Monster Muleys Podcast
All aspects of western hunting, with a focus on mule deer.
Monster Muleys Podcast
Episode 7: Bucks, Bulls, their Behavior and how they Differ with Spencer Gledhill, AKA Gledeasy
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In this episode of the Monster Muleys Podcast, host Shane Rasmussen sits down with longtime friend and accomplished western hunter Spencer Gledhill. Shane and Spencer first connected through MonsterMuleys.com back in 2013, and over the years they've built a friendship that has included several memorable hunts together.
Spencer has harvested some incredible bull elk and outstanding mature mule deer, giving him firsthand experience with two of the West's most iconic big game animals. In this conversation, they dive into the fascinating differences between elk and mule deer behavior, discussing how each species moves, feeds, reacts to pressure, and what makes them so unique to hunt. They also share stories from the field, lessons learned through years of chasing quality animals, and practical insights that can help hunters become more successful.
Whether you're passionate about elk, mule deer, or both, this episode is packed with valuable hunting knowledge and entertaining conversation.
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All right, welcome back to the Monster Mullies Podcast. Today I have Spencer Gledhill on with me, aka Gled Easy. Um he's killed a couple really good bulls. Um he's got some solid general season bucks. Really good guy, really calm demeanor, great hunter, great friend. We've actually hunted together a few times. Um I share a couple embarrassing misses I've had with him there. So you want to hear that. But uh yeah. Um anyways, also, you listeners out there are gonna have a chance to win an all-in digiscoping um setup for either your binos or your spotting scope. Um, so uh if you haven't checked out all in, check them out. They're out of all the digiscoping companies out there, I've used them all. All in is my favorite, it's magnetic, it just lines up your phone immediately, super quick. But yeah, so how you're gonna win is you have to be a member of Monster Mulies and you have to comment on this thread with Spencer. So I'll make a thread on there and it'll you know it'll say you know, whatever I decide to title this podcast, it's gonna be with Spencer Gledhill, aka Gled Easy. Um that'll be in the title. And you just have to make a comment under that thread. Um, you can ask it's a question, make a comment, and then on Monster Mulley's the threads, like when you make a comment, they're all numbered, right? So I'll just use a random number generator and hit it. And um if your comment is that number, then you win the all-in digiscoping setup. I'm gonna do one for a spotting scope and one for binoculars. Oh, that's like almost a it's like $180 value. Very sweet setup. Uh I want to thank Alin for giving us this, um, giving us these systems to give away. Um by the way, if you use code MM Podcast from July 6th to July 30, well, July 6th to July 31st on Allen's website, use code MM Podcast all capital letters. MM Podcast All Capital Letters, you get 22% off. That's that's the best deal I've seen. I've seen some 10% off, and that's about it. So 22% off at checkout, MM Podcast. Make sure you use that. And um, like I said, if you're not a member of Monster Mullies and you're listening to this, go sign up, create an account, get on there, make some comments. Stick around, it's a great website, you'll learn a lot, a lot of great hunters, and you have a chance to win some all-in uh digiscoping setups, binoculars, or spotter. Alright, guys. Um, sounds good. Thanks so much. Let's get started with the podcast. Real quick, I forgot before we get started. There was some internet connection issues on this episode. Spencer cut out a little bit here and there. Um, I tried to clean it up the best I could. Um, but there's some great information. And um, anyways, I think you'll like it. But yeah, sorry about the audio if it's uh broke up a little bit. Um yeah, cleaned it up pretty good though. Alright, guys, thanks. Let's get started. Welcome to the Monster Mullies Podcast. Today we got a Monster Mulies member, Spencer Gledhill, aka Gled Easy. Spencer, how's it going, buddy?
SPEAKER_02Hey, doing good. How are you, Shane?
SPEAKER_01I'm good. So hey, as tradition now, you gotta tell us how you got the handle Gled Easy.
SPEAKER_02Well, you gotta go back. Um actually serving a mission for the LDS Church, and sometimes we'd get together with missionaries and play basketball, and one of the missionaries had a easygoing attitude, I guess, and so just kind of stuck with me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so you cut out that for a second, so you just your easygoing demeanor.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yep.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I've hunted with Spencer a couple times, and he certainly laid back and chilled, easygoing for sure, so that makes sense.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for better or for worse, I guess.
SPEAKER_01No, it's a good thing. Um, you been out uh scouting it all yet this year, looking around at Bucks or not really?
