EP. 509: Scouting Unpressured Ground Before The Season Ever Opens

Every year around this time, Chad and I sit down and do the same thing: we say the goals out loud. Not because saying it out loud makes it happen, but because it forces us to actually think about what we want this season to look like instead of just running on autopilot until October hits and we're reacting to whatever the woods throw at us. This one was part planning session, part low-key therapy. We talked about where our heads are at heading into the year — the excitement, the nerves, and honestly how much both of those have changed over the years. It used to be all adrenaline and impatience. Now it's more of a slow burn. You hunt enough seasons and the anticipation starts to feel different. Less "I need to kill something" and more "I want to be locked in when it actually matters." Chad's got elk on the brain out in Idaho and whitetails back home in Ohio, and the thread running through both is patience — letting the hunt actually be a hunt instead of trying to force something. He's not chasing a score this year so much as chasing the experience, which is a mindset shift that takes most of us a decade of getting humbled to arrive at. My season's built around Iowa and Pennsylvania, and if there's one word for what I'm after, it's presence. Not planning three moves ahead, not overthinking the wind at 2 a.m. — just showing up, reading what's actually in front of me, and adjusting instead of forcing the plan I made in July onto a September that has other ideas. We got into the nuts and bolts too — scouting, camera placement, and how we're setting ourselves up to hunt deer and elk that haven't been pressured yet, which might be the closest thing to a cheat code in this game. There's nothing like working an animal that doesn't already know you exist. Then we let ourselves dream a little. The scenarios we're hoping for this fall — and for Chad, a lot of that dreaming is wrapped up in his son and the experiences he wants to hand down, not just for himself. We closed things out talking shooting form and the mental work that has to happen now, in the offseason quiet, before the season shows up and asks questions you didn't study for. If you've got goals of your own this year, we'd love to hear them. SHOW NOTES AND LINKS: —Truth From The Stand Merch —Check out Tactacam Reveal cell cameras — Save 15% on Hawke Optics code TFTS15  —Save 20% on ASIO GEAR code TRUTH20 —Check out Spartan Forge to map your hunt  —Save on Lathrop And Sons non-typical insoles code TRUTH10 —Check out Faceoff E-Bikes —Waypoint TV Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices