BONUS: Planning Future Hunts Like Someone With a Touch of the ’Tism

Foreign to the Hunt West Podcast, here's your host, Jaden Bales. What is up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of the Hunt West Podcast. This is your host, Jaden Bales, here for a bonus episode this week before September kicks off. I'm really excited for this fall hunting season for a zillion reasons. There's going to be a ton of different new hunts I'm excited about, and for a large portion of it, I'm going to be there with a bunch of good buddies, going to have a bunch of good friends and clients that are repeats, and I'm really excited for all of that. However, one of the things that is sitting here in the back of my mind is thinking about 2026 and beyond hunting plans. As I'm formulating what's happening in my tag strategies and in future tag draws, I'm sitting here thinking about how can I set myself up for future success on future hunts with this hunting season. So we're going to be covering that today in this shorter bonus round, and we're going to be talking about three things that I think you should be doing in order to prepare yourself for future hunts while you're out and about this fall. Another goal of mine on this episode is to say way less because it drives me nuts whenever I'm editing these podcasts and looking back and listening to these podcasts, I think it's annoying and you probably do too. So we're going to try to eliminate the ums from here on out for everybody else who doesn't notice or or hadn't noticed until this point. I apologize, because now all of them are going to stand out to you. But stick with me here. I think I'm just going to do my best to get better as a podcast host for everybody and as a podcast guest for everybody else as well. So. So thank you again for sticking with me while I'm improving and getting better at all this stuff. You guys have been awesome and your feedback is. It really fuels me. So keep it coming. Okay, let's talk about turning 2025 hunts into 2026 wins. I just sent out the Hunt West Digest email all about this exact topic. The Hunt West Digest email, if you're not subscribed, it is a weekly email that goes out every Sunday morning and I'm going to keep it capped at a thousand people. We're not there yet, but I just want you to know if you get in now, you're going to be on the ground floor for a capped email. I'm going to stop Taking subscribers. Once we hit a thousand, we're about halfway there. So that email in particular goes into some really specific kind of schooling things every Sunday. I did one last week about expected tag or excuse me, I did one last week about expected shot distances and expected shot positions, like shooting positions. And that was a really good one. Gotta go to. I got a ton of good feedback on that and I think if you're not subscribed to it, you're missing out, especially if you like reading. And that's a medium that makes a lot of sense to your brain. It's a great quick hit in Sunday email. You should go check it out. That's all to say. This week's is talking about turning your 2025 hunts into 2026 wins. And today I want to elaborate more on that. There's only so much that you can say in a short email in a way that is easy to digest and easy to understand. But I'm going to give you a few stories about each of these three steps, each of these three tips to make your 2025 hunts into 2026 planning. And it's really not about like keeping that out of the forefront of your brain. It's more like you, you're sitting at a chess table and you're the fellow with a little bit of tism and you're just always thinking about the next step or 5, 6 steps ahead based on what you're seeing on the board. So the first part of doing that is as you're driving out to your unit, as you're driving through a state, you know, if you are someone who lives out east and you drive through Wyoming to get to Idaho, or let's say that you live down in Texas and you drive through Colorado to get to Wyoming, you know any of these sort of orientations of driving through good hunting country, One of the most important things you can do is pull off to the side of the road. Especially if you're doing an all all nighter drive and you're hitting a good mountain range or a good pocket of country right as it's getting dark, pull over and glass for 10, 15, 30 minutes of really good glassing light and see what's around. I'm not saying you're looking for an animal to chase in 2026, but you're getting an idea of what this terrain and what this country looks like and how it all lays out. For instance, my 2024 elk hunt was one that I developed by driving through on this mountain pass road en route to something Else and pulling over and doing some glassing. I glassed up elk and deer from the highway in the middle of the, you know, nowhere on these mountains. But it wasn't even a hunting trip. It was a work trip. And I was just driving through. So from that intel, I was able to say, cool, there are elk right here. I know kind of roughly, looking at onyx, how they were going to be using this country. And I really like the habitat that is that I can see from this road. There was a big burn back in there, and I. I love hunting that. It's more of a spot and stock style. That. That really is right up my alley. And of course, there was animals there, right? So I looked at that on the map, and I put a pin in that in the back of my brain. That was 2022 when I drove through that unit. And it wasn't until preparing for 2024 that I realized that this is a great year to pull the trigger, put in for that elk tag, plan to do some deer hunting up there. And again, it was just like a data point sitting at the back of my mind that I used two years later. This is how you kind of build your own library of knowledge for future hunts. This is one of my favorite things to do, and it annoys the heck out of anybody I'm driving around with. But whether I'm just going on a skiing trip with my girlfriend like we did last winter, and I pulled over and looked at elk off the side of the highway, or you're traveling specifically to your hunt, this is something that you should definitely have at the forefront of your brain. Pull over glass for future hunts, Check out country and add that to your little library of knowledge, because especially when you're driving through someplace that takes a long time to get to it, it will, in and of itself eliminate a scouting trip. And it's really banking a micro scouting trip from your travels to inform your future