Beast Gear Podcast

Well know Hunting Beast Member Joe Elsinger also know as JoeRE on the forum shares his tips and tactics for hunting Hill Country bucks in Northeast Iowa.

Joe shares his evolution as a hunter. Much of the time spent growing up on a farm in Northeast Iowa honed his outdoorsmanship from tracking, trapping, shooting, glassing, and living off the land.

What I learned:
- There is no substitute for time on foot, and time in the outdoors all year long. Scout and prep twice as many areas as you want to hunt.
- Pick your properties often, and early. Get boots on the ground to survey what is available.
- Plan your approach. Monitor more properties than you can hunt. This allows you the flexibility to pin point hunts during the season.
- Differentiate early season bedding, fall bedding, and pre-rut bedding etc..
- Know how thermals behave in hill country can allow you to hunt less than favorable winds.
- Understand how your food sources will impact the areas you are hunting; crop rotation, acorn crops, and more.
- A minimalist approach to equipment. Take what you use not necessarily what you think you need.
- In hill country, the bigger the hills, the harder the access, the less hunting pressure
- Tracks can allow you identify specific deer on various properties in combination with observations (glassing, shining, cameras)
- First time sits are critical
- We all have to play a part in sharing our outdoor heritage with our family, friends, and beyond.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/beast-gear-podcast--1484562/support.

Well know Hunting Beast Forum member Josh Beaman better know as "Bucky" on the site shares his Whitetail hunting tactics. Josh discusses scouting new properties, what he looks for in a property, how to use trail cameras effectively, how he transitioned to cataloging and hunting specific bucks, what have been his mistakes, and what have been his successes. He does all this while balancing a busy family and work life. A real world evolution as a hunter.

What I learned:
- Keep an open mind and learn for everyone around you
- If you want to hunt mature whitetails then find properties where mature whitetail exist
- Scouting takes time. Those that do it right often spend more time in the off season locating bucks and areas to hunt than they spent hunting during the season
- A picture is just a picture it is the information you gather from it that is important - wind, weather, topography, time, location, and proximity
- Patterns, patterns, and more patterns. Be a student of the outdoors and learn from your mistakes and successes. If you understand Whitetail behavior you can start to locate the best spots for mature bucks anywhere

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/beast-gear-podcast--1484562/support.

Dan Infalt discusses summer scouting

What I learned:
- Why summer scouting is important
- What equipment I need for summer scouting
- What are the key types of summer scouting
(glassing, shinning, observation stands, trail cameras, journals, and mapping)
- How to pattern a mature buck with summer scouting
- How to use the various pieces of the puzzle to locate a mature whitetail
- How to calculate travel routes and travel times with summer scouting
- How to use trail cameras effectively
- When not to be aggressive, hang back and observe

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/beast-gear-podcast--1484562/support.

Well known hunting beast member Scott Shawl (Singing Bridge) discusses hunting large remote swamps in Michigan, and Ontario.

What I Learned:
- So you want to hunt swamps? How to get started
- How to enter and exit a remote swamp (navigation)
- How to scout a large swamp without disrupting bedding
- How to overcome the vast area of the swamp, pinpoint key locations
- How to set-up in a remote swamp
- What sign to look for in large / remote swamps (tracks, droppings, rubs, scrapes, trails)
- How to utilize sign in swamps
- How to utilize natural barriers (creeks, tree falls, beaver dams)
- How thermals and wind impact swamp hunting
- How to be safe in remote swamps
- How to use hunting pressure to your advantage
- How many deer can you expect to see
- How to utilize ground hunting and ground cover

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/beast-gear-podcast--1484562/support.

Long time Hunting Beast Member and Moderator Stanley Schmidt talks about his tactics and experiences hunting Whitetails in River Bottoms and Small Woodlots

What I learned:
- How to access a river bottom set
- How to play the wind and thermals in a river bottom set
- How to combat hunting pressure on small wood lots
- How to locate mature animals on small wood lots without bedding
- How to hunt smarter, hunt the best spots during the best time
- Sometimes there is no substitute for years of experience
- Take advantage of all the info available to the modern hunter
- Use of summer scouting & patterning to take a target buck
- How to utilize small wood lot food sources

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/beast-gear-podcast--1484562/support.

Dan Infalt discusses different types of deer sign in relation to deer bedding and setting up a successful hunt.

What I learned:
- What types of deer sign I can expect to see in the woods
- How deer sign relates to bedding
- How deer sign relates to rut activity
- How to use deer sign to track / locate a mature whitetail
- When to set-up on deer sign
- The difference between sign made by a mature animal versus an immature animal

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/beast-gear-podcast--1484562/support.

Dan Infalt discusses the impact of Wind and Thermals on Whitetail Hunting.

What I learned:
- How wind and thermals can impact your hunting sets
- How to change my access based on wind
- How thermals can change throughout the day
- How topography impacts wind direction and flow
- How thermals impact wind direction and flow
- How to set-up for wind and thermals
- Use of tree stand height and wind
- Use of milkweed to track wind, and thermal currents

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/beast-gear-podcast--1484562/support.