#059 - Phil Lundell | Blood Trails and Bino's

In this episode, Ryan Uffens is joined by Utah environmental scientist and lifelong hunter Phil Lundell, who shares his gritty journey from childhood hunts at Fish Lake to dialing in his archery game in adulthood. They dive deep into one of Phil’s most intense hunts a velvet buck taken just in time before his pattern changed complete with highs, lows, a near-loss, and a powerful recovery story.

Phil discusses his evolution as a hunter, how balancing family life and hunting is possible (thanks to a supportive wife and smart time management), and why being honest with yourself about what kind of hunter you are is crucial when it comes to gear. From binos that changed the game (Sig Zulu 6s) to staying focused on practice over fancy specs, Phil delivers advice that every new hunter should hear.

Whether you're a seasoned bowhunter or just getting started, this episode brings home what it means to hunt smarter, stay present, and always learn from your failures.

Key Takeaway's: 

Practice Over Perfection – Success with a bow doesn't come from fancy gear alone. Phil emphasizes the importance of consistent practice, understanding your limitations, and developing confidence in your shooting abilities.

Hunting Around a Busy Life Is Possible – With a full-time job and a young family, Phil shares how strategic time management (and a supportive spouse) allows him to hunt effectively without sacrificing family priorities.

Not All Gear Is Essential – Phil calls out the common trap of overspending on unnecessary equipment. Instead, he urges hunters to invest in what they’ll actually use and what fits their hunting style.

Glass Can Make or Break a Hunt – Switching to image-stabilizing binos (Sig Zulu 6s) was a game changer for Phil. It allowed him to spot antlers others might miss even when winded or rushed.

Failure Teaches Faster Than Success – From wounded animals to missed shots, Phil’s journey proves that each hard lesson becomes a stepping stone toward becoming a more ethical, effective hunter.

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Transcript

Ryan Uffens (00:03)
Hey guys, it's Ryan and you're listening to the Hunt Stealth Podcast. I want to thank you guys for supporting the show. If you would make sure and hit subscribe on whatever podcast platform you are currently listening to. The show is also available over on YouTube. So if you're not following us over there, please head on over and hit subscribe. again, you're listening to the Hunt Stealth Podcast, the fastest growing hunting podcast in the nation.

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Ryan Uffens (00:43)
we've got Phil Lundell on the podcast with us today. Excited to have him on the show. Definitely go give him a follow on the IG. It's Phil underscore Lundell Double L's at the end there for those that may be wondering, but Phil is an environmental scientist for the state of what was it?

Phillip Lundell (01:05)
Utah.

Ryan Uffens (01:06)
Utah. that's right. Utah. I guess I was telling him before we started recording, I'm a little scattered brain. Had a couple work things I was dealing with that I hadn't anticipated. But Phil's grown up. He's hunted his entire life and just like a regular guy that loves to get after it and hunt and excited to talk to him and learn a little bit more about that. Phil, thanks for joining me, brother. Appreciate it.

Phillip Lundell (01:28)
⁓

for sure, Ryan, I'm excited to be here. This is my first podcast, so we'll see where it

Ryan Uffens (01:33)
Sweet.

it's going to be great. So tell me, what's your earliest memory hunting, you know, as a kid?

Phillip Lundell (01:42)
at eight years old, we, we would get to go down to Fish Lake every year on the second weekend of the rifle hunt to go hunting with our dad and my uncles. And, and it was the greatest thing. remember my, have an older brother, a year older than me. So he got to go that, that first year ⁓ before me. And I don't remember if they harvested anything, but

But I always was super excited that the next year was gonna be my turn to go. So I gotta go. ⁓ We actually, my dad killed a little four point probably because I was there and I actually have it in the room over here. So that's probably my first memory memory. But I also have a picture from when I was just a baby and my dad had killed another. It's a little.

Four point with some kickers and that one's in my room too. And it's me reaching out, freaking out, ⁓ next to my dad hanging up with a deer with its throat slit. So I've actually made it a point that every year when I harvest a deer, no matter what, as soon as I get home, I grab my daughter and then now my son and each of them get a picture with the deer.

no matter what. So I actually have some funny pictures of my daughter being little, screaming to try to get away from a deer. So it's kind of fun.

Ryan Uffens (03:16)
Try it.

That's awesome. That's way cool. So tell me what led you into a career as an environmental scientist.

Phillip Lundell (03:20)
Yeah. Yeah.

Dude, I don't even, I don't know, dude. I actually went to college up at Utah State and started going there and flunked out. And then went back into the workforce, did road construction for a while and was like, this is good money, but I also like to live other than work 90 hours a week. So I went back to school and...

Ryan Uffens (03:28)
because you don't meet those every day.

Yeah.

Phillip Lundell (03:57)
And it just so happened, I started going through school, had to take a bunch of classes, and ended up actually with a biological anthropology degree. So, humans, archaeology, stuff like that. ⁓ When, dude, yeah. So, I actually, so that was my degree. ⁓ And from there, I needed to go to do a master's program.

Ryan Uffens (04:14)
like some Indiana Jones type stuff.

