Cameron Hanes - Keep Hammering Collective - KHC 044 - Cat’s First Buck

Episode Date: November 10, 2023

Join us for a discussion with Cat Bradley on her last minute Blacktail hunt in Oregon with Cam. Follow along: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cameronrhanes Twitter: https://twitter.com/cameronhanes Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camhanes/ Website: https://www.cameronhanes.com   Cat Bradley Links: https://www.instagram.com/catberad/    Thank you to our sponsors: MTN OPS: https://mtnops.com/ Use code KEEPHAMMERING for 20% off and Free Shipping Black Rifle: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Use code KEEPHAMMERING for 20% your first Order Santa Cruz Medicinals: scmedicinals.com use code KeepHammering for 15% off Bass Pro/Cabelas: https://www.basspro.com Leupold: https://www.leupold.com/ Hoyt: http://bit.ly/3Zdamyv  Go Ruck: https://www.goruck.com use code CAM for 10% off  Hoyt: http://bit.ly/3Zdamyv    Timestamps: 0:00:00  Intro: A Last Minute Hunt 0:05:18  Cat Almost Got Arrested 0:08:03  Sighting in for the Hunt 0:12:45  The Night Before the Hunt 0:15:43  Glassing - No Deer 0:20:08  “Piss-Pot” 0:24:28  The Stalk 0:31:29  The Pack-Out 0:36:04  A Note to People That Don’t Hunt 0:44:46  Outsides of the Mountains is a Different Life 0:48:42  Outro  

Every step I take I move my truth. Every time they tell me stop I use. Every comment hate that makes my feel. Gather up my energy and boom. I hear them talking, saying the way that I'm moving so reckless. That is a part of my mind I've been blessed with. Giving my blood so I am relentless. We're here with Kat Bradley after her first buck hunt.

How was it? It was crazy. It was better than I could have ever imagined. So, yeah. I mean, it's crazy. How it came together. I know. Last minute.

You texted me on Thursday. It's Monday now, right? Monday. So you texted me on Thursday and you were like, want to go hunting? And I have a wedding that I have to be involved in starting on Wednesday, Wednesday night. And so I was like, I talked to before I told you my day. I talked to everyone involved. And they were like, what, are you crazy?

Don't. Did anybody say do it? Carson, my husband. Did he? Yeah, he was like, man, we talked about it. It was like, you know, how can we make this happen? He's the one that was like, okay, what if you could come back the eighth for dinner? So then we talked to everyone and it, you know, I got, you know, everyone was like,

you better be back and you better not tell the bride. So she doesn't know you came and did this? She did. She knows now. Okay. Yeah, thank God. But then, so text, do you said, can we do it? Can we finish by the eighth with men?

First, you know, you said you can't, I think. Yeah, I did because we were just going through it and we're like, man, it probably won't work. Yeah. Like, you know, because I've been out with friends who, you know, they've archery hunted and, you know, use the full nine days. and they haven't tagged out. And then when I went, it took five days, you know, my, when I, um, first went.

And that's, you know, so like two days, really one day. Like if we didn't get it yesterday, it would have been tight. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so that was, so then you were like, boo. And then after you said boo, I couldn't say no. I was like, I got to make this happen. Yeah.

And so figured it out. You said I could be home by the eighth. I said, yes, we can get it done and we're winners. Yeah, we're winners. And I was like, okay, book my flight. Meanwhile, I'm in meetings while I'm on that. I'm texting you. Multitasking.

Yeah, I'm good at it. Good. So, yeah, it came together last minute. It's last minute as it gets for coming from Hawaii to Oregon. You had no tag. You had to buy your license, by your tag. You had to fly here, which is a whole process in and of itself. Yeah.

Took a red eye Saturday night. Yeah. Red eye. Still got your run in. Yep. Got. Because I am starting a training block right now. So I did, knowing I was going to miss a few days, I was like, okay, I got to get my 20 in.

I did 17 Friday, 20 Saturday. That's big back to back days. Yeah, big back to back days. Yeah. Took a, finish my 20, packed. jumped in the water, went straight to the airport, got in a plane, middle seat, didn't sleep a wink. Oh, man. Bought my hunting license and the layover and then pick me up and we went straight there.

Yeah, yeah. It actually, I mean, it couldn't have went any better. I mean, I was feeling pressure too because it's, you know, it's kind of expensive. Yeah. You have a lot going on. It was last minute, which what I love about you is most people are like so schedule oriented or life oriented where they can't just take something on like that last minute. Yeah. And it's, you know, and I understand it.

It's like our life is dictated on schedules and, you know, your work and your whatever obligations you have. So I get it. But I love that you did it. I mean, you got here and we freaking made it happen. Well, you can't. You know, I was thinking about it the first time when I said no. And I'm, I like said no. And it just, I had just, it was like a gut punch.