applications and your future hunting plans. So pulling over and glassing for future hunts is one way to do it. Another way to be thinking about the next hunt down the line is to, in your brain, swap season and swap species. One of my constant conversations I'm having with people who get tags in Wyoming is sending them on an elk hunt this year and also mentioning, hey, there's some good deer in there, and that deer season is in a different time frame. Maybe in some places they overlap even, but that deer season is also good in that country. Be thinking about how people use that ground. Be thinking about what looks like good Deer habitat versus good elk habitat. And then, of course, while you're elk hunting, be thinking about what kind of deer you're seeing while you're sitting there glassing. It's one of my favorite things, like I said, to talk about in Wyoming, but it's also really popular in Colorado as well. There was a fellow that I helped with this last week named Adrian. He is developing a hunt plan with me for a Colorado archery elk hunt. He developed that hunt plan, or he developed his application strategy for the archery elk hunt based on seeing elk. While he was deer hunting in September in a neighboring unit. He just kept saying, like, well, we saw some elk on the edge here, and it seemed like that whole other unit would be really well suited for elk. But he was able to be up high on the mountain deer hunting, looking into another unit and going, man, that looks pretty good. I think I would like to hunt that. And then him and I sat down on a session and we sussed out how beyond just the little pocket that he knows has some elk, how he can develop a really good game plan and maybe find a couple of little gems that stick out on the. That don't. That don't stick out on the map that other hunters won't be in. I really, dude, applaud Adrian for having that foresight. He's a classic example of someone who comes to me who honestly has a really good idea of how he wants to hunt a place, but will come to me and say, what am I missing? And I do that with every single hunt of mine. I'll say, what am I missing? I'll call a biologist and say, this is my plan. What do you think about this? Or I'll send some pins over to a buddy, say, what am I missing about this? Because there's always going to be time to kind of find little pockets and get a different opinion or get a different perspective on a unit and turn up little pockets that you haven't thought about. But this is all to say that that that whole process starts first while you're in maybe the same unit or in the neighboring unit hunting a different species and a different season. I think people who are coming all the way across Montana getting ready to hunt elk on the western side, you're driving through hundreds of miles of what people consider is some of the better deer habitat in the state. As you're driving through Montana, it makes a lot of sense to also be thinking about how you might deer hunt that maybe even in. Later in the same fall. You know, one of the things you can be doing while you are out. And let's say you don't want to hunt eastern Montana, but you have a combo tag, you're going to archery elk hunt in September in a place I would be keeping my eyes out even just for this 2025 season, but for 2026 and beyond be keeping my eye out. How's this country layout? Where do the deer going to be in later seasons when I want to hunt them in the rut? If I want to hunt them in the rut, maybe I'd also be thinking about it like, okay, cool, I'm hunting elk in this habitat right here and they're hitting this low ground, but between here and there there's a burn. And I think that could be loaded with deer for future years or future trips. Those are the kinds of things while I'm thinking about hunting one species at that exact moment and during that season, I'm thinking about how this whole landscape map out and piece together for other species and other seasons that I'm going to be in that country. Thinking bigger picture is pretty much the, the third really core piece of all this. If you're getting ready to go on a Wyoming elk hunt, you just burned all your Wyoming points. Great, that's cool. You are going to basically be starting over from your point perspective and maybe you're going to be thinking about random tags, etc. But on the back of that, you're going to be hitting the end of this fall and realizing like the Idaho non resident over the counter and cap tags draw is in December. You got to be thinking about, oh shoot, you know, I'm going to be. This is really common for people listening and I hate to stereotype, but this is exactly what I would expect. You're going to come out and hunt elk in Wyoming in October and you're going to get home and right about then it's going to be about Halloween or maybe a little bit into the first part of November and you're going to be thinking all about whitetails and you're going to be sitting there planning your whitetail hunt and you're going to be sitting in the tree stand and be doing a lot of of time on your kind of bread and butter hunts. Or maybe you live out west and you're thinking about hunting rutting whitetails or mule deer out here and then all of a sudden you finish your last bite at Thanksgiving dinner and realize, oh crap, I have two weeks until Idaho's draw is is going to happen in December. That is going to Sneak up on you really fast if you're not thinking about that already. So whether you have an Idaho hunt this year and you can apply the two first principles or you don't even, you're not even going to be close to Idaho, but you know that you need to come up with a game plan for, for hunting elk in 2026. You gotta be thinking about how this calendar lays out. The calendar doesn't really wait for anybody to do their planning, and oftentimes it sneaks up on people. So thinking about that later in the, in the year, the how things are going to all of a sudden just start cascading and you're going to start having tag applications come due right on the backs of this season is really, really important. So you got Idaho non resident tag draw in December, and then you roll right into Wyoming and Arizona elk in January. So folks need to be thinking about how you're going to be, you know, playing the game not just this year, but in future years as well. On the backs of that, there also are points only application periods in Wyoming, in Oregon and in Montana, the Oregon one doesn't end until November. I believe the end of October is when