Phillip Lundell (04:26)
but my wife needed to do nursing school. So we moved down to West Jordan. I took the first job that I could get that happened to be with West Jordan City installing sewer pipe for $14 an hour as a college graduate. I actually, yeah, yeah. So I had from there, I worked there for about a year, switched over to a rough

Ryan Uffens (04:45)
Living the dream.

Phillip Lundell (04:56)
reclamation facility, Central Valley ⁓ water reclamation, so a sewer plant. And because I had a degree in a science, they gave me the job and I was doing permitting and inspections at facilities that discharged their wastewater to them to essentially make sure that they didn't put anything down the drain that killed, that would kill the sewer plant.

I was there for a year and luckily a job opened up at Payson City doing the exact same thing. And so I took that job. My wife at that point was still in nursing school. We moved in the middle and she was going to nursing school in Salt Lake. I was coming down here to work from there, worked there for four years and ultimately my goal.

after I started going through everything was to get on with the state doing something in the science field because that's what I liked. So I just would apply for jobs with the state random jobs and somehow I'd get offered a job and then I'd be like, that doesn't even sound fun to me. So I'd turn it down and then I'd apply for another job. They'd turn it down. My job opened up. I applied for it. They called my

They called my references and they didn't offer me the job. And I was super bummed. And about, like I didn't get anything other than that. Like just an email, thanks for interviewing. We've decided to go with somebody else. ⁓ About three months later, the job opened again and I'm kind of hard headed. So I applied for it again. I applied for it and my boss ⁓ called me and was like, hey Phil.

I am so sorry with everything. Let me fill you in on what happened. And he's like, I was going to offer the job. I went to management to offer you the job and there was not enough money to give you that I felt would be fair. So I gave it to somebody else. I offered the job to somebody else because I knew you'd turn it down. So this time I'll make it up and luckily they could meet me where I needed to be.

me the job and I took that.

Ryan Uffens (07:18)
Backed

the dump truck up with cash and called you back, huh?

Phillip Lundell (07:22)
Yeah, yeah, so it was nice. I have a dream job now. I deal with ⁓ gas stations and tanks, petroleum tanks. ⁓ And so yeah, it's best job in the world. I think I get to go out in the field. I get to do office work. I kind of make my own schedule, so it's nice.

Ryan Uffens (07:41)
And how has that job worked with your desire to get out and hunt? mean, cause you, definitely find a way to make the time to be able to go out and, and scratch that itch.

Phillip Lundell (07:53)
Yeah, so I am super lucky to be able to live close to the unit that I hunt for general season deer. ⁓ So my wife, being a nurse, she works three days a week ⁓ and it's like from nine to nine most days. So on the days during the week that she's working, I got to pick up the kids from daycare. I got to do their nightly routines. I got to put them to bed.

But on the days that we're not, that she's home, ⁓ as soon as I'm off work at 4.30, my dad picks me up and we head up the mountain. So two days a week we do that. It's usually Mondays, Thursdays, or Fridays. We are up and we are hunting from as soon as we get up until it gets dark, we come down. But then weekends, ⁓

I have a good buddy ⁓ that is my hunting buddy and we hike into a different spot and we hunt there on weekends. I've it out how I can still be a good hunter hunting two different spots by being able to use my time wisely. So we get up there, so me and my dad, get up, we...

We have certain spots that we take our side by side up, we pull off the road, glass. And we don't have much time. We have three hours maybe. So especially with a bow, that's not much time to be able to make a game plan and get something put down. So I am, we're glassing, we're hopping in the next place, glassing, glassing. And we have our hit list of bucks that we know are there that we are trying to find them and have them be in an area that we can make a play on them.

So yeah, that's kind of how it works for me is ⁓ I'm lucky to be able to close to home to where I can get out as often as I can.

Ryan Uffens (09:55)
That's awesome.

I mean, when it's hunting season, do you feel like you're getting out like almost every weekend?

Phillip Lundell (10:11)
Yes, for the most part. only... On the archery season, first weekend I'm out. During the weekdays I'm out. The second weekend of the hunt though is my... Most of the time, at least that week, is my daughter's and my wife's birthday. So August 24th and the 25th are their birthdays. So I've kind of made it a thing where the second weekend of the archery hunt I don't hunt.

is kind of hard, but other than that week, get, my wife is an angel and I get free reign to hunt any time that I want. During hunting seasons, that's if I have a tag, if my brothers have a tag, if my dad has a tag, if anybody has have tags, it's a no questions asked, you get to go. So it, kind of nice.

Ryan Uffens (11:04)
Did ⁓ she grow up with the family that hunts?

Phillip Lundell (11:08)
So her father hunts, but from what she said is he, when he had the kids and they were young, he didn't hunt. But he's now picked up when she has a little brother and when he got to the age to be able to hunt, he started going out with him hunting again. So now he hunts every year, but yeah, that's, so I think that that's been.

Ryan Uffens (11:24)
Oof.

So she wasn't raised

in a family being used to that. So you got lucky then that she's like chill and say like, go do your thing. That's awesome. That's way cool.

