April 7, 2025 • 59 mins
When Weston Homa drove 33 hours from Pennsylvania to Idaho for his meticulously planned solo mule deer hunt, he never imagined wildfires would close nearly his entire hunting unit. Standing at the trailhead with his camp already six miles into the mountains, most hunters would have given up and headed home. Not Weston.
This episode chronicles an extraordinary journey of resilience as Weston transforms potential disaster into the adventure of a lifetime. Refusing to accept defeat, he reaches out to a hunting acquaintance in Colorado and pivots his entire plan - ultimately leading to his first archery elk harvest at 12,000 feet. Listeners will be captivated by his raw determination as he stalks herds of elk through high-country basins and ultimately processes and packs out an entire elk solo over three grueling days.
Beyond the hunting story itself, Weston shares profound insights about the mental fortitude required in western backcountry hunting. His philosophy of embracing challenges instead of surrendering to them resonates throughout the conversation, especially when he discusses how this mindset has transformed other areas of his life - from running ultra-marathons to building meaningful connections with fellow hunters.
The conversation takes a powerful turn when Weston delivers a moving message about pursuing your passions wholeheartedly: "We all get to live once... whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." His journey reminds us that often our most memorable adventures come from adapting to circumstances beyond our control rather than being defeated by them.
Follow Weston's future hunting adventures on Instagram and YouTube @WestonHoma, and submit your own hunting stories to be featured on a future episode through the link in our show notes.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Howdy folks and welcome to the hunting stories
podcast.
I'm your host, michael, and wehave another great episode for
you today.
I'm gonna keep this short andsweet, but today we have Weston
Homa.
Weston gave us a great story.
It's an epic tale ofperseverance.
You can actually watch theentire thing on YouTube.
He's got a clip for that.
I'll make sure to put a link tothat in the show notes.
But thank you guys for tuningin.
I really do appreciate it.
Make sure you follow us, hitthe subscribe button, give us a
(00:29):
review, all of that stuff.
Thank you guys very much fortuning in.
Weston, thank you for coming onthe podcast.
Now let's go ahead and kickthis thing off.
Thank you, all right, weston.
Welcome to the Hunting StoriesPodcast.
Brother, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm doing good, man.
Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
How are you, dude?
I'm excited to talk with you.
Thanks so much for coming on.
You're another individual.
I believe that filled out mylittle form and I'm really
trying to get a lot of people todo that, so I'm mentioning it
here at the beginning, but I dohave a form for people who
wanted to come on and tell ussome stories, weston.
Thank you for doing that, man,I really appreciate it.
And you talked to my buddy,jared, who kind of is like an
(01:10):
unofficial producer on the showhere, and he says you have some
pretty awesome stories.
So I'm pretty excited toconnect with you today, man.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, I'm stoked.
I've been invited on to do afew podcasts now.
The more I put myself out thereon social and definitely after
starting my YouTube channelafter filming my hunts this past
fall, gotten to be invited on afew more and someone across
your podcast thought it wasreally cool and saw you guys
throw that up and I was like Idon't know what, I'll fill this
out.
I got my YouTube videos behindit.
(01:40):
Maybe I can come on and tell itand people want to go watch it.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
They can connect it with Jared.
And then here we are.
Yeah, here we are, man.
So let's do this.
Why don't you introduceyourself Kind of who you are,
where you come from, how longyou've been hunting, so that
people know kind of who they'rehearing some stories from today.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yep, so my name is Weston Homa.
I'm from Pennsylvania,southwestern PA, out around
Pittsburgh, grew up hunting,doing all that very outdoorsy,
typical Pennsylvania deer campkind of family and yeah, for me
hunting's been a huge journey asfar as like personal
(02:15):
development and things like that.
It's a huge passion in my life.
I grew up hunting white tails.
Like I said, For me it was likehunting a lot of private.
I did grow up.
My dad had a few acres enoughfor us to like get out and bow
hunt definitely get out doing itand we go hunt public come
rifle season and always enjoyedit and everything, but didn't
(02:37):
always have the best attitudelike yeah, kill a lot of deer
and everything, but like mypassion for it and everything
that like I feel like I live fornow, I train for every day I
think about all the time is whenI started hunting the west,
about four years ago yeah, it'lldo it to you.
That'll do it to you oh my goshman, the mountains, everything.
(02:59):
It's just.
It's really changed the wholedirection of my life.
I've implemented morediscipline in my life, just
training and just getting soinfatuated with it, and then
it's actually helped me backhome here, to where I love to
challenge myself even more and Ihunt my whitetails on public,
kind of like mobile huntingstyle.
So it's just really done somuch for me and I love it.
(03:24):
I hunt the West every year.
I love just the the hard do ityourself hunts, backpacking in
it's what I think about all yearround, man, and plan to do it
forever hell yeah, hell yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
So okay, what?
What have you, what states haveyou hunted out west?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
let's start there yep , so I've hunted colorado a
bunch of times, let me think Iguess three times over the
counter elk basically okay uh,mule deer I got.
I did.
I punched a mule deer tag in2023 on a four by four buck.
And then the story I'm going toget into last year was archery
(03:58):
elk.
I've right, I rifle hunted thefirst couple years going out
west, but now, um, I mostly justreally infatuated with bow
hunting and I find that I'mgonna start getting a lot of
these tags purely just for thearchery season going forward
yeah, that's awesome and I'vehunted idaho and let me think
and then this year coming up, itshould be colorado and idaho
(04:19):
again.
Um, I got my idaho elk tagalready, but I'm waiting here
back from the draw.
I just put in for a coloradomule deer, archery deer.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
So yeah, nice, good luck.
Um, I had a question foreverybody.
I forgot oh, what was thecatalyst that took you from like
okay, I kind of dig hunting alittle bit here in pennsylvania
and then being like I gotta getout west and see what that's
like.
Like what was it just somethingyou've always wanted to do, or
was it a friend plan a trip?
Or what was the moment whereyou made that happen and then
(04:48):
fell in love with it?
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Always something I wanted to do for sure, I grew up
watching a lot of hunting showsand everything, like my family
does.
The Outdoor Channel was justalways on but I never really
took to it.
When I was watching Lee Lee andTiffany hunt 200 inch
whitetails in Iowa, like that'sreally cool, but like yeah.
I can't really relate to that.
I don't have that property, or?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, you don't have 700 acres that you feed steroids
to the deer.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, and I didn't even really I wasn't even drawn
to it really that much anyway,but like watching something like
meat eater, where it was moreof an adventure.
And you now, I now see thepassion and everything and I'm
still a huge fan of steveranella, so something I always
wanted to do, for sure.
And then my dad had startedgoing out west a couple years
with some guys and then he didask me to go for the first year
(05:40):
and I said, you know, huntingfor me was always just this
fixed ladder stand on a fieldedge on some private and the
deer were either there or theyweren't.
And I had fun doing that, I hadsome success doing that, but
like never really felt like Icould do something.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, and I was like man, themountains, the like you get up
and you can actually move, likego make a play.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
every day you walk 10 miles.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, move, like go make a play.
Every day you walk 10 miles,yeah, yeah, and uh, the whole
physical fitness side of things,that's really when I started
running.
I'm huge, like, like I said,it's changed my life man.
I'm a huge um into theendurance of it.
Now, over the years since Istarted going out there, I've
kept up with running ultramarathons, marathons.
It just might like my thing now, but anyway, that's what really
tricked for me and I was justlike, maybe out there, like I
could have, I get, like makesomething happen.
(06:28):
And then, um, I remember weback, I, backpacked, wyoming, I.
We did that, my dad, my brotherand I in high school I just
loved the west.
It was a eight day backpackingin the wind river and uh,
fishing, um, and just purelybackpacking, and I always
thought, like man, if I had aweapon like this.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I just feel like this would be my bread and butter,
and sure enough, we got theseelk tags.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
And like ever since that first trip, man and I
didn't punch that tag but saw abunch of elk had the bugles I
mean.
I hate being that guy that youknow everybody has it.
90% of elk hunters areunsuccessful.
So everybody comes back saying,yeah, we saw some, just
couldn't get it done.
Blah, blah, blah.
And that just like whateverdude, that's cool but it drives
(07:14):
me nuts, dude, I just like.
I hate losing but I also embrace, like learning and always
trying to get better, so I'vejust kept up with that, and then
the success started to finallycome a little bit.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah, man, that that story adds up.
I think it's.
Uh, your story is unique, don'tget me wrong, but it is a story
that happens to a lot ofhunters, where that's like I
didn't even hunt but I all of asudden I'm in the mountains.
I'm like man, this is hard,this is fun.
Like you just fall in love withlike the, the effort you have
to put in and the adventure andall of those things.
So it's very true to peoplelistening.
(07:49):
You know you got to get outthere and try it once.
Um, yeah, man, that's, that'scool.
I like hearing someone aspassionate as you.
It reminds me of, like, when Istarted elk shape kind of got me
into that with all the fitnessI never got into running.
I never will get into running.
So good on you for that.
Uh, not Not for me, but yeah,the fitness part of it, the
whole thing, it's just thiswhole thing.
It's a lifestyle.
So that's very cool.
(08:10):
But we're not here to talkabout that shit.
Weston, all right.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
So let's get that out , let's hear some stories, man.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I want to hear about some of your adventures.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
I don't know if you're gonna start with a
particular one that I'm prettyexcited for, but you set the
stage.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Where are?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
we going.
So I do.
Yes, I do have a direction hereand I think this is going to be
worth the worth the listen, soperfect.
I will preface and say I dohave a YouTube channel now.
I didn't know what I was doingto start my fall 2024 hunting
adventures.
I just was out there with aSony RX 100 with a little
external mic clipped on and I'vemade some hunt films now and
like they've started to get somereach.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
So the story.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
I'm about to tell it is on my YouTube channel, Um,
but here I'll just.
I'll just dive into it.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Okay, so the plan for 2024 for Weston originally
looked like this I picked up anIdaho mule deer tag in December
of 2023 for the 2024 season, soI buy this mule deer tag to hunt
(09:20):
solo by myself.
I had two weeks to get it done.
That included three, four daysscouting on the front end and it
was going to be just me.
So that was the plan and, likeI said, dude, I absolutely love
this.
I train all year round ultramarathons, all this stuff, so
plan for it all year.
I've done solo trips in thepast, extended weekends like
(09:43):
back east, just to get used toit.
I did a five days scouting incolorado no, it was like six
days scouting in colorado soloagain, just like building the
skill of solo hunting.
And then I was like I'll justgo scout, scout the unit.
Then I'm gonna come back andhunt with some guys.
I did that, but this was thefirst um extended solo hunt in
the mountains by myselfbackpacking in.
(10:04):
So season starts to come aroundand this is archery season.
So it's the end of August.
I'm out here in Pennsylvania.
I got a 33-hour drive ahead ofme.
I'm so obsessed I got, yeah,but I got everything planned out
.
I'm e-scouting like a madman,like my hunt plans, everything.
(10:25):
So as the week is starting tocome, I am watching on X and
everything and I see thesewildfires start to pop up, and
the unit that I was huntingwasn't necessarily a big unit
anyway.
And Idaho's deer tags aredifferent from their elk tags to
where your deer tag is onlygood for one unit as a
(10:47):
non-resident.
The elk tags are a zone.
It's like multiple units.
They have elk zones and um, butI was just stuck to this one
unit.
It was a very small unit.
So I see this fire pop up andit's starting to grow about just
about every day leading up towhen, like, I'm trying to leave
after work on a Friday orwhatever it was.
(11:07):
But I'm like you know whatever.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Like I'm going, you know what I mean.
Like whatever.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
So got the truck loaded up as I'm driving out
there like it took me a coupleof days and I'm just by myself
sleeping in the truck, clippingoff as much driving as I can do,
and I get there to scout for acouple days early.
So, as I'm going and I have ahunt plan of, like you know,
hunt plan a, b, c, d and I triedand I wanted to set myself up
(11:35):
to maybe bounce around a coupletimes during the three, four
days of scouting I had, okay, asI'm going out there, this fire
starts to get so big itliterally takes out my plans A
through D, like I'm on plan Eand I had only A through E plans
.
So, I'm choked down to this onearea of National Forest that's
(11:57):
still open.
Everything else is closedbecause of these fires and I'm
like this is just unbelievable,but I'm like I just need, but
I'm like I just need one, likeit just takes one.
So, um, I get out there and nowmy plan is actually I can't
even get to this little areathat's still open from my unit.
I had to park outside of theunit and hike in six miles into
(12:22):
my unit to the unit border andthen start hunting.
So I had a six mile hike inbefore miles into my unit to the
unit border and then starthunting.
So I did six mile hike in beforeI could do anything yeah, then
I got into my unit and then itopened up to where I had some
square miles of openness and itwas some high country.
It wasn't, like I said, my topplan, but it had potential, I
figured.
So I get up in there and Ispend the first and I just bring
(12:47):
like three or four days of food.
I leave my bow in the truckbecause why bring, you know
everything?
I just want to scout.
I'll come back after the fewdays of scouting grab more food
and the bow and I'll come backfor opening day.
So, as I'm going, there's thisbig shift in the winds and I
think what it was was yeah, wegot these north winds that came
(13:12):
through, and the day beforeopening season I'm out there by
myself no self-service, nothing.
