The Western Huntsman Podcast

Joel Swecker is a firefighter, taxidermist, writer, hunter, and American family man. He is a return guest and joins me this week for April's installment of the School of September.  We spend a lot of time discussing how to locate, call to, and strategically place a lethal arrow into an elk. We also gloss over what to do after an elk hits the ground. As the owner of one of the busiest taxidermy sho...

Jase Groesbeck is a powerhouse of a man. He's a father, husband, and lifelong hunter who stands by his principles and beliefs.  In this episode, Jase and I bounce around from his upbringing as a hunter, to baiting bears, to a debate about what the future of hunting looks like were things to remain as they are now. Jase has balls of steel and is unashamed of who he is and what he stands for. As hun...

Return guest Jim Hoffman is the owner of Hoffman Boots, an outdoorsman, family man, and a friend of mine. He is passionate about making boots, and Hoffman Boots is a long time sponsor of this show. In this episode, we discuss the importance of good hunting boots, what make boots work in the field, how to take care of good boots for the long haul, and a bunch of hunting stuff! Jim is a great guy wi...

By popular demand, Tom Schneider of Stuck N The Rut makes another return on the show! Tom is one of the most talented hunters I know. He has mastered hunting wolves, mule deer, elk, and bear and the Stuck N The Rut YouTube channel shows it all! In this episode, Tom and I discuss pursuing predators and seeing it as a duty to all hunters to improve balance. Tom feels more deserving of his elk and de...

Mitch Kukson is an R&D Engineer for Barnes Bullets, which is a fancy way to say that Mitch is a bullet design expert and essentially a ballistics scientist. Needless to say, he is way smarter than I am and brings a level of expertise to the show that we've never done before. In this episode, we talk about Mitch's recent mountain lion and elk hunts, different bullet designs for different scenarios,...

I can't believe it's already time to kick off the School of September Series! But, since it is time, I thought what better way to kick it off than with none other than Cam Hanes! Cameron Hanes is perhaps one of, if not THE worlds best elk hunter. Cam is a longtime bowhunter, author, long-distance runner, family man, and host of the Lift, Run, Shoot Podcast. He's a world-renowned athlete and does i...

Kevin Estela is the Director of Survival for Fieldcraft Survival and the Author of the best-selling book,101 Skills You Need to Survive in the Woods. A lifelong educator and the founder of the Estela Wilderness Education Fund, Estela is an avid bushcrafter, hunter, fisherman, and self-admitted firearms training junkie. Follow his exploits on Twitter/Instagram at @estelawilded. In this episode, Kev...

Scott Rockholm is a North Idaho hunter, family man, film maker, and passionate advocate when it comes to the truth about wolves and wolf reintroduction.  Scott and I discuss several topics on the wolf issue. From wolf management to the cult of pro-wolf activists. History of wolves and how they're intertwined with human history comes up. We talk about the changing landscape of the hunting community...

In this expert-heavy episode, I find myself a bit out of my league as we poke through some heavy topics. Recorded at the Western Hunt Expo in Salt Lake, we discuss a wide variety of topics from wolf management, mule deer conservation, public perceptions versus reality in wildlife management, ballot box biology, and a host of other hot button talking points. Jim Heffelfinger is the Wildlife Science...

Mike Costello is a family man, hunter, advocate for hunters, and a Howl for Wildlife Strategic Partner. He's also a return guest on The Western Huntsman and a powerful voice for the future of hunting.  Mike and I dive into the Colorado lion/bobcat hunting debate as it relates to the anti-hunting community and their push to label everything as "trophy hunting." We bounce around from hunting advocac...

Return Guest, Adam Grenda of Stuck N The Rut is an Alaskan bush pilot, hunter, husband, father, and a fearless advocate for our hunting heritage.  In this episode, Adam and I discuss some Alaskan hunting versus hunting the lower 48 stuff, the dick bone movement, flying Alaskan bush planes, his meeting with Don Trump Jr. and tons more! As usual, Adam is authentically himself and unafraid to share h...

Return guest, Ross Sharp, is a Western Washington hunter and owner of The Crazy Elk Company. Many of you will know him from his Tag Wallet, a product desgined to simplify attaching a tag to your animal while also protecting it against the elements.  In this episode, Ross and I talk elk hunting, the politics around the future of hunting, the Washington Game Commission, and an opportunity for listen...

