that destination state for a lot of people. So I'm sure growing up there, you've got to experience a lot of stuff that is like Midwesterners or Eastern Hunters only dream of doing.

Silas Morris: Definitely. Yeah. I think from a young age, my whole family as we harvested animals over the years, we processed our own meat.

So we took whole animals out if we could. So when I was young, it was just one of those things that as cool as hunting is, I got a really good intro to the importance of it, at a really young age. So I was cutting elk and deer when I was like seven, eight and that was before I could hunt in Colorado Camp Hunt, year 12.

Yeah. I was finally able to go to my first hunting camp when I was nine. And it was just, as you said, it's a destination spot. I started to realize, and there's people that come from Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, and those are all pretty much border [00:03:00] states, but it was the people that are coming from California, the Midwest, come from New York, you were just like, All the way out here, yeah. So yeah, pretty much I've just been immersed in the outdoor lifestyle, hunting, fishing pretty much my whole life. And I think I have taken it for granted a few times living here in Colorado. Just the magnitude of public land that we have and the opportunity out there.

It's just, it's incredible.

Dan Mathews: Yeah. And like the amount of work that C P W puts into managing these places, doing population studies, making sure that there's the right amount of tags allocated for each unit, yeah. The draw always gets a bad wrap because people are like, oh, I don't draw. I don't draw, I don't draw.

There's a rhyme and a reason to it, they have to mitigate how many people can actually go out there and harvest an animal. Otherwise, 10 years from now, there's not gonna be a huntable population in certain areas. If it was just everybody gets over the counter. True. So it's really cool to see the amount of opportunity for non-residents, especially over the [00:04:00] counter stuff.

There are plenty of units, there are plenty of seasons where you can just go and you get to Colorado, buy a tag at Walmart, buy a tag at the C P W office or wherever. Yeah. And you can be out there hunting. And really when you start breaking down the cost of it for a non-resident, it's not that much, the cost to get out there.

If you already have all your gear and stuff, then it's just 300 bucks for a tag or seven 50 a tag, depending on what you're trying to go after.

Silas Morris: Yeah, definitely. I think I think that opportunity is really big for the out of state guys, and we need it, we just, we need just as many people coming from out state as we do in-state.

And like you said the drug is such a bad rap. A lot of people are upset because, man, I got 10 preference points and I still can't draw this tag. But, some guys put in with 18 and of course they're gonna get it. If you always look at it with that mindset, then sure, you might be disappointed, yeah. But like you said, if you take control of some of those over the counter options, I have [00:05:00] seen some giant elk and deer on places that people just would never think to hunt places that are just so overlooked, some 350 inch elk on over the counter units, it's yeah.

If you're willing to put in the time, like you said, you're gonna drive all the way out there. If you put in the work you. You can really get in some milk, so it's a Oh, yeah. It really is a good thing.

Dan Mathews: And it's a really good option for people who come in from outta state, because typically when I talk to people who are going out or wanting to go out for their first time, they don't care.

They really don't care what they shoot. Obviously everybody wants a 400 inch bull, but at the end of the day, they're like, dude, if I could come back with a rag horn or a spike, if that's legal in the area they're hunting, they're like, dude, if I could just see an elk up close or get a shot at one, like that would make their whole trip, that would get them hooked.

They'd want to come back. And so to have those options where there might not be very intense point restrictions where guys can come [00:06:00] out, get a taste for it, and then be set that they're gonna do it every year, it's just a really good fit. And then obviously you have your trophy units that everybody's putting in for.

Yeah. But my whole thing is I want to hunt every year. I want to go out there. I love the comradery. I love just the tradition of it and going out there and hunting. I would much rather get an over the counter tag every year and go out in hopes of shooting a big one. My smallest bull that I've killed out there so far is a five by six.

I'd happy with that again this year. Yeah, and it's that's instead. Yeah. Yeah. Like you go out there on public land, there's no fences. You're competing with everybody. You're competing with predators. You're having to battle the elements and the terrain and to go out there and be able to do that.

Meanwhile, I'm building points for a great unit to where maybe exactly one day I get a seven by seven or I do find that 350 plus inch bull. But my thought is, man, if I can be out there hunting over the counter tags for the next [00:07:00] 10 years, 15 years, I might run into one of those bulls anyway. Exactly. And then I cash in all my points, I draw the tag and I go out and I have multiple encounters with bulls like that.

I True. I just think it's an awesome setup. I know a lot of states do it differently, but I'm very happy with the way Colorado does it. Yes.

Silas Morris: Yeah. I think it's, I think the system is put in place, like you said to manage numbers and to manage hunters. So many people think that the Division of wildlife doesn't have them in mind, and it's like they do, yeah. They want everybody to be successful. They want everybody to harvest elk and deer when they're going out there. But they can only do so much if you don't put in the time and the effort that it's gonna take. Then you may not be successful. If all you're seeing is rag horns and that's just not good enough for you, then that's okay.

But don't come back and say, man, it sucked. I didn't see anything over 300 inches. That's a pretty high goal. 300 inches is a really nice elk. I think it's just, it's one of those things of sticking to your guns and like you said, you wanna be able to hunt [00:08:00] every single year.

Figure out those units, get familiar with those units, and who knows in the 16 years it takes you to draw a special tag. You might shoot five or six bulls and know exactly how not to approach elk when they're in this situation or that situation. You'll understand more about shot placement. You can't just save 24 points, go out elk hunting and expect them to just walk right up to you.

You're gonna have to, you're gonna have to do some trial and error. So I think the over the counter. Taking some of those tags that only take two or maybe two to five points is

Dan Mathews: really valuable. Yeah. And I like how you were able to do it. Growing up, learning about the meat, the processing, all that, and then even years before getting a tag, being able to go out there and experience what a camp is like.

I would recommend that for everybody, especially somebody who has a kid growing up, like if you want them to be, to have the highest chance of success on the year that they can first hunt, when they're 12 years old, get 'em out there at [00:09:00] 9, 10, 11 and help them to understand this is why we move this way when we're going up a ridge line.

We actually stay on the backside. If the elk are on the other side, you don't want them to skyline you's play the wind. Like those things, kids pick up on things and learn things so much faster than adults do. Yeah. And so it's if you can teach them that ahead of time, and for an adult going out there, if they know, hey, I can't afford to hunt this year.

