Lessons from the Field and Gear For Traveling Hunters with Seth Oren

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To the Hunt west podcast, here's your host, Jaden Bales. What's up, everybody? Welcome to another Hunt west podcast. Today's guest is Seth Oren. Seth runs a sweet company called Deep Fork Rentals, and I'm really excited to get him on here. We've been connecting the last couple months. Really got to know him a little bit, and I honestly don't know a whole lot about his background in Western hunting. I haven't heard any great stories yet. I figured this was a good excuse to get him on and tell some lies. Seth's on the other end of the line. Seth, how are you this morning, man?

Doing good, Jaden. Happy to be here, actually. Ecstatic to be here. It's always good to talk. Talk hunting on a Friday morning, of all things, and excited to. Yeah. Share some stories, learn about each other. We've been obviously working together here for a little bit now yet this spring, and. Yeah, just excited to tell our story, who we are and what we can do for some of the people looking to go out west this fall.

No, that's great, man. You and I were talking a little bit before the podcast, and you're originally a Midwest man, right?

Absolutely. Yep. Grew up in southern Wisconsin, so we. I stayed there for. Well, I. I headed west in 2021 and live in Idaho now, but grew up, like I said, in southern Wisconsin. Grew up hunting Midwest whitetails, pheasants, ducks, pretty much anything, you name it. And, um, I. My girlfriend and I decided to move west out to. She goes to Idaho State university in Pocatello, Idaho, 2021, and I convinced her to go out there so I could take part a little bit more in depth in the. The elk hunting and the mule deer hunting after doing my first hunt out west and I think 2018. So that was. Yeah. But we're actually in the process of coming back to Wisconsin now, so things come full circle and we're excited. Gonna be excited to be back, too, so.

Oh, that's great. Well, and you get that lifetime license in Idaho, so it's not like you're. Yeah. You'll be able to keep coming back as much as you want.

And a funny story about that. So I'm kind of one of those people. It's hard to. We got married out in Idaho this last summer, and I'm kind of one of those people. It's hard to buy a gift for. So what was really cool is some of the guys in my wedding that was their gift to me was a lifetime hunting license in Idaho. For a wedding gift. So, yeah, worked out perfect.

Yeah, you chose the right guys to go to the wedding, that's for sure. No, that's great.

Cool.

So what was that first hunt like in 2018?

Yeah, so we did of all things in Archery Nebraska. This is. Yeah. Archery Nebraska hunt for the opener. And it all started. We were. Went to school in University of Wisconsin Platteville, so southwest Wisconsin, and had some buddies. And it's kind of one of those things we, you know, would always sit around and talk about doing. We need to go out west. You know, you see all the pictures and podcasts and videos and things on YouTube and so one night decided to pull the plug and said, all right, let's. We've been talking about doing this for three years. Let's. Let's just start something kind of basic, something close to home. Living in Wisconsin at the time, it's only a 13 hour drive. Something easy. At that time, tags were over the counter. So we basically threw a date on the calendar for the Labor Day weekend and headed out there. And I wish at the time we knew, obviously we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into, but how we really ran into some great deer. And it was one of those things where it's like, I probably will never run into that many good deer again in my life. But it was totally the hook that was like, this is something next worldly and how do I start to really dive in and learn more and. And you go down that rabbit hole of, okay, you start with your first western hunt and it's usually something beyond what you could even imagine. And next thing you know, it's like, here you go five years later. And I got points in like eight different states, you know, and I mean for three different species. And that's, that's what's so exciting about getting into that western scene, is just where your imagination could take you and. And how the snowball really starts to roll down the hill. So.

Dude, I totally agree. What were, what were some of like the mistakes or good stories you guys made that first year?

Oh, yeah, there was. We. We did more things wrong than we did right. Which is. Is probably, I feel, almost common. I mean, we try to, you know, obviously when we have new folks that work with us, go out west, try to kind of say, here's some of the things to anticipate because of all the mistakes that we made. I would say our biggest mistake being that we are archery hunting is just like everybody how many stocks we blew because of stupid mistakes. I mean, not Waiting for the wind to be right. Like, seeing, you know, something that you wanted to stock and just bombing in there. I think one of the things, and I know we've talked a little bit about this, Jaden, that, like, definitely I've learned, as I've, you know, this will be what year seven or eight, something like that in the western scene is like, being a lot more patient. And so, obviously, from a glassing standpoint, just because it is so different from the Midwest, just the size of what you're looking for. I was looking for school buses when I first started glassing out there. You know what I mean? I mean, because you don't realize how small deer actually are in the. With how big the country is. And so just trying to. Basically, when you start glass and understand the frame of reference, I guess, is the term I'm kind of walking into. Because, I mean, we. There was this canyon that we ended up hunting, and we blew through the whole thing. I mean, half hourglass, they ain't here today. And it's like, as we kind of went through that first week of hunting, it's like there was a lot of deer in there. We just didn't know what to be looking for in terms of size. And you skip over so many things. So I'd say understanding the. The ratio of the size of the deer to the country you're in or whatever species of game it is. One thing that we do a lot, and I tell people, is once you kind of find that first dough, generally, you know, it steps out in the morning, and it's like, okay, deer up. Like, kind of keep her in mind. And after 10, 15 minutes, if you're not seeing more come out, go back to her, check on her or it. Whatever it is, and understand, oh, I might have been looking too big for the country I'm in again, you know, and keep using her as a reference point for when you're glassing in that big country. So I would say those two things. Blowing stocks, being patient, just not, you know, not really just taking all the factors into account and diving in there. Like, there's times now where we'll wait. I mean, if you see him midday, it's like, okay, let me learn him a little bit and go in after him the next day. I mean, wait a whole day on him if, you know, there's nobody else in there, you know. But those would be the two biggest things. Frame of reference and glassing, and being just a lot more patient, which is the hardest thing to do, especially when he's a good one. Yeah.

Yeah. No kidding. Well, that's one of the things that we always talk about. Even if I'm just like, spring bear hunting, I'm like, I need to see an elk or a deer or like, something else, you know, because you got. I got to get a frame of reference, what I'm looking for. And then once they. They pop out, you're like, ah, well, duh, there it is.

Yeah, exactly. Absolutely. Absolutely. So, yeah, and then I think it's hard, too. Like, I had a. I had a hard time last year because I elk hunted really hard last September, which is. I'm not complaining about that. It was awesome. But just even that transition from elk back to deer, when you've been glass and elk for a. For a long time and, you know, for a month, and it's like, man, I had to really kind of dial back in on the deer come October in Idaho to start finding deer again, because I was just looking for things three times the size of what I. You know, what I was looking for. We always call it. You're looking for a school, like when we got buddies and they. I ain't seeing. Quit looking for school buses, you know what I mean? Look small, you know, Wait, wait, wait for just those subtle movements and. And look for those colors that, you know, are kind of off in the landscape, you know?

Yeah, well. And it seems like you've got a little bit of the mule deer bug, which is, you know, man, after my own heart. And you've got one buck you sent me a sweet picture of. It was a cool, cool deer. What was the story with that? I mean, obviously you went from this Nebraska experience to, like, going to Idaho and doing all that. So how did you kind of start developing those skills? And how'd that buck turn up?

