#054 - Austin Bell | 7 Year Elk Hunting Journey

In this episode of The Hunt Stealth Podcast, host Ryan Uffens sits down with Colorado bowhunter and founder of Leaf Hat Co., Austin Bell, to dive deep into a story of grit, growth, and gear. Austin recounts his emotional 7-year pursuit to harvest a bull elk with a bow, culminating in a wild, five-arrow encounter deep in the Colorado backcountry. From the agony of a missed shot in 2021 to the obsessive scouting and preparation that finally paid off in 2022, this episode is packed with raw insights every elk hunter will appreciate.

Austin shares the mistakes that slowed his early progress, especially the struggle to find elk and how diving into Mark Livesay’s Treeline Academy finally helped him connect the dots on e-scouting. He breaks down the power of taking post-hunt notes, the underrated value of a sit pad, and why focusing on gear often overshadows the one thing that really makes the difference: time in the field.

The episode also features the origin story of Leaf Hat Company, a high-performance hat brand built for hunters tired of sweat-soaked cotton lids and uncomfortable brims. Austin walks through how a simple moment on a hiking trail sparked the idea to blend trucker style with technical function—and what’s coming next for the brand.

🔥 Takeaways:

• Austin’s epic 7-year journey to his first archery bull
• Lessons from a heartbreaking miss at 35 yards
• The power of consistent e-scouting & hunt planning
• Why experience trumps gear obsession
• The story behind Leaf Hat Co. and performance headwear

Follow Austin Bell:

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Special Offers: 

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Visit https://www.muleymaniacs.com and enter Promo Code: STEALTH20 for 20% off

Transcript

Ryan Uffens (00:00)
You're listening to the Hunt Stealth Podcast. I'm your host, Ryan Uffens. Enjoy the show.

Ryan Uffens (00:07)
Excited to have Austin Bell on the show today. Austin is a hunter who lives in the great state of Colorado. He's also the founder of the Leaf Hat Company and excited to chat with him today, learn a bit ⁓ more about his business and what he's up to and ⁓ talk some hunting stories. Austin, thanks for joining me.

Austin Bell (00:27)
Yeah, for sure. Thanks for having me on, Ryan. I'm excited to chat with you. And always love talking, hunting. Love to chat about Leaf Hat Co. Definitely a project I love working on. But yeah, I'm excited to have a conversation with you today.

Ryan Uffens (00:43)
Yeah, well, so, so let's dig into the hunting side of things first. So you're, you're just, you said you're in Conifer, right? So just, ⁓ about 35 minutes, you said outside of Denver is, is there, is there any good hunting up in Colorado? I haven't hunted there before.

Austin Bell (00:54)
Yeah, yeah, that's correct.

No, no, there's none. There's hardly any elk here, no big meal deer. So definitely a place I would say guys can look over and focus on other Western states.

Ryan Uffens (01:08)
Yeah, just

scratch that one off the list. Stay in your home state, right?

Austin Bell (01:12)
No, there's a lot of good hunting here in Colorado. I I think residents here or folks in general tend to think about Colorado as like an opportunity only state and, you know, the orange army or the pumpkin patch and rifle season. And that's certainly true, but ⁓ or true to an extent. But there's ⁓ tons of opportunity as well as quality here. I personally feel lucky that I've

kind of cut my teeth hunting over the counter elk here because it seems like as I've matured as a hunter and started to look at other states for better opportunity or just more opportunity that going anywhere outside of my home state for at least an archery elk hunt, it just kind of tends to get easier than ⁓ doing the OTC grind here. So I love being based in Colorado. I don't know that I'll be here forever, but I've lived in this state my whole life and I've definitely taken a bit.

taking advantage of the hunting opportunity here.

Ryan Uffens (02:12)
What's been your favorite hunt that you've been on since you've been, well, I mean, you've lived there your entire life, but is there one that stands out that's kind of like the cherry on top?

Austin Bell (02:22)
⁓ Yeah, probably my bull ⁓ from 22. ⁓ He was my first bull elk. ⁓ One and only bull with a bow so far. ⁓ But I've been hunting for this will be actually my 10th season this year. So ⁓ not something I grew up doing.

At least in terms of big game, my dad introduced me and my other brothers to upland hunting when we were pretty young. ⁓ So I've always kind of been in the outdoors in a sense, but when I was, know, in my high school years and college years, I was very much focused on team sports and then kind of found bow hunting after college. ⁓ And yeah, it took me seven years to get a bull elk with my bow, but that...

delayed gratification that long-term pursuit of a goal I think will be hard to top. So yeah.

Ryan Uffens (03:26)
So dig in, dig into that Elkan, kind of like walk me through it because you said that's your it's been your one and only bowl, right?

Austin Bell (03:33)
⁓ With a bow. Yeah, I've gotten a couple bowls now.

Ryan Uffens (03:36)
With a bow, right, with a bow. like

tell me about that hunt. What was it? How'd you get it done? Cause it sounds like you've done a couple other hunts with your bow, but haven't been able to necessarily have a successful harvest. tell me about this one, walk me through it. Give me the details. I want to hear all about it. Cause I, this is going to be the year I'm getting my first bowl with a bow.

Austin Bell (03:54)
Thank you. ⁓

Hell yeah, yeah, I love that confidence kills. And I think it's the number one skill set in the woods is just being a confident hunter. ⁓ But yeah, I mean, that was ⁓ a hunt that I put just a tremendous amount of work into. ⁓ It was in Southern Colorado in like a leftover ⁓ limited unit. So something you can just pick up with, you know, no points are on the leftover list. Those are getting harder to come by, but. ⁓

not a primo tag by any means. And I'd hunted it the year prior with some friends, missed a bull on day 16, zipped on just right between his legs as he was looking at me frontal at about, I don't know, 35 yards or so. And that miss just ate at me. I'd killed my first elk like two years prior to that. But working that hard.

you know, 16 days in a row hadn't even left the woods. I mean, we'd gone back to the trucks and refueled and everything, but missing a bowl on day 16 and like my time was just up on day 17. So that miss really ate at me and really like sparked a fire in me. And so between that, that was in 2021. And then between that season and 22, when I, when I actually got my bowl, I was just

Ryan Uffens (05:17)
Hey, Austin,

sorry, can I pause you for just a second? I have a question because so when you say, so 35 yards frontal shot, like as you look back, you recognize, I mean, was there something specifically you did wrong or that caused it to miss or, because the whole thing, the reason that I ask, I'm not trying to like ouch you, it's like, I'm trying to learn because I've yet to be able to even let a arrow fly at a bull, but. ⁓

But like I want to try and learn from, I mean, from people's mistakes. Like, hey, here's what I wished I'd, you don't know what you don't know. And so that's why I ask if it was just, I mean, it could have just been like, you know, the blood starts pumping, man, things break down. But as you look back on it, was there something specific you're like, damn, this was it.