I can't, I, I don't have the money for the $700 over the counter tag. Yeah. But I think I will in a couple years get out there once or twice. Yeah. That way your odds of success and the amount that you learn is so much greater so that when you do have a tag in your pocket, you just set yourself up even more.

Silas Morris: I agree. I agree a hundred percent. My dad sent us out with, we had a camp of at least 10 people for sure, every year for elk and deer camp. And every day my dad would send us out with somebody different, because everybody had a different way of hunting. But one person's idea of this [00:10:00] is how you find elk and deer.

This is how you can glass 'em early in the morning was way different than this other guy's, we had a guy who sprayed scent away all over his clothes every minute that he could. And then we had another guy who just took skunk oil and put it on the bottom of his boots and was like, they can't smell when you smell like a skunk.

And it's there's two separate, opposite sides there, but they both believed that they worked really well. So it was, like you said, the trial and error, the going out and seeing what other people are doing to be successful and watching the ups and downs of it. Seeing these in, it used to frustrate me to, my witts end when I was younger.

I'd look at something and say, come on we could shoot that. Yeah, I didn't understand. Hey, that's 500 yards away, that's 500 yards and it's this and it's that, or whatever. And yeah, it was definitely a really nice piece of the puzzle to be able to grow up and learn a little bit about hunting before I was actually able to pull the trigger.

I got all my nerves out when other people had to shoot before I actually had to pull the trigger, which really helps. And Oh, yeah. I'm sure, as you would agree, it's the [00:11:00] camaraderie at hunting camp. There's nothing like it and there's just nothing like a good hunting camp. So

Dan Mathews: it's so great.

To be able to come back, whether you go out and spike camp for a couple days, or if you make it back to base camp every day, like hearing the stories from everybody, finding out like where were you seeing animals? What was their behavior? What were they doing this time of day? And then like you said, everyone has a different strategy.

The group of guys that I hunt with, I am very fortunate to hunt with a lot of people who really know what they're doing. Yeah. And even if they don't shoot an elk every year, they're getting other people on elk. Yeah. And it's like they make a huge priority out of helping further elk hunting in Colorado.

Yeah. They invite people, they've got people from, I think this last year we had five different states represented just in our elk hunting. Wow. And we got. We got seven people, bull elk this year. Five of them were first time, it was their first time shooting an elk. And like to [00:12:00] be able to do stuff like that, it's just a ton of fun.

But also you've gotta understand when somebody has been doing it for so long, it becomes second nature. And so sometimes a fresh set of eyes or a fresh idea coming into camp can help. Like we, we looked heavily at a spot that in the other three years that I went out there, we hadn't really paid much attention to.

And this year we saw so many elk. In fact, in the final two days that we were hunting, we shot three bulls off of this one hillside. And it's a spot that normally we just overlook. We've got our honey holes, we've got these spots where we're like, we know we're gonna get into 'em. But it took one guy from outta state saying, Hey, I'm gonna go check up here.

And then he started saying, Hey guys, there's, I'm seeing a lot of elk. Nothing close yet, but I see a lot of bulls from there. And so then we all started following 'em up there and it was like, all right, let's take a look. Let's take a look. And before you know it, we had elk easily within range like within [00:13:00] Huntable range, and then also some within shooting range.

Like from the time we got out of the side by side, there were a few times where we had elk within shooting range right off the two track. That's crazy. So that's crazy. But it's it just takes, it takes different ideas, it takes different strategies, and then you can figure out, Hey, this is how I want to do it.

I've got my way. Like I've got a way that I really enjoy doing it. Yep. I like pushing the limits. I like going farther back than a lot of people are comfortable with. I like exploring new country. I've got that wandering mind where it's just I bet there's something around that point. Sure.

I'm gonna go check for sure. And then when there's not, I bet there's something in that meadow. Let's go over there. And I just like to keep going. It's not for everybody, but I've found that I enjoy hunting more that way and Sure. New country, so

Silas Morris: Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I'm the same. I tell so many people sit in a meadow is tough for me.

I can, I can't sit very long. Yeah. But I always have [00:14:00] that idea that the grass is greener on the other side of the hill. So you go and just like you said, they're not there. Alright, I'll go farther. And after a while, when that finally pays off, that's more rewarding that it that you actually navigated everything and made it happen than it is pulling the trigger and getting an help down, yep. Because you understand what you had to do to get there. So it just makes it so much bigger than hunting, so it's a,

Dan Mathews: it's awesome. See, I like the adventure side of it too. I joke with people, I'm like, man, it'd be awesome if we stepped outta the wall tent in the morning and there was a big bowl in the meadow and we shot it.

That'd be great. Everybody would be like, that was crazy. It's, it'd be a fun story. The adventure's not there. I wouldn't feel like I worked for it. I'd feel like, oh, this just happened. Yeah. I like those moments of misery. Maybe not in the moment, but like as soon as I make it back to the top of the mountain with a full load of meat, it's just that feeling of dude, like I wouldn't trade that feeling.[00:15:00]

For anything. And I was walking through with a guy today, actually. We, I played pickleball with some guys this morning, and me and one guy played singles a after everybody left. And he said something like, oh yeah I'm training right now. I gotta get in the gym. I'm training for an elk hunt. And I go, wait, what?

He's yeah, dude, it's my first ever hunt. I'm going to Colorado. And I go, dude, that's what? I like, I love to hunt. That is my thing. I love hunting. Yeah. And he's no way. So we ended up going and grabbing breakfast and we started talking and he's like picking my brain about it. And he's dude, so what do you have to do?

What do you have to do? He's man, I don't know. Like I, I've never really taken a dump in the woods except this other hunting trip. And he is dude. And sometimes like he's I went, or not a hunting trip, but camping trip. He is and then I heard like some footsteps and he is dude, I don't know.

And I go, If you're not into that stuff, like elk hunting might not be for you. Yeah. But also if you're into the physical, if you're into the mental toughness stuff, like pushing yourself past [00:16:00] what you think you can do, I'm like, it's amazing. And you'll get used to the other stuff. You'll get used to that.

Yep. Dropping trial under a cedar tree and like having to bury it, yep. That's, yeah, exactly. But at the end of it, you doing all of those things that would normally make you uncomfortable are just gonna add to the adventure and add to the story. I agree.

Silas Morris: I think. I think that's a hundred percent.

