6 Ranch Podcast

September 6th through the 14th: my favorite and most successful time of the season to kill elk. We're continuing this series on elk hunting tactics with two powerhouse hunters; Kody Kellom and Trent Fisher of Born and Raised Outdoors. These Oregon natives have been hunting elk for the past 26 years, and their combined knowledge and experience is priceless. Recently, the guys at Born and Raised teamed up with state champion duck caller, Eric Strand, to create Born and Raised Call Co. This episode is packed with great advice, from calling and locating techniques to managing fatigue throughout the season. We also get into the mistakes we've made along the way, so you don't have to make the same ones. 

Born and Raised Outdoors
Website
Instagram
YouTube

Shop Born and Raised Call Co.

Part two of our series on early season elk tactics continues with a brilliant hunter and elk caller, Les Welch. Les has been hunting since he was three. Growing up in Northern Wisconsin, he chased small game, whitetails, and bear with archery, rifle, and muzzleloader. Around 2006, Les decided that he wanted to hunt elk and antelope out west. He put in 2 years of research before embarking on a life long obsession with elk hunting. Year after year, Les has been wildly successful at archery hunting big bulls on public lands. Today, Les and I talk elk hunting strategies that you can implement right now, as we roll into September. Good luck out there. 

Les Welch on Instagram 

Throughout archery season we will be releasing a series on elk hunting tactics. These guests will be the greatest elk hunters alive today,  here to give some advice that might change the way you hunt forever. First up is Ryan Carter, guide and owner of DC Outfitters in southern Utah. Ryan is beyond knowledgable. This guy has spent more hours studying trail camera footage, and hiking elk country than you can imagine. Ryan will be walking us through how to plan in the preseason, and covering how to be successful if you're elk hunting from August 20th through September 5th. Ryan is known for taking monster bulls on public lands, and if you want to learn how he does it year after year, give Part 1 of this series a listen.

It's been a tough week, as we watch, with heavy hearts and minds, as Afghanistan fall into Taliban control. As a Marine who served in Afghanistan, I knew this was coming, but it still hits me hard. This past week, I've heard a lot of rumors and untrue statements about this very complicated issue. In order to understand what's happening right now, and dispel some misinformation, I wanted to take a moment with you and discuss the history of Afghanistan over the past 2,500 years. I think that it's important to know where this country and these people have come from in order to understand what is happening today and what might be to come in the future. 

This week I'm recording in Soldotna, Alaska, where I recently took a tour over this rugged landscape in a Cessna 185, piloted by Dustin Moore. Dustin works in the oil and gas industry, and is a bush pilot on the side. Alaska is enormous, 663,300 square miles, much of which is fairly untouched. With his float plane, Dustin has the opportunity to explore, hunt, and fish some incredible and remote places. In this episode we get into what it takes to become a bush pilot, the pros and cons of tires, skis, and floats, and some crazy stories about loosing large chucks of plane mid-air. 

Dustin Moore on Instagram 

A good knife is probably the most useful and versatile tool you can have. In fact, humans were using knives to cut meat before they were cooking that meat over a fire. Mike Rowley has been interested in knife making since he was a child. A high school teacher in my hometown, Mike is self taught and has been honing his forging skills for the past 8 years. He competed on the History Channel’s show “Forged in Fire,”  winning first place with a beautiful pair of tomahawks. Mike and I discuss what to look for in a good knife, how they’re forged and sharpened, and we bust some of the most common knife and metal misconceptions out there. 

Mike Rowley
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube 

For the past 22 years, Rachel Ahtila has been working in hunting camps and guiding for pretty much every major game species in the Pacific Northwest. As a fellow guide, I know how important it is to go hunting yourself, and I also know that it can be difficult to take the time to do so. This year, Rachel is doing just that, with an upcoming stone sheep hunt, and hopes of later harvesting a Canadian moose, mountain goat, caribou, and elk. In this episode we discuss what it means to be a good hunting guide, from both the client and professional's perspective.  Pro tip: you can't control the wildlife, but you can keep your clients warm and fed. 
 

Rachel on Instagram 

Chad Dotson has devoted A LOT of time to observing game animals, in Africa and right here in Northeast Oregon. He's spent a couple of stints in Namibia trading work on a large game ranch for room and board. There, he had the opportunity to harvest an incredible kudu, amongst other species. Since 2013, he has guided for elk on the Zumwalt Prairie, an enormous grassland here in Wallowa County. During that time, Chad has recorded information on every animal harvested to understand how a bull's age relates to its Boone and Crockett score.  Chad has gained some interesting insight on elk and their behavior through this work. In this episode, we get into what we have learned about the animals we watch, hunt, and love by telling some of our most memorable hunting stories.

Chad on Instagram

There's no one in this world that I respect more than Jack Ramson. He currently serves as a USMC First Sergeant with the NWSS Unit for the Air Wing. I first met Jack at tank school in Fort Knox, Kentucky where he was one of my instructors. After deploying in Afghanistan as a Tank Platoon Commander, Jack eventually joined my platoon serving his last combat deployment as my wingman. Words cannot describe what this man means to me, or how grateful I am to have served with him. In this episode, Jack and I discuss the ins and outs of the M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank, the history of tanks, our thoughts on the Marine Corps getting rid of their tank battalions, all while applying some lesson we learned as tankers to hunting. 

Laura Zerra is the real deal. She's a primitive survivalist, hunter, and nomad who has competed 5 separate times on the Discovery Channel show “Naked and Afraid", living a total of 156 days in full survival mode. As a former vegan turned hunter, Laura's relationship to hunting is both fascinating and relatable. Through hunting, Laura has connected with animals and the land in a deeper way than ever before. Laura has the mental toughness, skill set, and knowledge to push through difficult, and often dangerous, situations. Her tips for survival can and should be practiced both out in the woods and through everyday hardships. 

Laura's website

Laura on Instagram

Laura's book: A Modern Guide to Knife Making