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  • Identity, Aspiration, and the Anatomy of an Elk Hunt

    Identity, Aspiration, and the Anatomy of an Elk Hunt
    2026/05/19
    Man, I don't know how else to say this — this one got me. I sat down with Christian Zeron, the guy behind the Theo N. Harris Instagram, and what started as a watch-world conversation turned into one of the most honest, wide-open talks about hunting, identity, manhood, and what it means to find something that actually moves you. That's the kind of episode this is. Christian grew up in New Jersey selling vintage Rolexes in college and built a marketing company around it. He's sharp, he's articulate, and — up until about six months ago — he had zero connection to the hunting world. Then a client invited him on a hunt in Kentucky and, well, here we are. He killed his first turkey this spring, he's already got hog hunts lined up in Texas and a dove trip to Argentina on the books, and the guy is all in. Completely, unapologetically, joyfully all in. What I love about Christian is that he brings this fresh set of eyes to our world. He's not pretending to be someone he's not. He's a Ralph Lauren, vintage shotgun, lever-action rifle kind of guy who gets genuinely emotional talking about his late grandfather while butchering his first bird. That's real. That's the stuff hunting is actually made of, and it's the stuff that's really hard to explain to people who haven't lived it. We go deep on the watch world and what Rolex figured out about aspiration and identity that most brands never do. We talk camo as identity, Sitka vs. First Lite, Yeti coolers, LVMH, Omega, Casio — and somehow it all connects back to hunting, brand building, and what it means to be a man who collects experiences instead of just stuff. Plus, we dig into what I'm trying to build with Bridger Watch and Christian gives me some real, unfiltered marketing advice on how to position it against Garmin and Apple. This is the kind of conversation that makes you want to call your old man, fire up a steak, and go outside. Strap in. Episode Sponsors onX Hunt If you're serious about hunting out west, onX isn't optional — it's foundational. We're talking land ownership, access layers, terrain intel, and a full suite of tools built for every phase of the hunt: planning, preparation, and execution. The difference onX makes is simple. It's confidence. Confidence that you're in the right spot. Confidence that you're legal. Confidence that you can find your way back to the truck when the day goes long and the country gets weird. Download the onX Hunt app and become an Elite member today. Use code TRO for 20% off your membership. Website: onxmaps.com Bridger Watch I set out to build a better smartwatch for the hunting community — plain and simple. I was frustrated. I kept pulling my phone out 100 times a day to check onX in the field and thought, why can't we just have the map on our wrist? So we went down the rabbit hole and built what I genuinely believe is the best smartwatch ever made for hunters. If you're a watch guy and a hunter, this was built for you. Use code TRO at checkout. Website: bridgerwatch.com Timestamp Chapters 0:00 — Intro & Sponsor — onX Hunt 1:45 — Sponsor — Bridger Watch 3:00 — Welcome Christian Zeron | Who Is This Guy? 5:30 — From Jersey to the Deer Woods — How a Watch Guy Found Hunting 9:00 — Building a Marketing Company on the Back of Rolex 12:30 — Christian's First Turkey: Buck Fever, Clown Makeup, and Grandfather Moments 17:00 — Why Hunting Hits Different — The Emotional Depth Non-Hunters Don't Understand 20:30 — Serving Elk Steak & The Pride of the Harvest 23:00 — Where Does Christian's Hunting Journey Go From Here? Argentina, Texas, Bear Hunts 26:30 — Identity in the Hunting World — Camo Brands, Sitka, First Lite & the Yeti Effect 30:00 — Decor, Taxidermy, and Why Rural Men Are More Aesthetic Than Manhattan Bankers 33:30 — The Smartwatch Debate — Where Does a Luxury Watch Guy Land on Wearables? 37:00 — Marketing Advice for Bridger Watch — What Rolex Got Right & What We Should Learn 40:30 — The Watch World Deep Dive — Omega, Tag Heuer, LVMH, Casio & Vintage Markets 44:00 — Lever Guns, Grandfather's .35 Remington, and Planning Future Hunts 46:00 — Wrap Up — Follow Christian & Final Thoughts 3 Key Takeaways 1. Hunting Connects You to Something Bigger Than the Kill Christian's story about his late grandfather flooding back while he was butchering his first turkey is one of the most honest descriptions of why hunters hunt that I've heard in a long time. The harvest, the meat, the field dressing — it all becomes this vessel for memory and emotion and people you've lost. And it's something you genuinely cannot explain to someone who hasn't felt it. If you've ever felt your dad or your grandfather or someone you loved in a duck blind or a wall tent, you know exactly what Christian is talking about. That feeling doesn't go away. It doesn't get old. That's why we keep going back. 2. Identity Is at the Core of Every ...
