Ep. 122: Chasing Dreams with Tucker Stanley

Just a normal guy doing everything he can to chase his dreams. Tucker Stanley got a late start on hunting after playing college football as well as in europe but he's dead set on making up for lost time. In the last 6 years Tucker has killed a 200" muley, 170" mountain whitetail, some great bulls and we wanted to jump into the stories and how he has made it happen.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome back to another episode of cutting the Distance. Stem
here with what i'd call maybe a new buddy, Tucker Stanley.
He lives only about thirty minutes from me, and we
kind of met what was it, Tucker in.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Twenty twenty, Yeah, twenty, I had twenty.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Yeah, your your dad was gracious enough. I wish my
dad would have. He had been buying you guys points
right in some of these states or or you know,
and and then when you graduated, he was going to
send you guys on a pretty good elkcunt, so you
had enough points to go to some good units. And
you were talking to one of our good buddies, Ben Gorman,
and I think he came out to my my newly
built Help's Game Calls warehouse at that time, and we
besd with you and Troy, and so I first kind

(00:48):
of know, you know, got to meet you in twenty twenty,
but I had known of you before then. I won't
say rivals peel on that fine art rivals, but playing
in sports kind of always the Stanley names pretty pretty
prominent in the Lewis County area, and kind of knew
of you, and then yeah, I got to know you.
And then we've kind of stayed in touch and shoot,
we probably what bs once twice a week about you know,

(01:09):
dream hunts are going on this or hey did you
see how much this tag sold for? And just kind
of stay in touch. So how are you doing good?

Speaker 2 (01:15):
I appreciate you having me on. It's been Yeah. I
started in twenty twenty with us and yeah, my dad
started buying us points back see, Wyoming started their point
system what seven I don't know what max points is now,
probably sixteen seventeen and so sixteen years ago when we
were probably eight nine years old, and we could cash
them in whenever we wanted, and so I had That

(01:39):
was when I got you know, someone knew a friend
that knew a friend that knew you personally, and that's
how we kind of got started and kind of been
good friends ever since.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah, Yeah, we Yeah, I think we spent a half
hour hour last night Texan back and forth going over
you know, Alaska sheep and you know some of the
gear that I think is vital and you know we're
gonna get into that. You got a sheep hunt coming up,
but let's kind of we always kind of jump into these.
I don't know if you've listened to the podcast or not, Tucker,
But we're gonna kind of start with a couple questions
for you. I mean, this question and answer is brought

(02:11):
to you by Pendleton Whiskey. So, yeah, just I'm curious
what are you doing this time of year to get ready?
I know you're in good shape, you know, a pretty
competitive athlete in high school. You know, still like to
get after in the mountains. So not only you know,
from a physical fitness you know you do, are you
looking at applications kind of like what does an off
season you know, look look like for you?

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Well, yeah, I played college football, so you know, my
physical fitness continued into my mid twenties. Now I'm thirty one,
and so it was really important to me to stay
in shape, you know, because you know, you work so
hard to get to shape for for sports and athletics
and stuff, and I just couldn't see myself losing that,

(02:55):
you know, and just letting myself go, so to speak.
And so we're working out. For me, it's always been,
you know, not not an option, and so I never
really I mean I work out probably five days a
week and so like as far as like the off
season it doesn't My my training plan really doesn't differ,

(03:16):
and I kind of I think just being an athlete
is kind of helped with the hunting because before when
I work out, it was it was to you know,
be a better football player or whatever it was. And
now it's like, I got to be in shape for
this hunt, and it's so like my my workout, you know,
staying in shape to me is really important and it's
not just hunting, but hunting just happens to be my

(03:38):
What distracts the mental pain of working out is like,
you know, like you're doing this for a hunt and
it'll be easier, and uh, it used to be you
know that you're doing this for football and this is
what it takes and to be the best, and that
that's kind of my as as a former athlete. It's
kind of my it's my new goal, you know, it's
it's it's to be in better shape for hunting season.

(03:58):
It used to be to be in better shape for
a football season. So this time of the year, I
you know, I'm you know, I ride the stationary bike
as much as I can just for the cardio, and
then I try to lift weights. I don't need to
be the strongest man in the world anymore. This part
what football took. But I left weights, and you know
that doesn't change whether it's season or off season for me.

(04:21):
It's it's important for me to stay.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
Yeah, so you're why I went from football to your
why is now hunting? And I always joke with people,
if it wasn't for hunting, I'd probably be fornared pounds.
I'm not as motivated as you to work out for
other things. It's like, no, if I if I'd have
to climb the mountain, I'd probably just I would be
that forndered pound guy. But uh yeah, I think that's
actually how our conversation started last night. You were asking
me about some if I have a stair climber, and
I think that kind of kicked off the cascade of

(04:45):
we were sheep hunting and sharing sheep hunting videos by
the time we were done. But no, it's it's important,
and you know, I'm I probably get a little lazy
November December, early January, and then right back you know
now you know, eating better, getting ready because it is
it's it's a year long commitment, or if you do
get the two months that I screw up every year,

(05:07):
like it takes the other seven months to get back
to where I was. Where It's like if it was
always like if I'm always looking at like I want
to be better today than it was yesterday, i'd be
I would be a lot better off. It's like I
just kind of yo yo, or you're probably in a
better you know, situation where you're just saying constant Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:22):
I kind of describe it as like a it's easier
to maintain than it is to like, you know, do
like a seventy five hard and you know that's brutal.
You know, I see people doing it and it's impressive
and and you know, I commend them for it. But
for me, you know, I'm not like a strict, strict
diet type of guy. I enjoy a you know, a

(05:44):
good beer or you know, you know, a penalty and
coke or whatever it is. And and I feel like
if I just cut that off cold turkey, it'd be
harder for me to do. Or if I just ate salads,
trying to lose weight nearly impossible. And so I just
try to maintain and I kind of eat what I want.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
I don't abuse it, you know, but wait, till wait
till you're forty and see if you can see what
you want.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah, they used to say wait till you're thirty, but
now I'm out thirty and now people are telling me
wait till you're forty. But you know, I just kind
of have and I checked, you know, I've I've always
heard a quote that was what doesn't get measured doesn't
get maintained. And so I try to weigh myself, you know,
once a week, once every other week, and if it's
not in check, then then then I crack down.

Speaker 1 (06:24):
Work a little harder. Yeah, you know, you're I would
say you're not in the hunting industry, right, which is
pretty fair to say. But like I would say, you're
one of those guys that hunts as much as the
rest of us, you know that that are in And
I hate the word industry, like there are people that
make their living because of hunting type you know, products
or services or whatever. So what are you doing? Like

(06:46):
what's your your you know, this time of year, we're
all getting ready for putting in for draws, Like what's
your approach on that side? Right now? Are you are
you applying all over the country? Are you are you
keeping it pretty you know, specific to certain states. How
are you setting up like your future you know hunting trip, Well.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
Just the way the hunting industry is, you know, I
mean we're western Washington, where you know the hoof for
Rock video that you guys released was pretty spot on.
There's it's not like it used to be. So I
haven't hunted in Washington in years. My kind of strategy
is I think eventually what this is all gonna come

(07:23):
to is for the average Joe blow guy like me
that's not in the industry, you know you have if
you're like an over the town, over the counter guy,
I think you're gonna have to play the state game.
And you know, you're gonna have to apply for Idaho,
you have to apply for New Mexico, you have to
apply for Colorado, you have to apply for Wyoming, Nevada,

(07:44):
all of them, Arizona, and you're not gonna be able
to go to your same spot that maybe you and
your family have hunted for, you know, fifteen years. I
think those days are kind of coming to an end,
and it's unfortunate, but you know, with the draw systems,
it's hard to rely on a tag every year, and
so I've kind of been relying on Idaho, and I
know we're going to get into my my Idaho hunts

(08:07):
and stuff, but for the last five years I've been
relying on Idaho for deer and elk. When we met
twenty twenty, I had max points. I cashed those in
for Wyoming, so I kind of had to start over there.
I think I checked last night because I applied for
my Wyoming stuff last night. That was I think I'm
at four points again, so I don't expect to draw
anything there. But what I'm kind of doing with all

(08:28):
that is, like, you know, I have four points for Wyoming.
I think you could probably get a general unit for
four to seven points in that range. You aren't going
to get anything, you know, any other quality units yet.
But with the point creep and all that stuff, what
I'm doing is like, if there's a year where I
don't get my Idaho elk tag, then because those come

(08:48):
you know in December, you'll know, then I'm going to go,
you know, cash in my four six eight points or
whatever I have at that time for like Wyoming. Other
than that year, I'll go to Wyoming. But I kind
of just threw like my entry last night was like
kind of for a hill Mary Wyoming tag that I
probably won't get. But the reason I did that was
because I've already got a while or an Idaho tag,

(09:10):
and so I have, you know, three general points or
whatever for Montana. I don't have very many points for
Colorado because I was so late to the game. I
played football till I was like twenty four. It went
over to Europe and played, so I got started real,
real late. Luckily I had my dad started to love
Wyoming early. But New Mexico's random draw, you know, so
I put them for that every year, you know, But

(09:31):
that's kind of what I do is is I think
you're gonna have to like play the state game and
try to get Arizona this year if you don't draw
Idaho or Wyoming or vice versa, and just.