Phillip Lundell (11:39)
Yeah. Yeah,

yeah. And how I make up for it though is vacations during the off season. So January we go to Hawaii every year. In early spring we do a cruise every year. And then right before the archery hunt starts we do Disneyland or Disney World. So I kind of have to prioritize the family stuff in the other times of the year. So then on hunting season I can do that. And that

That's kind of with everything is during even weekends now. ⁓ I make one day with the family that we do something if it's still in swimming, if it's going to Thanksgiving point, if it's whatever they want to do, we do. And then the other day is I'm either shooting bows, shooting rifles or scouting for the hunts.

Ryan Uffens (12:30)
So it's just putting in quality family time when you're there, which is nice because I mean, there's a lot of people that are home with their kids, but they're like zoned out, like they're on their phone, watching TV, whatever, not doing stuff with them. So I think that's, I think that's a, you've got like a good balance and a nice trade set up there. So nice job, man.

Phillip Lundell (12:34)
Yes, that-

Yeah, for sure. Sometimes I get sucked into my phone. can do that, but I try to be as present as possible with my kids. They're both young. I have a one and a half year old and a three and a half year old.

Ryan Uffens (13:06)
Yeah, well,

if you're going out doing things like you're not typically just like locked in on the phone, you know, you're and with those ages, you got to be paying attention anyway or you get in trouble. But yeah, so hey, tell me shifting gears like to hunting, what's been like your favorite species that you hunted that was maybe like the most difficult that you've been able to have success with?

Phillip Lundell (13:13)
Yeah, yeah.

For real. ⁓

I think archery deer is by far my favorite thing to do. It is also the hardest thing I've done, but the last little bit, it's finally started to click. And I've learned a lot of different things that have really helped me be more successful. When I was younger, I can't tell you how many deer I missed with a bow or unfortunately wounded because I wasn't prepared mentally. And it really showed.

on that end of hunting.

Like, I don't know, I, yeah, I, growing up, I didn't put in the time. I'd pull out my bow the week before the hunt. I'd shoot. I'd do that. And it just led to me not filling tags or wounding animals, which unfortunately with a bow it happens. ⁓ Now I am more than confident that I can kill.

any deer on the mountain any given day as long as everything lines up as in I have enough daylight, the wind's going my way, and there's not somebody there that can ruin it for me.

Ryan Uffens (14:53)
No, I think that's good advice. mean, it's easy ⁓ to... Like if you've kind of just grown up doing it, like for me, where it was new, like I shot my bow like a lot and I got really comfortable with the bow ⁓ and I know where my range is and just taking those time and putting those reps makes it easier. So when you're out there, I think for like people that are new to hunting.

to be able to get the job done, right? Like to have the confidence and like, know what my distance is where I'm comfortable and here's the shots that I feel comfortable taking. ⁓ And yeah, so I mean, it's good to I think recognize that, but what... ⁓

Phillip Lundell (15:25)
100%.

Yep, yep, that's 100%.

Ryan Uffens (15:47)
Aside from shooting the bow, going from, sounds like maybe you had done a lot more rifle hunting, but in the archery, like getting in on mule deer is not super simple. mean, as you can see, the ones you have behind you, they have massive ears that are just like basically like sonar. They're just like listening, like what do you feel help you become more successful to be able to get close to these animals to be able to get within bow range?

Phillip Lundell (16:16)
⁓ I think that the best thing is learning when you need to be patient and when you need to move, need to make a move. ⁓ If you want to hear the story of the velvet buck this last year, I can tell you that and kind of how. Okay, so it was one of those days, it was August 29th. So deer are starting to get ready to strip their velvet.

Ryan Uffens (16:27)
Hmm.

Let's hear it. Yeah, let's hear it.

Phillip Lundell (16:43)
This was a deer that we've been watching all summer. He hung out with an inline five. And then there was another buck that every once in while would cross paths with him that was a really wide three by four. ⁓ And it was just another day after work. My dad picks me up. We're headed up on the mountain to go hit our normal spots to glass to determine what to do. ⁓ We were actually going after a cactus buck that day that I had passed up.

couple days before because I was like, ⁓ it's a cactus buck, it's not giant. I don't, I don't want to shoot it. But then after we had got back, I was like, how many times am I going to have an opportunity on a cactus buck? So we were actually going after this other deer and we got up there, ⁓ to our spots, couldn't, couldn't locate anything and kind of on our way back, stopped it and, and glassed and immediately I saw the inline five. and.

he had stripped his velvet. And ⁓ I'm assuming most people know, but when they go hard-horned, their patterns are gonna completely change. They're gonna break off from each other. They're not gonna be hanging out together. So with him being stripped, I knew that it was now or never to be able to kill that deer. So my dad posted up ⁓ at, we were like 1,100 yards away and we were just glassing. I noticed,

This buck came out and was with him and then the three by four was there. And so I'm happy with any three of these deer. It's my second year dedicated. I haven't killed yet because the first year I'm super picky. So I knew all of these deer I'd be happy with any of them. So I looked at the time we had about an hour and a half before it would get dark. They were in a big patch of scrub oak that year.

