Trail kreitzer: All right, folks, welcome back to the Game Trail Podcast. ⁓ missed you guys for a couple weeks. ⁓ been out doing some scouting, been doing a lot of work. ⁓ just been hectic trying to get ready for archery season. It's gonna kick off here before I know it. ⁓ first time of the year. got an archery mule ear tag. It's gonna kick off the 15th of August. So I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row to make sure I can go out and have a really good hunt. spent the weekend out scouting. ⁓ Left ⁓ what Saturday morning early and spent Saturday, Sunday, got back Monday morning, and it was very productive. It was a good weekend. probably the most interesting thing that I would note ⁓ that I find highly unusual is I watched probably a three-year-old three point, so a decent size three-point buck, ⁓ completely annihilate, shred all of his velvet. Just had his head in the bush and just was going to town getting rid of all of his velvet. ⁓ which was which is interesting. That's early. That's the earliest I can ever remember seeing that. ⁓ you know, the the tail end of July. Typically I don't see those bucks shed their velvet until mid-September, I would say. ⁓ you know, you get around that tenth of September, it feels like, ⁓ those bucks will start to shed their velvet, but this one was definitely early and unusual. I don't know what that means. I don't know if it means we're we're headed for an early winter, or if it's just a a buck with a weird anomaly. But Yeah, that was really interesting. But overall, pretty productive weekend. yeah, but I'm back at the mic doing a podcast today. It's gonna be a solo episode. ⁓ appreciate the ⁓ the feedback you guys have offered. I know that I talked to a bunch of you at the Total Archery Challenge there at Bryanhead in Utah. ⁓ several guys walked up and, you know, said they liked the podcast and that they appreciated those solo episodes. So ⁓ I'll kick some of those out. Those do take more time for me to kind of get together. ⁓ today ought to be a little bit easier because I'm gonna do a QA episode. ⁓ feels like I get a lot of DMs and a lot of questions either, you know, in my in my ⁓ my messaging service within my insider app, which is now an option for people. If you guys are insiders, I don't know if you can know it or not, but you can actually reach out to other insiders. You can reach out to anybody that you want that is also ⁓ a member and you guys can ask those questions. You can, you know, really dive into those individual units that you might be trying to research and find intel on, which is pretty cool. But Getting a lot of questions this time of year. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to jump on a mic, do a podcast, do some QA. ⁓ I tried to pick questions that I thought would be applicable to a wider audience. ⁓ it feels like I I know that every year these are the types of questions I get. So I thought I would touch on those and ⁓ hopefully people can, you know, gain some intel from ⁓ you know, one or all of them. ⁓ just depends on kind of what you're looking for. ⁓ I try to get back to people in my DMs to answer those questions. ⁓ And I think I do a decent job. I'd certainly not batten a thousand, but ⁓ do my best. So ⁓ I guess before I get started, I gotta hit you with the promo code. We do have an upcoming ⁓ promo, which is the refer a friend promo that we've got here. So if you're an insider member already, ⁓ you can refer your friends to sign up for a Go Hunt Insider account. And if you do that, ⁓ you're gonna get 75 bucks back in the Go Hunt gear shop. ⁓ if you refer if you refer up to four friends, ⁓ we're gonna level up with you with a thousand points, which is a thousand dollars back in the Go Hunt Gear Shop. ⁓ all you gotta do is chat with your pals, ⁓ tell ⁓ to sign up for a Go Hunt Insider account. ⁓ you're gonna share with them your member email address and they're gonna use that when they sign up for an insider account. ⁓ they'll use your email address is the promo code when signing in and both you and them We'll get 75 bucks into the the shop that you can use towards the purchase of any gear that you want in the shop. And then, like I said, if you get four people to sign up, we're gonna level up with you at a thousand points, thousand bucks. ⁓ I know that we talked recently in a marketing meeting. ⁓ there's a lot of people that have actually capitalized on that. ⁓ I think over a hundred that have that have actually leveled up and got a full thousand bucks, which is pretty dope. You could you could you could buy a bunch of gear for a thousand bucks. And there's a lot of stuff in the shop right now that I can I can think of that I would love to put a thousand bucks towards. ⁓ maybe some of that I will get into. ⁓ so that's a promo ⁓ up upcoming. I would look for that. You're gonna be seeing some more stuff from us ⁓ via social media, be kind of talking about that and plugging it. ⁓ but yeah, coming up, I think that's August 1st. So be aware of it. ⁓ also shout out to Matthews Archeries, his sponsor of the podcast. ⁓ super excited about Matthews. ⁓ yeah, just a great boat company. I appreciate those guys being a sponsor. ⁓ I'm really, really excited. Looking forward to to getting out in the the hills with my Matthews and and see what I can do with it with it this year. ⁓ up shooting this morning, shot great. ⁓ I'm feeling confident. ⁓ I've got some work to do, I think. Maybe just double triple checking my individual site pens. ⁓ you know, maybe kind of tinkering around with the site tape. ⁓ at a guesstimated ⁓ elevation range of where I might be haunting and just making sure that that's good to go. yeah nothing nothing could ⁓ nothing sounds worse than you know maybe not capitalizing on a buck that you really want to kill because you just didn't do due diligence with setting your pens up or your sight tape. So I'm gonna spend some time doing that. So with that let's jump into some QA. ⁓ first question this has been the the most highly asked question that I've been getting recently. ⁓ when are the Gohan pants going to be back in stock? Are they heavy enough to wear on an October or November rifle season? ⁓ so I got noticed today. ⁓ we will have Gohan lightweight hunting pants back in stock in the warehouse August 4th. ⁓ I would think those will probably hit by, you know, maybe the fourth, fifth, sixth, somewhere in that neighborhood. But now you guys have a much better understanding of when those are going to be available. ⁓ we'll have them in two different colors. We'll have them in kind of that ⁓ gray. It's kind of a It's not charcoal gray. It's a little bit lighter than charcoal, I would say, but it's a nice gray color. And then we will also have a new color, which is kind of an olive sagey green color. ⁓ so two colorways, those will be hitting ⁓ August 4th. I would expect to see those live on the website ready to rip by you know 4, 5th, 6th, somewhere in that neighborhood. ⁓ can use those on a late season hunt, like an October, November rifle hunt. ⁓ I would say they're not ideally built for late season hunting. ⁓ I know when I think about November third, fourth season hunting in Colorado, whether you're you're hunting elk or deer. I typically like like a little bit heavier duty soft shell type pant, like the Sitka Mountain pant or the Timberline pant. ⁓ you know, the De Havillon pant from ⁓ Stone Glacier is a pretty decent option, I would say. ⁓ but ⁓ I do think you can get away with it in October, especially into maybe early October if you got like a you know a muzzle odor hunt. ⁓ for states that offer that. And I do think you can get into some of those later hunts if you're willing to pair that with a set of ⁓ long johns, ⁓ maybe like the merino wool ⁓ basin that we carry here in our Go Hunt Gear Shop. ⁓ nice soft merino wool, those would be a great option for you. and you probably could get away with that lightweight hunting pant if you you paired it with ⁓ a base layer. ⁓ ideally I would say that go hunt pant, it's best suited for this time of year. So July, August, September. ⁓ it's built to be kind of an early season lightweight, stretchy, breathable, ⁓ you know, bow hunting pant. you know, I had my fingers in designing, kind of helping with this. And you know, I mostly bow hunt. So ⁓ that was kind of what I was looking for. ⁓ I know Brady does like him. He wears them quite a lot. ⁓ and I know that he has paired those with a long john and been able to hunt late season with them. But ⁓ that's kind of their their bread and butter, I would say. ⁓ and it's a really nice pair of pants. ⁓ primarily the biggest reason I love those is that they they they move well with you and they fit well. It's the best fitting pair of pants that I owned. ⁓ especially you know a hunting pant. ⁓ they do not stretch out with you overly over a five, seven, ten day