SPEAKER_02You know, I haven't been able to this year as of yet. Um hoping to find some time in the next little bit, see what's going on out there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's pretty early still. It's July 3rd today, so um all right, yeah. Spencer and I have actually, so we met on Monster Bullies 2013, I think it was, and uh I drew a limited elk tag in the same area Spencer had his. He had the early tag, I had the late tag, and he he helped me a ton um get a bowl. It was a mature old, like 12 and a half year old bowl, right around 300-ish. But Spencer, you got a monster, what was it, like 360?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he went he went right at 360, and and you know, that was just that was pure luck. There was a lot of good bowls, but man, that was a a lot more difficult of a hunt than I would have thought. Just got lucky.
SPEAKER_01And then you had that same unit again and on the archery, and first day you got one, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, actually it was the second day. Um, but yeah, second day I got a pretty decent bowl and um a lot of scouting into that year. Just the hunt was short, but I guess I got a lot of good time on the mountain regardless.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, what was your favorite out of those two?
SPEAKER_02You know, it's kind of hard to to pinpoint both of them because the I guess my experience level from that part because you've got you know, one happened in 2013, the other one was 2021. So just from a sheer experience level, I knew the unit a lot better come to archery, the archery experience, but if I had to pick the one, it would be the archery. Uh just a lot more scouting in the summertime. Um I was able to find a lot more bowl just because I knew the unit better. And so uh it was it was a good hunt.
SPEAKER_01And how big was that archery bowl?
SPEAKER_02Uh you know, I had him I had him officially scored. I think he grossed, I think he was 335 and some change, so a little bit better than I had expected. I I thought well, let me go back. I when I actually decided to pull the I'll say trigger, but um let an arrow fly, I thought he was real big. I only got glimpses through the trees, but then once I actually walked up on him, I was pretty disappointed. I thought he he shrunk on me a little bit, but um yeah, actually it ended up being better than I thought. I thought he was gonna be 320. He was scored at 335.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's a good role. Um how's this you're looking for, yeah, with your tags? You got several or one?
SPEAKER_02Or uh we're a little thin at the moment. I mean, we got general deer tags in Utah. I've got my last year of the dedicated season, and then uh my wife and my one of my boy general tag as well. Yeah, I was just saying we uh we've got three general Utah deer tags uh between me, my wife, and one of my boys. We're kind of planning on using my wife's tag to mentor have a new youth hunter with my daughter. She just turned 12, and so we'll likely mentor my wife's tag to her unless we get lucky and and draw on the secondary draw with Colorado. So that's all we have for right now. Just those three tags, and you know, maybe help some friends out as the season progresses. We'll see.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, uh well, cool. Yeah, so one thing about Spencer is he um he does a lot of hunting with his kids, um, which I love. Um, how uh how's it different hunting with your kids? You enjoy it more or is it a little trickier to get animals?
SPEAKER_02Or it it is, you know. I I'll go back to an experience years ago. Um these one of my kids were really little. We actually still had a baby in diapers, and and uh we had just pulled up on hunting, and my wife was the one with the tag, and she's like, Oh, we gotta change the the baby's diaper real quick. And she's in the middle of changing the diaper, and and here come four or five, like just really solid bucks for the unit that come running out of the trees less than 200 yards from where we're at. Like, oh shoot, what do we do? You know, we got the baby sitting on the tailgate trying to get the diaper changed, and we couldn't couldn't switch out fast enough, but it does bring some challenges, but it's it's super fun, and I think what I've enjoyed a lot is just seeing my kids grow and kind of seeing like as you push them what they're capable of doing, which I think sometimes they themselves aren't aware that hey, I can I can do hard things, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I was gonna ask you about that. Do you is there ever times where it's like, okay, I wanna and I've hunted with my kids too, and yeah, I was gonna I'll share a story in a minute here, but um is there ever a time where you're like, okay, I want to keep going, but maybe they don't, I need to back off a little, or anything like that.
SPEAKER_02One to push and wanted to back off, or yeah, I've I've had some times like that, and you know, sometimes you know, I bring that up to them and and and they agree like they're kind of done, and and I've had other times. We a couple years ago in Colorado, we all had taught had all had tagged out except one of my kids, and it's my one kid that uh he enjoys it, but like he'll he'll maybe kind of give up on things a little bit quicker than the others, and so I thought for sure he'd he'd be done, ready to go home, and and we talked to him that night, like, hey, what do you want to do? And like, no, let's go hike back up in there in the morning. Awesome, you know. So uh yeah, I just I guess it depends on the the instance on kind of getting a feel and seeing what they want to do, but I don't want them to just quit either, you know.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, I know that that perseverance is huge. I'm actually a lot some people know, others don't, but I'm actually for my job I'm in education and you know, every some people will talk about you know, test scores and reading level and all that, but if those those kids have perseverance, they're gonna be okay. And yeah, that I mean perseverance is huge, and that hunting's a great way for kids to learn it. I mean, if hunting, I can't think of anything else where you have to persevere like hunting. Um when it comes to hobby sports. I think yeah, perseverance is key in life, and hunting's a great way for those kids to learn it.
SPEAKER_02It is, it is, yeah. And I even as an adult, you know, there's there's times that you have to persevere too. Um when you're out hunting and something you enjoy, you know, you still have to push through it sometimes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I would say that's probably for me, that's where I actually learned to persevere on a uh Utah General season buck. I spot spotted a good buck and just um kept going back and couldn't find him, kept going back. Anyways, long story short, finally got him and it just kind of you know clicked. I yeah, perseverance eventually will pay off. And in hunting, it doesn't always pay off that year, and and it might not pay off in the way you're thinking. You might not end in a big buck or big elk, but there's a lot of valuable lessons learned along the way, and it anyways, but yeah, so speaking of pushing kids, so Spencer, you were there on this. Spencer and I, and our his son and my daughter, we had an Idaho tags and we went scouting, and we headed up this trail, and it was it was brutal. I I did not realize how bad it was gonna be constantly going up. I'm like, does this thing ever flatten out? And my daughter, after that little scouting trip, I I think I pushed her a little hard. She was she was done for about a year of the heart hike.
SPEAKER_02Oh that was tough. I I remember thinking, I was going into that thinking I was in pretty good shape, and that that pushed me a little bit.
SPEAKER_01Mine has something to do with you carrying your canned food up there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, maybe. Yeah, I'll I'll tell you one thing. I'm not I'm not a very experienced backcountry hunter, and so um learning how to how to and what to pack, uh, that was a good experience for me.
SPEAKER_01No, I was super glad you had it though. We were a little hungry, and you're like, Oh, I got some canned peaches. I'm like, all right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there we go. They hit a little different on the mountain, don't they?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Those were those were good, so yeah, that was fun. But um anyway, yeah, so speaking of hunting with Spencer, some of my most embarrassing misses. Spencer probably thinks I'm an awful shot. Some of my most embarrassing misses have come with Spencer. So he's he's but we were deer hunting both times, but we came across the bear, and first bear, I unfortunately that was a difficult shot, actually. But uh and Spencer's rangefinder died on him, and it was it was pretty funny looking back on it, but yeah, missed that bear. That was that was a difficult shot, but god, the other one I missed was awful. It was he was only about a hundred yards, and I was having trouble getting, I mean, it was on a steep hill, and I was trying to get down in the brush, but I was so confident I'm like, I'm not even gonna wait for him to turn broadside shot and missed.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, those were you know fun experiences, but yeah, the to think that my range finder would go out right at that time, and and uh that's probably I remember that all the time now, like before I go out. Okay, is my range finder working? How long has the battery been since I changed it? But um, yeah, those are fun though.
SPEAKER_01I those are the first times I've seen bears out in the wild, to be honest, and and uh yeah, yeah, I blew it on that second one that still eats at me a little. It just oh my gosh, just be patient, wait for him to turn broadside. But yeah, lesson hard lessons learned. That's the other thing with hunting. You're always learning lessons like non-stop, and you try not to repeat them. A lot of times you learn, you don't repeat them, but man, sometimes you do.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and you know, when you're in that heat of the moment, uh you know, sometimes you're thinking clearly, sometimes you're not, and just you just do the best you can, and and like you said, you reflect on it and you try to try to think about it. I think that was kind of one of the cool things that I saw with you those times, Shane, is is after the fact, like you really reflected on the moments and went through the timeline, the experience, and tried to to learn from it. And I, you know, that's not something I had always done personally, but like, you know, that's a that's actually a pretty smart thing to do, you know, prepare you for the next time.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, thanks. Appreciate that. Yeah, even in my even in my phone, like I'll put reminders after I've like when I messed up on that bear, um, the second one, I just put reminders in my phone that always pop up before well all year long, but especially around hunting season, like I got my phone, it's like no matter, no matter what, like you've got to wait for it to turn broadside. Don't get overconfident, wait for it to turn broadside. I got a reminder that pops up all the time because I don't want to do that again.
SPEAKER_02But yeah, those those are good.
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, especially funny moments or embarrassing misses you want to share?