Austin Bell (06:04)
Yeah. So, ⁓ it was actually an unknown yardage. So I think that was really the reason why I missed, ⁓ I had chased a bull, ⁓ up and down a mountain in the morning and hadn't gotten on him, kind of worked my way back down the North face and, ⁓ got water in a creek bottom was coming kind of up and out of some willows and jumped a bedded bull, ⁓ just like laying out in the wide open sun and

Ryan Uffens (06:11)
Okay.

Austin Bell (06:32)
I don't know for sure that it was the same bull I was chasing that morning, but I had a pretty good feeling that it was. ⁓ jumped him out of his bed and watched him just like run up a hill. And I, I literally just sprinted after him. and got up to the rise that I kind of like watched him go up and over and slowed my pace right at the top of that hill. So he kind of eke up and over and see if I could relocate him visually and

didn't see him. So I kind of just started working in the direction I thought he went and then quickly saw like a body. What was weird is I, at first I thought it was a bear cause I just saw like the brown of his neck, like sticking out from behind a tree, but it was the bull and he had actually, as I was chasing after him, I was throwing out a bunch of cow calls trying to slow him down or, you know, just get him interested. And he had stopped and like,

position himself, how they often do, where their body's behind a tree and they just kind of wrapped their head and neck around. And I saw that brown of his neck. so I stopped where I was dropped my pack and was just cow calling a little bit at him. ⁓ and he wasn't moving or responding really. And so I just put a tree in between us and just started going right at him and cow calling. And he hung up right where he was at and

I had ranged initially when I dropped my pack and I was at like 75 or 80 yards and I started closing the distance with that tree between us and closed what I felt was between 40 and 50 yards. So I thought I was right around 30 at that point, 30 to 40. And he was not moving. ⁓ I kept just calling, calling. He just kind of

stayed behind that tree. And then eventually he just stepped out and stood and faced me frontal and I was still behind that tree. And so I just took that as my opportunity drew behind the tree, stepped out into a lane. ⁓ as I stepped out, I felt like he was, ⁓ I visually thought he was more like 20 or 30 instead of like 30 to 40. And so I just put my 30 pin right on the bottom of his chest and he was probably closer to 40 between 35 and 40 and

Ryan Uffens (08:42)
Yeah.

Austin Bell (08:48)
I watched my arrow just zip right underneath his brisket, right between his legs, ⁓ hit the dirt and he just wheeled and ran off.

Ryan Uffens (08:58)
It's hard to gauge those distances. A lot of times I'll just go sit a target down and I'll start walking and I get back and I'm like...

that looks about this yardage. And then I pull my rangefinder out and I'm like, ⁓ yeah, dude, you're way off. So I mean, I get like you kind of had like your points, but it is, it's crazy how if you misjudge that, like you couldn't miss your shot real easy. So.

Austin Bell (09:15)
Yeah

Yep. Yep. Guessing known

yardages is definitely a skill I've tried to develop further since that miss. Just challenging myself in my yard here. You know, I've got targets kind of sprinkled all between 30 and 50 yards, but I'll just move different distances and try to hit a very particular spot and, you know, pick those yardages 36, 37, 33, 34, 35, like all those in between pin shots that none of us like shooting, but.

we oftentimes face in the woods. So trying to up my game on being able to visually judge yardage is definitely something I work on.

Ryan Uffens (10:05)
Yeah, I don't know if there's like a secret to figuring out how to do that other than like the only thing I train do is just I'll set a target out, kind of just start walking and then turn around and kind of visually be like, that feels like this. I get close sometimes, but other times right when I think I'm getting good at it, I'm like, ⁓ yep, no, you're 10 yards off. That makes a big difference like in where you're aiming for sure. So yeah, no.

I appreciate you sharing that and like I said, I no one ever loves going back through like their misses, but maybe it could help somebody, you know, have success out there, give themselves an opportunity, kind of prepare and train. So anyway, so fast forward, like that thing just ate at you, right? That miss. And so you're going like, okay, I'm getting it done this year.

Austin Bell (10:53)
Yeah.

Yep. Yep. So after that miss, it was just like, I'm going to do everything in my power to, to kill a bull next year. ⁓ so yeah, that, that summer, ⁓ I think I spent seven different weekends, ⁓ in between like may and August going and scouting. And I planted a few trail cameras, ⁓ really just to

get an idea of animal movement, not like targeting specific bulls, but just getting an idea of what's moving through the area. I'm trying to get a better idea of when things are moving, just investing and putting time into, into being in the woods. So lots of scouting trips, ⁓ tons of e-scouting. ⁓ I would say I was already kind of onto, ⁓ Mark Livasay's, e-scouting course and

kind of the approach that he teaches for hunt planning. But I took it again, even more serious that summer, that off season leading into the 22 fall than I had in years prior. So no joke, like hundreds, maybe thousands of hours e-scouting. have a really good buddy from Mississippi who we plan hunts together. And even if it's not a tag that we both have, we have like a recurring Wednesday morning.

uh, e-scouting call before either of us ever start our work days. Every Wednesday we talk and, um, compare notes, look at maps, develop hunt plans. So a lot of time in that off season went into hunt planning and then just time in the field. Um, so yeah, um, yeah, season finally came around packed in a day, um, ahead of the opener. Um, so I was on the mountain for the opener.

