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The Hunting Stories Podcast
Elk. Bear. Hog. Turkey. Deer and More. Hunting Stories that will make you laugh or maybe cry; real life chronicles from the field.
The Hunting Stories Podcast
Ep 125 The Hunting Stories Podcast: Corey Jacobsen
World champion elk caller Corey Jacobson joins us to share his incredible journey from a passionate hunter to a significant influencer in the elk hunting community. Corey’s dedication to education through platforms like Elk 101 has not only transformed novices into knowledgeable hunters but also inspired my own hunting adventures. Listen as Corey recounts his experiences, and discover how his insights have left a lasting impact on hunters everywhere.
Corey's Instagram
Corey's Youtube
https://www.elk101.com/
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Howdy folks and welcome to the Hunting Stories Podcast. I'm your host, Michael, and we have a great one for you today. We actually have somebody that I've been trying to get on the podcast for a while and I finally found a mutual acquaintance no, a mutual friend. That got me connected with the great and powerful Corey Jacobson. So super excited to have Corey on the podcast. He's actually one of the original folks that got me fired up about being a hunter in the first place. I don't want to steal his stories, but they're perfect, corey Jacobson fashion, tons of detail. If you guys don't know who he is, please check him out. I got links to everything you need in the show notes, but let's go ahead and kick this thing off. Corey, again, thank you for coming on. Let's go ahead and let Corey tell you some of his stories. Thank you All right, corey. Welcome to the Hunting Stories podcast. Man, how are you?
Speaker 2:I'm great. Thanks so much for the invite.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm so glad that our mutual friend Pat got us connected, man, because I'm a big fan. I'm going to actually tell you a little bit of the story about that, but I want to start this thing off right. Normally I chit-chat a little bit before I let the person introduce themselves, but I want to tell a story and so I'm going to force you to introduce yourself quick here at the beginning, so the folks know who they're hearing some stories from today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, my name is Corey Jacobson. I run a website called Elk 101. And I just grew up hunting elk, a passion for elk. And you know, I just grew up hunting elk, passion for elk, elk calling specifically and it's just led to a lot of opportunities, including being able to basically do what I love for a living.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's amazing. Don't forget you're also a world champion elk caller. I mean, you're being very humble and we appreciate that, but you're a big deal, corey. So thank you and, like I said, I have a story that I wanted to tell you. I normally don't start this way, but I'm really happy to have you here. So I'm a newer hunter. My listeners know that I've been doing this for nine years or so.
Speaker 1:At this point, when I started hunting, I got invited by some folks and I had no interest, but I was eating a lot of meat and I was like you know what? I should probably kill an animal if I'm going to eat a lot of meat. You know, you turn 30, you buy a smoker. That's just what guys do. So I was out there smoking meat and I was like, okay, I'll go. I went in Washington a few years and I just didn't love it and I don't know why I didn't fall in love with it immediately. But I eventually did have an opportunity with a bull muzzleloader hunting and I was like, holy crap, this is amazing.
Speaker 1:Then moved back to Colorado and my brother-in-law was like hey, I'm going to be moving there, you need to start doing some research. All the previous research was us. You just rode our coattails. So now it's your turn and I was like, okay, time to do some research and actually figure this thing out.
Speaker 1:So I started looking into things and I found one your podcast, right, the Elk Talk podcast with you and Randy and man right, the elk talk podcast with you and uh and Randy and man. I just absolutely fell in love with it. I signed up for elk one oh one. But listening to your podcast and getting on elk one oh one, turn this from like a all right, I've been told I need to do some research to like complete love for hunting. So I wanted to say thank you, cause, like it was you and Randy and elk one oh one that took me from like eh, it's cold in the woods, I don't really love this. To like now, it's my personality. Here we are with a podcast I've been doing for over two years. So I just want to say thank you for what you have been doing, because you put some great stuff out there. So that's my story that I just wanted to share and I wanted to say thank you to you.
Speaker 2:Man, that's so awesome and, honestly, that's the most rewarding part of what I do is just to be able to hear stories just like that. You know it's a lot of work and people say you're living the dream, and yeah, it is. But any job you have is work, and if it's not work, you probably aren't getting paid for it and you probably aren't going to get a lot of fulfillment out of it. And so for me, me going to trade shows and just interacting with people that listen to the podcast or that have gone through, you know, the University of Elk hunting or that watch our YouTube series you know any of that and have them say that helped me or that inspired me to try harder or not to give it.
Speaker 2:you know, whatever it is just if we can be a very small part of somebody's success, whether that success is notching a tag or just going and loving it or introducing their children to it that's why I do it and that's ultimately the best reward I could ever ask for. So thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, of course. I mean, like everything you said there is exactly what has happened in my life. Like my children are involved. I didn't grow up hunting. I had no hunting influencers. Like you were my mentor through your podcast, so it's been a fun journey. I finally started getting the hang of it this year, like I finally started notching tags. It took a while, unfortunately, but yeah, in the last like 14 months I got my first archery elk. I got an archery cow, moose. I actually did an antelope too this year the two axis steers. All of that within the last 14 months. So all of a sudden it's working.
Speaker 1:But yeah, the only other thing I wanted to mention to you specifically and the listeners is the Elk Talk podcast. Recently you came out with a new series and I absolutely love it because you tell a story at the beginning of every episode but then you deviate from what we do here because we're just stories. We don't want to learn anything here, corey. Okay, so keep that in your back pocket. We're just stories. But on your podcast you tell an amazing story and then you pause and you say here's what I learned on that hunt, what I did wrong, what I did right, and I've really found a lot of value in that as well, and I joke that we're not learning anything here, but any good stories. A lesson is learned, but we don't have to dive into the specifics. But to my listeners, check out the Elk Talk podcast. Corey does a great job, randy does a great job. It's a lot of fun and it's guided me as who I am, as a hunter. So enough of that, right, I'm going to take my tissue, wipe the tear.
Speaker 1:Let's dive into some stories, corey. That's why we're here. We want to hear your favorite stories, so I don't know if you have any in mind. If you want to set the stage, we can just jump into it, and I'll try not to get in your way.
Speaker 2:For me there's two parts of it. One is adventure. You know I love an adventure. Our cameraman, john. He's always asking me what's our next adventure? I mean, we go on a lot of hunts and do a lot of, spend a lot of time in the field, but it's those adventure type ones, and whether that's you know, something new for me was hunting axis deer in Texas. We went to Alaska and hunted elk, which was an absolute adventure. Uh, more levels and degrees than than I can, even uh than I than I want to remember.
Speaker 1:That's what I remember hearing from your podcast.