Speaker 1 (09:39):
Yeah, yeah and yeah, like similar to you, I've already
got an Idaho archery tag. So it's like, if I
want to, I can just spend my time in Idaho
and it's a pretty good unit. And so I'm my
strategy now across all these other states is yeah, I
can draw, you know, I can draw Utah if I want,
I can draw Colorado if I want yeah, you know,
Nevada is all, but in any those that I've even

(10:00):
got a chance to get to take, like, I don't
want it unless it's a like, you know, top tier hunt.
And to be honest, it's even gon get harder because
I'm probably going rifle because I don't want to like
mess up September. Yeah, yeah, it could be better, but
it's like, oh, if I get a premium rifle tag,
because I'm an opportunist, I don't need to go do
it with a bow or muzzle, Like I don't. Just
give me a good tag, a good hunt. I'm I'm happy,

(10:20):
but like, I don't want to mess up archery. So
I'm really going to be like really kind of you know,
shooting for the stars with with premium rifle tags in
all those states which have really really low odds. But
like I say, it's more of just build a point
and then we'll see if I don't get the Idaho
or in the future if I want to cash in
you know Colorado with their preference point system or you know,
Utah with their modified preference point will we'll go that way.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
So yeah, that's you also kind of get into like
why or I mean, like New Mexico, like I put
in for their one of their top units just because
it's such a far drive for us, and so like
you know, it's such a commitment to drive twenty four
hours or twenty two hours or wherever you're going in
New Max. So you know, I probably won't draw in
New Mexico, but I put in for my strategically put

(11:06):
in for one of their better units because like, if
I'm going to drive down there, I want it to
be for a pretty good unit.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, And that's everybody's got their own you know, strategy.
And we've talked about it a lot on here before.
Like I look at Utah and Arizona. You know, I'm
I'm in double digits in both of those, but it's
like I probably won't draw for another ten, Like it's
going to be maybe my going out party when I'm
too old. The hunt, you know, some of the harder
areas and then the Wyomings, Montana's, Idahos, Nevada's kind of

(11:32):
in that middle, it's still pretty hard to draw. Like
I'm looking at those as like maybe my my in
between fits between you know, an Idaho or Montana, right
now where you can draw you know, fairly, fairly easily
or get a tag in those places. So yeah, there's
lots of lots of strategies. So you're getting in shape,
you're planning hunts. Seems to be what kind of you know,
any any die hard or serious hunters kind of thinking

(11:55):
about right now is you know those two things, you know,
staying in shape and getting ready to just find your
opportunity right where you're gonna go hunt where A you're
gonna have to be in shape for what's that gonna
look like? And then, uh, my second question for you,
and it's just this is actually out of my own
curiosity because I don't know what influence So you know,

(12:15):
we we're we use some brands, we partner with some brands,
we have contracts with brands. But as a guy that
hunts as much as we do outside of the industry,
like what influences your gear choices? Like, you know, I've
been working with Kafaru since twenty and twelve, so it's
like I use their pack. You know, we were talking
last night about what you needed in a sheet pack,
and I'm like, well, I wonder, I wonder, why the

(12:36):
heck do you use that or you know, how do
you guys get to those decisions? What you know is
your Do you have a favorite you know, honey influencer
that you listen to? Do you just ask lots of
questions you try them on, like how do you get
to what pack or what boots or what camo or
you get to.

Speaker 2 (12:52):
I always joke that if someone pays me to wear it,
I'll put it on my back. But I'm not in
the industry, so you know, it's it's I don't have
a big social media following. I'm just a a hunter
that likes the sport of it. And uh so, you know, nobody,
no sponsors, it's just it's just what I want. And

(13:12):
you know, which can probably relate to a lot of
your listeners. And so like how I choose my gear
is hunting gears. She's gotten so expensive and you know
it you name off, you know, all the big brands
and the and the stone glaciers, the you know, like Couu,
the first lights, the Sidkase, all those things. And it's

(13:34):
almost like when you start building an outfit, you can't
be the guy that's mixed and matched. And so if
you if you already you know, it's like I remember
when I first got you know, some expensive hunt gear
that you know, you go from the you know, cheaper
Walmart stuff to like some good quality gear. When the
industry really changed, you know, I don't know, it seems
like it really changed like ten years ago or so.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
Yeah, it seems like Sika kind of led that big,
you know, because it was it was a lot of
cheaper stuff and then Sick through and then first Light
and qu came through, and it was like, all right,
now we got all buy expensive, expensive gear. Like you
can't do it in the cheap stuff anymore.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
That's yeah. And it was like if you were sick,
you were bawling. And and so as I like got
more serious about hunting because like I said, like football,
you know, it's playing the fall, and so I couldn't
hunt as much as I wanted to until I was
probably twenty five, and so it was like a caged animal.
As soon as like I started to hunt, I just
became obsessed with it. And so like my gear, you know,

(14:31):
you start buying because it's you know, you could buy
a five hundred dollars coat no problem nowadays. And so
as far as like my gear, I I I don't
really have anyone that like influences me. It's more so
just like building an outfit. Like if I have those pants,
I'm gonna buy that coat. And as far as my
pack goes, you know, I watch a lot of the

(14:53):
YouTube stuff, you know, and and not that they influenced me, but.

Speaker 1 (15:00):
Just if you see enough guys running something similar or
trusting and it gives you some confidence in that, it.

Speaker 2 (15:05):
Gives you confidence. But also you know, I believe that,
like there is something we said about like you get
what you pay for, you know, whether that's but there's
some things that are just like outrageously priced that you
know there's better options for it, but it's kind of
like a Ford chever Dodge. You know, you have people
that argue all of them, but I really don't think

(15:26):
a guy would go wrong if you chose either one
of them. And so like that's that's like like my
pack and stuff. It's like some some of the packs,
they really the only difference is like the compartments that
they have or something like that maybe one guy might
like over the other. I think the qualities there on
most of them at the upper end level. It's just

(15:49):
like what you what what feels nice to you? And
what do you pack? You know, what are you used
to packing? And it doesn't have room for all your stuff?
A guy is gonna like that brand, you know.

Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yeah, and I've been unfortunate, you know, I loyal to
Kafario and been using them for a long time. But
I've tried on you know, the Initial Ascent, the Stone Glacier,
the Exo, and it's like you could probably get by
on all these It's just you know, little tweaks in
the suspension, different padding, different you know, pack layouts, and yeah,
I think you know when you get the packs or
you know, boots are a little more per like specific

(16:19):
to the person, right, you got to find a boot
that has a last that fits your foot and has
all the qualities you want for that specific hunt, you know.
But I was just kind of curious, like, you know,
are you are you like scanning the forums, like, you know,
do you search for the certain pack you want to buy?
Like are there any bad reviews? Are there any good ones?
Because I do on that on some of the hunting
stuff that I might not have a connection for or

(16:39):
a lot of knowledge, like you know, what what do
people think about this or that and just kind of
see like is there any major failures or people complaining
about it? They like it, and then you know, go
ahead and make my purchase.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
If you watch like enough like that, even the hunting
channels have come a long way since you know, fifteen
years ago, and now like YouTube and the accessibility of
people and what they're using stuff. So like for boots,
you know, for example, I went into a sporting goods
store here locally and I went in to buy Ken tracks,

(17:13):
quite frankly, and that that was what everyone was wearing.
There were the five hundred dollars boots and if you
were a real hunter, that's it's like the sitka, you know,
it's like that's what you were wearing. And I went
in there and I tried them on, and then I
tried on the Crispies and I haven't I haven't gone
back from Crispies since, you know, and so nobody influences
me to do it. It was I tried on both

(17:33):
boots and walked out with the Crispies and those just
blew out as last year, and you know, I bought
the same pair again, and so it's just kind of
trial and error.