And um, this smoke is reallyrolling in, and now I'm about 10
miles from my truck.
So and I'm from Pennsylvania, Idon't know much about wildfires
(13:33):
or how much smoke is too muchsmoke or anything.
Again, I don't have cellservice.
You can watch it in the YouTubevideo.
I'm kind of just sitting therelike I don't really know what to
do.
I don't know if, like you, canfall asleep out here with all
this smoke and plus, I'm bymyself.
I have to.
I'm over rationalizingeverything.
I can't bounce an idea offanybody.
(13:55):
Um, it's like am I gonna be okay?
Seriously, I, I didn't know.
I didn't know how close thefire was either.
Um, so there was a point towhere I couldn't even glass.
The last evening, before myplan to pack down the truck, I
was up high in this basin atlike 10,000 feet, and the smoke
was so bad I couldn't even.
I was like I can't even glass.
(14:16):
I can't even see down to wheremy tent is.
So I go back down to my tentand it's the day before.
Let me think, yeah, the daybefore the opening season, and I
decide, okay, the smoke'sgetting really bad, but this is
the only area I have left tohunt.
(14:37):
Tomorrow morning I'm going towake up, pack the 10 miles
because I'm six miles in tostart hunting.
And then at this point I was atthe furthest spot I could go,
which was four miles past that.
So I woke up and I said, okay,I'm going to pack back down in
the truck, I'm going to leave mycamp, I'm going to cash camp on
(14:58):
the unit border, basically ontop of the mountain.
I'm going to cash camp and thenhike down to the truck, grab my
bow and more food and come backup Again.
It's smoky as all hell.
I don't know how I'm gonna dothis and, to make things worse,
I really only glassed up somedoes.
I didn't even get on like anygood bucks or anything, like you
(15:19):
can see in the video.
So, but at this point, uh,during the archer season, for
that tag you could have took adoe, and I was really thinking
about it because I didn't knowwhat this fire was gonna do, or
anything, so yeah, it might blowthrough and burn the whole unit
down yeah, yeah.
So here's what happened.
I spent the entire day hikingback down in the truck Again.
I leave camp up on the mountainbecause I was going to be
(15:41):
coming back up to hunt.
I get down to my truck, I'm atthis trailhead and there was a
map there from Forest Servicewith everything X'd out that
said all these trails are closed, this whole area is closed down
.
They had a map with the unit,the hunt unit in it everything
(16:05):
closed yeah crossed out likeeverything.
So I dude, i't hunt, I can't doanything.
So I'm sitting there in mytruck, my camp is back up on the
mountain, six miles in about3,000 foot climb or whatever.
It was Okay and I'm sittingthere and you can see it in the
video and I'm just like.
(16:25):
I am so screwed.
I'm screwed, I don't know whatto do and, again, don't have
cell service.
I did have an in reach, but it'shard to get information from
your dad.
And trying to explain thesituation, yeah, so I uh it's
probably like four o'clock inthe afternoon and I was like,
all right, I'm not going to justsit here and cry.
(16:47):
So I hiked back up to camp andI showed my phone at the end of
that day, because now it's dark,um, and I decided to just sleep
out in, I guess, the closure,um.
But I had hiked 21 miles thatday and climbed moly I forget a
couple hundred floors is what myphone said because I was so far
(17:07):
in had to hike back to thetruck and then back up the
mountain.
Yeah, it was tough, and thiswhole time I don't know what I'm
gonna do.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
So this is the day before.
This isn't even.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
This is day before opening opening day yep okay so
now I go to bed, I wake up myvoice is so hoarsed because all
this smoke and all the hiking,I'm just screwing myself up,
basically, okay, put my camp inmy pack, pack down the truck.
I got a good hour drive of this, driving through all this smoke
(17:41):
to even get cell service.
So I'm driving out and I'm likedude, this is just.
This is in the thing too forthe listener, like this is my
life, this is what I do.
If you see my social mediapages and everything I share,
whatever these backcountryadventure hunts, it's my life,
it's what I train for.
It's what I think about all thetime, like I'd love to do it for
(18:05):
a living one day, kind of thing.
But you know, I just I get fourweeks of vacation for work
every year and I think the lastthree years every single one of
those was spent like in themountains.
Yeah, this is just what I do.
So this was my first soloextended hunt out there and I'm
(18:26):
just the whole time just feelingsorry for myself.
Being like this is so unfair,blah, blah, blah.
So I get into town and I go andtalk to a Forest Service ranger
and then I call Fish and Gameand I'm explaining the situation
Basically.
Fish and Game told me well, I'llstart with Forest Service.
(18:46):
Forest Service said hey, buddy,I don't know what to tell you.
We're going to be fightingthese fires for months.
People come here and backpackthey're screwed.
I don't know what to tell you.
We're going to be fightingthese fires for months.
People come here and backpackthey're screwed.
I don't know what to tell you.
It's only going to get hotter.
We're not getting any rain.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
We're getting more of these winds.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Like tough, yeah, shit out of luck.
Welcome to Idaho.
So I then go there was a Forestservice office there.
I went and talked to them inperson and then I called Fish
and Game.
So Fish and Game was like yeah,we've been getting calls about
that unit with that fire andeverything.
And I said what can I?
Can I get a different tag?
Can I exchange my tag?
(19:27):
Like what can I do?
Like I'm here, I just drove 33hours from Pennsylvania, this is
my vacation, this is everything.
Um, and they said we do usuallyhave the option for people to
exchange tags in situations likethis, but since the season had
already started cause I packedout, basically on opening day-
yeah.
Since the season had alreadytechnically started, I wasn't
(19:50):
allowed to exchange my tag.
Oh, that's okay's, dumb, butcontinue, yeah.
So I was like you gotta bekidding me.
Like what can I do?
And she's like, well, we'regonna have meetings about it.
Um, next week we're waiting foremails from our supervisor.
I want to say this would havebeen I think it was friday,
august 30th, that was openingday in idaho.
And she was like, well, andit's at the end of the day and
(20:13):
and she's like we'll probablyhave more information come like
Monday or Tuesday.
And I'm like, lady, I, um, Ijust drove days from
Pennsylvania, like I'm not justgoing to stay in town here.
Like is it?
What can I do?
It?
Basically, everybody just toldme you're shit out of luck,
buddy.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
So I refuse to have a negative mindset.
I feel like the younger meprobably would have been just
upset, said I'm unlucky, drovehome.
And if you really think aboutit, I probably would have drove
home, told the story andeverybody would have said like,
yeah, you are an unlucky son ofa bitch Like you are.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
They wouldn't have blamed you.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
It would have been the end of the story, game over.
No, and that would have been myidentity.
You know what I mean.
And then I'm just a miserable,sad sack of shit, like you know
the rest of the rest of the year.
You know what I mean, so it'slike I'm not.
that might be a little far takena little far, but okay, no, you
know but like it's just likeyou know you are what you tell
yourself, all these things.
So, um, I'm like no, I refuseto tell myself that I'm going to
(21:16):
write the story that I want totell.
So, all this being said, duringthis time I had been talking to
a buddy who I just met on rockslide.
Don't know him personally atall.
He's uh, um, older than me.
I'm in my later 20s, I thinkhe's in his younger 40s,
whatever we were.
Just we met on rock slidetalking about mule deer hunting.
(21:38):
He was from a different part ofpennsylvania, I don't know,
just real cool dude and we werejust bsing about mule deer.
I was picking his brain becausehe'd been hunting the west for a
long time and he had told me hewas going to go and hunt mule
deer in colorado with a coupleguys this year, um, during like
the same time the archery season.
So I get out of town and I callthis guy and he's like why are
(22:00):
you calling me, aren't youhunting?
And I told him the situation,everything, and I said, look,
dude, I just love thesemountains and these hunts and
everything so much like.
Can I just be like, come andjust be like camp mvp, like I
don't want to go home and I waslike here's the worst thing.
I'm with guy, more experiencedguys, I learn more about mule
(22:21):
deer.
Uh, like you know, I just lovelike taking pictures, like
everything, like I'll do that,I'll pack meat out, like I'll
just do whatever, like I justlove being part of it.
And he was like sure, dude 100,you're more than welcome.
He was like we'll be here inColorado.
Like he sent me an OnX pin,we'll be there tomorrow at noon
and I'm like perfect, that'slike an eight-hour drive.
(22:43):
I can get a hotel tonight, getup and I'll meet him there.
And that's what I did.
So that's my new plan.
Again, this is all, and I'mfilming this for a YouTube hunt,
thinking I'm going to go andkill this massive like moon and
crocket like mule deer solo.
And none of this is working out.
But I was like I'll just keepfilming.
(23:03):
So now, at this point, I'mdriving down there and then I
thought, dude, wait a minute,what are the odds?
Where they're hunting, is anover-the-counter elk tag like?
What are the odds?
Because you have to draw muledeer.
Everywhere in colorado there'sonly so many over-the-counter
archery elk units.
Well, sure enough it was yeahand I'd ask that guy I call him
back in the morning and I waslike hey, dude, I don't want to
(23:26):
take away anything from yourhunt, uh, but do you guys have
elk tags?
And they were like no, uh, wejust got.
he actually didn't have a deertag, he had a bear tag and he
was kind of like guiding his twobuddies and they had the deer
tags and I was like, well, Ipromise I won't be a burden or
nothing, but do you care if Iget an elk tag?
And he was like hell, yeah,like go for it.
(23:48):
Oh, my God, like I'm the huntsback on Like I'm hunting again.
Oh my God, the hunt's back on.
I'm hunting again.
All of a sudden, I'm huntingagain.
What was really cool was mywhole, and I forgot to mention
this at the beginning.
My whole fall was supposed tobe this Idaho archery deer hunt
(24:08):
and then late.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
October.
Over-the-counter rifle elk inColorado.
Now all I'm doing is basicallybuying that elk tag now yeah,
it's getting a couple monthsearly, or a month, that's all
yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
So I'm like okay, um, and so I buy this elk tag.
And then, quick little sidenote, the idaho deer tag is good
for the whole fall, it's notjust the archery season.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
You go back there in october.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
There you go so I'll tell this at the end.
But real quick, dude, all I didI didn't waste any money or time
or nothing vacation, I justflip flop my hunts like, just
like that for all thingsconsidered, that's pretty damn
convenient yeah, I did think Iwas like the only thing that
wasn't foreseen was like thedrive from idaho to this part of
(24:52):
colorado, which, like, wouldn'thave been really part of the
plan.
But I was like the drive fromIdaho to this part of Colorado,
which, like, wouldn't have beenreally part of the plan.
But I was like, with all thingsconsidered, what's another
couple of tanks of gas?
But literally that's all.
It was just flip flop, my hunts.
So, um, I was like this is thisis crazy.
Uh, like, I'm like let's go.
So now this is like the firsttime I'm archery elk hunting.
(25:13):
I've rifle hunted elk.
A couple of years I went andhunted mule deer late season
with a rifle, but now I'm elkhunting with a bow.
So I get to this trailhead.
There's three guys and againthe one guy I don't really know
I've just talked to on the phone.
I meet him in person and thenhis two buddies um, I don't know
at all and and when I weregonna go share a camp together
(25:37):
and it ended up being the mostfun group, guys just with the
best attitude, and the one guythat I'm saying like I kind of
knew on the phone.
We talk every day now like fastforward, like he's like kind of
like my mentor.
We're actually hunting.
So I said we just, I just puthim for the Colorado deer draw.
Um, I'm going with him.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
So he's like my new hunting partner, yeah, so that's
amazing, man.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
I'm a big fan of that .
I've done that a few timeswhere I showed up and do it, and
I still am in contact with atleast one person from every one
of those camps.
It's, you know, it's uh, it'sjust a bunch of people hoping
for a really good time.
So they're.
They're, in general, greatplaces to be and great people to
meet.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yeah, yeah, it's uh, it was awesome.
So, everybody a good attitude.
Um, everybody was like all inand it was great.
So, um, I kind of want to, um,I'll start jumping ahead here a
little bit.
So we pack in and again, thisis all.
Just, I'm just filming all ofthis.
I'm like holy shit, I can'tbelieve this is all happening.
We pack into this basin, we getthere.
(26:39):
So now Colorado's opener is afew days after Idaho, so we get
there and we pack in the daybefore we get to scout into this
basin and, yeah, we glassed upsome bucks.
We actually saw a sow with somecubs.
I glassed up some sheep.
We actually saw a bear, uh, asow with some cubs.
I glassed up some sheep.
And then I said, hey, I'm gonnago way up here, up over 12 000,
climb into this other base andjust to glass in this other
(27:01):
basin.
And I glassed up this herd ofelk, um, and one like he was.
I think he was only a four byfour, but he was the big.
He was like the herd bull of anover-the-counter elk unit.
He was like chasing off thislike little raghorn, and I was
like that will be plenty for me.
So we got elk, we got deernight before the opener and I'm
(27:22):
like let's go, so get up.
The next morning.
I get up at like 3.30 in themorning to pack into this basin
because I'm like it's happening.
Well, long story short, I uh,uh, basically blew that stock.
I got on that herd, uh didn'tget it done.
I was up at like 12 5 chasingthese elk.
