Speaker 1: Does the gear make the hunter or does the hunter
make the gear. We're talking with a great panel today
all about gear to make a better Western hunt. I'm kJ.
You found the right place. We go all over this
little blue orb, sharing stories and tactics about chasing wild gang.
Now let's get on the hunt, all right. Welcome in
Gun Talk Hunters. I'm your host, kJ, and Hey, another
great panel today. This episode is brought to you by Remington, Amos,
Savage Arms, Range Ready Studios and Timney Triggers. Let's jump
right into it because we're talking about gear, and there's
no better gear to talk about when heading out west
or on your next NRL competition than Mike Hearn. Mike,
welcome in, dude, Thanks for having me, no problem, it's
completely everybody else. It's pleasure to have you on here.
Maybe not mine. No, I'm just kidding. Can't be mean
to you because you're like the nicest mountain goat. I know.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So you're working with Tricer and they're a relatively new
player in the in the in the hunting world, in
the PRS and NRL world. How much of a difference
does gear make when you're talking about hunting out West.
Speaker 3: I mean gear, guys can get away with less of
a quality equipment. I would rather if a guy has
a budget for gear, spend less money on gear and
spend money on getting out there and getting in the field.
Speaker 2: But nice gear is always nice.
Speaker 1: To have well, and I will say this, nice gear
nice gear typically cost. Like when you're talking about like
high end tripods or your bipods or whatever it might be,
you're talking a big expense and a new guy entering
this world or a new girl entering this world world,
I worry about that cost and them looking at it,
going how do people afford to do this? Because I've
got to get out there, and then they're telling me
I have to carry everything in. I have to carry
all my backpack in, my sleeping, my food. So I
wanted to be light because I'm not I'm not an arnold.
So so what does that look like in today's modern
day of gear?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean for from a purely like tripod bipod standpoint,
that's That's one of the things that we try to
tackle at Tricer is having a price point that is
attainable to the to the average person.
Speaker 2: Are we are we cheap? Are we on the like
cheap end? No, but are we are?
Speaker 3: Are our prices price pointed to where your average hunter,
whether it's a guy or gale, can can get a
quality product.
Speaker 2: I think so.
Speaker 3: Right, Uh, you did a review recently Lee on shooting tripods. Right,
and you can look at some competitor stuff that is
made out of plastic and it costs five hundred bucks.
You spend an extra one hundred bucks and you're getting
a really quality ball head, inverted ball head and set
of shooting sticks that are carbon fiber and it's about
it's like a three pound package so you can carry
that into the field.
Speaker 1: Well that and the price point for me is it's
a big thing. I would love to have those weight savings,
but it's got to work. And I think I think
when we talked to Brady, I think he's going to
say the same thing. Man, Like, I will pay a
little bit more if I know it works, and it's
not going to come up because I've been out on
hunts and in matches where a speck of dust, a
speck of sand can get into a ball head, and
like it really plays a factor in how you perform,
and that translates into hunts like We don't always hunt
in perfect conditions.
Speaker 3: No, absolutely not. Stuff is getting dirty, it's getting dusty.
It's uh, it's I would say, the the other the
other big consideration in the tripod space is a lot
of these companies and and there there's there's a few
companies out there that are making tripods for hunters by hunters,
but by and large, a lot of these tripod companies
are photography companies. They are and they're like, oh man,
those those NRL hunter guys and hunters and shooters, they
need sticks and they're spending They're spending good money.
Speaker 2: We could get some market share.
Speaker 3: Let's uh, let's white label this and call it Joe's
tripod company.
Speaker 2: And now it's a hunting tripod. I mean it's a fact.
It is a fact.
Speaker 3: There and there are larger manufacturers in the space making tripods.
It's if you look at Leofoto, it is the same
exact tripod, but it has a different logo on it.
Treiser Treiser was born out of Drew, the owner, the CEO,
realizing especially in the hunting world. We started, we started
in hunting first. We're still the only hunting tripod company
that's making inverted legs, which is more stable, and it's
more user friendly because it keeps your twist locks up
near your hands, right in your workspace.
Speaker 2: So to speak.
Speaker 3: I mean there's some drawbacks rain right rain, If you're
in the rain with it, it can seep down into
the legs.
Speaker 2: Unscrew the leg and drain it.
Speaker 3: It's a hollow leg and dust and dirt can like
kind of collect in those inverted legs a little bit
easier than a standard tripod.