SPEAKER_02Oh, I'm sure I do. I you know, I have uh um definitely some shots I wish I could take back, but uh those are kind of more with some wounded animals, but I'll tell you probably my most I'll call it embarrassing, but this is back when I was just just graduated high school and and uh my brother, my dad, and I were all hunting. My dad had already filled his tag, so it was just my brother and I, and we had gone driving through a new area and had ran into another hunter that said, Yeah, we just saw a little buck up here, and we get up there and hiking in, and I split off from my brother and my dad, and hadn't been gone too long, and I hear some shots from where they're at, and so I go running back, and I can see them in the in the meadow, and they just got their hands up, you know, got a big one, and went up this canyon. So I'm just I'm just high telling it up there as fast as I can, trying to get back on this buck, and uh get up there and I I see this body of a deer, huge body, and I I knew he was a buck just by the size of the body, but and at that time would have been the best time for me to shoot. Um but in the back of my head, I'm also oh I gotta make sure this is a buck, you know, and and so I I went a little bit further to get a better angle, and I'm huffing and puffing, so when this buck finally comes out and he's starting to go up over the ridge, I bring my gun up and I puffed right into my scope and fogged that thing up. And uh couldn't really see and got desperate and and took a shot and yeah, I missed. Always relived that moment.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah, it's funny how the just in the heat of the moment, yeah, it's just it's like really of all times, now I fog my scope, or I've had incidents where the gun actually didn't go off, and it's like, are you kidding me? Out of the hundreds of times I've shot this gun, now it doesn't fire.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but yeah, that's really the only time I've you know, I've probably missed a couple other animals, but I they're not coming to my mind, but that one's always stuck with me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, all I was gonna ask you, um, so Spencer, he got a really good general season buck in Utah this last year. He's got a couple over the years, but one of your goals was you wanted to film yourself and you filmed you filmed the shot taking that buck. That's a that's a solid buck, uh, especially for General Season Utah. Tell us a little bit about that buck, um, and if you scouted him or first time you saw him, and yeah, let's hear about that story a little.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you bet. So I have a dedicated hunter tag here in Utah, which which allows you to hunt all seasons. Um and last year, uh I hadn't even scouted in the summer, and I don't know why, but come first day of archery season, just had a heck of a day. Like I could not believe it. I counted, I think, 32 bucks that morning. Some real slammers. Like we I was with a friend and we were driving and literally had a group of about eight bucks with one that was over 190, another 180, and they were just 100 yards off the road. Like they kind of they pegged us. I tried getting out anyway, it didn't work out.
SPEAKER_01But so this was opening morning of archery, right?
SPEAKER_02Opening morning morning of archery, yeah. Okay, and um yeah, I'd found them. I don't know, I shouldn't try and make the story a little quicker, but I found them right. In the area where I had killed my biggest buck, and I knew better than to drive this road, but I did it anyway. They pegged us, and uh, so then the hunt was on for the season, you know. I I knew that there was that buck in there. I bet you that opening day probably had found six to eight bucks that were you know 160 or better. It just it was unbelievable. So through the season, I had a couple other close calls. There was there was one buck that I I really liked. He wasn't the biggest of the of them all, but he was solid pushing 180. And I had a really close call with him with my bow one day, just couldn't make it happen.
SPEAKER_01But did you get a shot off?
SPEAKER_02Nope, I I I snuck up to 53 or 56. I had one tree that I needed to get around. I was a little worried because earlier in the day he had two other buddies with him, and I had only seen one with them that night. So I was being a little more cautious. And so I I I just took too long to actually get the shot. So I never got the shot.
SPEAKER_01He lost you there for a minute. So you I heard you never got the shot.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I never got the shot. Can you hear me now?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I got you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I never got the shot on him. Uh come to find out, he was harvested later in the year. He I think the hunter said he was right, right almost at 180. Um, just a good, pretty buck, just um younger buck, too, I think, because he body-wise, he was a lot, a lot smaller than a couple of the other bucks.
SPEAKER_01But was he taken during the archery?
SPEAKER_02No, one of the rifle seasons. I'm not sure which one, but so yeah, I I hunted, I think I put in hunting days, probably 17-ish days, I think. Um muzzle odor, I lost, I I I never saw the big bucks again. And you know, this is I think where experience comes into play. I I thought to myself, this is where I found him, you know. If I keep coming back, I'm gonna eventually see him again. And as as the days got going further in, I kind of started expanding my search a little bit more. And I think this is about day three of the last the late season the of the general hunt is when I ended up shooting my buck. But what really got me to consider shooting him is I had there was this three point that I had seen earlier in the year that he was a stud three point. And I had found him during one of the rifle seasons and thought, oh, you know, I have never videoed a buck. Maybe I had to go video shooting him. He was in a good spot for it, but uh I talked myself out of it because he was only a three-point. Um, I went home and kind of started looking at the pictures of him and that group of bucks with the other, and I thought, oh, he's not just a three-point, I should have shot him.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So when I went into the last little bit, I kind of told myself, you know, I had a goal. 160 had been my goal, and so I kind of decided if I could find a buck like that and get an opportunity to film it, that uh he'd be in trouble. And that's what happened. I I happened to find this buck. Uh I was in debate of shooting him or not, because usually I'm not a good judger of mule deer. Generally they shrink on me. And so I watched him. I got my my uh tripod and camera set up on them. And uh he wasn't gonna stick around much longer, so I thought, well, it's now or never, and he turned and looked at me, and that that kind of sealed the deal and let the shot fly and just pray that he wasn't gonna think so ended up being a pretty good buck.