They were way up high and Iactually clipped myself out,
(27:44):
couldn't get any closer and theywere about.
That bull was like 114 yards, Ithink it was god that sucks I I
went in on.
I went in on a stock yeah,thinking like oh, I'll get to
that rock.
And then I'm like shit, like Ilearned so much, like what I
should it was range that rock,range them.
And then realized, did the mathshould have did to something
(28:07):
different?
But I make this stock and I'mlike damn damn, I can't go any
further.
So blew that stock, um, but I'mstill chasing these elk.
Those guys chase some, chasedeer Um, I, uh, we just had, we
had some fun for a couple ofdays but then we decided to
split up.
They were going to go to a newspot, a different mountain, and
(28:28):
I said, hey, I glassed.
Uh, we, we had glass elk onthis other mountain.
And I said, hey, guys, guys,I'm, I'm just gonna go chase
these elk.
Uh, and they were like allright, sounds good.
So the rest of the week I spentby myself chasing elk with my
bow, um, at 12 000 feet, um, youcan see in the video, I got on
stocks on a couple other herdsand then, um, the end of the
(28:52):
week it was thursday, um, again,I, I'm going in, I'm trying to
kill bull.
It's really tough in the earlyseason.
I've learned like they'reherded up, they're not really
really, you know, rutting hardor anything, like they're elk or
being elk, like there's somebugles, like the bigger herds,
like they were, you know, justelking around, but uh, the, the
(29:13):
matriarch cows and the calves,like they're kind of like on the
perimeter patrolling and that'skind of how it would always
like bust me and then, um, justjust learning, just trying to be
a better, uh, bow hunter, justwith, with, with stalking elk
and um.
Then, finally, I got to thisother spot.
(29:34):
It was one of the deepest,nastiest drainages I've ever
seen, and, sure enough, there'sa bunch of other out there.
And I get there towards the endof the one day and I said, uh,
you know, I, this is where theyare.
I don't know how I'm going toget one out of here, um, but
this is, uh, this is what it'sgoing to be.
I'm like four miles in, I'mlike 4,000 feet from up, from
(29:56):
the truck running around at12,000 by myself.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Yeah and uh, yeah, and it's like how that altitude
treats you.
I know that you were in Idahobefore that, but did you get
affected by going up that high?
A lot of people do when theycome from lower, lower, lower
ground.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Even since my first year man, this is be honest
never really has been an issue.
I do say I know, I know it canaffect anyone, but I really try
to do a lot with my endurance,um and everything, and I like.
Obviously I'll be breathingheavy like you're sucking wind
at some points a little bit butnever really made me.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
There's no loss in sleep or dizziness and okay good
no, yeah, I know some buddiesthat like as soon as they hit
like 10k, they're like can't'tdo it, like I, just they have to
hunt under that line.
Um, doesn't bother me.
I got my moose this year atlike 11, five, so I don't want
to get up there.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, if I uh, I mean , I think being hydrated is a
big part of it too, but you'llsee in the video, there was a
day or two I was running aroundup there, I had to pack, um, ran
out of water for a good day anduh, that's, that's um.
Those are feelings that aretough to explain.
Like I ran a?
Um, I try to do these ultramarathons and these hard things
to prepare.
(31:01):
Like I ran a 70 mile ultramarathon this past year, I'm
going for 100 chasing you.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Why would you do that ?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
I know.
Well, this is kind of like howwhat I found that's kind of
helped.
Like I'm going for a hundredmiler this year and like doing
those hard things, pushing yourbody getting really comfortable
with being uncomfortable, superdehydrated I can kind of
leverage that when I'm out there, like I can kind of be like
well, dude, I did that right, Iran for 15 hours straight, I
think.
I can make it here anothernight without you like Cam
(31:31):
Haines, don't you?
Speaker 1 (31:39):
I have a feeling you like cam haynes.
He's a good.
I think he's a great influence.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, yeah, okay, all right, well, cool, let's go
back to the story.
Sorry, sorry, anyway, but yeah,so, anyway, we're um.
So I'm like, okay, uh, I'mgonna go chase these out, but I
know, you know, um, I don't havethe wind right.
Um, I'm better off waiting inthe morning, waiting for that
sun to come up, heat upeverything, get up above them
and creep down.
So I spent like all daystalking down on this herd and
I'm now getting down like in thetimber a little bit and I'm
(32:02):
like they got to be here.
They got to be here.
I heard them all bugling lastnight.
There were dozens of them andit's all on video and sure
enough, like things open up andman dude, it was like I'll never
forget.
I did take a moment of presence.
I'm in this basin.
It looks like a Bob Rosspainting.
There's no other huntersOver-the-counter Colorado, no
(32:23):
other hunters by myself.
A couple dozen head of elkBulls bugling way down kind of
in the bottom.
These cows and calves.
The calves are bedding, thecows are feedingding, the cows
are like feeding.
And I'm like this is justunbelievable.
And then I thought I toldmyself the night before like
dude, these cows keep bustingyou and it's an either sex tag.
(32:44):
Um, if I get an opportunity tocow, I think I'm gonna take it
and uh, sure enough, I did umhave.
She was good size too.
Um, she was right on theoutskirts and I'm like if I go
anywhere she's going to bust me.
Um, and I said you know I'mgoing to ranger and I feel like
I can really make that shot.
And when I ranged I wasthinking like did that open
(33:07):
country and elk are so big.
I was kind of taken back.
I was like oh, 53.
And I ranged and it said 69yards.
I'm like oh my God, but I waslike I know I can make that shot
.
I felt so confident.
She was a touch quarter andaway and I flung an arrow man,
and I'd heard it hit.
She ran up in these little likejack pines and then these
(33:32):
calves got up and they were allrunning back the other way and
I'm like what's going on?
And then I just watched thatcow just roll right over that's
awesome.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
She didn't go more than 20 yards and I had no blood
, no blood trail, nothing.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
She was right there and the whole herd blows out.
I'm just standing there beinglike I can't believe everything
that happened, like betweenidaho and then I'm out here just
getting after it by myself at12,000 feet running around solo.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Now I got my first archery elk down 400 pounds of
meat to get out of the mountains.
Dude, I am so stoked.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
I didn't mention this in the video, but I'll tell it
real quick.
So I tried to also be smart.
I mean I'll do whatever ittakes to obviously get an animal
out, but I did have service onthis mountain and I had called
around for just a packer.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
I did talk to.
I found one guy that said, hey,I can't get horses in there,
but I might be able to give youtwo guys with backpacks.
And I was like that's great,because this drain is just so
steep, like that's even better.
Um, so I arrowed this cow and Icall that guy back and I'm like
, hey, I got a big cow down.
Like he's like congrats man.
(34:50):
Um, let me call those guys.
I, uh, I'll give you a callback.
And I was like, all right, Igot work to do, like sounds good
.
Um, and I got this big northslope creek.
It was like it was getting intothe 30s at night.
I knew that would be good.
Get it in the pines, this creekshould be all right.
Um, he calls me back that nightand says, hey, I can only get
(35:10):
you one guy.
Um, and I was like, well, here'swhat I'll do, I'll get.
I'll take a one lighter loadlike neck meat back straps, you
know, 10 or one, all that.
I'll take that to camp tonight.
Um, cause I had to debone.
I did everything myself,deboned everything, hung
everything in meat bags, andthen I was a good mile or two
(35:31):
from camp and had to climb outof this hellhole.
So I was like, all right, I'lltake that light load up to camp,
wake up in the morning earlyand then pack camp in that
lighter load of meat down to thetruck, meet that guy and then
we'll both come back up for theheavy loads of like each having
a front and rear quarter deboned, and then come back down.
(35:52):
And I was like, that won, thatwon't be a horror, like you know
, definitely doable.
Yeah, um, I wake up in themorning.
Um, just on cloud nine.
Um, I wake up and that guycalls me back and says dude, I
sorry I can't get you any help.
Oh damn it, I was like I waslike you, like shitting me, um.
(36:12):
So then I'm like well, whatabout those other guys I was
with and I had alreadyin-reached them, dude, because
they didn't have cell service,but I did.
But we had in-reaches like theGarmins, and I had obviously
told him, dude, I arrowed a cow,and he had told me at literally
the same time, dude, I justshot a bear, and he had told me
(36:35):
at the same, literally the sametime.
Dude, I just shot a bear like hehad.
Yeah, he picked up this beartag thinking like I'll just
bring, I'll just get somethingyeah, because the other guys had
the deer tags, so he kills thiscinnamon bear, which was like
unreal.
So at this time now I'm like,well, maybe he's in town with
that bear.
So I call him and I was likehey, dude, like what are you
doing?
And he was like I'm at you,like what are you doing?
And he was like I'm at, you,know, I'm in town.
Well, he's like.
(36:56):
He's like I'm over an hour away, I'm getting this bear checked
in all this stuff.
And I was like dude, listen, Itried to get a packer and I
don't want to take away fromyour hunt or anything, but I got
this elk down and like can youhelp me?
And he was like dude, I listen,like I got like it's, it's going
to take time here.
I still got to go to thetaxidermist and I have the
(37:18):
inreach, the guys.
I left them on the mountain.
I don't have a way tocommunicate with them, I don't
want to leave them overnight.
And I was like listen, no,don't even worry about it.
Like that's like a safety thing, like no hard feelings, don't
even worry about it.
And then I there's no way thatCreek gets above 50 degrees, it
(37:40):
freezes overnight, basicallythat meat.
I said, um, I'm good, I'm good.
I just you know yeah, um, I can,it just gonna suck, yeah, A lot
.
Yeah, it's going to be reallyhard, um, but you know I'm gonna
, you know, screw it.
I'm, I'm doing this.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
And um.
So I packed it on the truckwith with all my camp and that
light load turned right backaround, grabbed that next load,
come back down to the truck.
And then by that time it wasnight and I was like, well, I
might as well sleep a couplehours, like I'm not going to
make it.
And then woke up the next day,got the last load and back down.
(38:17):
Each one of those full tripstook me seven hours each one.
Yeah, basically a full day ofpacking, 21 hours yep, so let me
think I arrowed her thursdayevening thursday night, you know
went to bed, woke up fridaymorning, took that light, load
down rest of the day.
Friday back up, back down,slept in the truck, got up super
(38:40):
early saturday a couple hoursof sleep, yeah went back up and
then back down and by saturdayby lunchtime, yeah, I got back
to the truck.
I had felt like I ran an ultramarathon.
It literally felt like the samething, um, like a big one too,
um.
But then I, uh, it was perfect.
I called those other guys and Iwas like, hey, I just got this
(39:02):
help down, like what are youguys up to?
And I knew their plan was toleave.
And they're like, hey, we'repacking out right now.
We're gonna be in town in 20minutes.
You want to meet for a burger?
Speaker 1 (39:10):
and I was like that sounds tremendous yeah, I bet
you like calories.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
I just need calories you'll see in the video I filmed
also the pack out and me backin my truck.
Dude, my eyes are like glazedover, but I'm happier than all
hell because now I've like builtthis confidence too, like to be
honest with you, like I justpacked an elk out by myself,
like you know, if I ever need todo that, like I know, I can do
it.
So I, we go into town and weare just.
(39:45):
I wish I took pictures of thispart because it's like you know
it's it's four guys in sitkagear, all bloody.
Um, everybody's got an awesomestory to tell because the guys
was their first like mountainwestern hunt with the deer tags
and they both had stocks and theone dude did fling an arrow but
he's they're confident he uh,he's shot under it, but they had
stories and the other guy hadkilled the bear and I killed my
(40:05):
elk and people in there like oh,you like you guys, like you
guys had any luck, like yeah,those little mountain towns, man
, they love it, they lovetalking, they loved it, yeah and
um it was like just the bestman and um.
So it's all on youtube.
It's called A Wild Turn ofEvents, because that's what it
felt like it was.
Then don't have to go too farinto it or whatever.
(40:28):
I know I've been rambling here,but that deer tag was still
good.
I had this crazy experience, orwhatever.
I come home and then I actuallygo bear hunting.
I arrow a bear and I'm keepingan eye on these fires In
Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
you shot the bear.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
New Jersey.
Speaker 1 (40:48):
New.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Jersey's got a pretty big bear hunt out there now.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Per capita they have the most bears of any state I
heard, which is crazy to thinkabout.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Pretty crazy Let me think I think I threw a couple
white tail sits here inpennsylvania, keep an eye on
these fires and everything.
What am I going to do with this?
Deer tag went, hunted bearsarrowed.
A bear came home and then I gotan email from idaho fishing
game that said, hey, with thewhole fire and everything, you
(41:19):
can get a refund.
If you want to.
We'll give you a refund Becausemost of the unit, the fire, was
gone now at this point, likewe're in mid-October, but you
know a lot of it burned and butit was up to me, like you know,
wanting a refund or not.
(41:44):
But I slept on it and I decidedyou know I'd regret not going
back, so I go back.
I literally get that bear takencare of.
Um, this next weekend rollsaround.
I keep that pto just like in inuh the pto uh bank at work and
I still took it.
And then I go back to Idaho bymyself and now I'm hunting late
season mule deer and that is onmy YouTube channel as well, that
(42:05):
hunt film and that kind of blewup a little bit um, but that
was a late season hunt by myselfrifle in all the snow and in
the, the suck of the, theweather and everything yeah and
yeah, that was awesome too,that's great.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Did you harvest an animal on that trip?