Speaker 1 (17:42):
You know.

Speaker 2 (17:42):
Now the problem is I have a ton of hunting gear,
and you know, if if I really like a pack,
I'll buy the same pack again. And you know, and
then there's some there's a pack that I got that
I bought, you know, and and I don't really use
it that much, and so I won't buy it again.
But that's just how I picked my gear. And I
have a lot of hunt gear now because you buy
a little bit each year. And now that I've been

(18:04):
you know, taking it serious for six or seven years,
now it starts to accumulate.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
I appreciate that, Tucker. Once again, you have questions, uh
for for myself or our guests, feel free to email
them to us at ct D at Phelps game Calls
dot com or send us a social media message and
we'll do our best to get them on here. Now
we're gonna jump into kind of the the meat and
potatoes of the podcast. And uh, you've mentioned, you know,

(18:40):
he played played college football, played played overseas a little bit,
and so you've only been hunting for six years, but
you've got some pretty some pretty decent you know critters
in those you know years. I think that was one
of the other I talked to you, and then I
think was it a year or two later you killed
a big Canada buck and you were trying to figure
out how to get to the taxidermis who I'd recommend
and hooked you up with round you and brought your

(19:01):
brought you to your home from the Western hunt. And
so let's let's ship right into that on how you
guys listening on audio can't see it, but just to
the left of Tucker's head is the picture of this
giant buck, a two hundred three inch Albert of meal deer.
Go ahead and kind of tell the just tell the
story on how that one evolved and and uh kind
of you know, there's a little humor involved on a

(19:24):
on a hunt that maybe didn't have that kind of buck,
is the expectation.

Speaker 2 (19:28):
Yeah, I would love to say that I've tracked it
for five years and I know about it, and I
had forty trail cameras up, but that wasn't the case.
You know, I'm I'm okay admitting that it was. It
was right guy, right spot, right time, type of deal.
But what happened with that hunt was I got a
call from a local guy and they were kind of
I'm not going to say scrambling, but they were looking

(19:50):
for three archery hunters for this outfitter and it was
like a private land, not high fenced, but it was
like a private land outfitter that have thousands and thousands
of bakers up in Alberta. And they had three archery tags.
So this is twenty twenty one and I get this
call and it was like, hey, you're an archery hunter.

(20:14):
Do you want to go to Alberta this year? And
I was like, yeah, you know what, what's that consisted of?
And he goes, well, here's what's going on is you
got to get the COVID vaccine to go. Like that
was when the borders were closed and it was vaccine
mandatory and at the time, you know, I hadn't I
hadn't got it. And you know that that was basically

(20:36):
like the stipulations across the border. And so the other
three hunters that usually go that take that tag, they
refuse to get the vaccine. So, you know, I started
seeing pictures of these bucks. I kind of joke, but
and I'm like, ahm, I get the vaccine for those
and uh so I ended up getting the vaccine, and
you know, I have no problem admitting that because it

(20:57):
you know, I I think I did well with the
deer that I got. I was rewarded and and so
I got the vaccine and I went on the trip
and it was the first hunt that I'd ever paid
an outfitter for, and so to me, it was like
a big deal. And you know, it wasn't a real
expensive hunt, you know for the hunting world. You know,
I see you know that sheep hunt and New Mexico

(21:19):
is sold for one point three million. I mean you're
you're talking like a really really low budget hunt for
the quality of animal I got. And so I committed
to it, and I was like, man, I you know,
I don't want to go empty handed. It kind of
adds an element when you're paying for a hunt to
your standards. You know, when you go on an o
TC hunt, it's it's just like you're having a good time.

(21:42):
There's no pressure. You might get a bowl, you might not,
and you know, it's it's it's more relaxed where some
of these hunts it's you know, even like my sheep
hunt coming up, it's like, man, I don't want to
come home empty handed. You want to get the most
out of it. And that's how I felt on that
felt on that hunt. And it was my first like
big hunt. And anyway, basically the story was is I

(22:02):
missed a buck, kind of a jump shot type of action.
I missed him, and I was just sick to my stomach.
And this isned like day three, and it was a
seven day hunt, and so I remember texting my wife like,
I don't know if I'm gonna get one, you know,
because it's archery, it's not guaranteed, you know, there's no baiting.
And here we already spent this money. And I was
starting to get kind of nervous on day four. And

(22:25):
so day four rolls around in the evening and I'm
sitting in the tree stand and like right at dark,
I heard just like a screeching noise like a fence,
like something was crossing the fence. And so I kind
of got ready, got got one, you know, my arrow ready,
And that buck, you know that that I killed, came
in and I shot him twenty twenty three yards broadside.

(22:49):
And what's funny is a local guy here that was
also there. He was one of the three tags. He
he was he had shot a buck early that day,
and so I remember him coming back to lunch and
we're like looking at his buck and we're all like, dang.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
You know.

Speaker 2 (23:02):
I was thinking to myself like I would take that
every you know, all day, every day. And so I
head back. It got dark and I head back. I
shot the buck and then you know, they picked me
up and I said I got one, and they're like,
is it a big one? I was like, it's about
like you know, the other guys, you know, I mean,
I don't know. I didn't share it too long. I

(23:23):
was more trying to exte the shot. So he's like,
all right, let's go back, we'll eat dinner, then we'll
go look for him. So we go back, eat dinner,
and I wasn't even nervous. I like wasn't thinking about
it at all. And you know, like they were all
chirping like, oh, it sounds like Tucker got one outsize
you know, of Martins, and and let's go look for him.
So we all headed back out inside by sides to

(23:44):
go grab flashlights, and we went to the spot of
the kill. There's no blood. I mean, it was like
started making me nervous. And we finally find some blood
and it wasn't a very long track of the buck
probably went, i know, fifty sixty yards and anyway, we
walked up on that and I remember the I was like, uh,
he was just like, Tucker, you might want to come
take a look at this thing. And you know, when

(24:06):
I walk over to him, because we're kind of grid
searching at that point, and you know, I was like,
oh man, I'm like happy with that, you know, because
I'm taking into consideration like how much this cost me
in the commitment, and like I'm really happy with that.
You know, that's a nice buck. And then it like
the longer we're there and the more like the gutting
it and throwing it in the back. It started to

(24:26):
like think the way they were reacting because he he
he likes to like kind of downplay it.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
The guy does it sounds like you downplayed it to
start with.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
Well, I didn't. I didn't know, you know, Like I
was like, oh, yeah, that's.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
Well, I'm sure they thought you were messing with him, like,
oh yeah, I shot one like Martins.

Speaker 2 (24:43):
And then he's like, oh, I thought you said it
was the same size of Martins. I was like, I,
you know, I didn't.

Speaker 1 (24:47):
I didn't say that much.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
Two year and so the more we started like taking
pictures of it, it was like, you know, this is
like that's a legit fuck. And then we got it
into the shop and stuff and started skinning it, and
they're like that that that's like a an exceptional deer.
And you know, they have thirty headmounts on their on
their shop wall, and to my knowledge, it was the

(25:09):
biggest buck that they've ever killed there. And you know,
happened to be with a bow. Happened to the one
year that I went. I got asked late because the
whole COVID thing, it was just kind of it just
all happened.

Speaker 1 (25:20):
Yeah, they happened to. You know, you happen to be
in that tree stand and not in a different one. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:24):
If I remember how how far away was a buck
when you first spotted it, it wasn't like add Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:30):
He was probably coming in at about one hundred because
I heard that fence and so I was on alert
and he was probably one hundred and thirty one hundred
and fifty yards and I was watching him and he,
you know, he turned his head and his frame towards me.
He's walking at me, and I've never killed anything that big.
So it was like, you know, and also you like
I said, with these these hunts, is like is it

(25:50):
big enough for the price you're paying? That that weighs
into my mind. And so it was like, Okay, that's
a shooter. And so like I got ready and I
was I quit looking at the horns like I'm just
trying to execute this shot. And so you know, I
seen him coming and it all happened. But it's almost
I'm like thankful that I didn't have time to like
think about how big he was.