So many people, like they see what I do. So for instance, I'm taking a couple guys that I work with for their first ever hunts this year, and we're hunting some mule deer. And they're like, man I look at your onyx and it's, your tracks are miles and miles. I don't think I can keep up.

And I tell 'em, I'm like, I walk all those miles. But that's not to say that by mile one, if I'd have waited 15 minutes, maybe a deer's gonna come through that meadow, yeah. I said, I can't cover the whole mountain, so somebody has to so going all that way in and whatnot, only furthers, the crap sandwich that you're gonna have to eat later when you get one down.

Yeah. So I tell 'em, I'm like just understand, [00:17:00] you never wanna put yourself in a situation where like you put yourself in a detriment. You've gone too far. You get back there and realize, I don't have any help. I don't have a headlamp. I, this is way farther than I thought. That side can be daunting.

But like you said the coming out of it, getting done with it, it's driving away from hunting camp that you're just like, I can't wait to come back next year. Yeah. Whether you shot, whether it was the coldest trip of your life, whatever it was, there's something that's always gonna stay in the back of your mind and make you wanna come back.

And sometimes it's the physical, sometimes it's just being out there in September, hearing elk huble and getting in them, and for other people it's just catching up with the family once a year and hot and elk. So yeah, you gotta approach it at your own pace, because if you try to do it like somebody else it's not gonna go good.

Dan Mathews: I was just talking the other day to my buddy Brad, he's been on the podcast before. He hasn't done a western trip with me yet, but something that he said, stuck with me. He's training for a triathlon right now. Okay. And he's man, running on a [00:18:00] treadmill can work. But I like to run away from my vehicle because then when it gets hard, when I start to be tired, I.

Then I go, you know what? I have to, I have no choice. I took that safety net away. I can't just push stop on the treadmill and walk out to my vehicle. No, I have to run those five miles back to the truck. Exactly. He's same thing with swimming. He's swimming in a pool is good, but always in your mind is that I could just get out on this next lap.

I could get out on this next lap. He's you go to a lake and swim and you swim away from your vehicle. You can't just, all right, I'm off. You're in the middle of the lake. Dry off. Yeah. And he is I like taking the safety net away because it causes me, it forces me to be like, this sucks, but it doesn't matter.

I have to do it like I have no other option. And that is what I love about going way back in. It's like you're back there and maybe you didn't see a single elk or a single deer the whole way back there, but then you get into 'em [00:19:00] and it's okay, I've got a choice. I can actually try to make a play on these things.

Or I can turn around and head back. Yeah. But as soon as you pull that trigger, you are forced to work. Yep. You don't have a choice anymore. Yep. And to put yourself in those positions, I look back and those are some of my favorite moments when I'm back there. Quartering an elk all by myself and I realize I've got four miles out.

Yep. Dude, it sucks. And it's like it ne it feels like it's never gonna end in the moment. Yep. But at the same time, when I come back in the next day realizing, Hey, I gotta do another load today. Guess what? It's worth it. It's so worth it. Yeah. And then you get all the meat back, you get the head back, and now you're hanging out at camp and somebody goes, got one down back in this area, let's go do it again.

Yeah. And it's just like it after year one and my first hike out, I was like, dude, this is brutal. I don't know about [00:20:00] this. Yeah. Now having three seasons under my belt, having packed out. I don't know. I gotta figure out how many elk I've helped pack out so far. It's probably around eight or nine, maybe over 10.

Wow. That's pretty good. And it's now I look forward to it. I'm like, dude, I want that call on the radio. Hey guys, got one down. I need a couple extra bags. Somebody come in and gimme a hand. That's the type of stuff that now I just get pumped about. Even now thinking about elk season, I'm like, I'm ready to be out there.

Yeah. No, I

Silas Morris: agree. I think that's I mean that, that speaks volumes for your interest in hunting, just simply for the fact that, like you said, you've killed three bulls, is that correct? Yep. But to pack out nine of them or more, or be a part of helping somebody else get one is that's a testament to how addicting and how much fun and how passionate you can be about hunting.

And I think That's a hundred percent of what we need from here on out in the hunting industry, it's, I'm not gonna say we're losing [00:21:00] momentum but it's just tough to get people into the thought of hunting. 'cause nobody likes dealing with blood or hiking miles and it's I get it, but gosh, it's so rewarding

Dan Mathews: from mul deer to white tail and everything in between.

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I like meeting those people too. So Jake, he is the intended parent for a couple that my wife is doing surrogacy for. Okay. And we started talking and he is like, dude, I want to elk hunt so bad. He's I don't even care if I have a tag or a [00:22:00] weapon. I want to come out, put me to work, teach me about camping in the back country and staying out there and how do you find these animals?

Give me a bag of meat and I'll carry it out for somebody. Yes. And I'm like, dude, I love meeting those people who are like, it doesn't matter if it's me. I want to experience it. I wanna be part of it. And then, obviously it's even better when you can get them on one. Exactly. But I hear that from more and more people.

And I think people like Joe Rogan and Cam Haines and David Goggins and John Dudley and the whole meat eater crew, they've done a really good job of getting people excited about the work part of it. Yeah, you know it. I agree. It used to be like, as comfortable as you can get this tree stand. It's like a lounger up in the tree.

Exactly. You sit here, you're so comfortable, you're gonna fall asleep. Yeah, bring a neck pillow. I'm like, dude, no. Elk hunting is the opposite. And sitting in a tree stand, that's work, man. Sitting there's, and being alert all day long is work. I'm not trying to discredit that, but [00:23:00] there's like a movement of comfort and this is gonna be enjoyable and relaxing.

And then there's the whole movement of go out there and bust your butt and you will not regret a single second of it when it's all said and done. And I just, dude, it just gets me excited. I'm like so pumped and ready to go right

Silas Morris: now. Yeah. I I cannot wait. I have I have an either six.

Archery tag for this year for elk. So I'll do that during the archery season. And then I have that rifle deer tag that I was talking about. But this will be the first year that I'm really just gonna dedicate a hundred percent of my time in September to, to chasing elk. And I got a couple spots that I've been going to, but like you, it's just you check trail cameras, you go in there, you shed hunt, you kind, you do a camping trip.

We've done a couple this, you almost don't wanna go back until it's time because it's just such a tease, yeah. And it's it's just man, it's so tough to wait. But then sometimes it seems like it just flies by, and then you look at your[00:24:00] I track most of my miles every year and it's just you look at the miles that you hiked, just hunting, and it's holy smokes.

