Exo Journal — Hunt Planning

If you have spent any time on extended hunts — backcountry or not — you have experienced the grind. All of us go through it from time to time; some of us deal with it better than others. Those that can endure it have a chance to fill their tags on the last day. Those that surrender to the grind will never know what could have been.

As much as we love new gear, our budgets are limited. If you are a hunter that is looking to get into backcountry, backpack-style hunting, we wanted to discuss how we would shop for backpacking gear and make budget-minded decisions. In this episode, Mark and Steve discuss how they would spend $700-$800 to purchase a shelter, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, backpacking stove, water filtration system, a reliable light source, and footwear for western-style hunting.

You have yourself an out-of-state elk tag and you cannot put boots on the ground until the hunt starts. What do you do? Here is the process I use to scout for out-of-state elk hunts...

I drew for a New Mexico archery elk tag in March 2015. It was my first elk tag. I worked my tail off in the gym, at the range, and in my garage bow shop, determined to hike into the mountains a predator. It took over 5 months of preparation and a full workweek of high-country hiking, with several tough lessons learned on the job to accomplish the goal...