Speaker 1 (26:10):
Did you know at the point you see him one
hundred and fifty he was going to come your way?
Or was there a lot of variability he could have
picked a different route or was it pretty like it
was coming down like a fence line tour There was
there like a reason he was going to walk by you?
Or did you like cause I I'm the guy that
sits in the tree like, oh, I shouldn't even get
my bow out because he's got one hundred and fifty
yards to cover, He's probably gonna go a different way.
Like I'm the most negative guy until it happens, like

(26:32):
I'm never gonna get a shot anyways, like it's cool
to look at him.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
And yeah, I mean it was a meadow, and so,
you know, I had my ranges. It's hard to get
ranges when it's just like a grassy patch. It's nice
when you have trees that you can you can hit,
you know, with your rangefinders. So you know, on day four,
I'm like, you know, if he crosses through the middle,
he's going to be at seventy four. If he crosses
through right here, he's going to be at you know,

(26:57):
you know, fifty four, and you know, ideally he's fifty
and in and so all those things were going through
my mind. In any any you know, kind of hooked
and came towards me. And that's when I knew that,
like I was going to get a shot off because
he was within any range that he came through at
that point, he was within the range.

Speaker 1 (27:16):
Yeah, gotcha, gotcha. No, it's a it was a great buck.
I got the you know, I don't did I take
him to Utah or just picked him up, but got them.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
And I think you took him to Utah and then around.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
Next year yeah or yeah or something yeah, some yeah,
a giant buck, you know, two hundred three inch typical,
just a just a stud of a buck. Like I
said that for for six years and then you go,
you know, one hundred and seventy inch Idaho white tail
two years ago or last last it would have been
two hunting seasons ago. But last year, twenty twenty three season,

(27:53):
you kill one hundred and seventy inch Idaho white tail,
which just you know, a great buck. How does that
hunt go for you? Like, what's your strategy on that?
You know? Talking to Dirk who's my co host here,
you know, mature Idaho white tails seem to be kind
of making a comeback, but they're kind of on a
pretty big down trend. You know, Dirk would cuss out

(28:13):
you and call you an apple maggot and everything else.
But uh no, dude, we've got to have dinner with Dirk,
you know before and he likes you. But you know,
it's like the white Tel's coming back. But like, what's
your approach to that white tail hunt? Like, how do
you go about it? You know, without the ability to
scout any of that if you what was your strategy
on and going? And it sounds like your dad had
a chance. This passed year on a on a good

(28:35):
one that didn't you know, I know you mentioned you
know you wish you were the trigger guy, but sometimes
you gotta let the the old men, uh, you know,
have a chance. But what's what's that Idaho hunt look like?
How do you strategize and plan for that? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (28:46):
So like the Idaho thing, what happened was a couple
three years ago, we we went up we you know,
the whole Idaho system. I was online trying to get
a tag for for ELK. It didn't have up and
I had a buddy that was like, hey, we can
go to this deer unit. I was like sure, you know,
and we drove around the first day, we knew some

(29:09):
people that had local people here that were also over there,
and we you know, we're just kind of getting a
little bit of intel. Not nobody's spots, but just like,
you know, there's deer everywhere, but where do you guys suggest?
And we're getting some pointers from people. And we drove
around the first ad a lot of snow, and we
never seen a single deer the first day and just
driving around, you know, you know, I don't know, I

(29:30):
didn't know how to hunt those white till I'd never
killed killed one over there, and so never seen a deer.
And so then we we got pictures of a buck
that was killed there and it was massive. It was
that one I sent you last night. Yeah, that that one.
I was like, you know, we aren't even seeing a
dough you know, what what are they doing? And some
they said, well, he was sitting on a trail, and

(29:51):
I was like, sitting on a trail, like what you know?
And and and so it really stuck with me because
I'm open to learning and I've never done it. And
so the next day we were driving around in a
new area a lot of snow, which kind of played
a factor in this, and my buddy, you know, we're
just driving around a logging road and he's like, oh,
hold on, you know one of those deals where it

(30:11):
was like a buck that was standing up on the
hill and he ended up in a buck that day.
And I was like, Ash, there must be more deer
over here, because it was the first success we had had.
And so I started looking like in the timber as
we were driving back with his buck in the in
the bed of the truck, and I seen this this
trail come off the hillside and it had you know,
it was two or three feet wide with just tracks

(30:32):
in the snow. Luckily there was snow, and I remember
thinking like, I'm gonna come back in the same area
tomorrow after we get this thing taking care of. So
we took it back, and it happened to me that
my buddy, he was like cutting his deer down the back,
you know, doing that method. Well that the skin was
real like frozen, and his knife slipped and he like
slit his leg open. And I had taken to the
emergency room that night, so the next day he couldn't

(30:56):
hunt with me. And so I'm like, hey, don't worry
about no problem. I'll be fine, you know. And so
I went out on my own and I went back
to that I marked it, you know, on my on X,
and I went back to that same exact trail and
I walked up it and I was like, well, this
is what they said to do, you know. It was
like sit on this trail. So I sat there, and
luckily it didn't take very long, like thirty minutes. Here
come like a little dough, you know, right over my shoulder,

(31:17):
like fifteen yards.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
So can I ask a quick question to talking, like
are you in the timber or do you have some
like are you above tree lining? Could you have some
visibility or is it a clearcut? Are you just like
in the timber on this trail.

Speaker 2 (31:28):
So my first you know time up this trail, I
was in the brush and I realized I didn't know
that there was open timber around me. And so when
I seen this dough coming over my shoulder at you know,
ten yards or so, I was thinking to myself, like,
you know, I can't believe this worked. You know, like
there's a deer right there, and I could kill it

(31:49):
if I wanted to. It's it's dough war buck over there.
But so, you know, luckily it came pretty QUI because
wouldn't have sat there all day and just got skunked.
So it was pretty thick, and I didn't see her
till about ten yards, and so I sat there for
a little bit longer and it wasn't another twenty minutes.
Here come another deer, same trail, and so I was like,
maybe I'm like sitting in the trail here, because it

(32:09):
was the same trail, same spot ten yards away from me.
It was a little fok and horn, and I was like,
I got to get out of the spot, you know.
So I walked up the trail a little bit and
midday noon and I walk up the trail probably sixty
seven yards and it started to really open up, and
I was like, this is a good spot.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
You know.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
It's kind of a downhill slope to a bench. And
as I've kind of learned about this white tail stuff,
it was deer like to travel on those benches because
it's flatter and then they're looking for the saddles. I've
learned a lot about it, and I've really studied it
because you know, it's kind of my my hobby and
my passion now. But it's kind of a good spot
because it, you know, it's it's a down to a bench.
So I sit at the top of that slope and

(32:49):
I look down at that bench and I sat there
the rest of the day and I think I seen,
you know, I don't know, eleven twelve deer total, and
I should have got a buck. I missed the opportunity.
So I get back to where we were staying at
the cabin and we're all sharing hunting stories, and the
guys is like, what did you guys see, you know,
and they're all like, oh, we've seen seven today, and

(33:10):
I was I was singing myself, like, well I seen twelve,
just sitting in one spot, and you know, they're like, oh,
where were you at? You know, and and so I
was like, well, maybe this is working. So I went
back the next day and I hate to admit it,
but I missed a really nice buck that year, and
it just made me so sick to my stomach. And
it was like the last day, and it was a
good buck. I'm not huge, but just a nice buck.

(33:33):
And I kind of powdered over it. I drew blood,
not very much though, it was just like a little
sprits of blood. And anyway, I kind of powdered over it.
And I was like, let's just go home because my
buddy had already tagged out stabbed hisself in the leg,
and we headed home. Well, it just ate at me
for the rest of the year. And so I went
back this last year and I was like, I'm committing

(33:54):
to you know, how many every days I hunt, whether
it's seven or ten or whatever, I have daylight to
dark under that one tree and I'm going to sit
there and that's I feel, that's what it takes. And
some days I see zero and some days I see
twenty two. And I killed that buck on day It
was funny. My dad was with me that year, and

(34:17):
he's not as patient as I am. He left on
day probably four, but day five seven am I and
my dad texted me because he was sitting laying in bed,
you know, at home, and he goes anything, and I
texted him back, nope, nothing, And I looked up and
there's that one hundred and seventy inch buck down there
on that bench, just strolling through and I and I
shot him, and you know, these shots are seventy yards.

