SHOW NOTES

Intro: A day to hunt, & a big muzzleloader buck

Topic: The critical importance of intimate familiarity with your hunting area

A tale of 24 hours, a faithful old hunting area, & a Utah mule deer tag

Juxtaposition: Old areas vs. new

What to research & learn:

1. Habitat
2. Game populations
3. Summer vs. autumn ranges
4. Migration routes & times
5. E-Scouting
6. Scouting with your boots on the ground
7. Mental notes & hunting journals
8. Hunt every opportunity

Loyalty to your spot, & the advantages

1. Knowing preferred habitat
2. Knowing travel & escape routes
3. Knowing ambush sites
4. Knowing bedding areas
5. Knowing feeding routes

Old age & the wisdom gained by loyalty to your spot

Links to the Backcountry Hunting Podcast social sites and sponsor pages:

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On Instagram

www.browning.com

www.timneytriggers.com

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SHOW NOTES

Intro: Potable water challenges

Rain, rain, & more rain

Gale-force winds

Unsuitable equipment: Down sleeping bag & 3-season tent

Equipment failures: Expect the unexpected

The solo mental game: Staying productive

Extraction & weather windows

Post-hunt logistics: Prepping & flying with meat & antlers

www.browning.com

www.timneytriggers.com

Siembida Custom Knives on Instagram

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Backcountry Hunting Podcast on Facebook

SUPPORT THE PODCAST AT www.patreon.com/backcountry

SHOW NOTES

Intro: Solo in Alaska

• Packing for the flight
• Down safe, camp setup
• Grizzly bears a'plenty!
• Caribou few and far away
• One lone big bull
• Hunting, photographing, and field butchering
• Packing meat
• Near hypothermia
• Hunkered down, waiting out the rain
• An accuracy tech topic for future study

To be continued... Tune in for Part 2, when things begin to get rough.

Thanks to sponsors of the Backcountry Hunting Podcast. Be sure and check out Browning, Timney Triggers, and Siembida Custom Knives.

Air taxi services by Tok Air Service

Support the Backcountry Hunting Podcast at Patreon.com

SHOW NOTES

When elk get wise, savvy hunters employ unorthodox techniques.

Guest Randsom Owens: Wildlife Artist extraordinaire, practical rifleman, top guide, & passionate hunter

Calling Elk: From fundamentals to advanced techniques

• Reading the situation
• Knowing when to call
• Setting up to call—and optimize shot opportunities
• Knowing how much to call
• Elk vocalizations & call types
• Other sounds better than elk talk
• Triggering the "come" response by leaving
• Raking, stomping, scraping, huffing, and shaking trees
• Age class bulls & the calls they respond to
• Adolescent vs. old-bull bugles
• Tales of the hunt: Randsom's most momorable
• Broadhead for old bulls
• Randsom's favorite cartridge for elk

Support the Backcountry Hunting Podcast here

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Randsom Owens on Facebook

www.timneytriggers.com

www.browning.com

@siembida_custom_knives

SHOW NOTES

Intro: Live from the field, recorded standing under the wing of a Super Cub on a staging strip in Alaska.

Topics:

• Drop-Camp, DIY hunter prep & planning
• Lightweight gear
• Planning for good meat care
• Ethics & responsibilities of meat care
• Knowing the Regs
• Pilot protocol
  • Don't bring too much weight
  • Don't pressure or try to manipulate the pilot
  • Don't expect to control the weather
  • Don't beg to come out early
• Getting weathered in (temporarily stuck) happens. Plan & be prepared.

Tok Air Service

www.browning.com

www.timneytriggers.com

@siembida_custom_knives

SHOW NOTES

Intro: Field recording heading into a solo DIY caribou hunt in Alaska.

Topic: Rifling twist rate & modern bullets

• Rifling twists for long, sleek high-BC bullets
• Rifling twists for monometal bullets
• Altitude, temperature, and spin stability

The modern trend: Faster, ever faster

Benefits of a custom barrel (with whatever twist rate you want)

An ultimate all-around twist rate for 6.5s to .30 calibers

Solo in Alaska: notes to come

SHOW NOTES

Intro: 6.5 outlawed for elk?