Imagine if I'd have done that for all the shed hunting I did, all the scouting that I've done. You put in so much. And yet it goes so quickly that I think a lot of people are just like, ah, man, you got the whole month of September. It's yeah, it feels like a week once it really happens, yeah. I'm like, you, I can't wait. I'm excited. My wife's always just man, you're always talking to somebody or calling somebody about hunting. It's I'm sorry, I just can't go a day

Dan Mathews: without doing it. Yeah. When I get trail camera pictures of deer here in Missouri, I. I'm on the phone for two hours.

Yeah. As soon as I get a new buck, it's just like I work through all the people that have to know about this deer. Yep. And my wife's you're so crazy. It's just a picture. I'm like, yeah. But it's an awesome picture and it's an awesome deer. Yeah. It's a big fun. And hopefully those are the same people I call when I actually shoot it this year.

Exactly. Yeah. What so you mentioned nine years old. You started going to hunting camp at 12. What was your first tag? Was it [00:25:00] an elk tag?

Silas Morris: It was, so I had a cow elk tag and then I had a dough mule deer tag. Nice. And the tough, I say it's tough. It's, it was actually really good for our family. But, so I have a twin brother, and then I have an older brother who's three years older than us.

So when I was nine. He was actually able to hunt that year. And then when I was able to hunt, he was still hunting. So we had my dad, my older brother, and then me and my twin and my dad always structured it with the points where if I had a point for an elk one year, my brother had a point for a deer that year.

Oh, okay. So every single year that we were hunting, it was like, you better shoot first, or you might not get to shoot at all because we don't need two. And two deer. Yeah. We just couldn't take all that meat. I shot a dough opening day when I was 12 and I was ecstatic.

And then my brother had shot a cow. That was his first kill same year. And then my older brother shot a buck. So we were already two deer in and one [00:26:00] elk. And I begged my dad to let me shoot this cow and he's no. Oh man, we don't need that. And coincidentally the next year 'cause I picked up that do tech leftover the next year I finally had a butt tech, and same thing, everybody else shot before me and we had way too much meat.

And I begged my dad again and he's if you promise, you'll cut it up. So I'm like, yeah, I promise, bang, hit him. Get back home. And I'm just like, I don't wanna cut this freaking deer up. Like you'd already done, an elk and two other deer and it's just man but I promised so I had to.

So yeah. It's the harsh reality like that where, like I said, I learned early on, like pulling the trigger is fun, but there's a ton of work that happens before and after you pull that trigger. And so now. For the most part, I never passed anything on. If it's barely legal, you can guarantee I'm shooting at, its yep.

Yeah so yeah, that was a, that was really fun. Fun hunting and I really do push, I'm sure a lot of states have really good youth hunting opportunities, but Colorado, whether you're [00:27:00] resident or a non-resident, is insane for youth opportunity. Yeah, they get second draw now. They got rid of the leftover list.

Primarily second draw goes a hundred percent to youth. So most, any tags that I put in for this year, second draw were eaten up by the youth. And it's that's a good thing. We need more of that. Yeah, I always push youth hunting opportunities. Take the kids.

Dan Mathews: I was talking to my buddy Sean who invited me to ELK Camp.

I was talking to him about this same exact thing because I. I thought for sure, like I'm gonna get a buck tag for our unit. And I put in for it and I had two points and normally it only takes one point and I didn't get it. And I was like, dude, what in the world? Yeah. And then I saw that there were more buck tags for that unit in the second draw, and I was like, oh yes, dude.

Like, all right, I'm gonna put in again. Yeah. I'm gonna get it. I'm gonna put in for the unit, the next unit south of that and hopefully get one of the two. Yep. Didn't get either of them. And he is [00:28:00] dude, those things go to youth hunters, man. Youth hunters are priority. And there's people I'm sure that are like, dude, are you kidding me?

What the heck? Man, that's stupid. I've been hunting for me. I'm like, awesome. I would give up a tag every year. Yep. For a youth hunter to get into it and to go out there and experience, you know what it is, to be out here hunting, to do all this stuff, to put in the work, to process the meat, to eat the meat, to just be out in creation.

It's. Totally worth it to me. So I love that they prioritize youth hunters. I love that most states have a youth season before like rifle season starts. Yep. Yep. So that their odds of getting one are higher, that they can go out there and not have to deal with all the other pressure. It's just, I don't know, man.

Now that I've got a son that's old enough here to hunt, like he won't, he is, he's got another six years before he can hunt out in Colorado. Yeah. But here in Missouri, six years old, you can hunt. And so I'm like, dude, that's awesome. Every, almost every day I get trail camera pictures and he [00:29:00] goes, dad, when can I hunt with you again?

When can I hunt with you again? Yeah. And I'm like, dude, it's gonna happen bud. Like we're gonna get you out there. You're gonna shoot. Yeah. Hopefully he's gonna get a buck or a dough this year. I don't really care which one. I don't think he really cares which one, just to get him out there. Oh man. And I always said I wasn't gonna be that dad that let him play on like the iPad or the phone, but I'm like, dude, if he's out there and he's helping me look for animals, And it gets to the point where he's bored and wants to go home.

I'd rather him be in the blind with me on an iPad than get rewarded at home. Like when he's out there, I want him to have the time of his life so that he wants to continue to do it.

Silas Morris: Exactly, yeah. There's ups and there's downs and that, I think that is the trouble in taking youth hunting is the attention span is, they're so smart that they might start focusing on this squirrel or the way that the leaves blowing that tree over there and they just, it's not that they lose interest in the whole thing, they're just paying attention to so many things at one time.

Yeah. That when it comes to hunting, you gotta [00:30:00] realize you gotta scan the woods because I can't tell you how many times you're sitting there. You look to the left for 30 seconds, you look back, and here's some 20 yards from you. Yeah. I agree with you. Keep 'em in the woods as much as you can.

I've heard a couple obviously Josh has talked about it, that I heard in one of your podcasts your mom has like the buddy heater and she can cook stuff out of the stand in there. And it's I have nothing against that. 'cause the first year I went to Wisconsin, I was literally like I can just chop my toes off right now and start cooking those because they're gone.