I hope.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
I did not.
It was extremely tough.
I did pass up some smallerbucks and I saw a lot of does.
I was still really pinched downin just a couple areas.
I was fighting pressure um,obviously the weather, but
that's not an excuse and then,um, I did the only.
(42:47):
It was just also a general deerunit, it wasn't anything
special but, um, I did kick up acouple really good bucks, still
hunting.
That seemed to be the onlything I could do to turn up a
buck, because when I wasglassing evenings and mornings
it was just a lot of does withfawns like just coming out in
the open.
So still hunting was the onlything that kind of worked.
(43:09):
Blew out a couple good bucks.
One buck I still dream aboutlike to this day he was huge,
four by four deep forks, um, andhe, uh, he gave me the slip,
but um, no man, it was tough andI gave that trip my all dude up
like everything I had but Ibelieve it no, it definitely
(43:30):
made me a better hunter.
I'm glad I went that's awesome,man.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
Those, that's an amazing story.
I would say I'd have to guesslike 95 plus percent of people
when they were in that burnsituation wouldn't have even
hung out in the woods as long asyou did, let alone jumped out
and then gone to a differentstate, bought a new tag and
hunted something else.
So good on you for that.
That takes a lot of.
I don't know what the word is,I don't know.
(43:55):
Willpower, I don't know, butlike just a kick-ass attitude.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Yeah, I think, uh, I'm huge on like the mindset
stuff and the personaldevelopment stuff and I just
felt like this, this trip reallyencapsulated that, because it
truly was like I just I kept atevery turn, I kept getting like
my butt kicked but you gottajust keep a good head on your
shoulders.
You don't know what's going tohappen and you just got to just
keep a good head on yourshoulders.
You don't know what's going tohappen and you've just got to
(44:23):
keep going, man.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
Hell, yeah, man Hell yeah.
Well, cool man.
Do you have any other storiesyou want to share, or is it just
that big epic one there Up toyou?
We have about 10 more minutesbefore we've got to wrap this
thing up.
What do you say?
Speaker 2 (44:48):
I'll touch a little bit on like how uh idaho went um
when I, when I came back, um,yeah, so I this video on my
youtube channel.
It's called fear and the reasonbehind that was because the
whole time when I was debatingon not going, I had every excuse
like to not go.
I easily could have took therefund, banked, the work
vacation yeah, I knew it wasgoing to be a crappy hunt, like,
honestly, um, with everything,with the burns and everything
and um.
(45:08):
But it just came down to likewell, what's stopping you?
Like you're you're afraid ofnot punching the tag?
Like are you afraid of whatother people will think of you
if you don't punch the tag?
Like that's all a bullshit,excuse you know, what I mean.
Just go and bet on yourself, andwho cares?
If you give it 110%, which youhave to be tied to the truth, to
(45:34):
that, then do it.
So that's what I did.
I got out there I knew that, uh,it was gonna be tough because
there was no water, like up high, and their season runs from in
this unit it was october 10ththrough the 31st and I elected
(45:55):
to hunt, basically the back backhalf okay I think in hindsight,
after talking with my buddiesthat live out west and one buddy
I know out there in Idaho hekills some pretty good bucks I
said maybe if I was to do it allagain I'd hunt the beginning
part of the season because Ifound that I didn't really get
(46:16):
many benefits of hunting the endof October because there was no
sign of the mule deer rutwhatsoever.
The bucks were definitelybumped around from being hunted
and also elk hunters in thereand everything.
So they're by themselves,they're in the timber, you're
fighting the weather and I wasthinking like man, maybe if I
was to do it again, since thatseason ends on Halloween, if it
(46:37):
was to give me some days inNovember, maybe, um, closer to
the rut, but maybe thatbeginning of October where
you're not fighting the weatheras much, and maybe you're
getting them not as uh um, likejazzed up maybe in their
September patterns a little bitmore.
I don't know.
That's something that I learnedand he did agree with that.
Um, that's what he does outthere.
(46:59):
I was like I wish you wouldhave told me earlier.
But no, I was hunting thosebears at the time anyway.
But I got out there and Irealized that high country.
There was no water at all butaccess wasn't quite like the big
national forest I'm used tohunting in Colorado.
I could really drive my truckin a good ways to most areas and
(47:24):
after two, three days havethese basins pretty well glassed
up.
So that was my plan and thatway I could pack in water and be
able to like hunt effectively.
So that's kind of what I did.
You can kind of see that in thevideo.
I would spend a couple of daysjust bouncing around being up
high and it consistently was man, I'm a big.
(47:45):
You know.
If something's not working, youknow change like the like.
There's that episode ofSeinfeld where George Costanza
is like I'm just going to do theopposite of everything and see,
like, what works.
So I try to maybe even do thatwhen I'm hunting, like know,
like I was up high, these likenorth basins, like north facing
timber, I was like maybe they'rejust hiding in there and I was
(48:08):
seeing a lot of does, like Isaid, like every spot, I felt
like you know I was, I wasplaying a somewhat right of a
game, but just not getting onthe box, and then I'd go bounce
to some lower country glass, upsome some South slopes and then
I'm like no, I'm just going tostill hunt during these um kind
of like, at these last light umkind of moments and uh, that had
(48:30):
worked.
But you know, still hunting,even a successful still hunter,
it's not a hundred percent.
Um, you're still going to bumpdeer and it's worked for me in
the past.
I got my colorado buck in 2023,still hunting, but uh, that uh,
yeah, I bumped a couple goodbucks doing that.
The one, like I said, was realnice and I was probably within
50 of him, but I came in alittle high and he was right
(48:53):
below me in the timber sun goingdown, so those thermals just
went right to him and he startedhopping before I could get him
in the scope.
But weather was tough, man.
I've hunted Colorado lateseason in snow and really cold,
but sometimes it's not too bad.
By midday you get that bigmountain sun.
(49:13):
You can at least get your stuffdried out and it's not too too
cold.
But this part in Idaho, man, itwould just snow like squall all
day most of the days, and, um,it was like a wet snow too and
like so it was just a lot of.
Uh, I was wet, boots stayed wet, things freeze you just yeah,
(49:34):
hips start to ache high steppingthrough the snow.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and then umbig snow too, which, um, it just
it's just tough man.
So I was up there.
I didn't have a hot tent, I wasjust in a hillaberg, uh, nyack.
So, um, yeah, it was, uh, itwas pretty tough and um, but
definitely tested my mental andmy physical.
(49:55):
I feel like I learned a lotmore about deer.
I got into an area the lastcouple days where I mean I was
getting on a ton of elk.
I saw like a bunch of herdscoming down and everything but
some lower country I got into,got into some more deer and I'm
like maybe could have spent somemore time here, but again, it's
definitely a lot of lessonslearned.
Speaker 1 (50:17):
Hell yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
And glad I went.
But that was that hunt.
Speaker 1 (50:25):
That was definitely a tough adventure too.
That's cool, man.
That is cool.
Well, I actually want to dosomething unique that I've not
done before.
Um, but you, you've inspired me.
Uh, cause you came all the wayfrom the East coast to come hunt
Colorado and you just fell inlove with it.
Like, I want you to wrap up.
We're going to do a little bitmore.
After course, you can tellpeople where to find you and
your youtube and all that stuff,but I want you to do a
motivational speech, firing upmy listeners to go out and hunt
west.
I'm putting you on the spot.
(50:46):
Do you got one for me?
Speaker 2 (50:48):
absolutely dude.
I knew you would.
Let's go.
No, in all seriousness, I, overthe last like few years, just
really pursuing these thingsthat I really wanted to do, like
take my fitness more seriously,do big endurance races and do
big backcountry hunts and allthese things, and what I found
(51:09):
is really, like you know, Ithink we all deep down know what
we want to do.
Like sometimes I just want totell people I talk to do, like,
what do you like what?
Like sometimes I just want totell people I talk to that are
just they're just going througha lot or whatever, and I'm like
well, what do you want to do?
What do you spend time at nightwatching on YouTube?
Speaker 1 (51:31):
Like what do you think Like?
Speaker 2 (51:33):
man, that's cool.
I wish I could do that.
Like pursue that thing, likethat is your thing, it's gonna
be.
It's gonna take 10 times longerto get good at it.
It's gonna be 100 times harderthan you ever thought.
Um, but I am the most averagehigh school athlete.
Um, just by having big dreamsand consistently showing up
(51:54):
every single day, um, I've beenable to be like qualify for
boston and marons.
I've been able to even myfamily, like when I started
saying like I want to go huntsolo, like they didn't really
believe in me.
Like they told me, like theykind of like freaked out.
Like I put in for this likeleftover deer tag a couple of
years ago and I'm like I'm goingUm, but I didn't get it.
(52:15):
And they like I don't blamethem because I didn't give them
evidence that I could do that,right, um, but they were like
you're crazy.
Like no, you're crazy.
But I was like I'm I'm, youknow, I'm an adult.
You can't tell me what to do.
Um, but you eventually yeaheventually just worked up to it
and they can tell this huge partof my life.
And now it was like, yeah, goodluck, like go get them.
(52:37):
But anyway, my point is likeyou just got to do it, you just
got to commit to it, work at itevery single day, whatever your
goals are and this might sound alittle extreme, but, dude,
we're all going to die like oneday.
You know what I mean.
We all get to live once and Ireally, like that doesn't freak
(53:00):
me out.
That thought, I mean it is afact.
It actually excites me, causeit's like I, you know, I I wake
up every single day and I'm likejust going to pursue these
things I want to do.
And, um, I even have thistattoo on the back of my arm
here Um Ecclesiastes nine 10,and it says whatever the hand
(53:22):
findeth, do with all your might,because where you are going
which is the grave there is noknowledge, nor wisdom, nor plan,
nor device.
So to me, that is God's way ofsaying, like YOLO, you only live
one time.
Speaker 1 (53:38):
That's God's YOLO.
You only live one time, that'sgot YOLO.
Speaker 2 (53:40):
When you find your thing, and I truly think I have.
I'm not saying I have it allfigured out, I'm 28.
I haven't lived a long life oranything, but I think I found my
thing and I've been pursuing itwholeheartedly and I've built a
lot more self-esteemesteem andI'm a lot happier with it.
(54:03):
I don't know I think that's so,if that's what you want to do,
if you keep saying every, everyyear, like man, I think I'd want
to hunt West, I think I want tohunt out, like that looks cool,
or I want to get more fit, or Iwant to anything like make more
money, like all these things,like just you just have to do it
and it's going to be hard, butthat's okay, it's going to be
hard, and that's okay.
Just keep going, that's it.
Speaker 1 (54:22):
And, to add to your point, it's only going to get
harder as you get older and asit becomes harder to draw tags.
So get out there and do it guys.
Weston man, this was fun.
I appreciate you for coming onfilling out the form, getting
out here and sharing yourstories, your stories.
It was really fun to hear it,kind of that epic saga of a
whole season and not giving up.
(54:43):
That's what we all need to hear.
So thank you, man, I appreciateyou.
Let's do this.
Let's tell the people wherethey can find you, tell them
your socials, your YouTubes,whatever you want to share.
Speaker 2 (54:50):
Yep, so I'm pretty active on Instagram.
It's just my name at WestonHoma, W-E-S-T-O-N-H-O-M-A.
Youtubet?
O N H O M A.
Uh, YouTube, same thing Westand Homa, so I have my hunt
films on there.
Um, this is something that I'mgoing to do forever.
(55:10):
I have a pretty diversifiedportfolio of points and
different species and states.
So that's a lot of that's goingto come.
I also just like to share allthe training and things I've
learned.
I'm never going to say likethis is the only way.
I just you know, I'm more justlike, hey, this is what I do, it
works for me.
I'm a, I love learning fromother people and all those
things and just going to sharealso, I think, these big
endurance events and stuff likethey just helped me a lot with
(55:31):
these, with these hard hunts too.
So share a little bit of thatand then that's all to come on
the YouTube.
And then I'm also on FacebookWest and Homa same thing.
So I love connecting with guys,helping guys get going.
I have that hunt film of myIdaho hunt Dude from Mississippi
reached out to me.
He said, hey, I'm going to gohunt Idaho next year First time
(55:53):
I'm from back east down south.
I don't know what I'm doing.
Can I just pick your brain?
I gave the dude my phone number.
Yeah, I was like sure man, andwe were just bsing and again I
told him like what works for meand things to expect, and I was
like you just, you know, call meanytime.
So I just love, you know,connecting with guys, learning
from guys, helping guys out, andyeah, so that's where you can
find me and, um, yeah, sweet man, sweet.
Speaker 1 (56:16):
Well, I will put uh links to all that stuff in the
show notes to make it extra easy, so people don't even have to
google you, they can just clickon.
You know the the notes to whatwe're already listening to.
So, weston man, thank you again.
I appreciate you.
It was a lot of fun hearingyour stories and I have a
feeling we're gonna have youback here in uh in a couple
years with with a handful ofmore stories for us man.
Speaker 2 (56:34):
So thank you I love it, man.
Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (56:37):
Yeah, of course.
All right, guys.
That's it.