Best 6.5mm cartridge: 6.5 Creedmoor vs. 6.5 PRC

Technical discussion:

• Advantages & disadvantages of the 6.5mm bore diameter
• Cartridge case capacities
• Appropriate bullet designs & weights for various game
• Limitations of the 6.5mm's

Mythbusting: Scandinavian moose & and the legacy of the 6.5x55

What the 6.5mm's are really good at:

• Extreme inherent accuracy
• Downrange ballistics (and limits)
• Mild recoil

Effectiveness on Western big game:

• Authority, & channeling what the 6.5mm's have
• What does "adequate" mean?
• Shot opportunities & picking your angles
• The 6.5mm long-range temptation

How to get the best out of your 6.5mm cartridge

• Pick your bullet
  • Construction
  • Weight
  • Aerodynamics
• Tune for accuracy

A list of favorite, recommended 6.5mm hunting bullets:

• Barnes 127-grain LRX
• Hornady 129-grain InterBond
• Swift 130-grain Scirocco II
• Berger 140-grain VLD Hunting
• Nosler 140-grain Partition
• Swift 140-grain A-Frame
• Hornady 143-grain ELD-X
• Hornady 147-grain ELD Match
• Berger 156-grain EOL Hunter

6.5mm cartridges discussed & compared:

• 6.5 Grendel
• 6.5 Creedmoor (primary)
• .260 Remington
• 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser
• 6.5-284 Norma
• 6.5 PRC (primary)
• .264 Win. Mag.
• 6.5 WBY RPM
• 26 Nosler
• 6.5-300 WBY

WRAP: Hunters tend to shoot well on game when carrying a 6.5mm cartridge.

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Facebook

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www.timneytriggers.com

www.browning.com

Siembida Custom Knives on Instagram

SHOW NOTES

Intro: An epic backpack failure deep in elk country

Tried and true designs that won't let you down

The three types of backpack:

• External Frame
• Internal Frame
• Hybrid/modular

Pros & Cons of each type

Recommended models in each type

Sizing & fitting

Packing extreme weight

RESOURCES:

www.timneytriggers.com

www.sitkagear.com

www.mysteryranch.com

www.barneyssports.com

SHOW NOTES

Scenario: You've got a desert bighorn tag that's taken you 20 years to draw, but your knee replacement just went south. It's three months until opening day. What do you do?

Episode topic: Learning to hunt brand-new country and species

• Prioritize species
• Study that species
  • Where can you get a tag each year?
  • Species taxonomy
  • Habits & habitat
  • Preferred forage
  • Bedding & cover
  • Migration routes, if applicable
  • Rut periods
  • Are they callable?
• Call biologists and isolate areas where populations exist
• Study maps
  • E-scouting
  • Topographical maps
• Final prep:
  • Boots on the ground
  • Glassing skill
  • Patience
• Hunting for success
  • The critical necessity of patience

RESOURCES

www.browning.com

www.timneytriggers.com

@siembida_custom_knives

www.proofresearch.com

SHOW NOTES

This episode is a response to a listener's question: How do you develop extended-range lethality?

Guest: Gunwerks marketing guru and precision shooter Landon Michaels

Quarter-mile capability: must-accomplish accuracy for backcountry hunters

600 yards is the new 400 yards. Here's why.

Beyond 600 yards: A whole different realm

The mentality of ethical long-range shooting

Equipment that—literally—goes the distance

• Rifles
• Optics
• Cartridges
• Bullets

Skill-based requirements:

• Learning resources and approaches
• Using ballistic calculators
• Understanding atmospheric conditions
• Confidence, and how to earn it
• Positions for long shots
• Practicing and practical skills

RESOURCES

www.gunwerks.com

www.youtube.com/gunwerks

www.timneytriggers.com

www.browning.com