Speaker 2:I don't know if I'll tell that one again, but it's uh but then beyond that is is the education, and I really I've been hunting elk for you know I've had a tag for doing the math here real quick 37 years now, 37 elk seasons, archery every year. I've hunted archery elk for 37 years Every year. There's not a year that I've skipped and I still learn. You know you mentioned you've been doing this for several years and you're just starting to get it figured out while you're ahead of me, because I'm still trying to figure it out.
Speaker 2:Because, man, as soon as you think you've got them figured out and you go into the next season riding on last year's successes, you realize really quickly that's not going to get it, so you know part of it for me is the adventure, but part of it is the education.
Speaker 2:So I it. So you know, part of it for me is the adventure, but part of it is the education. So you, I know you said tongue in cheek, you know we don't want to learn from this, we just want to hear a story. I'm going to break it down and I'm going to share some of the things that that I learned along the way too.
Speaker 2:So we talked about Alaska, alaska elk. We had never I'd hunted Roosevelt elk twice in Oregon, had opportunities both times missed both of those shots. One was from debris deflecting the arrow, which is a pretty common thing when you're hunting Roosevelt's. The other one I just I don't know what happened. I ranged it, everything was good and I shot right under the elk. So had opportunities and you would think, okay, you're going from a I don't know what roosevelt elk hunting with a bow in oregon or washington. The success rates? But they're probably four percent, five percent you know, it's it's it's low success.
Speaker 2:It's a tough hunt and then we decided to go to alaska to try and do it. And alaska, the odds are well below 1% of success. So, you'd be like okay, so you went from not being able to fill a tag in a normal place, why are you going to Alaska? And it really, you know, came back to that adventure, part of it, that story. I don't know if we need to tell that one necessarily.
Speaker 1:Rehash that that's a lot of bad memories come up. It'll just upset you. We'll lose you for the rest of the episode.
Speaker 2:Exactly. I'll just go back into that fetal position just staring at the wall and rocking back and forth and thinking I was back in my tent in Alaska in 12 inches of rain in five days.
Speaker 1:Here's what we'll do, corey I'll try and find your episode that you do tell that story and I'll share it in the show notes. So if people want to know why Corey doesn't want to talk about it, we'll just link it there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, with that being said, I have actually looked into going back and I haven't pulled the trigger and I don't know if I will.
Speaker 2:But I said I would never go back, and now it's. At least I'm letting that thought back into my mind. Back into my mind, so you know, one that we talked about at the beginning just how important it is to involve our children. I've got three kiddos my oldest, isaac, is 21. He'll be 22. My daughter, jessie, she's just about 20. And then my youngest, my son, sam, is a senior in high school, just turned 18.
Speaker 2:And you know I started hunting with them as soon as they could. You know I just taken Isaac shed hunting when he was 12 months, 14 months old, in a backpack. Uh, he sat in an antelope blind when I shot an antelope when he was three. Which, if you have ever, you want a test of patience. Try to get a three-year-old still in an antelope blind for long enough for antelope to come in and get a shot.
Speaker 1:I can't even imagine. I can't even sit in an antelope blind, let alone put an eight-year-old in there with me.
Speaker 2:Exactly so, you know I mean, they've been immersed in it since they were young, but it was never forced on them. You know I gave them opportunities and if they wanted to follow that, and Isaac, you know he ate it up from a young age. That's all he. That's still all he wants to do.
Speaker 1:My daughter. It took a little bit longer.
Speaker 2:Hers was more motivated by. You know, isaac shot an elk when he was 11. He shot a whitetail a month later. So for her, when she was 10, which was the hunting age in Idaho she said has Isaac ever shot a bear? And I said no, and she said yeah, I want to shoot a bear, so it was more motivated by doing something you know older brother hadn't done.
Speaker 2:Sam you know, I think he kind of even defied it a little, not hunting in general, but just you know he wanted to carve his own path and so he got into waterfowl hunting and really pushed it own path. And so he got into waterfowl hunting and really pushed it and I I really hoped it was just a phase and I think it kind of was, because he really came back around to elk hunting.
Speaker 2:so my three kids are my favorite and my best hunting partners and I would quit hunting for the rest of my life if I had to choose between them being able to hunt and me being able to hunt with them, or me being able to hunt and that's just to hunt with them, or me being able to hunt and that's just the experiences with them, you know, laying in a tent in the back country after a hard day of chasing elk, and just the conversations you get to have, sometimes 30 seconds, you know they'll just say something that's like wow, everything I spent the last 18 years trying to drill into your head, it actually sank in and that's, you know, you know the parent very rewarding. So all that leads to the story I'm going to tell is an elk hunt with my daughter, jessie, and Jessie shot her first elk. I think she was 15, maybe 16. With a bow. She shot, I don't know, three or four elk now, but her, she was an incredible athlete. Just you know, high school athletic, natural, natural learner, loved to do things the right way. So volleyball and basketball were her thing.
Speaker 2:Freshman year, first day of volleyball tryouts, she ended up tearing a muscle in her hip, her glute med, so she missed volleyball season and then basketball season was pretty limited. The next year made it through volleyball season and the very first game of basketball season jumped up for a loose ball, I think first quarter, second quarter of the first game and came down between two girls, landed and blew out her ACL. So she rehabbed that, rehabbed her ACL as fast as anyone I've ever seen. I mean, she was a physical therapist's dream and came back from it and played volleyball the next year, so her junior year, playing volleyball, last game of district tournament, and she just jumped up to spike from the back row and came straight down on her leg, blew out her other ACL in her other leg, goodness gracious. So that brings us to her senior year.
Speaker 2:She went to volleyball tryouts again rehabbed, came back from that just as fast. Tryouts again rehabbed, came back from that just as fast. And she came home from volleyball practice mid-august, from tryouts, I think second or third day, and in tears and she said I can't do it. She's like if I blow out another, you know, an acl again I I don't even want to think about. You know mentally what that would take to overcome and so in my mind, you know, I'm obviously I'm heartbroken. Um, as a dad, you want, you know you don't ever want to see your children sobbing, and especially for something that she absolutely has worked so hard to get to that point for so long, overcame so many challenges.
Speaker 2:But then I told her right. Then I said you know that's I, I support your decision there. That's, I know it's super, super hard, but we're going to get to elk hunt a lot more because you won't have sports in September, and so you know a little silver lining for both of us. Yeah, exactly so we she's. You know, we still just had Saturdays, she still had school and we had a few evenings, but we had a Saturday we had all day, and I think it was September 9th, 10th somewhere in there.