Yeah. I'm definitely a crossbite. I'm not, I will not talk to any smack about that. 'cause as long as it's comfortable hey, do it. Get the kids out there. Keep

Dan Mathews: them out there, dude. And I feel like building those memories and the traditions of even. It's early mornings. He never once complained about getting up in the morning, which I was super excited about.

He was like, that's good. Yeah. Are we going? So we get 'em all dressed up, we get 'em all just, covered like he could barely walk. I mean he was just so comfort up and stuff. Exactly. And then it was like, all right bud, let's stop at the gas station. You want to go get a snack for today?[00:31:00] Yeah. And then he picks out a bag of chips and some hostess or a Twinky or whatever.

And he's just so excited. And then seeing the look on his face. We'd be sitting there and I'm talking, he's like sitting there tuned into his iPad after two hours of sitting and then all of a sudden he goes, dad, I just heard a deer. And I'm like, you did. And I know full well that there is not a deer close enough for him to hear.

Yeah. Because we're hunting the edge of a field, it's like thin woods behind us. But I can see everything. I've been paying attention and I'm just like, dude, let's run with this man. All right. Let's see if we can see it. Where do you think it is? And it's definitely. And then it turned into every five minutes.

Did you hear that dad? I heard a deer. Oh, let's look around again. Let's, yeah. I tell him get

Silas Morris: on the bin noses. Let's see what we can see. Where they're at. Yeah.

Dan Mathews: It's so much fun. Okay, so you had dough tag and a cow tag. Yep. From there, being in a land of so much opportunity for a big game hunter, what [00:32:00] what was the one thing that stuck out to you that you were like, dude, this is it.

If I had to give up all other hunting, this is what I want to go after.

Silas Morris: So you're saying what, what made that happen? What brought that realization to the forefront or,

Dan Mathews: yeah, I would say like how did you find like the one animal you're most passionate about and what is it about that animal?

Silas Morris: So I would say I'm most passionate about mul deer, probably. And that's simply because again, my dad put us in for a lot of meat tags, so we got a lot of dough and cows when we could. And I didn't have anything against that. But when we were seeing elk, we were seeing 25 cows to one bull, and sometimes that bull wasn't even legal.

Yeah. So growing up my idea was always, man, I'm seeing a lot more bucks that are huge, big and legal bucks than I am bulls. So I instantly transitioned over just to being a mule deer guy. I just, I like the way the horns look. They, the wider they get, the better they look. They're just, [00:33:00] they're, they live in the mountains, they live in the ruggedness.

It's just one out there and you just appreciate them. Yep. But as I got older, I started to do more hunting and started to realize, all right, I gotta try to do the elk thing. I think I'm slowly transitioning to an elk guy now because Okay. It's just yeah I've never killed a bull, so I've shot eight cow elk, never killed a bull.

And I guess I'm salty. I would choose mule deer because the one bull that I really did hit pretty good, that I knew he was going down, he ran across this open hillside and I'd only taken three bullets. I don't know why, but I felt rushed. So we got out of this guy's truck. I only grabbed three bullets, saw this bull like five minutes after that, shoot him twice.

But my brother and the other guy are down the hill. Aim up one more time. Miss hit a tree, and I'm just standing there with a rifle and no shells, and I'm thinking, what the heck? My brother comes up, he throws me an ot, six Shell, and I shoot again, miss, and the bull runs away. He ran to this dude's camp and this guy, no lie, comes out in like his long underwear, Whitey [00:34:00] Tighties, no shirt on and hip fires like this Rusty trusty seven mag with a cigarette in his mouth, boom.

From like the front step of his little like pop-up trailer. And this elk just crumbles right in front of him. And I walk over there, I'm like 16, and I'm like, Hey, I hit that one twice. And he's oh nice. Yeah, I just shot him right here. I'm thinking yeah, but that's my elk. Yeah.

And I was just so salty about it. My dad told me, he's the one who puts it down is the one who gets it. And at that point you should kick yourself in the butt more for not taking more rounds than you should for that guy shooting it. Taking it from you. And I was like, yeah, I guess you're right.

If I had another bullet, it might've gone well, but who knows?

Dan Mathews: So that would be a tough one to swallow, man. Yeah. Yeah.

Silas Morris: It was one of the hardest things I had to do. And everybody's like everybody kept telling me, oh, I saw the bull. He was small. And I'm like, it was a legal bull. I don't care how small it was.

I've never shot one. Yeah, that was the only one that I actually hit that I was like, oh, he'll go [00:35:00] down until he ran right to that camp. And I was like, oh no.

Dan Mathews: So dude, yeah, that's just bad luck, man. But it is it's funny how many people get into that. Coming from a Midwestern hunter right?

You shoot an animal one time, like it is almost frowned upon in the whitetail world to shoot it a second time. Yeah. And I don't know why I really it just blows my mind. I mind why. I don't know if it's a point of probably oh dude, I smoked it right in the boiler room. First shot, double lung, heart shot, whatever.

And I'm like, dude, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how many times you shoot it. Obviously you wanna be putting good shots on it, but it's like it. You shoot it until it's down. And that's something that I didn't really adopt until I moved to Colorado and started elk hunting. Yeah. And the one guy was like, dude, we've shot, I can't remember, it was one of the guys at camp shot in the Elk 12 times one year.

Holy smokes. And I'm like 12 [00:36:00] times, I'm like, bro, you gotta get better at shooting. And he goes, dude, Dan, you haven't hunted elk yet, man. You don't understand how tough these things are. And I'm like, yeah, okay, whatever. And I start watching videos and I watch videos of these guys who are shooting elk at 500 yards.

You can see the vapor trail, you can see the impact on the elk, and it'll just eat it. I'm like, dude, that's right behind the shoulder. And then all of a sudden they reload, boom again. And to watch these elk just stand there, not even run. Yep. Yep. Just stand there and take round after round and not move.

Given, given you go through the heart, it still takes time, unless you spine it, there's no guarantee that it's gonna drop right away. Yeah. And that happened to me last year. That happened to me. My first year. I shot my first elk. Just smoked it. 333 yards. I think that's what it was.

Something like that. Anyways. Yep. Shoot it. It's quartering to me, put it right in between the brisket and the shoulder. But I hear [00:37:00] just that thud and I'm like, dude, smoked him and he just stood there. I start to reload. A cow bumps him. He takes off running. So we're like, all right, let's go down there.