And glass the bull that I ended up killing opening morning. ⁓ but I was about six or so miles in at that point. And he was another like four plus miles off. I knew it was going to be an absolute grind to even try to get to him, let alone kill him and get him out. so, you know, I glass him opening morning. I'm in great country. And so I just kind of hunted around my base camp. ⁓

for the first few days, keeping an eye on this bull. And he was actually running cows. He had like 25 to 30 cows on the opener. I'm watching him rip bugles through my spotting scope on the opener. So to me at that time, it really just showed that like unpressured elk can rut and act like elk at any point in the month. I think a lot of times we get sucked into thinking that like the only time they're going to rut is during this.

prime rep period, finding those pockets of unpressured elk really allowed me to hunt ⁓ elk that were acting like elk and not so pressured. ⁓ Yep, that's the bull. Yeah, so just kind of hunted around my camp for a couple of days, trying to honestly locate closer elk. ⁓ I'd be on the vantage at first and last light to try to pick him back up.

Ryan Uffens (14:04)
Yeah.

Austin Bell (14:20)
and then go kind of make a day out of, out of the day once I'd finished the morning glassing hours. And he just kept showing up, ⁓ morning and evening. There was, think one, one session, I forget what day or what, if it was morning or night, but, ⁓ season opened on the second and I killed him on the fifth. So second, third and fourth, I watched him basically morning and night every day.

And on that third day, he showed up in the morning on that same meadow looking just like that every single day, just running a big group of cows. And I decided on that third morning of seeing him, like, you know, it's go time. Like you don't need to find closer elk. You've already found a good bull and you know where he's at and you've not patterned him, but you've seen him do the same thing a couple of days in a row. There's a good chance he'll still be there tomorrow. And so.

Ryan Uffens (15:00)
Well.

Austin Bell (15:19)
After that morning session, I left camp on the mountain and ran back to the truck. The like six, six and a half miles got a bunch more food because I didn't have enough with me on that first load to actually go another, you know, five, six, seven days. so I went back to the truck. think I got like six or seven days of food and hustled back in and was planning on making the, the session that night to pick him back up. ⁓

and did not make it back onto the mountain that night in order to see him. ⁓ So I actually stayed right in that same place one more night and the next morning ⁓ that meadow was quiet and I wasn't seeing any elk and I thought maybe they...

Ryan Uffens (16:03)
this meadow

where he had been every the past two days.

Austin Bell (16:05)
Yep. You should run up on

that same meadow day after day after day. ⁓ and granted again, this meadow is, you know, 10 and a half miles from the nearest trailhead. So they just weren't getting pressured there. and yeah, so I spent one more night there, woke up the next morning meadows empty, my gut sinks. I think, you know, they've moved off or something happened. And then I literally catch a glimpse of him chasing one cow.

for 10 seconds, 15 seconds. Like it was just a glimpse. And I don't know where the rest of the herd went or why that happened, but he was still around. And that last bit of confirmation told me, okay, he's still there. So packed up camp, dropped down into this nasty canyon, placed myself below that meadow, but several hundred yards. I mean, I'm way off the hillside.

And then my plan was the next morning, get up and put myself right on the edge of that meadow. So yeah, set up camp, set my alarm, missed it, woke up at like 6.15, 6.26, 30 in the morning and it's light already. And I'm kicking myself just like, man, I cannot believe that I put in all this work and located this bull and I know he's right there and I wasn't disciplined and didn't wake up with my...

with my alarm and I almost took a different plan that morning and thought about kind of peeling off and getting back up onto advantage. Not the one I originally located on, located him on, but a different one to relocate him. was like, you know what? No, like I've got three hours of morning thermals. This country's super steep. So the, the morning thermal is going to be piling down into my face for a couple hours here. I'm just going to work up to the meadow and see what happens. And I only got.

five minutes hiking off of the creek, headed up towards the meadow that he was at and started hearing bugles. So I had a good feeling that he was still there.

Ryan Uffens (18:12)
Game on.

Austin Bell (18:13)
Yeah, yeah, you hear those bugles when you're making when you're making a play, hoping to relocate something that you saw from the day before. Right. Or you saw that morning, you're trying to get back on them in the evening and you hear that one bugle and it's it's the reassurance you need that your effort is spent in the right place. So, yeah, charge this big hill here in a bugle, ripping bugles, ripping bugles. And I was getting right to the point where I felt like, I need to really slow down here and look at my map. And I'd kind of picked like a

a strip of timber that pushed out into this meadow that I felt like was a good place to put myself to have a shot opportunity. And I start slowing down. I'm looking at my maps to make sure I'm taking the right route into this little strip of timber. And I look up and there's a cow 25, 30 yards from me. She doesn't have me pegged, but she's kind of in the open. She's looking my direction. So I slow down. And then all of a sudden I hear bugles like right there.

Ryan Uffens (19:04)
you

Austin Bell (19:11)
And I think he's about to pop out chasing this cow. And ⁓ she just kind of like moses off and I'm waiting for a bull to step into her window. actually drew on the window ⁓ like two or three times and he doesn't show up. And then all of a sudden I just kind of see antlers just moving through the brush. And I draw another time thinking, okay, here he finally comes. And he must've just kind of taken a different route through the brush and never showed his body. ⁓

And then all of sudden I hear a bugle like 100, 150 yards to my right, like way away. And I felt like he was right in my lap, like ready to pop out at 30 yards. so I dropped my pack, start my tracker and just start heading in the direction of this bugle. And I ended up visually locating the bull five minutes or so into that little hike. ⁓ he was just kind of feeding slowly, working his herd.

