Close Range Hunter

OK, It's been a long time.  It's been a struggle since the first of the year and I haven't had a lot of great or interesting stuff to talk about, but it's time to tell my story.  It's not always a good story and sorry about complaining, but I figure I might as well get it all off my chest.  Stuck in Limbo is where I've been for a while and here's why.  I'm hoping the next one will be more upbeat, or at least I will go on a rant about something hunting related.  If you stick it out I have some good news near the end.  

Its been a while and for good reason.  I've been dealing with more heart issues that finally culminated in a quadruple bypass surgery in early October.  Seven weeks later, with the help of my future son-in-law, Aaron I tested it out by packing into an Arizona Wilderness with my llamas for a rifle coues deer hunt.  In this episode Aaron and I talk about the hunt and a bunch of other stuff.  It was his first time on a big game hunt and he got the full experience.  I apologize for some low quality audio.  I recorded it straight from the built in mics on a portable recorder outside in the wind.  We also captured llamas humming and birds chirping for ambiance.  I hope you enjoy it and learn something as usual.  Thanks for listening, and feel free to comment and contact me at [email protected].

I managed to get down to the border for a couple days of archery hunting opening weekend. Lance showed up for an evening even though he isn't archery hunting this year.   We finally got around to the wrap up for last year's archery deer and bear hunt.  Spoiler alert animals were harmed!  We also talked a little early season archery bear from two weeks ago. The audio quality is a little wonky in spots because I was recording off the built-in microphones on the recorder.  The crickets in the background are a nice touch though.  I tried to get Lance's buddy Fabian, who was also hunting, to join in but he's too shy.  They guy is a very good bowhunter so I'll keep working on him. This was just a fun conversation. I hope you enjoy the stories.

In the last few years I've climbed out from under my rock and tried to engage more with the traditional bowhunting community.  In this episode I describe my experiences with the Colorado Traditional Archers Society High Country Shoot (it was fantastic!), and the Professional Bowhunters Society Odd Year Gathering in Wyoming.  These events and the Compton event I attended in March have really helped me get more psyched about tradbow hunting again.  In addition, myself and four other Arizona tradbow guys are trying to start a new state organization cleverly called, Traditional Bowhunters of Arizona. I also give my opinions on things like crossbows, the North Rim forest fires and a quick report on how archery deer season is shaping up for me.   I hope you enjoy.  Thanks.

I should have done this one a couple weeks ago, but better late than never.  In this episode I describe how the Arizona big game draw process works, and how to access and use previous draw data to improve your odds in the future. The main AZ draw deadline just passed, but this info applies to all draws.  I start by describing the draw and bonus point processes then do a deeper dive into the data you can find on the AZGFD website and how to use it to your advantage.  I give several simple tips you should use to help your chances of drawing a big game tag, and some warnings about things that might hurt your chances. Hopefully it's not too confusing without visual aids.  Maybe I'll make a YouTube video about this before the next draw so I can show exactly what to do. I hope you get something from this that will change the way you apply for AZ tags.  Enjoy.

This episode was supposed to be about my recent trip to Colorado for the Compton Traditional Bowhunters Big Game Classic, but thanks to listener PJ Selinski (and I do mean thanks PJ) it was confirmed that the numbers I used for the previous episode on the 2024 archery deer quotas were wrong.  I knew then that something was off, but I went with the numbers I got off the AZ Game and Fish website at that time.  So, in this episode the first 20 minutes are the new stats based on the hopefully correct numbers.  The rest of the episode is me gushing about how awesome the Compton event was and how great the people are.  I did a hard sell on joining Compton and teased the idea of starting our own traditional bowhunting organization in Arizona.  I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to contact me at my email: [email protected] or on Facebook or Instagram at Closerangehunter. Happy hunting!

In this episode I breakdown some numbers and stats of the archery deer quota from 2024.  What units closed when, how many deer were killed by archers in 2024, how that compares to 2023, and what do these numbers tell us? At the end I did a little catching up and told some stories about a couple of crazy coincidences between big game hunting and meteorite hunting and a bit on drought and antler growth.  I also made another pitch for traditional archery seasons. I thought I had uploaded a podcast in February, but I guess I didn't.  I recorded this a few weeks ago, but the audio was not up to par.  So, here is my second attempt.  I will follow up soon with another podcast about my experience at the Compton Traditional Bowhunters Big Game Classic I attended in Golden Colorado in March.   As always I hope you get some useful info out of this one.