Speaker 2:So you know, getting into kind of my favorite time to hunt elk and we went out, had a place in mind, wasn't too far from home and we drove this road, made a big loop, got up on this ridge it's a really good vantage point and got out right at daylight and I think we hiked maybe 200 yards down the ridge, let out a bugle and a bull bugled right below us, probably 200, 250 yards right below us. So you know wind's going down, it's uh, it's daylight first, you know still pretty warm out, but we're still getting some down thermals in the morning and I'm thinking we got to get down to his level, 250 yards work across to him and this is going to be a slam dunk right on top of him. And I didn't know, you know it's not like a mature bugle, but I didn't know if he had cows and if he was by himself, didn't know if he was bedding there feeding on an open hill, so I didn't really know too much there. So my initial thing is get down at their level and move across. So we dropped down 200, 250 yards, got at his level, moved over to a little finger ridge I'm like we've got to be within 100, 150 yards of him and I let out a bugle and it's just silent, which you know sometimes they do that it's early enough in the season Maybe
Speaker 2:he's right there. He's like holy cow. They came down the hill really fast and he's coming in, so he sat there and I always get kind of anxious in those situations where you can't hear him. Is he moving off, and do I need to run and get as close as I can? Am I losing opportunity here the longer we stand here, also knowing he could be standing there waiting for us to make a move or he could be coming into us? So you know a lot of things that you don't know, a lot of unknowns there. And I stood there for probably a minute and a half and the next time he bugled he was 500 yards down the down the hillside moving away. So then, you start going through.
Speaker 2:You know, did we bump him? Did he smell us? Did he hear the truck pull up? And you know, now we're kind of chasing a moving target for a long ways here, or is he just moving to his bedding area? You just don't know. So there's a road in the bottom and the road's probably I don't know a mile and a half, two miles down the mountain, down in the bottom there. So I'm thinking do we go back up? We're 250 yards below the road here. Do we go back up, get in the truck and drive around and try to figure out where he's going? Do we stay with him? The thermals are going down, is he going to smell us? So I just decided you know what, we're going to go full send here. We're dropping down with him.
Speaker 2:So we stayed on that finger ridge, winds going down, but he's on a finger ridge adjacent to adjacent to us. I wasn't too concerned that he would smell us, so we just dropped down that 500 yards to where we'd last heard him as we're moving down. He bugled one more time and he seemed like he was a little farther away or maybe just on the back side of that ridge, but gave us a chance to be able to pinpoint him without him knowing. Hey, this bugle that you heard, whether you think it's a human, another elk, whatever he doesn't know, we're coming after him. So it gives us a little advantage. So we get down to about the level where we thought he was. Again. Now there's another finger ridge between us, we move over to it and let out a bugle and silence again, and so at that point I'm thinking all right, he knows he's being chased. We've dropped down probably a half mile and now we're committed. There's no other bugles here.
Speaker 2:And you know, it's kind of one of those things that it's a normal morning of elk hunting for a lot of us. And so I told my daughter I'm like we can do a couple things. We can turn around and hike back up. We've already dropped down here the roads. You know, just another, I don't know, three quarters of a mile below us or so we can drop down to it and then we can hike up to another draw and then hike up that draw and hunt our way up it, because there's no other prospects that we've heard here where we're at. So we decided we're going to. We're going to hike over to the ridge he's on. Thermals are starting to get to a point where they should start going up, so windy, you know him being able to smell us isn't as much of a concern right now.
Speaker 2:So we move over to the ridge he's on, get on his track. We find his track. It's the only track, so he's a solo bull. So at this point I'm thinking all right, he sounded mature, he's a solo bull. We've got to. You know, we still have a chance. He's not like he's with cows and they spooked and they're going and they're just taking him out of the country. So we follow him down the ridge another, oh, probably 300, 400 yards and I get to a little vantage point and I let out another bugle and he answers right down in the bottom, which the road is in the bottom. So now I'm thinking he's at the road and he's still bugling. So you know, maybe we didn't spook him as bad as we thought.
Speaker 2:So we sat there for probably 20 minutes just waiting for the thermals to really start coming up. Especially as you get down in the bottom there, those thermals, it's a little cooler. They're going to keep pulling down. So we sat there for a bit, bugled again, and he had moved across the draw and now is up on the other side and we're probably still a good half mile away from him, maybe even three quarters of a mile. So we move down, we get in the bottom of the creek, draw there and he's up on the other side. So now again the thermals are working against us. They're starting to move up the hillside but he's above us on the other side. So as soon as we cross the draw draw, the thermals are going to be going up. So now we have to kind of sit there and hold for a bit and see what he does. So anyway, you know, to maybe cut out some of the boring details of just sitting there and waiting, he did.
Speaker 2:He did bugle a couple times I would just cow call to him and then just sit there for 10 minutes or so and then pretty soon he'd bugle from from this place and it seemed like he was kind of holding steady there. He probably spent an hour, hour and a half in that area and we're hanging back 100 yards from the creek bottom to make sure our thermals are going up our side of the draw and not going up the side he's on, and once I realized okay, he's holding steady there, he's in his spot, he's on a little knob, he's kind of on a north face. He's probably going to bed there. And so I start connecting the dots. He's up on this open hillside.
Speaker 2:First thing in the morning he moved down. You know, maybe we didn't really spook him, maybe he's just like I got to get to my bedding area to make sure I'm protected and safe here. So it started giving me a little more confidence that hey, this bull can be called in. He's not spooked, he just had a plan of getting to where he wanted to get. But again, he's moved a good mile, mile and a half down the mountain and up the other side and drug us with him.
Speaker 2:And so, you know, we kind of came up with a game plan. We're going to drop down the draw 400 or 500 yards, get to another finger ridge that's adjacent to him, go up that finger edge, get to his level and then come across, and so that's how we're going to keep the wind from fouling things up.
Speaker 1:So let me ask you one quick question, corey. Yeah, how far removed is your daughter from her last like major injury and surgery at this?
Speaker 2:She had ACL reconstruction on her second knee knee, I believe in january and this is september, so she is eight months out. She got the all clear, uh I think, the end of july, to be able to start competing in, you know, physical activity again cool so she's, she's cleared, but you, but you know when when you're cleared, they're still especially blowing out both ACLs. There's still some mental hurdles there that she moves a little slower climbing over, blow down and stuff.
Speaker 2:We go slower. I have a video of her. You know, just with my phone I pulled it out as she was crossing the Creek. We had to take our boots off and cross the Creek there, and so she's going across and she got to a log she had to climb over and it was slower going. And I even, you know, even since, and I've talked to her, and she's like I just I don't want to take a chance, so I don't, you know she's not reckless and I'm still almost 50 years old I'm.
Speaker 2:I'm pretty reckless running up and down the mountain sometimes so it's nice to have her there to slow me down a little bit and and uh move with more purpose and so anyway, she uh yeah, she, she's uh, she's super strong, she's a trooper, but she's also really smart, and you know she doesn't take on Smarter than her dad.