And I only ever saw a cow and a spike and then him. So he was just kind of on the edge of his herd, just kind of keeping everybody in check. Um, and I ended up just kind of getting on his trail and visually locating him. And every time he put his head down and take a few steps, I would do the same and try to close the gap. Um, and did that for about 250 or 300 yards, um, covering that ground in like 30 to 40 minutes. I mean, it was kind of a slow.

methodical just every time he moved I moved and I was just trying to close that gap close that gap and eventually got to the point where He was stopped and feeding on a hillside facing like from right to left feeding up the hillside and I got so close that I knew I was sub 20 and there was like a creek running that was covering my noise too, so I had confidence that I could get that close without

you know, popping sticks or making noises. So basically got as close as I could when he stopped and I knew, okay, I'm sub 20. I basically just need to not freak out and, you know, execute a decent shot at this distance, like all pin center mass, don't overthink it. And so I just drew back in cover, had to step down probably three or four feet is like, felt like a drop off, but stepped from like a ledge down into the creek.

stepped out at full draw and he turned his head. But at that point, I was already, you know, all pins on him, already pulling on my shot. And that's all I was telling myself was just pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, like, don't punch the shot. ⁓ Because you could definitely screw it up at 12 yards, which is what I ended up shooting him at. But ⁓ as long as you don't do something catastrophically wrong or crazy in your shot process, like you're probably going to hit the market at 12 yards. So that's all I was telling myself was just

pull, pull, pull, don't look at his antlers, like, just execute your shot like you normally would and broke one off, heard it impact and actually smack a bunch of trees and rocks on the other side. So I knew I hit him and I got a pass through and he actually just did a 180 and faced down the hill, but didn't run off and just kind of stood there for a sec. And then watched him mosey off, lay down in a bed about 15 or 20 yards away and his

head was just kind of swaying in his bed and looking back that one arrow was money. think I double lunged him and he would have died right there in his bed. But tough old bull, my first bull and I see him go lay down in his bed and his head's just swaying. He's facing away from me. The wind's now kind of coming uphill. So I feel like I could get a follow up shot. So I sneak up to about 10 yards. ⁓ I can really only see like the back half of his body and

you know, at this point, I'm just trying to get a follow up arrow in him. So I basically put my pin right on that brush line. I know it's not a perfect shot, but it's going to get somewhere up in there in the vitals. And I'm just trying to get a second arrow in him. And I'm also thinking he had no idea I was there on that first arrow. But as soon as the second arrow hits him, he's going to, you know, know something's wrong and take off. And he was probably just hurting so bad that he couldn't go anywhere, but smacked him with his second arrow. And he just sat there in his bed and took it. His head's still sitting there swaying. Like, man.

All right, well, I've got more arrows. So shot a third one, same thing, head still swaying. And so at this point, and what was crazy was with these follow-up tough, tough oval, just taking arrows and just refusing to die. ⁓ But yeah, with those follow-up arrows, I was hearing like his body cavity deflate, you know, like a big balloon with the air getting let out of him.

Ryan Uffens (23:42)
You're just a tough old bugger.

Austin Bell (24:01)
shooting 80 pounds, got a pretty big wingspan, big heavy arrow. And I'm just sitting there like, cannot believe this bull is still alive. Shoot second and third at like 10 yards and his head's still swaying. So I step up to like seven yards. It feels like I'm standing on top of him and shoot him with my last two remaining arrows. had a five arrow quiver and I just emptied it. On that fifth arrow, I hear it like blow through him, spray dirt.

Ryan Uffens (24:02)
Yeah.

Austin Bell (24:27)
balloon deflate fifth arrow goes through him at that point. He decided to stand up and try to take off. ⁓ and he ended up just crashing on the other side of the trees, but I'm sitting there with an empty quiver, just shot this bull five times at 12 yards or under. And then I watched him get up and basically disappear through some trees. And I don't know what else I can do at this point, but he ended up piling up on the other side of those trees.

And then the work began.

Ryan Uffens (24:54)
Yeah, that's a cool story,

Yeah, and we were always watching on some of that video. It shows you guys trying, you know, starting to break him down and that. Yeah, it's... ⁓ Is that normal? Like, is that something you would do, like if you were hunting mule deer, you hit something and like, they go, you know, got a solid shot. Is that normal to keep shooting? I don't know. I'm asking.

Austin Bell (25:19)
I mean,

I would say with elk, like most, most guys are always going to kind of fall into the camp that if, if you've hit, hit an animal or hit an elk and they're still standing, like keep shooting. If you have more, more arrows, more bullets. I think now as a hunter, just being a little more experienced and having some kills under my belt, like, if you know your first arrow is, is good. ⁓

Ryan Uffens (25:35)
Right. Yeah.

Austin Bell (25:49)
Especially at that close of a distance. I don't know that I'd be taking follow-up shots even though I knew he was Still alive just because it does take time for you know, all the blood to get pumped through their lungs and fill So yeah looking back I'll let him just expire in his bed there those four arrows were definitely overkill

Ryan Uffens (25:56)
Yeah.

fill the lungs. Yeah. Yeah, but it

Yeah, and I was going

to say on the other side too, there's the other side where it's like, hey, like you want to dispatch them as fast as possible, right? So it's like, well, let me see if I can get one through and just get it over with. But yeah, some of those we were up, we went up and helped harvest a bison with a guy and he took it with the air. I it was on a ranch, so it wasn't like a wild bison or anything like that. But he put three arrows through him and

that thing did not want to go down. mean, it probably sat there for about 10 minutes before it kind of started like the, the death wobble. And even then when it went down, like all of his cows went and circled around him. I mean, it was, it was a cool experience to see because he was just one bowl and there was like six cows that they had. And, ⁓ but yeah. And the first one was like, did we hit it? Like the guy's like, did I hit him? And I'm like, you hit him.

Austin Bell (27:08)
Yeah.

Ryan Uffens (27:10)
And but it was complete all three like were complete pass throughs. I mean this dude was like another big dude like he was like six five big wingspan heavy poundage like I'm like yeah no dude you're hitting him he's like did I miss I'm like you hit him but yeah it's

Austin Bell (27:27)
Yeah.

Ryan Uffens (27:34)
can take a minute for the animals to die. mean, that's just it is what it is. But yeah, well, congrats, man. That's a beautiful bowl.

Austin Bell (27:41)
Yep. They're, they're.