SPEAKER_01About that 160-ish.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he pretty much right on it, like right at 160. Um just a solid buck, not um yeah, good. Yeah, and uh, you know, those deer that are in that 140 to 160 range, that's that's kind of a hard, hard range to judge because it's I don't know about you, but I don't have a big history of seeing big deer. I've tried where I live uh is not too far from a pretty good limited entry unit. The last few years I've been going during Thanksgiving time, just trying to get a better idea of sizing up deer. I think that's helped, but you know, 140 to 160 buck, that's that's generally a pretty big deer for what you usually see.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and once I mean 160, once they start getting around 160, that's uh for me anyways, they start looking pretty good when they're for me when they're about that 160 market, like, oh they're that looks like a pretty good buck. Yeah, so especially you get and so like I said, yeah, if you have certain tags, yeah, you're gonna pass. I mean, I've passed 160 bucks plenty on good units, but just general season tags, it's like it's a good looking buck.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there's there's definitely nothing to be ashamed of taking a buck like that. They're getting pretty good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Yeah, so I didn't ask you at the first. Tell me like kind of how you got started hunting. Like tell me about that, your your startup into hunting.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so like have to have to give my dad props with that. He was a hunter, got me involved. I as a young kid watching TV, I was always drawn to the Buckmasters. That was that was what I'd watch, you know. Other kids probably watching cartoons, I'm watching Buckmasters, but um just had a a passion for it, and um dad and uncles we'd go out every year, kind of do the same thing, and we have a a cabin out in the mountains, and so that was kind of our almost like family reunion, you know. You go and you stay at the cabin and you have those sleepless nights of what you're gonna see in the morning, and just really lit a fire in me. Um and then I'd say once I actually moved out of the house, kind of living on my own, uh, realized like, wow, I can I can do this more frequently. Like, I don't have to wait on my dad to to go take me out and scout and enjoy the mountains, you know, and so kind of just started being involved with it kind of more of a yearly thing as opposed to a seasonal thing, and just kind of grew from there and just it's passion of mine, I guess.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, when you were younger, did you guys did you guys scout at all? And what like when we were younger, when I was hunting with my dad, we we didn't scout back in that back in the days, just show up and try to find a good buck. Same with you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, same. And and you know, we we always hunted the gen same general area, and uh it just is a traditional thing, and and I you know, I think to myself, like, oh you know, we go hike this mountain, we sit in the same meadow anything at all, and then the next year would come, you know, talking to him, let's go try somewhere new, and like you know, this is where we go. And so it just you know, it wasn't really until that year I had that that big bull tag that I didn't feel like I started expanding my knowledge of of this particular area, even though I had hunted it all through my youth. Um this was very limited to a certain section of it, you know, and kind of fun to get out and try to learn that a little better.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so going back to elk, like you've got some really nice elk. Um, what's I don't know, what's something about mature bowls or that you've learned over the years, maybe that someone might not know. Um I'm more into I mean, I'm I'm probably more of a mule deer guy, I would say. But what I don't know, what's something about these mature bowls or you've learned from elk hunting? You've got a couple really good ones. Yeah, and maybe how do they differ than deer, even from your experience?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's a good question. I as I'm getting older, I'm I'm really finding that they're just a lot bigger animals, so they're not as fun to pack out as deer.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they're huge.
SPEAKER_02Um but yeah, elk has always been my number one passion. It's it's maybe changing a little bit just because I think I've I've scratched that itch with elk and haven't quite got the mule deer scratched taken care of yet. But I just I if you haven't gone out, I mean I think we all have gone out in September and just heard a bugle rip off from a bull elk, like there's just nothing more exciting to me than hearing that. And uh like I said, we having that cabin up there, we could spike elk hunt up there, but never had the opportunity to hunt a big bull, and so that that desire was just always there, and I I might be getting a little off topic, but I think it's kind of where experience and expectations come about because you know, talking about monster mulies, up until my first opportunity to actually hunt big bull elk, a lot of it was just done by kind of reading people's accounts of what they were experiencing on social media, you know. And so I think my dad was actually the first one to draw a tag for our area, and we went into that and I just I had these expectations of of what this hunt was gonna be like, and we hunted 10 days uh pretty hard and went home empty-handed, and I thought, wow, this is that was nothing what I have read all through these years of what this hunt would be like, you know.