(34:39):
That's why I was so sick.

Speaker 1 (34:40):
Over that one.

Speaker 2 (34:40):
I missed it. It was a layup, but that's how
I killed that one. And then this year we missed
an opportunity on one. But I really think it's the
consistency of sitting there and not giving up on it.
And you know, you could see one deer like that
was that buck, that one hundred and seventy inch buck.
That was the one deer I had seen in three days.

(35:02):
My dad, he came out in the middle of the
day he was leaving, and we went and drove around.
We seen this really nice buck on a tailgate and
I was like, jeez, look at that buck. You know,
we pulled in. We're kind of just talking to the
guy and he said he just walked in the woods
and rattled. And five minutes later this buck stuck his
head out behind the tree. And I was thinking, like
that's all it takes, you know, here I am sitting
under this tree for twenty four hours, and he.

Speaker 1 (35:23):
Might start some rattling, you know, in the future.

Speaker 2 (35:25):
You know, I've I've rattled. It's just never it's never worked.
And not to say that it won't work, but I've
never successfully had one just come and do that, you know.
And so I I was like, what do you think,
you know, like, am I crazy for sitting on this
I haven't seen the deer in two days? And he goes,
you know, that spot's as good as any other. And
so he's like, it's up you know, fifty to fifty probably,

(35:48):
And so I said, well, I'm going to commit to it.
And the next days when I killed that buck.

Speaker 1 (35:51):
Gotcha, do you feel the days you see zero, it's
just not a good day or is there a potential
the wind's not Is the wind pretty good in the
spot that you consider every day, or do you have
to play the wind and maybe not going there a
day or two, or you know, if you were in
a tree stand, would you not be able to see
under the trees? Like is there a you think there's
a way to make it better? You just kind of
play it there every day and you know the wind's marginal,

(36:14):
or how do you how does that work out?

Speaker 2 (36:16):
I've thought a lot about this. I've thought about bringing
out a blind, because I mean I've I just literally
took a dirt spot under a tree and made a
little seat for myself, and I've thought about like one
of those like blinds work. The reason I haven't done
that is because I don't have the time to go
over there and set this up like three weeks early,

(36:36):
you know, and kind of get the deer used to it.
And I don't want to waste a year and put
up this blind and then you know, just bring your
scent in there. Then like do you not see a
deer for the first three days and it's like, well, yeah,
you brought this brand new blind in that they aren't
going to want to walk by. So there's probably better
method to do it. If a guy had more time
as far as not seeing the deer on a day
to day basis. You know, part of me thinks is

(37:00):
could be wind, but also the deer come from every angle,
you know. Like I had a one horned or one
antler buck come in behind me this last year, you know,
and he was ten yards behind me. He blew at me.
He must have seen my shoulder or something behind the tree.
But I turned around and there he was sitting at
ten yards and he ran off. I couldn't get shot
out of I probably would have one of the last days.

(37:20):
But you know, they come in from every angle, and
so it's hard to say the wind because if it,
you know, if it's blowing one way, then they might
be coming in from that direction that day. And if
it's blown the other way, they might you know, you
might see more coming from that direction.

Speaker 1 (37:34):
So it's not like a consistent movement. Everything comes from
one direction, and you know, swipes through it. They're they're
they're able to come from everywhere, and that's kind of
how it works.

Speaker 2 (37:42):
It's more so like that I know what trails are
going to be on, you know, I don't know which
way they're going to be going, but I have a
good idea what trails are going to be on gotcha?

Speaker 1 (37:53):
Gotcha? Yeah, the stud sounds like your dad had a
chance at a good one. And you know, I've been
I've only been white tillhunting Kansas, which more trees trees stand,
and I haven't had to figure a lot of it out.
But like, some of that stuff starts to go through
my head because there'll be days where you're in the
best spot on the place and you'll have lots of deer,
but they're catching your wind even when you're in a
twenty foot tall tree stand. So like as I as

(38:13):
I want to expand and learn about these white tails,
it always makes me wonder, like, you know, the days
you don't see anything, like are they winning you before
they get there? Or is it just the day that
there's not good movement, you know, and or they're not
in the area. It always makes you wonder why and
how come certain days you can see twenty and some
days will see zero.

Speaker 2 (38:30):
I have wondered that too, and I've thought about you know,
what I'm doing is no different than like, you know,
the Kansas type of style of hunting. You know, they're
just sitting in trees, and I think their deer populations
a lot more than Yeah, yeah, a lot, a lot better.
But that's it's the same concept. And you know, you
do you can't hunt meal deer the same hunt the
same way you hunt whitetail. And and you know you

(38:53):
got to hunt black tail different than how you hunt
you know, meal deer and white tail. And so I
think the best strategy with white tail is a waiting game.
They're so flighty they you know, So I sit in
this open timber where I can see seventy to one
hundred yards and you just catch them cruising. And you know,

(39:15):
I've had days ri I sing twenty four and I've
had days where I see in zero. But it's it
takes a lot of discipline to sit there day in,
day out, and because all it takes is one And
so I think that that's a good strategy if a
guy has the patience.

Speaker 1 (39:30):
Yeah. And one thing we haven't even touched on this
conversation is my own belief is you know, we see
you get to see on social media. You know, maybe
thousands of people go to Idaho and shoot bucks out
of clearcuts. They're killing small bucks. I honestly believe to
kill the bigger bucks, like you guys are seeing or
have chances at tucking in the timber and being away
from you know, even though these bucks are rut, they're
not necessarily completely dumb. Yet you're gonna get your chance

(39:53):
at your bigger bucks inside of a patch of timber
or a brush that that buck just feels more comfortable
being in.

Speaker 2 (40:01):
Well, that's what my spot. The way I kind of
feel about it is it's an all day hunt, you know.
I mean, if you're hunting clearcuts, typically it's like, you know,
we got to be there right at first light, we
got to be there right at last light. You know.
The best chance for him to move is or come
out and feed is you know, right before dark or
or you know, And how I feel sitting in the

(40:22):
timber is this is where they live their day to
day life, and so you know, it kind of makes mentally,
I kind of you know, trick myself into believing that
it could happen at any time, and especially during the run.
You know, if you get a hot dough, that buck
doesn't care what time the day is. He's going to
follow her wherever she goes. And I've had deer, you know,
come and you know, lay down twenty yards for me,

(40:45):
just bed down, and that tells me that I'm in
their bedroom. And you know, when you feel like you're
in their bedroom, it doesn't feel necessarily like a you know,
like a morning hunt or you know, like all your
eggs are in the morning and then like I don't
go back for lunch. I sit there all day. And
the reason is is because you know, like a nice

(41:06):
buck comes throlling through it at noon. There's no reason,
you know, it's not like they crawl into a hole.
They got to be somewhere. And so I'm sitting in
the timber and there's not a lot of clearcuts around there,
so they got to be somewhere. And so if you
just sit there and you know, I bring a little
sandwich and just try to stay quiet, and you know,
that's that's what I usually do. Where if you're hunting clearcuts,
it's more like a morning in the night time.

