The Mindful Hunter Podcast

Bradley Brooks is the founder and CEO of Argali Outdoors, a company that specializes in the design and manufacturing of ultralight hunting gear. Brad was also kind enough to give us an exclusive insight into their new trekking poles that are launching on Jan 5th. As always, with the founder’s series, I am trying to uncover the challenges entrepreneurs faced while growing their companies in the out...

Ben and I have been Instagram friends for quite a while, and I finally had the chance to get him on the podcast. Ben is one of the guys I rely on for feedback and advice on my gear choices. He is insanely analytical and has run more gear than most of us will get a chance to see in our lives. We barely scratched the surface in this one, so we are already planning part 2 for when I am back from my g...

Well, folks in 3 weeks I will be trudging up the side of some god-awful mountain trying to kill a big old billy so might as well go over the gear list. Also, tons of great questions in the second half this week.   Jay Nichol jay@mindfulhunter.com https://www.mindful-reviews.com/ https://www.mindfulhunter.com/   Merch https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop   Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide https://www...

Kurt Racicot is the next guest in The Founders Series. Through these podcasts, I will explore the roots of some of the most popular outdoor brands and how their founders built them. Kurt is the founder and lead designer for Stone Glacier. We dove into his history as a hunter, where his entrepreneurial drive came from, some of the challenges he faced founding both these companies, and much much mor...

Steve Speck is the first guest in The Founders Series. Through these podcasts, I will explore the roots of some of the most popular outdoor brands and how their founders built them. Steve is the owner of Exo Mtn Gear and S&S Archery. We dove into his history as a hunter, where his entrepreneurial drive came from, some of the challenges he faced founding both these companies, and much much more.  ...

Tried to answer as many questions as I could from IG this week. I got into things like is TRT worth it, Dealing with knee pain, best base layers and many more.   Jay Nichol jay@mindfulhunter.com https://www.mindfulhunter.com/   Merch https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop   Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide https://www.mindfulhunter.com/tools   Newsletter https://www.mindfulhunter.com/contact   IG http...

I recorded this podcast while driving home from Northern Alberta. I spent a week sitting in treestands at -20c trying to kill a buck with my bow. I wasn’t successful but I learned a ton and I go over my takeaways from the hunt and my thoughts about all the gear I used.   Jay Nichol jay@mindfulhunter.com https://www.mindfulhunter.com/   Merch https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop   Free Backcountry Nu...

The battle of the ultralight backpack titans! Here is my analysis of the Seek Outside Goshawk 6300 vs the Stone Glacier Terminus 7000. If you want to enter to win either of these bags head over to Mindful Reviews. Comparing these two ultralight packs was a blast. These backpacks both go about trying to solve the same problems in very unique ways.   https://www.mindful-reviews.com/     0:00 – Intro...

I had a great chat with John Barklow who is not only the Big Game Product Manager for Sitka but is a very accomplished bowhunter and has a fantastic newsletter full of insights and tactics for hunters of all experience levels.   John Barklow https://www.instagram.com/jbarklow/ https://knowledgefromstorms.com/   Jay Nichol jay@mindfulhunter.com https://www.mindfulhunter.com/   Merch https://www.min...

This week I broke down my entire archery setup including bow, arrow build, broadhead, speed, everything. After that, I dove into an archery-focused Q&A.     Jay Nichol jay@mindfulhunter.com https://www.mindfulhunter.com/   Merch https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop   Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide https://www.mindfulhunter.com/tools   Newsletter https://www.mindfulhunter.com/contact   IG https://w...

Well my friends I was finally able to break the curse. In this podcast, I go over my history with elk in B.C. and then break down my latest hunt where I was lucky enough to arrow a great bull while hunting solo.     Jay Nichol jay@mindfulhunter.com https://www.mindfulhunter.com/   Merch https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop   Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide https://www.mindfulhunter.com/tools   News...

I just spent 9 days hunting elk with my old man and brother in northern BC. While we didn’t kill an elk it was our first hunt all together and it was great to spend time together. I thought I’d do a gear breakdown and share some of my takeaways from the hunt. Also, I’m headed back out solo for elk on Sunday and dove into my plan for that as well.     Jay Nichol jay@mindfulhunter.com https://www.mi...

Chef Jean-Paul Bourgeois is a MeatEater culinary contributor, an expert on all things Cajun, and an all-around badass with an infectious love of cooking, the outdoors, and intense pride in his home state of Louisiana. He just debuted season 2 of his feature cooking and hunting show Duck Camp Dinners last week on the MeatEater YouTube channel. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting down with Jean-Paul and wa...