Last year and in that scrub oak there were tons of acorns. So that's what they had been eating all year Yeah, they've been feasting and and in this area for some reason they normally there's one or two good bucks in there and This year there was this last year. There was eight or nine good bucks So I I just I packed my my stuff up. I had my binos. I had my bow

Ryan Uffens (18:48)
is feastin'.

Phillip Lundell (19:09)
and I told my dad I'm going after him. So I took off hiking as I was hiking down in. I've been there a million times. I've hunted it. I put stocks there, but what I've noticed is if I, as I'm going in, I use Onyx, I use Go Hunt, but I'm taking pictures the entire time as I'm going down and going up. stop about every 30 yards, take a picture so I can reference where I'm going as I'm walking up. And that's kind of something weird that I do, but for me it works.

So I get down to the bottom my dad texted me and said hey, I lost them They they fed over ridge to where I can't see them. I said sounds good I'm gonna go where I saw them last so I I got up there as quick as I can The Sun's the Sun's went down behind this this ridge, but we still had a good 45 minutes of light ⁓ I get up there to where I had saw them last and

pull out my binos and I'm looking and the three by four is at a hundred yards. Just unreal. Like when I, like I knew he was wide, but when you, when I got up close with him, it was just unreal. So I got back down and I'm just sitting there. I had my aeronaut cause I don't know where the other two bucks are. And I, I'm, I'm glassing, I'm glassing and all of sudden the inline five goes over the next ridge.

And the three by four follows him. And the big four is what we called him is he feeds over behind it. So I just was like, okay, it's now or never. I got to get up on him. So I beeline to up, up the ridge that I was on down the goalie came back the ridge that they had just crested over. And it was a big, tight, tight hill that came around. So as long as they didn't know I was there, they were just going to keep feeding, I assume.

So I'm looking and I'm just trying to find them and glassing and glassing and I'm like, hey, where did they go? And I'm like, are they on the other hill yet? Where did they go? And I'm just completely glassing. And I all of a sudden caught with my binos, his antlers just sticking up behind the oak brush. So I like full panic, I'm like, okay, I get down. He's looking kind of towards me. I don't know if he knows where I'm at.

So I pull out my range finder. So that's where I'm getting. So I pull out the range finder and I can't get the range on him because of the oak brush that's in front of him. So oak brush, I hit 40 yards. I shoot tack every year. try and practice as much as I can on angles, up, down, doing all that and know my arrow trajectory.

Ryan Uffens (21:36)
How far were you from him at this point? Okay.

Phillip Lundell (22:04)
So at that point, I'm like, okay, Oak brush has got to be 10 yards wide, like long. So I guess the deer at 50 yards. So I shoot a dual pin sight. ⁓ but I'm always, I always go with the top pin. I never shoot the bottom pin. That's just kind of an emergency. I first shot misses and they run off, then I have a little bit longer. So I dial it to 50. I draw back as Nora.

In my past, I used to get lot of buck fever and I'd shake. My mind wasn't there. This, I draw back, I anchor, I settle the pin where his body should be because all I can see is his antlers and him looking at his, just the tips of his ears looking at me. I know that my arrow is going to drop in there. I set it where his vitals are going to be and I release an arrow. It drops in there. I hear the hit.

I know he's hit good. So I'm like, okay, so I just, the inline five and the three by four happened to just be just a couple yards behind him. ⁓ They hadn't walked out to the view where I could see their antlers. They take off, run over the next ridge, take off going. He just hobbles going slow and it takes him about

I don't know, 10 minutes to get to the other side to where I could see him again. At that point, I see blood, but then he turns a little and I can see guts, which obviously isn't the best. But the angle that I hit him at, I still felt good because of how much it was taking him forever to get. So he ends up walking about halfway up that ridge, which is only, it's only.

50 maybe yards up the goalie. So he goes up about halfway. I'm looking through my binos and he beds. I'm like, okay, dead deer, dead deer. I'm ecstatic. I call him my little, although I texted my dad, I'm like, hey, he's dead. Like he's dead, dead. At that point I had about 30 minutes of light left, ish, I would guess, maybe 20. And so I'm just, I'm sitting there, I'm watching him.

Ryan Uffens (24:05)
Yeah.

Hmm.

Phillip Lundell (24:31)
I call my little brother, he's in Arizona, he's one of my, you know, we've hunted together our whole lives. I know, so I call him and I'm like, dude, I shot the big four. He's like, no, you didn't, you're full of it. I'm like, dude, serious. So I pull up my binos and show him, him there. And he's like, oh my gosh, you got him. So I'm like, okay, I'm fine. So then I'm like, I'm like still being quiet. And I like, I called my one of my uncles that I always took me hunting growing up.

Dude, I just smoked him. Like it's a little far back, but he's gonna be, and I'm looking through my binos watching him, and at that point I watch him kinda like, he was up, his head's up, and then he just flops. And I was like, oh, he's dead. My uncle's like, are you sure? I was like, yes, I just watched him flop. He's dead. He's like, if you don't know for sure, back out and we'll come in the morning. Like do not push it, because about,

Ryan Uffens (25:18)
He's down.

