I’ve decided to do something a bit different for this post then previous ones that went over my hunts. On this trip, I actually kept a journal while out in the field and I think it turned out pretty neat. I might end up doing this a lot more in the future, just because of the genuine point of view that it offers with the play by play perspective. This was not only my first out of state hunt, it was my first archery elk hunt, along with my first extended backpack hunt. My brother and I packed into the Colorado backcountry for a week in hopes of making some awesome memories and arrowing my first bull. We ended up doing both…..technically. Enjoy.
What if I told you that you could get a bomber pack capable of handling as much weight as you could pick up, carry that weight extremely well, AND come in at a mere 4 lbs 14 oz? Sound too good to be true? Surely, there must be some give and take or sacrifice happening to reach these numbers. The only sacrifice that happened though, was all of the man hours that Steve Speck and Lenny Nelson put in to make said pack a reality. If you don’t know what I am talking about yet, I am referring to the company that is Exo Mountain Gear, and specifically, the Exo 3500 backpack. I have been using this pack for the past couple of months and have been VERY impressed with its performance and functionality.
Let’s face it. Bowhunting can be and is an extremely difficult endeavor. It doesn’t matter if you are an expert or a beginner, life with the bow constantly challenges us. My biggest hurdle when I started out, and now for that matter, is getting close enough for a shot. This is why we hunt with a bow though, is it not? We love the intimate connection that is shared between predator and prey. Being close enough to hear every step that the animal takes is all too alluring. In order to get good at something though, we need to have ample opportunity to practice it. There are many days when I don’t even find a buck to stalk though. How can you practice something as much as you can, if you don’t have the opportunity to do so?
If you asked me a few years ago if I would be investing the money that I do now in high quality hunting clothing, I probably would have laughed at you. I was indeed a skeptic of these higher end purchases and honestly didn’t see the reasoning behind why someone would pay $100 for a shirt or $200 for a pair of pants. That was until I finally tried the stuff out.
The world of western hunting and hunting in general can be a bit overwhelming to a new comer. I found this to be all too true after blitzkrieging my way into this lifestyle. It is a lifestyle in my opinion. What gear do I need? What do I want to hunt? Do I hunt alone or with a partner? Then there is a the question of WHERE do I hunt? This one probably plagued me the most in the beginning and still does from time to time. With so much public land to hunt out west, the question of where to hunt almost seemed unanswerable at the time. A guy can walk a whole lot out here before finding that “magic” spot.
So, you’ve just about had it! You have looked through every western hunting magazine that is in existence, watched every hunting show out west, and just can’t take it anymore! The West is calling. The Mountains are screaming in your thoughts. It’s time to go on your first western hunt.
First off, let me say, CONGRATULATIONS, and I am super excited for you! The world of western hunting is filled with adventure and memories that will last a lifetime. Be it the views of our vast landscapes or the animals that call them home, they will for sure leave an imprint on you for life. Going on your first western hunt can be pretty overwhelming though, especially if you are coming from another part of the country. I am gonna do my best to lay some basic information out for you that you NEED to know.
Ever since I was a kid, I have been going on hunting trips with my dad. In my teenage years, I would head out with both friends and dad. There came a point though, when I reached adulthood, where I wanted to spend more and more time in the field. I wanted to be out there more than just for the annual deer hunt or sporadic quail hunt. As we grow up our list of responsibilities keep getting bigger though. This proved difficult in being able to schedule hunting trips with friends and even dad. So, I had a choice to make. Either I don’t go out hunting as much or I grab my bow/rifle, put on my backpack, and head out on my own. I think you can guess what my decision was.
When I first started hunting, glassing and using my binoculars was something that I really didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to. My thinking on using binoculars was that I would spot something with the naked eye and then use my glass to get a better look. I actually tried to look through them as little as possible, because they would make my eyes hurt. As I got older and talked to more and more hunters I kept hearing the same thing over and over again. “Josh, you need to get up high and glass.” After hearing this dozens and dozens of times and seeing how other hunters were using their glass to their advantage, I decided that it was time for me to bite the bullet and get myself a good pair of binoculars. Knowing what I know now makes me realize how many animals that I wasn’t seeing beforehand.
