#068 - Marlon Holden | Gray Light Hunter Into The High Country - The Hunt Stealth Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
You're listening to the Hunt Stealth Podcast with Ryan
Uffins. The podcast where we dive head
first into the wild, whether you're an aspiring hunter or an
adventurer seeking the untamed. Together, we'll explore the
strategies and stories that leadto success in the great
outdoors. Hey guys, welcome to another

(00:21):
episode of the Hunt Stealth Podcast.
I am your host, Ryan Uffins. In this episode I sit down and
chat with Marlon Holden, AKA theGrey Light Hunter on his social
handles. The guy is absolute stud and a
killer of mule deer. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the
show. I tried to help some guys out
and I'm like hey, if you go up there, go with you and one to

(00:44):
your guys and the next thing youknow the guys up there with
eight guys on the side of the mountain.
It's it's bonkers. But anyway.
It does. It hurts a little bit.
I mean, it's really at the end of the day, if you find
something special, it becomes sacred.
And I think it becomes sacred because like you'll legitimately

(01:06):
put a lot of work in to figure it out.
And then you want other people. Like if I see somebody else up
there like high 5 dude, like badass, you found it.
Like, you know, you're here, let's you know, and I'm pretty
open at that point. But when it's just like where
you at? What state?
How do you get these tags? I'm like. # salt.

(01:30):
Yeah. Yeah.
Well, yeah, that's awesome. Yeah.
It's, I mean, where where I was,I had a same guy I was talking
about he gave me he gave me a location and I went up there and
just like beat the living snot out of myself and over like the
3/4. He goes up there four days
total. Like I saw one other hunter up

(01:53):
there and it was like you kind of have it to yourself.
But I just could never get into position on any of the mule
deers that I was chasing and sawsome milk.
But yeah, it's I get why why like you said, it can be sacred
because it's you beat yourself up.
Like I was looking at when you hear videos up there like 13,000

(02:15):
feet of that mule deer that you shot, you have hail coming in on
you just. Yeah.
That's wild. I mean, that's.
I mean, I think we're as men, we're that's something so
important to me is like, I, I think that, you know, we can all

(02:37):
agree in a very big way. Like our culture has gone so
soft and and I think that men are meant to do hard things.
If you have multiple generationsof men that just aren't doing
anything hard, you end up with abunch of soft people that can't
fight, can't survive, can't get their own food.

(03:00):
Like everything just turns into almost a work to buy to
basically an oppressed society that is reliant on so many other
cogs in a wheel to be able to survive.
And, and I love the element of being able to go out there and
quite literally do things that our mind is saying, just stop,

(03:22):
like go home, like quit. You know, I mean, I can't even
tell you like how many times, you know, you get up into these
places and, and not the first few days, the first few days
you're like, you know, gung ho and everything's good, but you
start getting into these longer grinds or 10:12, 14-18 days,
you're like, what in the heck amI doing?
Like, I just want to go home andrelax.

(03:46):
And then you get home and then you're like, what am I doing
here? Like, I can't wait to be on the
mountain. There's this juxtaposition of
Jekyll and heights always on your shoulders.
And, and I believe in my heart that just as men, we're supposed
to do hard things, we're supposed to challenge ourselves
to do things we don't want to do.
Well, that's a big reason why I love it.
You look at the response from you don't have to comment on

(04:09):
this. I will.
But like Pete Hegseth, like whenhe addressed the generals, like
everyone's I, I've seen commentsonline.
It's like, I can't believe he dothat.
That's ridiculous. It's it's sickening.
I'm going for setting the standard like, for saying like,
Hey, we're going to hold, you know, those in leadership in the
military to a higher standard. And it's like, I kind of always

(04:31):
thought that was always happening.
But some of the comments in thatthat I've seen, like I, I, I had
found this video of it was the speech that he gave, but they
had turned it into like those AIbabies.
And it was to me, like I thoughtit was hilarious.
And so I had shared it and like the people on the left were

(04:54):
coming out of the woodwork like disgusted in it.
And I'm going, it is. I don't, yeah.
Anyway, like I said, I don't, I don't expect you to comment on
that. But we definitely live in a time
where people are soft. And I was one of those people
that was like soft, right? Like before I got into this five

(05:15):
years ago, I mean, I was, I'm inentirely different shape and,
and heavy and I haven't gotten anywhere near the time that you
guys are spending like 15/18/20 days.
Like my Max is, has been four days that I've been out trying
to get it done. I just, I'm looking to get to
that point where I'm unemployable like you had
mentioned before. But I get out there and yeah, I

(05:39):
mean, for me, even after day 2, but I mean, I think we did over
4 days we had done, I mean, I don't know, close to probably
like 35 miles. I mean, up, I mean, we were
grinding out there just trying to figure it out.
But that was the longest I've ever spent out there trying to
get it done. And so these guys like you that

(05:59):
are able to go out and make thatlike a lifelong passion and a
pursuit that you're able to do. I mean, that's, I think for a
lot of guys, that's the end game.
But whatever people are able to do is what they're able to do.
And got to go out there and try and figure out a way to get it
done I'll. I'll back up a little bit,
right? I'm I'll dox myself.
I'm 47, just turned 47 in September.

(06:23):
I started hunting when I was 28 and I had no idea really about
it. Like you know how it's done out
West. I mean, I did subsistence stuff,
snaring, lots of spear fishing. What not when I sailed around
the world on a sailboat when I was a kid, but the whole idea of
bow hunting out West as a form of let's get meat for the

(06:47):
freezer and hey, you get, you know, some cool antlers for the
wall was a new thing for me. So I was a boat captain.
I ran these fifty 6070 foot private sport fishing yachts for
guys. And all these guys obviously
have money because these boats are anywhere between 3:00 to $8
million each. And so by getting that type of a

(07:09):
job, I was able to, you spend a lot of time with the owners and
granted a lot of time, you know,you're the one fixing the water
maker, changing the, the fuel filters on the primary and the
secondary. If something goes wrong, you're
in rough season, you know, you, you got a bad batch of fuel and
you're in Mexico and, and there's just so many different
things that go on on boats that you have to work through.

(07:31):
So you're kind of like the guy that that fixes everything.
You're MacGyver, but you don't have a Home Depot or a a parts
store nearby. Like I've broken down more 16V
and 12V92 Detroit, some cats and32 eight cats and Cummins.
And like I've Reese sleeved engines, drop the main bearings,
pan adapters, you know, and, andand like I've done all of that

(07:53):
from the bottom up, cleaning toilets and, and then getting
all cleaned up and then going inand then making order of platter
for the boss and the wife and the guests.
You know, it's like I've been through the gambit of being told
when I can go, what time I can go and how much time I can have.

(08:15):
And I, and early enough on, I decided, OK, this isn't the
path. It's not giving me the freedom
that I desire to pursue some dreams.
And so I just decided to, you know, make those were changes,
deliberate changes that occurredover the last 20 years to kind
of shape my life. Like by no means have I made it.
I, I, I don't, you know, I don'twant anybody to think that I'm

(08:39):
just some multi millionaire sitting on fat piles of cash,
like not doing shit. We do really well and we live
really well, but we work super, super hard.
And it's a compromise between myteam and my family to say, OK,
are you guys going to be OK while I'm gone and making sure

(08:59):
that business is rolling along and everything's taken care of
while I'm gone, then I leave. But there was some deliberate
steps that were intentionally taken and put into action, not
just like there's a lot of dreamworks.
I mean, I see and hear and get so many direct messages.
A guy saying one day my dream isto.