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    48 分
  • Gray Ghosts and Gridirons: Joe Epple's Journey from Squamish to Stone Sheep Country

    Gray Ghosts and Gridirons: Joe Epple's Journey from Squamish to Stone Sheep Country
    2026/05/14
    Look, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it — life got in the way and we missed a week. But we're back, and this one was worth the wait. Joe Epple is one of those guys who doesn't fit neatly into a box. Retired professional football player. CFL veteran. Director of Business Development for Wild TV — Canada's largest hunt and fish TV network. Co-host of The Edge, now in its 17th season. Father of two boys. Columbia blacktail hunter. Stone sheep chaser. A 6'8" giant of a man who grew up in Squamish, British Columbia, hunting for meat and mushrooming in the rain just to make ends meet — and who somewhere along the way figured out that all those lessons in the wet coastal bush were actually building the foundation for everything that came after. This episode goes deep on what it really means to make the transition from professional athlete to serious hunter, and why the skills that make you elite in sports — goal-setting, resilience, the ability to learn from getting your ass kicked — translate directly to the mountains. Joe talks about growing up in a logging family that hunted out of necessity, not recreation. About being the fat, knock-kneed kid who nobody bet on, who started going to a rusty prison gym at 13 and never looked back. About how hunting blacktails in the miserable, soaking wet coastal bluffs of BC taught him to push through discomfort long before any football field did. We get into the mental game of hunting — specifically what it looks like when you've got 14-day fly-in stone sheep hunts on one end of the spectrum and a four-year-old who snaps every branch and asks to go back to the truck every five minutes on the other. How do you stay present? How do you keep the long game in mind when you're sitting in the gutter on day 10 of a backcountry hunt wondering why you're not home with your family? Joe's got a framework for that, and it's worth hearing. We talk about Kristen's bear — a giant boar that'll likely crack the top 15 all-time in the province. About Joe's most-prized blacktail taken at 12 yards with a bow. About why archery hunting teaches you more about your weaknesses as a hunter than anything else. About what it's like to hunt stone sheep as a resident in BC for a fraction of what nonresidents pay, and why he still hasn't punched an archery tag on one. And about the pressure social media puts on new hunters to skip the learning curve entirely and shoot a 200-inch muley on their first trip out. Joe's a straight shooter (pun intended), genuinely humble, and packed with perspective from both sides of the fence — the elite athlete world and the deep wilderness backcountry. This one's got range. Turn it up. Episode Sponsors onX Hunt If you're hunting out west and you're not running onX, I don't know what to tell you — it's not optional at this point, it's foundational. Land ownership, access layers, terrain intel, route planning — onX does it all. The difference it makes isn't just convenience. It's confidence. Confidence that you're in the right spot. Confidence that you're legal. Confidence that you can find your way back to the truck when things go sideways. That's what elite membership gets you. Website: https://www.onxmaps.com | Use code: TRO — Save 20% on Elite Membership Bridger Watch This one's personal — I built Bridger Watch because I was frustrated. I was pulling my phone out 100 times a day just to check my onX, and I thought there had to be a better way. So we went down the rabbit hole and set out to build the best smartwatch for hunters. Maps on your wrist. Built for the field. If you're a watch guy and a hunter, this is the one you've been waiting for. Website: https://www.bridgerwatch.com | Use code: TRO — Exclusive discount Timestamp Chapters 0:00 — Intro & Sponsor: onX Hunt 1:30 — Sponsor: Bridger Watch 3:00 — Welcome & catching up — the missed week, quick intros 5:30 — Joe's roots: growing up in Squamish, BC — logging family, pine mushrooms, coastal blacktails 10:00 — Why Joe pursued athletics instead of the outdoors — the unlikely path to pro football 14:30 — The transition: retiring from pro sports and returning to his outdoor roots 17:00 — Joe's current life — Director of Business Development at Wild TV, The Edge TV show 20:00 — Raising kids in the outdoors — Walker and Wyatt, making it fun vs. making it serious 26:30 — Cody's excavator story — how to build positive associations with hunting for young kids 30:00 — Spring bear hunting as a family — dance parties in the mountains and Kristen's record-book bear 36:00 — The fat kid with a doctor's note — Joe's aha moment at 13, the rusty gym, and building self-confidence 42:00 — Growing up with zero sports culture in the house — how a 6'8" kid ended up at Washington State on a full ride 47:00 — Blacktail hunting as the foundation — why the gray ghost builds hunters who can do anything 51:00 — Joe's most prized blacktail — the 12-yard bow shot, ...