Speaker 1:It sounds like yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:So we dropped down, we crossed the Creek. Uh, thermals are good. They're kind of moving up the side of our finger ridge. We're on that we need them to. So they're moving kind of away from the elk. And you know, anytime you do that, it adds we probably hiked close to a mile to get to this bull.
Speaker 2:That's four or 500 yards away from us, just to make sure the thermals are good and that's you know, it's something that I really stress that we could take a chance. We could get on one side of the finger edge he's on and move up it and hope our scent stays in that draw. But we're just we're, we're taking a pretty big risk. It's, I would say, 50-50, but it's probably way more balanced towards his side because he's betting where he is to protect himself and if we take a chance, he's probably set up to benefit from that.
Speaker 2:So we move around, get on his level, we find an old skid road. It's all grown in with alders and ceanothus and you know, pretty thick going. It's middle of the day so it's pretty quiet. The winds have all died down from the morning transition and it's fairly warm out. So as we're moving across this it's slow going just to make sure that we aren't he's not hearing us coming in and we got to a point where we were probably 300 yards away from the knob that he's bedded on. We're straight across from. There's a little finger draw running up between us there.
Speaker 2:But at this point I'm thinking if we drop down through this little draw that's between us, you you know we can keep the thermals good, but it's going to be noisy, it's brushy going down through there. We're going to make noise. He's going to know we're coming. We can take it you know an opportunity here and set up and see if we can pull him out of his bed and come in. I like to get within 150 yards of the elk, if I can, before I set up and start calling. 200 yards is kind of the minimum threshold that I try to get to, but in this situation I just knew that we'd probably bump him before we got a chance to really engage him.
Speaker 2:So we're standing there on the corner of this old, grown-in skid row it's a little more open right here on the corner and I let out a cow call and immediately I mean it's like the cow call didn't even leave my mouth and he immediately fires back and that's always a good, you know, a good sign. At this point it's noon, it's middle of the day, he's bedded and he's super interested in a cow. So I don't remember for sure. I think I gave him two or three different cow calls. He responded every time to them and I thought he's fired up enough. I'm going to throw the whole basket at him here. So I cow called, he answered and as soon as he answered I just screamed at him and you could hear air come out of the mountain Like it was just.
Speaker 2:You could tell there was a change in the atmosphere when that bull stood up and he was coming in to take care of business here and you could hear him coming across that draw, the same draw that I was afraid of making noise. He's coming across it. It sounds like he's breaking every tree on the way.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:Jesse set up five feet in front of me. She's right on the edge of this cut bank. I'm just kind of backed up a little bit to make him have to come up the hill and I can hear him right down below us, 30 yards below us, and there's solid brush there and pretty soon I hear him moving through the brush, moving to our right, and I'm thinking, ah, if he comes up to the right he's going to come up and then he's going to have a vantage on us and he's not going to come all the way in for a shot. And so I screamed at him again and I mean we're talking he's 25, 30 yards away, still can't see him because of all the brush, but he lets out one of those bugles that it's like every emotion that elk has inside of him just came out yeah, you could feel it.
Speaker 2:You know you can, just it's one of those bugles.
Speaker 2:That hits you and I can remember jesse turns around, looks at me, eyes all wide, and it's super cool, but at the same time I'm starting to to worry a little bit.
Speaker 2:He's moving in a direction that he's not going to just pop right out where we have an easy 15 yard shot, where he's lost his mind and, sure enough, he moves out of range, goes to about 40 or 50 yards, pops up on the same skid road that we're on and then goes quiet and I'm thinking he's waiting for us to make a move. He's got a vantage, he got to a point where he knows he's safe. Now he's going to wait for us to make a move and we can't move because he's going to see us moving. And so I let out a couple of cow calls and all of a sudden I see his shadow moving on the road towards us. I can't see him yet and I see legs and I'm like draw, draw, draw, draw, draw. So she's coming to full draw. His head pokes out there at about 35, 40 yards and he looks right at us and she's at half draw and tries to hold it there and he immediately whirls and runs.
Speaker 2:So it's one of those you know I mean everything here is I think anybody who's hunted elk can relate to everything the chasing an elk that's running away, the kind of holding your ground but the elk isn't coming in. Then you get this elk to fire up and he comes in and he doesn't come into the shooting lane. You need to All these things that have to work out. You get right there and then he sees you and whirls and it's over. You get right there and then he sees you in whirls and it's over. So you know we're I don't know two miles, two and a half miles, and probably 2500 feet in elevation back up to the truck, and it's at little afternoon and so we kind of sit there for a bit and I said let's just go and see where he went, you know, see where his tracks go, and obviously there's zero chance in my mind of being able to get back on him. He didn't wind us, so that's good, but he definitely saw us and he knows. Hey, that wasn't an elk that I was conversing with there. So we went over to where he turned in the in the skid road there and we followed him for about 60 yards up the skid road and then he moved up the bank to the right away from where he'd been bedded, like he's going to. You know, he's obviously leaving that bedding area, he's going to a backup bedding area.
Speaker 2:So I pull out on x and I'm looking at it and I'm thinking there's only one other ridge here that's north facing, within a mile of us. He's got to be going up on that face somewhere and the road that comes through the bottom circles around the mountain and goes right up on that ridge. And I said what do you, what do you want to do? And she's like I don't know, she's like we haven't heard anything else, bugle. So we don't really have any other choices.
Speaker 2:And I said how about this? You stay here, you wait for me, I'm going to hike back up to the truck. I, I'll get the truck, I'll drive it all the way around and I'll get back down here and we'll just go up on the ridge, up towards where he headed, see if we can find him up there and if not, we'll, this evening we'll try to find another elk. So it took me probably four hours, probably three hours, to get up to the truck and then close to an hour to drive around the mountain and get back to her. So it's, you know, four or five o'clock in the afternoon.
Speaker 1:We get in the truck.
Speaker 2:we drive up and we go up one road and get up there and it's brushed in too much that we can't drive. So we turn around and come back and we get to another road and I said let's just hike out here. So we hike out another skid road and this is all you know area. That's logged back in the probably 70s 80s so it's grown up quite a bit. But there's these old skid roads in there that you can get around on fairly good until you get to the north face where it's just all alders and just thick, thick stuff.