Thank you. Yeah. No, I, I was over the moon with him and, ⁓ yeah, I'm sure I I'm obsessed. It's like bow hunting elk is my favorite. I, all I ever think about is hunting, but bow hunting elk is by far my favorite thing. And I'm sure at some point in my life, I'll, I'll top him, but first bull after, you know, seven years of basically putting my all into it and many years coming up short, it was definitely.

an awesome moment.

Ryan Uffens (28:14)
So you had the one you missed the year before, like up to that, like what was the most difficult part? Was it finding them? Was it getting close to them? Was it calling a man? Like what was the biggest struggle that you had faced?

Austin Bell (28:28)
In my early days, it was always finding elk. ⁓ Like I mentioned, this isn't really something I grew up doing. My dad was not a big game hunter. ⁓ I have an uncle or a couple uncles in Minnesota who are big game hunters. They chase whitetail there, but one of them ⁓ in his like twenties and thirties, he hunted Alaska a lot. ⁓ But I didn't really grow up in a hunting family. so ⁓ finding elk was my biggest challenge in the early days. ⁓

Listen to a lot of podcasts, watch a lot of YouTube videos, but I was essentially just, you know, stumbling around the woods, trying to figure it out on my own. And I'd, I'd spend, you know, 10, 12, 15 mile days on the trail, just absolutely beat myself into the ground physically, but not doing the right things that you need to do to actually find out. that, that was always my biggest challenge in the early days. It's just simply getting on critters.

Ryan Uffens (29:24)
What was the tipping point for you to being able to find elk? Was there something like specifically that happened or was it just like all the research and experience all kind of started to come together?

Austin Bell (29:35)
Yeah. I mean, I would say it, the years of effort definitely had like a compounding effect where eventually, you know, a lot of mistakes just led to doing things the right way. But I do have to give a lot of credit, um, to Mark Levisey. Um, he has an e-scouting course that I think is, is worth 10 X the price now that I've gone through it and know that the information that's in that course. Um,

He really breaks down e-scouting and hunt planning in a very systematic way. And, you know, I, I had the fitness and the drive to go out into the woods and, and hunt, but I didn't have the, the wildlife biology or the ability to read terrain. ⁓ those kinds of like woodsman skill sets. I didn't have, and he just presented information in a way that allowed me to look at.

a map on X, Google Earth, really just again, from in a systematic way, look at a hunt area and decide why I want to spend time in this drainage over this drainage when if you hiked into them in person, they might both look the same. But when you start analyzing terrain and looking at like slope profiles or rakes and vegetation, which could be beetle kill or or

⁓ edge habitat from burns, like those pieces to the puzzle or was what I was really missing. Cause I was spending a lot of time and effort getting out there. I just wasn't going to the right places. And so going through his course really helped me learn how to break down a, a hunt unit and decide why I'm going to spend my time in this drainage over that one.

Ryan Uffens (31:28)
Is that, is that, is it the Treeline Academy?

Austin Bell (31:31)
Yeah, Yep. Tree Line Academy is the name of his business. And he does ⁓ he does an online course and he also does a bunch of in-person seminars, which I'd encourage anybody listening to check him out. The in-person seminars are great because you can, you know, meet him, meet other like-minded guys and build relationships. But his course is very dense. There's a ton of information in it.

Ryan Uffens (31:36)
Okay.

Austin Bell (31:57)
It's like going to, you know, night school if you're working a full-time job and you want to go through this course, it's going to take you, you know, a couple months at least if you're doing it justice. But what's cool is he actually sells like a two year membership and he does that and it's like 150 bucks. And again, like I'd pay 10 X the price now knowing what I know. But he gives you two years to go through the content because it's a lot. mean, I think a lot of us hunters kind of

We find something that works and we stick to it. And for e-scouting, a lot of guys that's on X and on X is still my main tool. I think it's the most bulletproof app for in the field usage, but there's 10, 12, 15 different, uh, online tools that guys have available to them to, to incorporate into their hunt planning. And I was, I was very limited in what I was doing prior to going through that course. And now I use, you know, on X, Gaia, Go Hunt.

Google Earth, Cal Topo, Spartan Forge, like there's so many different tools available to us and every one of them is kind of really good at a few things, but not everything. so taking that more holistic approach to hunt planning, think is really what like flipped the switch for me and allowed me to consistently get off the critters.

Ryan Uffens (33:18)
Yeah, it's interesting. I think back like how much I hated school. But if there was like a topic that you fell in love with, it's like, dude, endless time. I mean,

Austin Bell (33:23)
You

Ryan Uffens (33:31)
And I mean, that's what the algorithms on social have become. They find out what we're interested in and you just start doom scrolling for hours and hours on end. ⁓ So, yeah, it's definitely interesting for sure. But yeah, those courses, stuff like that, I mean, ⁓ that's probably a lot easier and a lot less expensive than starting a podcast to be able to talk to people and learn all these things. I mean, that's...

Austin Bell (33:36)
Yeah, they just screw up more of it.

You

Ryan Uffens (34:00)
That's kind of why I started this podcast. I'm like, I want to talk with guys that are successful that know how to get it done. Uh, and from all ranges, mean, from, from, you know, influencers to just like, just the average Joe that only gets to go out for a weekend. It's been fun talking to people and, they've got so much knowledge and they were brought up doing it. And it's like, you know, I'm in a similar boat as you like no one in my family hunts. Um, you know, my son was like, he was one that got me into it and

Then he once he got me going, it was like all gas. I'm like, this is amazing. Why have I not done this forever? And yeah, my wife, oftentimes she's like, how many ⁓ of those videos are you going to step and watch? And I'm like, well, until I fall asleep, it's like, I'm going to go until I can't like retain any more information. But yeah, I think it's good too, to kind of like document things. Like that's the one thing that I look back.

Austin Bell (34:36)
That's awesome.

you

Yeah.

Ryan Uffens (34:57)
I wished I had taken better notes of what I was doing. ⁓ Because as you do the research, if you go back and look at the things that you were doing that either like led you to success, led you to find trails, even if you didn't find elk, because not every time that I've been out the past four years, I've been able to even get on elk. And that's a process like you had said in and of itself. So taking the time, whether it's, you know,

Mark Libba says like Tree Line Academy, I haven't done that, but I definitely, you you've got me thinking I probably need to make that investment and ⁓ it will be ⁓ a worthwhile investment for certain.