Phillip Lundell (25:30)
300 yards to the south is private property a big ranch private property So I'm like, I know like he's dead for sure. So I text my little brother like dude. He's dead. My dad is pumped I'm like, he's dead. We're good. So I Start walking over to him So I'm walking walking over. I know I know where he's at I can see him in the thick oak brush and I get about 20 yards from him and All of a sudden he jumps up and takes off

And at that point, you just have the full like, so he runs up, he runs up, he stops at the top of the ridge, he looks at me and then takes off again. And I'm like, at that point, I'm gutted. Like, what did I just do in this thick oak brush? I knew where he was. I swore I'd watch him die. And I get up there and he's not dead. So I go up to where he had bedded.

bedded and I look at the blood and it is dark, dark, dark red blood. So with how I hit him, I figured I hit his liver, went out guts. That's all I could figure is liver guts. It's a dead deer, 100%. I got to wait until the morning. I marked an arrow where I'd saw him last and the last blood.

Well, I guess I marked the last blood and then where I last saw him I walked up to and I just looked and glassed really quick to see if I could see anything. Couldn't see anything. So I just, I hurried and got back off to just in case something and I, we got out of there. So I, I hiked down to my dad and I'm like, oh my gosh, I just ruined this. This is going to be the worst thing in the world finding this deer. Like I, I don't know what to do. So I'm, I'm, you know, text my uncle, text my brother, my buddy, my buddy Oliver, my honey buddy.

He's like, dude, like, was like, okay, I'm gonna be up in the morning. I'm gonna do, you know, do what I can. Oliver had work in the morning, so he could come. He's like, I can take off after noon and I'll be up there. My uncle dropped everything that he could. Another one of my buddies, Sean, he dropped everything and was like, dude, I'll be there in the morning with you. So it was a sucky night, to say the least. Like to get home after you've been pumped.

on this deer and to think like, my gosh, I'm never going to find him in this thick oak brush or he's ran off. And ⁓ so next morning, woke up super early. Sean showed up at my house. went. My dad showed up, got us, went, picked up my uncle and we headed up there. So we get up to the top of the how it works. There's a there's kind of a.

trail up top and a trail down bottom. And so we got dropped off up top. My dad went back to the glassing point just in case something, you know, to glass anything. And so we hiked down there, we find the blood. My buddy's like, hey, look, he's like, I agree. It's liver blood. My uncle looks at it. Yeah, it's liver blood. So we start going. We go to where we last saw him at. And we're just finding little specks of blood because he was running.

Ryan Uffens (28:37)
Right.

Phillip Lundell (28:56)
And we're like, okay, so we're just literally on our hands and knees going, looking for blood. There's tracks there, but there's tons of deer in there. So who knows what tracks are what, and we're just trying to piece together the puzzle of where this year went. So we start 10 yards, we get another piece of blood, 20 yards, we get another piece of blood. And, ⁓ about 20 minutes.

Ryan Uffens (29:19)
How long have you been looking for him at this point?

Phillip Lundell (29:25)
Because it's just a slow creep. Yeah, it's just a slow creep because we didn't know how thick the oak brush was and everything. Like it was just hard. And being one side, guts were hanging out, no blood was coming out that side. So only my entrance side had blood coming out. So that's another thing you got to know. so we're just going. And my uncle had walked down a little bit about 40 yards away.

Ryan Uffens (29:25)
So just so still just getting into it.

Yeah.

to be anywhere.

Phillip Lundell (29:55)
from where the top where I'd saw him last and he's like, hey Phil, I got blood right here. And it was on some oak brush leaves. So I swooped down and I just kind of circle right there and I'm walking back up to him I'm like, God, it smells like deer here. Like, I don't know, like it smells like deer. And I walk up to it and I'm looking at him like, Sean, right here, we got blood. So he starts walking down and my uncle just, he had backed up like five feet from me.

just down where I had just walked past saying I smelled something and my uncle was like hey Phil turn around look down. I turned around and looked down and there he was. So the crazy thing was he would have how he had is essentially when I bumped him it was his last hurrah essentially and he gave it everything and he essentially Superman it looked like off of this and died. So.

So from where I had saw him, it was 40 yards. He was more than likely dead at that spot when I went up and was glassing down looking. yeah, it was all, you know, hugs around, like nothing better than being able to find one after a gut wrenching night before after bumping in. Yeah, especially in that I had hit up one of my buddies that has a that can hunt that.

Ryan Uffens (31:10)
thinking that he's gone.

Phillip Lundell (31:18)
big private property and was like, hey dude, cause he knew about the buck. And I was like, hey dude, like if you hear anything, like I'm going to go after him in the morning. you, know, and luckily he called, he called me and was like, Hey, if, he does go in there, I've talked to the managers and you're good to go in, just let us know before you go. And so, so it was, was, yeah. And he was like, my dad's going to be up there this afternoon. So he'll glass, he'll let everybody know. So, so it really, really made out to be this awesome.