Yeah, so that's actually a really cool story in. Everybody, I'm sure says that, but that one. That one will probably be in no matter how big or any of the ones that come down the line, that'll be in the top three my whole life. So how that happened is that was eastern Idaho buck. And I just was in the process of like, hey, I think I want to move out west. So this would have been back in 20, 21, fall of 20. And actually my mom had cancer and died over that summer from. From cancer. She fought cancer for four years. And so, you know, it's the mountains for me in western hunting, I think, has been a saving grace to some degree. Just because you find calamity, you know what I mean? You, You. When the world seems like it's moving so fast and life is moving so fast, it's like everything seems to slow down. And you're just sitting on a mountaintop with the sun coming up, glassing for deer, and life gets simple again. And so she died in July of that year. And that buck, we went out there in October and basically it was one of those years I put. I actually was out there for work because I hadn't moved yet and did some, did some glassing earlier in the year and it just so happened, found some really good bucks. Typical 10 days for the season. The spring that they were kind of using, you know, came to a close. Dried up and opening day. We were up in there for, you know, three days and the deer were out. And I think there were some wolves that come through too. Some locals had said. So I was really disappointed. It was a. That was a hard year with our group of just like the mental side of like we've been hunting and we're used to seeing deer. We kind of got our, our game figured out at this point, you know, and hadn't seen nothing in three days. And that's mentally Jaden, I'm sure you know too, like, you just, you're down on that whole deal. And so we decided to just pull camp, move the other side of the unit and like, hey, let's find water. Where we're gonna find water, we're gonna find deer. And so that basically went down this road and all of a sudden started to see some deer pop up and started in on there for two days and started to see some pretty decent bucks. And so that buck, I'll never forget that morning we went up there and we got up on this glassy knob and. And there was an actually biggest bull elk I think I've ever seen in my life. Still to this day, was off probably a half mile with about 80 cows bugling. Still mid October, just letting them have it. And so I was with my hunting partner Nick, and I, I kind of just enjoying the morning, drinking my coffee, you know, watching this elk work these cows and bugle, I mean giant seven by seven bull. And all of a sudden he's like, hey, there's some deer right over here. So he, he actually went over there after a little bit smaller buck and I heard him shoot. And so I decided to go, you know, get the knives, boys, get the lard and onions, you know, we're gonna put one on for lunch. And got over there and he's like, I totally like he's like, there's a bigger buck over here. And I. I totally missed him. And he's like, I have no idea, you know, what happened, but I. We thought he bumped his scope or something. And sure enough, we're standing there talking in this buck, this big muley. The one I ended up shooting is 350 yards looking down on top of us, and he's like, he's right there, and he couldn't see him, and he's like, shoot him. And I mean, the craziest part about that, Jaden, is some. I do. I think mom had something to do with it, but all those other deer had ran. And it's like the old buck, the old smart buck stayed still and is just staring us, giving us the old stare down and. And plugged him and. And that was a cool day. Yeah, it was. He piled right up and yeah, we went to. Went to town to get some ice and. Well, then I did get food poisoning that night, but it was totally worth it from the pizza at the gas station, so. But yeah, that's the story of that buck. And he will always be a centerpiece, you know, on the wall because of just. That year was a gritty year, man. But it is, you know, when you are going through hard stuff, like I said, I'll tell you that there is no better place than. Than. Than being on a mountaintop when the sun comes up. With a cup of coffee, you could solve a lot of problems out there.

Yeah, man, I think that's so important. And like, just one of the things that I look forward to is just breaking away from all, like you said, all the hustle bustle and just like, get to doing a thing that is just very focused. And you got to be like, on the a game to like, especially like an October mule deer or September elk. Like, you just got to be focused on the task at hand and not the other stuff that's going on. Dating.

Exactly.

Yeah, exactly.

So. Well, yeah, that was a. That was a really fun one. And I'm sure there'll be good ones that come. Well, I hope anyway. But that one. That one will always be a. Be a special one. And that really. I think we went. We punched all of our tags that year too, so.

Oh, wow.

We found a. We found a kill hole. And so we went from like, Nazi a deer for three days. I shot that good one. And we punched the other two tags. And so it was like, we've been right, I think last couple years, we still been riding high on that week out There we felt like we knew what was going on. That was. That was a really special one.

So that's cool. Well, and I love how you guys just were like, we're not seeing anything in this zone, even though, you know, like, there's deer. There had been deer in that other place, but then you're like, let's just pop smoke. Let's just go to the other side of the unit. Is that something that you. You do a lot of is like, just big moves of camp and, like, just go, totally try something new?

Yeah, I. You know, absolutely. I think a lot of times it's easy to get married. I call it getting married to a spot. And one thing about the west, especially, you know, living out there, things change, and they change in a hurry. It doesn't. It don't matter what it is. You get all four seasons in one day. And so when I initially started doing. I always like to do my E Scouting. I just like to go, if I can lay eyes on it before the season starts, kind of get a feel for the ground and. And you know, what all. Everything looks and feels like. But I. And my hunting buddies will tell. Tell you. I mean, I am not afraid of. Of making big moves. It's like sometimes you just need that reset, too, you know, might just. And it's stupid, but going 15 miles up into another river bottom or. You know what I mean? Getting on a different pass is like. It's almost like, all right, you hit the reset button, you get some mojo back. You know what I mean? You rest the legs probably while you're driving there. And it's calculated. It's not random. I think that's an important, Important. There's. There's a reason you're going to where you're going every time you go somewhere. But I'm not afraid to. To do big moves if. If it seems a little bleak in. In one hole. And I think maybe. And I know everybody's a little different. I think, honestly, what inspired that mentality is ice fishing, of all things, which probably doesn't get talked a whole lot about on this podcast. But, you know, growing up, I love the ice fish, of all things. And in Wisconsin, it's like. It's like religion. There ain't a whole lot to do when it's negative 100 out here. So, like, that's what I did. And ice fishing, I was. I always hated it, of all things, like, when I was really young, because it's like, if there ain't fish biting, there is no worse thing in the world for me than. Than ice fishing, because it's like we're just out here freezing our butts off. But, man, when you find them, you're in them. And what I found was just being a lot more mobile. And then once you find where those fish are at through the ice, I mean, it's. It's one after another. And that's kind of what I've really applied that principle to. My mule deer hunting strategy and my elk hunting strategy is bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce. Once you find them, you're in them, you know, type of thing. And. And you kind of know what you're looking for. So I. I had a really. He's actually become a great friend of mine from Georgia, My buddy Warner. We hunted for the first time last year, but just. Just one of those awesome guys where you, you know, you just think the same. You hunt the same. We just. We had a blast last year. We kind. With the. I was kind of telling them this strategy or magic number in my head is like, if I'm not seeing, in the case of mule deer hunting 30 deer when I'm glassing each time, I'm probably not where I need to be. And that's just my mentality, Right, wrong or indifferent, that's. Everybody's got their own style. But it's like that's when you know you've got the habitat, right? You've got the COVID the water. You know what I mean? They've got their shade where they can cool off during the day. It's like, that's when you're crawling in them. That's where. That's what we. We just bounce until we find something about. Like that. That.

So did you know that. Did you know about my fishing hole analogy with all my hunt plans? No, dude, it is exactly what you just talked about. Really? Yeah. So if someone works with me or just wants to look at my onyx, they'd look at this map and they'd see a whole bunch of fishing holes all across the west in the mountains. And it's not because I'm a avid fisherman. It's because that's exactly how I think about it. Because, you know, it's like one of those things, like, yeah, this could be a great fishing hole one day. But in the west, whether the weather's different the next year or you got a fire move in or guys move in or whatever, you got to be able to just bounce to the next thing. It's so funny you just talked about that because it's literally on My onyx and all my hunting plans. I like make fishing holes where I want to check and I tell guys, just bounce, you know, bounce from fishing all the fishing hole until you find what you look for and then slow down and then like work it up.

Dive in deep. Absolutely. No, it's a. Great minds think alike.

That's right.

And so.

That's right. Well, it came from like, you know, I did a little bit of ice fishing a few years ago and it was the exact same thing you're talking about. We'd go out one day and we'd be like, man, this bay right here. Like, we got into them and we go out there, we set all our tip ups up and then we'd sit there for an entire day and not have a bite. And we're just like, what in the world? And that's where, you know, it was like, okay, you got to move. You know, the fish aren't. This was good one day, but it's not good today, so you got to go find them. And that's. I love that.

Yeah, absolutely.

What, what kind of camp setup are you guys doing when you're doing that? Because I know that like slows a lot of people down. For instance, my family growing up hunting out west, like, we're big wall tent guys, you know, my dad still loves pitching a big old wall tent and parking it for the week, you know.

Oh yeah.

So what do you. What kind of like camp setups and stuff are you guys doing when you're, when you're doing that?

Yeah, absolutely. So it's actually, it's been what I would call Jaden, an evolution. So we started with a wall tent from probably early 80s back in, you know, a couple years ago. And that thing, hey, you know, it got us through our first year, but I was like, this, it, this ain't. This isn't going to be for me. We don't. You. I'm not a horse guy. I'm not a bike. I'm. I got two feet. I just, that's just how I hunt. I'm a hiker, so I have to be mobile generally. So we had the wall tent and, and kind of graduated from that. We went to one of the TP Sty. The stove. That, that was, that was really good because it was, you know, fairly quick to, you know, pick up. You would just set our cots in there, put up, tear down fairly quick. And that way then if we wanted to, you know, a lot of times we'll just camp right off the, you know, one of the drive ins and we could do that or if we wanted to walk in and do more of a pack in hunt like an overnight for one or two nights, we could do that. We've done that before too. Now I feel like I've, you know, as we've really gotten into this scene, we did a custom trailer build out a couple years ago and just a cargo trailer and it's nothing too fancy. It's exactly what we need. And, and I would advise anybody that's really, if you and your hunting buddies are long term, I know you just bought your trailer. I'm super pumped for you about that, by the way. Yeah, and it'll change the game. It's, it's the, the nice thing about the trailer is it's warm, it's dry, you can make yourself a good meal. You know, we got in, I know you got Starlink, got Internet, so you kind of have that reset at night. The cool thing though is what we like to do is okay, that's our base camp is the trailer. You know, if we decide, you know, okay, after glassing one morning, hey, I saw a pile of elk up in this hole two miles in, you know what I mean? And instead of walking two hours in the morning in the dark to go get there, we build a plan around it. And that I think is a lot of what my hunting strategy has become is because I'll tell you, I give all the credit in the world to those guys that want to go pack in for eight days deep and filter water and you know, the freeze dried meals and like, I love it. I love the enthusiasm. Eight day straight's a little much for me. I'll be, I'll be honest. And, and so you got to find your A, your own strategy but, but B, your group strategy because you got to keep the group mojo. I think that's something that we've really learned. Especially if you're not hunting alone. You got to keep everybody in as high as spirits as you can. And remember, it can only. It can all happen in the blink of an eye, you know, and there's a story to go along with that that I'll tell you. But. And so that's what we do now. We will. If we decide we want to go up in after something, maybe just do like a one night throw the tent in the backpack, slip up in there and we have the, the TB tent and then just a cheap. I think it was, I don't think it was more than 30 bucks from Shields, just the, just the El Cheapo ragtag tent that just fits in the backpack nice. You just, you only got to tough it through one night, but that way then you wake up and you're right in them instead of having to. To go in two and a half miles. So we do kind of the combo between the trailer and the tents and, and that's really worked out nice because that way then you can get back to your cushy lifestyle in the cargo and a nice bed for a night and then go back up in there again if you want to. So that, that's kind of what we do.