Speaker 2: But it's more stable and it's more.
Speaker 3: Ergonomic as far as as far as the function of
your tripod and where your hands are. So for us,
if you if you're more stable, you're gonna find more animals.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that's well. You remember so I remember, like
when I first saw like a tripod being used in
the field for hunting purposes, I was like, oh my gosh,
I can be as stable as I want, Like this
is the this is going to fix my shooting. Didn't
fix my shooting. It probably made me a worse hunter
honestly because I relied too heavily upon it. But it
was the big I think.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 1: I want to say it was either bog or cald Well,
one of those They had it and it was about
yay big, like it wasn't it was it was, it
wasn't massive, but it folded out and it was like
a shooting bench. Like the arms folded out, the two
ends of it folded out, and you have this big tripod. Man,
I carried that thing everywhere. Now it seems silly for
me to carry something like that in the field, because yeah,
I mean, it's just like it seems silly because I'm like, man,
I can get just as stable on just the balance
and the structure of a normal tripod using an arca
Swiss rail yep, well.
Speaker 3: Or a bipod if you're already carrying a normal tripod
to glass off them. Like our bipod goes up to
thirty inches tall. So using our bipod fully extended with
your glassing tripod is a rear tripod to reach out
and touch something and get stable. And I think that's
something and I'm sure Brady can talk about it, but
those are skills. Like I went to Army sniper school.
They never taught us rear tripods, right, So that's that's
a newer development in like the last ten years of shooting.
Speaker 2: And I think I think.
Speaker 3: The competitive shooting side PRS NROL Hunter, that a lot
some of that stuff that's coming straight out of there.
Those guys are figuring out how to how to get
on target quick and like get their breathing under control
and then squeezing off a long shot, and they're figuring
out ways to get stable and do more with less,
and so some really good stuff I think is coming
out of NRL Hunter, and I would love to see
some of those those skills being like kind of taught
in the hunting world by and large, because if you're
not and if you're not Brady, you correct me if
I'm wrong, if you're or kJ as well, but if
you're not, Like in the NRL hunter community, when you
say rear tripod to somebody, they're.
Speaker 1: Like like, what what, what are you put it?
Speaker 3: So? And I literally just had a customer service call
with a guy for tric Er. He was at he's
got the bipod and he wants to mount He's got
the Salmon River Solutions rail with ARKA and then the
pit the pick so it's all on the front. It's
a short rail and he's like, well, I'm having a
hard time getting it mounted to I'm going from bipod
to tripod with it up there, and I'm like, well,
if you've already got your glass set up on your
tripod and you've got our sticks and you can shoot
over the brush, you can get thirty inches tall, right,
if the situation calls for it, Why would you take
your glass off the tripod to make that long shot
put the gun on the tripod?
Speaker 2: Like why why not just extend those bipod.
Speaker 3: Legs, Yeah, and use that tripod for rear support and
send it.
Speaker 2: So and that stuff. I think it'll catch it. It'll
definitely catch on.
Speaker 3: Like I've I've I've been shown and guides this stuff,
oh yeah, and trying to spread the knowledge because they
they all they all kind of deal with the same stuff,
especially if they have a client that they they don't
have the utmost confidence in their shooting ability, which I
feel like ninety percent of guides when you talk to them,
they get they get their hunter into camp and have
them shoot one hundred yard berm and they're like, oh,
we got our work cut out for us.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, they see it real quick. But man, I'm breaking.
Speaker 3: That down for guys and having that planned already and
maybe rehearse it at camp when they're shooting that one
hundred yard berm.
Speaker 1: Then you're yeah, it's you definitely change their perspective. And
I'm glad you brought up. I'm really glad you brought
up the competition side of this because I want to
jump over to Brady and I want to talk to
him about this. But first we're going to take a
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and hey, let's jump over to Brady and let's see
what he has to say. Now, this guy, I'm going
to tell you right now, Brady is probably the one
of the finest shooters that I've had the pleasure to
shoot alongside in the NRL community and PRS community. He
is by far technically more advanced than I hope to
ever be. Like, I don't think I'll ever achieve his
status because the dude is just a professional. Brady, Thanks
for joining us, man, Hey kJ.
Speaker 4: How's it going. Thank you for all that I appreciate that.