Ryan Uffens (31:34)
That's nice. Yeah. A little, a little relief.

Phillip Lundell (31:47)
experience but also a learning another another little piece of learning that I wouldn't have got beforehand which is maybe if even though I thought I watched him die maybe I already know where he's at and that he's not going anywhere back out and come back in the morning I that's the only thing that I wish that I would have done different anyways is just back out instead of pushing him that little bit so

Ryan Uffens (32:15)
And it's hard when you had a first shot him and then you see that he's wounded. How long did you wait before you started moving up on him?

Phillip Lundell (32:28)
20 minutes probably 20 20 ish like cuz it No, no, no cuz I let him do his thing I let him walk up slowly and then bed and then he's there for five five ish minutes and tips over I I I don't know anybody else that would have not went up there but now in the future I'm gonna definitely Sit back and even if I even if I would have waited until pitch black and went there

Ryan Uffens (32:31)
So, I mean, it wasn't like, it wasn't immediately.

Phillip Lundell (32:58)
an hour later, I think he would have been dead there.

Ryan Uffens (33:02)
Yeah,

I mean, I, haven't experienced that. But just in talking with people, I mean, you see guys that

You see guys that will shoot an animal. And I mean, they'll even document it right. Like I think of Cam Haynes and his bear hunt that he did in Alaska, right? Where he's like, ⁓ he's dead. I mean, and the guy's like the man. Like it just, it just happens. And I mean, there are times where you could wait an hour and they still might not expire.

Phillip Lundell (33:32)
Yeah.

Ryan Uffens (33:43)
So yeah, it's part of the learning experience. But yeah, like the highs and lows, like I said, like you get them, you're so excited, like you're calling your uncle, your brother, like everyone. And then you're like, I'm gonna go get up on him. wanna go, now I wanna see what I've done. Cause it was ⁓ evening, right? When you had shot him.

Phillip Lundell (34:05)
Yep.

Yep. It was evening getting dark. Like so, so everything was all I want to get on him before it gets dark.

Ryan Uffens (34:12)
Yeah, so like your mind, the the the clock starts ticking. But ⁓ yeah, it's and then when there's not a ton of blood like that's the other thing that it's it turns into. ⁓ You know, an experience I was talking with Caleb Brewer. I had him on the podcast not too long ago. He owns the stick sniper archery down in in Arizona and.

and he and I are working on putting together ⁓ like a training up here. So he's taken like what he's learned as like a green bray and he's created a course because he's like that's he goes most new hunters. It's like you talk about right? Like the simple thing is like, hey, learn to shoot your bow. And it's like, well, people will shoot them all the time and they don't know how to track and find the animal.

if it blows out. And it's it's something I'm excited to be working with him on and be able to bring his expertise up here as a green beret to Utah and put on like a training because I 100 % need it. But he's like, there's a it's, it's, it's like a full day training thing. I mean, you're getting like into the nitty gritty, like of his expertise of the tracking stuff that he's learned as a green beret. And what

how that can apply to tracking a wounded animal. that one, mean, it's for like you, like you, nobody wants an animal to suffer. Right. So if they're not down, you want to get on them to be able to like finish them off. And and so, yeah, it's that fine line between like. You waited 20 minutes, I saw him go down like and it looked it looked like it was like a death drop, right?

Phillip Lundell (36:06)
Yeah, yeah,

yeah.

Ryan Uffens (36:09)
And so then you get up there and then he blows out and then the will start turning. I should have done this. I shouldn't have done that. I should have just... The shoulda, what it coulda's are always there like in hindsight. It's like I talk about on this podcast all the time. The things that I learned from people and just talking about this all the time, I look back at where I failed.

But knowing what I know now, it's like, well, it's actually, it's going to lead to success because you take the things that you learn incorrectly and you apply them to the tactics that you're using that's gonna make you a better hunter in the future. But it's nice that this story at least ended with being able to locate it. So did he go off a cliff then? You said it looked like he's Superman.

Phillip Lundell (37:05)
No, was

a really steep face with the oak brush. it like legit jumped though down because there was no blood between. It was a big patch. So there was no blood between where my uncle saw the last piece and where he was dead. So it was just crazy. It was crazy. But yeah, I 100 % learned a lot of things. ⁓ I think being comfortable with

your gear is the number one thing that you gotta do. And that bow that I had last year, I was comfortable with. ⁓ The other tool in my... Yep, yep, so the yep, Lift 33, yep. So I switch bows every year, which...

Ryan Uffens (37:45)
Is that this one?

Is this that

is this that buck that is the buck right?

Phillip Lundell (37:57)
Yep, yep, that's how bug got me.

Ryan Uffens (38:01)
And was this close to where you found him then?

Phillip Lundell (38:04)
So we pulled him down out of the oak brush about 20 yards down.

Ryan Uffens (38:08)
Okay, because I was gonna say

it looks that looks still like thick up there where you were at for sure.