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    1 時間 2 分
  • Earned Not Given | Connor Koch on Risk Tolerance, Resilience, and the Road to Becoming a Hunter

    Earned Not Given | Connor Koch on Risk Tolerance, Resilience, and the Road to Becoming a Hunter
    2026/05/06
    EP 681: Connor Koch Some episodes just take a minute to get right. We lost the first version of this one — somewhere out there is an SD card with what I'm sure was a hell of a conversation — and you know what? Maybe that was the universe telling us to go again. Because this one hit different. Connor Koch is one of those guys who just operates on a different level. Arc'teryx ambassador for seven years, a man who's climbed every 14er in the lower 48, skied big lines from Alaska to the High Sierra, and survived an 1,100-foot avalanche ride in ways that defy explanation. He's the real deal. And now? He's deep in the hunting rabbit hole, chasing elk solo through grizzly country with a bow he just learned to shoot, logging 70-plus days in the field and coming home with the kind of stories that remind you why we do all of this. We cover a lot of ground in this one. Connor grew up in a tiny San Diego-area town, never saw mountains until his Nissan's transmission blew up somewhere near a place called Zzyzx on the way to Colorado. He pulled into Vail Pass, jumped out into the June air, and knew — at a cellular level, he says — that he'd found home. That moment launched a decade of elite mountain pursuits that would shape everything that came after. We dig into what it's like to be a master of one discipline and a beginner in another — and how humbling it is when all your fitness and mental toughness still can't outwit a wily bull elk. Connor talks about burning a shot opportunity 45 minutes into his first day of bow hunting, running 70+ days solo in the backcountry, getting his camp ripped apart by a known problem grizz the same night he hit a bull high, and why he doesn't regret any of it. That's the journey. That's the process. But it goes way deeper than hunting. Connor opens up about the avalanche that changed him — a full slope that fractured wall to wall, a 1,100-foot washing machine ride, karate-chopping blocks of wind slab before getting obliterated, and emerging from the toe of the debris alive while his partners tunneled out around him. He talks about what that does to your relationship with risk, with the mountains, and with yourself. And then, the hardest decision of his career: turning down a prepackaged invite to ski 8,000-meter peaks in Pakistan, not because he couldn't do it, but because he finally understood that some pages in your book are okay to leave blank. This is a conversation about reinvention, risk tolerance, the courage to step off the ship when it's time, and what happens when a man who spent a decade trying to conquer mountains starts learning to be conquered by elk season. Oh, and also — he's catering his entire wedding with two cow elk and some deer he harvested himself. That's the kind of dude Connor Koch is. Pull up a chair. This one's worth every minute. This Episode Is Brought To You By onX Hunt If you're serious about hunting out west, onX isn't optional — it's foundational. Land ownership, access, terrain, and a full suite of tools built for every part of the hunt: the planning, the prep, and the pursuit. The difference is simple. It's confidence. Confidence that you're in the right spot, confidence that you're legal, confidence that you can get back to the truck. That's what onX gives you. Become an Elite Member today and save 20% with code TRO Visit: www.onxmaps.com Bridger Watch This one's personal — Bridger Watch is Cody Rich's own company, so yeah, shameless plug incoming. It's a full-feature smartwatch built by hunters, for the hunting lifestyle. Not just for the hunt, but for everything that surrounds it. Training, mapping, texts, and most importantly: insane battery life. Because battery life matters in the backcountry, full stop. If you're a watch guy, you already get it. No compromise, no fluff. Just a watch built the way it should've been built all along. Visit: www.bridgerwatch.com Timestamp Chapters 0:00 — Intro & Sponsor Reads — onX Hunt and Bridger Watch 2:15 — The Lost Episode: A Cop, a Bow, and a County Line 4:00 — Connor Gets His Life Back in Order — Four Months of Spring Skiing 5:00 — The Purcells and the High Sierra — Whitney, Muir, Langley, and a Broken Binding 7:00 — 30,000-Foot View: Arc'teryx, Mountain Pursuits, and a Big Boy Job 9:00 — Climbing Every 14er in the Lower 48 — And Why the Number Is Arbitrary 10:30 — The Origin Story: Erik Weihenmayer, a Blown Transmission, and Finding Home in Colorado 14:00 — Arriving at Vail Pass and Knowing — The Moment That Changed Everything 15:00 — Identity, Selfishness, and the Next Chapter 17:00 — Close Calls: A Rubber Band, a Carabiner, and 200 Feet of Air 19:00 — How Hunting Fills the Gap — And Gives You a More Complete Relationship With the Landscape 22:00 — Vert Records, Big Days, and Getting Old 23:00 — Bringing a Mountain Athlete's Mindset Into Elk Hunting — Asset or Liability? 26:00 — Going Solo: Three Months, a Bow, and the Backcountry 27:00 — ...