Austin Bell (35:37)
Yeah. Yeah. Isn't it funny how when we find something that we're passionate about, you just can't seem to learn enough. But if it's a topic that you're not interested in, I mean, you couldn't pay me right to learn about or go to an organic chemistry class. Now is one of my least favorite subjects in school. But man, I'm shelling money out left and right to soak up a little bit of elk knowledge here or attend this hunting seminar there. Like when we're passionate about something, it's

Ryan Uffens (35:39)
you

Austin Bell (36:07)
You want all that information that you can get from any and all resources.

Ryan Uffens (36:12)
I was in a meeting this morning at 1030. It was a training for work, right? And I'm just sitting there and.

It was one, they get in and they start struggling with the technology, right? Person starts presenting and then it cuts out and somebody else starts presenting and muting. ⁓ And it was a group training. So we're all in this conference room. And then.

somebody drops off, whoever was presenting drops off, but you're watching the screen, right? Where people have the video on and the guy's gone. I don't know. He's probably off for like two minutes and there's people that are just sitting there working like you see it on like they didn't even notice that the training had ended. Now I'm sitting there myself. I caught bits and pieces, but I'm in there just completely zoned out.

Austin Bell (37:05)
Thank

Yeah.

Ryan Uffens (37:19)
And it was, it's interesting. I guess it's a bad thing too when like hunting becomes your passion. It's like I saw a meme last night. It's like, hey, do the smart thing, quit your job so you can focus on hunting 365 days a year. Anyway, maybe that's a little inspiration, but.

But yeah, when people find a passion and you know, people joke about adult on being adult on set hunting. But for me, like I've kind of hit the stage where I mean, my youngest turns 19 this month. And I mean, I was very involved with my kids in that. you know, as they started to graduate and, you know, they're all older, we've got two grandkids now. But my wife's like, you should start, you should find something that you want to do.

She's like, you're making me a little bit crazy. So anyway, it just worked out that my son wanted to do this. I mean, every time I've gone out, it's been with him. We got out with some buddies and so I still get to spend time with family and ⁓ my daughters have no desire to go out hunting, but ⁓ it's still a fun, it can still be a fun family thing. And it's been kind of cool, you know, for my wife to see like my passion and knowledge.

Austin Bell (38:30)
Hey, that's all right.

Ryan Uffens (38:41)
She's like, you didn't know very much about this. And I'm like, I didn't, I knew I started doing it and I enjoyed it and I loved it. But now I'm able to sit and have conversations. I'm like, oh, what about this? Did you think about this? And it's nice to have a little bit of knowledge. And as you study that, like we had talked about, like you're out in the field. That's the other key is like get out in the field so you can start putting that knowledge to work.

Cause you can watch all the YouTube videos, like listen to all the podcasts, watch all the reels you want to. But until you start trying to execute and put it into practical use, it's like, like you're never going to do it. It's just, you can't put the pieces together. But as you continue to learn, like I said, that's the one thing I wish I'd have done is taken more notes to go back. But as I start reliving the situations that I've been out hunting and I'm like,

Austin Bell (39:24)
Yeah.

Ryan Uffens (39:38)
this is where I went wrong and I wish I'd have made this change or if I did, if I had done this differently, I maybe would have been able to have gotten back on this bowl or buck or whatever it is that you're out there chasing. So yeah, that's, that's super cool.

Austin Bell (39:51)
Yeah. Yeah.

I think in the field notes and just like debriefing after your hunts, whether it's just with your like by yourself, if you're solo hunting or with your hunt partner, like again, really taking like more of a structured and systematic approach to hunt planning. And while you're in the field and like post hunt, trying to

Trying to digest that information and organize it in a way that helps you grow as a hunter is huge. I've ⁓ developed my own little tips and tricks along the way.

Ryan Uffens (40:26)
Yeah, was

it it was it Jocko? Whoops, sorry, go ahead.

Austin Bell (40:29)
I was just going to say, like, I've developed a few of my own little tips and tricks along the way in terms of, like, note taking or capturing that information. But even just like the little things, like when you drop a point and on X, like utilizing the camera feature or the photo feature on a waypoint to snap a pic and then take the extra 30 seconds to throw something in the notes about why you drop that waypoint. ⁓

Those kinds of things I think can go a really long way to help you really retain what you've learned in the woods. Because if you think you're just going to remember it all, you're not. We're prone to memory failure as humans. So you got to write that stuff down. You got to kind of develop a system for learning each time you go out and then building upon that.

Ryan Uffens (41:18)
Yeah, I was going to say just to that point, I can't remember if it was like Jocko or Goggins. I was listening to a podcast or one of the books or something like the After Action reports. I can't remember which one of them said it. I mean, maybe they were talking to each other. ⁓ But yeah, like when you do that in all aspects of your life, if you go to try and do something, you sit down and just like take note of it. Man, it will go.

Austin Bell (41:29)
Yep.

Ryan Uffens (41:45)
a long way just to helping you improve. mean, it can be like as simple as like your diet, right? It's like, here's what I actually ate. You know, this was what I was trying to do and here's what I ate. And that's why, you know, that's why I'm still fat. Speaking for myself. ⁓ But yeah, there's something to be said about sitting down. And if you look at some of the successful people, like that's

Austin Bell (41:54)
Yeah.

Ryan Uffens (42:15)
I mean, people that I've come in contact with, they take like a full accounting of their activities and their actions and like, it moving me towards my goal or is it not? And what could I have done better or, you know, and what did I do wrong? And what did I, what I did right? Because if you, if you start looking at all those things, it just makes it easier to put the full puzzle together. So, yeah.

Austin Bell (42:37)
Yeah. Could not agree more.