hunt to the point where, you know, they're just stretchy and, you know, hanging off yeah. They don't get crusty, I would say, with sweat. ⁓ yeah. I just really like ⁓ And so, you know, if you want to look into to buy a pair, I would definitely put that ⁓ August fourth, fifth on your calendar. ⁓ along with this question, I thought I would touch on it and let you know. ⁓ I'm gonna drop this podcast tomorrow, which will be Thursday. but we do have hitting the office tomorrow, and you should see these up on the website here pretty quick. But we've got ⁓ our new ⁓ go hunt down puffy jacket. We've got puffy pants, we have down booties. We also have our go hunt rain jacket, which I'm gonna talk more a little bit ⁓ in a second. We definitely have been getting some questions about that. So I want to talk about what we ⁓ built that for and kind of what its ideal use case scenario is. ⁓ but those will all be hit in the warehouse, I think, tomorrow. And ⁓ you should see those on the website coming up here pretty quick, which I'm pretty excited about. I think we have done a pretty good job at hitting the specs. ⁓ we were looking for a down jacket that was. You know, lightweight, but I wanted to be a little bit warmer than some of the other options that are out there. ⁓ you know, I've used the the Stone Glacier Grumman for a bunch of years and it's been a a great lightweight down jacket. There have been times, I would suggest where it just wasn't quite warm enough for me. So I wanted a little bit more fill ⁓ weight. ⁓ you know, the the down in that thing is a high quality down. The mix is right, ⁓ you know, 900 fill ⁓ power. And I think we had a home run with it. I think it's ⁓ It's super warm. I think it's a great weight for what it is. And I think it's going to be slightly warmer than maybe some of the other options that are on the market. ⁓ and I'm I'm stoked about it. So look for those here pretty quick. I would say within the week, maybe early part of next week. ⁓ along with that, new atmosphere vests. So if you guys like the atmosphere jacket, ⁓ we had some requests for a vest, we're gonna have those coming too. And I did get another question about the atmosphere jackets, which I'm I'm gonna dive into here in a sec. So Hopefully that answers the question about the Gohan pants. I know you guys have been patiently waiting. ⁓ yeah, I'm stoked to get those out into people's ⁓ hands, even though that doesn't feel like the right word. But I'm I'm I'm really excited for you guys to get those out in the field and get to use them a little bit more and see what you think. So ⁓ yeah, look for them soon. ⁓ second question. ⁓ I've I've had a number of questions about this ⁓ topic. I think I had one today and one yesterday, and I've had a few more previously in in the in the week. So ⁓ individuals looking for a recommendation on sleeping pads, what would be your recommendation and why? ⁓ I'm gonna throw two of them at you. ⁓ my very favorite sleeping pad, and I've touched on it before, but it is the Thermores Neo Air X Lite NXT. ⁓ the next version of the X Lite. I still have the older version of the X Lite, which has been great for me. They've been really durable. it's a really good R value, so insulation, R value versus weight ratio. Also pretty comfy. The NXT portion of this new option is that what they've done is they've quieted down the face fabric, which has been the primary complaint of that Thermores Neo Air. ⁓ it does have a bit of a crinkle to it, at least the older versions did. you know, I like to say it sounded like ⁓ you know, you were out camping and you had a ra raccoon that got into a, you know, an empty bag of lay's potato chips and was rustling around in there. That's kind of the sound that it that it painted for me. But ⁓ didn't really ever bother me, still doesn't. ⁓ you know, I sleep fine on those pads. ⁓ when I go out, I go out pretty hard. And ⁓ the sound never bothered me, but definitely some people you know submitted that feedback. But this new NXT has supposedly addressed that. ⁓ in terms of specs, you get an R value of 4.5 on that, which is a pretty good insulated ⁓ pad for what that pad is. ⁓ the large size, 77 inches by 25 inches by three inches. Stick, ⁓ which is, you know, fairly comfy. It does have the horizontal baffles in it. ⁓ total weight on that, I think, is like one pound one ounce for that size, which is lightweight, great R value, which is that insulation ⁓ metric. ⁓ you know, that sleeping pad's gonna do everything that you need it to do from August, September, October. You know, maybe you get into November, you want to think about bumping up to the ⁓ thermal ⁓ You know, the thermal version of that. I'm trying to remember it off the top of my head, but it's a silver color versus that yellow, ⁓ kind of a canary yellow color of the ⁓ Neo Air. ⁓ but yeah, it's a great R-value, great pad. The only other pad that I would kind of throw in this mix, ⁓ I know people like Nemo pads. I would say definitely take a look at those. ⁓ they are a smidge heavier, I would say, than this Thermorest. I do like this other one called the C to Summit Ether Light XR insulated pad. ⁓ 72 by 22 by four inches thick. ⁓ this is a better sleeping pad, in my opinion, for guys that are side sleepers. You know, you put all that pressure on one shoulder. I think these do sleep a little bit more comfortably if you're you know in that realm. ⁓ total weight on that one with that size is going to be 17.1 ounces. So you're again one pound, ⁓ one ounce. And ⁓ R value of 4.1. So not quite as good as the thermorest, but Still really good, especially for those early season, you know, through October hunts. ⁓ I would definitely take a look at that one. It's thicker. you know, if there is going to be a fell point based on my experience, it's gonna be in the valve on that thing. Whereas in the thermores, I've had no issues with the valves. I've had great durability of the thermores, which is why I keep going back to it. anyway, those would be my two recommendations that I'm gonna throw out at you if you're looking for a new sleeping pad. ⁓ and then the third, although I didn't dive into the specs, is gonna be, you know, the Nemo's. ⁓ all right. So next question. ⁓ what is your new rain gear going to be like? What is the use case scenario? ⁓ I've had people asking me, you know, is this thing like a brush beater that you can really go out in the wilds of Alaska and, you know, march through the the alder? ⁓ it's it's really not built for that. I think it could probably okay. It would take some use and abuse, but it's really not built for that. I would say We built these this rain gear to be packable, lightweight. ⁓ you can throw it in your pack, you can go on a backpack hunt, you can get up into the high country, you get those afternoon thunder bumpers, which we've been having here in southern Utah every day for about the last 10 days. ⁓ and you're gonna be able to ride out those storms. ⁓ you know, you think of September elk hunting, you can get those days of rain where it tends to stick around and last. ⁓ and you know, you're you're still gonna be out chasing elk in the rain, and it's gonna be great for that. ⁓ you know, it's durable. I would not I would not say it's the most durable. It's not gonna be a brush beater type of rain gear, like a storm front or something that you might see from ⁓ you know, sitka gear. lightweight, so jacket, pant, you're gonna be right about fourteen ounces. ⁓ which I think is slightly heavier, I wanna say, than the sitka dew point, but it is right there within that realm. Testing it, we've had really good results as far as waterproofing. So the waterproof rating on it, as well as the breathability. So it's gonna move ⁓ some moisture from your skin when you're hiking, you're hunting hard. ⁓ and it's also gonna be, you know, waterproof, ⁓ which is great. So it's fully seam taped. ⁓ face frabic is gonna be 20 D, you know, 100% nylon. two different colors in the jacket. You're gonna get like a two-tone green. ⁓ I was wearing that jacket at TAC. A lot of people come up and be like, man, I really digged color of that, which was ⁓ you know, I'm gonna take credit for that because I liked I liked that color combo when we worked it out. It's kind of an olivey green and then kind of a foresty green, you know, two-tone combo. We're also going to have the rain jacket in our go hunt camouflage, which is like the lighter camouflage. And it looks nice. ⁓ my favorite, like I said, is the green. And then we're gonna have the green pants. So if there's enough demand, you know, maybe you'll see us in the future do, you know, a full set in in pants and jacket with the camo. But right now, green pants and then two different jacket choices: camo and kind of the green two-tone. it's a nice piece of rain gear. I wore it all last year in November in Arizona, and