Dude. That's exactly like the kind of like split that I've ended up landing on. Well, and we'd been talking about, you know, I was looking for a trailer and it ended up being like, this one is really, really small and that's kind of like probably more what I needed. Also a lot cheap. It's really cheap. Is. Are you selling yours?

Yeah, I am, I think gonna be selling mine. Just with coming back to, to the Midwest, I think we're gonna try to transition just because unfortunately, you know, I'll still be doing my western trips, but, you know, we'll probably go back to more of the TP style tent hunt when we, when we do go out there. So I, I don't want to do it. I. I kind of one of those things right now. I have it. I have it halfway listed is what I would call it. So like, it's out there. It's floating around on KSL in the west, but I haven't like really pushed on it yet. I'm trying to like. Well, in all transparency, I told the wife I was gonna sell it, but I've kind of like got. Might not sell until. Just so happens, might not sell till the end of November.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So yeah, it's. It's halfway. Halfway listed. But yeah, it's a sweet for anybody that's. You got a, you know, a couple guys, you know, send me a message or whatever too, if somebody's looking actively. Look, I mean, it is built out sweet. It is exactly what I wanted it to be. And it has been a phenomenal unit for what we've needed it for.

So for sure. And those built out cargo trailers, dude, I think that they're. I, I think that there's so much more utilitarian than like some of the ones that you buy for your Memorial Day weekend camping and stuff because, you know, you can kind of just bolt crap onto the wall. You can go create, you know, the setup that you need. You could put gear in the back or not. And yeah, Jordan Bud has one, a big one, kind of like you did that she brought out for our bear hunt. And gosh, they're just like. Yeah, you can kind of just customize it to whatever fits your needs. Yeah, I think.

Yeah. And the nice thing, like, so I did everything all temporary for anybody looking for a build. You know, it's a sweet build, but everything in there actually comes out. The cabinets. Like, I went with, like, the. I think they're Cabela's or something, but, you know, like the temporary cabinets. So literally everything could come out. So you can just pressure wash the rubber floor, clean everything out, put it back in. And. But then if you gotta haul something like you need it for, you know, I don't know, around the house type thing, you know, you got it. It's just a regular cargo trailer and then turns into a camper just in time for fall.

So. Yeah, no, that's perfect. Yeah. But one common thread in all this is you keep coming back to these tp. TP tents. Is that pretty much like a piece of gear you just, like, always have with you?

Yeah. Yeah. That is one thing that I highly recommend that you in again. And 99 of the time, you know what I mean? I'm pulling the trailer. I never leave the house without the teepee tent. Just because if you do find elk, you know, or deer way back in that hole, it is a lot nicer when you can, say, build a plan around it the next day, okay, we're gonna hunt our way there. We're gonna spend the night, we're gonna hunt them in the morning. And generally then what I'll do is come out, you know, the following night. Really only. Only one night. But it's always in the trailer. It's one of those things that, like, that can be a. A make or break in a hunt sometimes when it's like. Especially, you know, we were hunting central Idaho last year, and, you know, Labor Day weekend. I'd never seen so many dirt bikers in my life. Like, they were everywhere. And, hey, I'm glad to see them out there. You know what I mean? I. I loved. I love to see people out in the outdoors. I mean, I don't know that it really helped our elk hunting at all. It probably hinted, but it's better than they could be doing worse things, you know what I mean? So it's good to just see people out there enjoying public land, but. So that was one of those situations where, like, we had, you know, our holes picked out for elk. All of a sudden, Labor Day weekend. It's like everybody in their brother's cousin is riding a dirt bike around where we were gonna hunt elk, and they just, you know, they're, I mean, elk. He'll cover the ground. And it was hot, and they just, they moved five miles from where we kind of were planning to hunt them. And all of a sudden it's like, look, I ain't walking five miles in the dark. In and out every day. It's just not practice. I know people do it for me. It's just not practical, you know, so that was the case where it's like, had we not had a tent where we could go stay in there, it would, you know, would have massively changed our hunt. So. Yeah, that's, that's one thing I, I, yeah, I'm pretty religious about, about never leaving behind.

Are you doing, like an insert in those tents? Are you doing, like a Tyvek ground cloth so you're not sleeping on dirt or like, what's the setup inside those tents?

Yeah, so the ones we have and we rent them and, and we actually have a lot of people that'll just kind of, hey, you know, I just need to borrow a tent. I got everything else. I just don't have the, the, the tent I need for the hunt that my group wants to go on. And, and that's been a very popular item for us. But, yeah, we just basically, it Tyvek, or, you know, it's a. We just got a plastic. I don't even know what I would call. It's not a tarp, but something. It's just a little roll up. It's about this big for the 10 inches. Rolls up, throws your backpack, and that way you got a floor that you can sleep on and put your sleeping bags on top of and stuff like that. And those things stand up once you get the hang of them. They stand up so quickly.

Yeah.

And, and, and I'll tell you, in the cold, you can keep those babies warm. I mean, they, it's amazing how light and how warm they still are. So it's, they're a very powerful tool.

I was talking about a TP tent and stove on Instagram the other day, and someone messaged me. They're like, well, that means I got to bring a hatchet or a saw. And I was like, dude, what are you doing that? Or are you just breaking sticks and shoving them in?

Yeah, we're just breaking sticks. I mean, God gave you two hands And a kneecap for a reason. Oh, yeah, we just bust sticks, throw them in there. You don't. I mean, the only thing. I mean in mine, we put. We do put a mini hammer in the rental units for pounding stakes. It's weight for me. I just use. I'll just find a rock and tap those things in. But you. That's. You don't need. I mean, you can find is. I mean, sage brush. Doesn't burn very well, but I've done it for the. I mean, get you a pile of it and it doesn't last very long. If you can find something in the river bottom that'll last you a little bit longer in the stove and it'll burn better. But yeah, I just break things over my knee and toss them in there. And. And it's a. It's a very efficient way to. To do a quick overnight.

Are you. Are you bringing like a little fire starter kit or anything? Or are you just kind of making do with like a Bic lighter?

Yeah, I, you know, a lot of times I'll just go get those little fire fire starters. I just get them at Walmart and I throw them in the units too. I mean, a half a chunk of one of those, you light them up and you gotta fire pretty quick. I used to not, you know, there's the, the. I'm out of the Eagle Scout, but the boy Scouted me was kind of like, oh, we're roughing it. We're gonna start this, you know, with a lighter, some leaves, and it's like. Yeah. Until you're sitting there huffing and blowing on the thing, trying to just get warm for the night. After hunting all day, it's like, now I just cheat. I just throw the fire starter in there, put a couple broken branches on top, get her popping and, and, and that, that, that usually does a trick.

Yeah, I started using like a pyro putty or whatever. Ended up with a case of it. And then I was like, oh, this is like, this cheating. So sometimes it's okay to cheat when.

It comes to being warm and comfortable, Jade. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah. I mean, dude, we already backpacked in six miles or whatever. Like, we did a lot of work. Let's just make this a little easier on us by the time we get there.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. No, there's no shame anymore for me. And probably if I had to start the only time a campfire in front of the wife, I probably still want to make sure that huffing and blowing on the. On the on the old pine needles, you know what I mean? But in the woods after hunting all day. Fire starter all day long.

That's funny. That's good. Hey, sorry to interrupt the podcast, but I wanted to make sure that you knew there were two ways to have a really successful hunt this fall. One is to have been there before, and the second is to build a really good hunt plan with your E. Scouting. I can help you with the second part, but don't just take it from me. Here's a bit of a testimonial from one of my clients in the past named Todd, who used our Hunt west services on an elk hunt in Utah, where neither he or I had been.