Like he's gonna be dead. He's just gonna be piled up behind a cedar tree. Yeah. We walk down, I look over and he's standing at a hundred yards staring at me. Yeah. I'm like, no way. We both. Me and my buddy pop up on the tripods boom. Same time shoot. And he drops. Yeah. I walk over, didn't find a drop of blood, not a single drop.

And we both confirmed that it hit him. Yeah. We're like, oh dude, smoked him. We both confirmed it, not a single drop of blood from where he s was when I first shot to where he ended up. Yeah. This last year, same thing, much longer shot. I shoot and I just see him buckle and he stands there and there's another, there's a five by five standing right in front of him and they're both standing broadside like nothing ever happened.

Yeah. [00:38:00] I'm like, I'm putting another one in him. I know. I hit him. Good. Yeah. Put another one in. Boom. And he dropped on the second one. But I'm like, dude, what if he's, what if he decided to run By the time I could get on him for a second shot. Yeah. He could be a thousand yards away or a thou a thousand yards farther.

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Silas Morris: Yeah. No. My dad always said keep feeding them pills. Like just keep giving them to 'em, until they gotta go down. And I think also what's helped with the, the impact, figuring out if you did hit or didn't hit is good optics. Yeah. Good optics and a phone scope.

Being able to set that up, even if you're by yourself, you set that up alright. You don't get a vapor trail, but you can slow that down on your phone and see a ripple maybe or something. Or see dirt and go, oh yeah, I completely did miss him. Yeah. But I can't tell you how many times we've had people in our camp say, oh yeah, he's 300 yards, but I must've missed him 'cause he just stood there and then they meandered into the trees and six days later we're finishing out and we walked through there to go hunting.

And you're like, [00:40:00] what's that smell? And sure enough, there's a dead bull. A hundred yards below where that guy said he hit it never went in because he is I missed him. There's no way he wouldn't flinch or run or do something, but that's how it goes. They're just tough animals, man. They gotta live out there 365 days a year.

Yep. That would make you a pretty tough son of gun, man. That's for sure.

Dan Mathews: Yeah I was talking to Josh about this the other day 'cause I think he's gonna come out to Elk Camp with me this year and Oh, nice. I was talking to him about a rifle, right? 'cause he's got a good rifle. I was like, I've got two really good rifles that you could use for out there.

Yep. I said, but at the end of the day, we could both shoot one. It's less weight to pack in. We're gonna be together the whole time. And we're to the point now where I'm like, I don't shoot multiple, like if it's me and a couple people, The plan is not to shoot as many elk as we can and have to track three different elk, yeah. You shoot, and if it goes down, then Yeah, then go ahead. You can shoot a second one. Yeah. But[00:41:00] I'm not into the hole. There's 35 elk. Everybody get on one, dude. Yeah. Not happening, man. I've come into situations like that where people are like, dude, we hit five of 'em.

And I'm like, oh, you hit five of them. Yeah, there's seven of us. Okay, sweet. And it's you know what? Two of them dropped. Where are the other ones at? You gotta find them. Yeah. And it's there's certain scenarios where maybe that could work with pigs. Dude, when I pig hunt, it's Everybody unloads their rifle on as many pigs as you can, right?

Yeah. And if

Silas Morris: they're close enough, throw the rifle. Yeah. Dude put the

Dan Mathews: bayonet on and just go out. Yeah. But I'm like, dude, that, that terrain is not a spot that you want to have to be tracking a wounded animal. Yeah. Much less multiple. And so that's what I told Josh. I was like, dude, we can both bring out rifles or we can just hunt with the same one.

Yeah. But I think this is the thing that got him to want to bring his own rifle. He's so do I get first shot? Then I [00:42:00] go, I'm gonna tell you the same thing that I was told from my buddy who got me into this, is that you get first shot. Unless it's bigger than anything I've shot, then you just better be faster.

And he is oh dude, oh, it's on. I'll be

Silas Morris: faster. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. That's a that's a good way to go about it. I think he'll have a good time out there. The elkwood are good. And it sounds you hunt with the hinky, is that correct? Yeah. Yeah. So they're definitely a good group of people.

I've heard. I've heard about 'em. So yeah, that'll be a good time. And definitely I agree with you going out with one, like you said you shot your bull last year and there's a five by five sitting right there next to him. That's an easy situation where it's the rifle's set up now you just gotta get behind it, shoulder it, figure it out, and pop off another shot.

It happens far too often where you bring a rifle and you towed it around for nothing all day, and you're just like, yeah, what was this?

Dan Mathews: See, I told my buddy the same thing. I was like when he and I were up on the mountain, I shot that bull and the other one was still standing there. [00:43:00] I go, dude, you wanna shoot that other one?

He is oh dude, I can't hit that thing with my rifle. I go I just smoked that one twice with mine. You can use mine. Yeah. And he is oh dude, I really don't wanna pack two bulls outta there. And I go, okay, no problem, man. No pressure. I get that very conscious decision. And looking back, I'm like, man, I'm glad he decided to use restraint because that would've been a tough packout.

Oh yeah. And it's again, you never know. You've got one bull down several miles in, and then maybe the other one, you hit it good, but it runs outta sight and dies. True. Now you're like, now you have to postpone quartering your bull to go and try and find and finish off this one figure. And so it's just man, it can get hairy in a hurry out there.

Yeah. And I think Josh will have a lot of fun. I think it's gonna be a good year at camp. I'm expecting that there's gonna be a lot less hunting pressure in those winter kill units. I think people are gonna see those and go, I'm going to a different over the counter, because it's [00:44:00] just not, it's not worth it if, the season's shorter, if there's less animals, if whatever, CP w determines.

So we'll see how it goes. But so far that unit, I'm a hundred percent on big game tags, so That's crazy, man. If Josh comes out there, I'm, and I don't get an animal, I'm gonna blame it all on him. Yeah. He's not coming back, that's for sure. Yeah. Yeah. You get one shot, dude, you come out here. If you mess this up for me, you're done.

Silas Morris: Yeah. And don't send him my way either.

Dan Mathews: Don't send him your way. I don't know, man. It sounds like he's got a pretty hot spot for shed, so that might be a trade that you gotta make.

Silas Morris: Yeah. I might have to tell him, Hey man, I'll put you on some milk and deer. Maybe if you put me on some sheds. Yeah, we'll have to see.

Dan Mathews: So when you go out shed hunting, are you primarily hunting the same area that you like rifle or archery hunt?