it was a weird year where we just had probably eight, nine days straight of rain, and it did really well. You know, I had great luck with it. I really liked it. I think it's the right weight, ⁓ you know, breathable but waterproof. ⁓ I like the face fabric. It's not crunchy loud. ⁓ you know, it's definitely it's still rain gear, though. It's not gonna be like the most quiet. You're probably not gonna sneak up on a, you know, a big mule deer buck on a calm day ⁓ and have it work out. But ⁓ yeah, it's it's relatively quiet for what it is for a piece of rain gear. So ⁓ like I said, and that's dropping here pretty soon. ⁓ and that's kind of the use case scenario for it. I think you guys will really like it and you should be able to pick that up if you're interested within the next week in the Gohan gear shop. ⁓ okay, moving down to the next question. Man, it just seems like this question never ends. ⁓ I'm always getting it. And I think it's one of the funniest things ever. ⁓ so mechanical broadhead question. What would be your recommendation and why? I'm looking at the beast, I'm looking at the sever, I'm looking at speed broadheads, ⁓ looking at maybe some Grim Reapers, maybe some G fives, even the ⁓ the T2. So I'm gonna run through some of the ones that I've got more familiarity with. ⁓ I have used, played with, shot this summer ⁓ already the speed broadhead, ⁓ which I liked. ⁓ those guys were kind enough to send me those broadheads. So I wanted to preface it with that. You know, those guys sent me broadheads to play with. ⁓ the Beast broadheads, picked up some of those, ⁓ got those there at the shop. ⁓ Severs, which I've used for a lot of years, and you've probably heard me talk about sever broadheads. ⁓ so I've been shooting those. They do have a new broadhead, that Magneto, and a 1.75 ⁓ standard with just the two blades. They also have the four blade, which is like the hybrid, is what they call it, right? So you got two bleeder blades and then the two blades that ⁓ are tucked up in the ferrule and they're gonna slide back. ⁓ and then the other one, you know, I would maybe talk about a little bit that I've used in the past is the Grim Reaper. ⁓ you know, in particularly the old Grim Reaper razor cut, and then, you know, more ⁓ More recently, the the fatal steal, right? Which is three blades. ⁓ you've got that chisel looking tip. It's a mean looking head, that little Grim Reaper. I will say that. Mean looking head. ⁓ so okay. Pros, cons, ⁓ you know, my choices. So I'm gonna dive in and talk first and foremost about the beast broadhead. Beast broadbit broadhead for me is ⁓ it's an accurate head. I will say that. It does seem to fly really well, hits with my field tips. ⁓ you know, I can In good faith, shoot that thing out to 80, 90, 100 yards and feel really confident in my impact points ⁓ based on my ability to shoot. ⁓ some things I don't love about it. ⁓ I do think it's slightly louder. So when I shoot that against a sever, ⁓ it is slightly, and I mean ever so slightly louder. ⁓ I don't I don't know that I could measure it, but I can hear it just ever so slightly in the flight. ⁓ again, my opinion, it does seem a smidge louder. ⁓ so accuracy is there. It is a little bit louder. One thing I don't like about the beast broadhead is that the spring function in the ferrule is what causes that that blade to kind of pop open, right? So you you impact, it compresses, ⁓ the spring kind of pushes those blades out and they deploy. I have had those broadheads open up in my quiver if I've just been out hiking around. ⁓ I think I've talked about it in the past. not a huge deal because you can push those blades back in, they will pinch in. There's no ring, retainer ring, or anything like that that you need to hold those blades in. They will clip back in. So all you gotta do is push them back in and they will retain. but if I were to be hunting and I was in the moment on a stock on a big bedded mule ear buck, and I was focused on. Everything that I needed to do to execute that stock and make a shot. And I went to grab an arrow and that broadhead was open, it would agitate me. It would irk me. you know, I know they've done some testing, they they suggest that ⁓ they still fly really well, and I don't doubt that they do. ⁓ but that design of that broadhead is to be a mechanical. And to me, if that thing's open when I grab it in the moment of truth, it's gonna really piss me off. So That is one potential downfall that I could see. interestingly enough, I have talked to other people the way that those blades kind of push back into the ferrule with the spring. ⁓ I've had people express to me that they think that those blades actually kind of collapse further back than the full 2.3-inch cutting diameter. I don't know that it's a huge deal because you still get a giant hole. The blades are super sharp, they're thick. ⁓ I do think they're pretty durable overall. I like that broadhead, but there are some quirks about it that I'm not fully into. for that reason, probably wouldn't be my first choice, and again, that's just me. ⁓ sever, so sever broadheads. I'm a big fan of sever broadheads. I like the way that they sit in the ferrule, I like that they slide back. The new Magneto head ⁓ makes a simple design even simpler. So where you had that silicone retainer ring previously that would hold those blades in. And I've talked about it in the past. I like to stack two of those silicone rings together to give it even, you know, more ⁓ hold. You know, that pretty well cut down any kind of rattling or noise that you might get if you only had one. I've had people tell me the same thing. You know, they've been walking around in the woods with a ⁓ sever broadhead in their quiver and that they've popped open, you know, maybe they've bumped a blade or a head and that the the blades have cut the silicone ring and they opened up. ⁓ I've had that happen. I the only time I've ever had it happen was that I've been in some place that was real brushy like Alaska. ⁓ so I I can't say that I haven't because I have had it it's just been way more rare than it has been with ⁓ the one season last year where I carried a beast broadhead around in my quiver. ⁓ so it was it was kind of a non-issue for me. ⁓ for the most part. ⁓ if I put those two silicone rings, I had no issues whatsoever. ⁓ the Magneto, it holds it in there pretty dang secure. I would be really surprised if people were having blades open up in their quiver as they were walking around. I think the the Magneto is a really slick product. I like the way that those broadheads fly. I do think that they're a little bit more quiet. I think they're every bit as accurate as the obese broadhead. I think for a mechanical, they fly great. you know, my choice, I really like the new Magneto hybrid. So you get a 1.57 cutting diameter with the mechanical blades, then you get the two bleeder blades that are hit, sit perpendicular to those. ⁓ you get a nice wide wound channel. ⁓ I have had questions. People have asked me, do the standard heads, you know, the two blades, do they fly as well as the ⁓ hybrids? I can't tell you I noticed any difference in accuracy. The hybrids fly just as good. I think if you looked at the arrow study that James Yates did, I think they would prove that out those broad heads were every bit as accurate or very, very, very close to. You know, off the top of my head I can't recall, but I remember looking those and think they were super similar. ⁓ so super accurate head, and you get a four-blade cutting ⁓ surface. So ⁓ that's gonna be my choice. The Magneto 1.75 ⁓ with the two ⁓ bleeder blades. ⁓ okay, speed broadheads. So I think speed makes a nice broadhead. ⁓ I've had a chance to shoot those this summer. ⁓ they fly really well. I would again put them on par with the other two broadheads in terms of accuracy. They fly really good. They do have more exposed surface area on those heads. than the sever. ever so slightly so. I do think they're a little bit louder. They've got some cutouts in kind of the wing portions of their broadhead. And anytime you've got venting in a broadhead, an exposed surface on a broadhead, it's going to make a little bit added noise. So to me, they are slightly louder. ⁓ I do like the way that those push back in the feral ⁓ have not had any open up as I've been carrying them around. ⁓ I think it's a pretty solid head. ⁓ Of the packets that I got, you know, I put them on arrows. Arrows that I know are my very straightest. I've got the best alignment between my outsert and my ⁓ arrow shaft. And I spun those and they spun really well. So I would say their QC seems pretty solid. And I like that broadhead. I like the way that it works, I like the way that it flew. It is slightly noisier. if I'm being completely honest, I kinda like it better than the beast. And I know those guys are having a little