Speaker 1 (41:26):
And so yeah, gotcha, Well thanks for sharing kind of
that that white tail tactic and you know how you
approach it. So I knew who you were. We'd already
talked in twenty twenty, but I get a message from
Dirk and John who happened to be hunting the same

(41:49):
unit as you and twenty twenty one or twenty two,
I believe Elk and they messaged me. They're like, once again, Dirk, Hey,
who's this apple maggot? Tell it? Do you know this
guy is? Well, you're you also, we'll get into this
in a little bit. You you do real estate, but
you also do some i'll call it driveway grading. I
don't know if you want to put a different spin
on it. You yeah, your re you re rehabilitate roads

(42:11):
driveways as another business. And I believe your TRS logo
was on the side of your truck or something that
let they let me know. They're like, who is this? Well,
first it didn't like catch on, so I Google search
your name. I'm like, oh, that's Tucker. Like if you
see him, you know, flip him crap. And uh, you
guys happened to be hunting the same same area in Elk.
But what I want to get to on this is

(42:31):
you've hunted it. You hunted it for a couple of years,
right and then now you know I had been in
the area before and and they gave you a just
a recommendation. Hey, you know you were in elk. You
had chances you've seen good elk, but you had had
you ever put it all together yet on that hunt.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
And that was pretty early I got I remember, I
texted you and I said, what do you what do
you know about this unit? And you're just you sent
me a screen shot of your calendar which was to
apply to that unit. So I knew I was on
the right track. And uh, my my wife's uncle, you know,
he's he's getting older now, seventy or in his sixties. Anyway,

(43:14):
he kind of put me in that direction. He said
he'd hunted twenty years ago for Spike, and so that's
kind of how I ended up there. And then when
I talked to you about it, you kind of re
you know, reaffirmed my questions about it. So I found
myself there and just like anywhere, just going into it blind.

(43:34):
In fact, I took I took my wife Madison the
first year I went, and she she probably doesn't like
to dive into the canyons as as much as I do,
and so I probably didn't hunt as hard as I
should have to get a ELK out of an OTC units.
It's so competitive everywhere you go and I didn't. I
didn't get a bowl that year. Then the next year
I actually drew. I actually drew. There's a quality rifle tag.

(43:59):
And so I've had success in the unit, and I'm
a firm believe that there's elk there. You just got to,
you know, learn it and keep going back and trying
new things. And and so I kind of bounce around
in the unit, you know, I don't necessarily stay in
one spot.

Speaker 1 (44:13):
Yeah, and we we talked and then I had went
and hunted it finally, and then you went back and
I'm like, hey, this, you know, we this is a
general area maybe not as busy, maybe as busy as
where that was one thing we talked about your old
spot as there was a lot of traffic around, you know,
both outfitter and dioy type guys and what I. I
don't want to take any credit for this. We just

(44:34):
kind of threw in an area and you went and
checked it out and there were elk there, and then
you kind of spun off of that, right, you felt
some pressure. You talked to it. And this is another
great tidbit of information. I believe you talked to somebody, right,
and they had made mention of a different spot, and
so you kind of spun off of the area and
kind of give us that little rundown on how you

(44:55):
how you went from talking to that guy, how you
kind of cased the area and kind of figured out
your plans at some cameras, left and then came back. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (45:03):
So I now, you know, on year five, I've been
to a lot of the you know, the unit and
you know, for the most part, US hunters are are
good people, you know. I mean, you know, like when
I left last year, I met some guys from Minnesota
and and uh, you know, I was leaving empty handed,

(45:23):
and I was like, hey, there was a bull, you
know in that drainage. I couldn't get on him, but
have at him, you know. And I kind of appreciate
that with with US Hunters because I appreciate the same
intel myself. You know, if I was just rolling because
it's a month long hunt and so if I was
just rolling in on day fifteen and they're just leaving,
and you know, and so I've kind of you know,

(45:44):
I meet people. I'm a talker, I'm in sales, and uh,
it kind of just led to like like a guy
that was in the same situation I was where he's like,
I can't hunt this year, and he was just checking
cameras and and he's like, you try this spot, this spot,
and this spot gave me, you know, weeks worth of intel.
And I mean I was already camped there. It wasn't like, hey,
you know, head up the highway, turn this way. I

(46:06):
mean I was already there and anyway, super great guy,
and you know, I was appreciative of that. And so
I got to try these different spots. And there's elk
and all, there's elk all over. It's just a matter
of making it come together with a bow. And I
left empty handed, and I kind of I had some opportunity,

(46:26):
but I kind of blamed it a little bit on early.
I went early in the season thinking maybe if I
would go early in the season, there will be less people,
less bugles. But I would almost rather have less people
than than you know, more talk. I kind of figured, well,
I mean there'd be days where I wouldn't even hear
a bugle, and that's real tough with the bow. And
so I went home and I got you know, that

(46:49):
season opens like the thirtieth of August or whatever it is,
and you know. So here I am. I'd been there
for a week, nine days or whatever it was, and
I come home and it's like September seventh, you know,
and here I'm sitting on this Idaho elk tag and
it's set er seventh and I have, you know, twenty
five more days left of the month, and it's like, gosh,
I just can't sit here on this elk tags burning
a hole in my pocket. And so with my work schedule,
I kind of I kind of shifted and made room

(47:11):
for another five days and I had it over there,
and I killed a bowl on day two.

Speaker 1 (47:15):
Yeah, and that ended up being what a three twenty
ish bowl if they were on the big side.

Speaker 2 (47:19):
Yeah, he was a funky horn bowl. He had a
stunted growth on his left side, but if you were
to double his other side, he would have been in
like a three twenty bowl.

Speaker 1 (47:29):
And on that one you would in that new area
went and explored, do it you you found a wallow
that that they were hitting or using very regularly, And
then did you set a camera on that before he left?

Speaker 2 (47:42):
No, I don't have a camera on that one.

Speaker 1 (47:44):
A different one, yeah, I.

Speaker 2 (47:45):
Have a different, different spot that I have cameras on
I don't have a ton of cameras quite frankly.

Speaker 1 (47:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:50):
I put some in my white tail spot. I put
more up this year. I just kind of like to,
you know, I see these YouTube guys and they have
history with these animals, and you know, it's like it
kind of like I kind of want that and be
nice to see a three fifty bowl in there and
be like, I'm after him. He's in here somewhere. But
you know, being in Washington and you know, and being

(48:12):
fifteen hours away from all this stuff, Yeah, being able
to check and work, it's hard to it's hard to
go over and check them and change batteries and keep
up on them.

Speaker 1 (48:19):
Yep, Yeah, for sure. Yeah, So that was a I mean,
the moral of that story, you know, is don't be
afraid to go check out new areas. You know, because
this was in a completely different area, you know, maybe
an hour or two from where you were. You started
hunting the area and found some success, and just by
talking to you about that hunt, I think you're going
to probably continue to find success in there, you know,
the way you made it sound, and and you know,

(48:41):
as many elker in there, so you'll find a spot
same as similar as your white tail spot. That just
kind of work. So let's get into some of the
exciting stuff, kind of what's your future plans? I know,
yeah you and then we've got a mutual friend justin
that we we kind of talk about our dream hunts,
you know, because you guys, I would say, are real
similar to me like that, you know, that Alaska thing
kind of really just you know, it turns our gears

(49:03):
and we're trying to figure out how to get up there,
but everything seems to be so dang expensive, and you
got to have a guide orn outfitter. You're going to Canada.
I went to Alaska. You've got your sheep hunt this year. Yep,
So you're going to Canada for a doll sheep slash
caribou hunt. I'm sure sheep is major priority number one,
and caribou were going to play second fiddle to that.

(49:24):
You're going up there with Lancaster, So like what else is? Like?
How did you go about that? How did you? Like,
you know, when I planned, I just went from one
guy I knew the hunted with my outfitter bucked it,
Like how did you? I mean? Landcaster is probably a
little more popular, little more well known than the outfitter
I chose in Alaska. But like, how did you come
to the conclusion, Like that's who you wanted to go with?
Did you? Did you call everybody up? Did you what

(49:45):
gave you the confidence to finally you spend your hard
earned money with those guys?

Speaker 2 (49:49):
Yeah, So how that sheep hunt even came about was
back in twenty twenty one. My business started to do
a lot better, and you know, I'm glued to YouTube
and always watching new Hunt shows and finding new guys
on there and and anyway, finally my wife was like,
quit talking about it and just do it, and uh,
you know, that's kind of what it came down to,

(50:11):
was not you know, I have the ability to do it.
Make it a priority and it'll happen. And so that's
what I That's what I did. And I started asking around.
There's a local guy here, Kevin Klumper. He he he
has been several times at Lancaster and he's the one
that kind of pointed me in that direction. He's been

(50:32):
with them numerous times and so he said he put
his name on them every day of the week. And
so he's an Apple Vine guy as well. So that's
that's kind of what put me in that direction. Was
just a guy that you know, has been with him
several times and he probably killed four doll sheep or
something with him, and so that's why I went with them.
And I'm pretty excited about him.