(09:22):
The sad part about it is that, you know, I've seen a lot of the
same messages for years, some ofthem over decades of time.
And you know, we live but once, right?
Like we have one opportunity and, and unfortunately as we
age, like let's say for example,knock on wood, right, let's say

(09:47):
for example, I am lucky enough to get 25 more years of this
stuff. I don't know.
But like 47 + 25. I mean like I don't know how
much of A savager going to be atthat point.
I got a limited number of September's for example.
I can't just work real hard, have a bunch of money and decide

(10:07):
I'm going to do this at 65, it'snot going to work.
So if I want to be able to have good knees and a strong back
and, and put some intention behind, really like looking back
on my life and, and living without any regret.

(10:27):
You know, there were deliberate,decisive moments in time where I
said, like, truly fuck this. And, you know, changing the
narrative of life. And, and granted, the needle may
not be like, I might not be the owner or CEO of a Fortune 100
company, right? But the needle has moved in a

(10:49):
way that if I want to take September off or November and
all of January, like I'm out. And to me, that's, that's enough
for now. And we're going to continue to
move the needle, developing technology, developing apparel,
continuing to move the needle onmy current brands in the
marketplace to, to move the, theway that the trajectory of life

(11:11):
is going to, to, to go. But I think that everything is
just choices and, and I've, you know, been blessed.
I mean, everything. I owe everything to God that
he's says that this is a life that I'm going to allow you to
pursue because without him none of this is possible.
So I give all the glory to God and and just work hard and leave

(11:34):
it all on the field. There's I, I, I think there's a
mindset. So when you say you're an old
man and then you told me your age, I'm like, all right, well,
you're a year older than me. So you're not, you're not that
old of a man. But but like I said, like you
started when you said you were 28 is when you kind of started
doing like more of the big game,like chasing, yeah, the game.

(11:57):
So like, I mean, for me, I, I had grown up, you know, I've,
I've worked in corporate Americafor a long time.
And I mean, I coached my kids stuff and, and I don't regret
that for me, but I didn't have any.
There was nobody in my family that haunted.
So, you know, I, I owe the credit to my son who's 25.

(12:18):
He'll be 25 in December, but. That's awesome.
He wanted to hunt. I mean, I coached him in
baseball, he played basketball, golf, all that other stuff.
But he was like dad like he's like, I want to hunt.
And so he went down and at the time I didn't have an excess of
money. Still don't have an excess of
money, but he's like, I want to buy a bow and I'm like, I OK,

(12:41):
great. So after, when he graduated high
school, he started working in roofing and that, you know,
after he went and got himself a truck and saved up and then went
and bought him a bow and, and hehad told me he's like, Hey,
let's go, let's go hunt. And I'm like, man, like I don't,
I don't know. And I'm like, I tell you what,
let's put in, if we draw out thesame unit, I'll go buy a bow.

(13:04):
So I'm thinking like, I'm, I'm off the hook, right?
Like likelihood of us both drawing like the same tag.
So I remember we we were up, we were out on the boat and up at
Bear Lake. We're sitting there and I pull
out my phone and the emails comethrough and I'm like, you, Drew.

(13:24):
I don't even remember what unit it was, but but anyway, I'm
like, Hey, did you did you get your draw?
He pulls it up. Anyway, it was the same unit.
And I'm like, shit, I got to go find me a bow.
So I went down to wild arrow, which is not too far from, from
my house and I, I bought me, I bought me a bow and I drew it

(13:47):
back and shot it for the first time.
And I was like, I have been missing out.
I was like immediately hooked. And so I've like got into it.
Like I'm like way more into it than him now.
He's been married for, you know,a year and a half now.
So he's doing that thing. But my kids are growing.
Like, I started having kids young and, you know, my baby is

(14:11):
living up in Logan going, she's up at Utah State and that.
And my wife, it was like, she's like, you need to figure out a
hobby and you got to do something.
So fortunately five years ago, like after I got started into
it, she was like, yeah, you know, like go do your thing.
Still have obligations and work stuff and, and, but I am taking

(14:33):
the steps to work for the goal because like you, like I know
like one, I'm still learning andtwo, I know that I only have a
limited number of hunts that I'mgoing to be able to go out and
do that. But the fun thing for me, like
you had mentioned, like you start changing your body, it
gives you something to to strivetowards so that I was proud of

(14:55):
myself on the mountain. I don't, I might not go fast,
but I can keep going. Like I'll, it's like, Hey, let's
just let's find that Ridge and let's just keep pushing up and
see what we can find. And so I'm proud.
I feel this year was the first year that I've been out and I
gave myself like a real, real honest effort to try and get it
done in the time that I had. And I'm going to go out on the

(15:16):
extended and and keep looking, you know, and see what we could
do to try and figure it out. But I, I do think it's, I, I
think it's admirable that somebody, you know, at a younger
age decides like, Hey, I'm, I'm going to do this.
And, and this is, I'm going to, I'm going to make it possible so
that when I leave, like I know my family's taken care of and
that they can get done what theyneed to be done.

(15:38):
So I can go for a week or two. I'm working towards that.
So it's, it's, it's a goal of mine.
And, and I think there's a lot of people that have these dreams
and I don't, I don't look down on them, but it's kind of like
the, how bad do you want it? Because there's sacrifice that
has to be made. Like guys look at, at, at, at

(15:58):
what you're able to go out and do.
And, and it's the old, you know,the campaigns like must be nice,
right? Well, how, how bad do you want
it? Because, you know, I, I was
listening to a podcast this morning and it's like, why not
me? Like you can do anything you
want to do if you just decide that that's what I'm going to do

(16:19):
and you put your mind to it and you can create a path to go out
and be able to do that. So I think it's awesome that
you've put yourself in a position to be able to be
successful both at home and be able to step away and go out and
get a hunt done that you want todo.
Yeah, I think you, you hit the nail on the head.
We're capable of doing exactly what it is that we want to do.

(16:41):
The power of, of self belief manifestation, the power of
believing in others, handing thetorch to others to to help you,
being able to delegate are all important things.
Like I think as men, you know, often times we tell ourselves,
you know, we're an army of one. Like I have to do it.
I have to get this done. I have to.