feud, which is, in my opinion, kind of silly, but It I guess it makes good marketing. I mean, everybody's aware of it and talking about it. But ⁓ I do like the design of it maybe a little bit better. ⁓ and I wouldn't hesitate to shoot it. I think it's a nice head. ⁓ and then lastly, the one I'm gonna talk about, the fatal steel. So the the reason I'm gonna talk about the fatal steel, three blade foldback design from Grim Reaper, super mean looking, little feral with a super sharp tip at the end. The thing that really impressed me the most, and I've shot those in the past. thing that that really got my attention kind of brought it back around again is ⁓ the accuracy so if you watch the arrow ⁓ study results it's a broadhead that grouped better than the field tip which is pretty incredible to me that's an accurate broadhead the only thing I do not love about it is the fold back design ⁓ I do like a mechanical broadhead where the blades are in the ferrule and they slide backwards versus a fold back design. I think when you're doing that, you have the potential to rob a little bit of energy and penetration. But I think it's a really nice broadhead, and it's really hard to debate the accuracy of that thing based on the results that those guys proved out in the aeroballistic study. So of those four, I'm still going to give my nod. ⁓ the ones I'm going to put my quiver are going to be the Severs. I still think. I've got confidence in it. And again, I talk about this all the time, but I really think the telltale story of selecting broadheads is which broadhead are you the most confident in? Which one do you like the design of? Which one feels like the the most quality? Which one hit hits behind the pen? You know, to you or and you are your human ear, which one's the most quiet? So I think, you know. If you have the opportunity to do some testing, go for it. I think it's a great thing to do for everybody every year. But my opinion, I'm still loving the Severs. And I'm gonna hopefully run one through a big mule deer buck here in about three weeks. Okay. Next question pros and cons. This was an interesting question. I like this one. I've been I've got this one a few times. I think it's an interesting conversation. ⁓ Pros and cons of different hunting stabilizers. So, in particular comparing the Matthews Bridge Lock, is there any advantage over something like a high-quality hunting stabilizer from a brand like Cutter or Shrewd? ⁓ who else is out there that makes hunting stabilizers? Bee Stinger, the old ⁓ microhex, those are kind of the micro diameter smaller ones. ⁓ AAE, the Hunter bars, those are nice bars. Mountain Mountain series. is there any advantage? And what are the pros and cons? So, this is gonna be my take. hopefully, it doesn't get me in trouble with Matthews. It shouldn't. Matthews Bridge Lock stabilizers, I think they're really cool looking bars. they've got the holes cut out in the middle, which is really I think in in my opinion, it's gonna make sense that it's gonna buck the wind a little bit better because there's just less surface area. Now, how much so in comparison to a micro diameter stabilizer like cutter? Hard to say. It's it's probably minimal. The one thing I do like about the Matthews bridge lock bars is that you slide those through the entire riser and then you ⁓ screw in the little attachment ⁓ piece that that basically cinches that thing into the riser itself. You have all that surface area that sticks through the riser, which is basically holding your connection. I do like that. In my mind, it makes more sense that it's more secure. I also like the fact that if you wanted to, and I've done this in the past, you can shorten that bar. So you could buy a 15-inch bar, you can slide that thing as far back into the riser as you want. To shorten that front bar and then change the length of your front bar. Now, where that becomes applicable, and it has been, you know, it's been the the case for me, is if I've been hunting out of a blind. ⁓ I remember a number of years ago, I was not shooting the Matthews bars at this time, they didn't exist, but I was I was hunting coos deer. I had a ground blind that I'd kind of built up over a little water source. And ⁓ you know, I'd brushed it in pretty good. I was sitting there on the ground on my butt. ⁓ leaned up against a tree at my back and I was waiting for this koos buck to come in. And it was it was one of those years where it was really dry there in Arizona. And this water hole for whatever reason, it it just was a hot spot. We had a lot of animals coming in. I shot a Kootamundi off of it. ⁓ if you guys have seen that video. But ⁓ just koos deer all day kind of coming in and out. You know, I got a chance to look at a lot of young bucks. I got a chance to look at some does and ⁓ you know eventually this buck came in. It was a buck I was going to shoot. ⁓ I got in position to shoot and as I was starting to draw my bow, my front stabilizer was long enough that I was bumping, brushing up against my makeshift ground line that I had built. ⁓ ended up spooking that buck. He ran out, didn't get a crack at him. ⁓ you know, that's on me. I should have made my adjustments prior to that, but you know, in the moment it j it just happened. ⁓ The thing I like about the Matthews Bridge lock bars is, like I said, is you can slide those back through the riser. So if you're hunting out of an antelope bind and you want to turn your, you know, your 12 or your 15-inch stabilizer into you know a six-inch stabilizer, you can do that just to clear up some extra room at the front end. So I do like that. ⁓ I also like the fact that there's the harmonic dampener built within that. I do think it kills some noise and some vibration. ⁓ things I don't like about it are. Yeah, it's it's hard to argue. You know, it they're expensive. They are. I mean, I I pulled up the the set of bars that I've got. So I shoot a 15-inch front bar. ⁓ those are 280 bucks for a 15-inch front bar. ⁓ the 10-inch bar is 260 bucks. I think those come with two weights apiece. ⁓ the weight system is pretty slick. I'll say that. You can just kind of drop those on. They're dovetailed into each other, which is pretty nice. But if you're gonna end up shooting more weight than that, if you shoot a front bar and a back bar like I do. You know, you're gonna have buy some excess weights, and those are you know pricey as well. ⁓ so they're expensive. And I would say that is the number one, you know, con of Matthews Bridge Lock stabilizers is they're they're they're expensive. ⁓ you know, they just are. but they look great, feel great. I like the attachment point in them, and I like the ability that I can kind of shorten those up. I'll let you guys decide on, you know, if it's worth it to you, because certainly there's some subjectivity into it. ⁓ If if I'm talking about a another stabilizer like ⁓ a cutter, high quality stabilizer, American built. I think they have a rad company. I think they make a really nice product. ⁓ I compared the price, so you're gonna be $165 for a 15-inch bar. You know, that's a hundred and fifteen bucks less than the Matthews version. ⁓ a ten inch bar is gonna be a hundred and twenty-five bucks. So as you can tell, that's ⁓ quite a bit cheaper than the Matthews bars. ⁓ those are Those are standard bars. I mean, it's a high quality, ⁓ you know, stiff carbon rod. The end caps are great. I haven't had any of those come loose. I do have some of those bars. ⁓ the weights are low profile. They stack on the end of that really nicely. ⁓ there is not a harmonic ⁓ component to those out at the end of it to kill any vibration. ⁓ and saying that, I haven't necessarily ever noticed that they're, you know. ⁓ A whole lot louder or even louder. I to my human ear, I can't determine a difference. ⁓ the hand shock, I would say, feels pretty similar between those and the Matthews bars. And they they do the job of stabilizing the bow. And that's ultimately the job of a a set of stabilizers. ⁓ the reason you get stabilizers is to help stabilize your aim. ⁓ you know. control your pin float a little bit better, help you level out, help you, you know, feel more confident in your shot. ⁓ both the bridge lock and a good set of bars from Cutter or AAE are going to do that. just it's it just depends on what your values are. I do think the Matthews bars look awesome. I think they function extremely well. They do have some perks. I'll let you guys decide, you know, what it's worth it to you. But both, you know, Matthews Bridgeloc bars and other bars from AAE, you know, they're gonna do the job of helping you stabilize the bow. They're gonna do the job that you need it to do. ⁓ just up to you to decide. But that's kind of my my take on it. ⁓ moving down, another question. Okay, go hunt. Go hunt Atmosphere Jacket. We've sold a pile of these atmosphere jackets. People