I will admit, that before learning more about glassing, I said to myself I would never spend a lot on binoculars. To tell you the truth, I even considered hunting without them. That is a BIG no, no out west and I soon realized that I couldn’t have been more wrong. If you have spent anytime behind a low quality pair of binoculars you know this very well. The headaches that I use to get from staring through my glass for only a few seconds, was due to not having good optics. Do yourself a favor and buy the best pair that you can afford. Whether that is $200 or $2000, you will not regret it. The advantage by investing more money is you are going to be able to look through the glass for a longer period of time without getting those annoying headaches. The longer that you can stay put and glass, the more animals you are going to see. Trust me, I learned this the hard way with many bottles of Advil. Also, you will be able to observe animals in a crystal clear picture, rather than a blurry mess. This added benefit will come in handy when trying to field judge animals from a distance.
This is really important if you plan on having any amount of success with glassing. You want to find a few high vantage points where you can see a ton of country. The more you can see, the more you can glass, giving you the best chance of catching game in your optics. If you aren’t seeing anything at the first vantage point, move to the next and stay there for a few hours. Be mobile, but not too mobile. After all, you have to put the time in with each area to know if it’s worth being there or not. Staying in one spot like this and glassing a lot of country greatly decreases the risk of bumping animals if you were to walk said country instead. Let your glass do the walking. You will spook less game and be able to watch that game in their natural state.
So, now you have a quality pair of binoculars. The next question is, “What do you do with them?” When I first started glassing, I would just look at random areas that were far away from me and bounce around said area like a pinball. Again, not the best way to go about this. The most productive way I have found to glass is to use a grid pattern. Stay back and pick a hillside that you want a closer look at. Imagine that you are looking at a grid that covers the whole area you want to glass. Use your optics to look down each column of the grid slowly and methodically. Do this until you have looked at the whole area. Doing this makes it WAY easier to glass thoroughly and effectively. I will pick out a handful of spots to do this in from one vantage point and just keep looking at them consecutively. If there is something there, chances are I will see it eventually.
This is an absolute MUST, especially out west. The difference between using a tripod and not using one is like night and day. I started spotting so much more game once I added one to my gear list and because of this, my confidence sky rocketed. This made me even more focused on the task at hand, because I knew that I would see something eventually. It gives you the ability to spot the slightest movement that you would never see, if your optics weren’t steadied on one of these tools. Another perk, is that once you do see something, you will be able to lock your binoculars in place so you don’t lose where you just spotted that monster buck or bull. No more saying, “Now where did I see that elk?!” This is a great way to keep an eye on bedded game as well. We all know how tough it can be to see bedded animals. They blend in incredibly well bedded or not. So, in my opinion, if you are toying with the idea of getting a tripod or not getting one, stop right there and just get one. You ABSOLUTELY will not regret it.
Do you see the elk? This is how well they blend in.
This sounds funny right? It might, but it is the truth. The next part of the equation is WHERE to look. You can glass for hours upon hours and not even see a hair if you are looking in the wrong areas. For example, when it is hot, what is your natural instinct? There are a few answers to this, but I bet none of them are, “I immediately go and stand in the sun and stay away from water.” You probably said something more along the lines of, “I get in the shade, take a nice drink of water, and attempt to cool off.” Who am I kidding? The most common answer was probably to go inside with the air conditioner. Well, the quarry we pursue doesn’t have air conditioners, so they have to settle for the shade and water option. If you hadn’t already guessed it, I am telling you that you should be glassing into shaded areas and around water during these hot periods of the day. These are the spots where game is going to tend to bed down for the day. The opposite goes for when it is really cold out. Game is going to tend to concentrate more on the sunny hillsides, rather than the shaded ones in order to warm up, especially in the morning after a cold dark night. Look for where food is most plentiful. This is where you are going to want to look come feeding time. I always tell someone, if you want to see people at meal time, you go to where the food is and they will be there. The same applies to finding game. Let the mountains tell you where to look. Once you do this, you WILL see more game.
Glassing is a very time consuming yet extremely productive way to hunt out west. Not everyone can do it, for the sheer fact of how much patience it involves. It definitely isn’t for everyone as is most things in life and that is ok. If you put the time in though, you will soon see how well this works and the more animals you see, the more you are going to want to sit up on a hillside and look through your binoculars. It gets addicting, trust me. I hope these tips were helpful and if you have any tips of your own, feel free to comment with them down below.
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