Gosh, the points that you picked out in that scouting report were just such an important part of this trip. Hayden was able to go to those scouting points, add those scouting points located out. I don't know how you do it, man. You did a good job. Thank you so much. As a result of your good work, we were able to get this bull on the opening day.

If you want to get a hunt session or a hunt plan put together, feel free to reach out to me@jadenuntwest.net okay, let's get back to the show. You're listening to the Hunt west podcast. So what other gear did you find, like, over the last, you know, six, seven years? Like, you gotta have, like. And stuff that, you know, you might rent out, make sure that everybody has.

Yeah, I would say for me, hands down, the.

The.

The that a lot of people are shocked is a tripod with a binocular adapter.

I.

For me, honestly, I. My spotter, you know, we always generally just have one in the group if we're hunting in pairs or, you know, we don't both carry a spotter because we're sitting together. I generally am hunting with a buddy, but once I started, so I got me. We run all vortex stuff in our rental packages. So we started glassing there. I started glassing with binoculars to start. And it is so much nicer when you can throw those binoculars on top of the tripod and it's steady, obviously, and you've got that nice wide frame compared to the spotting scope where it's like, okay, I'm just sheerly with my binoculars looking for deer. And this is kind of my process that I go through. I have upgraded. I couldn't tell you the model that I have a vortex. I. I do love them, but they. Yeah, I mean, they're awesome. And gray light first thing in the morning and What'll happen is basically I just start looking for deer and once I start seeing deer, then throw the spotter on quick. It's the same adapter. So you just unscrew the binoculars, pop the spotter on. Okay, what is it? You know, and that's really my method prior to, you know, had the binoculars and, and was basically free handing them. And I think a lot of times sort of first timers too, doing their first western hunt. That's who we work a lot with. We've got a lot of great repeat customers but we work with a lot of groups on their first time one of these things or I've just always wanted to do it, I just don't know where to start type of thing. And we make sure that they have the right binoculars that and, and a tripod with the adapter with the quick connect so they can bounce back and forth very quickly between spotter and, and the binoculars and kind of explain that methodology. Find the deer, then start to identify what it is. But you can, you know, in those first, that first crucial half hour of the day, especially early season for all the, for all the September archery guys, like everybody knows that that first half hour is, is a lot of times when you're going to find what you're looking for. You don't want to have to be for me in a small frame spotter, you know what I mean? Really comic. Get the binoculars, map out, you know, kind of where all these deer are in your head and then go through and check them all with the spotter. And, and that's really just been successful for me. That's just the method that I've found that works.

Yeah, that's like one of the only pieces of gear that everybody I talk to. I'm like, just make sure you get this. I always tell a story like I bought my first tripod for 27 off of a college student, like foreign exchange college student. And it was like that thing ran me for five, six years. I was like, that was definitely like the best like investment to make just to get going, you know, just that. Yeah. So no, that's that I'm right there with you. It's also one of the things. Do you guys bring spotters on elk hunts or are you just doing binos on tripods?

Yeah, archery hunting, I, I leave the spotter at home. Now if we're rife wanting I'll bring the spotter just because generally you know there's, there is nothing worse. It'll happen every now and again. Archery hunting, it it never, never seems to fail. We just put on so much more miles. Archery hunting, that's like, I just get tired of lugging the thing around. And then you finally shoot one, and then it's like, now I got to carry an elk and a spotter back. So I generally leave the spotter itself back at camp. Archery hunting, rifle hunting, totally different story. I bring the spotter just because, you know, you're turning stuff up generally in the snow at three miles, you know, up to three miles away, you know, it's like, okay, before we pull our camp, before we go, kind of commit to him, is he worth it? You know, type of thing, or is he legal? You know, that's a. That's another question. You know, you see a lot of units now. We did a unit in Colorado last year where, you know, it's very specific. You know, Brow, Tyne, bulls and things. And it's like there's nothing worse than you commit to. You know, you commit to him and all of a sudden you get over there, whether it's ground shrink or, you know what I mean, he's just, he's not even legal. It's like, you've got to be kidding me. And so, yeah, that's really what, what I've come to do. But, you know, I used to carry the spotter, bow hunting, but now it just, it's timber hunting. I just found myself for the amount of times I actually need it and for how much of a pain in the butt it is to lug that thing around for a week, you know, leave it at the truck, maybe do some glassing, you know, if we drive some roads or something like that. But yeah, I'm pretty much just binoculars and I don't even. A lot of times, even now, once you kind of find your archery kill holes. I don't even carry the tripod for the binoculars. When I'm going, knowing that hunt that I'm going on, knowing that they're already in there, generally, I've already glassed them the day before. You kind of know where they're hanging, hanging out. It's not just making that play. Right? So anything with less weight, less noise, less opportunity to hang, you know, snag on branches when you're walking. I will. I'll leave that stuff back too.

No, that makes total sense, especially that thick timber. But I love how you're talking like you're. You're like finding animals from deep. You know, you're finding them from distance, and then you're going to get in and make A play. And it's like a multi day process. That's one I think, like you were talking about at the very beginning. That's one of the hardest, like, strategic changes that I think a lot of eastern hunters coming out west have to make is like just finding them. That's like, that's step one. You got to keep finding them, and then you got to figure out how to kill them. And those are two different things. It could take you two or three days to get into a position to kill them, especially archery season, you know, and it's just like, you got to slow down once you find them. You gotta slow down and do it right, but then slow it all down.

Absolutely. And that's one thing, you know, and, and I'm really. I've got high hopes for elk hunting this year. I had a. Like, we found a wonderful place to hunt last year on our Idaho hunt. And my buddy Warner and I, and man, we screwed it up so many times. Like just, you know, bugling heavy. Well, it never fails. So our, I mean, our, our first afternoon, we got to this little face, this little top, and I'm like, hey, I'm gonna, I'm gonna pipe one off. As luck would have it, you know, he. He grew up in Georgia, so I mean, he's never heard an elk bugle at this point, you know, I mean, and so he's, he's along for the ride. As luck would have it, one pipes off, just pissed off. 250 yards away, and he's coming, you know, like, first view, I was like, don't get used to that. He comes in. I mean, you know, I kind of drop back, start doing a scrape, running around on some timber. He's set up with the bow bull, you know, catches the wind, right? Comes in. I kind of knew where he was going to be. And we. All sudden, you just see his antler start coming over the hill, leaning back, bugling like somebody, you know, like you see in the movies, you know, peeing all over himself. Bugling, you know, he's ready to fight. I'm bugling back at him. We couldn't get a shot.

Okay.

Awesome experience was like I was ready to pack it in right there.

Yeah.

That made both of our hunt. Like, you don't get to see that every day. So, you know, what was interesting is like, okay, they want the bugle. They want. They're. They're in the peak of this thing.

They're.

They're down to fight. And dude, it took me five days to realize that that was the only bull that wanted the Bugle close. And it. I, I wish I could go back and do that whole thing over. We would get in, we'd bugle and. And, you know, keep working the bugle. They'd come, they'd get 200 yards. As soon as we get too close, you'd hear the roundup bugle and they were, they were out of there. He was circling them up and getting them out. And it's like I. What we needed to do and he actually did end up killing on that hunt is just find out where they're at and then just very methodically and slowly get. Make sure the wind is right. If it's morning, wait till afternoon. You know, they're not gonna move. We were all by ourselves in there and cow call into them, just nice and soft and, and let them make the mistake. Don't let yourself make the mistake, you know, and, but you learn and, and, and I think that's what, you know, is. Is so cool. Is now I'm already. I mean, it's what, last day of May, tomorrow or maybe today. I'm not even sure the date.

Oh, yeah.

So it's like I'm already juiced up, you know, just ready to go. Like, I've got a bunch of new ideas, tactics, spots. Like, I'm ready to roll and try some of this. These new concepts of. Based on my prior mistakes. And I think that's okay to admit, like, hey, here's where we went wrong and, and be very open about it. Like, what we're doing isn't working. Put ego aside. Like, trust me, I would have loved to keep Bugle and Bulls in all week, coming in, ready to stomp us right out of the county. That's just not what was working. And so I learned a lot last year.

Yeah, well, it's totally. I mean, you're. You're hitting on such an important thing of like working into different tools in the toolbox. It's like, you know, some guys go out and they're like, dude, I'm a great framer. I'm just gonna swing this damn hammer all day long. And obviously it can work, but it's like some days you gotta be an electrician and just like, you know, do something different, you know, and just like work around and figure out what is going to get them killed. If that's, if that's your goal. Obviously, if someone just is like, you know, I'm going to do it this way and this is how I want it done. Like, that's great. Like, go for it, man. But just know the consequences of just being tied to one action like that.

Absolutely, Absolutely.

Yeah.