absolutely love them. I saw a bunch of them walking around at TAC. We sold quite a few of them at TAC. So for those of you that are not aware of what the Atmosphere Jacket is, it's a lightweight midlayer, ⁓ full zip. You got two hand pockets in the front. You got a hood. ⁓ it is a hundred ⁓ gram prima loft. Evolve active insulation on the inside. So it's kind of like a burbery fill-in fleece. It's not like a tight weave fleece, it's little bit loose. it's soft, it's breathable, especially on your skin. And the exterior fabric is a 20D ripstop nylon face. ⁓ total weight on the atmosphere jacket, 12.8 ounces for a large. ⁓ that jacket has become my go-to mid layer for a lot of years. ⁓ in fact, up until maybe the last year and a half or so, ⁓ my preferred mid layer has been like a grid fleece hoodie, like the Sitka Core Heavyweight Hoodie, or we have one here at Go Hunt, the Black Rock hoodie. It's it's your traditional grid fleece, you know, soft hoodie, quarter zip. Got a pocket on the chest. ⁓ and those are great. They're soft on your skin, they're warm. ⁓ but the reason I've kind of switched over to this atmosphere jacket in lieu of a grid fleece hoodie is the warmth to weight ratio. So you have twelve point eight ounces on the atmosphere jacket versus a grid fleece hoodie. ⁓ I pulled up the weights of those. So you're gonna be fifteen point three ounces on a black rock hoodie, which is ours. A Sitka Core heavyweight hoodie and a large are gonna be fourteen point eight ounces. So those are Typically two and a half, three ounces heavier than this atmosphere jacket. ⁓ the atmosphere jacket is warmer, in my opinion, than a grid fleece hoodie. It dries quicker than a grid fleece hoodie. It moves moisture better than a grid fleece hoodie. ⁓ the only potential downfall I can see of the atmosphere jacket ⁓ is that it the face fabric is a smidge louder than a grid fleece hoodie. Now that might come into play if you're talking spot and stock mule deer on a calm day and you're really trying to get in tight and it's cool weather and you need to wear that thing, that might be something you want to consider. ⁓ but I do think for like run and gun elk hunting, ⁓ you know, my primary midlayer for most of the hunting that I've been doing the last year, that atmosphere jacket's kind of been my go-to. And I found myself leaving the ⁓ grid fleece hoodies at home. And ⁓ you know, I've been wearing that over a base layer. ⁓ you know, I'll throw on a puffy layer over the top of that if I'm hunting, you know, cold weather or high country, early season where it gets cold. But that's kind of been my go-to. ⁓ I love that jacket. And I would say that's your primary use case scenario for it. ⁓ it's the one jacket that goes pretty much everywhere with me. It's always in my pack. I got a couple of them. ⁓ I always have one in the backseat of my truck. I'm wearing it in the morning on a, you know, a cool day when I'm shooting my bow. ⁓ I wore it this last weekend when I was out scouting morning and evening. ⁓ didn't need to pack a full puffy jacket because it wasn't cold enough, but that jacket was perfect, really took the edge off. And like I said, the warmth weight ratio is awesome. ⁓ okay, next question. Moving down pros and cons of the Sig Zulu 6 stabilizing binos in a 10, 12, or 16 power. Seems like I get this question all the time. I am a big proponent of the 12 power. For a bow hunter. ⁓ and I'll I'll stand on on business, I guess, is the kids say on that. The reason I like that is because that is a 12 by 42, so it's brighter. You get a larger exit pupil in that optic, so it's gonna be brighter. 12 power is ample for me. ⁓ it's actually perfect and preferred, in my opinion, in a spot in stock situation when you get under 100 yards and you're just trying to pick up a hunk of hide or a tyne. ⁓ sixteen power, in my opinion, it's it's a little much. you know, the the tighter field of view I find a little bit annoying on a sixteen. And then the biggest reason I don't really love the sixteen or, you know, even the twenty is they're just not as bright. You just don't collect as much light because that exit that exit ⁓ pupil relationship is just not big enough to collect enough light. They're just not quite as bright. So I'm gonna stand ⁓ and tell you, you know, wave the flag for the twelves. That's my preferred Bino for a ⁓ a Western big game bow hunter. ⁓ you know, they do make a 10 by 30. I think that's too small for hunting out west. I don't think it's bright enough. ⁓ maybe if you're a whitetail hunter, you're sitting in a tree stand, you want something really lightweight, and most of the, you know, your field of view is gonna be fifty, sixty, eighty yards and under. I think that might be a good option. ⁓ I do get asked about the pros. What's the difference between the pros and the regular? ⁓ you know, the the original version of the Zulu sixes. The pros have got slightly better glass in them. ⁓ they are a 50 millimeter objective, so those are available in a 14 power, a 16 power, an 18 power with a 50 millimeter objective. ⁓ they are slightly larger, they're a little bit longer, a little bit wider. They take two batteries. ⁓ They're a great optic. And if I was going to buy one of those, it would be the 14 by 50. Again, because of that, that exit pupil relationship and just being, you know, brighter. ⁓ so if you're looking for one of those, ⁓ I would say jump into the gear shop. You can definitely cruise through all the specs and see what peop, you know, what you think. ⁓ my opinion, I I still will I'm always gonna recommend the 12s for us a spot in stock bow hunter. ⁓ that's gonna be my go to. ⁓ okay, this is an interesting question. ⁓ these are people definitely been out scouting. ⁓ you know, if you've hunted the West, especially on a lot of these units that have ⁓ a ton of public land, inevitably you're gonna have run into, you know, herds of sheep and herds of cattle. I think I had an individual reach out to me and say, you know, I was out on public land, I didn't realize there were so many cattle. There there is a lot of cattle. There's, you know, a grazing allotments that ⁓ ranchers can ⁓ you know, enter into agreement with the managing agency, whether it's the Forest Service, the BLM, you know, they pay ⁓ a price tag for an AMU, which is a cow calf pair, and they have a season allotted to them where they could graze their cattle on public land. ⁓ and if it's done well, you know, they're rotated through, they have those allotments. ⁓ it can be really beneficial in my opinion. not certainly not so in every case, but I would say generally it can be, you know, a good thing. ⁓ it also depends on your range cons. ⁓ being a range con for the Forest Service is a tough job. You guys have my ⁓ my my pity, my condolences. That's a tough job. You you you you play a a go between a middleman between you know ranchers typically that want you know as much as they can get. They want that feed, you know, they're paying for those AMUs. ⁓ they want to be able to to graze their cattle on public lands. Then you also often have ⁓ people on, you know, whether it's the outdoor rec side or, you know, people in our space that love hunting. They want to see more of that forage left on the landscape for elk and deer. ⁓ you know, those range cons get a lot of pushback from us. You know, we want to see less livestock, whether that's sheep or cattle on the on the land. So those guys have a hard job. ⁓ and, you know, like I said, I I think they do a good job, but they definitely have a hard job. ⁓ But point being, if you're out hunting the West, you're gonna run into livestock on a landscape. So this individual asked the question: Do cattle and sheep push elk and deer out of an area? ⁓ if I am hunting an area and I see a bunch of sheep or I see a bunch of cattle move into the area, what should be my move? so I did a little reading. I also am gonna speak from some of my own personal experience. I would say that generally, ⁓ When it comes to cattle, elk are probably more affected than mule deer when it comes to cattle. ⁓ I think that's because elk and livestock eat similar types of forage. They have a diet that's much more closely related than maybe mule deer and and cattle. Where mule deer are more of a browser, they like those forbs. ⁓ they're gonna be ⁓ a little bit more selective. I do think mule deer can be more tolerant of livestock versus elk, especially if you get, you know, a bunch of ⁓ You know, cows move into an area and they're really grazing that ⁓ forage off pretty heavy. Elk aren't really gonna stick around. I think they're gonna move out of there. ⁓ and that's not always the case. It depends on the stocking rate, it depends on how big the allotment is. It just it just really depends. I would say if you're out there hunting, you know, if you're seeing livestock, take note of what the landscape around them looks like. Does it look like they've really hit it hard and they've grazed off a lot of that feed? If that's the case, there's probably not gonna be elk in there. 