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    1 時間 25 分
  • Trail Cams, Habitat IQ, and Building Tactacam: Conversation with Jeff Peel

    Trail Cams, Habitat IQ, and Building Tactacam: Conversation with Jeff Peel
    2026/04/30
    EP 680: Jeff Peel | Tactacam What does it actually take to build something from nothing in the hunting industry? Not the polished version — the real one. The trailer-hooked-to-the-back-of-a-Buick-Enclave, sell-your-house, answer-customer-service-calls-at-4AM version. That's exactly what Jeff Fruehwirth of Tactacam pulls back the curtain on in this episode, and man, it's one of the more refreshing conversations I've had on this podcast. Jeff and his wife Tara started Tactacam with almost nothing — a plastic folding table, a dream, and an obsession with taking care of customers in an industry that had largely forgotten how. What started as a point-of-view hunting camera has grown into a 500-employee powerhouse that now dominates the cellular trail camera market. But the part nobody tells you? It took 10 years of brute force to make it look like an overnight success. We dig into the pivot from software to hardware (and why everyone told him not to), the customer-first philosophy that drives a $2 million monthly CS budget, and the launch of Habitat IQ — a genuinely exciting AI-powered platform that takes the collective knowledge of the country's best whitetail property managers and turns it into actionable data for your specific ground. Think SimCity meets your food plot plan meets 20 years of Jeff Sturgis notebooks. And yeah, we talk about dream hunts. Jeff's answer? Polar bear with a bow on frozen ocean where you're the bait. His wife thinks he's crazy. I get it. Whether you're a hunter who loves to nerd out on habitat, an entrepreneur trying to figure out how to break into the outdoor industry, or someone who just wants to hear what it actually looks like to bet everything on something you believe in — this one's for you. Timestamp Chapters 0:00 Intro & Sponsor – OnX Hunt 1:30 Sponsor – Bridger Watch 3:00 Welcome Jeff Fruehwirth | Catching Up on Spring Hunting Plans 5:30 The Origin Story – From Cemeteries to Cameras 9:00 Meeting Ben Stern & The Decision to Go All In 12:00 The First Employee, the First Trade Show, the Buick Enclave 15:30 Why They Won – Customer Service as a Competitive Moat 20:00 Advice for Entrepreneurs Looking to Break Into the Outdoor Industry 24:30 The Pivot to Cellular Trail Cameras – Did He See It Coming? 29:00 Hardware is Hard – Why Everyone Said Don't Do It (And Why He Did Anyway) 33:30 Building the Tech Team & Why the CTO Was the Most Important Hire 37:00 Habitat IQ – The Genesis of an AI-Powered Property Management Tool 43:00 How Cameras & Habitat IQ Work Together to Track Real Deer Movement Data 47:30 How Far Should Technology Go in Hunting? Drawing the Line 52:00 Dream Animals – Polar Bear with a Bow on Frozen Ocean 55:30 Tara's Retirement Season – 5 Deer, All the Jealousy 57:30 Why Billings, Montana? Elk. That's Why. 59:30 Where to Follow Tactacam & Wrap Up Episode Sponsors OnX Hunt If you're serious about hunting out west, OnX isn't optional — it's foundational. Land ownership, access, terrain, and a full suite of tools not just for the hunt itself but for the planning, the scouting, and everything that goes into being a backcountry hunter. The difference is simple: it's confidence. Confidence you're in the right spot. Confidence you're legal. Confidence you can get back to the truck. Download the OnX Hunt app and become an elite member today. Use code TRO to save 20% on your membership. Website: onxmaps.com Bridger Watch This one's personal — Bridger Watch is Cody's company, and it's a full-featured smartwatch built by hunters, for hunters. Not a general-use watch with a camo skin slapped on it. A purpose-built tool designed for the hunting lifestyle from the ground up. It trains with you in the off-season, maps your hunts, handles your texts, and delivers the one thing every backcountry hunter knows matters most: insane battery life. No compromise. No fluff. Just the watch the hunting world has been waiting for. Use code TRO at checkout for a discount. Website: bridgerwatch.com 3 Key Takeaways 1. Overnight successes take about 10 years. Jeff was told at a trade show early in his career: "It was an overnight success — in only 10 years." He sold his house, hooked a trailer to his wife's Buick, and drove the country hitting every dealer and trade show they could find. If you're building something and it feels like it should be further along by now, this episode is a reminder that the grind you're in right now IS the success story being written. 2. Customer service isn't a cost center — it's your moat. Tactacam spends $2 million a month on customer service and has a 98% retention rate that rivals Netflix and Spotify. In a world where most companies have made it nearly impossible to talk to a real human, simply picking up the phone and knowing your product is a genuinely unfair competitive advantage. If you own a business — any business — this is worth writing down. 3. Habitat IQ could legitimately change how average hunters manage ...
