bradamckinney

Two species, two skunkings, zero regrets. Deer season has been rough so far this year, and it's not because of bad weather, it's because of the wrong weather. Sunny, hot, warm days have the deer bedded down in the timber and not moving, and our tags are still riding around in our pockets.

Eli went salmon fishing with his boss and got skunked too, but had a great day on the water anyway. Now he's setting up his own boat for future salmon trips, so the fish had better start paying attention.

We also keep the budget gear reviews going: Brad's everyday carry (EDC) knife, the one he's been carrying daily with a lot of good results.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Deer season update: hot, sunny weather and deer that won't move

• Eli's salmon trip with the boss, skunked but a good time

• Eli's boat setup for future salmon fishing

• Gear review: Brad's EDC knife

LINKS

More Oregon hunting & fishing guides: https://failedoutdoors.com

EDC Knife: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GB7NPTZP?...

We'll see you out in the woods! We'll see you in the next episode.

#FailedOutdoors #RoadHunterPodcast #DeerSeason #OregonHunting #SalmonFishing #OregonFishing #EDCKnife #GearReview #OutdoorPodcast

Three dudes, one tent, one truck that's never getting the smell out. We spent opening weekend in the Cascades, got skunked on deer, and watched one of the biggest bull elk we've ever seen run off because somebody's elbow hit a horn.

Fire closures condensed hunters into smaller areas all weekend, we followed a mystery oil trail for three miles worried someone was broken down, and our go-to glassing spot got stolen by a Subaru full of hikers camped right under it on opening morning. Sunday's audible paid off anyway, a buddy's tip sent us 40 miles out to a ridge with a panoramic view of the whole Cascades range, and that's where we spotted the bull. No deer in the truck this time, but does are moving, tags are still in our pockets, and there's plenty of season left.

We also kick off budget gear reviews this episode: Eli's two-pack of Amazon EDC flashlights, $14.88 for both, magnetic base, multiple brightness settings, and a pocket clip placement bad enough that it's cooked him once already. We put one through a field durability test by running it over with the truck. Spoiler: it still works.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Opening weekend recap: Cascades backcountry camp, fire closures, and a stolen glassing spot

• Following a 3-mile mystery oil trail, never found the vehicle

• The giant bull elk that got away because of an accidental horn honk

• A cold night in a 10-man tent and the sleeping bag system that saved it

• Why we're not buying Sitka or camo (and the case for jeans and a flannel)

• Gear review: AdamStar rechargeable EDC flashlight 2-pack, including a run-it-over durability test

TIMESTAMPS (from the actual episode)

0:00 Cold Open — the truck smell

0:36 Intro — opening weekend synopsis

1:26 Cascades camp, fire closures and roadblocks

2:54 The mystery oil trail

4:20 Our prime glassing spot gets stolen

5:45 Sunday audible — 40 miles for a panoramic Cascades view

6:56 The giant bull elk, lost to a horn honk

10:35 Skunked opening weekend, but a solid camp setup

12:49 Cold night, sleeping bag survival system

18:06 Budget gear talk: no Sitka, no camo

20:13 Gear review: AdamStar EDC flashlight 2-pack

24:39 Durability test — running it over with the truck

LINKS

AdamStar rechargeable EDC flashlight 2-pack: https://www.amazon.com/AdamStar-Flashlight-Rechargeable-Portable-Emergency/dp/B0FQMNM7Q1

More Oregon hunting & fishing guides: https://failedoutdoors.com

Coffee that funds this show — Lost Hiker, Road Hunter, Zero Dark 30: https://failedoutdoors.com/shop

We'll see you out in the woods! We'll see you in the next episode.

#FailedOutdoors #RoadHunterPodcast #DeerSeason #OpeningWeekend #OregonHunting #ElkHunting #EDCFlashlight #GearReview #OutdoorPodcast

We went steelhead fishing at exactly the wrong time of year and got skunked. We still bought half a tackle shop doing it, and we're telling you why anyway. Then it's an elk scouting recap, a truck mechanic disaster story, and going back for a buddy's lost arrow, plus a bullsnake that nearly ended Brad.

Turns out July and August are technically steelhead season, but not actually a good time to catch one. We found that out the hard way, saw one steelhead (maybe just a big trout), blew the one real shot we had at it, and went home with nothing. Eli did not go home empty-handed on gear though, we run down everything he bought chasing this fish.