the Wyoming points shut off, and the end of September is usually when the Montana points shut off. So between now and then, you all need to be purchasing points. And honestly, I need to buy some Montana points. I keep forgetting to do that. But y' all need to be buying points during this points only period to be thinking about and setting up future hunt expectations and future hunt plans. Right now it sucks because you're in the middle of planning all these other things you're thinking about, oh, I need to get new truck tires. That actually is me. I got, I've got new truck tires coming on the way, and I'm thinking about, okay, I got to go swing by here and pick up some extra gear. I got to replace my. I have to stitch together my Bino harness. And I'm not very happy about it, but it's, it's been put through the wringer, so I can't blame it. But I got to do all these little tiny things. But on the back of that, I still got to buy my preference points and bonus points in Montana and in, you know, Wyoming, I've already, I've already bought those, but. And then in Oregon, I think I'm already good too, but you get the idea. You got to be thinking these things at the back of your brain so you don't fall behind, you know, treating apps like an extension of hunting season is really critical. And having all of these things kind of marbled together in one big picture game plan is really, really critical. So here are a couple practical takeaways from this little bonus episode. Keep your eyes open while you're hunting. You're going to be learning something while you're driving through units today for a lot of hunting opportunities tomorrow. Sometimes the best intel comes from your own boots and binoculars in the field. So if you're hunting one species, whether it's elk hunting and you see deer or you're deer hunting, you see elk, or you're elk and deer hunting and you see a black bear or whatever the case is, you're driving through the prairie and you see a bunch of pronghorn. Keeping that intel fresh in your mind is really, really important. And probably just opening up your phone and jotting down some notes for future applications is going to save you a ton of time and a ton of legwork in the future. Drop plenty of onx waypoints and like I said, make notes, take photos. One of my favorite things to do is if I see a mountain range that looks good. I did this in January when I was driving through parts of Montana on a on a ski trip. But driving through this area, I would pull over and of course this is the eye roll from my girlfriend. But I pull over, I'd be like, this looks sweet. Take a photo, drop a waypoint, upload the photo to my waypoint and I'm good to go. It takes just a couple minutes out of your drive, but it is going to be well worth it when you think about how did I want to get into there again and how am I going to piece together these plans? That's really, really important. Okay, I've hashed out these really three quick steps to making sure that you're keeping future hunts in the mind in this fall. I hope this doesn't overwhelm you because again, I just wanted to keep it simple with these three things. You know, pull over and glass for future hunts when you're driving through places. Swap season, swap species, and then think bigger picture. Don't let the tag applications and point games pass you by. Just make sure you're on top of that stuff with a good calendar. Essentially, all of this stuff comes together and builds just such a rock solid game plan. You'll go from someone who's scrambling to try to get a hunt this year to someone who's got more hunts than they know what to do with. Which for me and all my friends who've Been doing this for two, three plus years. I mean I've been doing this since I guess I was 12 years old in Oregon. People who have just even a couple seasons of doing this are going to be set up way, way better to invest in to future fall seasons than someone who just flies by the seat of their pants. One last thing I wanted to leave you all with. I have until September 1st to put together some more Hunt west sessions. A session is basically us sitting down, breaking down your unit and talking about a successful approach with your style and with your expectations baked into it. We talk about your gear limitations, your vehicle limitations, your physical limitations or lack thereof, and how you might approach and plan for these hunts. We've been doing a bunch of them lately and I just wanted to make sure that everyone who listens knows you can still get in on a session while you're thinking about all these extra things that you know there's still time to plan really, really well for this fall and future falls as well. That's why for this next week, literally just one week. So if you're hearing this on September 1, 2025, you've missed the boat. But for this next week you'll be able to schedule a session and I'll also highlight a few of these future looking expectations. You tell me you're living in Texas and you're driving through Colorado to Wyoming. I'm going to maybe build you a little route to get around and, and look at some future hunts. You're someone who's driving across the entirety of Montana to go hunt Idaho. All right, well, let's point out some mountain ranges and some things to be thinking about because you're sitting on a point or two getting ready to hunt Montana. Those are the things I'm going to throw in on top of the normal Hunt west session where you get pins and a session replay and a couple of really important notes be thinking about before your 2025 season as well. So take me up on it. Shoot me an email jaden huntwest.net and we can get one just cranked out. You might have to be a little bit flexible with some odd hours and I sure am. So just be interested and willing to get the information to make your hunt as good as possible that we can make it. So I'm really excited to work with you if you're in that position. Okay. That's been a long sales pitch and I don't normally do those things. So I appreciate you all listening. Feel free to share this with your hunting buddy who's a terrible planner because it might kick their butt in gear. And be thinking about those 2026 hunts as you're diving in to your 2025 fall seasons. Good luck out there guys. I'm really rooting for you. Thank you for listening to the Hunt west podcast. If you like what you heard today, the best compliment you can give is to share the show with a friend. We will see you on the next episode and we hope one day to see you Hunt West.