Cameron Hanes - Keep Hammering Collective

KHC 208 - Field Notes: Tips to Prepare You for Your Hunting Season

August 20, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In the mountains, the animals are always talking. The trick is learning to listen. One hunter describes magpies as his "best intern"—he has learned to distinguish their calls for a cat versus a kill versus a wolf, a language he picked up by spending enough time in their world to become fluent. "If you sit down long enough and listen, there's an animal still new words at," he says. "It's a cheat code." This level of attunement, where observation replaces guesswork, is the thread running through a deep conversation between two veteran bowhunters about what separates consistent success from random luck.

Reading the Landscape and the Animals

The most fundamental skill, both hunters agree, is paying attention—specifically, keeping your head up. The biggest mistake novices make is staring at their feet, focused on not making noise, while missing everything else. "I can tell I can go out with a guy and know how competent he is within three seconds of watching him walk," one says. The pros move with their heads on a swivel, using peripheral vision and even feeling the ground through their boots to place each step without looking down. One hunter describes a game he plays to slow himself down: he picks a stick in the distance, closes his eyes, and walks to place his foot on it, relying on his brain's built-in map of the terrain. This awareness extends beyond foot placement to usin

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What you'll learn

1 (02:35) **Reading Magpies as a Cheat Code** - The guest explains how listening to magpie calls reveals what predators are nearby, treating bird language as a survival skill.
2 (05:52) **The Superpower Behind 12 Bulls Over 400 Inches** - The guest reveals his core strategy for consistently killing giant bulls with a bow.
3 (11:09) **Night Calling to Find Elk** - The guest explains the tactical advantage of driving around after dark to locate and mark bull locations.
4 (13:31) **The Midday Stalk Window for Mule Deer** - The guest shares data showing that over 60% of his successful bow kills on mule deer happen between 11 AM and 3 PM.
5 (18:33) **The Second Day Is the Real Test** - The guest argues that true hunting performance is measured by what you can do when fatigued, not on the first day.
6 (20:57) **Facing Doubt After Years of Success** - Both hosts admit to experiencing self-doubt and creating mental excuses, even after decades of consistent kills.
7 (23:45) **Thirty Days of Grinding for a Moose** - The guest recounts a 30-day bow hunt for a Shiras moose where he faced relentless self-doubt but refused to quit.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

We’ve pulled clips from 12 of our most viewed guests' conversations about hunting to bring you their experiences and advice on how to be more successful while hunting big game.

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Timestamps:

00:00:00 – Casey Anderson: Being in Tune with Nature

00:06:03 – Casey Brooks: Calling Elk in the Right Way

00:13:09 – Remi Warren: Wind & Stalking Animals

00:18:25 – Dan Staton: Adapting to Hard Situations in Hunting

00:20:49 – Brian Barney: Don’t Be Susceptible to Quitting

00:30:08 – Casey Anderson: Predator Tactics to Use in Hunting

00:37:22 – John & Jenn Rivet: What Ruins Bear Hunts

00:40:18 – Kevin Akers: Taking Chances and Calling in Elk

00:47:37 – John Barklow: Preparation & Planning Hunts

01:01:09 – Remi Warren: Paying Attention While Hunting

01:11:56 – Levi Morgan: Judging Shot Yardage

01:14:24 – Greg Poole: Bow & Arrow Energy

01:25:33 – Craig Francis: Presenting Hunting in a Positive Manner

01:28:30 – Lorenzo Sartini: Grip-N-Grins & Respecting the Story

01:32:35 – Casey Brooks: Be Respectful to Other Hunters

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