I was like, ah. And like I want to be a yes man. Like I like live in my life like that being a yes man. And, and then as soon as I said yes, I just got. I was like pumped. I felt like I got my first adrenaline dump there. I was like, yeah, we're doing this. Mountain Ops has been my go-to supplements for the past seven years.

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They even gave away an elk hunt and a deer hunt at one of my most cherished hunting spots in Utah. If you listen to the podcast, you also get 20% off by using code cam. That's CAM at www.mountainops.com. And it wasn't that hard. You know, I had meetings all day to day. actually that I just, you know, rescheduled and bought the flight and, you know, worth every second. Yeah. And you, well, you almost got arrested.

Yeah. So on Saturday, before I got on the plane, I had a 20-mileer. And I was doing this awesome route that goes up this ridge in Hawaii. and it connects to this awesome trail system. And I, but there's to go up the ridge, it's like 1,500 feet and less than a mile. And then you pop out on road that connects to the other trail,

but it's, you know, Air Force road. It's like private, very secret of stuff, but I've gotten away with it a few times. We won't tell anyone. Yeah. Yeah, I'm very intentionally not saying where.

But it's cool trail. Worth the risk. But first time ever I see anyone up there in this military truck comes and they're like, and I'm with my buddy Wookie, who's a very important lawyer. And he's, the military guys are pissed that I'm there. Make us get in the truck. And it's Saturday. I have a flight in like six hours to come here.

And I'm, they're, you know, telling me that, like, they might have to arrest me. Like, what I'm doing is super illegal. And I'm like, you can't arrest me. I'm going hunting with Cam Haynes tomorrow. I fly out tonight. And immediately their tune changed. They're like, oh, wait. I think I've seen you on his Instagram before.

And then they're asking questions. And like, are you the altar runner? And I'm like, that's what I'm doing out here. you know and they they uh ended up letting us go you know even though like minutes before that they're like calling their superiors and trying to figure out what to do with us which thankfully they didn't they couldn't get a hold of anyone so they ended up just dropping us off at the end of the road which that you know that three mile section that we were going to run they dropped us off at the end of it um so we just uh then we tacked on at the end to make it 20 nice perfect oh that's yeah just a little

another little speed bump. I know. No biggie. Good story. It's a great story. It's just another example of like, hey, we'll do whatever it takes.

Yeah, exactly. And you made it here. You said what you had to say. You got out of the jam. Name drop. Name drop. Hey,

whatever, like I said, whatever it takes. If that didn't work, who knows what? Might have had to maybe fight them. Yeah, that's right.

Okay, Wookie, stand back. I can take them. Yeah. Yeah. This might get ugly. Yeah.

Well, then you made it here. And we've, bombed down to some great blacktail hunting country. And it was like, I was thinking, I felt pretty confident just because of the time of year it is. November, first week in November, the bucks are rutting. You, uh, you hadn't killed a buck, but we had, you know, Tanner went, uh, my buddy

Kevin Acres. Ron Hofsus, of course, has, you know, access to some great blacktail country. So I felt like we had a good team assembled. right and we got down there and it was it was I'm so thankful that we had so you got in at noon picked up to the airport it was about you know didn't get down there to about 330 I think it's kind of a long drive but Kevin has a gun it's a it's a man what's what kind of a gun is that do you remember what kind of it's a Sig cross.

Sig cross. Yeah. And so we got down there and Joe, and I don't, not even sure of Joe's last name, but he is like a gun guru. So we go over to his house and we're going to go through and give you a, or basically Kevin's giving you a tutorial on his, because it's his gun. And so you're going through and there's a lot to keep track of. I mean that scope is, you know, next level.

The gun's really nice. It's got a two-stage trigger. It's just tactical. Tactical, exactly. Today's podcast sponsor is Santa Cruz Medicinals. And it's a company I'm proud to talk about because I've been using their CBD products for years. We use a CBD beef tallow to cook our elk steaks

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Check them out at SCMedicinals.com and use the code Keep Hammering for 15% off and free shipping in the USA. And Joe is, you know, I mean, he knows rifles inside and out. And his range is incredible. So we're sitting there. You're on a bench. Kevin's going through the ins and outs of this rifle. We have paper at 100.

We have steel at 300, steel at 450, and steel at 988. We don't need that one. That's a thousand yards. But we start you off on paper. You're shooting pretty good. You know,

I mean, once we figured out, you know, where to hold and what dot we're shooting at and everything else. You were very consistent. So we got the gun. And how was that? I mean...

Oh, it's great. Yeah. It was so fun, especially shooting the steel. Like, that was awesome. Because the paper, I couldn't really see where, you know, I couldn't tell. They're so, that the paper's been shot a lot. Yeah. So it's hard to tell if I was getting it.

