 welcome back y'all I think this is day four being here day three at hunting camp I'm gonna throw a shirt on so you don't have to look my exhausted body that's the thing I'm I'm totally exhausted I just took a nap and y'all this is rough this is really rough it's rough physically it's rough mentally there's bow hunting for elk public land nothing around like the most remote place I've ever been besides New Zealand probably I've hunted the evening after I set up camp I hunted the morning the next day I went fishing and then I hunted a full day that's two and a half days so I hunted a half day this morning I don't know if you could tell I'm exhausted I think what's even harder than hunting these elk is is filming the whole thing like self-filming this hunt and try to capture everything on camera it's it's really impossible I got so lucky the first day I went out and I was able to hear elk or see elk and then hear bugles and get out I had time to get out my camera and film those I really think I've been hunting that same group of elk this whole time there's that one big bull and a bunch of cows and a couple of spikes in the group and just the way I've I've looked at their trails I've literally just like analyzing poop every day and tracks and around watering spots like I have walked the same ridge these miles of ridges for days now by the time you see them there's no time to get out a camera and really good you know film anything and most of the time they're they're busting me before I even see them I'll get like a glance of a leg or you know just just like and some antlers moving if I'm lucky enough to see the bull you know I'll start to move around and then all of a sudden like there's there's one cow or something over here that spotted me already and they take off it's it's just so impossible it seems to sneak up on them and even more impossible to get it get them on camera at least with a big camera so my strategy is just take take a GoPro on my head and when it happens just turn it on and and shoot I think that's my only chance to to get any real elk on camera footage besides seeing them from far away purpose to me coming up here is to really learn about elk hunting and immerse myself in it by myself and learn through failures that's how I've learned everything in my life like the best way is just go out there and experience it time time on the water time in the woods and then you learn from those failures and I've had some help from some buddies on you know general information general areas but I'm learning I'm learning a lot every day so I'm totally exhausted after this morning I was just like mentally done I called this bull down and I heard him bugle early in the morning I went to an area where I busted them last evening and I figured there'd be something there and as soon as I got up to the same elevation where they're hanging at gave a call heard a bugle and he started working his way down I couldn't see him but I could hear him getting a little closer and then and then I saw his antlers and it was in the Navalanche shoot and I could see him about a hundred yards away and I started to get into position to make a shot and there were some elks or some cows up on this ridge that were his cows I guess and one of them saw me and busted and then he just kind of disappeared I don't know where he went and they're just like ghosts I don't know how when you hear them run through the woods it sounds like I heard a cattle coming through there and breaking branches and you can the sign of an elk versus a sign of a whitetail like all of their poop and tracks and even just moving through the woods it's so easy to see but they're silent it seems or I guess they're just sitting still every time I'm walking through there and they bust me so like I came up here just to learn like I didn't really have that big expectations to get on elk much less a big bull like a shooter bull but now I've seen this bull for every day I've been here and I'd love to make it happen I'd love to just get anything would be a monster accomplishment what I think is the plan what I think my best chance is to stay up there with them so instead of exhausting myself going up and down the mountain I think this evening I'm gonna take my pack out to it I'm gonna build my pack up a little heavier bring a couple meals and my cook kit and I've had I've had some problems with the coal it's been colder here than I thought and so much more dehydrated up here than what I'm used to I just go use breakfast I had some eggs and ham and potatoes but I've basically been eating the same thing every day I've got I've got a few fish left so my resources are running down but I just kind of want to give you a tour of the the pad here four days in show it show you what it looks like it's kind of like a hunting bachelor pad and it's a reflection of my mental exhaustion right now my tent is it's huge and it's so comfortable and I don't want to leave it I really don't want to take my little tent and stay up there on the mountain I think it's gonna be even colder but it's been cold here I've been sleeping in this this Sierra designs sleeping bag it's a 20 degree bag and the key is this sleeping pad right here this extra huge sleeping pad I got that's made by Teton I think yeah it's an extra large and I've got the cot to match it and it's I mean I can sleep as good on that as I can at home over here is our is our laundry center I got my dirty clothes in here hanging up this is just kind of a total wreck situation I've been I've been trying to charge things but I'm running low on batteries and this thing that one of you guys sent me it's been pretty cool but it's dying now so I'm trying to charge these GoPro batteries get them going I'm almost out I've kind of kept a lot of clothes and food and just general stuff in this