'Cause those elk are primarily grazers also. You know, they're looking for grasses, you know, some forbs, some sedges, you know, they can eat a lot ⁓ you know, a a lot wider variety of vegetation, but you know, still a grazer. They like those grasses. so I would say, yeah, if you're seeing some elk, take a a good hard look at the land, or if you're seeing some cattle, take a good look r at the ⁓ the feed ⁓ around them. ⁓ livestock can also camp out on, you know, water sources, and that can be hard for animals as well. both deer and elk. You know, if they're spending their entire days ⁓ laying laying on the side of a pond and kind of occupying that space, it can deter elk and deer from utilizing that water source. And they may move out away from it and find an alternate ⁓ option. But that's generally kind of my take on livestock. Now when it comes to sheep, see sheep is different. sheep, I think are hard, man. They're hard, I think, on mule deer and I think they're hard on elk. ⁓ I don't think, you know, mule deer don't seem to like sheep. They don't love to occupy the same areas. And, you know, if you found a buck and you get a big herd of sheep that move into that area, he's probably not going to go too far, but I don't think he's going to stick around either, because sheep will definitely hit the same type of vegetation that a mule deer will. ⁓ elk as well. ⁓ you know, they they typically kind of move out and they may not go far, but I haven't seen a whole lot of tolerance between Elk and mule deer and and large herds of herds of sheep. The other thing that typically comes with sheep herds on public lands is dogs. So you got those big white cur dogs, I think they call them. ⁓ you've also got sheep herders. They're out riding. ⁓ those guys are great to talk to, by the way. If you ever run into one of them, ⁓ I would definitely encourage you to pick their brain, get friendly with them, and find out what they're seeing and where. ⁓ but yeah, I mean, human disturbance, pressure, dogs, a lot of sheep. just don't often gel well with maintaining and holding deer and elk. So I would say be aware of that. Move out. Look for adjacent areas ⁓ to where those those animals may have popped into and be hiding and holding up in. ⁓ and that's kind of my take on it. tough. It makes it tough. It can be frustrating. ⁓ a few years ago I had a an elk tag. I think we did the film Dog Days, if you guys have watched that. there's actually a portion in there where I hike way into an area, really expend a lot of energy. I get down into this ⁓ big canyon where two canyons actually come together and I hike up in there. I think I've got it all to myself and a couple of sheepdogs walk up to me. and then I kind of turn around later that evening and I notice there's a herd of probably a thousand sheep that are in the next valley. And there were elk in there, but they were not where those sheep were. They were kind of in those adjacent drainages. ⁓ but there was a lot of noise associated with it. It did make it hard to hunt. ⁓ I ended up moving areas and there were a big h herd of sheep in there. ⁓ the elk moved to the bottom end of that drainage. They didn't stay up where those sheep were. ⁓ you know, they were probably within a mile and a half, two miles. But ⁓ they can definitely disrupt your hunt and it can be frustrating. And I totally get it. ⁓ Just try to be adaptable. Try to try to give what the landscape gives you and ⁓ you know be smart with where you're hunting, make choices on where they're at, and you know, kind of move on and make the most of it. ⁓ okay. Next question. I've had lots of arrow questions, even though you know I'm not an arrow expert by any means. And you know, I think that aeroballistic study definitely shored up a lot of answers that to questions that I've had. ⁓ but I'm gonna I'm gonna answer the question. The one question I really get is like, what are you gonna shoot this year for an arrow? ⁓ people find that very interesting. ⁓ what veins did I choose? ⁓ I already talked about the broadhead. So my arrow choice, I'm gonna shoot a gold tip platinum pierce. ⁓ I've shot victories, I've shot Eastons, I've shot gold tips, ⁓ Can't think of any others that I've shot off the top of my head, but I keep going back to gold tips because I just think they're the most durable. It just seems to me like they can take the most use and abuse. And I like them. I just like that four mil Easton or excuse me, gold tip ⁓ platinum pierce. I like the weight ratio. I just make I think they make a great arrow. I don't know that their components are my favorite, but I do think the shaft itself, I think it's a great shaft, and that's what I'm gonna end up using. I'm shooting a 250 spine. lots of questions about spine. ⁓ you know, somebody reached out and asked me the other day, said he'd he'd listened to another podcast, I'm not sure who, ⁓ where a gentleman had suggested that he thought he thought that most people were, you know, shooting spines that were too stiff. ⁓ and he that this individual wanted to know like, what's my take on on spine. If you're kind of in the middle, you know, do you bump up to a stiffer spine? Do you go down to the weaker spine? I have talked about a little bit, I think, ⁓ previously. ⁓ with these these bows currently, they they have enough tunability and they have enough features within those bows that you can tune to whatever within reason, whatever spine you want. So if you want to shoot a 300 spine or a 250 spine in my case, I can do that. I can tune my bow to it. ⁓ What I thought was interesting from the aeroballistic study is that they proved out that if you were slightly stiffer, slightly stiffer spine seemed to group better. To me, that matters. ⁓ so I'm gonna I'm gonna be in in contrary, I'm gonna speak in contrary to what this individual, whoever was talking this other podcast, had suggested. I think if you're kind of in that middle, I think going slightly stiffer is a better move, unless it bumps you up into a total weight that you're just not comfortable with. Because as you get the the the arrows. spine stiffer, it's a heavier arrow. So, you know, if you have a weight ratio that you're trying to hit, ⁓ to kind of keep your feet your foot per second up, you know, then you can tune to that ⁓ that lower spine or that spine that's probably a little bit more in your wheelhouse. For me, excuse me, based on the ⁓ the arrow study, I'm gonna I'm gonna bump up in spine and and you know I think those guys proved that it groups better with a slightly stiffer spine. ⁓ veins. I've been been getting asked about veins. I am shooting the ultra view veins. ⁓ I really liked what I saw in the test that those guys did. Specifically the group sizes, those that those UV veins ⁓ were able to produce. That's what impressed me the most. ⁓ I do remember that the drift between I can't I think it was the torqued version and then the straight version, you know, just coming out of their their shooting machine. It had one of the you know slightly larger spreads, but the group sizes on those were incredible. And you know, I think if you have the ability to maintain relatively good form in the field, which I do, I shoot a lot, I feel like, ⁓ and your your your grip is consistent. I was really happy and I am happy with the group sizes that those UV veins have produced. ⁓ I also really like that they're quiet and ⁓ I think I talked about this earlier, but one thing that that test didn't test for is you know durability of veins. Like how well does the vein rebound if you shoot that thing through a 3D target or into a block target? ⁓ that's something that matters to me. A lot of those veins that have done really well on those tests are veins that I've shot in the past that don't rebound well. They don't maintain their shape. At least not within a reasonable amount of time, in my opinion. Sometimes you can leave them out in the sun a little bit. They'll get some heat and kind of flatten out. But for the most part, ⁓ some of those that have done well will really ripple. And I don't love that. ⁓ the UV vein does not do that. I can grab those things at the end of the arrow with my hand. I can pull those out. They don't hold, you know, any creases or ⁓ ripples. You can shoot them through a target, they rebound extremely well. ⁓ quiet veins and ⁓ I'm really happy with that vein. I'm happy with my choice for sure. ⁓ so I would say definitely if you're you're interested and you're looking for a new vein, ⁓ I've had really good luck with those, and I like that UV vein quite a bit. ⁓ total arrow weight. Yeah, this is always an interesting one. I had an individual reach out and say, ⁓ I think they said they're shooting, they're planning on hunting ⁓ elk with maybe like a 390 grain arrow. And he wanted to know if I thought that was too light. that one's a hard one. ⁓ I've shot elk with a four hundred grain arrow, so not that much difference between what this individual suggested and killed the elk, didn't have any issues with it. I remember I shot this bullet forty eight yards, complete pass through with mechanical head. ⁓ no no problem. That was a perfect situation. You know, leg forward, just exactly like you hope for. ⁓ so I mean, who am I to say that it's too light? I d I can tell you that my personal experience, I feel a little uncomfortable with it. To me, it feels a little bit too light. ⁓ I feel much more comfortable in the 450 to maybe 500 grain range, ⁓ which is what I'm shooting. 