Yeah. But, you know, when you hit the steel, that's obvious. Yeah, it rings. It rings. Yeah. That's nice. So you have, so we got you on. 300 and you rang the bell.

I mean, hit the steel. And then we're like, hey, do we want to try 450? Which is a poke, right? Yep. It's a poke. And first shot, you missed it, but I was watching through the scope and I saw the, or through the spotting scope and I saw the wind just kind of push it to the right. I'm like, well, I think that bullet drifted right.

So you held on the left hand side of the steel and smoked. it 450 yards. How did that feel? That's great. Yeah. You know, I had also awesome instruction and like just a sick gun. So that helped a lot, I'm sure. But it felt really good.

I was pretty pleased with myself. Yeah, you should be. That's great shooting. But it also gave everybody a lot of confidence that. And you were familiar with the gun because it's there's, it's not just like a, you know, lever action 3030, like the old school. brush guns. There's a lot going on with this gun, which is sweet because it's fun. But yeah, gave everybody a lot of confidence that, hey, if you get an opportunity, felt pretty good.

You know, we're not trying to shoot offhand, just holding that gun up at, you know, 300 yards or something. The goal was to get a rest, have time, talk through it. You know, this is like a perfect scenario. and as it turned out, it wasn't quite that relaxed. But again, we had confidence that if you got an opportunity, we felt good about it. Yeah, totally. And I tried to shoot the 450 without arrest after that, you know, remember I was like, I want to walk up and see. And I could find it in the scope really quickly, but then I missed.

It was just, you know, without arrest, it's just hard. Yeah, with that, so the stock of the gun is kind of floating, you know, you have. Totally. Yeah, it's just, that's a tough. That's a long. shot. Which is interesting because that's what we almost had to do. I mean, before you sat me down. That's what I was trying to do, but a little more adrenaline there. We can't, we can't sneak ahead. We've got to build the story. Yeah. Okay. So after that,

we went and had a good dinner at the code. So how did, then how were you thinking? The night before your hunt, how was it? I had a belly full of nachos. And all night long, I dream of the scope. Yeah. Just looking through the scope. Not necessarily shooting anything. I didn't, I don't even remember seeing any animals in the scope, but I just, and I think

that was a good thing because that was the thing that, you know, you're telling me that Truitt was having trouble with is finding the, the site acquisition. Yeah. Finding the animal. And so I got about, you know. know five hours of sleep practice, you know, just looking through. And then, but I was also so excited. So it was very hard to sleep that night. Even though I took a red eye the night before, I couldn't sleep. You and I were both tossing and turning. I remember at one point. I was like,

we're both awake. Yeah, I couldn't sleep either. I get so excited. I get, you know, I've never even deer hunted there. I've taken quite a few people down there, but I've never hunted myself. but I'm so excited just, you know, for you, I wanted you to be successful, but I wanted to share, you know, the hunting that I grew up doing. Yeah. And that's Western Oregon Blacktail. And it's like this is, I don't know, it's special to me because it's always special sharing something you've done your whole life. So, but I wanted it to be, you know, I just wanted to be memorable and I wanted you to have a good time.

Yeah. And so yeah, I'm thinking about all these scenarios with you where we could go, what we might see. You know, you were visualizing the scope and acquiring the animal or the sight picture through the scope. And I was envisioning glassing and finding a buck and what the buck might look like and what's going on. And so, yeah, it was, yeah, a fitful night for sure. Yeah.

But that night when we were going to sleep, I was telling myself that, like, you know, that the buck that I killed. the next day, that was its last night. And I was like, I was thinking about that and I was, you know, thinking that buck. I didn't even know what was going to happen. But I'm like such a firm believer and just like putting it out in the world, you're going to do it. Not like if, you know, you're going to. And then if it doesn't happen, like being at peace with that, but not leaving another option for yourself up here.

You know. Like speaking it into existence. Yeah, exactly. So I like said that to myself before bed. Yeah. You know, thanked the future butt and hoped it was enjoying its last night and the dumping rain and the storm. Then had that fitful night. We got up and bogeyed.

Yeah. Yeah. So that was, finally it was the day. The day of this whole process all accumulated into one day. And we were out. It seemed like perfect because it had, you know, you mentioned dumping rain. It was a storm warning. I mean, it just pounded, thunder, lightning.

And I was thinking to myself, great, because these bucks will be hunkered down, waiting out of the storm. Got up in the morning. I go outside and look up and, you know, there's stars and you can see the moon. I'm like, okay, the storm passed. These deer will be making up for lost time.

You know, they had to weather the storm all night and kind of stay put, and now they're going to be out feeding and rutting and everything else. So we go to where Truitt killed his buck, which is a big unit. Tanner's buddy Brock killed his buck last year. It's like always produced and saw other bucks there. It's like it's one of my favorite units.