Phillip Lundell (38:12)
Yeah, yeah,

yeah, it's super thick. So like the one piece of gear that I changed last year that I think made the difference for me is I've been a Swarovsk Nob for years. I've ran ELs and last year I bought a pair of Sig Sauer Zulu 6s, 12 by 42s. And honestly, that's how I glassed it.

You're huffing and puffing with your bow, you're getting up and you're having a glass, you flip that image stabilizing on and everything locks in. So you can huff and puff as you're trying to catch your breath and still be able to glass. That's why I caught the tips of his antlers. If I would have had my ELs out, I don't think I would have killed that deer. And that's the crazy thing is I actually did not touch my ELs last year after I bought those Zulus and I sold them this spring because...

I don't see the, the glass is amazing obviously in the zoo or in the Swaros, but the benefits of being able to hunt with stabilized binoculars for me outweigh the benefits of the glass.

Ryan Uffens (39:15)
It's the yeah.

I've heard those are like a game changer. I've talked to a couple guys like on the podcast and they're like, look, they're expensive. I don't even know what they are. I mean, I've looked at them, but my

Phillip Lundell (39:36)
They're like

a thousand bucks, but like my shwaros are, you know, are two grand. And to be able to now have those 12s, my dad has given up his shwaros for them. I have two buddies that after using mine have sold their binos and now have bought them. for me and at least the people I hunt with, they're a game changer. Yeah, I still have my shwaro spotter that I'm using, but.

But to be able to...

Ryan Uffens (40:08)
Were those

the 16 by 50s?

Phillip Lundell (40:11)
I use 12s. I use 12 by 42s is what I use. Yep. So the little smaller ones, my dad used the 16s ⁓ and my buddies use the 12s too. And to be able to still have my bow and arrow knocked and be able to glass a little hillside or to try to find where the deer is at exactly, that is what I feel like was the game changer. Cause with the Schuarros, I don't think that I would have.

Ryan Uffens (40:14)
Okay.

Phillip Lundell (40:40)
kill. I think I would have missed him because I wouldn't have been able to see him.

Ryan Uffens (40:47)
That's, that's, that's, I've, yeah, we, I've talked with a couple of guys about that and they're like, that's one thing that they've switched to that. And I've heard that, that they're not, they don't have to even use the, you know, the tripods as much as what they had been. So it's, it's definitely, ⁓

Phillip Lundell (40:47)
You

Yep. Yeah.

Ryan Uffens (41:10)
I've heard some good things, but yeah, so you're giving credit to those. To you being able to like find like, mean, we're right. Right, like I mean, you put you put in the work and you know.

Phillip Lundell (41:15)
that and putting in the work. Yeah. Yeah.

Ryan Uffens (41:24)
you do the scouting, you knew the three bucks that you were wanting to go after and you put in the effort to go get them. But having the right equipment, like those image stabilizing binoculars, it gave you the, because you were doing the work, you're like, you caught the antlers, right?

Phillip Lundell (41:42)
Yep. Yep.

Ryan Uffens (41:43)
And that's ultimately what led to the success. you can do it with just regular binos. mean, it's been done a long time. Yeah.

Phillip Lundell (41:55)
I've done it before. Yeah,

I've done it tons of times. But just that, you know, me trying to get 1 % better or 2 % better at being able to harvest an animal, I feel like that pushes me over the top. And maybe that's in my mind, but that's what pushes me over the top and gets me to where I've got to be. So yeah. Yeah.

Ryan Uffens (42:16)
Yeah, no, for sure. For sure. That's

awesome. I appreciate you sharing that. For other folks that are maybe getting started in hunting and we've talked, I mean, we talked a little bit about those binoculars. Like, what do you think is, in just your opinion, is like overrated equipment when it comes to hunting that people maybe feel they have to have, but maybe you don't think is as necessary?

Phillip Lundell (42:21)
Yeah.

There's lots of things. I think it all depends on you being true to yourself and knowing what kind of hunting you want to do and what you are capable of doing. I see a lot of people that are going out and getting in the weeds and worrying about things that they don't need to be worrying about when they're just starting hunting and going and purchasing this big expensive backpack. ⁓

Ryan Uffens (42:59)
Mm.

Phillip Lundell (43:15)
⁓ A TP, a this, a that, and I know people, way too many that I can count, have never even spent a day in one of those, but they've went out and spent all this money on stuff that they don't need. I'm not a bad country hunter. I flat out, I'm not a bad country hunter. I've done some in the past before, but primarily I wake up as earlier as I need to in the morning and

get out there. On my weekend hunts with my buddy, we backpack in. It's a mile and a half and 2000 vertical feet. We have emergency blankets and emergency sleeping bags if we got to stay there that night. But other than that, I don't do bad country. So that's kind of is, you got to be true with yourself. Yeah, it's like, is that's, I wouldn't say like it's a specific piece of gear that the people don't need.

Ryan Uffens (44:04)
Depends on what it is you want to do, yeah.