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    1 時間 2 分
  • From Mugshots to $300M: The Logan Chierotti Story

    From Mugshots to $300M: The Logan Chierotti Story
    2026/04/27
    Alright, let's be real — most supplement companies are just slapping a label on a generic capsule and calling it a day. Logan Chierotti didn't do that. The guy bootstrapped Physician's Choice from nothing — literally from the ashes of a failed energy mint company and a basement mugshot removal hustle — into the number one probiotic brand in the world, pushing $300 million in annual sales. No VC money. No trust fund. Just relentless grinding, a willingness to look failure in the eye, and the smarts to go all-in on one thing when everyone else was trying to do everything. But here's what really got me interested in Logan — it wasn't just the business stuff. It was watching a guy who built something massive still show up for his kids. Still out there on the mountain with them. Still manufacturing adversity in a life that could easily get too comfortable. That's the tension I think a lot of us deal with, and Logan's as honest about the struggle as anyone I've talked to. We go deep on the entrepreneur journey — the early days of getting sued and losing everything, the hard pivot that changed everything, what it means to go all-in on one category, and why your work ethic might actually be your biggest enemy. We also get into the dad stuff — raising kids who aren't entitled when you've worked hard to give them more than you had, and why nature and hard things might be the most important parenting tools we have. If you're an entrepreneur, a parent, an outdoorsman, or all three — this one's for you. Pull it up on the drive or the trail. Timestamp Chapters 0:00 — Intro & Sponsor: OnX Hunt 1:45 — Sponsor: Bridger Watch 3:00 — Welcome + Who Is Logan Chierotti? 4:30 — Balancing entrepreneurship and being present for your kids 7:00 — Physician's Choice: 30,000 foot overview — $300M bootstrapped probiotic empire 9:00 — The mugshot removal hustle: Logan's wild first online business 13:00 — Why business plans almost never survive contact with reality 15:30 — How Physician's Choice was born: probiotics, a failed energy mint company, and a nagging wife 19:00 — Losing everything: the $1M first-year loss and lying on the floor ready to file bankruptcy 22:00 — How you survive: don't quit, hire smart people, and get your head around the numbers 25:00 — The all-in pivot: cutting every other product to go deep on probiotics 28:30 — How to pick a category: find what's working and do it better (the Metamucil / Grüns framework) 31:30 — Hardest lessons learned: stress, lawsuits, key employees quitting, and not taking it home 33:30 — Founder vs. CEO: why Logan will never hire an outside CEO again 35:30 — Balancing family, skiing with kids, and life outside the office 37:00 — Raising kids right: manufacturing adversity, camping, hard things, and the bidet incident 38:15 — Final advice: slow down, you have more time than you think 39:00 — Outro Episode Sponsors OnX Hunt If you're hunting out west and you're not running OnX, I genuinely don't know what you're doing. This isn't a plug just because they write a check — I use this thing every single day. Land ownership, public/private boundaries, terrain analysis, offline maps, trip planning — it's the full suite. The confidence it gives you knowing you're in the right spot, you're legal, and you can find your way back to the truck? That alone is worth it. Become an Elite Member today and save 20% with code TRO. Download the app or sign up at onxmaps.com Coupon Code: TRO — 20% off Elite Membership Bridger Watch Full disclosure — this one's mine. I built it, our whole team built it, and we built it because every watch on the market was at best "usable" for hunters. That wasn't good enough. Bridger Watch is a full-feature smartwatch built for the hunting lifestyle — not just the hunt. It does your training metrics, mapping, texts, all of it — and it does it with an insane battery life that actually holds up in the backcountry. No compromise. No fluff. Just a tool built by hunters, for hunters. Check it out at bridgerwatch.com — use code TRO at checkout. 3 Key Takeaways 1. Going all-in on one thing is a competitive advantage, not a limitation. Logan turned a flatlining supplement company into the world's number one probiotic brand by doing something counterintuitive: he cut products that were making money to go deeper on one category. Most entrepreneurs spread themselves thin chasing every opportunity. The real unlock is picking the thing you can be truly elite at and pouring everything into it. Saying no to money today to dominate tomorrow is one of the hardest and most important decisions a founder can make. 2. You don't need to invent something new — you need to do something existing much better. Logan's framework for picking a business or a category isn't about creating blue oceans — it's about finding something that's clearly working (proven demand, clear leader) and identifying the one thing that can be ...