And we go there, glass a hell out of it, spent a lot of time breaking it apart, didn't see one deer. I know. What were you thinking at that time? Well, you know, at first I was, you know, as we got out of the truck, you're like, we're going to see some deer here, you know. And I, and secretly, I was trying not to think this way. but in my gut, I was like, I kind of hope that we, that we don't find one here because I, I don't want it to be over so fast. Yeah.

You know, I really, you know, I was excited for the whole day. You know, I was excited to like, it's so, you know, you guys were like, maybe one, you'll find one on the road. And I was like, awesome, but I was, I was secret, you know, you never want to say no. Yeah. So I wasn't, I was trying not to think that way. but I wasn't mad about not seeing anything. I was like, okay,

and I was just watching guys glass, I learned a lot. You know, half the time I was glass in, and the other half the time I'm watching you guys' glass and then like implementing it, you know, watching like your patterns

and how long you stay in each place. So like it was super valuable for me. And also just like where you stop. And then I like found my own little rhythm of like stopping in my own spots, you know. And so it was super valuable. And, and at that point, we got in the truck and I was like, great. You know, we just had an hour and a half.

I got to watch these guys. I got to talk to them. I learned a lot. And then we went to the next spot. And I was like totally content doing that. You know, I was having fun at that point. Still, like, obviously I wanted to find a buck. But at like no point was I impatient, you know.

Yeah. Kevin one time said, you know, we might drive up and there'll be one standing there and just be like a fire drill kind of, which happens a lot, you know, when you're on logging rolls like that. But I know for me, I did not want that to happen. Yeah. I wanted it to be like a hunt, you know, not just a frantic, you know. And we said you take them when you can get them because there's a lot of times where maybe that's your only opportunity. And, you know, that's the way hunting goes sometimes. But in my, for me, I did not want it to be that.

I wanted to be something like a hunt where we had, you know, we had to make something happen. Yeah. And, you know, we started dumping. We were soaked. Oh, my God. I've never. Of course, I live here. I know all about the weather.

And I was, you know, me and Tanner were saying this. We were like the most ill prepared, basically just a hoodie, just like this with no shirt on and just so. Well, and I was wearing all your clothes and Kevin's clothes because I texted you and I was like, what should I bring? You said boots. Yeah. And that's it. I wanted to try to eliminate as many hurdles as possible. That was perfect.

I figured if all I say, if you just bring boots, we'll figure out the rest. Yeah. And then it wouldn't be like some another stressor for you to like, oh my God, I got to get this and that and this and that. I didn't want to have any list of anything. I just figured to make it simple. Just bring boots. That was perfect for me. take care of it. Yeah, it was awesome. So I had the most clothes on and I still was soaked and so cold all day.

You know, worth it. Obviously, I'm not complaining, but it was funny. It was raining really hard. Oh, my God. It was pouring. So then we ended up going and checking, we call this one place Pisspot. And we had seen just after Truitt killed his buck last weekend, we saw a big buck. And we saw a big buck. And we saw, We were like, well, let's go and check this unit because that's where we saw it. And we go there and the weather is just pounding and just coming in from the west. And this is a west facing unit. And I'm like, there's not going to be anything out here. So I wanted to go back over to the other side of the hill and check another unit that would be a little more protected and the wind would be good for us to glass it and not be spooky animals.

So we get back in the truck. I go bombing over the ridge. and felt really good because by that time, though, you know, the weather was in and out all day. But by this time it had passed, the worst of the rain had passed. And it was clearing. And I thought, well, the deer should be up. Hopefully we see something. We get out there.

And, man, and it didn't take long. And I looked down and there, we had our buck. Yeah. Immediately. I hadn't even taken out my binoculars. yet before you found a buck and then you helped me find it because it was far so it took me a second um found it and that was that was the start what happened um well we found the buck you know it's it was like it what 420 feet or something you said and um or yards yeah thanks um and uh you know you it was too far for us to

feel confident taking a show. Even though you just had hit the steel at 450 the day before. Yeah. I didn't want to put you in that position. I didn't want to be in that position either. It's like, yeah, potentially you could kill that buck. Yeah. Yes. The perfect scenario, you've made that shot just a day prior, but. On the second try, you know, I didn't want to take that chance. And you knew that. And that's something I told you before this is I really wanted to take a clean shot. I didn't want the animal to suffer. So without really telling me, which I thought was awesome, you book it down the hill, down this dirt road. Kevin's like, let me see your gun before you go, checks the gun, puts it back on my shoulder, and it's like, go, sprint after you with the gun in my back.

Then I see you take a sharp right. You start booking it down this ridge that's all bushes and stuff, super steep, which I thought was awesome. I was like going down that. I was like, this is badass. I've gone in my back. I'm like swinging from brush to brush, you know, making it through. Yeah, it was super steep. But it was fun.