Speaker 1: I say that with all love and a little bit
of jealousy. And so you have, you have extensive experiences
and you have won countless matches within the NRL and
the PRS community. And when we talk about these new
techniques that you guys are evolving that transfer over into
the hunting world. How are you? How are you guys?
How do you guys see this differently than all I mean,
years and years and years we've known what tripods are,
but you guys seem to have made this giant jump
in how to brace yourself to make the shot.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think.
Speaker 5: It all comes from, in my opinion, you have I
mean you think of the Seisman alcre deer, and then
you go to a PRS match. You're shooting targets that
are like the size of the actual heart, not the
vital zone, the size of the heart, you know. So
we're having to hit these steel plates that are small,
and you got to do what you can to hit them.
Speaker 4: So I think it's just natural progression. You've got. Tripod
rear has been a huge thing over the last few years.
Speaker 5: Bags have come along ways, which I mean some guys
that listen to this, if they're just hunters, they may
not even realize what we're talking about when we talk
about bags. But I mean this weekend, for instance, at
the match I'm going to, I'll carry two different bags,
one for one light bag for certain things and one
heavy sandbag for certain things.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what's your fill like? I mean, I know we're
jumping over into a little bit of bag talk, but
this is part of the gear aspect of shooting more
effectively and more efficiently to make every shot count. What's
your fill look like?
Speaker 4: And as far as in my bag?
Speaker 1: Yeah, what's in your back? I want to know what
you're filling it with?
Speaker 5: Just sand, I just get the standard. Well, I think
it's just saying. I know some guys put glass beads
in them. I just I'm saying if it gets wet,
it does suck, it turns into a brick. And that's
part of the reason I'll carry the lightweight bag is
it can get wet and it won't solidify. The lightweight
bag is like these little super light foam beads and
it's light like I'll carry it hunting. I'll just oak
it to my pack for rear support or like, if
I can go prone, it's great. If I have to
shoot off of something hunting, I do whatever possible to
get either prone ideally or tripod and triple.
Speaker 4: Ple rear or tripod rear. That that's I mean.
Speaker 5: If I can't do that, chances are probably need to
figure out a different spot to shoot from, because you
should be able to get prone in most situations, I think,
or at least off the top.
Speaker 4: Of the tripod.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so we keep saying this, and I know there's
a lot of listening out there. They say they keep
saying tripod rear, and I apologize. I probably should have
this with Mike. Can you explain what tripod rear is?
Speaker 5: So in PRS enteral hunter, we have we'll carry our
tripods to glass from. In PRS, you may have a
prop that let's say we'll go to the cattle gate,
for instance, So there's multiple different tiers in the cattle
gate as you go across, and we may have what
you may have one target at six hundred and fifty
yards and you need to shoot from ten different positions. Well,
when you walk up and fill that cattle gate, if
you shake it it generally they're not solid almost never,
So you got to figure out how to get the
most solid.
Speaker 4: Well, you can fully extend your tripod.
Speaker 5: We have these bags that clamp on the front of
the rifles, or you can just throw a bag up there,
slide you the front end of your rifle in there,
so it's sitting on the sock or the chassis, and
then you'll grab that tripod and you kind of get
in position and you bring that tripod in and then
you can kind of press it against the butt of
the gun or the chassis and you can get in
there and get I mean, it's it's about as solid
as prone. Like they're really like my wife shot or
bowl elk that way with a bipod out front, with
a tripod out in the back. It was six hundred
and fifty yards with a three hundred norma like I mean,
just helps you get over the brush and you can
get super solid and it's it's great.
Speaker 1: Wehl a lot man, you guys are you guys are
making me think of stuff that I'm doing wrong as
a father, Like right now, like if you're not teaching
your kids how to shoot tripod rear, you're really yeah,
you're you're behind the you're behind the eight ball because
every night, like leading up to season, like so every
night my kids go home and they do they dry fire.
I just I just make them get the used to
that trigger and feel that trigger. And now I'm thinking,
like they do. It's almost like an NRL Stage one target.
You know, they have four different positions. So they'll go
up and they put their back down. I'm making them
do some bag work and then But I have not
incorporated rear tripod. So I'm a bad father in that.
Speaker 4: It's you can That's what I mean.