Speaker 2:Then you got to kind of either crawl through it or find a way around it. But we got around there and cut his track. He'd come up that ridge. We're probably close to a mile, three quarters of a mile, from where we had bumped him and there's a single bull track going right up the ridge that I had identified that that's got to be the direction he's going to go if he's trying to get out of this area. So I didn't know if we were close to him. I let out a couple bugles and nothing and it kind of got into some steep stuff that wrapped around into another area that I didn't think he'd be likely to go. So we get back, we hike back to the truck. At this point it's 630. Seven o'clock maybe, so we've got hour, hour and a half of daylight left. We drive up to a point, probably another half mile up the road. There's a really good vantage point. Get out on that vantage point and I let out a bugle and 200 yards down below us, the bull bugles and I don't know for sure it's the same bull, but in my mind I'm putting all the
Speaker 2:pieces. I'm like this is the direction he was going, it's got to be him. He let out just a very wimpy, timid bugle at that point and so I said, hey, it's going to take a little bit more work, but let's drop down. So we dropped down 200 yards on his level. I put jesse in a perfect setup. She's got great shooting lanes and open ridge that if he comes out anywhere she can see to to 40 yards. Her know she probably wouldn't shoot past 35. I think it's probably her, her confidence range there. And this is, you know it's set up perfect for for what she needed. So I dropped off the backside of the ridge and you know we didn't have a camera guy with us, it was just the two of us, and I think that's an important thing to back up before we we headed out hunting. I said, hey, do you want John to come and film with us tomorrow? And she's like, no, I just want it to be you and me. And you know, for me I love getting content and sharing content with other people.
Speaker 2:But when your daughter says I just want one-on-one time with you there's no regrets to not having a camera guy there at all.
Speaker 1:I believe that that's amazing.
Speaker 2:I get back and start calling in again. Things have changed, you know he's not as aggressive so I don't get aggressive, I stay pretty timid. I've already bugled a location bugle so he knows there's a bull in the area. So I let out a couple of cow calls. He lets out a timid little bugle. I wait a minute. I let out a timid little bugle and I let out a couple more cow calls.
Speaker 2:So this went back and forth for probably 40 minutes and I could tell he was interested. I could tell he wasn't moving away and he was kind of in the last. Good place for him to to feel safe if he went around the ridge gets out onto a more open hillside. Uh, with thermals now they're coming down the mountain. Just he, I knew where he was, he felt comfortable and the ridge that Jesse set up on was also a good place where he could come in to that point and feel comfortable. I knew he wouldn't drop down the side I was on. But I thought if I can just get him to that ridge and I could tell he was coming closer but I'm talking 10 yards in 15 minutes and then the next 15 minutes he'd come 10 yards closer and I'm like ah, you know, I I wanted to break him loose, I want that, that trigger point where I can just hammer him with something, and it just this wasn't that situation.
Speaker 2:So I just stayed pretty patient for me, which is hard to do and, uh, kept working it and working it and pretty soon he let out a bugle that had a little which is hard to do and kept working it and working it and pretty soon he let out a bugle that had a little bit more intensity to it and so I cut him off with a challenge bugle and from that point on, over the next maybe four minutes, I knew he's moving in. Now he's covering 10 yards in 30 seconds and then he'd stop and then he'd bugle, and then I'd cut him off and he'd cover another 10 yards and pretty soon I can see Jessie she's probably 40 yards from me, I can see her and pretty soon I see her body language completely change, like she goes stiff you know, release goes on the string she's
Speaker 2:looking up the hill, not moving, and I thought, all right, he's close, I've got to get him to step out. And so I see him, or I see her lift her bow up, and then all of a sudden she comes to full draw. And it's always hard when I can't see the elk, but I can see. You know whoever I'm calling for. I don't like to cow call or bugle once they come to full draw, because I don't want to stop the elk if it's not in a shooting lane, but if it's you know, stopped.
Speaker 2:I want to call to get it to move, and so it's one of those things. And I let out a bugle and I could hear a branch break. So I'm like all right, it's moving. And she didn't cow call or anything and I heard a shot and I heard a hit and so immediately, as soon as you know that happens, I take off running up to her and fortunately I had had the forethought to turn on the video camera on my phone as I'm walking up there. I'm so glad. I mean, it's one of my cherished video clips, just on the phone. Haven't shared it with anything and it's her talking about everything that just happened.
Speaker 2:And she's so excited, like she's shaking. The bull steps out she can see it coming through the brush at like 25 yards. She comes to full draw, it stops and it's standing there and she's like I'm not going to be able to hold this. I let out a bugle. Fortunately it was the right thing to do. The bull comes walking, walks right out on the open ridge where we hoped he would come to, and she didn't even have to cow call, he didn't even have a clue. She was there 18 yards broadside and she shoots it as I'm standing there. You know she's retelling the story.
Speaker 2:We hear a crash 60 yards from us, so we walk up there and sure enough it made it 60 yards and crash. He made a perfect shot and a really big five point, probably one of the, the bigger bodied, bigger Idaho five points that I've seen and you know the two of us, no camera guy there and I even said I wish we'd had a camera guy there. Just, you know, if you had a camera guy behind you we'd have captured all that and she's like Dad. I will remember that like it just happened in my mind forever. I don't need it on video and yeah, you know.
Speaker 2:So that's beautiful we sat there for the next two hours in the dark cutting the elk up and you know, of course she has a knife in her hand and she pulled the heart out and was able to. She shot it through the heart and able to pull the heart out and look at that, and so that's uh, you know, for me that is that encompasses everything great about why I love elk hunting especially we had you know, challenge had to work for the elk.
Speaker 2:We bumped it, we messed it up. We had to out strategize the elk, then we had to figure out where he was going. Um, then we had to coax him in instead of just an easy call in. There were a lot of challenges there the whole time. I'm one-on-one time with my daughter her senior year. You know it's kind of one of those things where it's like, gosh, I wish she was playing volleyball right now.
Speaker 1:But this is our sport. We're competing against the elk in the mountain here. This is our sport.
Speaker 2:We're competing against the elk in the mountain here. And then you know just that time clear skies, stars up in the sky, sitting there with headlamps, everything's quiet.
Speaker 1:And we just get to sit there and talk and share that it was. That's amazing, corey, I know so. Did you lay eyes on the elk when it was on that logging road, when the first opportunity didn't happen? Did you actually lay eyes on him?
Speaker 2:I actually had my phone out and videoed him when he came in, so that's how I knew it was him. Okay, so when you dropped it it was the same, elk Same elk. Yeah, Okay, that's what I was curious.
Speaker 1:Because you mentioned you're like I thought it was but I wasn't sure and I was like, okay, was it? That's cool, but man, that's a great story, corey. One thing that I really liked is how analytical and you knew every detail and like. It's really impressive because, like I don't know enough, I'm an analytical person as well. I'm very good at holding onto the details, remembering all these stories. I don't know enough about elk hunting to do all the things that you just did, but it was really enjoyable for me to hear that story and hear the thought process and what you were going through. And that's a great story.