I think that's the biggest thing that I've learned about elk hunting is, you know, I. I got a friend of mine, well, Josh, his dad's got a saying, and it says, luck favors the persistent, which, when you think about it, it makes total sense, right? Obviously, the more you do something or the more you hang out, the more time in the woods, generally, something is a better chance of something happening. And that's a great saying. Luck favors the persistence. Stay with it. Keep rolling. You know, it'll happen. Then there's also times where it's like, this just ain't this just a damn work it. Like, we. We got. We got to make a change, be it a new spot, be it a new strategy. Try a different calling sequence. You know, maybe we need to be over water. Maybe we don't need to be over water. I mean, just really try and be like, I guess if I. Maybe I should build, like, a concept map. If we wanted to really get analytical about this thing. Like, okay, here's kind of the layers of killing your elk, and you start with like we talked about. Bounce around. Do your e scouting. Bounce around. Check them, check them, check them. Okay, now we've found where a couple herds are hanging out at that. Okay, now I'm gonna go in there. I'm gonna probably do a couple locator bugles. Figure out specifically within those holes, where are they laying down during the day? Where are they feeding at night? Okay, that's cool. You know, go one more. You know, pull back one more layer of the onion. Okay, what time are they there? What are they doing? Are they bedded down? Are they drinking? Are they eating? What. Where. What. Where are they coming out of? Where are they going back through? And you slowly just kind of start to squeeze until, you know, day four, day five, it's like, all right, now you're there. You know, you. You. You've made it happen. And I know, you know, it's hard to say sometimes guys will. You know, I only got three days, and that's fine. You can get lucky. You know, you can expedite that process as fast as you can. I encourage you to do so. But also, if you've got time, don't be afraid to just kind of slow this game down, because it's just a giant chess match. That's. And that's what we. That's the addiction of elk hunting.

It. It's.

It's actually it's the game, right? It's. It's the chess match of learning that everything that that bull elk does or that muley buck does is calculated. He does it for a reason. Now let me understand the why, and I'm gonna go catch him making a mistake at one of those points of what he does during the day of one of those, you know, calculated decisions he makes. I'm just going to be one step ahead of him. Check me, you know.

Yeah, exactly, dude, that's. That's exactly right. And, like, you're talking about, you know, some years you're going to be looking at water and being, like, keyed in on that. Some years you're going to have to just, like, totally ignore it. I was just looking at the Colorado drought map. The west is kind of like such a hodgepodge this year. But, like, even within Colorado, you got, like, the center part of the state. Like, no drought. Like, it's probably going to be super wet. There's probably not going to be a whole lot of, like, reason to hone in on. On water. But then you look over at, like, Mesa Delta and Montrose county, and it's severe drought or extreme drought, and it's like, okay, well, yeah, if you're out in, like, Area 62 or whatever, which is really common for guys like, like that, that's like, a place you probably should look at that stuff because, like, the conditions are different this year, so. Dude, you're talking my language. I love it. I love it.

Oh, yeah. And I think it. And it applies everywhere. Like, there's so much stuff I would say, too, for people getting into it, be it your first year or, you know, hey, this is year five. Like, learning all these tools. There is planning that you can do now to just start to anticipate what you will do as a group. So, for example, some places in. In western Idaho, they had record snowpack, like.

Yeah.

Way down the Stank River Valley up by us. It wasn't bad, but it sure wasn't good, you know what I mean? Like, probably a little below average. I don't know what the number actually was, but I know that they were. I mean, you're going to be wet in western Idaho. You're going to be a little bit drier. And we got record high temperatures right now. It was 90 degrees when I talked to Sid yesterday. So it's like. Yeah, I mean, it. It's going to be totally different, and it can change in within 50 miles, you know what I mean? So really dive into. I think some of that data. Like, like you said, Jaden. And dive into that data now because it's just going to get you closer to, you know, those five pins that we all have when we do go on our trip of like, okay, which one of them is going to be the hottest? And it could be none of them. It could be all of them. But it's, it's just trying to understand, okay, what are those boxes that need to be checked for there to be animals where we're hunting? And, and we always call it the magical band, right? So not like bands with saxophones and trumpets, but like the elevation band, the topo band. If you were to look at a certain elevation, generally it's about a thousand feet, say for example, 7,000 to 8,000. And that's the magical elevation that it's like, that's where it's going on. Especially, you know, when you've kind of already got a little bit of a, a background of that unit of like, you know, this is what they tend to like to do. They, they, they will float, it seems to me, in that thousand foot band. So case in point, last year again, we were on that central Idaho hunt for elk, and it's like we didn't, didn't see them, didn't see him, didn't see him. All of a sudden it's like we found that magical band everywhere we went and checked. Once we started doing our e scouting in that band that had the water, had some timber, some dark timber, had some fallen trees, maybe a little meadow. It's like within that range, I think it was 7,500 to 8,500ft.

Boom.

They were there, bugling, screaming, doing it all like. But if you were outside that band, it was pretty dry, it was pretty desolate, you know.

So, yeah, no, that makes huge, huge difference. So to bringing this all back full circle, it's like one of these things that you're like, you're adding in the, the expectations for what the conditions are going to be like, especially sitting back here looking at it from the fall run or spring runoff and like expected seeing what could happen. You also like, it reminds me of like, okay, so if it's real dry, like critters are going to be at the dang top where there's the best feed left, you know, and stuff like that, which means you're gonna have to backpack and then you gotta look at your gear kit and like, all the things. How do you think guys ought to like, think about what gear they need, you know, especially because this is like the time, like when they need to be planning the gear pieces too.

Yeah, absolutely. I think as with anything, you know, that goes in the west, versatility is huge. Think layers in terms of clothing, you know, even, you know, I, I do a thing now where I have two separate pairs of boots and they're not extra. I mean, I have my nice, I, I run kind of tracks, you know, the mountain, whatever, 4000 or 400 or whatever they are. And those are, those are my mid season. But I just got a cheap pair of, you know, 80 boots that. Guess what? You know, I'll tell you, I'll tell you something I'll never forget. First year hunt in Idaho. We hunted over the eastern side of Idaho. It was the deer opener. We got hammered. We actually got blown off the mountain with 3 foot of snow and it got down to negative 10 degrees for the opener. It was miserable.

Yeah.

Fast forward a year later, it was 72 degrees on the opener. Yeah, and that's the, you know, that's the West. So, you know, people come and say, you know, as far as, like, your kits, like, do I need anything? Look, our kits have basically, in terms of equipment, everything you need. Hot, cold, doesn't matter. Wet, dry clothing is, is I think the biggest thing if you can go layers. And I like, and like, I was getting to two separate pairs of boots. One of them that they might just be cheap, uninsulated. You might even throw them out after a week of hunting in them. You know, take them in, get five miles before you go on your trip. Make sure they're loosened up a little bit. But I just have that cheap pair of warm weather boots just in case that, that hunt that I'm gonna go on is I don't want to be wearing insulated boots and you know, 75, 80 degrees. But that's just how it can change from year to year is, I mean, you can have snow and 3 foot of snow 1 year and 75 and sunshine for a week the next year. So that I, I think versatility, like with anything is common practice. And whatever you do out west, hiking, biking, hunting, fishing, anything is. You have to unfortunately be prepared for the full spectrum, especially especially this far out.

Yeah, for sure. It's kind of funny you were talking about cheap boots. My buddy Cody Rich, he was, he just like, wanted to try something, so he bought a pair of like ozark trails for 45 at Walmart or something. And, you know, he's out there, he's hunting his ass off. And he was like, if I can get A dollar a mile. Then I'm doing pretty good because either you're spending 450 bucks on Canada Track or you're spending 45 here. Like, you know, like we're just. And his. I have to check in with him. Like, he got a lot of miles off those. He got like better dollars per mile off the 45 blends than is this expensive ones.

Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you just need something light, fast and that you really don't care about that you sweat right through, you know, that just make, I mean, for $40, it'll save you, you know, keep, keep your feet. You know, it's funny, I like watching, you know, a lot of these prep videos in the summer. And that's another one. Everybody, how do I prep? I've never been out there there and I tell everybody, you know, hey, anything you do is good. That first and foremost, like everybody, you know, there's different opinions and look, anything is better than nothing, first of all, be it walking, be it running, lifting weights, this and that. Anything is better than nothing, period. But if I, what I tell people to do is, look, you want to train. I think the most important thing for me is my feet. You know, your body adjusts, I mean to the elevation if you're not living. You know, we live fortunately now, you know, we live at 6, 000ft. So that, that helps a lot. But I think if you can go and wear your boots to, you know, break them in, if they're new, put them back on from last year because you, most guys that feel like, don't probably take care of them and wax them like you're supposed to and keep them, you know, they get a little dry rotted in the season, break them back in. And if you can go and do some hiking to just get your foot muscles and your hips and your knees and your. But if you can throw a pack on, throw a pack on and just walk, just get those, those pressure points where, you know, where, where the weight really is moving again. You don't have to go figure out how to bench press £300 like you did back in. You know what I mean?