big bag here I don't have my puffy pants I wish I did but I've also been using these these basmati bags just organized different stuff like this is toiletries medical stuff foods only brought two pairs of pants so I'm just alternating those letting one dry and using the other and then that's my pack it's been pretty light but this is what I've been carrying some extra clothes rain gear it's been raining every day and my lenses and camera stuff and then obviously like knives flashlights yeah it looks like an absolute wreck in here because that's what I am right now but I love you I don't want to leave you step outside the house here this place is covered with flies and mosquitoes I've really been having to close make sure I close that so I don't get flies in here got another storm brewing off in the distance it's about that time of day the truck it's covered in dust I've got one cooler here and this is what I've kept my kept my fish in I've got eggs you know there's my fish I have left so I'm gonna eat those for a head up on the mountain for the big-time journey here's my bow it's hanging up right there really having to make sure I don't bang I'm carrying this I'm not it's not strapped to my back so it's a lot of work having your pack and then just literally carrying your bow in your hand step back out out here this is my my hangout pad this is where I come and I just look at nature get the fire going and sit in my little seat right there just kind of check out the the scenery and then I've got my other cooler it's kind of running low on ice but other stuff in there milk vegetables whatnot still got my fly rod ready to dangle if I need to right here I got my water filtration system I just take this hose pull it out of here and I can kind of wash off whatever I've taken one bath since I've been here it was kind of like a half bath situation it was down there in that river which is coming from the ice off the mountains and that really sucked that was one of the quickest little baths I've ever had the first couple days I really just enjoyed setting up camp fishing dabbling and scouting and stuff like that and now mentally like I'm just I'm I'm here for the elk it's gotten me like when I've heard those first bugles it was like this is next level right here next level hunting and because it's such a big challenge I just want to do it it would be an incredible accomplishment and that's my focus right now I might need to go catch a few more fish but if I'm heading up in the mountains it's pretty much just gonna be mountain house meals and hopefully we can stay warm so oh I'm gonna rest a little bit more eat up and then we're heading up there for good and you're coming with me still raining a little bit of hail it's time to head out spend my next round 16 18 hours on the mountain bags packed prepared I've got the equivalent of four bottled waters in there I've got food I have basically everything I need to sleep I'm leaving the big bad behind gonna miss you baby I'm hoping that this is gonna be worth worth it maybe not I might just freeze my butt off on a mountain tonight but we'll see but this this camera I'm taking that I'm filming on right now it's a little bulky but it's a much smaller lens I'm not taking my big lens I'm just going for an arrow through an elk and that is my focus so I'm not gonna be filming a whole bunch but I do have to put you guys away now it's gonna be wet so you're going in the pack all right I'll see you on top of the mountain this is my new home look at it my sleeping bag my thermo let thermo sleeping pad and I've got a pillow there's my gear I'm gonna leave all my gear inside of here mark on my GPS or old friend beef stroganoff I had the herd big as heard that I've seen so far I was chasing out a couple of cows and they knew something was up like they knew they were being chased and one made a sound I'd never heard that before I mean whitetail kind of snort this is like a bellow it's loud rushed up this spot where I had literally sat for an hour the other day hoping something would come nothing did they went right through there and then I was sitting there and then I heard something crashing behind me I looked back and there's a giant herd of elk like 20 elk coming up the spot so I had to rush into position and they were a little farther 120 yards obviously not you know the bow distance so I had to rush up the mountain again but when I did that with the sun going down the air cooling down they could smell me and they knew something was up and I kept kind of like peeking around and they just they were blowing and sorting and they knew I was there so I never could they were close like there were 50 yards away I could have got a shot but I couldn't stand up to draw and I just peeked my head out they took off you know and then at the very end of the day I heard some awesome bugles and I'm staying up here with them like I'm here there's also bears here so we're gonna put the stroganoff up pretty tight and also I had to move my camp actually I'll show you guys on the next episode I'm in a deadfall area like a bunch of trees are falling down I heard one fall while I was sleeping at my base camp the other night it is scary how loud it is and it can kill you like these big trees or I don't know why they fall down so much but they fall down a lot and I'm in the middle of a bunch of deadfall trees and there was one that was like ready to go where I set up camp so um you always got to check that when you're setting up your camp I should be okay I came one step closer today guys I'm gonna enjoy my beef stroganoff over here enjoy my little tent for the night it's definitely not as good as my other one but all this for these elk I'm close guys hopefully it happens tomorrow stay tuned subscribe so you don't miss the next video and I'll see y'all there