The Mindful Hunter Podcast

This was the biggest Q&A I’ve ever had on the channel. I want to thank every single person that submitted a question. I did my best to answer them as thoroughly as possible.

Jay Nichol

[email protected]

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/

Merch

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop

Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/tools

Newsletter

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IG

https://www.instagram.com/mindful_hunter/

Podcast

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Well ladies and gentlemen this is either the podcast you’ve been waiting for or the one you’re gonna want to skip. If you’ve ever wondered why I am the way I am and how I do the things I do this podcast will give you those answers. I did my best to share my story through addiction and recovery as honestly and transparently as I could. Please keep an open mind.

Jay Nichol

[email protected]

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/

Merch

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop

Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/tools

Newsletter

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/contact

IG

https://www.instagram.com/mindful_hunter/

Podcast

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/podcast

Well folks apparently last week, when I thought I posted this review I actually double-posted the first review. So here's a bonus episode to fix my screwup. Regularly scheduled new episode tomorrow as always.

Battery Banks For Backpacking Review

I picked up 5 battery banks that are marketed at people who spend time in the backcountry and tried my best to figure out which one was best across a number of different categories.

5 banks tested are the Goal Zero Venture 75, Anker 525, Anker 325, Nitecore Carbo 2000, and Biolite 80 PD

My apologies for constantly referring to the Nitecore as Nightforce.

Also here’s another video I did explaining my entire backcountry power setup. 

Complete Battery System For The Back Country

0:00 – Intro

Mindful Reviews

Merch

Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide

Newsletter

IG

Podcast

I'm down in AZ with the fam for some R&R so I am throwing up some recent reviews by request. Hope you enjoy and we'll be back to regularly scheduled programming next week.

Sitka Ambient vs. Heavyweight Hoody – Field-Tested Review

After running both the Sitka Ambient Hoody and the Core Heavyweight Hoody back to back for the last year I put my final thoughts together in this field-tested review. Let me know if you have any additional questions.

0:00 – Intro

Battery Banks For Backpacking Review

I picked up 5 battery banks that are marketed at people who spend time in the backcountry and tried my best to figure out which one was best across a number of different categories.

5 banks tested are the Goal Zero Venture 75, Anker 525, Anker 325, Nitecore Carbo 2000, and Biolite 80 PD

My apologies for constantly referring to the Nitecore as Nightforce.

Also here’s another video I did explaining my entire backcountry power setup. 

Complete Battery System For The Back Country

0:00 – Intro

Mindful Reviews

Merch

Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide

Newsletter

IG

Podcast

Pap has been one of my most requested guests and we finally got the chance to sit down and chat. First, we dove into Pap’s background growing up as a guide in AZ and then moved on to a Q&A. I apologize in advance if we did not get to your question, we crushed a two-hour podcast and just ran out of time. Pap has promised to come back on though and catch us up on his hunting adventures and answer another round of questions in the near future.

Pap on IG

https://www.instagram.com/papwinkle/

Mindful Reviews

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

Jay Nichol

[email protected]

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/

Merch

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop

Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/tools

Newsletter

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/contact

IG

https://www.instagram.com/mindful_hunter/

Podcast

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/podcast

Ryan is one of my best internet friends and I’ve been meaning to get him on the podcast for a while. He’s got a super cool job as the captain of a sportfishing boat off the coast of southern California. He also gets after it and smokes good deer every year mostly in CA and AZ but branched out to ID this year. I really enjoyed this chat. 

Mindful Reviews

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

Jay Nichol

[email protected]

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/

Merch

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop

Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/tools

Newsletter

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/contact

IG

https://www.instagram.com/mindful_hunter/

Podcast

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/podcast

Dove into some listener questions this week answering things like, the best early-season hiking boots, what bow release I use, book recommendations for entrepreneurs, and much more.   