This is a long one, but a good one!  I've been wanting to get Zach Larsen on this podcast since before I even recorded the first episode.  Zach hunts with primitive bows, arrows, and even points he makes himself.  He's not just taking his bows for a walk in the woods either.  He's killed dozens of animals while getting stickbow close.  He is a legit close range hunter and doing it in the West where getting close ain't so easy.  He's also a great husband, father, and an environmental scientist.  Zach is very humble about his accomplishments, but I got some stories out of him.  We even got a little sidetracked talking about crossbows and other technology and how they threaten bowhunting opportunities, which is sure to ruffle some feathers.  We both did a quick recap of our successful archery javelina hunts from this week too.  Two hours was not enough to do more than scratch the surface on Zach and some of the other subjects we covered.  I definitely plan to get him on again ASAP.  Let me know what you think about this one.  I hope you enjoy it.

My once in a lifetime desert bighorn sheep hunt is over!   I got the ram I wanted and could not be happier or more fulfilled.  This hunt built into a dream I didn't even have when it started, and the conclusion hit me like nothing I've ever experienced hunting.  Desert sheep hunting is just different.I decided the best way to tell the story was to tell it face to face with a hunting friend, so I invited Josh Schmidt back for another session.  No more words needed here.  This is a long one, but there is a lot to unpack.  I hope you enjoy it.Thanks, Chris

This episode is a recap of the second week or so of my desert bighorn sheep hunt.  This time I had some great company and experienced the full range of sheep hunting experiences.  From chasing a ghost ram to missing a dream ram. Lots of highs and lows and lessons learned.  Desert sheep country is beautiful this time of year so just being out watching sheep do sheep things was really enjoyable.  Stay tuned for the conclusion of my hunt in Part 4.

Part 2 of my desert bighorn sheep hunt covers the last couple days of scouting and the first few days of the hunt.  Lots of sheep were seen and a gnarly one was killed. (Not by me.)  I'm learning a lot about sheep hunting and having fun.  Mostly. I'll be recording Part 3. soon and posting it when I get back into town.  It's going to be a good one.

I attempted to upload this episode a week ago, but the upload failed and I didn't know until I was already out in the desert again.  Sorry that it is a week out of date.  A lot has transpired since this was recorded, but you will have to wait for that.   Part 2 of my sheep hunt will follow next week, I hope.   I've been applying for desert bighorn sheep tags for over 30 years and honestly never thought I'd draw one, so never even dreamed of hunting desert sheep in Arizona, but lady luck smiled on me and I'm going sheep hunting!  I've never even been on a sheep hunt!  I recorded this episode sitting in my truck out in the desert on my third scouting trip. I talk about the draw and how to play it to your advantage, and how I somehow managed to draw my second choice sheep tag.  You'd think I am the luckiest guy in the world, but even when I'm lucky bad luck seems to find me and I talk about that too. Spoiler alert, this is still pre-hunt, so I go over my scouting so far and some of my plans for the hunt, but no sheep have been harmed yet.  I've done one more scouting trip since this was recorded and have some things to be excited about, but that will have to wait for the next episode which I will probably record while in my sheep camp.  By the time this is uploaded I'll be there and hopefully have a ram picked out for opening day December 1st. At this point I still plan to bowhunt, but that might go flying out the window if I get too excited about a ram! I hope you enjoy this one and are looking forward to the next update.  I've got the whole month of December to hunt, but I'll post it as soon as I return.  Wish me luck!Thanks for listening!

This episode was recorded in Arizona archery deer camp with Lance Altherr.  I waited a long time to publish it because I wanted to get him on again for the season wrap up, but we couldn't get together, so that will have to come in a separate episode.  It will be worth listening to for sure!  This episode covers a lot of ground!  We caught up on how deer and bear season had been so far, archery deer quotas, our plans for more hunting this season, bear hunting, hunting in New Zealand, more border talk, some fishing talk, and I probably talked too much about my recent trip to Australia.  As always there's some good info in here if you pay attention and listen closely.  See if you can catch where I edited out a top secret slip.  Thanks for listening!