It was like fun terrain to move through. And, you know, and having the gun on your back, that's like another element to, you know, making sure that, you know, because with all the thick brush, like the gun kept like ripping off my back. And I was like, oh, now. can't get there without the gun. So we booked it down this like steep, super steep, loose ridge that was pretty, had pretty thick brush and, you know, find you at this like small little plateau where you're looking

for it and you're starting to, you look over and you tell me, you know. Yeah, because we're getting close to. Yeah. You know, I wanted to cut that distance down, started at 442 at the road. and I figured there was a little knob that I thought if we could get to I mean it's going to be slam dunk if but if we can get there but there's a lot of risk because we had three people um 10 had the camera me you and we're closing in to a hundred yards or so and yeah I mean if especially when the sound when we're on the buck side of that little spine ridge that sound is going right to them if we're on the backside we've got more leeway so the Unfortunately, the trail went right down the spine of the ridge. Yeah. So it was a little bit blocked by the brush and everything, but we still had to be quiet.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so we get down there and I'm being as quiet as possible. We are, you know, you can't find the buck at first and we're looking. I'm following you. And then all of a sudden I hear Tanner going, trying to get your attention. And then he's like, get, get camps attention, make it a little sound. You look over and all of a sudden the buck's there.

It's like 50 yards from us. Yeah. Yeah. Then, you know, but it starts to hear us. It starts getting spooked. So while the, you know, we're getting in a good position, the buck starts taking it up the hill on the other side of that ridge, you know, across from us. Yeah.

And then let's see, you get me all set up. And at first I'm standing, you know, as I said before, my little spoiler, I was trying to, you know, find the buck and the scope while standing, which, you know, with the nerves and this booking it down the hill, I was just moving a little bit too much. I felt really calm. But, you know, it's just, you know, it's even different moving in a, like I felt like I moved less when we were practicing and I was still just standing then in the field.

The heat of the moment always, yeah, I mean, there's just more emotion. Oh, totally. Yeah. And I mean, even if you're calm, it's just because there's a time element. The target's not going anywhere. You got all day. Exactly. The buck is definitely moving.

It was moving then. Getting out of there. So, yeah, I mean, even if you are calm, it's like there's a sense of urgency. Totally. And then so you get me down. And the other element is like I was having trouble hearing you because you're on my left side. And I can't talk loud because of the buck's right there. Exactly.

And I'm deaf in my left ear. But once I was on the ground and you were above me and we weren't side to side, then I could hear your instructions way better. So I knew exactly where to look in the scope. And you were like red bush, look for the white head. And as soon as you said that, and I could hear it, found it in the scope. And luckily, right at that time, it stopped. It just, like, stopped for me to... Eh.

Yeah. With the grunt and... Gave the deal of grunt. Yeah. So it stopped. And I was able to, you know, take a few deep breaths, get, you know, I, you know, because it's a, the trigger you like pull it halfway and then you pull it and I pulled it halfway like three times two or three times before actually taking my shot um took some deep breaths and then when I was sure

I was like this is my last chance got it and I didn't actually know I hit it because I didn't hear like smack or anything until I looked up and I saw the deer immediately the bug of tumble down the hill it was and that's exactly what I wanted quick death it was pretty and then I freaked out I was so happy. I almost cried. I was happy too. It was, I mean, I was relieved because, you know, the last thing you want is a wounded animal. Yeah. I mean, as hunters, we need to offer the animal a merciful kill. Yes, I understand it doesn't always happen because hunting is imperfect. Death is imperfect. It's, you know, things can go wrong. And I did not want you to feel bad or there to be any negativity with with the hunt or any emotions associated with it so

I was I was as happy and relieved as you that he made such a great shot and it was it was intense because that buck and I almost think there's a little bit of fate involved too because that buck had been going at a pretty good clip I gave him on the grunt he stopped but he stood there for some time yeah you know full minute yeah it Yeah, maybe it felt like that. It felt like that. I don't think it was quite a minute, but it was a while. Yeah.

And he said, you know, it was almost like offering himself up. Yeah. And, you know, I don't know. It was just like a special moment. And you, it gave you time to collect yourself. You said you applied pressure on the trigger a couple of times at two stage trigger and let up because you didn't feel steady. So when you finally did feel steady. and then I stopped giving instructions because I wanted it to be not like because I've had I've made

mistakes myself with my kids I'm like you got hustle got you know that doesn't help anything so I was like no you know my poor kids had to weather the storm but I just was like you know you were on I said you on them I turned up the scope you know increased the magnification and then I'm like it's up now it's up to you and then you felt comfortable man you just made a perfect shot that Buck stood there, took it like a champ down quickly. Buck was dead and we were, we felt pretty pumped. Yeah. Loophole optics has been providing my binoculars and eyewear for the last few years.