Another couple of stories inthe books.
Again, thanks to Weston forreaching out.
He's a listener went online,found my little form, I guess,
is what you can call it andfilled it out saying, hey, I've
got some stories to tell.
So, if you have some stories,check out the website, check out
(56:58):
the Instagram, whatever it is.
There's links everywhere.
I believe there's even one inthe show notes.
Just click on it, fill it out.
We will be in touch andhopefully get you on the podcast
here shortly.
That being said, guys, thankyou very much for tuning in.
I really do appreciate it.
Please share the podcast withone person today and other than
that, get out there and makesome stories of your own.
Thank you.
Howdy folks and welcome to the hunting stories
podcast.
I'm your host, michael, and wehave another great episode for
you today.
I'm gonna keep this short andsweet, but today we have Weston
Homa.
Weston gave us a great story.
It's an epic tale ofperseverance.
You can actually watch theentire thing on YouTube.
He's got a clip for that.
I'll make sure to put a link tothat in the show notes.
But thank you guys for tuningin.
I really do appreciate it.
Make sure you follow us, hitthe subscribe button, give us a
(00:29):
review, all of that stuff.
Thank you guys very much fortuning in.
Weston, thank you for coming onthe podcast.
Now let's go ahead and kickthis thing off.
Thank you, all right, weston.
Welcome to the Hunting StoriesPodcast.
Brother, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I'm doing good, man.
Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
How are you, dude?
I'm excited to talk with you.
Thanks so much for coming on.
You're another individual.
I believe that filled out mylittle form and I'm really
trying to get a lot of people todo that, so I'm mentioning it
here at the beginning, but I dohave a form for people who
wanted to come on and tell ussome stories, weston.
Thank you for doing that, man,I really appreciate it.
And you talked to my buddy,jared, who kind of is like an
(01:10):
unofficial producer on the showhere, and he says you have some
pretty awesome stories.
So I'm pretty excited toconnect with you today, man.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, I'm stoked.
I've been invited on to do afew podcasts now.
The more I put myself out thereon social and definitely after
starting my YouTube channelafter filming my hunts this past
fall, gotten to be invited on afew more and someone across
your podcast thought it wasreally cool and saw you guys
throw that up and I was like Idon't know what, I'll fill this
out.
I got my YouTube videos behindit.
(01:40):
Maybe I can come on and tell itand people want to go watch it.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
They can connect it with Jared.
And then here we are.
Yeah, here we are, man.
So let's do this.
Why don't you introduceyourself Kind of who you are,
where you come from, how longyou've been hunting, so that
people know kind of who they'rehearing some stories from today.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Yep, so my name is Weston Homa.
I'm from Pennsylvania,southwestern PA, out around
Pittsburgh, grew up hunting,doing all that very outdoorsy,
typical Pennsylvania deer campkind of family and yeah, for me
hunting's been a huge journey asfar as like personal
(02:15):
development and things like that.
It's a huge passion in my life.
I grew up hunting white tails.
Like I said, For me it was likehunting a lot of private.
I did grow up.
My dad had a few acres enoughfor us to like get out and bow
hunt definitely get out doing itand we go hunt public come
rifle season and always enjoyedit and everything, but didn't
(02:37):
always have the best attitudelike yeah, kill a lot of deer
and everything, but like mypassion for it and everything
that like I feel like I live fornow, I train for every day I
think about all the time is whenI started hunting the west,
about four years ago yeah, it'lldo it to you.
That'll do it to you oh my goshman, the mountains, everything.
(02:59):
It's just.
It's really changed the wholedirection of my life.
I've implemented morediscipline in my life, just
training and just getting soinfatuated with it, and then
it's actually helped me backhome here, to where I love to
challenge myself even more and Ihunt my whitetails on public,
kind of like mobile huntingstyle.
So it's just really done somuch for me and I love it.
(03:24):
I hunt the West every year.
I love just the the hard do ityourself hunts, backpacking in
it's what I think about all yearround, man, and plan to do it
forever hell yeah, hell yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
So okay, what?
What have you, what states haveyou hunted out west?
Speaker 2 (03:36):
let's start there yep , so I've hunted colorado a
bunch of times, let me think Iguess three times over the
counter elk basically okay uh,mule deer I got.
I did.
I punched a mule deer tag in2023 on a four by four buck.
And then the story I'm going toget into last year was archery
(03:58):
elk.
I've right, I rifle hunted thefirst couple years going out
west, but now, um, I mostly justreally infatuated with bow
hunting and I find that I'mgonna start getting a lot of
these tags purely just for thearchery season going forward
yeah, that's awesome and I'vehunted idaho and let me think
and then this year coming up, itshould be colorado and idaho
(04:19):
again.
Um, I got my idaho elk tagalready, but I'm waiting here
back from the draw.
I just put in for a coloradomule deer, archery deer.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
So yeah, nice, good luck.
Um, I had a question foreverybody.
I forgot oh, what was thecatalyst that took you from like
okay, I kind of dig hunting alittle bit here in pennsylvania
and then being like I gotta getout west and see what that's
like.
Like what was it just somethingyou've always wanted to do, or
was it a friend plan a trip?
Or what was the moment whereyou made that happen and then
(04:48):
fell in love with it?
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Always something I wanted to do for sure, I grew up
watching a lot of hunting showsand everything, like my family
does.
The Outdoor Channel was justalways on but I never really
took to it.
When I was watching Lee Lee andTiffany hunt 200 inch
whitetails in Iowa, like that'sreally cool, but like yeah.
I can't really relate to that.
I don't have that property, or?
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Yeah, you don't have 700 acres that you feed steroids
to the deer.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, and I didn't even really I wasn't even drawn
to it really that much anyway,but like watching something like
meat eater, where it was moreof an adventure.
And you now, I now see thepassion and everything and I'm
still a huge fan of steveranella, so something I always
wanted to do, for sure.
And then my dad had startedgoing out west a couple years
with some guys and then he didask me to go for the first year
(05:40):
and I said, you know, huntingfor me was always just this
fixed ladder stand on a fieldedge on some private and the
deer were either there or theyweren't.
And I had fun doing that, I hadsome success doing that, but
like never really felt like Icould do something.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, and I was like man, themountains, the like you get up
and you can actually move, likego make a play.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
every day you walk 10 miles.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Yeah, move, like go make a play.
Every day you walk 10 miles,yeah, yeah, and uh, the whole
physical fitness side of things,that's really when I started
running.
I'm huge, like, like I said,it's changed my life man.
I'm a huge um into theendurance of it.
Now, over the years since Istarted going out there, I've
kept up with running ultramarathons, marathons.
It just might like my thing now, but anyway, that's what really
tricked for me and I was justlike, maybe out there, like I
could have, I get, like makesomething happen.
(06:28):
And then, um, I remember weback, I, backpacked, wyoming, I.
We did that, my dad, my brotherand I in high school I just
loved the west.
It was a eight day backpackingin the wind river and uh,
fishing, um, and just purelybackpacking, and I always
thought, like man, if I had aweapon like this.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I just feel like this would be my bread and butter,
and sure enough, we got theseelk tags.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
And like ever since that first trip, man and I
didn't punch that tag but saw abunch of elk had the bugles I
mean.
I hate being that guy that youknow everybody has it.
90% of elk hunters areunsuccessful.
So everybody comes back saying,yeah, we saw some, just
couldn't get it done.
Blah, blah, blah.
And that just like whateverdude, that's cool but it drives
(07:14):
me nuts, dude, I just like.
I hate losing but I also embrace, like learning and always
trying to get better, so I'vejust kept up with that, and then
the success started to finallycome a little bit.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yeah, man, that that story adds up.
I think it's.
Uh, your story is unique, don'tget me wrong, but it is a story
that happens to a lot ofhunters, where that's like I
didn't even hunt but I all of asudden I'm in the mountains.
I'm like man, this is hard,this is fun.
Like you just fall in love withlike the, the effort you have
to put in and the adventure andall of those things.
So it's very true to peoplelistening.
(07:49):
You know you got to get outthere and try it once.
Um, yeah, man, that's, that'scool.
I like hearing someone aspassionate as you.
It reminds me of, like, when Istarted elk shape kind of got me
into that with all the fitnessI never got into running.
I never will get into running.
So good on you for that.
Uh, not Not for me, but yeah,the fitness part of it, the
whole thing, it's just thiswhole thing.
It's a lifestyle.
So that's very cool.
(08:10):
But we're not here to talkabout that shit.
Weston, all right.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
So let's get that out , let's hear some stories, man.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
I want to hear about some of your adventures.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
I don't know if you're gonna start with a
particular one that I'm prettyexcited for, but you set the
stage.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Where are?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
we going.
So I do.
Yes, I do have a direction hereand I think this is going to be
worth the worth the listen, soperfect.
I will preface and say I dohave a YouTube channel now.
I didn't know what I was doingto start my fall 2024 hunting
adventures.
I just was out there with aSony RX 100 with a little
external mic clipped on and I'vemade some hunt films now and
like they've started to get somereach.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
So the story.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
I'm about to tell it is on my YouTube channel, Um,
but here I'll just.
I'll just dive into it.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Okay, so the plan for 2024 for Weston originally
looked like this I picked up anIdaho mule deer tag in December
of 2023 for the 2024 season, soI buy this mule deer tag to hunt
(09:20):
solo by myself.
I had two weeks to get it done.
That included three, four daysscouting on the front end and it
was going to be just me.
So that was the plan and, likeI said, dude, I absolutely love
this.
I train all year round ultramarathons, all this stuff, so
plan for it all year.
I've done solo trips in thepast, extended weekends like
(09:43):
back east, just to get used toit.
I did a five days scouting incolorado no, it was like six
days scouting in colorado soloagain, just like building the
skill of solo hunting.
And then I was like I'll justgo scout, scout the unit.
Then I'm gonna come back andhunt with some guys.
I did that, but this was thefirst um extended solo hunt in
the mountains by myselfbackpacking in.
(10:04):
So season starts to come aroundand this is archery season.
So it's the end of August.
I'm out here in Pennsylvania.
I got a 33-hour drive ahead ofme.
I'm so obsessed I got, yeah,but I got everything planned out
.
I'm e-scouting like a madman,like my hunt plans, everything.
(10:25):
So as the week is starting tocome, I am watching on X and
everything and I see thesewildfires start to pop up, and
the unit that I was huntingwasn't necessarily a big unit
anyway.
And Idaho's deer tags aredifferent from their elk tags to
where your deer tag is onlygood for one unit as a
(10:47):
non-resident.
The elk tags are a zone.
It's like multiple units.
They have elk zones and um, butI was just stuck to this one
unit.
It was a very small unit.
So I see this fire pop up andit's starting to grow about just
about every day leading up towhen, like, I'm trying to leave
after work on a Friday orwhatever it was.
(11:07):
But I'm like you know whatever.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Like I'm going, you know what I mean.
Like whatever.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
So got the truck loaded up as I'm driving out
there like it took me a coupleof days and I'm just by myself
sleeping in the truck, clippingoff as much driving as I can do,
and I get there to scout for acouple days early.
So, as I'm going and I have ahunt plan of, like you know,
hunt plan a, b, c, d and I triedand I wanted to set myself up
(11:35):
to maybe bounce around a coupletimes during the three, four
days of scouting I had, okay, asI'm going out there, this fire
starts to get so big itliterally takes out my plans A
through D, like I'm on plan Eand I had only A through E plans
.
So, I'm choked down to this onearea of National Forest that's
(11:57):
still open.
Everything else is closedbecause of these fires and I'm
like this is just unbelievable,but I'm like I just need, but
I'm like I just need one, likeit just takes one.
So, um, I get out there and nowmy plan is actually I can't
even get to this little areathat's still open from my unit.
I had to park outside of theunit and hike in six miles into
(12:22):
my unit to the unit border andthen start hunting.
So I had a six mile hike inbefore miles into my unit to the
unit border and then starthunting.
So I did six mile hike in beforeI could do anything yeah, then
I got into my unit and then itopened up to where I had some
square miles of openness and itwas some high country.
It wasn't, like I said, my topplan, but it had potential, I
figured.
So I get up in there and Ispend the first and I just bring
(12:47):
like three or four days of food.
I leave my bow in the truckbecause why bring, you know
everything?
I just want to scout.
I'll come back after the fewdays of scouting grab more food
and the bow and I'll come backfor opening day.
So, as I'm going, there's thisbig shift in the winds and I
think what it was was yeah, wegot these north winds that came
(13:12):
through, and the day beforeopening season I'm out there by
myself no self-service, nothing.
And um, this smoke is reallyrolling in, and now I'm about 10
miles from my truck.
So and I'm from Pennsylvania, Idon't know much about wildfires
(13:33):
or how much smoke is too muchsmoke or anything.
Again, I don't have cellservice.
You can watch it in the YouTubevideo.
I'm kind of just sitting therelike I don't really know what to
do.
I don't know if, like you, canfall asleep out here with all
this smoke and plus, I'm bymyself.
I have to.
I'm over rationalizingeverything.
I can't bounce an idea offanybody.
(13:55):
Um, it's like am I gonna be okay?
Seriously, I, I didn't know.
I didn't know how close thefire was either.
Um, so there was a point towhere I couldn't even glass.