(17:02):
But you know, in reality, there's a lot of really great
people kind of scenes that help make everything possible.
I like without them, I couldn't do any of it.
So I'm like kind of get into a place where I'm just grateful,
continuing to work hard and, andyeah, lots of sacrifice and

(17:24):
pressing, you know, I, I push the needle, right?
I definitely, I mean, you can't take off 18 days or 26 days or
31 days without stuff starting to buckle at the seams, you
know, at home, like just doesn'tmatter what it is.
I mean, it can be as as small asneeding to meet with ACPA and

(17:47):
deal with like sales tax and, and go through your, your, you
know, your waterfall reports andmake sure that like everybody's
fulfillment and all the, you know, logistics and everything
is tight. It can be just managerial stuff.
But at the end of the day, like after a month, you really need
to get home and take care of some stuff.
Not to mention, you know, you miss your family.
But I, I definitely believe thatif there's something in this

(18:13):
life that you want, like you said, you know, it's how bad you
want it. I have, I can't even tell you
how many hate messages I get it.It's it's almost sad and
pathetic how many messages I get.
I'm I'm a man, I'm flesh and blood.
I'm nobody special. I work hard.

(18:36):
I get messages like must be niceto be able to go out and buy
tags. That whole must be nice thing is
just unbelievable. It's like, yeah, I mean, it is
nice. You're right.
It's nice to be able to go out and get A tag.
But you're also, you know, not you, but you know, the people
that are talking about this, youaren't making the steps or

(18:58):
taking steps in your life to putyourself in a position to be
able to do that. And until you do, it's not nice.
It was work. And and there's so much of that
that goes on. It's it's a real kind of like
shallow thing where I wish the best for everyone.

(19:18):
I want everybody to win. And The thing is, it's kind of
funny. Like even in my photography
business of gallery in Laguna Beach, I encourage people all
the time. People come in here.
How did you do this? You know what?
That's a whole other thing. Like just as much as people sit
there and think, you know, for whatever reason, what I do in
hunting is cool. Like people do that in the

(19:39):
photography thing. How do you open up a business in
photography and how do you have a studio in Laguna?
And how good you know how, how well do you do?
And they ask me all this stuff and I'm like, you know, there's
a space right over there. Like go get a personal loan from
discover personal loans. Max out your credit cards.
Ask your family for, you know, as much as they can help you

(20:01):
with. Go ask your friends like whoever
you can to leverage for a littlebit, like whatever you can
scratch it all up and start. Just just go all in like.
Don't say, oh, what if, yeah, there's a lot of what ifs, but
you know what if you don't? So just go all in and give it a
shot. Worst thing, you know, worst
case scenario, you go back to the job that you have that

(20:22):
sucks. Like just do it and then figure
it out. I don't think that's a, a way to

(21:24):
live. I think that we all should do
the best we can to like push each other up, work hard.
There's plenty of room for everyone.
There really is. That's the other things I don't
believe in, in competition, likeeveryone has an opportunity to
stand out. I'm not jealous anyone in this
world. We have an opportunity to truly

(21:45):
make our lives what we want. Like there's people that are
doing way better than I am. It's like.
If, if you have a scarcity mindset, like you will live a
life that is scarce and, and that is lacking and you're
always going to be desiring and,and kind of like what you had
mentioned, like I'm of the mindset, like I have an abundant

(22:08):
mindset to where it's just like,I just assume that everything's
going to work out. Like, you know, you, you hear, I
mean, and The thing is, is it isa lot of what you surround
yourself with. If, if you have a victim mindset
and you're just looking at like,oh man, well, man, would that be
nice? Well, figure it out.

(22:29):
And, and rather than, than saying, I mean, there's the
scarcity mindset, which is why me and then there's the abundant
mindset, which is what we was talking about earlier.
It's like, why not me? It's you, you, you are the only
person that can stop yourself from having success.
And, and I get it. I mean, you know, I, I've got, I

(22:50):
run a couple businesses and fortunately I'm, I'm getting
things set up to where I'm goingto be able to go out and spend a
little bit more time doing the things that I love.
But like, I like, I people like do you want to go golf?
And I'm like, no, like my golf clubs are in my, the storage
unit now. I, I don't, I don't like it.

(23:11):
It's a time suck for me. I'm like, I would rather, I
would rather go shoot my bow. I would rather go up the side of
the mountain, do some scouting. I if, if I'm going to take half
a day, there's places near my house that I could go up and
start. You know, I, the extended's
going on right now, I'm going togo do that.

(23:32):
And people are like, well, I'm like, I hate golf.
I hate golf now, Like I don't I don't like it.
People are like, Hey, we've got this golf tournament come up and
I'm like, you go like my guys atwork, I'm like, you go take so
and so, like I, I'm not going and and I'll make time for the
relationship stuff like, you know, take somebody to dinner,

(23:54):
go do that. You know, what if if it's work
related things, but I don't know.
It's it is, it's I can't stand the mindset of it's interesting
that there are people that want to root for other people to fail
rather than succeed in it. And that is the one thing that I

(24:16):
kind of that that I've discovered is there's this kind
of like seething underbelly in like not necessarily the hunting
industry, but the hunting space where there's people that just
come out of the woodworks to just like hate on people.
Like I've had guys, you know, message me and they're like,
how? Like you haven't even like you
just started hunting five years ago.

(24:37):
How are you getting people like this on your podcast?
I'm like, I just ask, I ask and I just assume everybody's going
to say, yeah, I'd love to come on.
I've had people tell me to poundsalt.
I've had people not respond, butI'm just like, why?
Why would why would somebody notwant to come on the podcast and
have a conversation about something that they enjoy doing?

(24:59):
And yeah, so I guess that's, that's part of what just makes
people successful just in life. It's just like you just have to
decide like, this is what I'm going to do and then be willing
to make the sacrifices to where it's like I said, like I, I
haven't touched my golf clubs inover 2 years and I don't miss

(25:20):
it. I don't, I don't miss it at all.
I would much rather go out. Once you find mule deer and
golf, clubs get pretty boring. Yeah, I almost gave them away.
I think that's the next step. Do a giveaway.
Some golf. Club giveaway.
We can do it a thing. Hashtag Golf Club giveaway.
You know, pick up bow hunting. Seriously.

(25:43):
Well, that's where I'm at. I, I love it.
I, I mean, I don't know. I, I did when I decided I'm
like, I'm going to, I'm going tohunt And, and we decided it was
going to be archery. And I told myself I'm not going
to hunt with the rifle until I shoot something with my bow.
And like I said, that's been five years.
And now I'm going like, I'm going to figure it out and I'm

(26:04):
never going to go shoot something with the rifle.
I don't know that that's never, ever going to happen because
like you said, as you start to age, if you want to get out
there, rifle makes a little bit easier to get the job done.
But, but I man, I absolutely love archery.
I love the beating that it takeson my body.
Like I said, we went out did over 30 miles and I think, I

(26:24):
think it was 4 days and it was, it was AI mean between 8 and
10,000 feet of elevation. So like you're feeling it.
And I was just, I when we were done, I'm like, I am ready to
get home. We we came back and Dustin who
had reached out and helped set this up.
The the next morning I text him and I'm like, dude, I hate this.

(26:46):
Like there's one other place. It was the last day of of
general season for our, our elk tags that we had.
And I'm like, we have that place.
It's like an hour away. I'm like, do you want to go?
He's like, yeah, he's like, all right, meet me at the Maverick
at 3:00 AM. So we came back.
We were done. We were ready to take like a
break for a week. And it was like we had to go

(27:09):
back out. And that day we did 10.2 miles
by 9:00 AM. Like, we went out there and we
had elk that were talking to us.They would come in and then
they'd go away. We chase them all over the
mountain and it was miserable. But I also just absolutely loved
it. I loved like that grind.
It's like I'm trying to get it done.