SPEAKER_01And so that was a limited entry tag you had, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that was a limited entry tag, and and that kind of started changing my thought process a little bit about you know expectations and and even my hunt, um, I hunted seven days, and I I have only passed one other bowl during those seven days, and so um I guess all I'm getting at is when you go into a hunt, like just it's good to have expectations, but good and fun, but don't let it ruin your experience, you know, because I think sometimes what we read on social media, we're we're only hearing the good parts, and so I think sometimes our expectations think it's gonna be all roses, and you know, you hunting is perseverance, as we talked about.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, I love that because uh yeah, we we do see I mean you you do see the highlight reel on social media, Instagram, even Monster Mullies, and you gotta remember like that's that's not always how it is, and that can that can I had to get off social media for a long time because I'm found myself comparing too much, and then you get older and it's like you know, like you look at it different, it's like yeah, that's the highlight reel, and I'm not competing with anyone else. It's just it's it's for me, you know, it's for me. And and it is true, like um that that general season hunt you helped me on, that bull tag I had. I mean, maybe I've I guess I've been on some hunts where it was uh yeah, it met expectations, but a lot of them, and even these limited entry and limited quota in other states, and hard to draw tags in other states, it's like it's you know, it's not it's not easy. I mean, public land DIY a lot of these hunts are hard no matter what.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I it's just a good thing to keep in the back of your mind because it yeah, you can just because you wait for years and years, I mean it doesn't guarantee anything. It's just as I was lucky that that first time I had my big bowl tag in 2013, I had um during that hunt, I I didn't harvest my bowl until seven days, and and during that seven-day period, I I only had one opportunity at another bowl. And so I I've been getting pretty discouraged, and and luckily I had a a really good friend with me that just kept telling me, like, look, man, it only takes one moment to to change the whole outlook. And lucky for me, that's what happened. You know, I I came home with what the exact size of bowl that I had hoped for, um, but the experience was nothing close that I had expected. And so it uh it was it was kind of a bittersweet, you know, because I got what I wanted, but I didn't, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, it does. Yeah, and that that unit we're talking about, that's I mean, that's not one of the like top tier units either. But you know, it was it was a hard hunt. In fact, the bowl I shot, he that was the only mature bowl I could have shot the entire hunt. I could have shot some smaller ones, but he was the only mature bowl I could have shot.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, and it's yeah, it's just it's limited entry. It took me 15 years back then before I drew that tag, but that's when I decide I was like, you know, waiting to go hunt, it's not worth it. And so since then I've been kind of more of an opportunist. Um I'm I'm more about where can I go hunt, regardless if it's you know high quality on paper and things like that. Just because you just never know. Like you gotta if you're waiting your whole life to to try and go hunt, by the time you get out to hunt that tag, you're just not gonna have the experience to to know as well of what you're doing of what you could have been if you've been hunting all along, I guess.
SPEAKER_01But yeah, I know. I've I've learned that for sure. I uh I'm the same now, and I didn't used to be that way. I was I would hold out for you know, I'm like, well, I'm gonna hold out for the best tags, and but anyways, by the time like that 2013 rolled around, I'm like, dude, I'm tired of waiting. And so I put him for that late tag, took like 11 points. But yeah, it's um yeah, it it's a way I'd way rather go hunt on some unit where you can draw every year, every other year, and at least have a shot, like right. You can't shoot them at home on the couch, and a big part of it is is is the memories too and the experiences. It's like I'm not gonna wait 20 years to get a tag.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, yeah, none of us are getting any younger, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no kidding. Time flies. Yeah. So you got your um with elk. I was gonna ask you, so I don't know. With elk, it seems like like I said, you're way more experienced with elk than me. But um in your experience, for me, it's like, well, they're either there or they're not. And for the mule deer, I'm like, dude, he's here somewhere. I know he is. I just gotta find him. Is that I mean, if that I mean, with elk, is that kind of what you've noticed? They seem to roam a lot more.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they they do, and and you know, I wouldn't even consider myself a good elk hunter, but I think you're you're right on the fact, like elk are kind of more concentrated in in certain areas, and and even I think when I scout, I think that's what's been hard for me, is if I have an elk tag, I'm scouting elk, and it can be in completely different areas than when I have a beer tag and where I'm scouting. But yeah, if you're not if you're not finding sign um seeing elk, like I don't know that it's worth staying in that area. Um it's not to say they're not might not be a straggler in there, but it might just be time to move.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's yeah, that's probably the biggest difference there between elk and mule deer. But I don't know. The thing I mean, in most cases, depending on the time of year. There's one area I hunt, mule deer, and I'm always on the fence, like, you know, I can't find them. Excuse me. It's like I can't find them. But uh, but it's right, my hunt is right around that migration period. Okay. And so I'm always like, hey, have they migrated or are they just laying tight? In fact, I'm gonna have Randy Larson on the podcast coming up. You know who he is, Spencer?