Yeah.

And yeah, well, it's like, dude, just, just go walk. If you could just, if you could walk, you know, just say, hey, I'm gonna go walk two hours on Saturday mornings from now until, you know, and drink my coffee from him now until we go out there. You'd be amazed at how well in shape you. You are. You don't have to go start, you know, signing up for half marathons and some of these things. And I was that guy. I used to think, well, if I'm not running 15 miles a week, how am I ever going to care out of hell? I'm here to tell you, if you can just go and do something. I like walking, you know, and just putting the boots on in the pack on and just going for a walk. Maybe carry a little water in that bladder so you got a little weight. That to me is some of the best prep you can get. And it's cheap, don't cost you nothing. Just go find a trail and start walking at your local park.

Yeah. 100. Dude, I went out to a, a wedding in Wisconsin a little while ago. Oh, it's probably three, three years ago now. But then I was driving out there, I was like, there's not. Everyone's like, well, yeah, we don't have the elevation or we don't have these big mountains to climb or whatever. And I was looking as we were driving and I'm like, dude, there's like some big steep bluffs and stuff, like state parks where you can go get 2, 3, 400 foot of vertical like right now and you know, just do, just do a couple laps on that thing. You know, it's like I just pulled one up here right where I was thinking about, and it goes from a thousand foot to 1400 foot and it's like happening. But there's a trail up it, you know, in the state park. And I'm like, perfect.

That is all you need. Yeah, that's.

That's all you need to get it going. Especially if you put a little weight in the pack.

Oh yeah, absolutely. And you know, we kind of started doing this thing where, you know, we, we kind of started making a vent out of it with something. My buddies and I is, you know, we'd get our coffee and we just have a trip. We just go throw the packs on. Would walk an hour one way and walk an hour and you just kind of have that mix of terrain. If you could get a dirt trail, get you a dirt trail sometimes sidewalk is all you have. Just start walking, get those feet moving, get things loosened up and you know, get the, that pack. So it's pushing on the hips a little bit and you'll be ready to roll.

Yeah, yeah, that pack pushing on your hips, man, that is probably the, that is the biggest factor. And even just packing out. I was packing out a bear a couple weeks ago and like, I was like, yeah, I gotta, I gotta get a different belt, you know, Those are the types of things that I just thrown on a belt that I, I really like it that day. And I was like, that was a stupid move. Like, you know, but you're not gonna know that until you try it, until you get your hips rubbed. Draw. Yeah.

Oh yeah, exactly. And, and that's one thing that, you know, I tell everybody, you know, about like our, our rental units is go. And you know, I encourage everybody that we, you know, send stuff to, you know, is, hey, go mess around for a half a day or an hour with our equipment. So you can understand. Look, if you gotta have, you know, in the case of the pack we have, they're great packs, but, you know, maybe you have the wrong belt on when you're hiking with it. I mean, that's a case in point. Jay Nor. It's like, you know what? Maybe instead of being uncomfortable for seven days or 10 days, however long my hunt is, and you know, being it being a factor of, you know, I'm thinking about, wow, my hips really hurt and are raw because I did. I didn't have the right, you know, belt or whatever it may be. Just try things out while you're here, wherever you're at, because you don't want to learn when you're, you know, on top of the mountain and three hours away from a Walmart that, oh yeah, shoulda. I wish I coulda, woulda, shoulda. It's like test everything out quick, you know, be it our equipment or your own equipment. Things happen in, in the off season. Things dry rot things, you know, I mean, you know, I had last year, stupid mistake. Never tested my, my water bladder. Well, there was an O ring in there that, you know, we live in a desert. It dry rotted. Yeah, it was a pain in the butt for that first hunt that. That thing leaked everything. But it's like I had to have water. It's like that was a total stupid mistake. I should have put water in it, tested, but it was good when I put it away. So you know that one of those things. So just test everything out, be it your own or our stuff is what I always say.

Say I made the mistake one year when I was in college of putting beer in a hydration bladder. And that damn thing was never the same after that. I couldn't use it.

We've thrown around that idea of like, you, dude, you know, it would be so good if we had, you know, like in college we always had the Franzia wine bags. You know, every year it seems like especially after we shoot a Deer. You know what we ought to do is get one bladder and just put vodka lemonades in it. And it's like it hasn't happened. It probably for the right reasons.

Yeah, yeah.

But man, when you get to the top of that, especially early season, you're like, you know, I could really just go for something different than some lukewarm water right now.

Yeah, I think I'll just stick with the little kill flask for now.

Yep, that's right.

There you go. You know, actually on that, on that note, I. A couple years ago when I was guiding, I. I brought these. They're like, I have to look up what the brand name is, but they're basically trail cocktails and they're like a powder. I had a Moscow, I had a Moscow Mule trail cocktail and dude, it was so good. We had just like a little, a little flask, a little water, a little powder mix. And like, I was like, this is living high on the hog, man.

Oh yeah. Get you a little nip up at the top there.

Yeah, yeah.

No, we got. Somebody gave us those. I'm trying to think where she got those. Some. I think a Christmas present from her aunt or something like that in like a care package for Christmas, you know, for camping. I think I just took them and threw them all night. Hunting pack or the camp pack, you know, it's like. But they are good.

Yeah.

I don't know. Makes them. I can't remember. Who were they? Like I said, I don't even know where they. I think they were. Somebody gave it to us for Christmas, so.

Yeah, exactly. So we've been talking a whole lot about the rental process or like the rental gear and stuff. But what's that whole process look like if someone wants to rent gear from you? Let's just say, you know, like whether it's a full kit or just a. Or just like a TB tent, you know, because they've got everything else but what, what's in the kits and like what's that process look like?

Yeah, absolutely. So. So when people want to work with us, really there's two main ways is you call our phone number. Hey, this is what my. I'm planning or my group is planning. You know, it always starts with what do we need? You know what I mean? And so that kind of. That's a great way to kick start that process. Otherwise, if you go on our website, it's just www.deepforkrentals.com. you can go in there. Basically you can see the, the, the list of all the Equipment that we rent. And there's a spot to put your email phone numbers on there too. Submit your email. It sends us a message and says, hey, so and so is looking to, you know, get some more information about, you know, the rental packages, and I'll talk a little bit about more what's in the kit. But basically, once we get that email, somebody will reach out to you via email or phone call, generally phone call and introduce themselves, one of the representatives, and basically just ask about what your hunt is. Because a lot of times I think what's really cool and. And our customers have fallen in love with is a lot of times you just don't know what you actually need outside of the basics, you know, you know, binocular spotting, scope, pack, you know, tripod, things like that. It's all those little details of, you know, having a nice sleeping bag because we do all the camping equipment too, and we're really. It's become a lot more popular for people even just doing scouting trips, backpack trips, as this western hunt scene becomes a lot more intense. We have people renting just some camping gear to go rip out on a flight. You know, maybe it's a great excuse to take the wife, take the girlfriend and your hunting buddy, you know what I mean, and make a little trip around the west during the summer. And you and your hunt buddy can slip off in the morning, go do a little scouting or camp overnight or do whatever in the summer, get some scouting in, but also, you know, keep the wives happy and get a plan together for fall. So we do a lot of the camping stuff in summer too. But basically we'll ask you about your hunt and where you're going and kind of start say, okay, you're gonna do a pack in muley hunt, or you're gonna kind of mostly truck camp. You know, probably just need this or especially in groups, you don't need four sets of everything. And. And we work with you on that. So don't ever, you know, that's. I tell everybody like it. The more you tell us, actually, the easier it is for us to A, help you and B, save you money. Because I. I mean, you don't need four spotting scopes in camp if you got four guys. It just generally you only need two type of thing. So we'll. We'll help make that right with our customers and the groups we work with. But then basically you just tell us your hunting days once you've got your. Your. Your trip planned or the. The dates that you're gonna want stuff and we can either ship it to your door or drop it off. Otherwise we do now. And that's part of the reason for moving back to Wisconsin, which is where we're based people. We're going to be setting up an archery range and just kind of try to make a little bit more out of the pickup process I guess is what we're going to call it, so people can come and kind of see, come down to the farm and, and you know, we'll have an archery range and that way then we got a little bit of ground out back where we can teach you how to run a spotting scope. We can teach you how to set your pack so that it's yoking right. You know, go through all the equipment with you in person and, and teach you how everything works prior to going on. Your hu is crucial. You know, I add, I, I tell all of our customers, look, if you're taking off on say October 9th, don't reserve your package to arrive October 9th because you don't want to learn how to use new equipment that you've never touched on a mountaintop. Get it a day before, you know, especially with UPS in the mail and stuff like that. Get it a day in advance, sometimes two days. Just as a, just as a, a, a caution so that if UPS does screw up, if we do ship something, you know, you got that buffer date and you still have a day to kind of to go through. Set your pack, understand, Go to in your yard, mess with the spotting scope, learn how to set the tent up so that it's not freezing cold when you decide to, to go. Learn how to set up your tent. Just being ahead of the game on all this stuff. So basically there's two options for getting your gear and, and like I said, pick up or ship. You take it on your hunt, you do whatever you do while you're on your hunt. And then when you get back again, a similar process is we'll either get you a UPS label to ship it back to us or FedEx, whatever it is, we'll come pick it up. Or if you want to stop back and say hi to us, you can stop back. And, and we love, we always love to hear hunting stories. It's, it, it's always super fulfilling, especially for some of the first time hunters or first time hunting a species. And hey, I never would have been able to do this so affordably without working with you guys. And hell yeah, hey, here's our rack. You know what I mean? Here, here he is. You know, we do actually offer A discount for people that either send us a picture or show up, you know, with whatever it is they were hunting. So there's a little incentive there to, to send us in, you know, some grip and grin pictures. But we love to see and hear the stories also. So whether you send it back or stop by, stop by the shop, you know, it doesn't matter to us. And then basically our process is we go through everything, clean it, sanitize it, repack it, and then it's ready for the next group. So.