Speaker 1:I have a three-year-old little girl. I also have a five-year-old little boy. My little girl, I know, is going to be a hunter. Every time I come home, she's just like dad, I want to see the head, she wants to see the pictures, she wants to see whatever. I brought back, um, and this story was, was special because I can see myself, you know, in 10 years, 15 years, when she's that same age, um, just being like take a little hayley with me and having hopefully a moment like you had, and that's what it's all about and that's what I can't wait for. I've said this on the podcast before, so my listeners will know what I'm about to say. But I know I'm never going to be the best hunter in the world, but I'm doing it all so I can teach them all of the little bits and tricks so that when they get to that age you know it's, it's, it's something that's a lot easier for them than it has been for me, and it's it's great to hear this story, man, thank you.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You know, and I think it's with selfishness. You know we think about ourselves and just human nature. You know I didn't get married until I was 25, 26. So I had a lot of time to be single and shed, hunt and hunt and really get self-absorbed. And then you get married and you have kids and it's, it's a challenge. You know, it takes a. There has to be a change there. And you know there's no doubt that when they're young they're a, they're a hindrance. You know you take them hunting. They just want to talk, they make noise and somebody that's, you know, very passionate about hunting. That can be challenging, but I will tell you as a, as a dad of almost 22, almost 20 and an 18 year old, there is, it's worth every sacrifice, whatever it takes to involve them.
Speaker 2:if you have to say this hunt is about them, I don't even care if I see an animal or kill an animal. When it becomes about them, it comes back tenfold as a blessing to be able to hunt with them and share that. And you know I made plenty of mistakes. I'd get frustrated and snap at them and tell them to be quiet when they were too young to understand why it was important to be quiet, and probably too young to be quiet. But I learned from those times and I still apologize to them, like hey, sorry, I got a little intense there. You know, it was just we had 30 seconds to make it happen.
Speaker 2:I had to make sure you knew what I was talking about and they know that.
Speaker 2:And we had uh, my, my oldest, his girlfriend, has never hunted elk before and we took her elk hunting last weekend on the rifle hunt and she shot a nice five point with her rifle last weekend on the second to last day of season and it was so funny because we're walking up to the elk and I wasn't with them. I was on the back side. I actually glassed the elk up and then they saw it and she got a shot. I was probably 150 yards from the elk and they were 170 yards in different directions and as there is, she's walking up, I'm waiting for him to get up there and I hear him say sorry, I got a little intense there. I just wanted to make sure you saw the elk.
Speaker 2:And I knew we didn't. That's me, so we just you know it's not that I'm mad at you. My voice just kind of gets a little intense when I get excited.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's wonderful, Corey, that's great. I know I have limited time with you. If you have any other stories, I'd love to hear them. If you have any that you want to tell, otherwise we could wrap it right there, Cause that was a great one. Man. It's a. It's up to you. Like I said, I'll listen all day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I I so many stories um talking about parents. You know my dad my dad is an incredible elk hunter and, uh, you know he was an outfitter and a guide when I was growing up so I didn't get to spend a lot of time hunting with him. He's gone. You know he outfitted out of state and with me being in middle school and high school and stuff I did. You know he was gone most of the season but when did the outfit?
Speaker 1:because you were? Because, were you born and raised in Idaho? Yeah, or were you living somewhere else? Okay, where did he outfit?
Speaker 2:He was in Oregon.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So he'd go to Oregon. You know it opened over there late August and then closed late September, and I think at the time our season still went until September 30th in Idaho. So he'd get back and there would usually be two or three days of season left. Of course he had a tag he wanted to fill. He was burned out on hunting because he'd been doing it for four or five weeks straight every day, and so you know, it was kind of one of those things that if I had elk located I could tell him hey, I got a bull to bugle here, can we go here?
Speaker 2:But I was 12, it was my first year hunting. He got back. I could tell him hey, I got a bull to bugle here, can we go here? But I was 12. It was my first year hunting. He got back. I think there were just two days left that we had to hunt and I think I'd killed a bear that spring with my bow. We had hounds growing up and he had treated a bear and I'd shot it, but that was the only thing I'd ever, ever successfully hunted. And you know how elk hunting is, it's you take a 12 year old out for the first time and the chances are pretty low that they're going to even get an opportunity, let alone be successful.
Speaker 1:But they're low if you take an adult with you, let alone a child.
Speaker 2:So I have no experience. I've been shooting a bow since I was six, seven, so I mean I'd shot a lot but I didn't not. A lot of experience in hunting situations. So, we get a bull to get a bull to bugle. Funny part of the story we this bull bugles and my dad's ran. He ran chainsaws his whole life. So no hearing protection. So his hearing, you know, isn't the greatest I know bull answers and I hear it and he didn't hear it.
Speaker 2:So I'm like a bull just answered, like, are you sure? I'm like, oh yeah, so he walked over and bugle again. The bull answers Well, he still thinks it's in a different direction. I'm like, no, it's, it's right over there on that Ridge.
Speaker 2:So we set up and I can hear the bull coming down the hill and pretty soon it comes down through a little opening and starts over in front of me and so I draw my bow. You know, perfect goes behind a tree. I draw the bow, it steps out, it's broadside at 20 yards and I have my bow drawn, I'm anchoring in and I'm like I'm going to take my time and I'm going to put my pin on it and all of a sudden I hear an arrow go whizzing by my head. I see the elk run off.
Speaker 2:I look down, my arrow is still on my bow and I'm like what?
Speaker 1:just happened.
Speaker 2:So I let down and turn and I look at him like pretty confused and frustrated and he's like you were taking way too long and he's like it wasn't going to stand there any longer. So first opportunity I had, my dad taught me a really important lesson and that is get your pin on the target and pull the trigger because they don't stand there, and so actually the next year he did the same thing Did he hit it. Oh, yeah, he hit it, killed it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he was only I don't know eight or ten, and he wasn't directly behind me. It wasn't like he literally shot over my ear, but it was uh was fairly close.
Speaker 2:He did the same thing the next year Um you know and I think you know you look at it like, well, that was a really selfish thing as a dad to do and and I thought that you know, in my mind I'm like you know, I'm never going to do that, I'm going to let my kids have the shot, I'm going to carry my bow. But at the same time it taught me a lot of important lessons about you know just, you've got to be ready, you've got to when that bull comes in. I've seen it myself with my kids, with other people. You know they don't draw soon enough and then they get pinned down, or they draw too early and they can't hold it back, or they draw and they're taking their time. The elk stops and looks at them and then bolts and runs. You know all these things. So I it definitely, you know, taught me a lot.
Speaker 2:Another, uh, funny story I was in college and had come home from college to hunt on the weekend and my dad was gone again and I'd called in. Well, I didn't call in. I saw this six point bull 300 yards across the clear cut from me and he answered my bugle and then stepped out. And so I'm watching him and I am bugling. I'm throwing everything I can at him.
Speaker 2:I have a video camera and we're talking old VHS that you have to hold on your shoulder type video cameras back then, Are you hunting solo or is someone recording for you? I've got a buddy with me but I'm carrying the camera.