I like that it's an Oregon company and they make such high quality glasses. All I've really used. And if you can't find what you're hunting, it's going to be tough to kill. So loophole optics has really played an integral part in my success these last few years. Thank you, Lou Pold, for supporting the podcast. I was so pumped. I couldn't believe it. And, you know, when we got out of the car before we did it, I just had this feeling, you know, that we were going to get it. And then when you took off, again, I was telling myself, I was like, we have it. We have it. And, you know, to see that, you know,

come through, it was just so incredible, you know, because sometimes you put these things out in the world and it doesn't happen exactly how those, I mean, and as you said, it could not have gotten better yeah yeah it was uh it was incredible we make our way we cross the creek so we were basically on parallel spine ridges and he you know he was in the creek bottom then he came up and then he was straight across from us essentially when you shot and we made our way over there and it's steep it took a little bit to get over there yeah and found him and uh you know it was people might think it was less than ideal conditions. I think it was perfect.

It was just pouring rain. Yeah. It was, we were soaked, cold, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Me either. I mean, like, I even, you know, booking it down, I was like, this is awesome. It was like the spot that we, you guys were cleaning him was like so beautiful. I got to watch you guys work with this animal. and just so efficiently in like this little plateau in between, you know, in this,

it was just like insane pouring rain, yeah, but it was cool. Yeah, and then you let me pack it out too. Yeah, how is that? Hard. I'm sore today. You just killed me on the run because I'm my, and when we were flat, I was fine. Going uphill, I was like, oh, my gosh, my muscles have not been the sore. in a while.

But it was awesome. You know, you, Truit or Tanner took up the quarters and I, and I took up a bunch of loose meat and the head. And you had the pack on it first

and you were like, you should feel how this feels to go up this super steep bridge with this. And I was really happy you said that because I didn't want to slow us down. It was really cold. And I knew with me carrying the it was going to take longer.

But when you offered, I was like, oh, I'm not giving this up. Yeah. I was like, no. And you didn't. You carried that all the way to the rig. Yeah. I was like, I was a little nervous because I know you've had an injury, you know, you had surgery.

Last thing I want is anything to go wrong. You know, you're so talented, such an amazing runner. I would hate if something contributed to some injury that, you know, set you back. So I was, I was kind of nervous, but you were so strong, so impressive and so determined to get that up there. It was, I mean, you know, that all of it was a highlight for me, but that was a specific highlight that stands out is your grit and determination. I was very impressed. Man, thanks. I was like, you know, I was giddy when you were like, you want to take the pack.

I was like, yes. Let me, I really wanted to try because that's a huge part of it, you know, is packing out. the animal. And I wanted to do that. And yeah, it was super hard. You know, I spent half the time of my stomach. It was just so steep that, you know, I was either on all fours. And then if I'd slip, I'd just, you know, go right on my stomach. Which was, it was fine. It was good. Like, I'm actually, like, really glad it was that hard. I was dying, though. I got to the top, saw a log and immediately had to sit. It's like this pack is so fucking heavy.

But it was cool. It was really cool that, you know, I had you guys there. And the other thing was, is like, when you're, you have that heavy pack on, you can't really look at your line because you have no room to like look. So I was just kind of like blindly walking into bushes until you guys were helping me pick my line, you know. But it was cool. So sore today.

I was saying, you know, um, I was saying, you know, um, getting on the toilet this morning. I had to brace myself on the wall before I sat down. I could not believe it. Yeah. Well, that's like you got the full experience. Yeah. Right. The Oregon Mounds delivered. And I mean, we took what, what they offered and it was a big buck. And you're taking a bunch of meat home. You're getting the deer mounted. You're getting the shoulder mount. I mean, that's crazy. And it's just a beautiful buck, a dark horn full. Four by four with eye guards was any blacktail hunter would know that that's a trophy. It's a big old white face buck, giant head, huge body, tons of good meat.

You know, you couldn't, as I said earlier today, if we would have written a script for let's have the perfect experience for your first blacktail hunt, this would have been it? Yeah. There's nothing else. Nothing else could have went better. I know. Can you believe it? It feels still like it feels unreal, even though we got to eat the tendin lines this morning, even though, you know, it's the next day and I, you know, in my body feel that hard work. It was like so magical that it doesn't feel real. And like magical is the only word that I can put towards it because you're right. It was to the tea what I wanted. We didn't get it on the first place we went. We didn't get it on the road. we had to work for it. You know, it was like a high pressure situation. And that's, I wanted, you know, you said before we, when we were driving around,

you were like, let's see how cat does under pressure. And I wanted that. I wanted to see how I did. Yeah. You know. And so it's cool to have that and then to get to execute. Yeah. So, I mean, with how meaningful that is, what, what do you say?