Speaker 1 (50:51):
Yeah, and the are all good, so doll sheep caribou.
Like what are your expectations on that? You you talked
earlier and it kind of stuck in my head. You know,
even on the meal deer you know, you talk about
like paying for a hunt versus expectations and not that
I'm I'm only ten years older than you, but like
to give you some guidance, like on this one's even more.

(51:16):
It's going to weigh more on you because of how
much more this is than the meal deer hunt. But
like if I can offer any guidance, and it's hard
because I'm very similar, like assume you're paying for the
adventure and the doll sheep's extra, and like it was,
it didn't set in and I would be I'd be
lying to say I'm not a hypocrite on this, because
until I got there, it was all about like I

(51:37):
just really want to kill a ram. Yeah, I ended
up killing it on day one and then I kind
of missed the struggle. So it's like and just the
area you're in, So I don't know if that's going
to help you. It's probably not. You're gonna be like
I don't, I don't care, like I still want to,
and we talked about it like that was still my
ultimate goal, but like I feel like worrying about it
doesn't change the outcome, if that makes any sense. So

(51:58):
I'm not trying to like your beer psychologist here, but
it's like, you know what I mean, Like by having
that worry or the stress or anxiety of it doesn't
end up like killing it for you. So just enjoy
everything you're doing and that's just gonna happen when it happens.
If it is going to happen, it.

Speaker 2 (52:15):
You know, it's I don't have unlimited money, you know,
Like some of these people are buying these sheep hunts
at the Sheep Foundation and you know, eighty one hundred,
two hundred and fifty grand and granted they're like fifty
sixty seventy year old men. This was kind of like
a you know, like make it a priority and it
could happen type of deal, and so it's a big

(52:37):
deal to me, and you know, and I plan to
kind of keep making hunting a priority and go on more,
but it totally weighs into the you know, like you
want to get a sheep, and there's that pressure of
you in whether it's a it's a good bull hunt,
whether you have max points and you're burning them, and
it's like, you know, like when I was on that
Wyoming hunt, it was almost like I was more worried

(52:58):
about the score than I was the hunt of the bowl.
And it takes away a little bit of the fun
because you're, you know, you're you're like, I don't want
to waste these max points on a three hundred inch bowl,
like I should be getting the three fifty bowl. But
really what I signed up for. I didn't have a
I didn't have an outfitter on that that first hunt,
and I was so new to hunting, you know, because
it was like the first real hunt I'd gone on

(53:20):
since football and stuff, and I was like, all right,
I'm done with football, that's cash these points. Well, I
was so new to it, and you know, I got
like a three hundred inch bowl. But you know, you
would think a guy with max points in Wyoming should
get like a three fifty bowl. And that's what I
was beating myself over.

Speaker 1 (53:34):
Yeah, and so.

Speaker 2 (53:35):
Like it's kind of the sheep hunt, you know, when
you pay money for it, it's like you should get
like a stud ram and it's not how hunting works.
And that's what makes hunting so great is the you know,
like when it all comes together, like my you know,
my meal deer, when it all comes together, it's like
you weren't expecting it. It makes it that much better. But
unfortunately you're gonna have to go, you know, come home
empty handed sometimes to make those those moments feel even better.

Speaker 1 (53:58):
Yeah, And the other thing I realized when you get
there is like these guides and outfitters can't control the weather.
So you like the Alaska weather. I don't know if
where you're going in Canada is any better. If it's
still like we could literally be in the sun freezing
to death. You know, it's clear and crisp and cold.
The next second, I'm like trying to rush to get
my rain gear on because the system moved in within

(54:19):
like twenty minutes. So it's like the weather's out of
your control, you know. I don't know about how those
concessions work in Alaska or in Canada, but like, I
don't know if pressures maybe a little more under control
there because only certain people can hunt certain areas. But like, yeah,
I know it's hard, and I'm talking out of both
sides of my mouth, but like, if you can, if
you can get to a place to like not put

(54:40):
as much pressure on yourself, you're just gonna enjoy it
more and you're and really all you can do is
be in the best shape possible and be able to
shoot your gun. That's gonna be my new.

Speaker 2 (54:49):
Justin our mutual friend there, you know, he was he
went a few years ago, you know, probably eight years
ago or so whatever it was. But you know, he said,
like when he was getting off the plane, there was
a guy loading up a like a you know, Boon
and Crockett ram, and so he's thinking, oh, this is
a good outfitter. I'm gonna get a good ram. He said,
day one, he's seen a legal ram that wasn't real big,
and it was like, day one, it's legal, do you

(55:11):
shoot it? He passed it up and then never seen
another one, and so it's like, man, do you play
that game of like, I hope I'm not putting that position. Yeah,
you just legal, but it's not real big, you know,
and you pass it up and then you just get
socked in foggy you can't control the weather, and it's like,
well dang, you know, then you're telling everyone, yeah, I
passed them up on day one.

Speaker 1 (55:30):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, it's that's tough and and uh yeah,
I wouldn't. Don't worry about that decision until you're you're there.
But uh and that's where you have to trust your
guide outfitter. They should give you a good guidance. They
should know how many more legal ones there better ones,
and and you'll make a good decision caribou, Like what
else is on your your future, you know, list of

(55:53):
what you're wanting to hunt, you know after after the
sheep and the cariboo.

Speaker 2 (55:57):
Yeah, I'm probably just like most other you know, regular
Joe blow hunters. I mean, you have the I'd love
to kill a big moose and hanging over the fireplace,
you know, something like that would be awesome. I was
able to go my buddy drew one of the Washington
once in a lifetime tags this year for over in Spokane,
and but you know, you look at those big yukon
moose type of haunts, and that's always a dream of

(56:18):
mine to kill just a whip, And I don't know,
there's something about a big brown bear, you know. And
I tell myself, I'd love to do it with the bow,
you know, sneak up on one on a beach and
h you know, or wherever you know, in the in
the thick brush. But I've joked that I don't know
if I have enough money to take a bow, because
your your success rate is going to go way down. However,

(56:40):
the thrill might go way up. So I've contemplated if
I did do the brown bear venture, would I take
a bow and kind of try to get more of
an experience out of it? And how cool would that
be to shoot a big, you know, nine foot ten
foot bear with a bow or do you just take
a rifle and you know, not get greedy? So yeah,
I would say a moose in a in a brown bear,
I really want to kill one of those.

Speaker 1 (57:00):
Yeah, and you probably won't find it, I mean, the
grand scheme of it. You might get an arrow in it,
but you'll probably won't find an outfitter that isn't gonna
put like ten bullets in it right afterwards. So yeah,
I don't think they're insurance companies like the plan where
they don't follow up. But I'm real similar to you,
like Alaska just gets into your blood or the Northern
I mean, you're going to Canada, I keep saying Alaska,

(57:21):
but like those areas just like what they have to offer,
and just you haven't been there yet. But just like
the feeling of ground being untouched, uninhabited, like uncommercialized, like
our wildernesses are. You can't go up in our goat Rocks,
which is close to us and not see a hundred
people on the weekend. Like you can go anywhere you

(57:42):
want Alaska, even prettier than the goat Rocks and not
see anybody or nobody's been there in five or ten years.
So I just I love it and it brings me back,
like I'm gonna get to check Moose off this year,
I believe. And the guide talks about like we don't
hardly see anybody in that area, like there's nobody hunting it,
and so it's just like man, and there's just something
about Alaska. It is expensive. You know, you don't have

(58:03):
to hire a guide for this, but the logistics to
where we want to hunt and get to some of
these seventy inch moose is very, very difficult, and so
the outfitter actually makes it cheaper than if you had
to try to coordinate. You couldn't even do it on
your own without without their assistance.

Speaker 2 (58:17):
That's kind of why I was like prioritize the sheep hunt.
It's just like, you know, I was talking to one
of those guys when I killed that Canada buck and
he used to guide cheap and he was saying that,
like they dropped one guy off one time, and he said,
like he like started crying and what you know, he
just you know, you're hundreds of miles away from anyone
dropped off on a plane and just the remoteness of it,

(58:38):
and like after like two days he just went home. Yeah. Yeah,
that kind of like made me even want to do
it more. And you know, and I see these people
and they they finally get enough money or whatever it
is to finally go or they finally pull the trigger
on it, and they're sixty and it's such a hard
hunt that I committed to it at a young age
and made it my priority. Just because I wanted. I

(59:00):
wanted some pretty extreme, you know, I want to I
want steep shale hard work, you know, and I want
remote you know, on that o TC Idaho hunt, how
many ridges I've come up and there's a guy just
on a cell phone talking to his wife because he's
got a pinch of service, and it's like, in frustrates
me more than that.