Speaker 2:And so I'm setting the camera up and then going and calling in front of it and this bull's bugling. I'm bugling back and forth and he's just feeding along this skid road, the grass growing up on the edge of the skid road there, and he's bugling plenty and I'm bugling plenty, but he's not. He'd lift his head and look our direction and go back to eat. And so I get home. Towards the end of the season my dad gets home and I'm all excited. I want to tell him about every hunting opportunity.
Speaker 2:There were no cell phones back then. We, we weren't communicating. I didn't see him for four or five weeks. He'd get home. I wanted to tell him about all these experiences I'd had. And so I'm like I called in this one bull he's a really big six point but I just couldn't get him to. And so I'm like I called in this one bull he's a really big six point but I just couldn't get him to come in. I'm like you got to watch the video, and so I show him this. You know VHS video and we're watching it.
Speaker 2:I'm like there he is, he's right on the edge of the bank up there, and so I'm bugling back and forth and about halfway through it, my, I, my dad said we're bugling back and forth. I'm like he just, you know, for whatever reason he wouldn't come in. He's like, well, you didn't give him a reason to come in and you know, at first it's like, well, I just got insulted by my dad, you know, trying to I'm no longer excited anymore, but, it really.
Speaker 2:I mean, it became the foundation for me trying to figure out what it takes to call in elk and you know he made it very clear you have to give him a reason to come in and I don't know.
Speaker 2:You know his approach to understanding elk calling and teaching. It might be a little different with me. With you know, I was going to school for engineering at the time and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. So it's all about breaking things down into individual components and understanding the individual parts of it to make the process more efficient. And for me it really was about learning what you have to do to make an elk. You know what reason you can give that elk to come in, and that experience laid the groundwork for the way I elk hunt.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Your dad sounds like a character. I'll tell you that. Oh man, I don't know why it made me think of this story, but maybe it's also because I'm looking at this axis here over your shoulder. But maybe I just want to talk calling with such a great caller. But I told you I went to Molokai and I was on this hunt and I'll tell you a funny part at the beginning. So I shot my buck he's a good buck, probably like 29 inch buck.
Speaker 1:And then the next day this gentleman was like I'll go hunt that spot and someone else went in there and he killed the doe in that same spot. So the next day we're going to give it to another gentleman and he's like, well, it's middle of the night, like he was going to go in in. The morning is dark, as could be right. There's no lights out there, so and he's like, well, I don't know where it is, I don't know. You got to walk about two miles. He's like I don't know. And I was like you know what, I'll go with you. I was like at this point he gets up and they spook Okay, I'm like, no big deal, sit down, we'll be good. I was like I literally was carving mine up and got two bucks walked up while I was cutting mine up. So just relax, there'll be more deer. And so we sit back down and a buck comes in and so or maybe it was a doe, either way he gets up. A bunch of them spook, but this one doesn't. He has a range and he fires.
Speaker 1:And we're on the top of this mountain. There's a little trough that I found. No one had really been hunting back there. So when I found this trough I was like this is where I'll sit. He goes and he pulls back and he's got this doe and he's got her dead to rights. But he's I'm a taller guy so I didn't think about this issue. I'm about six, three and a half six, four, he's, I would guess, five, six, right around that range.
Speaker 1:So he gets onto his knees and shoots, but his arrow hits a branch and it's like oh, and like I'm recording the whole thing. So I get this and I'm like oh, and the arrow goes and I don't see what hits. But the next thing I see is a water fountain shooting out of the ground. So basically, what had happened is that branch had deflected it enough that it just went and landed in between the deer's legs. The deer was standing over the feed pipe for that trough, like a one inch pipe, and it hit that thing perfectly square, just basically split it in half. But the arrow was stuck in it. So the water starts spraying 30 feet in the air just directly underneath this deer. So the deer freaks out and everything runs off and I'm like what is going on? And I'm like what? And then we realize, you know, it takes a second or two for us to go. Oh my gosh, you just blasted like that's, you could take all of the guys in our group, we could all shoot 100 arrows, we would never hit that pipe. But you just nailed that pipe. And so now we're trying to figure out how to fix this, and so we end up cutting like a water bottle in half, wrapping it around. Then, you know, paracord, we get it back into reasonable shape. But after this, and then we all had one buck tag and like five doe tags. That's what we were allowed to shoot when we're out here.
Speaker 1:Um, I'm like, okay, we kind of blew this spot up. I was like we just caused a fountain in this area. So like I don't think we should hunt here anymore. We spent an hour trying to fix it. I was like I'm going to go walk this Ridge Cause I bet there's a bunch of access deer over there. He goes, no, no, I'm going to sit here. I'm like, okay, well, I'll get advantage and I'll see if I can see any coming in. And we have cell service. I was like I'll text you if something's coming your way. So I get up on top and there's some turkeys up there, which is funny. I had no idea there were turkeys in Hawaii, but there are. They're actually Eastern turkeys, which is crazy. No-transcript. These does Um.
Speaker 1:I dropped down, go over there and I realized, oh, I went access deer hunting in texas and I bought a little call. So I was like let me get that thing out of my pocket and see what I can do here. So I got this little like doe call, doe, access deer call and it's like and I see this, the, the does don't care, they just keep moving. But this buck just picks his head up and he's probably 300 yards on the other side of this little like ravine and he just looks at me, goes back to feeding and next thing I call again. Yeah, and he looks up again goes back to feeding and continues walking towards those does, and I'm eventually like, okay, well, this is fun. I can't shoot a buck because I don't have a tag, but I'm gonna try one more time. So I just give him another call.
Speaker 1:Next thing I know he looks up and he drops into the bottom of that ravine and I'm like, oh man. So I get out my phone and I'm like boys. I was like I know they're your tags, but like I could technically shoot them, cause you know it's not like per name, it's the to hold on to my tag. And I'm like no big deal, no big deal. And then my phone stops working and I realized that buck all of a sudden is 30 yards from me and I'm like, oh, my goodness. So I'm just sitting there Again, blank hillside, just between two rocks, and there's nothing else on this hillside, and all of I'm like are you sure, guys, are you sure? Are you sure? And like I can't get a text out. And then the deer comes to like 10 yards, doesn't realize what I am, I'm not winded. And he's just like this is where that sound came from. Well, where is that doe? And he can't figure it out and he sees me and he just can't quite figure out what I am Excuse me, poor grammar and he just he just runs off and I'm like man, that was cool.
Speaker 1:I got an access to your. I called in an access to your to 10 yards, and then my phone got serviced again and I got a text saying you know what, go ahead and take my tag. And I was like, oh, my goodness. So I spent, like you know, five minutes spamming these guys with texts, are you sure? Okay, okay, no big deal, you know, I'm just trying to help everyone. I mean, obviously I bought a call so I thought that maybe it was possible. But it was fun to call him in from 300 yards, just right to me and it's just a cool experience. And so, again, I didn't give him a reason to call, I was just making noise. So I've got a lot to learn, but it's I don't know.