Ryan Uffens (42:43)
Well, hey, let's let's pivot a little bit here from that. Why don't you I'm super interested. Like I said, we got connected with Lee, who we had on the podcast and had a good time with. And he he wanted to make an introduction to tell me to well, he told me what you guys were doing. But why don't you share with the folks what leave hack company is?

Austin Bell (43:03)
Sure. Yeah, I appreciate the opportunity. So yeah, started a project that we call Leaf Hat Co or Leaf Hat Company in 22. Our first product, which is the hat I'm wearing, we launched in August of 23. And we've just got this one style out right now in four color ways. But our whole idea is that we wanted to bring performance headwear to the hunting space.

I was literally walking down the elk trail one day, ⁓ making notes in my phone about, Hey, you got to repair this, you know, strap on your backpack and Hey, you might want to look at, you know, a better technical mid layer. Cause the one you're wearing on this hunt isn't cutting it. And, know, I'm always taking notes in my phone while I'm out there, not only about like my hunt stuff, but also just, you know, life, like we get those that time in the woods where we get some clarity and, ⁓ ideas just seemed to bubble up.

And I was analyzing my kit, walking down the trail and I literally started at my boots and just worked my way up. know, it was just kind of checking boxes. are there obvious opportunities to start a boot company? No, like there's a ton of great boot manufacturers. What about pants and shirts? Nope. Those are like, there's plenty of technical hunting apparel companies out there and literally worked all the way up to my head and

As much as I love Hoyt bows, I still shoot Hoyt. ⁓ I was wearing a Hoyt cotton trucker that I got for free at the bow shop. And I was just like, man, this is doing other than blocking the sun. This is doing like virtually nothing for me in terms of performance. It's a cotton hat ⁓ and it's not built for anything other than just, you know, promotional ⁓ material. So it made a note. was like, I think there could be an opportunity for better headwear in the hunting space.

Got home and started doing some research about who might already be doing that. Didn't find anybody that was targeting the hunting space and found a few companies that were making performance headwear, but for other industries or just other kinds of demographics, bought a bunch of their hats to see what they're all about. Like did these guys already nail it? And I'm just going to waste a bunch of money and time ⁓ thinking that hunters want this and felt like although they had cool designs or

some cool features within their hats that there was still a lot of room for improvement on what they were already doing. And then the opportunity to do this specifically for hunters. ⁓ So yeah, that's kind of how, Leaf was born. And we've actually got three new styles that are in prototype. Well, some of them are in like the latter rounds of prototyping. Some of them tech packs just finished. We're working on protos right now, but we're planning on launching hopefully another one or two styles this year.

couple slotted for 26. So we brought like a trucker silhouette to the market that looks and feels very much like one of those trucker hats you'd get at the bow shop, but has a bunch of performance upgrades brought to it.

Ryan Uffens (46:15)
Yeah, so it's the the shell on those like they're breathable, right? They've got some there, they're water resistant.

Austin Bell (46:22)
Yeah, yep. So they're treated with a water resistant treatment. ⁓ So the whole exterior is like a poly blend. So it dries super fast, ⁓ wicks moisture and just breathes really well. ⁓ One of our like most notable features is our super flexible brim or we call it our sweet spot brim. I did that because I felt like I was always getting head pinch at the side of your heads.

Ryan Uffens (46:33)
Okay.

Austin Bell (46:50)
I felt like a lot of the comfort of a hat came from the brim. So wanted to make that as flexible as possible while still maintaining some rigidity so you could glass off of it, have it keep some shape. I wanted a hat that I could wear in the woods, but I also would want to wear to the gym or to the brewery or out on date night. So wanted it to look good. I found a lot of performance hats out there that were made for a specific pursuit, but you'd feel like an absolute goofball wearing that to the brewery or the

or the gym. ⁓ So yeah, tried to just take that trucker style and bring some performance to it. Also got a little silicone band on the inside of the forehead. that's designed, we call that our sweat redirect system. It's designed to catch sweat as it runs down your brow and push it to the side of your face. It's got a little topo liner in there. And that two part liner allows moisture to be absorbed here and then quickly wick.

Ryan Uffens (47:40)
Okay.

Austin Bell (47:49)
⁓ So didn't completely reinvent the wheel, but just took the trucker silhouette that we all kind of know and love and brought some performance upgrades that were specific to Western honing.

Ryan Uffens (48:02)
Huh. That sounds super cool, I have to get my hands on one.

Austin Bell (48:05)
Thank you. Yeah, yeah, we'd to see you hunting in one

this fall. We'll have to get you one.

Ryan Uffens (48:11)
Let's do it. If somebody wants to go check that out, where would they go? How would they go find one?

Austin Bell (48:19)
Yeah, we're pretty easy to find on socials. We're just Leaf Hat Co. ⁓ And then our website is just leafhatcompany.com, all spelled out. But we're pretty active.

Ryan Uffens (48:30)
Okay. We'll make

sure and put a link in the bio as well for, for the Instagram and the website. So if any of you are trying to find it, if for some reason you can't spell leaf or hat or co and find them, we'll make it easy for you guys to be able to, to track them down. But yeah, well, I think, I think it's super cool what you guys are doing. And, ⁓ I mean, I've got some hats that I've worn out hunting that, ⁓ start to smell a little bit rank.

Austin Bell (49:00)
You

Ryan Uffens (49:01)
And

yeah, like you say, when it's time to go out to dinner or something, the wife's like, you're going to wear that hat again? these, are these, can you clean these?

Austin Bell (49:06)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. So that was actually something I kind of forgot to mention. this one on my head, I've probably worn this one and 150 workouts or more, four or five hunts ⁓ and looks pretty much brand new. So ⁓ they do a really good job at not holding on to sweat and dirt the way that cotton does. So our recommended care instructions for these is to wash them with cold

cold water, so heat will kind of shrink them. And I wash mine in a hat cage in the ⁓ washing machine, just like a plastic hat cage you can get off Amazon in a pinch when I haven't had one. I've literally just taken some clothes and kind of wadded it up inside some clothes and just chucked it in the wash. But you can wash it with normal detergent or preferably scent-free detergent if it's going to be your hunting hat. ⁓ But you can chuck them in the washing machine and they come out looking pretty much brand new.