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    40 分
  • From Doing to Being: Why 'I Am' Statements Changed My Hunting

    From Doing to Being: Why 'I Am' Statements Changed My Hunting
    2026/04/15
    EP 678: Darin Hardy Level Seven High Terrain "You can't half-ass walking on uneven ground—and that lesson translates to everything: relationships, fatherhood, business, life." What's up everyone! This week I'm sitting down with Darin Hardy, and man, this conversation goes places I didn't expect. Darin is a former Marine Corps special operations guy who spent 20 years and 13 deployments in the military, and now he's using horses, nature, and even AI to help executives and leaders transform their lives. Yeah, you heard that right—AI and horses. Stay with me here. This episode sits right at the intersection of ancient wisdom and cutting-edge technology. Darin breaks down how he's using emotionally intelligent AI to help distill his thoughts and experiences in the field, then using horses as living mirrors to reflect back what people need to see about themselves. It's wild, it's different, and it's honestly one of the most unique approaches to coaching I've ever heard. We dive deep into what Darin calls "window moments"—those rare experiences in nature where you feel like you're between worlds. He shares two incredibly powerful stories: one about syncing with a horse at 16 years old and losing all sense of where he ended and the horse began, and another about a forked-horn mule deer that walked within arm's reach and taught him he had permission to forge his own path. These aren't just cool hunting stories—they're formative moments that shaped how he shows up in the world. But this isn't all woo-woo spiritual stuff. Darin gets tactical too. He talks about hitting the wall on day five of an elk hunt, using "I am" statements to shift from doing to being, and how those three words helped him arrow a bull when he was ready to quit. We also get into the difference between power over versus partner with, why he cried in a pasture when three horses wouldn't let him catch them, and what that taught him about 20 years of narratives he'd been carrying. One of my favorite parts of this conversation is when Darin talks about being "porous"—how life doesn't just happen to you or for you, but through you. And how as outdoorsmen, we're naturally land-informed and nature-informed, which gives us this unique lens to filter everything else in life. It's the same reason I believe elk hunting teaches you more about business and life than most MBA programs ever could. If you're someone who's looking for transformation, willing to get uncomfortable, and open to the idea that horses and mountains might teach you more about yourself than any boardroom ever will, this episode is for you. Darin's work is for people who refuse to live small lives—people who want authentic experiences, not hand-fed success. https://www.level7highperformance.com/retreats Sponsors Tricer - I run Tricer gear for a reason. One of my favorite products is the RP Bipod—a legit hunting bipod with all the high-end features you'd expect. At 10.5 ounces, it's lightweight enough for any hunt. Comes with long legs, short legs, works on Picatinny or Arca. For $350, it's a no-brainer. I've shot a ton of critters off mine. Head to tricer.com and use code TRO to save 10%. OnX Hunt - The new weather feature is a game-changer. Instead of checking weather for the nearest town, you can tap anywhere on the mountain and get hyperlocal weather data that takes topography into account. See wind variations across different parts of your hunting area. Become an Elite member at onxmaps.com and use code TRO to save 20%. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro: Ancient tech meets AI 05:15 - Darin's military background: 20 years, 13 deployments 11:30 - From infantry to special operations 16:45 - Transitioning out and the two things he promised himself 22:20 - How passion becomes your job (whether you want it to or not) 28:40 - Being "porous" - life flowing through you, not just to you 34:15 - The horse window moment at 16: losing boundaries 40:30 - The mule deer at arm's reach: permission to forge your own path 46:50 - Hong Kong beach: glowing plankton and Disney magic 52:10 - Flow state in the red zone: from doing to being 58:35 - Using AI to distill "I am" statements 1:03:20 - Day five of the Idaho hunt: hitting the wall 1:08:45 - Three horses that wouldn't let him catch them 1:12:30 - Power over vs. partner with 1:16:00 - Level Seven High Terrain and authentic experiences 1:20:15 - Cow elk hunts as transformation: range day to butchering Three Key Takeaways Shift From Doing to Being - Darin uses AI-assisted coaching to help people create "I am" statements instead of "I do" goals. When he was exhausted on day five of an elk hunt, ready to quit, he repeated "I'm resilient, I'm flexible" as he climbed—pointing himself back to a state of being rather than performance. Ten minutes later, he arrowed a bull at 20 yards. The power isn't in what you do, it's in who you are. Those qualities remain true regardless of whether ...
