The Western Huntsman Podcast

Growing up in Missoula, MT, Zach dreamed of working in the hunting industry. His dream came to fruition when he was offered an internship with OnX Hunt Maps while in college, and has been there ever since. Currently, Zach is a marketing guru for OnX and a hunter living the Montana life still in Missoula.    We talk about hunting from Montana to South Dakota, we discuss the inner workings of OnX, h...

Philip Bowen is a West Virginian, songwriter, singer, and extremely talented fiddle player. He has exploded on social media by being himself and playing his music for the world to hear.  We talk about his music passion, how he got where he is, and how you cannot cheat the hardwork it takes to achieve success whether in music or hunting. Philip is a genuine guy and super likeable, I'd love to have...

Kevin is an outdoorsman, author, educator, and the Director of Training for Fieldcraft Survival. Mildly put, he is my kind of people. In this episode, Kevin and I explore the Fieldcraft Survival platform where he shares their offerings and super popular survival courses. We talk about key components of survival skills all hunters should know, the commonality of weak minds prevalent in today's Amer...

  Brandon is the VP of Sales at Eastman's Hunting Journals, and a talented hunter. I got to know him in person last Summer during my visit to the Eastman's headquarters in Powell, WY. In this episode, we talk about his recent bear hunt in Canada, our shared passion of chasing high mountain mule deer, issues hunters face, and the future of hunting. Brandon is a straight forward, authentic dude and...

Why would I bring The Bugler on the show to talk about deer hunting instead of elk??? Because deer season is either here for you or very close, and Dirk has some things to say about deer calls! Dirk and I talk about his busy and successful September elk season. We also go through the new lineup of deer calls from Phelps Game Calls. He demonstrates everything from the grunt tubes to the doe bleat c...

Baker Leavitt is the founder of the company Digital Mongoose, and also a Business Developer at Black Rifle Coffee Company.    He joins me this week and we go from talking about some of the differences between elk hunting private ranches versus OTC public land, hunting in Africa, managing whitetail property in the South, hunter animosity towards each other, and his time at Black Rifle Coffee and ot...

After a wild September, I sit down alone and recap the North Idaho elk season that ended with an arrow in a bull and a truck that burned to the ground.  The truck fire destoyed most of my podcast files since my laptop was in it, therefore I'm putting this episode out on a laptop I haven't pulled the files from the cloud with yet. Short and sweet, please make sure you consider the show sponsors if...

Ammon Bundy is a well known figure in the American West. Now, he's running for Governor of Idaho. In an effort to provide a long-form and conversational platform, I invited him on as well as a few other political candidates. We talk about Ammon's key objectives as governor, and have a healthy debate about who should manage our public lands.  Ammon Bundy on Instagram Ammon Bundy Website Show Sponso...

Ryan Gascon, Founder of High Timber Dreams, is an inspiring guy and a talented hunter. I'm proud to call him my friend! In this episode, we talk about the mission of High Timber Dreams and how he is helping veterans get in the field to hunt. He also drops some serious elk hunting wisdom on us! Not an episode you'll want to miss! High Timber Dreams Instagram High Timber Dreams Website Show Sponsors...

I absolutely love having Tony Wintrip, The Elk Singer, on the show! Not only is he a wealth of knowledge when it comes to September archery hunting, he's a talented musician that has a love of sharing his music centered around our hunting lifestyle.  In this episode, Tony shares some music he wrote with us. He also offers up some legitimate elk hunting tactics just in time for September archery el...

Dr. Phil Bass is an Assistant Professor of Meat Science at the University of Idaho, and co-host of the MeatsPad Podcast! MeatsPad is a popular show about meat and the science behind it for the meat industry. Dr. Bass has a ton of energy and passion around what he does for a living and that always makes for a great episode! As hunters, we've all heard grandpa's meat care theories and a myriad of co...

Shane is a listener favorite and he's back! Shane started Bone Maniacs and his hunting show, Bone Maniacs, has been nominated for the annual awards at Carbon TV. Shane is one of the most consistent hunters I know and I always enjoy his honest, unashamed approach to life, as well as his willingness to share his perspective. We talk about his show, the dismal state of political affairs in this count...