Rob Benson is an emergency preparedness expert, homesteader, hunter, survivalist, and family man. He has a huge social media following and even an online emergency supply store (link below). In this episode, Rob and I discuss his motivations for living a prepared life. We talk hunting, wolf reintroductions, societal issues and risks, and ballot box wildlife management. It's a great episode that go...

Dirk Durham is one of the worlds best elk hunters and callers, he's also the marketing manager with Phelps Game Calls and one helluva friend to me. As a return guest on this show, he never disappoints.  In this episode, Dirk and I discuss etiquette on the mountain and answer listener questions and comments on this topic. We're both long enough in the tooth to remember hunting before the internet,...

Gabe Hinkle is a Northwest Native, hunter, father, photogragher, and railroad engineer who joins me this week to discuss an important topic surrounding public land: Natural Asset Companies. Gabe brought this issue to me a few weeks ago, and it's something hunters should be concerned with. There is a comment period that ends this week, make sure you voice your opinions at the link below! Link for C...

Guy Duplantier, Efren Gonzalez, and Jeff DeVaul join me this week to discuss the Western Hunt Fest. This festival is a two huntfest that involves a 3D archery course, elk calling seminars and contests, a pack-out challenge, and tons of other family-friendly events for everyone to enjoy!  IN this episode, we talk about the events and locations of each Western Hunt Fest in 2024, then we dive into so...

Zach Hanson is a hunter, trapper, author, family man, and a return guest on this show. He wrote "Turning Feral" a couple years ago, which is a book centered around his story of leaving his corporate and city lifestyle for a remote life of hunting and trapping in the Idaho mountains.  In this episode, Zach and I discuss his successful wolf hunt, his book, what he's working on writing wise now, runn...

It's no secret I love music and being a musician almost as much as I love hunting! Every few months I like to bring on an up and coming new artist to introduce to you the listener! Travis Van Hoff is a hunter, songwriter, musician, family man, and great guy to visit with! We talk about archery hunting, and how that ties into his career as a musician. He also plays his new single "Cowboys Ride" as...

Gary Strassburg is a veteran, hunter, family man, and Washington resident who was troubled by what he was seeing taking place with the hunting community in the Evergreen State. He is the perfect example of when a citizen decides to get engaged and take action. In this episode, Gary and I discuss the events that led him to participating in wildlife commission meetings and taking action with the new...

Cliff Gray is a former outfitter, guide, hunter, and story teller of all things hunting. His YouTube Channel is one of the best in the business and he joins me for a great discussion about all of it.  In this episode, Cliff and I discuss his life as a hunter, hunter issues and etiquette, entrepreneurship, outfitting, and his time on the Joe Rogan Podcast. I love having guys like Cliff on the show,...

This week, I bring in members of the newly formed Conservation Coalition of Washington; Mike Herz, Josh Caple, Kelsey Haller, and Cory Maxwell.  We discuss the current state of commissioners of the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. The panel has a lot of inside information as to which commissioners are on the side of hunting and conservation, and which ones aren't. We break down each commi...

Andrew Tucker and his wife joined my wife and I for a night of campfires, whiskey, and good company. We slipped into the studio to record an episode during their visit and covered a ton of ground! He's the first in-person guest in the newly minted Broken Tines Studio, and our badass wives make up the first ever in-studio live audience! Whiskey flowed and speech may be a bit slurred by the end, it'...

Some of us are still left holding unnotched elk tags this fall, so I decided to seek out a late-season elk expert and my search led me straight to Guy Eastman! Guy is a 4th generation Wyoming native, hunter, writer, and one of the owners of Eastmans Hunting Journals. He knows elk hunting, from early season to late, and if you're still on the hunt for a late-season bull, you won't want to miss this...

This episode is the audio from an Instagram Live session Troy and I did. We continue to work through our November whitetail content and this week, one of the most legendary whitetail hunters I know joins me to talk about mock scrapes, set-ups for tree stands or ground blinds, whitetail synthetic scent use, and a pile of listener Q&A taken during our Live session.  Troy Pottenger is a teacher, hunt...

John Law is a hunter, modern homesteader, photogragher, and entrepreneur. He joins me in this episode to talk about some of the access issues in Wyoming and other hunting related topics. We discuss modern homesteading, being self-sustainable, and all sorts of good banter is had! He is also a talented photogragher and is passionate about the outdoors. John was a lot of fun to get on the show and I...