SPEAKER_02I do, yeah. He's got some good information out there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm gonna ask him that question, and I think I know the answer, but I'm gonna ask him, I'm gonna say, hey, if you're hunting a buck, like if it's not during the migration, I'm not leaving. I know he's there. Uh-huh. Within a within a half mile mile. He's right there somewhere. Oh yeah. But but that's the question I have is say you're that they're about to migrate maybe a handful of days a week off from when they usually migrate, but pressure kicks in and they're feeling pressure. Is that gonna cause them to migrate earlier? I don't think it does, but it's just something. You know, last year I was after this certain buck, and I never turned him up, and it was where I was hunting him at higher country, it was just dead. Like, but but the first day there was I saw quite a few good bucks. In fact, that one with the double cheaters I passed that I probably shouldn't have. But after that, it was dead. My daughter did shoot one that day, so it might have made them lock down tight, but it's like, did they lock down tight or did they migrate? I think they just locked down, but I I'm gonna ask him that if they have any like data on that. I'd be curious to see what's going on.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that would be interesting. And I, you know, I think deer, they like you said, they kind of stick more to general area where whereas an elk, like, they get pressure, they're gonna go to a different canyon altogether. And you know, it's it's nothing for a bull to to tend a cow, uh, you know, a group of cows here, and then totally leave and venture however many miles and tend another group and just kind of all over the place. And but I do have some areas that depending on time of season, like with the archery hunt, I've got an area that the bulls are in there summary, but if you had a an early rifle tag, you're not gonna see a bull in there. Like they've left, they're they're going to where the cows are. But then come late season, they're back in there, you know, and so they just I I think they they're like deer in the fact that they they have their areas they like and historically stick to, but you know, when pressure hits and things of that nature, they're they're more likely to abandon the area and and go to an adjacent spot.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think, yeah, that's what I've noticed too. And the I mean, like I said, you got more experience with elk to me, but yeah, they're either there or they're not. And like you said, it's probably not worth sticking around if you're not seeing anything. Uh would you agree with that?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, I would. And and you know, and vice versa, if you if you're in an area and you're seeing them and um stick there. Like you just you can't see This is where I feel like sometimes I've noticed out in the field, like I've been hunting deer, just as an example, and um out in the wide open area, and and it's in an area like you feel like, oh, if there's a deer here, like you're going to see it. It's just stage wide open. And I've had times where I've literally been glassing a pretty nice four-point, and people have driven up to me and said, I hear there's a good buck in here, but I haven't seen him, you know. And they they leave, and I'm thinking, Goll, if you only knew, I'm looking at him right now, you know. And it just I think that's the mindset sometimes. I given another experience, there was a buck I was chasing, and and uh opening day of a muzzle odor season, and I'll admit, so this this area had quite a bit of different roads, and that's where it's like you know, you you hunt the animal where the animal is. You you're not gonna you can't go to your favorite spot and put a big buck here, right? Like big buck's just gonna be where he's at. But here I am, glass in the hill for him, and there's people all over the place. It's getting to be nine o'clock, and I haven't seen a deer. And I'm thinking, eh, maybe it's time to go somewhere else, you know. And but I start noticing that everyone else is thinking the same thing. They're leaving one by one, and so I, you know what, I'm gonna stick around. And I kid you not, 30 minutes after they left, here comes a group of about 10 bucks with the big one that I was after. And um, so I guess just kind of getting back to it, like, if you're seeing animals in an area, like don't give up on it too quick because you're you're gonna see things new all the time. Um, going back to that general season buck I shot, I never saw him once, and I had hunted that area for 18 days. Oh, that's crazy. Yeah, I mean, where was he those 18 days? You know, like he was there, but um yeah, with those elk, if if you've got elk in the area, like don't give up on it too quick. Um it's not saying you can't go look somewhere else, but don't write it off just because you didn't find the bowl or you know, big enough bowl because that can change, that can be fluid.