(27:31):
So I don't know, like how do you, how do you kind of how do
you physically prepare somebody who's closer to me in age and
like keep yourself like ready tobe able to go out there and put
in the work at elevation? Like that, 'cause like I said, I
was looking at that video postedin the hailstorm at like 13,000
feet of elevation. Like it's like that's, that's

(27:54):
not easy. That's not easy for people to go
and do. You know, the, the, the
hailstorm was I shot that buck and, and it just, you know, I've
been kind of messed up all day. Thunder, lightning, rain, hail,
sleet, just all the above. I love that stuff.

(28:14):
Personally. I think it's just fun.
I think it's really just cool. It's tested it, it tests you, it
tests you in ways of, you know, like you said, how bad do you
want it and then how much do youlove this?
Inversely, I just did a piece for Eastman's blog about
mountain safety in the Backcountry.
Those two boys that got hit. Unfortunately, like for them,

(28:40):
exposure is, is something that will kill you.
And so I, I wrote a piece recently about exposure, but how
do I prepare? It is more of AI don't want to
stop going up into the mountainsand I will literally physically
kill myself in ways of training.So that way I don't get up there

(29:05):
and quit. I mean, I like to lift a lot and
I like to lift pretty heavy. You know, for my age, I, I lift,
I get after it pretty hard. And so I train with weights in
the gym five days a week. And and then I put a, a 40 to it

(29:26):
depends on the day, but I'll putlike a 40 to 70 LB sandbag on my
shoulders and I'll just do the stair climber for anywhere
between 35 to 45 minutes. And I'm like you, I'm not fast,
but I won't quit. Like my longest days are usually
around. I think I, I start, I start to

(29:47):
gas out, right? You know, if I'm not prop, I, I
don't, I don't properly feed myself when I'm in the
mountains. I'm kind of like a nut job.
I'll just go all in for the day.And then at that night I need to
eat something, you know, like cheeseburger or something big.
But like 1718 miles is kind of like, you know, my, my long day,

(30:08):
my average day is anywhere between 11:50 and I live at darn
near sea level. Like I'm in Laguna Beach.
So I, you know, it's, it's just straight to it.
And the deer live at 13. They, they live at 12 five, some
live at 12 five. But most of the deer are between
12/5 to 13/4. And I do a lot of scouting

(30:33):
AT137136138 and you know, all come from sea level in the next
morning, like I will do a 2500 foot traverse and do 5 or 6
miles and it's so painful it kicks my butt.
You know, it's the it's the squeeze on your head, right?

(30:56):
It's the edema, it's shortness of breath up to 11,000 feet.
My my lungs will go forever and my muscles will gas out before
my lungs will. But above 11,000 feet your your
lungs will gas out before your muscles will.

(31:19):
I haven't even experienced anything like that yet.
I mean as far as like over 11,000 feet like.
Yeah, it's, it's a total different.
It's a total different ball game.
Like when people say hi country and they still are in the pine
trees. No, it, it's like high country
to me starts where the elevationstarts to really Rock You

(31:42):
physically and it rocks you hardright when you hit 12, it rocks
you hard. You're like, it kind of like
shakes your world because everything changes the, the
oxygen absorption in your blood.You need a solid 4 to 6 days for
your blood cells to multiply enough to be able to handle

(32:04):
that. Because you're basically going
from, you know, let's say you live at 4 to 5000 feet and you
go to 12. Your body's basically being
deprived of half of its normal oxygen absorption.
So if, let's say, if you operateit on any given day at 9798%
oxygen levels, when you go up there, you're probably, you

(32:28):
know, your lungs are working just fine.
You'll probably be operating in that mid 80s range.
And then if you do have altitudesickness or edema or other
issues, you can get into the 70sand, and that's critical.
That's like you get into the 70sand stay there.
That's life threatening. And some people don't have any

(32:51):
issue with it all. But that ratio is super small.
I mean, it's a micro ratio of the population.
I would say by large, 80% of thepopulation has significant
challenges at altitude. So you need to have that like 4
to 6 days of acclamation. I give myself four days and I
just scout the living daylights and I'll make sure that I slide
back down to 75185 hundred feet for the night time, get a good

(33:14):
night's rest and I won't stay uphigh.
Like that's the biggest thing that you know that you can do to
to really thwart your chances ofhaving success is I'm going to
muscle it out and stay up high. You're actually really hampering
your opportunity. You need to get, you need to
cover the miles, drop the elevation and get that good
sound, six hours of rest. If you can get a good sound, six

(33:37):
hours of rest at night, even if you go to bed at midnight,
that's OK. You, you need that six hours
with good oxygen levels, get your heart, lungs, blood, your,
your circulatory system happy. And then you can grind it again
for another, you know, full day and then come back down.
You do that four or five repetitions over a four or five

(33:58):
day period. Come open or you'll feel pretty
good. Not not great, but you'll feel
pretty good. And then you know, by about 8
days, 10 days in, you're pretty much steaming around like like
a, you know, like a little bit of a, a monster.
You know, you're kind of, you'rejust a whole different person.
Your body has compensated for it.

(34:19):
And now you're, you're in a different mindset.
You're used to the traverses, you're used to the miles.
I think if we're going 8 to 14 miles a day and 2500 feet to
3000 feet of elevation is prettystandard.
It it's a, they're messed up days and most people want to
camp. They usually a lot of guys want
to go in and camp. They want to set up camp and

(34:39):
they want to stay there, right? But The thing is, is that a lot
of these ranges, the basins are not connected.
So you have to like go all the way down to drainage and come
out before you can like go back up another drainage.
And so doing the backpack thing in some of these areas is, is
not conducive. It's better to have like a base

(35:00):
camp down low, get a wall tent, get a 434 man tent with a big
vestibule, put all your stuff init, you know, and I found that
that's like a better way for me to roll is just have a base camp
and go out from the base camp every day.
I don't care how far it is. Like you can get into any
country in 14 miles pretty much,but being able to rest at like

(35:21):
that 8 to 9000 foot level and have like burgers or like green
beans or, you know, something that's like real food to cook.
Yeah. Your body, just the way that it
operates. For me, I'd rather take on the
extra 6 to 8 miles a day. Like fine with it.
I don't, you know, I'd rather eat good food, have good quality

(35:42):
sleep, low elevation and hammer hard up high, then go in and
operate. And I and I understand there's
some areas you can't go back in and out of.
Like there's some wilderness areas, for example, up in
Wyoming that are 8912 miles in. You need to stay back there.
But there's some areas that are,you know, all throughout the

(36:04):
lower 48. You really don't need to, you
just suck it up, do the elevation.
But with a proper nutrition and good rest cycles, you can really
hammer harder I think. I know that there's a lot of
trains of thoughts on that. But Long story short, yeah, I, I
do demand a lot for myself. I'm A62 frame and I carry myself