To wrap up the three-podcast series on my sheep hunt I did a massive Q & A covering the hunt itself, the filming process, and the gear I used. I answered things like the best and worst piece of gear I brought, my e-scouting process, how the new tent held up, and much more.   Jay Nichol jay@mindfulhunter.com https://www.mindfulhunter.com/   Merch https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop   Free Backcountr...

I felt as though there was some value in digging a little deeper into my decision-making process during this hunt and going over some of my mistakes might be useful to some people. It also gave me a chance to reflect on the journey and see where I could improve next year.     Jay Nichol jay@mindfulhunter.com https://www.mindfulhunter.com/   Merch https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop   Free Backcount...

Okay, I’m back from my sheep hunt. I didn’t kill a sheep, but I certainly got to put some gear through its paces and learned lots that I’ve got to share. Let me know if you have any follow-up questions.     Jay Nichol jay@mindfulhunter.com https://www.mindfulhunter.com/   Merch https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop   Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide https://www.mindfulhunter.com/tools   Newsletter ht...

Up next in the Mindful Review series is a comparative analysis of 9, 2-person 3-season tents including the Big Agnes Copper Spur, Sea To Summit Telos, Hilleberg Niak, MSR Hubba Hubba, Nemo Dragonfly, Stone Glacier Skyscraper 2P, Kuiu Mountain Star, Hilleberg Helags, and the Slingfin Portal. I looked at 30 different elements including price, build quality, practical space, pole construction, and ma...

Going through the process of prepping for a bodybuilding contest is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and I’ve been lucky enough to do some pretty hard things in my life. I learned a lot about who I am and what it takes to be successful. I thought it would be interesting to see how I could apply those lessons to becoming a better hunter. Here’s what I came up with.     Jay Nichol jay@mindf...

Okay, folks so I have put together my nutritional plan for my 2022 solo sheep hunt. I have included macros, micros, electrolytes, and all my supplements. In addition to that, I am reposting my Backcountry Meal Planning Guide for free (link below) and have also teamed up with Wilderness Athlete to give away over $200 worth of supplements.   Giveaway Instructions:   Go to my Instagram page and look...

This week I had the opportunity to sit down with someone I have looked up to for a long time. Trail Kreitzer is a legitimate backcountry hunter in the truest sense of the words. Not only is he insanely dedicated he is also extremely analytical about his process and his gear. The pack dump videos he does for GoHunt are some of the finest on YouTube. We talked about all kinds of things from the psyc...

This week I break down my backpacking camera gear for hunting. I dive into it from both a photography and videography perspective and cover cameras, lenses, power management etc. I also give three different gear lists for three different budgets. Let me know your thoughts.     Jay Nichol jay@mindfulhunter.com https://www.mindfulhunter.com/   Merch https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop   Free Backcoun...

Time for another solo Q&A episode. This week I answered questions about how to get fit for hunting in the backcountry. I personally believe this is a lot simpler than most people make it out. I discussed everything from training splits to injury recovery and a whole lot in-between. Let me know your thoughts!     Jay Nichol jay@mindfulhunter.com https://www.mindfulhunter.com/   Merch https://www.mi...

This week I sat down with my good friend Big Ron Partlow. Ron owns West Coast Iron, the gym I train at, hosts the podcast It’s Just Bodybuilding, is sponsored by the supplement company Mutant, and is a retired IFBB professional bodybuilder. We had a great conversation and covered things like how Ron started training, bodybuilding in the 90’sand how to build a life doing what you love.   Ron Partlo...

Here are the final results for the most ambitious review I’ve ever attempted. In addition to multiple smaller elements, I looked at load shelf capability and tested 80lbs and 120lbs loads. The results surprised even me. I’d love to hear your comments and feedback and requests for future comparative reviews you’d like to see. I hope you enjoy it.   I reviewed the   Kifaru Fulcrum with Duplex Lite F...

This week I sat down and answered questions off IG. I covered things like tips for new bowhunters, my favourite kind of bear hunting, the software I use to edit videos, how I prefer to butcher meat, and a whole lot more.     Jay Nichol jay@mindfulhunter.com https://www.mindfulhunter.com/   Merch https://www.mindfulhunter.com/shop   Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide https://www.mindfulhunter.com/too...