Because, you know, there's people who don't, don't hunt, don't understand. don't understand hunting, don't understand like, you know, why you'd kill an animal, you know, especially the running community can be fickle that way. Totally. What do you say to people that question that? You know, I think there's a couple things, but I think the most important thing is like truly understanding where your food comes from is really important. You know, meat in this country is not going away.

and how we consume it right now, it's so disconnected. You know, as we talked about, like, I grew up in a ranching town in Hawaii. And I never, you know, there was no reason to think about it because I saw the cattle. And I was like, there's a cattle. I eat that. But when I moved to the mainland and I, you know, and I'm a runner, I'd like, you know, and I'd travel. I'd run by factory farms. And I actually went vegetarian for a while because I was like, this is.

fucking repulsive. It's horrible. And I'm, you know, believe it or not, I'm pretty sensitive. You know, I'm affected by animal suffering. And, you know, seeing that, it just totally turned me off from eating meat for a while. You know, I lose too much weight when I don't eat meat, probably because I am a terrible cook. But, you know, so what I've learned from that is like the disconnect between where we get our food in this country, whether it be produce or our meat, is such a problem. And I think it leads to obesity because we don't appreciate our food. It's a huge food waste problem. And, you know, when you eat a meat, you're still, when you're eating meat from a grocery store, you're still taking a life, you know, or still

like reaping the rewards from a life. But getting to understand, like, oh, this is where it comes from. This is what you're, you know, has to be sacrificed when to fuel you to make sure that you live and that, you know, that that's important. And it's, and that's kind of why I've been attracted to hunting. You know, as we talked about about 10 years ago, when I first moved to Colorado, I met this guy, Pete, who is the owner of Winter Park Training Company, trading company, where I was working and he'd sometimes let me sleep in there when it got really cold because I was living out of my car. I mean, he didn't let me. I had a key and let myself in. And then he'd be like, you know, there's cameras, just no boys. And so I, you know, he was an elk hunter and he

bow hunted and that was my first exposure and I could not believe it. I could not believe that we were eating meat. I didn't even know what an elk was, you know. Um, grew up in Hawaii, went to school in California and I was like blown away and like, but and then, you know, I was so attracted to it because it was a way to sustain myself, reduce my own impact, um, environmental impact and truly understand what it means to eat meat. And, you know, so anyone who can't face that reality, you know, with hunting, you know, shouldn't be able to face that reality to, with, you know, the food at the grocery store. And I understand if people are uncomfortable hunting, it's not for everyone, but understanding that the importance of it, not only from, you know, an environmental perspective, but also a preservation perspective, it has a huge impact on not only, you know, where do you

think the money for hunting license go it goes to protecting those places and then you know the hunters help control the animal population it's crucial um it's crucial to keeping you know the this these areas wild you know wild and protected would you go to other countries like europe it's not wild there right you know i've done a lot of running there and i love it and it's spectacular but what i love about running especially out west, but in the U.S. in general, everywhere you go in the backcountry, it is wild. You know? Because those animals are there.

Because those animals are there. Those animals are protected and the habitat is protected. And the ecosystem works because we follow the North American wildlife model. And that includes hunting because hunting is conservation. That money goes to making sure everything works like it's supposed to and keeps it wild. And keeps it wild. And so like what I'd say to people, especially in the running community where I just think hunting is so misunderstood. Educate yourself before you judge, you know.

Have an open mind. Talk to hunters, you know. We took every piece of meat that we could on that. You know, you even took all the rib meat that people, even though there's like no fat or anything, you took it all. you know and I'm going to get to eat that and that none of that animal is going to waste and that's that's like so important and I think that is misunderstood and I think you know you know I think also people don't think that we appreciate this loss you know but we understand the loss and that makes it all the more special you know because you know that disconnect when you buy food at the grocery

store you're not really understanding what you're taking even if you try you know you're And that is like, you know, a disservice to this country, I think, you know, because then what, you know, if you're, it, it, it, there's no worth to the food. And so, you know, then we overconsume and we waste. Yeah. And that's, you know, people have no problem sending half a steak they've ordered and eaten back to the kitchen or into the garbage, basically. Yeah. You know, I'm stuffed, they eat too much bread, you know. that was an animal. Yeah. It was an animal's life that's going in the garbage now.

Whereas you said, we took every ounce off that buck you killed and we cherish it because we earned it. And it's going to be valued and you're going to sit around and share that meat with those that you love. And that you're going to have that that buck's head mounted on your wall. And that's going to be honored. Yeah. You're going to talk about it.

And you're going to remember that experience. And so if the, if the meat's head mounted on your wall. cherished, the animal's honored. How night and day different is that than people who are ordering hamburgers and steaks throwing them away? Maybe they're even eating them. But there's no respect or honor in that meal. Yeah.

They don't know anything about that life. Yeah. But a life was given and sacrificed. So it's like to me it feels like, of course I'm biased, but hunters should be looked up to for how we respect the land and the animal and how. we cherish that life. And it's like, I feel like hunters understand that relationship so well because we are taking a life.