I finally got my old friend Lance Altherr to stop by to record a podcast.  I've known Lance for over 25 years and he has some great stories to tell.  He is the guy I've been archery coues deer hunting with down by the border for the last couple years.  He's killed a bunch of big bucks and bears in the Borderlands and shares some of his secrets for both.   Lance is a former Border Patrol officer and is currently a BLM Special Investigator. (Bureau of Land Management not the other BLM!)  So, he has some first hand stories to tell about what goes on at our southern border too. This one is a little over two hours long, but there is some great info and some great stories, like when he treed a bear by barking like a dog while wearing nothing but his underwear!  I hope you enjoy it and get some valuable info to help on your hunts.  Bonus fishing stories at the end too.

It's been a long time again.  So long I forgot what episode I was on.  I said 15 in the podcast, but it is 16.  This one kind of rambles a bit because I just had to get one done so I sat down without notes or a plan and hit record.  There's been a lot going on around here with the biggest thing being that I had a "cardiac event".  That story is intertwined with the recap of a rifle coues deer hunt I guided in November and a brief bit about my archery javelina hunting so far this month.  There's a good tip hidden in the coues deer story so listen up. I'm still amazed that I'm getting downloads every week even though I haven't made a podcast in four months.  I'm going to try to be more reliable and regular.  Hopefully about once a month.  Thanks for listening and I hope you enjoy it.

I finally got back on the board with a nice velvet coues deer!  In this episode I explain a little about my history chasing velvet coues deer with a bow to explain why this was such an important success for me.   This hunt took place very close,  sometimes too close, to the southern border with the Border Hunter himself, my buddy Lance.  I'm very grateful to him for sharing this spot.  I recap the hunt, including the vicious doe mosh pit, and go in detail about how I preserved the velvet and still made a Euro mount of the skull.   I think this is a game changer for velvet antlers.   I hope you enjoy it and maybe learn a little to help your hunting game.

Once again I've been too long in getting an episode out.  It's time to catch up and talk about Arizona archery deer season.  In this episode I talk about my daughter's bison hunt, other cool stuff I've been up to and go in depth about my approach to the early season archery deer hunt in Arizona.   I give some of my stories and tips about hunting tree stands and blinds, mostly geared towards coues deer in Arizona, but applicable no matter where you are.   I even throw in a story about my recent death march hike.I have been planning to do another episode for a while and really wanted to do one specifically on my daughter's bison hunt called The Truth About Hunting Bison in Arizona.   I needed some time to reflect on some of the drama from that hunt and finally decided to hold off on that.  Since then I've encountered several people who have said how much they have enjoyed my previous podcasts and wondering what I was going to do next.  I'm really quite flattered and surprised by the positive feedback I've received.  Getting  weekly emails from my podcast hosting site  telling me how many more downloads it receives each week has been prodding me to do another.   I really appreciate the fact that people are listening and reaching out even though I haven't uploaded an episode in almost four months!  Thanks for listening.  I don't make any money doing these and don't intend to, but I do enjoy sharing some of my thoughts and experiences to people who want to hear them.   Please feel free to contact me through my Instagram at Closerangehunter or by email at [email protected].  I hope you enjoy this one.  Thanks, Chris

It's been quite a while since my last episode, but I'm back! Since Christmas Janice and I have been pretending to be retired, not just from our regular jobs, but also our pack llama business.  No social media, podcasts, or YouTube videos.  Just fun enjoying the Arizona backcountry. In this episode I first catch up on some of the adventures we've had and tell a couple of hunting stories.  After that I go into an  analysis of the data from the first year of the Arizona archery deer hunt quota system.  I get into some of the questions I've had like: How did it work out?  Which hunts closed and when?  What are some of the problems and solutions?  (Hint: It's not all bad.)  I also go into the proposed changes for the upcoming 2023 Arizona general deer hunt tag numbers and how that compares to changes to the archery hunts for the upcoming seasons. Thanks to all the people who have continued to download and listen to my past episodes and have encouraged me to get going again.  If you enjoy them please share with your friends.  Thanks, Chris