(36:28):
on average I'm around £250. So I'm, I'm probably on the
bigger side of most mountain hunters.
Most mountain hunters, I think, are probably smaller and leaner,
but that's just my frame and andI and I work out really hard in
order to do it. Two 50s, no joke, to be hauling

(36:51):
around the mountain, man, that, that's because I like, I'm, I'm
62 there. Most guys I see up there that
I'm with, you know, when I bump into people, they're smaller and
leaner and they just have like engines that can go.
I mean, I'm, I'm 225 so you've still got £25 on me, but I I
feel it. I've got legs like freaking tree

(37:14):
trunks. My calves are freaking huge.
And you know, I, I'm always do alot of cardio to like trim down.
So I'm fairly lean actually, believe it or not, a lot of
guys. So I, I try and stay leaner
throughout the year and then I'll pack on an extra 10 to 15
lbs before my hands because I know I'm going to burn it off in

(37:37):
a calorie deficit. So generally speaking, I'll kind
of be healthy all through the year, eat super, super clean.
Like we're talking the broccoli chicken diet, you know, where
you're not even eating for pleasure, you're just eating the
feed. And, and so we like that pretty
much all year. And then, you know, during

(37:57):
hunting season, like the diet kind of takes a side side seat a
little bit and I just eat whatever and, and just keep it
in the gym. But I try and stay in a place
where the mountain will always humble me.
But I, I, no matter how slow it is, I'll always get up.
I kind of deal. So I, I just always want to be

(38:18):
in a place where I'm not saying,oh gosh, I have to go up there.
Jeez, I guess I can't do this. And so long as I'm able to do
that, I'm pretty happy. And I don't, you know, I don't
do TRTI, don't do injectables. I don't do peptides.
I don't, I don't do anything. I don't even do creatine.
Like I am a I'll do some electrolytes.

(38:46):
I like to do honey and salt. Yeah.
Like I'm not a, I'm not a, not aguy that likes to pop pills or
take stuff. I just don't, it's not
interesting to me. So.
You know, if you eat right, you don't have to.
You know, I, I think, I think that's the other thing.
But a lot of people don't have that discipline.

(39:09):
And I mean, my diet has been like my biggest nemesis in
trying to like drop my body fat in that.
So every hunting season since I've started, I've got into it
with some extra pounds on me. So I always, I always come back
a little bit leaner. But yeah, I, I think it really

(39:29):
boils down to, like you said, like you just have to decide
what you want to do. And it's, it's like some people
live to hunt, some people want to hunt and they want to do it.
And it's like there's some guys out there that are just savages.
Like, I mean, like you like you're just willing to go out
there and, and put in the work and figure out a way to get it

(39:50):
done. What What is your favorite big
game animal to hunt? A mule there by far I mean, if
I, if I'm being fair, you can't find anything but mule deer on
me if you Google or look or it'sall mule deer.
I, I, I, I don't know how many of them it is, but it's probably
in the neighborhood of north of 70 of them at this point with a

(40:12):
bow and then just this past September.
I killed my first elk just for the fun of it, just I had.
Sure you could do it. Kind of pretty much like I've
been on a few all kinds. I've packed them off the
mountain. I'm like, holy crap, this is
work. Why does anybody do this?
But then my my buddy Andy, he's killed a couple of them and he's

(40:35):
like, dude, you should really doit.
And I'm like, I know, I know, I know I should, but like Mulder
more fun. And so I said, screw it.
I put in for the elk tag. It wasn't a good unit.
Got the tag and I told myself ifyou finish the deer hunt and you
have any time then give it a shot.

(40:58):
So that's what I did. I haunted real hard for deer and
spent most of the trip hunting deer and I had like 2 1/2 days
left at the end of the hunt and I really wanted to go home to be
honest. I think I think it was like 18
days in or some crap like that. It was something and I'm like, I
think I want to go home, but I'mlike, all right, you got this

(41:20):
tag. Don't, don't pay the the non
resident fees and all that and not use it right.
So, so yeah, I went out there. I went the first day I went with
my buddy and we called in some, some rag horns and had a lot of
fun and chased a couple of smallbowls around.
And then the next day, we separated and I had seen some

(41:42):
elk up in this basin the day prior.
And funny enough, I was making observations of all these guys
like myself that would be absolutely horrific at calling.
And I'm listening to these guys in the trees like I'm up above
timber looking down, going, oh, my God, they sound horrible.
Like I'm sitting here going, youdo not sound like a bull elk.

(42:03):
And why are you challenging thisbull when you're 2000 feet below
and this thing's up here with a herd of 30 cows?
Like, what are you doing? You know, just my mind, in my
head, I'm sitting here kind of understanding because I listen
to that. I listen to elk every year.
I hear I'm always around them. They're not the smartest of
creatures. I mean, sure, the bigger ones,

(42:23):
the older ones behave differently.
And, and I think that the smarter older bulls are much
wiser when it comes to what sounds you can get away with and
what sounds they're interested in and when, whereas the younger
ones are kind of a little bit more like, oh, hey, what's that?

(42:44):
Let's check it out. You know, so you, you end up
calling in a lot of younger bulls.
Those three to five year old bulls kind of seem to run in
pretty easy, but the older ones always hold up and hold back.
And unless you're speaking theirlanguage, unless you're really,
you know, if they have cows and it's a big herd bull, like
you're not going to unless you're like in his living room

(43:06):
and you're kind of like saying, Hey, guess what, I have one of
your hot cows and I'm over here freaking get it done and she's
hot and you're over there messing off and you just RIP a
fat like challenge bugle or something off, You know, then he
might come run over to kick yourass.
But the to to from what I observed, listening to guys

(43:27):
challenge bulls from like even 500 yards out is pretty comical.
Like they're just, they round uptheir cows quietly, like they're
like, let's go get get, you know, they move out and they'll
bugle, of course, but the bugle is going away and, and there's
just a lot of mistakes. I think that it's more important

(43:49):
to not just learn how to talk, not just learn how to make the
noises that elk make, but like really kind of tune into like,
why are they making it? When are they making it?
What does that sound? What does that sound mean?
And then listen to them use it and see what they're doing when
they're using it. And then be appropriate in your

(44:10):
actions and learn how to make that sound.
And don't make anything until you learn how to make that sound
properly. And of course you can, you know,
run down the freeway going 70 sounding like a Jackass all you
want, and that's the perfect time to do it.
But like I, I definitely noticedthat, you know, people I think

(44:30):
in and I'm no expert, right. I'm going to say that like Full
disclosure, I'm no expert on elk, but I, I have a really good
idea that you guys are going to see a lot more bulls dying and
there's going to be some big ones that die.
And I'm going to be very confident in saying that I'm
going to kill a lot of big elk. And it just does what it is.

(44:52):
They're not overly smart. I think once you master hunting
muleys with a bow, the elk are just going to die.
And the patients game and understanding how to flank a
herd and understanding what you can and can't get away with.
I think those are much more important things to to master.
But mule deer are what I love. They're my first love.