Speaker 2:I just wanted to. Our YouTube project, our series we do every year, is called Destination Elk and it's just. You know public land elk hunting. Do it yourself.
Speaker 1:It's amazing yeah.
Speaker 2:And one of the things I want to do is one year, one of the series or one of the seasons will be hunting other animals that are similar to elk, that you can call in that rut and behave like an elk. And so we've already you know we've, we've started that it'll probably take us a few years to get. I want to hunt like a Sika deer, the red stags, moose, you know, just different animals that do call, and for me that's that's the exciting part of elk hunting is being able to call them in and knowing there are other animals that are similar. So I did hunt axis deer in Texas.
Speaker 2:My buddy Jeff lives down there and I told him I want to hunt them, but I want to hunt them like an elk, and he's like oh, you've got to find the right place to do that, you know on the ground running guns, stuff, Axis deer are a little easier to hunt if you're sitting over a water hole or over a feeder or something.
Speaker 2:I'm like, yeah, I want to call them, I want to be on the ground with them, and so he's an elk hunter too and he's like, yeah, let's do it. So I got to go down last summer and during the, during the roar, and it was phenomenal. I shot my bucket three yards. It was raking just like a bull elk Three yards Wow.
Speaker 2:So just incredible, and we got it all on video. And you know, the John, the camera guy, is head on the buck's coming straight at him. I'm off the side behind a little bush there Comes by at three yards and I shoot it. So I mean, you see the arrow go through it and come out the other side, the buck runs right at John. After the shot, it's, it's pretty awesome. So now we're uh, we're planning our next trips to add more species to that list and make a really cool series.
Speaker 1:That made me think of one other story and we'll wrap up after this and I want you to tell me if you think this is even a real story or not. Because I was hunting moose and I ran into a gentleman and I actually ran into him two years in a row. So last year, same unit, I was hunting elk. So was he actually his buddy was this year, he had the elk tag and I had a cow moose tag and we just, you know, connect, we're chit-chatting and he's telling me a story about how the year before they were in this particular unit, there are game photos of a 440 inch bull, like massive bull. Is it actually that big? That's the number he gave me. I can't feel, judge.
Speaker 1:I saw a picture biggest bull I've ever seen, would have been the absolute biggest bull I've ever seen. And he says that his buddy he called it in for his buddy and for his buddy set up behind this stump, so terrible, terrible spot to like be. He can't get a shot, but the bull ends up coming through and basically at draw length, so, like when he's full draw, the arrow is basically on the bull. Um, so he says that what happened? He fired the shot and hit him in the shoulder blade, which you know. No real excuse there, because you're touching the bull, yeah, but he says that because of being so close that there was no way to gain energy on the arrow. What happened was that his bow shot backwards and he smacked himself with his bow and his arrow maybe went forward a little bit, but basically hit the elk before it was off the string into that shoulder blade, which then shot his bow the wrong direction.
Speaker 1:Do you think that's? Do you think that's what I mean? First off, 404 inch bull hold on a minute, that's pretty crazy, especially in Colorado. But secondly, is that you think that that would actually happen if somebody shot something? Because you said you shot yours at three yards, this guy says six inches. What do you? What do you think about that story?
Speaker 2:true or just no, I mean for the physics of it. If you, you know you've got an arrow held back, you have all the energy in the limbs, the string at full draw. That arrow needs to get to where the, the knot comes off of the string, to be able to start, you know, to release that energy that's held in the bow and transferred into the arrow so you get the, the velocity in the arrow. So, as that arrow is moving on, the rest still connected to the string.
Speaker 2:It's not gained all of its energy yet so if he's, you know, let's just use an easy number 30 inch draw, you've got that bow. The bow pulled back, the arrow has to travel 30 inches before it comes off of the string and actually gains it. So if it only travels 18 inches and then it hits something solid, that energy immediately stops and it's got to be transferred back into that. So it wouldn't be you know if you don't ever do this, but if you're standing, you know, at a steel door and you draw your bow back and you put the end of the arrow right at it and you release it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that arrow is going to push you backwards as it tries to transfer the energy moving forward, going to take that bow right to the chin.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, you made me feel better about that story.
Speaker 2:I heard it and I was like yeah, man.
Speaker 1:I just don't know. I just don't know about that. Either way, I'm going to get that gentleman on the podcast because he knows how to tell a good story, obviously. But, corey man, this was a ton of fun. Like I said, it was an honor to have you and a pleasure to meet you, and thank you for coming on the podcast and telling some really great stories, man. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Thank you for the invite. I love telling stories and they involve elk hunting and hunting with my kids, it's even better. So appreciate the invite.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Let's do one final thing before we let you walk off into the sunset, unless you just want to walk off, but maybe tell the folks where they can find you. You know what projects you got going on, that you want to drive a little bit of. You know people to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure. So elk101.com is the website and we've got all the normal social media channels. It's elk101 at Instagram and Facebook. Youtube is elk101 is our channel. That's where we launch all of our video content and starting mid-January, we will release our seventh season of Destination Elk, and this year was a little bit unique. We had four teams of hunters, so two hunters and a camera guy, and each of those teams was sent out for eight days in the back country of Idaho and they could not bring any food with them.
Speaker 2:So for eight days we had to anything we wanted to eat. We had to either kill or catch, and there was some pretty dramatic twists along the way without having food for sure.
Speaker 1:So that's awesome. That's like a, that's like a loan kind of stuff, where that's great, maybe, maybe the next season you can do naked and afraid. How's that sound?
Speaker 2:That's a we decided uh, it was. It was challenging. Elk hunting is challenging enough. You take food away, that takes energy away and you try to elk hunt without food and energy and it gets really tough, really quickly.
Speaker 1:I bet, I bet. It's like those Snickers commercials where everyone turns into Danny DeVito because they're grumpy, that'd be a tough hunt. That'd be a tough hunt. All right, corey. Well, thank you again, man, I really appreciate you.
Speaker 2:Likewise Thank you.
Speaker 1:All Likewise. Thank you. Getting out there in the woods knowing what to do, elk one-on-one, it was amazing. His stories are amazing. His podcast is amazing. He's a great guy and he obviously knows his stuff. So, corey, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Um, for you listeners, guys, make sure you check out all of his links, but also make sure, whatever you're listening to right now, go ahead and give us a follow and a review. We very much appreciate more people find us, more random listeners reaching out saying, hey, I got a crazy story I want you to hear. But that's it, guys. Thank you so much for tuning in. Now get out there and make some stories of your own. Thank you.