The last evening, before myplan to pack down the truck, I
was up high in this basin atlike 10,000 feet, and the smoke
was so bad I couldn't even.
I was like I can't even glass.
(14:16):
I can't even see down to wheremy tent is.
So I go back down to my tentand it's the day before.
Let me think, yeah, the daybefore the opening season, and I
decide, okay, the smoke'sgetting really bad, but this is
the only area I have left tohunt.
(14:37):
Tomorrow morning I'm going towake up, pack the 10 miles
because I'm six miles in tostart hunting.
And then at this point I was atthe furthest spot I could go,
which was four miles past that.
So I woke up and I said, okay,I'm going to pack back down in
the truck, I'm going to leave mycamp, I'm going to cash camp on
(14:58):
the unit border, basically ontop of the mountain.
I'm going to cash camp and thenhike down to the truck, grab my
bow and more food and come backup Again.
It's smoky as all hell.
I don't know how I'm gonna dothis and, to make things worse,
I really only glassed up somedoes.
I didn't even get on like anygood bucks or anything, like you
(15:19):
can see in the video.
So, but at this point, uh,during the archer season, for
that tag you could have took adoe, and I was really thinking
about it because I didn't knowwhat this fire was gonna do, or
anything, so yeah, it might blowthrough and burn the whole unit
down yeah, yeah.
So here's what happened.
I spent the entire day hikingback down in the truck Again.
I leave camp up on the mountainbecause I was going to be
(15:41):
coming back up to hunt.
I get down to my truck, I'm atthis trailhead and there was a
map there from Forest Servicewith everything X'd out that
said all these trails are closed, this whole area is closed down
.
They had a map with the unit,the hunt unit in it everything
(16:05):
closed yeah crossed out likeeverything.
So I dude, i't hunt, I can't doanything.
So I'm sitting there in mytruck, my camp is back up on the
mountain, six miles in about3,000 foot climb or whatever.
It was Okay and I'm sittingthere and you can see it in the
video and I'm just like.
(16:25):
I am so screwed.
I'm screwed, I don't know whatto do and, again, don't have
cell service.
I did have an in reach, but it'shard to get information from
your dad.
And trying to explain thesituation, yeah, so I uh it's
probably like four o'clock inthe afternoon and I was like,
all right, I'm not going to justsit here and cry.
(16:47):
So I hiked back up to camp andI showed my phone at the end of
that day, because now it's dark,um, and I decided to just sleep
out in, I guess, the closure,um.
But I had hiked 21 miles thatday and climbed moly I forget a
couple hundred floors is what myphone said because I was so far
(17:07):
in had to hike back to thetruck and then back up the
mountain.
Yeah, it was tough, and thiswhole time I don't know what I'm
gonna do.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
So this is the day before.
This isn't even.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
This is day before opening opening day yep okay so
now I go to bed, I wake up myvoice is so hoarsed because all
this smoke and all the hiking,I'm just screwing myself up,
basically, okay, put my camp inmy pack, pack down the truck.
I got a good hour drive of this, driving through all this smoke
(17:41):
to even get cell service.
So I'm driving out and I'm likedude, this is just.
This is in the thing too forthe listener, like this is my
life, this is what I do.
If you see my social mediapages and everything I share,
whatever these backcountryadventure hunts, it's my life,
it's what I train for.
It's what I think about all thetime, like I'd love to do it for
(18:05):
a living one day, kind of thing.
But you know, I just I get fourweeks of vacation for work
every year and I think the lastthree years every single one of
those was spent like in themountains.
Yeah, this is just what I do.
So this was my first soloextended hunt out there and I'm
(18:26):
just the whole time just feelingsorry for myself.
Being like this is so unfair,blah, blah, blah.
So I get into town and I go andtalk to a Forest Service ranger
and then I call Fish and Gameand I'm explaining the situation
Basically.
Fish and Game told me well, I'llstart with Forest Service.
(18:46):
Forest Service said hey, buddy,I don't know what to tell you.
We're going to be fightingthese fires for months.
People come here and backpackthey're screwed.
I don't know what to tell you.
We're going to be fightingthese fires for months.
People come here and backpackthey're screwed.
I don't know what to tell you.
It's only going to get hotter.
We're not getting any rain.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
We're getting more of these winds.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Like tough, yeah, shit out of luck.
Welcome to Idaho.
So I then go there was a Forestservice office there.
I went and talked to them inperson and then I called Fish
and Game.
So Fish and Game was like yeah,we've been getting calls about
that unit with that fire andeverything.
And I said what can I?
Can I get a different tag?
Can I exchange my tag?
(19:27):
Like what can I do?
Like I'm here, I just drove 33hours from Pennsylvania, this is
my vacation, this is everything.
Um, and they said we do usuallyhave the option for people to
exchange tags in situations likethis, but since the season had
already started cause I packedout, basically on opening day-
yeah.
Since the season had alreadytechnically started, I wasn't
(19:50):
allowed to exchange my tag.
Oh, that's okay's, dumb, butcontinue, yeah.
So I was like you gotta bekidding me.
Like what can I do?
And she's like, well, we'regonna have meetings about it.
Um, next week we're waiting foremails from our supervisor.
I want to say this would havebeen I think it was friday,
august 30th, that was openingday in idaho.
And she was like, well, andit's at the end of the day and
(20:13):
and she's like we'll probablyhave more information come like
Monday or Tuesday.
And I'm like, lady, I, um, Ijust drove days from
Pennsylvania, like I'm not justgoing to stay in town here.
Like is it?
What can I do?
It?
Basically, everybody just toldme you're shit out of luck,
buddy.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
So I refuse to have a negative mindset.
I feel like the younger meprobably would have been just
upset, said I'm unlucky, drovehome.
And if you really think aboutit, I probably would have drove
home, told the story andeverybody would have said like,
yeah, you are an unlucky son ofa bitch Like you are.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
They wouldn't have blamed you.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
It would have been the end of the story, game over.
No, and that would have been myidentity.
You know what I mean.
And then I'm just a miserable,sad sack of shit, like you know
the rest of the rest of the year.
You know what I mean, so it'slike I'm not.
that might be a little far takena little far, but okay, no, you
know but like it's just likeyou know you are what you tell
yourself, all these things.
So, um, I'm like no, I refuseto tell myself that I'm going to
(21:16):
write the story that I want totell.
So, all this being said, duringthis time I had been talking to
a buddy who I just met on rockslide.
Don't know him personally atall.
He's uh, um, older than me.
I'm in my later 20s, I thinkhe's in his younger 40s,
whatever we were.
Just we met on rock slidetalking about mule deer hunting.
(21:38):
He was from a different part ofpennsylvania, I don't know,
just real cool dude and we werejust bsing about mule deer.
I was picking his brain becausehe'd been hunting the west for a
long time and he had told me hewas going to go and hunt mule
deer in colorado with a coupleguys this year, um, during like
the same time the archery season.
So I get out of town and I callthis guy and he's like why are
(22:00):
you calling me, aren't youhunting?
And I told him the situation,everything, and I said, look,
dude, I just love thesemountains and these hunts and
everything so much like.
Can I just be like, come andjust be like camp mvp, like I
don't want to go home and I waslike here's the worst thing.
I'm with guy, more experiencedguys, I learn more about mule
(22:21):
deer.
Uh, like you know, I just lovelike taking pictures, like
everything, like I'll do that,I'll pack meat out, like I'll
just do whatever, like I justlove being part of it.
And he was like sure, dude 100,you're more than welcome.
He was like we'll be here inColorado.
Like he sent me an OnX pin,we'll be there tomorrow at noon
and I'm like perfect, that'slike an eight-hour drive.
(22:43):
I can get a hotel tonight, getup and I'll meet him there.
And that's what I did.
So that's my new plan.
Again, this is all, and I'mfilming this for a YouTube hunt,
thinking I'm going to go andkill this massive like moon and
crocket like mule deer solo.
And none of this is working out.
But I was like I'll just keepfilming.
(23:03):
So now, at this point, I'mdriving down there and then I
thought, dude, wait a minute,what are the odds?
Where they're hunting, is anover-the-counter elk tag like?
What are the odds?
Because you have to draw muledeer.
Everywhere in colorado there'sonly so many over-the-counter
archery elk units.
Well, sure enough it was yeahand I'd ask that guy I call him
back in the morning and I waslike hey, dude, I don't want to
(23:26):
take away anything from yourhunt, uh, but do you guys have
elk tags?
And they were like no, uh, wejust got.
he actually didn't have a deertag, he had a bear tag and he
was kind of like guiding his twobuddies and they had the deer
tags and I was like, well, Ipromise I won't be a burden or
nothing, but do you care if Iget an elk tag?
And he was like hell, yeah,like go for it.
(23:48):
Oh, my God, like I'm the huntsback on Like I'm hunting again.
Oh my God, the hunt's back on.
I'm hunting again.
All of a sudden, I'm huntingagain.
What was really cool was mywhole, and I forgot to mention
this at the beginning.
My whole fall was supposed tobe this Idaho archery deer hunt
(24:08):
and then late.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
October.
Over-the-counter rifle elk inColorado.
Now all I'm doing is basicallybuying that elk tag now yeah,
it's getting a couple monthsearly, or a month, that's all
yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
So I'm like okay, um, and so I buy this elk tag.
And then, quick little sidenote, the idaho deer tag is good
for the whole fall, it's notjust the archery season.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
You go back there in october.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
There you go so I'll tell this at the end.
But real quick, dude, all I didI didn't waste any money or time
or nothing vacation, I justflip flop my hunts like, just
like that for all thingsconsidered, that's pretty damn
convenient yeah, I did think Iwas like the only thing that
wasn't foreseen was like thedrive from idaho to this part of
(24:52):
colorado, which, like, wouldn'thave been really part of the
plan.
But I was like the drive fromIdaho to this part of Colorado,
which, like, wouldn't have beenreally part of the plan.
But I was like, with all thingsconsidered, what's another
couple of tanks of gas?
But literally that's all.
It was just flip flop, my hunts.
So, um, I was like this is thisis crazy.
Uh, like, I'm like let's go.
So now this is like the firsttime I'm archery elk hunting.
(25:13):
I've rifle hunted elk.
A couple of years I went andhunted mule deer late season
with a rifle, but now I'm elkhunting with a bow.
So I get to this trailhead.
There's three guys and againthe one guy I don't really know
I've just talked to on the phone.
I meet him in person and thenhis two buddies um, I don't know
at all and and when I weregonna go share a camp together
(25:37):
and it ended up being the mostfun group, guys just with the
best attitude, and the one guythat I'm saying like I kind of
knew on the phone.
We talk every day now like fastforward, like he's like kind of
like my mentor.
We're actually hunting.
So I said we just, I just puthim for the Colorado deer draw.
Um, I'm going with him.
Speaker 1 (25:57):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
So he's like my new hunting partner, yeah, so that's
amazing, man.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
I'm a big fan of that .
I've done that a few timeswhere I showed up and do it, and
I still am in contact with atleast one person from every one
of those camps.
It's, you know, it's uh, it'sjust a bunch of people hoping
for a really good time.
So they're.
They're, in general, greatplaces to be and great people to
meet.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yeah, yeah, it's uh, it was awesome.
So, everybody a good attitude.
Um, everybody was like all inand it was great.
So, um, I kind of want to, um,I'll start jumping ahead here a
little bit.
So we pack in and again, thisis all.
Just, I'm just filming all ofthis.
I'm like holy shit, I can'tbelieve this is all happening.
We pack into this basin, we getthere.
(26:39):
So now Colorado's opener is afew days after Idaho, so we get
there and we pack in the daybefore we get to scout into this
basin and, yeah, we glassed upsome bucks.
We actually saw a sow with somecubs.
I glassed up some sheep.
We actually saw a bear, uh, asow with some cubs.
I glassed up some sheep.
And then I said, hey, I'm gonnago way up here, up over 12 000,
climb into this other base andjust to glass in this other
(27:01):
basin.
And I glassed up this herd ofelk, um, and one like he was.
I think he was only a four byfour, but he was the big.
He was like the herd bull of anover-the-counter elk unit.
He was like chasing off thislike little raghorn, and I was
like that will be plenty for me.
So we got elk, we got deernight before the opener and I'm
(27:22):
like let's go, so get up.
The next morning.
I get up at like 3.30 in themorning to pack into this basin
because I'm like it's happening.
Well, long story short, I uh,uh, basically blew that stock.
I got on that herd, uh didn'tget it done.
I was up at like 12 5 chasingthese elk.
They were way up high and Iactually clipped myself out,
(27:44):
couldn't get any closer and theywere about.
That bull was like 114 yards, Ithink it was god that sucks I I
went in on.
I went in on a stock yeah,thinking like oh, I'll get to
that rock.
And then I'm like shit, like Ilearned so much, like what I
should it was range that rock,range them.
And then realized, did the mathshould have did to something
(28:07):
different?
But I make this stock and I'mlike damn damn, I can't go any
further.
So blew that stock, um, but I'mstill chasing these elk.
Those guys chase some, chasedeer Um, I, uh, we just had, we
had some fun for a couple ofdays but then we decided to
split up.
They were going to go to a newspot, a different mountain, and
(28:28):
I said, hey, I glassed.