(45:13):
They'll always be my first love.I love how big bucks think
different. They're such solitary type
animals and I love how they I really love how if they decide
to position themselves with other deer, they're utilizing
those other deer as sentries to stand guard, not because they

(45:34):
want to be around them. Big bucks are and, and I don't
necessarily mean antler size, but just a mature animal.
They just operate differently and I love the way they operate.
They're a lot like, you know, anold man that they're just very
smart. They don't say much.
They observe a lot. They talk very little.

(45:56):
They have wise things to say when they say I'm like an old
buck is a lot that way. And, and I just love being on
the mountain with them. That's awesome.
How did, how did you like? Like, do you remember, like your
first mule deer that you shot? Like, where?
Like, Oh, yeah. Was like, I mean, what what?
I mean, tell me about that, because that clearly had to have

(46:17):
been something that probably, like, got you just, like, fall
in love with hunting these animals.
I never picked up a gun once, never interested me.
I loved the idea that you could fling this arrow with razor
blades on it, you know, across acertain distance and like take

(46:40):
it out. I just thought that was just
such a, there was a level of mastery that was required, a
level of, of skill and dedication that was required
that that's what I think captivated me first.
And then the mountains, you know, the mountains, you see, I
think I went into a Turner's Outdoors.

(47:03):
It's a small shop that sells allkinds of stuff across the board,
whether it's hunting, fishing, you name it in Southern
California. And there was a magazine in
there. It was called Bow Hunt America.
It's a older publication and I don't think they're around
anymore, at least I haven't seenthem in a long time.

(47:24):
But I saw a photo. Let me give a little shout out
to my my boy Mark Smith. I saw a photo of Mark Smith with
a high country velvet clad mule deer and these big mountains,
you know, on the rack and he's like, you know, I'm like, that
is freaking cool. And I was running these fishing

(47:45):
boats as doing tournaments and stuff like that.
So I haunted, but I haunted on the water.
I was looking for conditions, looking for temperature, current
breaks, bait, you know, sign on the ocean.
So it translated really well. But when I saw that I just kind
of like went all in. I just said what what do I need?
Like, let's do it, you know, a backpack, boots, freaking hair.

(48:08):
I think I probably spent like 7 grand that day.
I just went and I bought everything all at once and I
knew nothing about any, any of it.
And I got it all and I got it all set up and it was aluminum
arrows and, and yeah, I was, I mean, to me it was like the

(48:29):
coolest thing in the world. So I jumped in feet first my
first year. I arrowed 4 bucks.
All public land was all over thecounter back then.
Like everything was over. You could get so many different
things over the counter back then.
Things are significantly different now.

(48:52):
But yeah, I pretty much never slowed down.
I think the only thing that changed for me was that at the
age class, like I ended up wanting to hunt smarter animals,
stuff that, you know, like up until about 4 1/2 years old,
most of the time they're kind ofjust, they don't stand around,
but they don't, they let you do they let you get away with a lot

(49:16):
more. And like a deer that's older, I
don't even know if I want to putan age on it, but like 6 1/2,
seven and a half, 8 1/2, like they just get smarter and
smarter and smarter and they don't let you get away with much
of anything at all. As a matter of fact, if you mess
up on your stock, the chances are you know, you may or may not

(49:38):
see that deer again. So I like that level of
self-discipline and understanding what you can get
away with, what you can't get away with and measuring your
assertiveness on a stock becauseyou must be self assured.
And and very, I'm confident thatit's going to happen because if

(50:03):
you don't speak that like you were, we were talking about work
earlier, you have to like speak it into existence.
If you don't speak it into existence before the stock even
happens, your likelihood of coming out airing that animal is
probably pretty slim. So you have to like really kind
of put the cogs or the wheels inmotion to see that success

(50:26):
happen and visualize it before it happens.
And I love doing that on on mature animals because they're
so much smarter. So the only thing that's really
changed from then to now is probably the fact that I really
enjoy pursuing animals that are much older because they will
tolerate way less and it demandsa lot more of my focus and skill

(50:49):
set. Like a bed in horrific places
where you're just like, OK, that's the only route, but that
route right there could potentially get me killed for
whatever reason. I like that, you know.
You're like I'm, I'm doing it. I'm doing it, yeah.
I went down the route this this year, to be honest.

(51:10):
Like you have to tell yourself what you're willing to do and
what you're not willing to do. And you have to be very
unselfish. Like I think you have to be
unselfish. Like with kids, with family, you
know, if you're just a single dude out there and you don't
really care and you're just having fun and you're kind of
like you have a case of the fuck, it's then, you know,

(51:31):
whatever. But I mean, I still don't advise
that. But like, it's going to happen.
I mean, it happens with me sometimes where you'll go up
this steep shoot and then there's just this one section.
You know, it could be like a small 15/18/20 foot Cliff and
you're just missing a couple holds where you have to like

(51:52):
either jump or you have to braceand wedge and push.
But if something gives or you know, you go tumbling like
you're rag dolling all the way to the bottom and you're either
going to be miserably broken in a place where you have so many
breaks that you're probably going to have punctured lungs
and organs and or you're just going to die.
Like especially up in that, thathigh country stuff, like the

(52:14):
really high stuff, it goes from like class 3 to critical repel
real fast. I mean, it's not it's different.
It's just it's not the same as, you know, the lower country
cliffs, period or cliffs, right?Doesn't matter what they're it's
always a Cliff. But like when you get rolling in

(52:38):
that open stuff, I mean, I've had deer roll down that stuff
and antlers are gone and like they're busted up to where
you're like, gosh, what kind of meat am I going to salvage off
of this thing? It's literally the whole thing
looks like a giant hematoma, right?
It's just kind of liquefied in alot of areas.
And if that happened like you'redone.
And so I, you know, this year onthe stock as I was going up, I

(53:03):
got to a junction at about 12-7 where I could gain another 400
feet, 4 to 500 feet. And I had to go up a, a pretty
steep Moraine and and then I cango across the Cliff and drop
another 300 feet inside hill around and then go down a chute

(53:24):
onto these bucks. But I couldn't work out below
them and I couldn't go in from kind of like the South because
the wind was coming in and belowthem they would see you.
So I had to go around this Cliffband and go up basically behind
the mountain. We'll come back around the
mountain and down onto them. It was a pretty technical stock,

(53:46):
but I was, I'm like, I can get up this, I think.
But then, you know, I'd look behind me and there's 6 inches
of fresh snow on the ground And the snow made it to where the
the boots just had great boots. But the, the it's just a little
slick. It's just a little bit slick to

(54:07):
where you couldn't necessarily rely on the fact that what your
boot was on was going to hold like you didn't know.
And, and so like, I think that those are the points in time
where we all have to sit there and, and analyze.
OK, Like, no, just back down andgo up around and, and do it the
right way. Like it's going to take you a
little longer, but no deer's worth it.