We don't archery elk hunt ourselves, but our buddy Jacob does, and we scouted elk country instead, cow sightings, no bulls, nothing patternable yet. We also went back for a friend's arrow from an unrecovered bull last season, and Brad had a close encounter with a bullsnake he'd rather forget.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Steelhead fishing in the wrong month: what we learned, what we saw, and why we still got skunked

• Everything Eli bought researching gear online: salmon flashers, steelhead bobbers, Panther Martin spinners, plastic worms, nymphs, and two rods re-strung with P-Line Teflon-coated braid

• The confusing "no fishing past the painted rock" regulation signage that had us guessing

• Jacob's archery elk season, and why we're having him on a future episode

• Our elk scouting trip toward Seaside, Astoria, and the Wilson unit, cow elk sightings, nothing patternable yet

• Eli's truck electrical gremlins and the mechanic saga that nearly stranded us on I-5

• Going back for Ryan's lost arrow from last year's unrecovered bull, and the bullsnake that almost got Brad

• What's next: Cummings Creek Retreat, an excavator, and eastern Oregon scouting plans

TIMESTAMPS (from the actual episode)

0:00 Cold Open

1:04 Intro

3:02 Summer Steelhead (the wrong month)

14:00 Banter — the painted rock regulation rant

16:01 Elk Scouting, Jacob's Archery Season & Ryan's Lost Arrow

28:08 Close

LINKS

Read the steelhead guide (the right way to do what we got wrong): https://failedoutdoors.com/oregon-steelhead-fishing-beginners-guide/

More Oregon hunting & fishing guides: https://failedoutdoors.com

Coffee that funds this show — Lost Hiker, Road Hunter, Zero Dark 30: https://failedoutdoors.com/shop

We'll see you out in the woods! We'll see you in the next episode.

#FailedOutdoors #RoadHunterPodcast #SteelheadFishing #OregonSteelhead #ArcheryElk #ElkScouting #OregonCoastRange #OutdoorPodcast

Last time John Berger was on this show, he told us how he got here. This time we brought him and his longtime friend and colleague Fernando back to talk about what he's decided to do with it, turning Cummings Creek Retreat into a nonprofit for disabled veterans and first responders.

John was injured in the fire service in 1979, and lost his hand about 20 years ago. Fernando's been through his own hard recovery, a transplant that put him into a real depression before John helped pull him out of it. Together they spent 25 years teaching wildland fire safety classes across Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, over 50,000 people trained, and not one of them has been injured on the fires they prepared them for. That record is a big part of why this mission means what it does to both of them.

Cummings Creek Retreat isn't a fitness facility, it's a place to reconnect with nature. John and his partner Ron own the nonprofit and take no salary, Fernando handles marketing as the only paid overhead. The ranch has wheelchair-accessible archery courses, built around a Defender vehicle that gets anyone up the course regardless of mobility, plus an improved shooting range and a main cabin built for community, not just recovery in isolation.

This conversation comes at a heavy moment, there are 20,000 firefighters working Oregon's fires right now, and the state lost three of them in the days before we recorded this. That's exactly the community this mission is built for.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Catching up with John Berger and his friend Fernando, back on the show together

• John's 1979 firefighter injury and losing his hand roughly 20 years later

• Fernando's own recovery from a transplant and the depression that followed

• 25 years teaching wildland fire safety, 50,000+ people trained, zero injuries

• Why John and Ron walked away from the for-profit retreat model

• Inside Cummings Creek Retreat: wheelchair-accessible archery, the Defender system, the shooting range, the main cabin

• How to get involved, visit, or support the mission

TIMESTAMPS (from the actual episode)

0:00 Cold Open

1:04 Intro — The Next Chapter

3:03 The Ranch & How We Know Each Other

9:06 John's Story — The Injury, Fernando's Story, 25 Years of Fire Safety Training

22:00 The Turn — Why the Nonprofit, and How to Get Involved

LINKS

More Oregon hunting & fishing guides: https://failedoutdoors.com

Cummings Creek Retreat: https://cummingscreekretreat.com

Coffee that funds this show — Lost Hiker, Road Hunter, Zero Dark 30: https://failedoutdoors.com/shop

We'll see you out in the woods! We'll see you in the next episode.

#FailedOutdoors #RoadHunterPodcast #JohnBerger #CummingsCreekRetreat #Veterans #FirstResponders #OutdoorRecovery #Nonprofit

We've been gone about eight months. This episode is why — and it's also the story of the June trip where a wildfire burned to within about 50 feet of our tent, and we almost lost Eli's boat.

Eli, his buddy Jacob, and Jacob's dad Darren were out catfishing in Eastern Oregon's Hell's Canyon country near Ontario, right on the Idaho border, when a distant smoke cloud turned into a Level 3 "Go Now" evacuation in the space of about twenty minutes. We're not making the fire the punchline here. It got close, it got scary, and we're telling it straight: the motor trouble before it even started, what they grabbed, what they left, and how close it actually came.

Also in this one: the new show schedule (new episodes every other Friday, new articles every Wednesday on failedoutdoors.com), and a story straight out of the news — two guys in Tennessee who took a side-by-side out during an active flood warning and had to be pulled out of a creek by search and rescue.