No, that's awesome, man. It's good. Such good process you guys have. Where are you guys located if they do want to do a pickup?

Yeah, so we're in, in Wisconsin. We're in southern Wisconsin, a little town called Cambridge, right outside of Madison, Wisconsin, about 20 miles east. And then in Georgia we is kind of our new location this year. We're just south of Athens, Georgia. We got a Warner down there, he's helping us out. And that's new this year for some of the folks from the Southeast and Watkinsville and Madison. That area there in Georgia is, is where people can pick up and, and tell hunting stories and things like that. So right outside of Madison, Wisconsin and then also Madison, Georgia, so it's easy to remember.

Yeah, that's perfect, man. Yeah. And like you said, like oftentimes if someone's driving, you know, 15, 16 hours or whatever or 24 hours to go get to their hunting zone, like, you know, just a one or two hour diversion. If you're in those kind of areas, it just makes sense. Just go pick it up, you know, Pick it up.

Yeah, yeah. And we, if we ever do drop offs too, some people, you know, sometimes it's a good excuse to just get in a truck and ride with your buddies and you know, kind of talk hunting before you guys go or. I mean, we're five miles off Interstate 90, 94, so I mean we're. For a lot of people. We're right on the way actually, as they're, as they're going west. So yeah, stop by. We'd love to see you. And Warren's in a good spot down there too, so, you know, stop by, see us. Otherwise, like I said, we can always ship or drop off too, so.

No, that's awesome. And one of the things I think is such a cool piece of gear that you guys are including is also like your backpacks, you know, like a frame pack. It's one of the things that like, like guides who are guiding clients. The vast majority of the guys are from, you know, not the West. And I feel like I can count on one hand over four years how many people I've seen come from out west that have a frame pack. It's very, very few.

Oh yeah, absolutely. And again, another, in my book, an essential item generally, you know, and people don't have, I mean, I, I think when I, you know, before hunting out west, I'm pretty sure for. There was a time I was bow hunting using my school backpack from like fourth grade, you know, taking that to the whitetail stand in Wisconsin. So you just, it's just a different set of equipment that you need. If you're coming from the Midwest or someplace, that's not a spot and stock style hunt. It's just a different set of equipment. And that's really the inspiration of, of why we're doing what we're doing. You know, Josh, my partner and I, you know, we're just Midwest kids that got into the western hunting scene and, and just really fell in love with public land, open spaces and the opportunity that is still exists for a DIY style hunt, you know, and being able to just pursue the game out there and see these wild places. And what we saw when we first started our business a couple years ago was we just saw that it was turning into a little bit of a rich man sport, quite frankly, that if you couldn't, if you couldn't buy the $10,000 outfitted hunt, guess what? You're never going to see a decent elk, you know, type of thing. And true or not true, that's just kind of the way I think we saw the world going. And it's funny, the inspiration for actually starting Deep Fork Rentals was we were sitting on a mountaintop one day, southeastern Idaho. And as I usually do, good conversations we have. He's my best friend, so I could pick on him. But you know, I said, you're an idiot. And of course I got that look at 6:30 in the morning, we're drinking coffee. He goes, why today? And I said, you know, you really think about it. I said, you bought all that equipment. I was living in Idaho at the time, so you bought all that equipment. I said, you come out here and you hunt with me for a week, a year, and then you go and you put it all back in the basement and it just sits there until you need it again for our hunt next year. And I said, and, and I think that's the problem is it's, you know, just to get in the game can be 5,6000 bucks, you know, Depending on what you buy to, to go on your first western hunt. And you haven't even, you don't even know if you like it yet. I mean, some people, it's a one done like, you know, it was great. It's just not for me. And, and that happens sometimes and that's completely okay. And we just kind of got talking and I was like, you know, we need to make this, you know, so there's no cost barrier to people coming out here, getting a tag, seeing animals and hunting. And, and I said, and, and I think that cost barrier is either with going through an outfitter or the equipment that it takes to go do it yourself that you don't have. You know, if you come from essentially east, the Mississippi river, you know, that's, that's kind of what we use as a point of reference. And that was the entire inspiration behind it is just allowing. I mean, creation is beautiful out there and, and what a wonderful place. I mean, I kind of mentioned earlier in the episode, you know, know, what a saving grace the mountains in the west have been for me. And you know, it's, God is good out there and creation is wonderful. And just keeping that opportunity alive for the average Joe where he doesn't have to buy all this stuff, you know, he can rent his equipment, he can get a killer hunt plan with Jaden, and you and your buddies can be in game, you know, when you go out there for seriously a tenth of the cost of what it takes to go through an outfitter. And I'm not knocking outfitters, I don't want to say that at all because for some people, that is, you know, that's their vacation, that's what they want to do and that's great. And they're, and they're great business people, the outfitters, I mean, we get along with them. It's just not for everybody. And so this, our hope with Deep Fork Rentals is to maintain that ability for, you know, the average guy like ourselves to be able to go out west and hunt western game for a long time without breaking the piggy bank. Be it that you rent every year from us, be it that you rent once and then decide, okay, I'm ready to buy, or hey, it's just a one and done hunt for you, and now you're money ahead because you didn't have to buy everything, you know, and maybe you go move on to deep sea fishing, I don't know. But you know, it's, it really has been impactful for us to see that opportunity and to see the light bulb and, and the smiles of people that, you know, they never thought they were gonna be able to make it out west with Point Creep and, you know, the cost of things and, and then to see, you know, you get some people. We had a guy from southern Wisconsin last year just kill him a beautiful bull elk on a leftover tag. And it's like, that's what makes it all worth it, man. Like, I never thought we were gonna be able to make it out. And just so happens they're going out again this year now too. They, they got the itch, so they're hooked. That's what it's all about for us and, and it always will be.

Yeah. Yeah. I love that, man. No, I'm right there with you. I think it's, it's, there's a lot of, there's a lot of space here to like help people out, do this thing. And if they, if they're not, the, the financial condition to pay for an outfit or whatever and still have a good hunt. One of the things you, we were talking about too is like the stuff that you are renting out is like high quality stuff. And we were talking about Vortex earlier and you guys have some good gear there. But like even your, your frame pack, it's. What, what brand are you guys using for frame pack?