Silas Morris: Yeah, for the most part, I always did. I started branching out in the last maybe three or four years and actually using more intel, using OnX and doing things like that just to try and find what else is out there.

[00:45:00] But yeah, for the most part, my rifle spot that, that I like to go over the counter for rifle season is I found a 340 inch set of elk sheds out there one year during the rifle season. And I throw 'em on my back and I'm walking for half a mile and these things are just clanging around me and banging around.

I didn't have a pack designed for it at that point. I'm just like, this isn't it, like I gotta figure stuff out. So I hike them all the way back to camp another three miles and then go back out hunting. But it was like, I think that year in that was 20, 21. In five days I found 26 sheds. During hunting.

Hunting, it was like, and people were like, what? Like, how'd you find those? You must not have been hunting. And I'm like, when? I don't mean to be like that guy, but when I said I literally tripped over a few of them I'm not lying. You're just looking forward and it's you kick it, you go, man, it sounded an antler turn around.

And sure enough. Since 2021, I just, I hit a lot of that unit. Yeah. And I think it's just, it just has a lot of, has a lot of what they want [00:46:00] early in the year as well as late in the year. So you get a pretty good resident herd of elk as well as a lot of small pockets of resident deer. It's a pretty sweet spot.

But I'll be honest with you, I just got hit with a white tail bug. Me and my brother-in-law started just hammering the public land. What few public land there is? East of I 25 here. And man, I found a I would assume he'd probably be like 150 inch whitetail if I had both sides. But as soon as I found that, I was like, alright, it's time to start.

Time to start focusing on the whitetail

Dan Mathews: thing. Dude, Whitetail is just the weirdest addiction. It is, if you look at them compared to a mule deer. Yeah. Like mule deer just have such crazy antlers and you get some crazy antler growth with whitetail. Yeah. But it's like the body size is smaller than mule deer.

Mu obviously much smaller than elk. Yeah. As far as like antler deer species go, for some reason it's the number one targeted species in the [00:47:00] country. Yeah. And I'm like, I, for me, I've got a, so I've got a special place in my heart for it. 'cause that's what we grew up doing. It was like every year, nine days out of the year, we're sitting in the white tail woods.

Yeah. And it was just the coolest thing, like looking back, oh man. Shot this buck here 15 years ago. Look at what we got last year. And yeah, back in those early days, it's like anything with antlers was ins. Like you were just so pumped about it. Yep. But for me now, I still love going back there.

I have no idea what deer on the property. I still love going and sitting on that hillside in the winter chasing after white tail. But here in Missouri, my new passion has become just documenting them and yeah, learning the animals, figuring out where they're gonna be, when they're gonna be there, watching them year after year.

Okay, last year, little brother, he is like 110 inches. Let's see what he puts on this year. Whoa. He is 130 inches this year. Yep. All right. What's he gonna be next year? And [00:48:00] I feel like getting to know one specific animal is what it's all about for me now. Yeah. Like I love just honing in and being like, dude, I know all five of those bucks names.

Yeah, I know what they're gonna do. I know which one's gonna come outta the woods first. I know when they're gonna come out where they're gonna cross the fence. And so I don't know if that's the reason that so many people are into it, but there, there is something special about white-tailed deer.

Yeah,

Silas Morris: I could tell you for sure growing up, like I knew we had white tails in Colorado, but we never worried about trying to hunt him. We always just went west 'cause there wasn't that much public land. Yeah. But that's what always intrigued me was these people that would have these videos and trail camp pictures and say, this is him when he was two.

This is him when he was five. And you're just like, what the heck? And yeah, definitely when I got my first, I've been going Wisconsin for four years now, ever since I met my wife going It's just it's a whole different beast. Like coming from the west, I thought that was crazy. [00:49:00] But then I sat a swamp opening day and like I said, I was just about ready to chop my toes off and cook them for breakfast because I was like, this is freezing.

It's cold, it's freezing. And

Dan Mathews: It's crazy the amount of shots you hear people don't understand. Like you go sit anywhere, you can sit in the middle of the city in Wisconsin and you're gonna hear gunshots from the whole county all around you. It's insane. And you drive down the highway and you look out and every woodlot has hunters in it.

Yep. Every field has tower blinds in it. And it is, dude, there's nothing like it, man. That's, there is elk camp and Wisconsin whitetail season. Those are two hunts that I don't ever miss and I don't ever plan to,

Silas Morris: I can back that up. I'm the exact same way. I will not miss a season hunting whitetails.

And I finally shot one last year. Old 11 pointer,

Dan Mathews: oh yeah. The old Wisconsin

Silas Morris: 11.0. Yeah. But I was happy with it because it's just, like you said, the opportunity to come out west for people from the Midwest or wherever and harvest something. Sometimes it's bigger than that.[00:50:00]

And being able to go to those hunting camps and be brought into traditions like deer drives that they don't let, but certain people do this because deer drives can get sketchy, yeah. So people are inviting you in, they invite you to their homes. You meet so many people.

It's just that's why that giant 11 pointer was so worth it because it's I get to come here and do all this camaraderie stuff, but also take some meat home. It's, you just can't beat it. No. There's just something about it.

Dan Mathews: Unrivalled I respect the guys who go out and do the solo hunter stuff.

Yeah, you go out by yourself, you film everything, you pack everything in and out, but I. Something about the comradery and the fellowship of hunting for me, like I can't get away from it. I love it doesn't matter if I'm going and fishing a local pond, frog gigging, dove hunting, or big game, like I love hunting with other people.

Silas Morris: I'm the same. Yep. I enjoy it more than anything. 'cause being solo is fun. There's a something that you learn about yourself when you're out there. You hear the coyotes and you're six [00:51:00] miles back in the back country of Colorado and the coyotes are yiping and you hear noise around your tent.

You're just like, man, I wish somebody else was here. But for the most part, yeah, like it's always good getting out. I'm always about having somebody else there. 'cause it's just fun. It's fun to share it, yeah. It's going back and saying, you wouldn't believe that buck that I saw? And people are like, yeah, and you're like, ask Terry. He saw it too yeah. Or ask such and such versus, man, I saw the biggest elk. And people are like, yeah, sure you did Uhhuh. You gotta be that guy in camp. I promise you he was right there.

Dan Mathews: See yeah. When we're at EL camp and somebody says that, typically I'm like, all right.