(54:28):
If you want to do this for another 25 years, well, this one
could be your last kind of deal.And so the stock, the stock that
I went on for this buck was in some nasty weather, a lot of
snow up top and and it was really cool.
Like I really enjoyed it a lot, but very technical.
And so I enjoy the technical pieces because the reward after

(54:49):
you put a good arrow in it and you're there in the moment and
you're holding the antlers, it'sa pretty cool feeling.
It's like this, I don't know, you feel like Tom Hanks on
castaway and you got Winston andyou're just out there by
yourself. Like, you know, I did this like
it's a very raw, the emotions are, are super raw and I and I

(55:11):
like the exposure because the exposure is also very raw.
Like a lot of things can happen up there real fast that change
the trajectory of your life and you have to make good decisions.
So I enjoy it for all those reasons, I think.
That's awesome. That's incredible.
It's you got you got me excited and listening to you talk about

(55:32):
the elevation that you're at. And I'm sitting here telling
myself like, I gave myself a good effort and I'm like, no,
you got to get out there and putsome more work in because that
it is, it's such a challenge. And people that haven't tried

(55:53):
archery. I mean, I've been on animals and
I so this year's the first time I've actually been like on
animals. I my first time I ever went out
hunting, I got I got on one bowl.
He came just blow it like stumbling in behind me and just
could. I didn't call him in.
I can't call for crap. Like I'm one of the guys that

(56:14):
like, I've listened to myself trying bowl call and I'm like,
yeah, that's that. I'm not that guy.
But he get out there and I that feeling that you're talking
about, like when I saw that bullcome in and he was at 30 yards
and I'm drawing back on him. He was in scrub oak.
So all I could see is from like the neck up.
I'm just waiting for him to walk.

(56:35):
There was an opening he was walking to.
And man, it was like the most incredible feeling in the world.
And then the breeze hit the backof my neck and he turned and was
like gone. And it was the last day of the
hunt, the very first year I'd ever been out.
Like that is what hooked me. I was like, that is like the
coolest feeling in in the world.And this year I was up hunting a

(57:00):
muley. I I they had been in this Canyon
And when I had gone back up, they weren't there, but I had a
a ball come blowing over this Ridge and came down and he was
10 feet from me. And I'm going, man, it would be
nice to have a bull tag instead of a spike or a Cal tag for this

(57:21):
unit. I ranged him once at 30 yards
and I'm like, holy shit, he's going to keep walking right to
me. And so I was kind of down, I was
on this Ridge and I was down kind of in the bushes, like
recording with my camera. And I'm like, well, I may as
well capture this. And he comes walking up and he
turns and then I finally, I'm like, well, I can't shoot
anything 'cause I kind of got hold my phone up and stand up to

(57:44):
record him. And I could almost like see,
like in his mind, he's like, you've got to be shitting.
Because as he was walking up, his like tongues hanging out
like he had been chased out of this other Canyon.
And he's like I and then he turns and just starts working
his way back down. But it's, it's things, it's
things like that. Like I can't imagine what it's

(58:04):
going to be like once I finally arrow something and able to put
my hand on some antlers and, andbe like, yeah, I got it done.
But I'll keep at it. I'll keep grinding.
It's going to happen. And I I assume every time I go
out I'm just like, this is the day I'm getting it done one way
or another. Yeah, I I think that it'll be so

(58:25):
emotional for you, Ryan. I'm it's still emotional for me
to the point where not every time, but sometimes I still feel
like crying. So when you watch the animal
that you put an arrow in take its last breath and you walk up

(58:47):
on it and you see its eyes and its body, you look at the impact
and you, you're a man. Are you a man of faith?
I am, Yep. The connection that you'll
receive from that you will be born again in, in different

(59:11):
ways. You'll have the utmost of pride
in yourself. You'll have the utmost of like
gratitude and humility. And but I guarantee you, like I,
I, I hope for you that you cry. I hope for you that you cried
because that means you're reverent over the life that you

(59:32):
took. But it is such an incredible
accomplishment and it is set up such a beautiful moment between
you and that animal and God. And they're such gifts.
The fact that we get to, to likepile them on a plate with some
potatoes and, and some greens islike next level cool.
And that, you know, we get like,for example, like, you know,

(59:55):
like some antlers. We get to like keep, you know, a
bunch of those as almost tokens of like, I remember everything
about that from the angle to thewind to the sun to the the birds
with the atmosphere. It's a, it's a just such a

(01:00:16):
beautiful interaction in nature.And I wish genuinely that all
men had the opportunity to experience this.
It's such a gift. So, yeah, I look forward to
actually, you know, now that we have had the opportunity to, to
talk and to, to convene and meetas a couple of men who just

(01:00:37):
enjoy bow hunting. I genuinely look forward to
hearing of your adventure and your journey in this.
And and I look forward to seeingyour success.
I, I pray that I pray right now in this moment that God gives
you the opportunity to take one of these Beautiful Creatures on
the extended and that you're able to get it done it it's it's

(01:00:59):
pretty cool man. So.
I appreciate that. Yeah, I, I'm AI, am a pretty
emotional guy, so it in the moment, I can be, you know, you
hear of guys that like their knees start buckling when you
draw back. I only drew back on that one.
I never had opportunity to let the arrow fly, but I I was

(01:01:20):
pretty calm. But, you know, you talk about
how that changes you. And these creatures are gifts
from God. You know, that that there was a
time when that's how people fed their families.
I mean, there's still people that that's how they feed their
families is by taking these animals.
And I, I think, I think back like when I, when I read my

(01:01:42):
scriptures of all the times, either read about the prophets
going to the mountains, right? I mean, that's what I can, I
feel that I come back changed every single time, even though I
haven't even killed anything yetbecause I come back and I just
have this like, I, I look at this, I mean, Dustin and I were
talking about it when we were out hunting 2 weeks ago.

(01:02:03):
I'm like, Can you believe like God created this for us?
Like we get to come up here and I'm going like, it makes me sad
to think that like people will never get to experience that
and. Exactly.
It makes me appreciative for theopportunities that I have and
and that's why, I mean, I'll be honest, I come back when I don't

(01:02:25):
harvest punch A tag. I'm bummed, but I'm always
grateful and I'm just looking forward to the next time to
getting out there. So anyway.
Well. I really forward to, to seeing
that. I look forward to seeing that.
Yeah. I'm I'm I'm I want to know about
your journey now. I appreciate that.

(01:02:46):
I'll I'll keep you updated. I'll keep you updated for sure,
Marla. Hey man, I really appreciate
your time. I don't think I ever got an
introduction in, so I'll go backand and record 1 before I do the
podcast. But if people want to find you
on Instagram, it's Gray light Hunter is your handle.
Is that that's? Is that correct?

(01:03:07):
Yeah. So you?
Is there other places people go and find you?
Oh, I don't know. Probably, but yeah.
We'll start a Gray light hunter on Instagram.
We'll get. To there.
But but yeah, so real quick, youtalked about some of your
businesses. Is there is there anything that

(01:03:28):
you want to share with, you know, our audience if they want
to, to look in? And I apologize, I I've been
drinking from a firehose myself.So I normally do a little bit of
research, but tell me about the businesses that you have that
you're going on and if there's something that people in the
hunting industry could benefit from.
You know, I, it's kind of interesting.