Speaker 1 (59:16):
Yeah, yeah, now you're you're gonna love it, and you
want to talk about hard work. I don't know exactly.
I mean some people it's crazy, you know. I've I'm
similar to you. I watched because I don't understand Sheep.
I don't I haven't been around to me Deer and Elk.
I don't hardly watch on YouTube anymore because I understand.
But like Sheep's been this allure like and sometimes it's crazy.
You'll watch somebody shoot one like in the bottom of
the valley on day one, and then you watch the

(59:38):
the more typical you know, ten days, and so you're
gonna likely have your work cut out for you know.
We were joking last night, like I wish I would
have known, I wouldn't have brought my trekking pol I
would have brought an ice axe, because there were times
where it was so steep. My trekking pole didn't do
anything for me. But if I could have put an
ice axe in the side of the hill, you know,
or the loose rock. No, No, Like there's an old saying,

(01:00:01):
you know that I've heard saying like if you're if
your sheep guy doesn't have an ice axe, then you
should probably find a new sheep guy. Now I say
that jokingly, but it's it's a true thing. Like my guy,
you know, had an He liked the old wooden handles.
He doesn't like any new aluminum because they they you know,
if he needed to, he could repair it in the field.
But like, no, he his hiking stick was an ice axe.
And it's it's there's a reason why you've seen all

(01:00:21):
the pictures of everybody, Like, yeah, there's times where you're
standing as straight up as you think you can stand
in your faces that are literally ten inches that's how
steep it is, and you're trying to you know, like
the ice ACKs I think would have been better than
my hiking pole, because you gotta imagine when it's that steep,
if you have a hiking pole down the hill, like
it's not touching anything.

Speaker 2 (01:00:40):
Yeah, you know, and you know, and hand up. I've
never used truck and pulls, and I see everyone uses them.
But you know, like I was telling you last night,
like I feel like I'm always carrying my bow or
I'm carrying my rifle in one hand. And I have
bought some and I'm gonna get an ice pick for
my trip. But you know, it'll be a first for

(01:01:01):
me for you know, just basically putting a heavy pack
on and some trekking polls and just going.

Speaker 1 (01:01:07):
Yeah, no, it's it's a it's a good piece of equipment.
They're light, you know, they're they're just as thing. You're
as light as trekking pole now, you know, get it
walking walking stick height, you know. And it's a fun hunt.
You're going to really enjoy it, you know, the way
you're built, your mental toughness, You're gonna really enjoy it.
And you know, I hope, hope for the best, and
everything pencils out like you want. We were we're getting
pretty long here. We were going to talk on the

(01:01:28):
financial and like planning these hunts, but we may save
it for a second podcast down the down the road.
But no, really appreciate having you, Tucker, got to know you.
You know, I have no doubts in the next ten
years you're going to continue to stack up, you know, big,
big critters and you a lot of that's patients. And
then the big thing, you know, from outside looking in
is just like you're taking advantage of all the opportunities available.

(01:01:49):
You know. You you make sure you have tags, you
make sure you've got the time, and then you're working
your ass off on the side that you make sure
the financials doesn't slow that up, you know. And yeah,
and I always kind of we joke before this. You know,
everybody's always like, well, how do I hunt more? How
do I make it so I can hunt more? And
I'm like, the best way to hunt more is like
go get go, get a degree and being like a
doctor and then you can hunt. Like everybody thinks you're

(01:02:10):
gonna do that through the hunting industry. And you're a
great example real estate. You know, you own a couple
of businesses and you you have the liberty to hunt
just as much as as I do. You know, our
our good buddy Justin you know, he's a he's a chiropractor,
he's got the financial means to hunt just as much
as I do. So there's better or more efficient ways
to do it. Then, you know, trying to get lucky
and strike gold within the hunting industry, and I guess

(01:02:32):
we'll maybe close all. You know that with that, like
financial approach is like, man, you only live once. Figure
out a way to grind do whatever you want and uh,
you know kind of kind of go chase your dreams.

Speaker 2 (01:02:43):
Yeah, I mean, like you know, this sheep hunt at
thirty one years old is probably not in the Dave
Ramsey baby steps and becoming a millionaire strategy. But you
know what I've found with finances is is, you know,
growing up, everyone tells you that, like you know, money
is not everything. Money's everything, and I agree with that,
but you know, like I was telling you before, it

(01:03:05):
they aren't. They don't give away these sheep hunts for free.
And so what I've when my you know what I've
I'm not a doctor. It's just like find a side
hustle or you know, find a career that you know
is you know, commission based or something like that, to
where the harder you work, the more reward you can get.
And that's kind of what the path that I've taken,

(01:03:25):
and it's not necessarily about the money. It's more so
it'll afford me to go on this sheep hunt. And
I don't want to be sixty, you know, just watching
these videos saying, Man, I would have loved to kill
the doll sheep one day. You know, it's like I'm
just prioritizing.

Speaker 1 (01:03:37):
It right now and.

Speaker 2 (01:03:40):
Making it, you know, just making it work.

Speaker 1 (01:03:43):
Yeah, that's what I've similar to you. We talked about
it when you know, when we were together, that that
one time. It's not about the money. It's about the freedom.
Right if the money is obviously tied in, but like
you live a life where your schedule can be moved
around and you have the money flowing in while you're
not there, you know, in some of these things. So
I think it's if you focus on freedom and not

(01:04:05):
the financial and and you'll be in a better spot.
I think that's the That's the best way I can
explain it.

Speaker 2 (01:04:12):
I'm lucky to like, like my wife is, she started
to help out with because we have rentals now and
started to kind of build that portfolio. So we invest
in real estate and then I sell real estate and
then you know, I have that the gravel road, you know,
a hustle and and if I'm not busy, then I
could go, you know, I'll find work, and you know
that's that's it allows you. I could work. I could

(01:04:33):
hunt all fall if I wanted to. Nobody's gonna tell
me now because I work for myself. But the problem
is my incomes. It's like a balance of you know,
like I went on that second trip to Idaho to
you know, I wasn't planning on it, but it was like, man,
I have this tag burning a hole in my pocket.
I can sneak away.

Speaker 1 (01:04:49):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:04:49):
My wife had everything covered with with my real estate stuff,
you know, and I try to just slip out, you know,
I don't I don't announce it all over and she's like, yay,
I'm gonna be done for out of service for another
seven days. It's like I just sneak out, try to
fill my tags because I'm not in the industry. It's
not you know, I don't get paid to go. It's
it's it's not like part of my you know, I'm
just I'm just a guy with a job, and so
I could hunt a lot. But it's kind of a

(01:05:11):
balance of you know, when you're playing your you know,
if you aren't, if you aren't making money, you're spending it.
And that's kind of kind of Hunting.

Speaker 1 (01:05:17):
Sounds like you need to build the portfolio of rentals
so you can just you can leave and you're making money.
And uh no, I know, I know you've got big plans.

Speaker 2 (01:05:25):
If you knew the headache of rentals, you wouldn't.

Speaker 1 (01:05:28):
I did. I had to, and I sold them.

Speaker 2 (01:05:30):
They're they're rewarding and it's kind of like a stock.
You know, you don't get rich off of them immediately.
It's you know, it's it's long time.

Speaker 1 (01:05:38):
It's a long game.

Speaker 2 (01:05:39):
Yeah, I'm excited to come on this again. Maybe talk
about that part of.

Speaker 1 (01:05:42):
Yeah, yeah, the financial I know, Dirk just followed up.
If you haven't listened to it, listened to the prior
episode Dirk. Dirk met with our good buddy there and
went over the financials of of hunting. So you know,
go check that episode out. And Yeah, really appreciate you
having you on Talker. Good luck on that sheep hunt.
Maybe we'll have to have you on post sheep and
care a bo hunt to see how that turns out
for you.

Speaker 2 (01:06:01):
Yeah, I actually hit me on and and I look
forward to it again, all right, take care you too,
m

Speaker 1 (01:06:16):
M m