Josh has a wealth of knowledge, and more importantly, experience with backcountry search and rescue, whitewater and technical rescue, wilderness first aid, exercise physiology, and lots of other interesting and useful stuff.  He's a family man and very accomplished hunter, college professor, SAR and SWAT team member, and all around good guy.  He's one of the very few people I will hunt with anytime anywhere.  Even when things are rough he has a positive attitude.  He's also the guy you want backing you up if a mountain lion is about to jump on you!  In this episode we tell some hunting stories and talk about the simple things you can do to decrease the chance that you will need him to come rescue you.   Lots of useful information.  Let me know if you want Josh back on another episode or on a regular basis.   Message me on IG @closerangehunter.Sorry but there is a bit of bleed over between the two microphones.  While recording it sounded great, but after downloading from the recorder it has a little excess "stereo" sound.   This is the first time I've used this particular recording setup and I'm still learning. 

For this episode I took my recorder into the field to document my 2022 rifle coues deer hunt.  I packed into the Arizona desert wilderness solo, but with a couple of my llamas carrying all my food and gear.   It was a great time to be hunting in the desert.  I go over some of the gear used as well as tactics I typically use for this type of hunt and recap the hunt as I go.  For the first time I ran into some other guys hunting in the area and one of them, Alex, shot a real nice buck.  Listen up to see how it went down for me.I also talk a little about the AZ OTC elk hunt and my hopeful guest/co-host for the next episode.I apologize for the slightly blown out audio for the second part.  I set the recording levels properly and it sounded fine in the headphones while I was recording so I'm not sure what happened, but I didn't want to wait until I had the time to redo it.

They say the first step is admitting that you have a problem.  In this episode I do just that, and talk about my debilitating addiction to archery hunting for trophy coues deer.   This quest has caused 30 years years of frustration and unfilled tags not to mention the paranoia that came with finding and pursuing a true world record class buck.  Yes, I spent six of those years attempting to match wits with and obsessing over a giant buck I called Big Fork.  After he died of natural causes in 2013 I was crushed and hit rock bottom.  Because of that I quit archery deer hunting cold turkey for ten years, but this year I fell off the wagon and picked up the bow and the bad habit again, just as bad as ever.  Yet another frustrating early archery deer season, complete with close calls, has me thinking about quitting again.  Maybe I need a Slump Buster and should go after an ugly carp deer. In this episode I talk about hunts gone by and my eventful 2022 early archery season in an effort begin taking the first steps to kick this nasty habit. 

Archery elk season is right on top of us!  In this episode I cover five big picture strategies that I think are the most important, overlooked, or misunderstood aspects of archery elk hunting during the rut,  especially if you are solo hunting.  This isn't meant to be a comprehensive treatment of elk calling, tactics, and gear.  There are already many sources for that kind of information.   I could write a book about all the lessons I've learned from chasing big bulls, but here I have summarized  an overall approach to solo elk hunting that has evolved from first hand experience and success in the field.   If you are a new elk hunter this is a good primer to get you started in the right direction.  Even if you are experienced I bet there will be something here you haven't tried.  No matter who you are, adopting even one of these strategies should improve your hunt.   Let me know if you have other questions or topics you'd like to hear about.  Send me a message on Instagram at closerangehunter.  Enjoy!

 As I said in my first episode, I hunt all kinds of things.  In this episode I give a brief introduction to meteorites and meteorite hunting and describe a couple of trips I took in June.  It's been a while since my last episode because I've been out of town and busy with some of the stuff in this episode.  If you ever wondered about how people can find meteorites listen up! 

For this episode I had originally planned to get into the details and pros and cons of changes coming to Arizona OTC archery deer seasons.  At the last minute, I decided to more generally address why they are happening.  Spoiler alert:  It's due to the increasing mainstream popularity of hunting, monetizing hunting, and rapid technological innovation.  These things are putting increasing pressure on our western game species and forcing the wildlife managers to react.  Thinking about these changes reminded me of an article I wrote for the 5th edition of the Bowhunting in Arizona Record Book in 2010 called, "Changes."   Looking back on that I feel that I underestimated the changes coming in the decade that followed.  I thought it was worth reading that article aloud for the listeners, if for no other reason than to make me look like Nostradamus of hunting.  In the end, I make the case for using "traditional weapon" only seasons as a partial solution to preserve or reclaim hunting opportunities.   Let me know if you agree or disagree.  Thanks for listening.