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    1 時間 15 分
  • Josh Smith of MKC: Getting Sued, Scaling Culture, and Taking on Giants

    Josh Smith of MKC: Getting Sued, Scaling Culture, and Taking on Giants
    2026/02/12
    EP 677 Josh Smith - MKC What's up! This week on the Rich Outdoors Podcast, I'm sitting down with Josh Smith—founder of Montana Knife Company and honestly one of the most inspiring entrepreneurs in the outdoor space right now. This is a podcast I've been wanting to do for a long time, and we did not disappoint. Josh went from being a lineman for the power company, making knives on the side in a 200 square foot shop in his horse pasture, to building one of the most beloved brands in the hunting industry from the ground up. No investors, no conglomerates, no selling out. Just a guy who refused to quit and built something that hunters actually care about. We talk about the origin story of MKC, why he saw a massive hole in the hunting knife market, and how he quietly infiltrated the hunting community like a Green Beret special ops team before anyone even knew he was there. We get into the Benchmade lawsuit and why his entire team cheered when they found out they were getting sued. We dive deep into building company culture at scale, hiring the right people, why listening to your customer beats watching your competitor every single time, and why most people have no idea how many hunters have never even heard of a brand they think everyone knows about. But this one goes way beyond knives. We talk about Bridger Watch, building a product in a category dominated by giants, the parallels between what Josh built and what we're trying to build, and the advice he gave me that I'm going to be thinking about for a long time. We also talk about legacy—knives that get passed down, stories behind the blades, and why sometimes the most important tool isn't the most impressive one, it's the one that means something. This is one of those conversations that reminds you why you started. Whether you're a hunter, an entrepreneur, or both—this episode is for you. Let's get into it. Interested in the Bridger Watch? If you heard us talk about the smartwatch we're building for hunters and want to be the first to know what we're up to—head over to bridgerwatch.com and get on the list. Three years in the making and we're just getting started. Go check it out. Episode Sponsors Tricer Tripods - They make gear that's fast, light, and simple, from amazing tripods to bino mounts, panhead truck mounts, and now even bipods. Trier just dropped their new updated AD and BC tripods, and I got to test the new Tritech technology this year. The center post is now a T-post, which makes it pack down smaller and cleaner—Drew is a mad scientist and he just keeps innovating. If you want to use code TRO, it'll save you 10% at checkout. Go support a great company. Head over to tricer.com. Stone Glacier - If you're in the market for a new pack, I ran the Sky Archer 6400 this year and packed out a lot of animals with it including a couple of elk. What I love about Stone Glacier packs is they work great whether you're on a 10-day backpacking trip or day hunting from the side-by-side. Minimalist, tough, and they work. You don't need to own multiple packs—this thing does it all. Check it out at stoneglacier.com and use code TRO for a discount. Chapter Timestamps 0:00 - Intro & Sponsors 3:45 - Welcome Josh Smith: Driving Across Montana for a Podcast 6:30 - Why Josh Started Montana Knife Company 10:15 - Seeing the Gap: What Was Missing in the Hunting Knife Market 14:00 - Authenticity from Day One: Building Community Without Money 18:30 - Sending Knives Out with No Ask: How Word Spread 22:00 - From the Horse Pasture to 11 Employees: The Growth Timeline 26:15 - The Green Beret Strategy: Quietly Taking Over the Hunting Space 30:00 - Getting Sued by Benchmade (And Why the Team Cheered) 34:30 - Don't Watch Your Competitor, Listen to Your Customer 38:15 - Scaling Fast Without Losing Culture 42:00 - Hiring Doers: What Josh Looks for in Employees 46:30 - The Pizza Rule: Why You Can't Manage Too Many People 50:15 - How MKC Uses Transparency to Build Employee Buy-In 54:00 - Taking on Giants: Parallels Between MKC and Bridger Watch 58:30 - Most Hunters Have Never Heard of You (And Why That's Exciting) 1:02:15 - The Legacy of a Knife: Stories Behind the Blades 1:07:00 - Building a Family Heirloom vs. Building a Gadget 1:11:30 - Josh's Advice for Bridger Watch 1:15:00 - Don't Quit Your Day Job Yet: How to Chase a Dream Responsibly 1:18:30 - The People You Surround Yourself With Matter Everything 1:21:00 - Final Thoughts & What Josh is Most Excited About Three Key Takeaways Listen to Your Customer, Not Your Competitor - One of Josh's most powerful pieces of advice: don't open your competitor's website every day and react to what they're doing. Your product roadmap should be driven entirely by what your customer is telling you they need—not by what the big brand is doing. By the time you react to a competitor, you're already behind. The companies that win are the ones so locked into their customer's needs that by the time the big guy realizes ...