Phillip Lundell (44:14)
But it's more of a, gotta be true to yourself with what kind of hunter you want to be because there are those guys that are deep back country guys that need all that stuff that are killers. But then there's also the guys like me that I don't need all that stuff. I have a nice backpack. I have nice boots. I have a nice bow. I have nice binos. And I know what I can do with them. And so that's kind of more.

Ryan Uffens (44:38)
Yeah.

Phillip Lundell (44:41)
I guess what it is. I also see a lot of new archers. I've been archery hunting now for 18 years. 18 years. I've killed lot. I've killed. I've shot a lot. But also, like, I see a lot of new archers that are getting too deep in the weeds in things that they, in my mind, they don't need to. FOC, ⁓ know, heavy area arrows versus lightweight arrows. ⁓ Mechanical or fixed.

when really, if you spent that time that you're worrying about that, going out and shooting your bow and making sure that you're efficient at it and knowing where to hit on an animal, none of that stuff matters. If you hit an animal in the right spot, it's going to die. That's what it is. And that's kind of what I've seen in the last, I don't know, five to 10 years is lot of people, newer archers getting into this and

Ryan Uffens (45:30)
Yeah.

Phillip Lundell (45:40)
getting in the weeds when I think that you need to be more in the weeds later on. Me personally, I can't tell the difference between, I shoot Easton's FMJs, I'm switching over to 5.0s right now. I can't tell the difference with my shot with a match grade arrow and a regular arrow. 0.03 straightness or 0.01 straightness? I don't know the difference. In mine, I bought both, shoot, in my mind, I shoot both of them just as good, so why do need to buy the more expensive arrow? You know? That's kind of,

Ryan Uffens (46:08)
Yeah.

Phillip Lundell (46:10)
kind of where I'm at with that is just be true to yourself and know what you really are gonna use all the time and spend the money on that and buy the best that you can. And the other stuff that, yeah, I could go buy a nice back country teepee, but I'm never gonna use it. If I gotta stay out there, I have a tarp in my backpack and an emergency sleeping bag that if I gotta stay out there for a night, I'm gonna stay out there for a night. So, yeah.

Ryan Uffens (46:37)
Yeah, no, I think that's good advice. I mean, it's you can get into the weeds. I mean, get a decent bow. The other thing is like, I know a lot of guys like to get a new bow every single year. Yeah, yeah, it's as you as you had mentioned, but if that's your thing, but if you're not having to add all the other things that maybe some other guys do like that's OK. Have a nice collection of.

Phillip Lundell (46:49)
That's this guy, unfortunately.

Yeah.

Ryan Uffens (47:05)
of bows that you can go out and shoot and just have a blast with it.

Phillip Lundell (47:09)
Yeah, I

actually keep the same accessories on my bow every year. I keep them. I get a new bow every year. It costs me three to 400 bucks every year, but I keep my same accessories. I've had the same accessories on my bows for probably seven or eight years now.

Ryan Uffens (47:25)
so you don't have a backup with other accessories then.

Phillip Lundell (47:29)
No, that's, but that's also where I, some people swear by it. I luckily have never needed a backup bow. Now, if for some reason something happened and I needed a backup bow, then probably I would start having one. But I would also probably run down, run over to my brother's house, grab his bow and hurry and tune it.

Ryan Uffens (47:35)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Phillip Lundell (47:56)
hurry and get it to my draw length and get it sighted into 50 yards with a fixed pin and call it good. So if ⁓ I was a super back country guy going out of state all the time, I would definitely have a backup bow. Where like my out of state hunts, because of the time and because I got to be here on weekdays with my kids, I have four or five days that I get to sneak away for out of state hunts.

Ryan Uffens (48:02)
Yeah. Yeah.

Phillip Lundell (48:27)
So like my out of state hunts are, do one every year. So this year is Idaho. Next year I will probably do ⁓ Wyoming. then kind of, just all depends how it is, but I actually found out yesterday I drew a ⁓ pretty good elk tag in Idaho. And then I also have my general deer tag in Idaho. So that I'm actually going to do, I'll do five days general deer, and then I will do five days of ⁓ the control elk hunt.

Ryan Uffens (48:27)
Right.

Phillip Lundell (48:57)
So, yeah, and while also hunting weekends and everything down here when I can.

Ryan Uffens (48:57)
Yeah, yeah, good.

That's awesome. Phil, man, I really appreciate your time. You guys, if you would, go over, give him a follow. Again, it's Phil underscore Lundell on Instagram. If you felt that you've learned something or you've enjoyed the stories that have been shared on this episode, please share it. Send it to a friend, buddy, uncle, brother, dad, whatever. The more you guys share it,

Phillip Lundell (49:04)
Yeah.

Ryan Uffens (49:28)
And if you guys will like and comment on the podcast, the more it helps the algorithm pump this out to the people that want to find it. Again, if you're listening to this on Apple or Spotify, it is available on YouTube. So definitely go over there. And if you follow us on YouTube, hit that subscribe button and then you can get notifications when we drop new episodes and additional content. But ⁓ Phil, man.

Really appreciate you taking the time to meet and it was fun hearing that story of that buck. It's a beautiful deer and it's been a lot of fun. So everyone stay safe and God bless.