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: closerangehunter@gmail.com 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!