Speaker 5: People don't realize, like it's funny, and I think everybody
deals with it, especially in the shooting world. Like you'll
have your neighbor he's like, oh, you shoot guns. I
shoot guns. I shot an elk it twelve hundred and
fifty hit it every time. And I'm like, if you
can't tell I have a neighbor that's that way, And
I'm like, he doesn't know, Like he just knows I shoot.
But I'm like, people have no idea the caliber of
shooter that exists in the competition world. Most of us,
I mean even your guys that aren't in the top,
like just guys that are coming to have fun. But
they've done it, and they've learned how to get steady
on a rifle. They kill stuff like not much gets
away from a guy who shot a competition, and I
know there's I got a buddies same thing. A lot
of them are archerie guys getting into rifle stuff now
that I've done it for so long. But they're like,
I had no idea how accurate a rifle be if
you just practice a little bit.
Speaker 1: What that man you've you've hit the kind of nail
on the head all the time. Like I'm sitting there saying, well,
used to you know, back in the day, they would
I forget which uh uh which Japanese uh officers saidup?
But they wouldn't invade America because there would be a
gun behind every blade of grass. Now there's a there
will be a sniper behind every blade of grass. Because
that I mean, when you start to talk about like
the competition out there and how how good these guys
are with a long gun, there's there is a there's
a full army of of trained shooters out there that
can shoot any different position. And it's because of gear,
Like a lot of it is because of gear.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, people have no clue. And like,
I mean, it's nice to hear you say that I'm
real good, But I mean there's guys that consistently.
Speaker 4: Beat me that I mean, I wouldn't want to be in.
Speaker 1: Rusty.
Speaker 4: There's a bunch of them, not a bunch of.
Speaker 1: There's one. There's not many people beating your man.
Speaker 5: Again, I win, and then I can say I was
one of the best ones. But I don't know, just
being realistic, but yeah, I mean there's yeah, there's a
lot of guys that you aren't getting away if they
get after you.
Speaker 1: Well, it's it's it's it's gear that makes the hunt easier.
And and we kind of started we started focusing on,
you know, the tripods and the bipods, and that's a
big determining factor on like success, Like if you can
get in the back country lighter and come out heavier,
that's always a good thing.
Speaker 3: Yep.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to deny people that. But you got
to practice with your gear. And we were talking right
before you got on the podcast about what you do
for practice, like how do you work your practice? Mine
a lot is is positional because when I started shooting,
working a bipod and getting a tripod rear that was
kind of cumbersome, So you have to work through those issues.
Speaker 5: Definitely, tripod rear, you definitely have to practice. If you've
never done it. Don't roll up to your first match
and think you're going to do it on every stage
because you'll probably time out on everyone you do it on.
Speaker 1: Yep, well I will, I kid you not. I went
to a PRS match and this it was by far
my worst match I ever shot, but on the best stages.
I used a tripod rear and nobody else did at
PRS and that was But there's a little bit of
less time, you know, with with an NR. With a
PRS match, there's less time. You don't have four minutes,
but even by NRL standards, four minutes is not enough time.
Speaker 4: Sometimes sometimes I'm worried about that this weekend.
Speaker 1: No, No, you'll be good as long as like, what
was it the target that I was on? It was
a turkey. As long as you find that turkey, remember,
because you shot the stage first morning.
Speaker 4: Yes, it was horrible.
Speaker 5: You're talking about this last one in January, right, Yes,
I've never seen it was the biggest target of the
match and I saw it first thing in the morning.
You couldn't see it. It was invisible in the shadow. Yeah,
and then about five minutes later lit right up.
Speaker 1: Like lit right up, and I was.
Speaker 4: Like, this is embarrassing. But I mean it's part of
the game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's part of the gay. But like I mean,
literally five minutes after he could not find the target.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, it's not great.
Speaker 1: It all, it all makes a difference. Thanks Brady. I
appreciate you joining. You know, when you talk about gear,
it's not about you know, how much gear you have,
it's not about what all you have. It's about how
you use it. And I think that's one of the
more important things that you could do as a shooter
and as a hunter is get familiar with your gear.
Find the right gear that works for you if you
are heading out into the back country. I'm not gonna
lie when I tested out the Tricer tripod, the HK unit,
the like, that is probably one of the better sets
that you can get it for the money and for
the price, you're not gonna find anything better. So find
something that works for you. I think you're gonna hit
on all your targets. But that's it for me on
this gun talk hunt. You know the drill. Keep those
muscles pointing in a safe direction, and always be on
the hunt.