Ryan Uffens (50:09)
Huh, very cool, very cool. Well, Austin, man, hey, really appreciate your time. I appreciate you sharing the stories and letting folks, you know, tell folks a little bit about Leaf Hat Company. If you wanna guys throw some support, go over, check them out, leafhatcompany.com and on socials at, or yeah, at Leaf Hat Co. And then also,

Give Austin a follow again. We'll put a link to his Instagram account in the bios. It's a at a B from CEO. So a B from Co Colorado, but Austin, ⁓ is there anything, any like last parting thoughts, any word of wisdom you'd like to leave with our audience before we wrap up here?

Austin Bell (50:45)
You got it.

That's me.

man, ⁓ I would just echo, guess. Yeah. Yeah. All good. ⁓ I would just echo what you said earlier about, ⁓ you know, where the, where the rubber really meets the road is, is time in the field. You can spend all the time you want, listen to podcasts like this, which are great. ⁓ I pull a nugget out of every podcast I listened to or YouTube video that I watch, but you're really going to develop those skillsets when you get out into the field.

Ryan Uffens (51:05)
putting you on the spot now.

Austin Bell (51:30)
when you shoot your bow. ⁓ I'd listened to some of your previous episodes and I really liked your overrated, underrated question, but ⁓ I feel like guys put too much emphasis oftentimes into what gear they're using or, you know, looking at a new tent that came out and how are they going to shave a couple ounces and yeah, that stuff matters to a point, but I think the most important thing is, is experience. So get out in the field, go scouting this summer.

Shoot your bow a lot. Don't overthink the gear bit and really just put your time into developing your skillset as a hunter. And yeah, you'll get more chances on critters. You'll notch more tags. And in my opinion, it's all about reps and experience ⁓ over what gear you're using or what bow you're shooting.

Ryan Uffens (52:22)
Well, and since you brought it up, I am going to ask you, what do you think is the most overrated piece of equipment in the hunting industry?

Austin Bell (52:26)
You

So overrated, put broadheads as my answer. And the reason for that is because I just stopped working at a bow shop here in Denver. I was working there part-time. ⁓ Love those guys. Shout out to No Limits Archery in Denver, Colorado. It's best bow shop in Colorado by far. So if anybody's traveling through Colorado for your hunts, definitely hit up No Limits. ⁓ But I worked there part-time just kind of as a passion project, something to...

helped me develop as an archer, kind of give back to the hunting community that that community there has helped me a ton. so I worked there part-time for a couple of years, but you ask any guy in that shop, what broadhead they shoot and pretty much every one of them is going to have a different answer. ⁓ and I feel like guys really get wrapped into the new equipment and archery, whether it's, you know,

arrows, bows, broadheads, whatever it is. But it seemed like a lot of guys came in focusing on broadheads, like, what'd you kill that with? Or I didn't get great penetration and it must've been the head. And what I found over the years in personal experience and all the guys I know that are killers, it's like you hit that critter in the right spot. It's going to go down regardless of what broadhead you have on there. So, ⁓ yeah, I think, ⁓ pick a sharp, a good sharp broadhead from a reputable brand.

and you'll be fine.

Ryan Uffens (53:57)
Yeah, and then find the animals, ⁓ So on the other side of that, we'll do the follow of what's the most, I may know the answer to this one, what I think you're gonna say as far as most underrated piece of equipment in the hunting space.

Austin Bell (53:59)
Yeah.

Yeah, I'd love to hear what you think I'm going to say.

Ryan Uffens (54:17)
I think you're gonna say hats.

Austin Bell (54:19)
As much as that should be my answer, it's not. ⁓ I'd love for everybody listening to grab one of our hats because I do think it'll help you in the field. ⁓ But I everybody's been talking about stabilized binos the last couple of years, so I don't want to just jump onto that bandwagon, but they really are a game changing piece of equipment. ⁓ I'm not the best glasser and I ever since I got

Um, pair of sigs, all my buddies are like, man, great spot. And the idea is not me. It's the binos. These things are a cheat code. Um, but something I hear people kind of rag on a lot for some reason, feel like it's like the really hardcore guys talking about, you know, shaving ounces or shaving weight. Talking about not bringing a pillow or not bringing XYZ because of the weight. And for me, my sit pad is like the number one most used item in my pack. Um,

I use like a Nemo switch back, pad that could be used as a sleeping pad. mean, you'd get an awful night's sleep if that was your only sleeping pad, but I use that as my sit pad. also serves as backup under my sleeping pad so that I don't pop my sleeping pad at night. So, ⁓ it is kind of a multi-purpose item, but you know, I, I'll change my clothes on it. If I want to jump, jump into the river and I climb out wet, I can stand on this on a sit pad and you know, take care of business.

every time I sit down, whether it's just to have a snack or to actually glass, getting that relief using a sit pad. again, the multipurpose being able to back up my sleeping pad at night so that I'm not popping that and having to burn half a day trying to patch a sleeping pad or hike back out to the truck to get your back up. think a good sit pad is one of the most underrated items in your pack because it's not sexy and

It's not exciting to talk about sit pads, it probably is the most used item in my backpack on a hunt.

Ryan Uffens (56:22)
Awesome. think that's terrific advice. I haven't even been smart enough to take a sit pad with me. So I just sit out there and just let my ass just get sore and sticky and all the stuff. I definitely can look into that one. yeah, anyway. Well, Austin, man, hey, it's been great talking with you. Like I said, getting to know more about you and everyone else. You guys, just so you're aware, you are listening.

Austin Bell (56:33)
Yeah, well there you go.

You're happy. Yeah, yeah.

Ryan Uffens (56:51)
the fastest growing hunting podcast in the country, if you've learned something, if you'd be able to pick something up, please share it with a friend. Give it a like, leave a comment. ⁓ The more you guys interact and share, like the more the algorithms like us it helps get

podcast out to other hunters that ⁓ we'd love to be able to help and have success and share good stories on. So again, thank you all for listening. And stay safe and God bless.

Austin Bell (57:21)
Thanks for having me