We know them. They're here. I've got, or I believe them the one of the funniest things, and I look back on it and I'm like, did, do these guys really think they were throwing us off that much? We get out there and we meet these guys on the trail, no idea who they are, but I like to sit and talk to people and just Hey, how's it going?

What tag do you have? Whatever. And they're like, man we're all cu. And we're like, oh, okay. Sweet. Yeah. So [00:52:00] are we. They're like, dude, we just saw a 300 plus inch bull right over here. And I'm like, what? Yeah. Are you serious right now? And they're like, oh yeah dude, he was a monster, man.

He's gonna be in there again. And I'm like, oh, awesome. Then for the next eight days, we never saw those people hunt that area again. Yeah. And I'm like, guys, you're in an over-the-counter unit. You just saw a 300 plus inch bull. Yeah. And you never went back. I'm not an idiot, but I'm pretty sure you didn't see a 300 plus inch bull over.

Yeah. If I had seen a 300 plus inch bull in that area, unless he got bumped out, I would be in there constantly going, okay, look, we didn't spook him. He's still probably hanging out. Yeah, if we just hang out near this meadow, maybe he's gonna pop out. We're gonna glass it at least once or twice a day.

And it's just really funny, man. Call. I get it. You don't wanna give up your hunting spots, but. I've said it multiple times [00:53:00] on the podcast. You run into somebody from OUTTA state in Colorado. Yeah. And they'll tell you everything you could possibly want to know. They'll tell you every animal that they've seen, how big, how many you run into somebody from Colorado and the answer is always that the big animals are on the farthest corner of the unit.

Yeah. Yep. It's that's weird. Why don't you hunt there then?

Silas Morris: Yeah, exactly. Apparently they're not looking for big animals 'cause they're hanging out where no animals are.

Dan Mathews: Oh dude. I haven't seen, I haven't seen an elk over here for years. Yeah. Why are you camped 200 yards from me? Then?

Like why not go camp where all the big ones hang out?

Silas Morris: I'm the same way. If I see somebody in state, outta state, whatever. I'm telling you where I saw some animals because we're all out here trying to get it done on public land. Yeah. Most of the time it's on an over the counter tag. I'm just like, if you're crazy enough to go up into that timber and push 'em out, I'll sit right here.

But they're in there, like you go push 'em around. We need people to get all those elk out of those pockets or they're never gonna make their way out, oh yeah. You're never gonna see 'em if [00:54:00] you don't get enough hunting pressure. And yeah. The guys seeing 300 inch elk and backing out for the rest of the season, it's a little suspect.

Dan Mathews: Yeah. I've talked to a couple people there was one group of people, I think it was my second year hunting, and they did, we, we got back in there, maybe it was my first year, and they're like, dude, we shoot a big bull back here every year. And they're like, we just packed one out yesterday. And we're like, no way.

I can't believe these guys are telling me this right now. Yeah. And they're like, we go to the deepest, darkest, nastiest spots and there will be a bull in there somewhere. Yeah. They're like, they just know nobody's gonna come back here after 'em. We're the only ones dumb enough to go and do it. Yeah.

And they're like, it sucks. It's way harder. Then, two track hunting, it's way harder than only hunting clo off your four-wheeler side by side. He's but you can get it done. And so I was like, man, I respect that. Yeah. They were like, Hey, just a heads up, this sucks and it's really hard, [00:55:00] but if you do it, your odds are gonna go through the roof.

Yeah. So it's a fine line for sure, especially at a camp that I've been invited to not giving too much away to people who ask. Yep. And there are plenty of times where I play really dumb. I just meet some random dude who hunts and he is oh, what unit do you hunt in Colorado? And I'm like, oh man, I c ah I don't know.

It's maybe, got it. It's one of the over counter ones. See? Yeah. It's one of those over the, I don't know. I'm like, I don't know why I don't just say dude, I can't tell you that man. Yeah. But the there's definitely that level of, Hey, this is their spot. They invited me. I'm not gonna give it away.

But also I'll tell people like, dude, when you're on a side by side, Don't think that there's not elk close by. They might be just right underneath the road right underneath you and you just have to walk out to a point and look back. We've seen it over and over yep. Just 'cause there's human activity doesn't mean they're out of the county.

Like they might just find a hole where they don't think you're gonna see them [00:56:00] from and hang out there the whole season.

Silas Morris: Yep. We got a lot of people in our old elk camp that's how they would do it. They would drive the two track and they would just stop and if you got like a little bowl or a basin and they drive on this side, they glass into the outside.

Yeah. You come around on the south side, now you're glassing into the north side and every time it's oh, there's one puts back around and then go, oh, I, we drop in right here. And sure enough they would always shoot animals. It's. Yeah. You're gonna find a, out in the wilderness areas in those pockets where not a lot of people wanna go, but sometimes elk are just moving all night and the sun starts coming up and they go, huh, let's bet down right here.

And they have no clue. There's a road 75 yards above them. It's just a good place to bet, yeah. So you just never, you never know the opportunity out there. It's plentiful

Dan Mathews: for sure. Dude, I, man, I just can't wait. I know we're coming up on an hour, but man, you're like, what? Two months out? From

Silas Morris: archery season.

Yep. Few months out. Yep. We got pretty much, yeah, the end of July here, and [00:57:00] then the whole month August, just to sit here and twiddle our thumbs and try not to do anything stupid. Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited about it. I'm super excited. I just I just got a new Matthews halo the sixth, so yes, I'll be shooting that this year.

I, I switched from from a diamond. Okay. But I just wanted to get a bow to get into it. And then this last year I'm like, alright, lemme get a, lemme get something. I can bump up the poundage. I'm six five, so had a pretty long draw length so yeah, it was good to get something that had a little more punch to it, so hopefully we can put it to work.

Dan Mathews: We'll see. Heck yeah, man. That's exciting. Good luck this season and I'm sure we'll be in touch. Before we hop off, where can people find you? Where can they check out your content or follow along?

Silas Morris: So I am on Facebook. I don't do a ton on there, but I'm trying to get back to it. Most of my stuff and my content will be on Instagram.

That's, Silas Outdoors. I have that and I also have another page on there, C3 Outdoors. And that's just something where I post my success, brother success, friends, fishing, hunting, all that stuff. [00:58:00] Nice. Yeah. A couple pages all along with,

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