IN THIS EPISODE

• Why the Road Hunter Podcast went quiet for eight months, and why we're back

• The new schedule — episodes every other Friday, articles every Wednesday

• Eli, Jacob, and Darren's June catfishing trip to Hell's Canyon, and the motor trouble that almost sank it before the fire even showed up

• The wildfire: from a distant smoke cloud to a Level 3 evacuation in under half an hour

• The scramble: what got grabbed, what got left, saving the boat

• Back at camp the next day — the fire burned to within about 50 feet of the tent

• A Tennessee side-by-side flood rescue, and our own history of "seemed like a good idea at the time"

• A first look at Episode 40: John Berger's Cummings Creek Retreat, now a nonprofit for veterans and disabled first responders

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Cold Open

1:02 Intro — Welcome Back

3:03 The Reset — Why We Left, What's New

7:01 The Fire Story — Eli, Jacob & Darren's June Trip

20:03 Tennessee Side-by-Side Flood Rescue

26:02 Banter

28:36 Close & What's Next

LINKS

More Oregon hunting & fishing guides: https://failedoutdoors.com

Read the full write-up on the site: [BLOG_POST_URL]

Coffee that funds this show — Lost Hiker, Road Hunter, Zero Dark 30: https://failedoutdoors.com/shop

If you've never had a wildfire close enough to taste the smoke off your own gear, count yourself lucky — we didn't get that lucky this time, we got lucky enough. Watch your exits out there. We'll see you out in the woods! We'll see you in the next episode.

#FailedOutdoors #RoadHunterPodcast #OregonWildfire #WildfireSafety #EasternOregon #HellsCanyon #PublicLandFishing #OutdoorPodcast

It’s late November and we’re back in the blind for another Road Hunter Podcast hunt. The ducks were slow, but the coots kept things interesting—we ended the morning with 3 coot, 2 ducks, and plenty of laughs.

While we wait on birds, we break down the final days of elk season: what went right, what went sideways, and what we learned as we close the book on another year in the mountains.

If you like duck hunting, real talk, and end-of-season storytelling, you’re in the right place.

Suffering Victoriously As Christians... "It is 'Go Time' to be Fully Invested in Serving Christ and His Kingdom!"  It was and seems to be once again time to be fully invested in serving the LORD.  There are four fundamental responses that need to be consistently practiced as troublesome times continue to unfold.  First, a prayer life built upon sound judgment and soberness.  Next, we need to remain fervent in our love for the brethren.  Third we need to be hospitable with a great attitude,  Finally, we need to invest our God-given gifts, talents, abilities, and resources to advance Christ's Kingdom.  The overall riding purpose is that God may be glorified in His people as we humbly do His will.

“Suffering Victoriously As Christians... Arm Yourselves with Christ's Purpose in Suffering for Doing what is Right!” As those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are to suffer like Christ according to the will of God. To accomplish this we must, "arm ourselves," by setting our mind, our intentions, and our purpose to share the gospel in both word and deed so others might become Christians! In following Christ's example, as we consistently invest our lives in the selfless sacrifice and service of others, we will grow in the holiness and righteousness of our Lord Jesus. In so doing, we will also experience the slander of those who will malign us as we lay aside our former fleshly lusts to embrace the righteous life of Christ and His love for lost souls. Our motivation in all this comes from knowing that all of us will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and be recompensed for the things we did in the flesh whether good or evil.

“Suffering Victoriously As Christians... In Your Marriage and the Family of God!”   Last week we introduced this lesson but this morning we will finish looking at the critically important human institutions of marriage and the church which is the family of God.  Remembering that we are looking at each of these human institutions, created by God, for God's purpose we will examine marriage in the same light.  Marriage is also designed to fulfill the LORD's ultimate purpose.  The husband and wife are to be subject to their God given purpose and role in the marriage relationship.  Submission to God's will in any relationship means the sacrifice of "Self."  In a person's sacrifice in marriage, to be in submission to the LORD's will, there is often pain of many different kinds.  We will focus on both the husband and wife in the LORD's call to submit to Him and His will while serving each other in marriage.  To fulfill His will we must also examine the critical spiritual nature and adornment of the wife and the husband as God's word directs.  We will conclude our lesson by examining our call to fulfill God's purpose as Christians in context to being a part of His family.  We will describe the purpose of our submission to one another and what the nature of that submission looks like.

“Suffering Victoriously As Christians... In Your Marriage and the Family of God!” In the past few weeks we have learned that we are to be in subjection to every human institution such as civil governments and the institutions were we are employed. This morning we will look at the critically important human institutions of marriage and the church which is the family of God. Remembering that we are looking at each of these human institutions, created by God, for God's purpose we will examine marriage in the same light. Marriage is also designed to fulfill the LORD's ultimate purpose. The husband and wife is to be subject to their God given purpose and role in the marriage relationship. Submission to God's will in any relationship means the sacrifice of "Self." In a person's sacrifice in marriage to be submission to the LORD's will there is often times pain of many and varied different kinds. We will focus on the both the husband and wife in the LORD's call to submit to Him and His will while serving each other in marriage. We will conclude our lesson by examining our call to fulfill God's purpose as Christians in context to being a part of His family. We will describe the purpose of our submission to one another and what the nature of that submission looks like.