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    1 時間 23 分
  • Bridger Watch; Heart Rate, VO2 Max, and Hunt Readiness with MTN Tough Crew

    Bridger Watch; Heart Rate, VO2 Max, and Hunt Readiness with MTN Tough Crew
    2026/02/05
    EP 676 Heart Rate, VO2 Max, and Hunt Readiness with MTN Tough What's up! This week on the Rich Outdoors Podcast, I'm sitting down with Jason and Nick from MTN Tough Fitness to talk about something we've been geeking out on for a while—health metrics, performance tracking, and what "hunt readiness" actually means for backcountry hunters. As we're building the Bridger Watch (yeah, the smartwatch for hunters), we've been having deep conversations with the MTN Tough crew about what metrics actually matter when you're training for elk season. Because here's the thing: most fitness wearables are built for runners, cyclists, and gym rats—not for hunters humping 60 pounds on their back through deadfall at 9,000 feet. Nick is a MTN Tough coach and physical therapist who programs their daily workouts, and Jason is one of their athletes who's joining the Bridger team. These guys know what it takes to train for the mountains, and more importantly, they understand the difference between sustained Zone 2 cardio and getting absolutely crushed by a 42-minute Mountain Tough workout that leaves you laying on the floor. We dive into what a "hunt readiness score" could look like, how to measure work capacity beyond just heart rate, why rucking strain is completely different than cardiovascular strain, and how we can use wearables to help hunters stay in that 80-90% efficiency zone all day long. We also talk about the mental side of fitness—how to make better decisions under fatigue, why discipline in the gym translates to discipline in the mountains, and what happens when you're on day two of a hunt with frozen boots and a broken water filter. This episode is part fitness science, part backcountry hunting strategy, and part startup talk about building products that actually solve problems hunters face. Whether you're training for September or just trying to figure out how to not get your butt kicked on your next western hunt, there's a lot of good stuff in here. Let's get into it. Tricer Tripods - They make gear that's fast, light, and simple, from amazing tripods to bino mounts, panhead truck mounts, and now even bipods. Tricer makes gear that's fast, light, and simple. I love their gear, and if you're looking for a new system for better glassing, check out Tricer. Head over to the website tricer.com. They make great products and it's just a great company. Awesome dudes. Been using the heck out of the bipod—killed a lot of critters with it. Use the code TRO and you'll save yourself 10% at checkout. Stone Glacier - I've packed out a lot of animals with my Stone Glacier pack this year. The Sky Archer 6400 has been with me to Alaska, British Columbia, Wyoming, Montana, and I love the thing. Whether it's a 10-day backpack hunt or you're day hunting from the side-by-side, that's what I love about Stone Glacier—it's minimalist, it's lightweight. You can use it day hunting or for an alpine backpack hunt. Stone Glacier makes an entire suite of hardcore mountain hunting gear. If you're in the market, head over to stoneglacier.com. Use the code TRO and you'll save yourself a discount and get some great gear. Chapter Timestamps 0:00 - Intro: Fresh Off a MTN Tough Workout 3:15 - Meet Nick: MTN Tough Coach & Physical Therapist 6:30 - Jason Joins Bridger: Startup Life with a Kid on the Way 9:00 - Why We're Talking About Health Metrics for Hunters 12:45 - The Backcountry Boondoggle: Testing Fitness in the Field 16:30 - How Many Miles? Average Archery Season Days 19:45 - Have You Ever Bonked on a Hunt? 23:15 - The Hunt Readiness Score: What Would It Look Like? 27:30 - Heart Rate Efficiency & Staying in the 80-90% Zone 31:00 - VO2 Max vs. Work Capacity: What Really Matters? 35:15 - The Rucking Problem: Muscular + Neurological Strain 38:45 - Measuring Strength Load vs. Cardio Load 41:30 - Subjective Scores & Mental Toughness Training 44:15 - Decision Making Under Fatigue 47:00 - Discipline in the Gym = Discipline in the Mountains 50:30 - Baby #2, Hunt Plans & Balancing Family Life Three Key Takeaways Heart Rate Monitoring Can Keep You in Your Efficiency Zone All Day - Most hunters blow themselves out on day one by pushing too hard when camp isn't where they thought, or the trail is longer than expected. A wearable that monitors your heart rate and keeps you in an 80-90% efficiency zone (based on your current fitness level) could be the difference between being smoked for three days versus being able to hunt hard every single day. It's not about going slow—it's about understanding what pace your body can sustain without bonking.Rucking Strain is Completely Different Than Cardiovascular Strain - Carrying 60-70 pounds on your back for 8 hours isn't primarily a cardio challenge—it's muscular, skeletal, and neurological strain. Most fitness wearables only measure cardiovascular load based on sustained heart rate, but they can't quantify what it feels like to have weight on your frame all day. Building a "hunt readiness ...
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    54 分