490 grain arrow, total finished. ⁓ I've got an east and half out 75 grain insert on the front end of my arrow. front and center feels pretty good, seems to group, fly really well. And ⁓ I like that wheelhouse of like 450 to 490, four, you know, even 500 for elk. foot per second doesn't really matter that much to me, other than you know, I want it to be fast enough that my pin gaps are relatively tight. I want to have a decently flat trajectory so that if I miss range or I misjudge my yardage on a bowl, ⁓ I want a flat enough arrow that I might catch a vital if I misjudge that. So that is important to me. ⁓ ideally I want to be in that like two eighty, two eighty-five to you know three hundred foot feet per second. And I think this bow. Arc 34 with a 490 grain arrow at my draw length and draw weight and let off. ⁓ I'm shooting about 295 feet per second, which I'm really excited about. I think it's gonna be a killer combo. ⁓ so that's where I'm at on arrows and hopefully I I ran through that and answered it. ⁓ this one's an interesting one. you know, I've I've never I've talked about this in videos, but I don't think I've ever really done like a full breakdown on a podcast. ⁓ they asked the question, food, what are you packing for a hunt? Full rundown on individual items that you like, ⁓ calories and weight. So I'll run through that. ⁓ typically, first thing out of bed for breakfast, I am not a big breakfast eater. ⁓ I don't like hiking with you know a lot of food in my stomach. So my go-to has been get out of bed, get after it, either hike up to my glassing point, sit down, start glassing, and then maybe mid-morning I'll pull out. something and do a little eating or if I am backpack hunting, ⁓ same situation. I want to get on a bowl as quick as I can. And if that kind of peters out and I've got mid-morning break, I want to sit down and maybe eat a little bite. So that's usually, you know, maybe 9:30, 10 ⁓ in the morning. ⁓ my go-to has just been like a mill replacement bar. So I like the Mountain Ops protein bars. Those work pretty good for me. The other one that I go to quite a bit is just a pro bar mill replacement bar. ⁓ my favorite flavors, if you're interested, are probably the schmores or the banana bread. I do like that one. It's got a little bit of crunch to it. I like the peanut butter one. I like the chocolate chip peanut butter. You can tell I'm, you know, a fat kid at heart and you know, probably a fat kid in reality. But I do like those. I like the ⁓ the calorie to weight ratio. So you're about three ounces for one of those bars and you're anywhere between 380 to 400 calories. ⁓ snacks. I pack a lot of snacks and I eat those throughout the day. ⁓ I usually have a that's it fruit bar. They make those in a bunch of different flavors: strawberry apple, mango apple, apricot, ⁓ banana apple. ⁓ it's just dried compressed fruit. And although it does not hit that magic mark of being like a hundred calories per ounce, ⁓ it just tastes good. And I always eat them. It's just nice to have like a little bit of fruit and fiber in your diet when you're back there hunting. ⁓ those are about 1.2 ounces per bar, and I think they're about 100 calories flat. ⁓ my favorite flavor is the mango, probably followed by apricot. And I like the banana apple one. That one's probably my other favorite. ⁓ I pack a Justin's nut butter or some sort of nut butter packet, ⁓ just high high calories for not a lot of weight. Those are gonna be 1.15 ounces for 220 calories. ⁓ I typically pack a small bag of homemade jerky, which reminds me I've got to get on that. I need to do some elk and some deer jerky. I might even have some antelope I can do. ⁓ I typically pack maybe two ounces per day, which is about 140 calories. ⁓ I am the reigning go hunt jerky recipe champion. ⁓ we did do a video on that. You can find my recipe online if you did a Google search, I'm sure. So I need to get some some of that going. I I normally pack about a hundred. Ounce and a half, two ounces of almonds. That's gonna be 250 calories. I like the ⁓ what is it? The roasted almond. It's got kind of a smoke flavor. ⁓ there's a barbecue flavor that's really good. If you you like wasabi, they have a wasabi flavor. ⁓ those are pretty good. ⁓ Fritos. So chips. I do I like a little crunch. ⁓ you ever gotten a pinch and need to start a fire? I don't know if you guys knew or not, but you can start a Frito on fire and it'll burn for a hot minute. ⁓ so I I pack a one-ounce pack of Fritos. It's 160 calories. Again, high calories for low weight. ⁓ lunchtime. So I like a sandwich. So I'm gonna normally do like a cheese bagel. I'm gonna flatten that out. ⁓ it's gonna be about three ounces, 350 to 400 calories. ⁓ I pack Italian dry salami, and I had a lot of questions about this recently. I buy those at Walmart at the front part of the deli counter, they are not refrigerated. They are cured dry salami. ⁓ if you're on a long hunt, they will get a little bit ⁓ oily, greasy looking. I've even had them look slightly discolored, which was a smidge unnerving, but I've never gotten sick from them. So as long as you keep them, you know, in your pack, you don't leave them out in direct sunlight. They retain kind of the way that they look and the way that they taste, and I've had no issues with them. ⁓ for lunch, I'll normally put like 10 to 12 pieces in a bag. ⁓ it's about two ounces. You're about 200 and 250 calories for those. ⁓ I do pack two pieces or ⁓ like pre-packaged blocks of cheese. It's like these little tillamook ⁓ cheese packets, I want to say. those are 1.5 ounces per pack. It's about 160 calories per pack. ⁓ again, if you're out in the sun, you're hot in the early season hot, that cheese will get a little bit sweaty. But I've never had it ⁓ do anything to me. It looks weird. I've even had it to the point where it's so hot that I used it for like squeeze cheese. And again, did not get sick, tasted great. It's like a grilled cheese sandwich in the woods. Snickers bar. I love a Snickers bar. ⁓ again, like I said, fat kid at heart. ⁓ 1.86 ounces, 250 calories. ⁓ I can promise you, I don't know if you like chocolate or not. If you do, nothing will ever taste better than a Snickers bar when you're on day eight or nine of a hunt. And if it's been a hard hunt, man, there's days when you really just look forward to that Snickers bar. So I would I would say think about it. And I do like the almond almond ones better than the peanut ones. ⁓ Mountain Ops, ⁓ ignite trail pack, a little bit of caffeine, some electrolytes, get those in your system. Those are always great. That's 0.44 ounces. ⁓ and then for dinner, peak refuel or you know, some other ⁓ freeze-dried meal. ⁓ peak is kind of my favorite. My favorite flavors would be the homestyle chicken rice. I really like that one. I like the chicken curry, I like the is it no, it's not lasagna. It might be lasagna. I can't remember off the top of my head. There's another one of the ⁓ it's ⁓ beef pasta marinara. I do like that one. Those are normally gonna be about five and a half ounces per package. You're looking at anywhere from 700 to 850 calories. I did add all these up. So total weight for a day's worth of food, I'm normally about one pound eight ounces, so pound and a half to two pounds. That's kind of where I'm at. ⁓ and then total calories, I'm about three thousand one hundred, maybe thirty one hundred, thirty-two hundred total calories. So that's kind of where I'm at on food. ⁓ I'm always looking for new food. The other day. I was at the grocery store. One of my favorite things to do actually, just pre-season if I've got the time. Go to the grocery store and just browse around. There's so much stuff. It's ridiculous how much stuff is in a grocery store or, you know, one of these whole food shops. There's always these little specialty brands and, you know, new novel ⁓ types of food that you can, you know, pick up and try. You know, this moon cheese, I think I've been recommended that in the past, which is essentially just like dried cheese. ⁓ bites, those