Uh, we, we had glass elk onthis other mountain.
And I said, hey, guys, guys,I'm, I'm just gonna go chase
these elk.
Uh, and they were like allright, sounds good.
So the rest of the week I spentby myself chasing elk with my
bow, um, at 12 000 feet, um, youcan see in the video, I got on
stocks on a couple other herdsand then, um, the end of the
(28:52):
week it was thursday, um, again,I, I'm going in, I'm trying to
kill bull.
It's really tough in the earlyseason.
I've learned like they'reherded up, they're not really
really, you know, rutting hardor anything, like they're elk or
being elk, like there's somebugles, like the bigger herds,
like they were, you know, justelking around, but uh, the, the
(29:13):
matriarch cows and the calves,like they're kind of like on the
perimeter patrolling and that'skind of how it would always
like bust me and then, um, justjust learning, just trying to be
a better, uh, bow hunter, justwith, with, with stalking elk
and um.
Then, finally, I got to thisother spot.
(29:34):
It was one of the deepest,nastiest drainages I've ever
seen, and, sure enough, there'sa bunch of other out there.
And I get there towards the endof the one day and I said, uh,
you know, I, this is where theyare.
I don't know how I'm going toget one out of here, um, but
this is, uh, this is what it'sgoing to be.
I'm like four miles in, I'mlike 4,000 feet from up, from
(29:56):
the truck running around at12,000 by myself.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
Yeah and uh, yeah, and it's like how that altitude
treats you.
I know that you were in Idahobefore that, but did you get
affected by going up that high?
A lot of people do when theycome from lower, lower, lower
ground.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
Even since my first year man, this is be honest
never really has been an issue.
I do say I know, I know it canaffect anyone, but I really try
to do a lot with my endurance,um and everything, and I like.
Obviously I'll be breathingheavy like you're sucking wind
at some points a little bit butnever really made me.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
There's no loss in sleep or dizziness and okay good
no, yeah, I know some buddiesthat like as soon as they hit
like 10k, they're like can't'tdo it, like I, just they have to
hunt under that line.
Um, doesn't bother me.
I got my moose this year atlike 11, five, so I don't want
to get up there.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, if I uh, I mean , I think being hydrated is a
big part of it too, but you'llsee in the video, there was a
day or two I was running aroundup there, I had to pack, um, ran
out of water for a good day anduh, that's, that's um.
Those are feelings that aretough to explain.
Like I ran a?
Um, I try to do these ultramarathons and these hard things
to prepare.
(31:01):
Like I ran a 70 mile ultramarathon this past year, I'm
going for 100 chasing you.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
Why would you do that ?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
I know.
Well, this is kind of like howwhat I found that's kind of
helped.
Like I'm going for a hundredmiler this year and like doing
those hard things, pushing yourbody getting really comfortable
with being uncomfortable, superdehydrated I can kind of
leverage that when I'm out there, like I can kind of be like
well, dude, I did that right, Iran for 15 hours straight, I
think.
I can make it here anothernight without you like Cam
(31:31):
Haines, don't you?
Speaker 1 (31:39):
I have a feeling you like cam haynes.
He's a good.
I think he's a great influence.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, yeah, okay, all right, well, cool, let's go
back to the story.
Sorry, sorry, anyway, but yeah,so, anyway, we're um.
So I'm like, okay, uh, I'mgonna go chase these out, but I
know, you know, um, I don't havethe wind right.
Um, I'm better off waiting inthe morning, waiting for that
sun to come up, heat upeverything, get up above them
and creep down.
So I spent like all daystalking down on this herd and
I'm now getting down like in thetimber a little bit and I'm
(32:02):
like they got to be here.
They got to be here.
I heard them all bugling lastnight.
There were dozens of them andit's all on video and sure
enough, like things open up andman dude, it was like I'll never
forget.
I did take a moment of presence.
I'm in this basin.
It looks like a Bob Rosspainting.
There's no other huntersOver-the-counter Colorado, no
(32:23):
other hunters by myself.
A couple dozen head of elkBulls bugling way down kind of
in the bottom.
These cows and calves.
The calves are bedding, thecows are feedingding, the cows
are like feeding.
And I'm like this is justunbelievable.
And then I thought I toldmyself the night before like
dude, these cows keep bustingyou and it's an either sex tag.
(32:44):
Um, if I get an opportunity tocow, I think I'm gonna take it
and uh, sure enough, I did umhave.
She was good size too.
Um, she was right on theoutskirts and I'm like if I go
anywhere she's going to bust me.
Um, and I said you know I'mgoing to ranger and I feel like
I can really make that shot.
And when I ranged I wasthinking like did that open
(33:07):
country and elk are so big.
I was kind of taken back.
I was like oh, 53.
And I ranged and it said 69yards.
I'm like oh my God, but I waslike I know I can make that shot
.
I felt so confident.
She was a touch quarter andaway and I flung an arrow man,
and I'd heard it hit.
She ran up in these little likejack pines and then these
(33:32):
calves got up and they were allrunning back the other way and
I'm like what's going on?
And then I just watched thatcow just roll right over that's
awesome.
Speaker 1 (33:41):
She didn't go more than 20 yards and I had no blood
, no blood trail, nothing.
Speaker 2 (33:45):
She was right there and the whole herd blows out.
I'm just standing there beinglike I can't believe everything
that happened, like betweenidaho and then I'm out here just
getting after it by myself at12,000 feet running around solo.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Now I got my first archery elk down 400 pounds of
meat to get out of the mountains.
Dude, I am so stoked.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
I didn't mention this in the video, but I'll tell it
real quick.
So I tried to also be smart.
I mean I'll do whatever ittakes to obviously get an animal
out, but I did have service onthis mountain and I had called
around for just a packer.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
I did talk to.
I found one guy that said, hey,I can't get horses in there,
but I might be able to give youtwo guys with backpacks.
And I was like that's great,because this drain is just so
steep, like that's even better.
Um, so I arrowed this cow and Icall that guy back and I'm like
, hey, I got a big cow down.
Like he's like congrats man.
(34:50):
Um, let me call those guys.
I, uh, I'll give you a callback.
And I was like, all right, Igot work to do, like sounds good
.
Um, and I got this big northslope creek.
It was like it was getting intothe 30s at night.
I knew that would be good.
Get it in the pines, this creekshould be all right.
Um, he calls me back that nightand says, hey, I can only get
(35:10):
you one guy.
Um, and I was like, well, here'swhat I'll do, I'll get.
I'll take a one lighter loadlike neck meat back straps, you
know, 10 or one, all that.
I'll take that to camp tonight.
Um, cause I had to debone.
I did everything myself,deboned everything, hung
everything in meat bags, andthen I was a good mile or two
(35:31):
from camp and had to climb outof this hellhole.
So I was like, all right, I'lltake that light load up to camp,
wake up in the morning earlyand then pack camp in that
lighter load of meat down to thetruck, meet that guy and then
we'll both come back up for theheavy loads of like each having
a front and rear quarter deboned, and then come back down.
(35:52):
And I was like, that won, thatwon't be a horror, like you know
, definitely doable.
Yeah, um, I wake up in themorning.
Um, just on cloud nine.
Um, I wake up and that guycalls me back and says dude, I
sorry I can't get you any help.
Oh damn it, I was like I waslike you, like shitting me, um.
(36:12):
So then I'm like well, whatabout those other guys I was
with and I had alreadyin-reached them, dude, because
they didn't have cell service,but I did.
But we had in-reaches like theGarmins, and I had obviously
told him, dude, I arrowed a cow,and he had told me at literally
the same time, dude, I justshot a bear, and he had told me
(36:35):
at the same, literally the sametime.
Dude, I just shot a bear like hehad.
Yeah, he picked up this beartag thinking like I'll just
bring, I'll just get somethingyeah, because the other guys had
the deer tags, so he kills thiscinnamon bear, which was like
unreal.
So at this time now I'm like,well, maybe he's in town with
that bear.
So I call him and I was likehey, dude, like what are you
doing?
And he was like I'm at you,like what are you doing?
And he was like I'm at, you,know, I'm in town.
Well, he's like.
(36:56):
He's like I'm over an hour away, I'm getting this bear checked
in all this stuff.
And I was like dude, listen, Itried to get a packer and I
don't want to take away fromyour hunt or anything, but I got
this elk down and like can youhelp me?
And he was like dude, I listen,like I got like it's, it's going
to take time here.
I still got to go to thetaxidermist and I have the
(37:18):
inreach, the guys.
I left them on the mountain.
I don't have a way tocommunicate with them, I don't
want to leave them overnight.
And I was like listen, no,don't even worry about it.
Like that's like a safety thing, like no hard feelings, don't
even worry about it.
And then I there's no way thatCreek gets above 50 degrees, it
(37:40):
freezes overnight, basicallythat meat.
I said, um, I'm good, I'm good.
I just you know yeah, um, I can,it just gonna suck, yeah, A lot
.
Yeah, it's going to be reallyhard, um, but you know I'm gonna
, you know, screw it.
I'm, I'm doing this.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
And um.
So I packed it on the truckwith with all my camp and that
light load turned right backaround, grabbed that next load,
come back down to the truck.
And then by that time it wasnight and I was like, well, I
might as well sleep a couplehours, like I'm not going to
make it.
And then woke up the next day,got the last load and back down.
(38:17):
Each one of those full tripstook me seven hours each one.
Yeah, basically a full day ofpacking, 21 hours yep, so let me
think I arrowed her thursdayevening thursday night, you know
went to bed, woke up fridaymorning, took that light, load
down rest of the day.
Friday back up, back down,slept in the truck, got up super
(38:40):
early saturday a couple hoursof sleep, yeah went back up and
then back down and by saturdayby lunchtime, yeah, I got back
to the truck.
I had felt like I ran an ultramarathon.
It literally felt like the samething, um, like a big one too,
um.
But then I, uh, it was perfect.
I called those other guys and Iwas like, hey, I just got this
(39:02):
help down, like what are youguys up to?
And I knew their plan was toleave.
And they're like, hey, we'repacking out right now.
We're gonna be in town in 20minutes.
You want to meet for a burger?
Speaker 1 (39:10):
and I was like that sounds tremendous yeah, I bet
you like calories.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
I just need calories you'll see in the video I filmed
also the pack out and me backin my truck.
Dude, my eyes are like glazedover, but I'm happier than all
hell because now I've like builtthis confidence too, like to be
honest with you, like I justpacked an elk out by myself,
like you know, if I ever need todo that, like I know, I can do
it.
So I, we go into town and weare just.
(39:45):
I wish I took pictures of thispart because it's like you know
it's it's four guys in sitkagear, all bloody.
Um, everybody's got an awesomestory to tell because the guys
was their first like mountainwestern hunt with the deer tags
and they both had stocks and theone dude did fling an arrow but
he's they're confident he uh,he's shot under it, but they had
stories and the other guy hadkilled the bear and I killed my
(40:05):
elk and people in there like oh,you like you guys, like you
guys had any luck, like yeah,those little mountain towns, man
, they love it, they lovetalking, they loved it, yeah and
um it was like just the bestman and um.
So it's all on youtube.
It's called A Wild Turn ofEvents, because that's what it
felt like it was.
Then don't have to go too farinto it or whatever.
(40:28):
I know I've been rambling here,but that deer tag was still
good.
I had this crazy experience, orwhatever.
I come home and then I actuallygo bear hunting.
I arrow a bear and I'm keepingan eye on these fires In
Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
you shot the bear.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
New Jersey.
Speaker 1 (40:48):
New.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
Jersey's got a pretty big bear hunt out there now.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Per capita they have the most bears of any state I
heard, which is crazy to thinkabout.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Pretty crazy Let me think I think I threw a couple
white tail sits here inpennsylvania, keep an eye on
these fires and everything.
What am I going to do with this?
Deer tag went, hunted bearsarrowed.
A bear came home and then I gotan email from idaho fishing
game that said, hey, with thewhole fire and everything, you
(41:19):
can get a refund.
If you want to.
We'll give you a refund Becausemost of the unit, the fire, was
gone now at this point, likewe're in mid-October, but you
know a lot of it burned and butit was up to me, like you know,
wanting a refund or not.
(41:44):
But I slept on it and I decidedyou know I'd regret not going
back, so I go back.
I literally get that bear takencare of.
Um, this next weekend rollsaround.
I keep that pto just like in inuh the pto uh bank at work and
I still took it.
And then I go back to Idaho bymyself and now I'm hunting late
season mule deer and that is onmy YouTube channel as well, that
(42:05):
hunt film and that kind of blewup a little bit um, but that
was a late season hunt by myselfrifle in all the snow and in
the, the suck of the, theweather and everything yeah and
yeah, that was awesome too,that's great.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
Did you harvest an animal on that trip?
I hope.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
I did not.
It was extremely tough.
I did pass up some smallerbucks and I saw a lot of does.
I was still really pinched downin just a couple areas.
I was fighting pressure um,obviously the weather, but
that's not an excuse and then,um, I did the only.
(42:47):
It was just also a general deerunit, it wasn't anything
special but, um, I did kick up acouple really good bucks, still
hunting.
That seemed to be the onlything I could do to turn up a
buck, because when I wasglassing evenings and mornings
it was just a lot of does withfawns like just coming out in
the open.