We can appreciate life, death, and that, that, you know, it's a dance, basically, but that's how we survive. Yeah. And it's we see it. We're part of it. Yeah. And seeing it is like, you know, it's a reality check. You know, it's like, you know, and even watching you. gut that buck.

I was like, man, it's crazy to see because he is, you know, he's, that's like us. Like we're just sacks meat too, you know, and it's wild and it really brings life into perspective. And as we talked about on the way up, it like really simplifies life. Like we need food, you know, to sustain ourselves. And like, so does he. And it's just, it truly is just a cycle. and like, you know, and it's cool. It's cool to strip things down like that.

And that's why I love ultra running. It's because it strips you down to, you know, your barest self. That is, you know, who you are as a human. It's in like all your basic needs. And hunting does that too, you know. Yeah. It is our most basic need. You know, as a, you know, after we got that buck processed out in the field,

we're on that spine ridge on that little plateau and it's pouring rain. And then he kind of had cleared off, but we're standing there. And I didn't want that moment to end because, you know, what I said there is like, this is actually life. Yeah. This is life. Outside of the mounds is like a muted form of life. It's like a distraction.

It's not real. What's real is in the mounds killing what you're going to eat. Yeah. This is real as it gets. and that's what I feel most alive and just share that with you who you know, the way you appreciate it,

the way you verbalize it, it's so meaningful. The way you've like embraced this, it's, yeah, it's powerful. So I thank you. It's pretty, no, thank you. I mean, like,

when I say opportunity of a lifetime to come and learn from you, it's it's beyond like my wildest dreams like to get to do that you know I again that was my introduction to hunting probably over 10 years ago actually and you know was when I ate elk chili in the freezing cold and I was like what's an elk you know wait you shot that with a bow you know and like it's always it's always been a dream of mine and I actually I don't know if you remember this, but, you know, right when you started following me on Instagram in 2017, after I won Western, I reached out to you. And I was like, do you want to like hang out? Like, I want to

know about hunting, you know. I don't, I don't know. I was like, I have, yeah. And I, like, I'm just, do you want to hang out? Yeah. I was like, I need to learn about hunting. I was like, I, you know, and I, uh, I, I just think it's so cool. And. And I, I, I, I, I just think it's so cool. And. And I, and why I think it's so cool. And like, you know, again, people might have this perception that because I really appreciate hunting, I don't care about the loss of life. And that could not be further from the truth. And, you know, I am, I like care a lot. And like, you know, I've gone vegetarian several times in my life because I don't like.

the idea of an animal suffering and a factory farm, you know, but it's just not the answer for me. And it's not the answer for this country either. I think the answer is understanding where food comes from, you know, because we need meat. We can't all go vegetarian. It's just, you know, we just can't. It's not healthy for some people. And that is just the truth. For some people, it works great.

But like, for me, I just like, like, lose weight and like it's it's too hard um but understanding where my food comes from has made me live a healthier life and and and has increased my respect for the animal and i feel like you know has made me reluctant to support places where you know i know the animals are suffering like i you know i'm not rich but i ball out on me You know, when I buy meat, I make sure I know where it's coming from, you know. And that's something that I splurge on because that's where my values lie. And so like how I'm honoring that and I'm honoring not just the animal that I killed yesterday, but animals in general by, you know, yeah, I eat meat.

So I am going to be the one that that kills the animal. And that's been just a dream of mine. So I can't thank you enough. I mean, it's, yeah, it's, I mean, it means as much to me as it does you, I'll be honest. And I like that story where you first were introduced over 10 years ago, ate elk chili killed, you know, by Bow Hunter. And it's fitting that tonight we ate elk chili killed by me in Arizona this year. You're right. Yeah, so the bookends of that.

So cool. Your first journey and then tonight. And then everything in between is just incredible. Yeah. And I'm glad you sent a message that said, you want to hang out. Because I had a great time. Me too. I really value your friendship.

I value your authenticity. And I just, you're a special person. And thank you for coming to Oregon and going hunting with me. Thanks. I'll be a yes man anytime you ask. Thank you so much. Clearly. All right.

Well, you need to get some rest. You got to fly home tomorrow. You got a big wedding to be part of. Yep. Yeah. Wish me luck. All right. Bye.

Bye. Hoyt archery has been my bow hunting sponsor since 2005. And personally, I really don't care what bow you shoot, what brand it is. I just hope that you have the same level of confidence in your equipment as I have in mine. Because I know if I get one opportunity with my Hoyt, it's going to pay off. One of my favorite packages that I get on a monthly basis is a black rifle coffee club exclusive coffee roast. The only way you can get it is if you subscribe to the coffee club. This month's coffee is a dark roast called Gothic Serpent. The exclusive coffee subscription

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