(01:03:52):
I never really had much intention of being known for
anything in hunting, right? Like it wasn't my intention to
kind of like be somebody. I'm, I'm actually, I'm nobody,
I'm just a guy that loves to hunt.
So it's kind of interesting thatto me that like, you know, so

(01:04:15):
many people kind of follow alongon that journey.
It's humbling, very appreciative, but as a result
of, you know, killing stuff and and being proficient with a bow,
which is a strange thing to me, but people, you know, ask me a
ton of questions like DMS are, are always truck full of

(01:04:42):
messages every time I look at it.
And, and it's kind of like a, a,a very, very humble thing.
But at the same time, my bandwidth is not always the
greatest to be able to answer all those questions in a
meaningful enough way for it to benefit, you know, the people
who are who are asking the questions.
So I developed, I developed an app.

(01:05:03):
The app is pretty cool. It's the Gray light app on iOS.
You can have it on. You can get it on Google Play or
on iOS for for Apple. I'll put a link.
To the show notes as well for you.
Yeah, but the app is pretty neat.
It's kind of just AI think that we can all learn from each

(01:05:24):
other. I mean, I think I can learn from
you. I think that's one of the most
important things that I think a lot of guys lose sight of,
right? They kill a few animals, their
ego gets super, super big, and then they all of a sudden think
that nobody can teach them anything.
I actually had a really long conversation with a good friend

(01:05:45):
of mine who I can now call a good friend, which is Randy
Ulmer. I had about an hour and a half
long conversation with Randy just after this last hunt,
actually last week. And we were kind of talking
about that always staying humbleand green.
And I want to say, like, he's probably one of the most humble

(01:06:08):
and beautiful human beings I've ever met.
He's such a great dude. And obviously his achievements
speak volumes, right? Like, there's no way that
anything that I could do in hunting can hold a candle to,
like, what this man's done in bow hunting.
I mean, huge owl, huge mule deer, multitudes of them, both
you and I entered hunting in thewrong generation.

(01:06:32):
Like, we'll never see days when we can pursue animals of that
caliber. That's kind of like a bygone
era. Randy hit it perfect.
I mean, he had the the the the wisdom, the know how, the time,
the skill set and he put it all to use and found some tremendous

(01:06:53):
animals and got it done. We were having a conversation
about, you know, how we can always learn from people about
remaining humble and just working hard and letting the
hard work kind of speak for itself.
And so I think that one of the things that that I decided to

(01:07:13):
share with the world is do whatever I could to kind of help
share my knowledge and, and thatthe best platform that I could
think of to do that was an app just simply because people could
log in, they can get it for a month and log off and not use it
or, you know, use it when they want to.

(01:07:34):
It's kind of a neat resource to kind of like keep things fresh
and, and if they don't necessarily learn something that
first time that if they rewatch it or if they watch another
segment or module that, you know, they'll pick stuff up.
And that's what I notice about hunting in general, is that it's
always kind of like this evolution of adding to your

(01:07:54):
toolbox. And the more you can learn and
leverage, the sharper and more keen you become.
And, and I, and I think that by and large, the app's been a
great place for people to kind of, I mean, I've all almost
every year now since I launched it, I get a couple of dozen kill
shots, kill, you know, photos ofguys with, with, with their

(01:08:16):
kills, archery hunting. And they're like, you know,
thank you so much. Like this really helped.
And, and I'm there for those people, right?
I'm there for, for those people.There's also people are like, I
know this, I've known this sincethis isn't anything special.
It's like, oh gosh, here we go. You know, it's it's interesting
to kind of get both sides of it,but by and large, people really

(01:08:37):
it has a great rating in the AppStore.
People love it and and it's beenpretty cool.
I also have art gallery in GoonaBeach that doesn't necessarily
help hunters, but I saw high endfine art all around the world to
some pretty amazing collectors that honestly fuel my fuel my
life and and have made life pretty cool.

(01:09:00):
So I like to go out into the Wilds all around the world and
and capture beautiful light overthese magical places At
marlinholden.com. You can kind of see some of it
non IG it's Marlin Holden too. And yeah, I just do the app,
have the gallery. I do some other investments.

(01:09:22):
I have investments that that I have a lot of fun with a little
bit of raw land and and some performing trading that I do.
And then scaling out a clothing company at technical apparel
company right now is really hot on my list.

(01:09:46):
I've had probably two dozen, probably more than two dozen
calls now with investors talkingwith them about jumping on
board. And I'll tell you what, one of
the toughest things about launching a company is deciding
how big you want to go and how fast and how much of it you're
willing to part with. In my case, I'm not really

(01:10:07):
willing to part with much of it,not as much as people want for
the money I'm asking, which I understand completely.
So I'm probably going to self fund it and bootstrap it.
So it's not going to be huge from the beginning, but we're
going to make some really beautiful technical pieces.
And I'm talking with all kinds of people right now with

(01:10:28):
different composite manufacturers that have like
cutting edge technology. It is a lot of fun interfacing
with all the third parties to bring kind of everything
together and looking to, to create something really kind of
innovative, special and unique for, for mountain hunters.
And, and my roots have always been Western mountain hunting.

(01:10:54):
I think it'll be a really, really long time before I look
at, you know, waterfowl or whitetail or any of that stuff.
But we're going to really focus on on these guys that, you know,
like us that are putting in someserious work on the mountain and
want durable, really great and well thought out technical
apparel. So that is a kind of the the

(01:11:16):
next endeavor that I'm going to pursue.
I've as an artist and as a bowhunter, I've taken, I want to
say about a little over 90 days to think out and design A
camouflage pattern that is non AI, non generative technology

(01:11:43):
was not used in developing. It came straight from my brain
and the ideas that I've had. There's a part of it that's
going to work on ungulates and then there's a part of it that's
going to be like, hey, this looks cool, I want to wear it.
So there's two components to it where it's going to be
functional, yet it'll look good.And as an artist, I developed

(01:12:03):
that and I'm working hard on it.We've got my attorney right now.
He's working on all the copywriting and trademarks and
all that good stuff, and we're going to be releasing something
fun here. I mean, I have no idea what it's
going to look like, but I promise that I'm going to pour
my heart into it and make it thebest that that technology offers
right now. So that's the that's kind of the

(01:12:25):
new endeavor I'm going to finishout this hunt season.
I have some actually some reallyfun stuff that's going to come
up here in the next couple of months.
Some guys that we're going to hunt with and some things we're
going to do. That'll be a lot of fun.
You guys will see that soon on the Gray Light page.
But yeah, just having a ball with all of it, my man.
That's exciting, man. Well, I wish you the best luck.

(01:12:46):
You'll definitely have to keep us posted over here when you get
ready to launch. And and we'll do our little
part. We're we're just a small little
podcast, but but we're we're growing.
We are the fastest growing hunting podcast in the nation.
I appreciate you coming on again, you guys, if if you've
enjoyed this and you've learned something, you feel that there's

(01:13:06):
something that can make you a better hunter or a friend of
better hunter, please share it. You can follow us at Hunt
Stealth. And again, if you're trying to
find the podcast that's on YouTube and anywhere you listen
to podcasts, we are the Hunt Stealth podcast.
And everyone stay safe and God bless.

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#068 - Marlon Holden | Gray Light Hunter Into The High Country

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}#068 - Marlon Holden | Gray Light Hunter Into The High Country