In this episode I talk about the pros and cons of backcountry travel and hunting with pack llamas. (Spoiler alert: It's almost all pros.) Pack llamas have become very popular for backcountry travelers and hunters in the last few years, but we've been using them for almost 30 years.   In this episode I share some of our experience and basic info about why they are the ultimate pack animal and why they are a game changer for backcountry hunting.  We have been packing with llamas since 1995 and have a pack llama business called, Arizona Backcountry Llamas.  You can look us up on Instagram and Facebook under that name and our website is Arizonallamas.com. If you want to go on a pack trip with your friends and family or go on a backcountry hunting adventure check us out.

These days it seems like hunting has become all about the gear and the "Industry"  Gotta have all the cool stuff.  The problem is then you have to carry all that stuff and it can slow you down. Turns out carrying less stuff can make you a more effective hunter.  In this episode I break down what I carry in my pack for a day of hunting.  I wouldn't say it's a minimalist approach, but more about keeping it simple and light enough that I can hunt and hike all day, day after day.   I'm sure there will be some disagreements about it, and some things I left out, but my hope is to help people sort through all of the "must have" stuff to lighten the load and hunt harder and longer.   My philosophy is to keep it simple and light, but make sure the really important things are covered well.   This is about day hunting from camp or truck not about backpack hunting, but this same philosophy can be applied once you get to camp on that backpack hunt.  What did I miss here?  Let me know @closerangehunter on Instagram.

In this episode I talk about why I usually hunt solo and why I think it is the way to go, and sometimes not.  I cover some of the pros and cons of hunting solo and some tips on what it takes.   I offer my opinion on why more people are becoming  interested in solo hunting and why some won't do it.  It is just something I've always done and until recently didn't realize that being "solo hunter" was a "thing".   I'll probably ruffle a few feathers, but as the meme says, "Change my mind."

Trophy hunting, is it good or bad?  What constitutes a trophy?  In this episode I give some of my opinions and insight on trophy hunting, scores, record books.  Why I think trophy hunting is a good thing, and how it can become a bad thing.   My personal philosophy and reasons for trophy hunting, or not.   At the end I introduce some new goals for becoming a well rounded hunter, whether you hunt with a modern bow, traditional bow, muzzleloader, or rifle these goal can keep it interesting.  

It is that time of year again when the Arizona elk and antelope draw results are coming out and people are getting excited.   Every year at this time the internet/socials are flooded with posts saying, "I can't believe a drew this tag.  I've never hunted unit x before.  I'm not asking for your honey holes but..."  Don't be that guy and really don't be the guy who posts hunting spots on social media!  In this episode I'll tell you some of my tried and true methods for finding elk in new areas.  The number one thing you need to do it scout.  Specifically speed scouting if you don't have a lot of time.  These simple tips have led me to killing a bunch of nice bulls in many different units and helping clients do the same.  There were a few details I left out, but I'm trying to keep it close to 30 min.  This episode is about 38 min. I apologize for some background noise.  I recorded this episode sitting in bed with my leg elevated because of a broken ankle.   My phone goes off once too.  I thought it would be funny that many people listening will think it is their phone, so I left it in.  

This is the introductory episode of the Close Range Hunter Podcast.  In this episode I talk about why I started the podcast, tell a couple of hunting stories, talk about traditional bowhunting, javelina hunting, hunting in Arizona, and where I plan to take the podcast in the future.  It was recorded at the spur of the moment sitting in the front seat of my truck in Arizona after a successful javelina hunt.  It may not be perfect, but I have to start somewhere.  The episodes will improve over time.   I'm interested in feedback, especially suggestions on outdoor and backcountry related topics that people would like to learn more about.  It doesn't have to be about hunting.  I bet this is the first  hunting podcast that uses Funk music for the into and outro.  Gotta love the Funk!