are high calorie, low weights. ⁓ I've tried those in the past. They're kind of a nice crunchy snack, but there's always new stuff. So one of these days, if I got some downtime, I'm gonna hopefully run to the old grocery store and just do some, you know, perusing and see what I can come up with, something new and novel. ⁓ if you're listening and you've got something that you really like, that would be awesome. Reach out and let me know what it is. ⁓ okay, next question. ⁓ it seems a little late in the game for me, but I have been getting this question quite a bit. ⁓ it seems like people, you know, maybe you pulled your bows out late. ⁓ but I've had people asking me about bow strings. Like, what do you recommend for bow strings? What do you like for a bowstring? You know, who builds your bowstrings? so I these are the ones that I've shot in the past, and these are the ones that can kind of put my my name behind and I can feel really good about. So I think the Matthews match strings are a nice string. I think they make a really nice string, you know, they come on the bow. ⁓ I would say they've made major improvements over, you know, strings of the past. So Matthews Matt String, I'm not gonna poo-poo him. I think they make a good string. Other options though that I do like. ⁓ Jesse Smith at Apex Custom String, guys out of Idaho. ⁓ I've had a couple sets from Jesse. He makes an awesome set of strings. I really, really like his strings. ⁓ another one, Austin Kincaid, high voltage bow strings. He's out of New Mexico. That dude makes a killer set of strings. I would definitely give that guy my business anytime. Awesome set. I don't know what he's at as far as like wait time. I think he's probably pretty busy. So if you're looking for a string, you might want to reach out and figure out what your timeline is and see if he can fit within it. Same with Jesse. I know those guys are ⁓ you know, getting under the gun as far as pressure. ⁓ and then one that's kind of back from back from the dead a little bit. So it used to be my very favorite string maker was this company called Buckslayer Bow Strings. ⁓ the owner's name was Shane. I cannot remember his name off the top of my head, but that guy made my strings for a number of years and I really loved that dude's bowstrings. So I've been seeing his social media account starting to pop up again. I'm starting to see him post pictures of strings. So maybe he's back building. ⁓ I would reach out to those guys if you're looking for a quality set of bowstrings. That dude builds awesome stuff as well. So those would be, you know, three options. And then gas bowstrings. I mean, obviously people It's kind of been the go-to right now. I would say it's the the the hottest thing in string building that's currently going on. It's kind of like my this current day and age is winner's choice. If you guys are old enough to remember it's winner's choice, everybody used to shoot those back in the day, but people love these gas bowstrings right now. And I think they they probably do make a a good string. I've not had any gas bowstrings on my bow. People that I have known that ⁓ you know shoot really well, they shoot a lot, they've they've had good results from those. ⁓ I love a mom and pop shop. I love a dude that is building bowstrings end to end by himself or with a very small team. I love that because I know that ⁓ you know, they're kind of pouring their heart and soul in it as well as their name. and I like that I can, you know, reach out and talk to the individual that is building my bowstring. That's why I really like, you know, the other three options that I I mentioned. You know, Jesse Smith at Apex, Austin, ⁓ high voltage bowstrings, and then, you know, Buckslayer. So If you're looking, those would be my recommendations. ⁓ I have got a number of questions. I would say if you are kind of on the fence and you've been kind of thinking about it, man, you're it's like time to, you know, poop or get off the pot, as they say. You gotta make a decision. ⁓ okay. Last question. ⁓ and I'm not gonna do ⁓ dive too deep, hopefully, into this one because this one is. There's a lot that goes into this. So I have had some questions about the best tent setup or best budget friendly tent setup. This one's tough because there's so many options in tents, whether you're talking freestanding tents or if you're talking like single walled shelters that you pick pitch with your trekking poles. ⁓ you know, whether you're talking one person, two person, there's a lot of different ⁓ decisions that you have to make, you know, before you get into a tent. I've talked about it before. It might be interesting to know, but I I do like a freestanding tent, especially if you're hunting, you know, early season mule deer, you're hunting high country. I think it's a superior option over a single wall trekking pole style ⁓ floorless shelter. I just think it's ⁓ a freestanding tent with poles, they do better in the weather. If I was looking at that option, and again, I am certain that there are probably more budget friendly options than the ones I'm going to talk about. but you get what you pay for also. You know, the more you pay, the lighter, the better the material, the more durability, dura durable they are. So, you know, just realize if you want a you know a $200 tent, ⁓ or even you know, you you get down to your local Walmart. I think I saw some the other day as I was walking through. I think they were $35, $45. It's probably gonna be an eight, nine pound two person tent. ⁓ which is is a sacrifice that you're gonna make. But within what we offer ⁓ in the Go Hunt Gear Shop, which I think we have a pretty nice selection, ⁓ if you're looking for a freestanding tent, I really like the Big Agnes Tiger Wall. So the Tiger Wall, you're still gonna be into that, you know, 450, 500 bucks, which is not cheap by any means. there is one tent, the Big Agnes what is it called? The Blacktail. The Black Tail 2 tent. It's a little heavy, but you do have like a large ⁓ vestible or they call it a hotel, I think, off the front end of that thing, which is great for storing your gear. I had one of these and I loved it. It was an awesome tent. That one's 350 bucks. You are going to sacrifice, like I said, in the weight of it, but that's a really nice tent for 350 bucks, in my opinion, if you're looking for a freestanding tent. There are other options. you know, the hubba, the hubba hubba, those are great options for around that $500 mark. ⁓ the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2, 450 bucks. There's a lot of options that are kind of right there in that 400, 450 range, which to me it's just kind of where it's at, is what it is, right? If you're looking for a you know a floorless shelter, trekking pole dire pole style design, it's kind of tough to beat those Argolis. You if you look at the Argali Rencon two person tent, 259 bucks, that is basically just the rain fly. You know, that you're gonna pitch with ⁓ your trekking pole. It's a really nice shelter. I know Neville's got one and really likes it. There's the Oahee, which is also a really nice option for not much money. I've been hearing a lot about and I've been digging into and kind of looking at these new Durston tents. So Durston has the X2 and the X1 mid. They have the Dynema version, which is the more expensive version. ⁓ but that X2 mid, it's a trekking pole style tent for 319 bucks. Pretty pretty sick. Pretty cool looking design. I would definitely say take a look at that one if you're looking for that, that style of tent. again, this was a tough one for me to answer. I took a stab at it. ⁓ I don't know if you got anything out of it, but you just gotta kind of weigh your pros and cons. Like you know, what what style of hunting am I looking to do? realizing that if you you don't have much money to put into it, you're gonna. You're going to carry that weight on your back, and it may not be as durable as you you might hope. ⁓ so with that, that's the QA episode. ⁓ I'm sure I'll do another one of these in the future because I do get a lot of questions, and I think it's a good opportunity for me to to jump on a mic and hopefully hand over some information to folks and you know, hopefully they get some value out of it. I'm pretty excited about this season. I think it's gonna be a good season. ⁓ I'm really looking forward to it. I hope you guys are getting out. I hope you're scouting. I hope you're finding target bucks and bulls. I hope you're starting to pattern them and put a plan together in place. ⁓ hope you're getting your your bows dialed, you're getting all your equipment taken care of and and ready to rip. and yeah, I'd love to hear from you. I'd I would love to hear if you guys ⁓ find some success. So that's this week episode. ⁓ I'll try to get back next week. No promises, but I'll I'll give it a go.