So still hunting was the onlything that kind of worked.
(43:09):
Blew out a couple good bucks.
One buck I still dream aboutlike to this day he was huge,
four by four deep forks, um, andhe, uh, he gave me the slip,
but um, no man, it was tough andI gave that trip my all dude up
like everything I had but Ibelieve it no, it definitely
(43:30):
made me a better hunter.
I'm glad I went that's awesome,man.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
Those, that's an amazing story.
I would say I'd have to guesslike 95 plus percent of people
when they were in that burnsituation wouldn't have even
hung out in the woods as long asyou did, let alone jumped out
and then gone to a differentstate, bought a new tag and
hunted something else.
So good on you for that.
That takes a lot of.
I don't know what the word is,I don't know.
(43:55):
Willpower, I don't know, butlike just a kick-ass attitude.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Yeah, I think, uh, I'm huge on like the mindset
stuff and the personaldevelopment stuff and I just
felt like this, this trip reallyencapsulated that, because it
truly was like I just I kept atevery turn, I kept getting like
my butt kicked but you gottajust keep a good head on your
shoulders.
You don't know what's going tohappen and you just got to just
keep a good head on yourshoulders.
You don't know what's going tohappen and you've just got to
(44:23):
keep going, man.
Speaker 1 (44:24):
Hell, yeah, man Hell yeah.
Well, cool man.
Do you have any other storiesyou want to share, or is it just
that big epic one there Up toyou?
We have about 10 more minutesbefore we've got to wrap this
thing up.
What do you say?
Speaker 2 (44:48):
I'll touch a little bit on like how uh idaho went um
when I, when I came back, um,yeah, so I this video on my
youtube channel.
It's called fear and the reasonbehind that was because the
whole time when I was debatingon not going, I had every excuse
like to not go.
I easily could have took therefund, banked, the work
vacation yeah, I knew it wasgoing to be a crappy hunt, like,
honestly, um, with everything,with the burns and everything
and um.
(45:08):
But it just came down to likewell, what's stopping you?
Like you're you're afraid ofnot punching the tag?
Like are you afraid of whatother people will think of you
if you don't punch the tag?
Like that's all a bullshit,excuse you know, what I mean.
Just go and bet on yourself, andwho cares?
If you give it 110%, which youhave to be tied to the truth, to
(45:34):
that, then do it.
So that's what I did.
I got out there I knew that, uh,it was gonna be tough because
there was no water, like up high, and their season runs from in
this unit it was october 10ththrough the 31st and I elected
(45:55):
to hunt, basically the back backhalf okay I think in hindsight,
after talking with my buddiesthat live out west and one buddy
I know out there in Idaho hekills some pretty good bucks I
said maybe if I was to do it allagain I'd hunt the beginning
part of the season because Ifound that I didn't really get
(46:16):
many benefits of hunting the endof October because there was no
sign of the mule deer rutwhatsoever.
The bucks were definitelybumped around from being hunted
and also elk hunters in thereand everything.
So they're by themselves,they're in the timber, you're
fighting the weather and I wasthinking like man, maybe if I
was to do it again, since thatseason ends on Halloween, if it
(46:37):
was to give me some days inNovember, maybe, um, closer to
the rut, but maybe thatbeginning of October where
you're not fighting the weatheras much, and maybe you're
getting them not as uh um, likejazzed up maybe in their
September patterns a little bitmore.
I don't know.
That's something that I learnedand he did agree with that.
Um, that's what he does outthere.
(46:59):
I was like I wish you wouldhave told me earlier.
But no, I was hunting thosebears at the time anyway.
But I got out there and Irealized that high country.
There was no water at all butaccess wasn't quite like the big
national forest I'm used tohunting in Colorado.
I could really drive my truckin a good ways to most areas and
(47:24):
after two, three days havethese basins pretty well glassed
up.
So that was my plan and thatway I could pack in water and be
able to like hunt effectively.
So that's kind of what I did.
You can kind of see that in thevideo.
I would spend a couple of daysjust bouncing around being up
high and it consistently was man, I'm a big.
(47:45):
You know.
If something's not working, youknow change like the like.
There's that episode ofSeinfeld where George Costanza
is like I'm just going to do theopposite of everything and see,
like, what works.
So I try to maybe even do thatwhen I'm hunting, like know,
like I was up high, these likenorth basins, like north facing
timber, I was like maybe they'rejust hiding in there and I was
(48:08):
seeing a lot of does, like Isaid, like every spot, I felt
like you know I was, I wasplaying a somewhat right of a
game, but just not getting onthe box, and then I'd go bounce
to some lower country glass, upsome some South slopes and then
I'm like no, I'm just going tostill hunt during these um kind
of like, at these last light umkind of moments and uh, that had
(48:30):
worked.
But you know, still hunting,even a successful still hunter,
it's not a hundred percent.
Um, you're still going to bumpdeer and it's worked for me in
the past.
I got my colorado buck in 2023,still hunting, but uh, that uh,
yeah, I bumped a couple goodbucks doing that.
The one, like I said, was realnice and I was probably within
50 of him, but I came in alittle high and he was right
(48:53):
below me in the timber sun goingdown, so those thermals just
went right to him and he startedhopping before I could get him
in the scope.
But weather was tough, man.
I've hunted Colorado lateseason in snow and really cold,
but sometimes it's not too bad.
By midday you get that bigmountain sun.
(49:13):
You can at least get your stuffdried out and it's not too too
cold.
But this part in Idaho, man, itwould just snow like squall all
day most of the days, and, um,it was like a wet snow too and
like so it was just a lot of.
Uh, I was wet, boots stayed wet, things freeze you just yeah,
(49:34):
hips start to ache high steppingthrough the snow.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and then umbig snow too, which, um, it just
it's just tough man.
So I was up there.
I didn't have a hot tent, I wasjust in a hillaberg, uh, nyack.
So, um, yeah, it was, uh, itwas pretty tough and um, but
definitely tested my mental andmy physical.
(49:55):
I feel like I learned a lotmore about deer.
I got into an area the lastcouple days where I mean I was
getting on a ton of elk.
I saw like a bunch of herdscoming down and everything but
some lower country I got into,got into some more deer and I'm
like maybe could have spent somemore time here, but again, it's
definitely a lot of lessonslearned.
Speaker 1 (50:17):
Hell yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:17):
And glad I went.
But that was that hunt.
Speaker 1 (50:25):
That was definitely a tough adventure too.
That's cool, man.
That is cool.
Well, I actually want to dosomething unique that I've not
done before.
Um, but you, you've inspired me.
Uh, cause you came all the wayfrom the East coast to come hunt
Colorado and you just fell inlove with it.
Like, I want you to wrap up.
We're going to do a little bitmore.
After course, you can tellpeople where to find you and
your youtube and all that stuff,but I want you to do a
motivational speech, firing upmy listeners to go out and hunt
west.
I'm putting you on the spot.
(50:46):
Do you got one for me?
Speaker 2 (50:48):
absolutely dude.
I knew you would.
Let's go.
No, in all seriousness, I, overthe last like few years, just
really pursuing these thingsthat I really wanted to do, like
take my fitness more seriously,do big endurance races and do
big backcountry hunts and allthese things, and what I found
(51:09):
is really, like you know, Ithink we all deep down know what
we want to do.
Like sometimes I just want totell people I talk to do, like,
what do you like what?
Like sometimes I just want totell people I talk to that are
just they're just going througha lot or whatever, and I'm like
well, what do you want to do?
What do you spend time at nightwatching on YouTube?
Speaker 1 (51:31):
Like what do you think Like?
Speaker 2 (51:33):
man, that's cool.
I wish I could do that.
Like pursue that thing, likethat is your thing, it's gonna
be.
It's gonna take 10 times longerto get good at it.
It's gonna be 100 times harderthan you ever thought.
Um, but I am the most averagehigh school athlete.
Um, just by having big dreamsand consistently showing up
(51:54):
every single day, um, I've beenable to be like qualify for
boston and marons.
I've been able to even myfamily, like when I started
saying like I want to go huntsolo, like they didn't really
believe in me.
Like they told me, like theykind of like freaked out.
Like I put in for this likeleftover deer tag a couple of
years ago and I'm like I'm goingUm, but I didn't get it.
(52:15):
And they like I don't blamethem because I didn't give them
evidence that I could do that,right, um, but they were like
you're crazy.
Like no, you're crazy.
But I was like I'm I'm, youknow, I'm an adult.
You can't tell me what to do.
Um, but you eventually yeaheventually just worked up to it
and they can tell this huge partof my life.
And now it was like, yeah, goodluck, like go get them.
(52:37):
But anyway, my point is likeyou just got to do it, you just
got to commit to it, work at itevery single day, whatever your
goals are and this might sound alittle extreme, but, dude,
we're all going to die like oneday.
You know what I mean.
We all get to live once and Ireally, like that doesn't freak
(53:00):
me out.
That thought, I mean it is afact.
It actually excites me, causeit's like I, you know, I I wake
up every single day and I'm likejust going to pursue these
things I want to do.
And, um, I even have thistattoo on the back of my arm
here Um Ecclesiastes nine 10,and it says whatever the hand
(53:22):
findeth, do with all your might,because where you are going
which is the grave there is noknowledge, nor wisdom, nor plan,
nor device.
So to me, that is God's way ofsaying, like YOLO, you only live
one time.
Speaker 1 (53:38):
That's God's YOLO.
You only live one time, that'sgot YOLO.
Speaker 2 (53:40):
When you find your thing, and I truly think I have.
I'm not saying I have it allfigured out, I'm 28.
I haven't lived a long life oranything, but I think I found my
thing and I've been pursuing itwholeheartedly and I've built a
lot more self-esteemesteem andI'm a lot happier with it.
(54:03):
I don't know I think that's so,if that's what you want to do,
if you keep saying every, everyyear, like man, I think I'd want
to hunt West, I think I want tohunt out, like that looks cool,
or I want to get more fit, or Iwant to anything like make more
money, like all these things,like just you just have to do it
and it's going to be hard, butthat's okay, it's going to be
hard, and that's okay.
Just keep going, that's it.
Speaker 1 (54:22):
And, to add to your point, it's only going to get
harder as you get older and asit becomes harder to draw tags.
So get out there and do it guys.
Weston man, this was fun.
I appreciate you for coming onfilling out the form, getting
out here and sharing yourstories, your stories.
It was really fun to hear it,kind of that epic saga of a
whole season and not giving up.
(54:43):
That's what we all need to hear.
So thank you, man, I appreciateyou.
Let's do this.
Let's tell the people wherethey can find you, tell them
your socials, your YouTubes,whatever you want to share.
Speaker 2 (54:50):
Yep, so I'm pretty active on Instagram.
It's just my name at WestonHoma, W-E-S-T-O-N-H-O-M-A.
Youtubet?
O N H O M A.
Uh, YouTube, same thing Westand Homa, so I have my hunt
films on there.
Um, this is something that I'mgoing to do forever.
(55:10):
I have a pretty diversifiedportfolio of points and
different species and states.
So that's a lot of that's goingto come.
I also just like to share allthe training and things I've
learned.
I'm never going to say likethis is the only way.
I just you know, I'm more justlike, hey, this is what I do, it
works for me.
I'm a, I love learning fromother people and all those
things and just going to sharealso, I think, these big
endurance events and stuff likethey just helped me a lot with
(55:31):
these, with these hard hunts too.
So share a little bit of thatand then that's all to come on
the YouTube.
And then I'm also on FacebookWest and Homa same thing.
So I love connecting with guys,helping guys get going.
I have that hunt film of myIdaho hunt Dude from Mississippi
reached out to me.
He said, hey, I'm going to gohunt Idaho next year First time
(55:53):
I'm from back east down south.
I don't know what I'm doing.
Can I just pick your brain?
I gave the dude my phone number.
Yeah, I was like sure man, andwe were just bsing and again I
told him like what works for meand things to expect, and I was
like you just, you know, call meanytime.
So I just love, you know,connecting with guys, learning
from guys, helping guys out, andyeah, so that's where you can
find me and, um, yeah, sweet man, sweet.
Speaker 1 (56:16):
Well, I will put uh links to all that stuff in the
show notes to make it extra easy, so people don't even have to
google you, they can just clickon.
You know the the notes to whatwe're already listening to.
So, weston man, thank you again.
I appreciate you.
It was a lot of fun hearingyour stories and I have a
feeling we're gonna have youback here in uh in a couple
years with with a handful ofmore stories for us man.
Speaker 2 (56:34):
So thank you I love it, man.
Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (56:37):
Yeah, of course.
All right, guys.
That's it.
Another couple of stories inthe books.
Again, thanks to Weston forreaching out.
He's a listener went online,found my little form, I guess,
is what you can call it andfilled it out saying, hey, I've
got some stories to tell.
So, if you have some stories,check out the website, check out
(56:58):
the Instagram, whatever it is.
There's links everywhere.
I believe there's even one inthe show notes.
Just click on it, fill it out.
We will be in touch andhopefully get you on the podcast
here shortly.
That being said, guys, thankyou very much for tuning in.
I really do appreciate it.
Please share the podcast withone person today and other than
that, get out there and makesome stories of your own.
Thank you.
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