Sitka. Yep, we're using the Sitka Mountain haulers is what we've got in them right now. And those, those are great. And, and we, and I'm glad you brought that up, Jaden, because it's not like we're ordering all this stuff off a TEMU or something. Yeah, it's, these are reputable. I mean Therm, all of our camping stuff right now is Thermarest or part of the Cascade Designs group. So, you know, I mean, this is name brand, top tier. I mean it's all actually built around when we started the company a couple years ago, I mean I started with a new. With what I knew worked. And so it's literally, it just mirrored what I actually was using myself because I was like, well, how do you keep your customers happy? Use what you know works. And yeah, I knew that all this stuff worked just simply because it's exactly what my set was after. You know, it's tested and true tried for three, four years. So yeah, optics, we, we partner with Vortex, you know, on the packs, we partner with Sitcom, some of that stuff, the Thermal Rest, the, you know, Cascade Designs, they got Thermarest, Platypus, a couple different brands that you Know, work in there with the bladders and, and things like that. So everything from the, from, you know, our tents, that would be some of the seek out outside stuff to our camping equipment, everything is all name brand stuff. We don't, we don't, we don't mess with some of the, the funny stuff from Teamu and Amazon that, you know, hey, they all have their time in place, but not, not for our customers and, and they just don't hold up long term. So yeah, we put in all name brand stuff and our goal is really to be, when you rent from us, just it's everything you really need on your hunt. And like I said earlier, a lot of people just don't know what they need. And so our goal is, yeah, you know, you, you gotta still get yourself some food, you know. But hey, we, we've got a, you know, a jet boil in there or a, or a, you know, some sort of a cooker, a water boiler, you know, in, in gas and things like that. So it's really those things that you just might not need again in your life or only really when you're going out West. Everything from, like I said, sleeping bags, you know, tents, mattresses, you know, we've got wood stoves you can throw in there, backpacks, optics, you know, tripods. I mean, we have a knife kit with bone saws, meat bags. Literally everything that you probably don't own if you've never been out west and only hunted in, in the Midwest or the Southeast. So, so, and that's our goal. It's all in one box. It's everything you need is all in that one box. It's a, it's a great sportsman container that is also TSA approved, so you can just throw it under the plane for those that take the plane out there or if you go somewhere that you got to take a plane, be it Alaska or Hawaii. I did a, did a trip to Hawaii this last December and did an Axis deer hunt on Maui, which awesome experience if anybody's looking to again, another one of those hunts. Actually, of all things, it was my honeymoon. Yeah, hunting mood. Exactly. And I'll tell you if, if anybody is getting married this year and needs a, needs a great idea, here's one. You, you guys go to Hawaii, get you, there's a bunch of people, there's a bunch of land out there. There's a bunch of even people. In this case, I did go with a guy and there's a lot of just one day hunts, which is what I did. And it's you know, hey, you tell my wife now at that time I told Sid, I said hey, you know, she wanted to come with, but when we first started planning it, it's like, if you want to stay at the beach, stay at the beach. I'll be back in six hours type of thing. And just a beautiful hunt, man. I'll tell you what awesome creatures and just totally different than even the western scene, honestly. But the cool thing about that was being able to just. All my equipment was in one box. It was a free carry on with Delta that threw it under the plane. Everything was there when I needed. I got to use my own stuff. Like, couldn't have been easier in terms of, of getting the gear out there and back and, and so if you're gonna fly, don't worry about it. The boxes are TSA approved and they're, everything's pretty compact, so it doesn't take up a whole lot of space in your vehicle if you're driving too. So.

No, I love that, man. And just like, you know, you, you've talked about it a lot. But just to drive home the point like the six person teepee tent from Seek Outside is about 1600 bucks that, you know that mountain hauler, are they the four thousands or six thousand? Two hundreds, like what? I guess.

Yeah, we're doing the four. The four thousands, yeah.

530 bucks. I mean you're over two grand just to get a pack in a, in a hot tent, you know. And, and your kits are, are, dude, they're just like really reasonably priced for, you know, you, you guys talk about like you're gonna rent this stuff for 80, you know percent off of the actual retail value of buying it all. So.

Absolutely. Yeah. Most of our kits, we, we basically have two, two units. We have a camping package because some people have their optics and stuff. But maybe you want to try a pack and hunt this year and don't have the 10 tent and, and the sleeping bags and, and all the things it takes to actually camp on a pack in hunt. But you've got your optics and stuff. We have a camping unit. It's $50 a day. I mean we're not talking serious, seriously expensive stuff here. And the sportsman package, which then is basically the camping package with your all your optics, range finders, tripods, you know, spotter binoculars, all the good stuff, that's 75 a day. So you know, we basically say look, for most people it seems like they have. The average is probably 10 days by the time we get it to you. You drive out west or fly out west, do your hunt, come back, return to us. It's about a, you know, eight to ten day deal. So for 750 bucks, I mean, you can't, like Jaden, like you just said, you can't, you can't even, I mean, buy barely two items that are pretty essential for your trip for that.

That. Yeah.

And that's what really, we've knocked down that barrier of cost for people going out west where, hey, now you don't have to split four ways on a tent that you and your hunting buddies don't even know if you're ever going to use again. Try ours. I mean, borrow it for a week for this season if you like it. You. I mean, they're, they're great to have, but if it's one of those things where we have a group this year, it's, you know, they just are renting a tent. They rented one last year. It worked out great. They're just, they already booked in for their Idaho hunt this year. Year there's going to rent a 10 again just because it's like, you know, by the time you were to go buy a new one and yours becomes obsolete. We update our stuff every year, so it's always the latest and greatest technology. And actually we'll get rid of units. You know, we start to basically hand them off and rotate our inventory. So we are, we always stay on the front end of some of the newest equipment that comes out. So yeah, for some people, they're like, well, why would I ever buy it? I'll just rent every year. Then I know it's kind of like leasing a car.

Car.

Then I always know I'm driving a new car and everything's under warranty. I never have to worry about anything breaking. So it's a really sweet program. Whether you've been, you know, you're just getting into the western scene or want to get into the western scene, or it's like, hey, why am I still buying all this stuff? I should just, you know, I could just rent it. So we have customers that, you know, this is year 10. Some of them, it's, you know, they've been going out for 15 years. Other people, you know, they just got their first tag and are over the moon about the fall. And that's what's cool about our business is, you know, we really appeal to both.

No, I love that, man. No, that's great. Well, if someone wants to, they also, you know, we, we partnered up. Hunt west and Deep Fork have partnered up to Do a bit of a package deal. If someone needs a hunt plan and the gear, get a hold of either of us and, and we'll set you up and help you out.

Get absolutely.

Basically A to Z, you'll have a hunt plan and the gear to do it. Get both of those things working in conjunction. So yes.

And we are super excited about it. We've already talked to some people that found out they had tags a little bit earlier in the year and they're totally going to take advantage of this because I mean for people that have never been out west or maybe they haven't are in a new unit this year and this is the particular case that I'm talking about, they've been out west before. They, you know, they're renting the equipment from us again, which we're, we're happy to have them. But also they're going to a unit they've never been first time even hunting elk out here. So it's like for you guys to go and we got to introduce you to them. Jaden. But you know, they're totally bought in on, on getting a hunt plan too because like they said, you know, we can split all this. There's four of them we can split. You know, you're welcome on your calls to have your whole hunting party there.

Yeah.

So for, for you get your whole hunting party on there. Basically then you cost share that part. You cost share that all the equipment that you rent. So from us they're going to grab their units. It's like for, for a very affordable price. And guys watch to come on Instagram and some things as we post some more stuff. But you could do a really kind of a one stop shop package deal and it'll save you a pile of money but also tremendously increase your chances for success. And that's I think what inspired Jaden and I to start working together. I'm assuming I'm talking for you here, but assuming you're on board is look, you know, we have a similar passion, we have a similar mission. It's helping keeping this opportunity alive and being able to just see the, the, the joy that you bring, you know, our customers through this experience and, and also not breaking the bank for them either, you know, and, and this is, there is no better opportunity for a group that's going out west, experienced or not, to just get with us, get the right equipment, get a hunt plan made. Because the way I, I look at it is, is, you know, if you talk to Jaden and he saves you a day And a half of driving around like we all end up doing at some point. You know, moving camp, getting pissed off at your buddies because you're not, you know, one guy wants to go there, one guy wants to go there. It's like there's just such an advantage of having a plan going into your trip trip. And if you could save a day driving around, it's totally worth it. It paid. It literally pays for itself. So get with us. Learn more about our package. There is no better way that is a more effective and efficient and helps. That helps the bottom line in the pocketbook better than working with both of us.

I agree, man.

Yes. In there too. And makes you the most successful.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I just, I appreciate you guys wanting to come on you. You reached out to me and we're thinking about doing this and I was like, dude, you're. And we got on the phone, we're like, yeah, we have the same exact mindset. It's. It's super fun. So I, again, I appreciate you teaming up with. Teaming up with me to help guys out because that's what it's all about, man. It's super fun. Absolutely.

Well, like I said, we're happy to do it too. And to get to know you and, and your model, it's just exciting that you, you know, like we always say when we talk high tides, you know, are going to raise all these boats for people and the same customers. So we're super pumped.

Yeah, for sure, man. So, okay, so to wrap it up, if someone does want to grant some gear or just get a hold of you and ask you some questions, what's the best way to do that?

Yeah, so it, like I said, it's easy. Www.deepforkrentals.com we're on Instagram, Facebook, all the socials. Tik Tok even works I guess if you'd like like our phone numbers on the website, it's on all the social media pages. And also for those of you that follow Jaden and know Jaden, just send him a message too, you know it that he. He knows how to get a hold of us. And especially again when we talk about that plan, you know, he can speak to everything. Deep Fork rentals also. So either way is great. Send us an email. It's all on the website. It's my email. It's Seth deepforkservices.com them if you want to shoot me an email direct. But there's a lot of ways to get a hold of us and none of them are good or bad. So, you know, just pick whichever one is the easiest for you.

Exactly, man. Well, this has been super awesome. I know. Every time we get on the phone, we end up chatting for a long time, and this is just like another extension of it. So thanks for. Thanks for taking the time this morning. This has been a lot of fun.

Absolutely. Thanks for having me, Jaden. Appreciate you.

You bet, man. That's a pot. 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.