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, those those bigger bucks, they I had the same I was scouting in my general season Utah unit, and I would of course, you know, you're up before the sun scouting, and I had been glassing and anyway saw a few decent bucks and they'd all kind of bedded down for the day, so I started headed back to camp and I decided to glass this little bowl, and when you think all like when all the other deer had laid down and done for the morning or whatever, this big old buck is up eating, and he's he's in obviously in the velvet, but he's so like golly so I guess shy, timid, I don't know what the word is, but he's like trying to stay behind trees, he's trying to keep in the shade, even in the velvet, and he was all by himself, but just had inlines and cheaters, and yeah, he was he was just on a different schedule, it seems like, or than the other buck, or he you know, he could smell me, he waited till I disappeared over the ridge or something, and just more careful, I guess, even in the velvet, even in the summer. But yeah, he was just on a different schedule, it seems like.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and that that reminds me. So, going back to that deer um during archery hunt last year that I got real close on. What was interesting is once again, he he wasn't bedded too far off the road when I started stalking in on him. And uh, so I'm in on him. He's he's out feeding in the open, and you can hear some vehicles coming up on this road, and by golly, that buck just laid down. Lay down once the the vehicles passed. He got up, he went back into the trees after that, and then you know, came out again a little bit later. But I thought, like, wow, that is that is that was interesting to watch because I mean he knew, right? Like, I'm out in the open, my best my best way of escaping is hiding, you know?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But they're they're smart animals, man.
SPEAKER_01I don't yeah, that's super cool stories like that. Yeah, they uh that was my uh my nephew shot a good buck in Colorado, and we were back in an area, and there was this group of does, and there was a guy in a four-wheeler, and we were probably a thousand yards off, and it was an area that I don't even know how he got his four-wheeler in there, but well, actually, there's a I found a road back in there now. But anyways, that that day we hiked back in there because we didn't know how to get in. And these we're we're you know, like a thousand yards off, twelve hundred yards off, and we're watching these does, and he's probably 200 yards away. And so he and it was this rut had started, and he um drives off on his four-wheeler, and as soon as he was gone, his big buck steps out, and he was just there. I'm sure he was there the whole time. Oh, yeah, and he's like, I'm not getting I'm not moving with this guy here. The four-wheeler left. He's like, All right, it's safe. Stepped out, and he didn't know we were 1200 yards away watching, and yeah, my uh my um nephew ended up getting him, but he was about right at 170, had an inline super heavy, not the best forks, but really old, good buck. And so, yeah, that's it's those I love those stories, it's just interesting.
SPEAKER_02And and you know what what comes to mind with that is like you've got two parties that that hunted the same area, right? And have totally different experiences. So who's whose experience was right and whose was wrong, you know, and and I think sometimes that's where we get kind of on these online battles of opinions, and you know, we need to do this, and it's sometimes I think we're we're just kind of our own worst enemies, you know, like just gotta get out in the field more, and like you might have one day where you see 32 bucks and it was the best day ever, and then you might go there again and see zero and it was the worst day ever. But does that mean those bucks aren't there? No, they're there. And uh had I not been there the the opening day and just had been there the other days, I would have thought, why why hunt this area, you know?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's a that's a really good point. Love that. Well, Spencer, we'll wrap it up here. Um me and you need to go on another hunt, maybe share those Wyoming points with each other.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, I'm I'm I'm itching to burn those. I think I think we're getting pretty close to where we can maybe get a tag and go take those goats and go give the world, huh?
SPEAKER_01That's right. You know the Pat goats, Moses, RJ, and Buff.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, those are those are that was a pretty fun experience being with them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Do you remember Moses wouldn't cross that river?
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01I had to yank him across. So we just went on a bear hunt, my wife and I, and uh, there was a pretty pretty deep river, and he anyways, he crossed it fine now, so yeah, they've even gotten a little better.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I thought it was funny because you just have a little steep in the trail and they would freak out.
SPEAKER_01Oh, they hate water. They've got I took him up in the UN is and I I drug him out in the lake with me and made him just kind of play out there in the water, and I think that helped. So now the now they'll cross water pretty good. I don't know if that I've heard that they don't know like it's like, well, I don't know how deep this is or what's going on here, and they think they're just gonna disappear. I've heard that that's kind of the thought that they're having. Yeah, but anyways, yeah, they they don't love water, but yeah. All right, man. Yeah, they're yeah, they come in handy for sure. Well, thanks so much, Spencer.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well, thanks for having me, Shane. It's always good to visit with you and hope your hunting season goes well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we'll stay in touch.
SPEAKER_02Okay, you take care, man.
SPEAKER_00Thanks, man. See ya.