Joel Turner is a retired law enforcement officer, firearms instructor, SWAT Team Leader, successful elk hunter, and the founder of SHOT IQ. He is a return SOS guest on the show and due to popular demand, we brought him back for this season! In this installment of School of September we discuss the controlled shooting process with a bow, whether chuckling at a  bull is a good idea, Joel's philosoph...

Finally! Ross Sharp and I have been trying to record an episode together for a long time. He is a Washington resident, hunter, and business owner. Ross founded The Crazy Elk Company famous for it's innovative Tag Wallet product with much more in the works. He is a dedicated and wildly successful hunter, advocate for hunting rights in Washington, and a super cool dude to have on the show. You won't...

Another episode from my Wyoming trip to visit with the crew at Eastmans Hunting Journals, this time with Dan Pickar! Dan is a writer, editor, and producer for Eastmans Hunting Journals and Beyond The Grid TV, he's also an absolute savage bowhunter who has mastered the art of high country mule deer. The mounts on the wall in his office would make any hunter's heart beat a little faster. In this epi...

Guy Duplantier is a frequent guest of this show and host of the Western Contours Podcast. In fact, he's one of my favorite humans and I always end our recordings together feeling great about the content and the friendship.  In this episode, we talk about his recent move to Colorado and how it's changed his perspective on things. We also talk about elevation sickness, how hunters can mitigate it, a...

A trip to Wyoming is always worth it, but it was even more so this time because I got to meet the entire Eastman's Hunting Journals team to include Ike Eastman, President of the company!  Ike and I sit down to chat about perceptions surrounding trophy hunting. We discuss how the term is portrayed negatively by the anti-hunting folks, how some hunters may perceive it, and what truly defines a troph...

One of the most profoundly successful Federal funding programs in our history is The Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937. For 85 years, this legislation has funded wildlife conservation efforts to the tune of over eleven billion dollars. It has fueled projects such as habitat restoration, wildlife science projects, public access, species rehabilitation, hunter education, gun ranges, and much more. It ha...

Mike is a biologist, professor, meat expert, and one of the founders of Credo Outdoors. This group is dedicated to teaching hunters how to break down wild game, butcher it the right way, and cook it! Mike and I dive into everything from hunting bear and elk to muscle groups in the meat to a secret new app that will be a game changer for hunters. Don't miss this lively conversation and check out Cr...

Episode 2 of our Dashboard Hunting Mentor Series is all about basic woodsmanship. Too many hunters enter the woods for the first time without knowing basic things such as navigation, mountain thermals, building fires, plant identification, knowing where to camp, and much more. Listen in to get the basic info and how to learn some of this important stuff. It will help with hunting success and overa...

Mike Bozarth is a return guest and a truly inspirational dude! We spend some time running through his recent bear hunt, in which he filled his tag this week! Mike baits bears in Southern Idaho and always manages to notch his tag, we talk about his unique setup and about our new love of spring bear hunting.  Then, John Stallone from Howl for Wildlife sent in an audio file with his Conservation Corn...

This SOS episode is shorter than usual, but don't let it fool you! Dirk Durham joins me in The Broken Tines Studio and we are action packed on this one; elk hunting September, calling strategies, using emotion in your calls, locating elk, working a herd bull, calling in a spike, and tons more. We end it with a good ol' fashioned Doug Fluty song, The Devil Went Down to Idaho! Follow The Bugler on I...

Seth Watts returns to the show with his bear hunting friend, Matt Drake. In this episode, we talk about some of the hot tips they have after being fresh off a successful bear baiting hunt in Idaho. Matt is a prolific bear bait hunter, Seth joined him in Idaho recently and tagged out on a great black bear! We talk tips, bait types and methods, and fighting with the anti-bear hunting crowd.  Follow...

You may or may not know this, but I love mule deer hunting. I've always considered myself fairly proficient at it too, until I met Tom from Stuck N The Rut! Tom is a master level mule deer hunter. He's notched muley tags all over the Western U.S. and while his last appearance on the show was centered around hunting wolves, this one is mule deer focused. Also, check out the Stuck N The Rut Mule Dee...

Episode one of our new series The Dashboard Hunting Mentor is asking the question; why become a hunter?  This new series is dedicated to new hunters, young and old, to learn the basics beyond what hunter's ed teaches. In Episode One, I go through what this series will cover, what kind of hunter are you going to be, how to define your expectations as a hunter, and learning about what hunting is not...