Mindful Reviews

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

Jay Nichol

[email protected]

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/

Merch

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop

Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/tools

Newsletter

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/contact

IG

https://www.instagram.com/mindful_hunter/

Podcast

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/podcast

Before we dive into this week’s episode I want to mention that the Frontiersmen Gear film Through Our Eyes is premiering on March 18th at 6 pm PDT on YouTube. There will be a giveaway live during the premiere. Go follow Tanner on IG for more details.

https://www.instagram.com/frontiersmengear/

In this review I compare the two ultralight tripod pan heads; Tricer LP and Wiser PH-170 Nighthawk. While at first glance these pan heads seem incredibly similar there are definitely some important differences to note and depending on what your individual priorities are as a hunter one of these is going to be clearly better for you.

0:00 – Intro

0:40 – Lightweight vs Ultralight pan heads

10:18 – Price

10:47 - Weight

11:56 – Warranty

13:53 – Origin

15:38 – Mounting Options

18:16 – Manufacturing quality and hand feel

21:49 – Accessories

25:32 – Additional observations

28:01 – Wrap-up conclusions

Mindful Reviews

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

Jay Nichol

[email protected]

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/

Merch

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop

Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/tools

Newsletter

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/contact

IG

https://www.instagram.com/mindful_hunter/

Podcast

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/podcast

Welcome to my most ambitious review yet. I compare 6 popular 85mm spotting scopes: Swarovski ATX 85mm, Kowa TSN Prominar 88, Zeiss Conquest Gavia 85mm, Maven S.1A 80mm, and Zeiss Victory Harpia 85mm to give you a better understanding about what makes them different, and which one may be best for you. 100% unbiased, highly technical, and overly detailed, as always!

The raffle for the winning spotting scope is now live. You can join and buy tickets at https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

Original YouTube Video

https://youtu.be/4fBi-ucLTpM

0:00 – Intro

1:47 – Mindful Reviews and the spotting scope raffle

3:36 – Tribalism and psychological marketing

5:04 – Objectivity and financial incentives

7:59 – No such thing as a “perfect” spotter

9:07 – Review methodology  and categories

13:20 – Scoring system

18:27 – Pricing

21:53 – Weight & Weight Honesty

26:25 – Length

27:57 – Angled & Straight options

29:33 – Origin of manufacture

35:44 – Descriptive Class Rankings

36:26 – Warranty

44:12 – Durability

49:16 – Hardware

53:19 – Build Quality

53:57 – Weather Resistance

58:24 – Frame Material

1:00:11 – Internal Gas Purged

1:02:49 – Construction Class Rankings

1:05:16 - Magnification

1:06:54 – Objective Lens Size

1:07:13 – Field of View

1:10:37 – Glass Quality

1:20:24 – Glass Coatings

1:22:53 – Eye Relief

1:24:52 – Close Focus Distance

1:26:30 – Optics Class Ranking

1:28:28 – Performance Class

1:35:51 – Final Rankings

Mindful Reviews

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

Jay Nichol

[email protected]

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/

Merch

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop

Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/tools

Newsletter

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/contact

IG

https://www.instagram.com/mindful_hunter/

Podcast

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/podcast

I’m back from my third winter goat hunt and while I did not kill a Billy I had a phenomenal hunt.

0:00 – Intro

2:16 – The hunt

7:50 – The difference between -10 and -20

13:40 – Limits of cannister stoves in very cold temps

16:30 – My daily routine

18:07 – My updated strategy

19:55 – Insulated booties

21:40 – Glassing strategies

26:10 – First goat of the trip

29:10 – Three Billy’s

34:40 – The little things that help

42:00 – The day 4 “Billy”

50:18 – Decisions

Mindful Reviews

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

Jay Nichol

[email protected]

https://www.mindful-reviews.com/

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/

Merch

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop

Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/tools

Newsletter

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/contact

IG

https://www.instagram.com/mindful_hunter/

Podcast

https://www.mindfulhunter.com/podcast