Show Notes
How many points do you actually need before you can hunt elk in Colorado? If you've been watching that number climb and telling yourself "maybe in five more years" — you might be sitting on a play you haven't tried yet.
Brian sits down with Dwayne Jones — sales manager for Novick's Outdoors, co-founder of Dream Dirt, and the man behind Shed Season — to talk through his journey from lifelong whitetail hunter to first-time Western elk applicant. Dwayne has never been west of Kansas, but thanks to a tip straight from a Colorado Parks and Wildlife employee, he's heading into the backcountry this September with a bow, a solid group of experienced buddies, and months of elk calls already practiced. The conversation covers what Eastern hunters actually need to know before going West — how elk behave differently than whitetails, why calling strategy matters more than calling perfection, what broadhead to run and why, and how fitness changes your mental game in the mountains. They also get into farm habitat, CRP programs, predator control, and turkey hunting with a bow. The kind of wide-open conversation that happens when two guys who genuinely love this stuff sit down without a hard stop. • The Colorado two-choice application strategy that lets you build a point and get drawn in the same year • Why a bull that "chuckles" back at you is telling you something specific — and what to do next • Fixed blade vs. expandable broadheads for elk and why pass-through matters more than you think • What CRP actually does for deer and turkey habitat — and why the critics are comparing it to the wrong thing • How fitness training changes your mental ceiling when things get hard in the mountains • Why Brian, despite a 354 bull in the next room, wouldn't pass a raghorn on a bow hunt
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Connect with Brian Krebs https://linktr.ee/getdrawnwest HaveQuestions or Comments? Send an email to [email protected]! Sponsorsand Discounts: GOHUNTInsider - $50 Gear Shop Credit with code DRAWNWEST https://alnk.to/g3aa8L4 GOHUNTGear Shop – 10% off most items with code DRAWNWEST https://alnk.to/e75Pm4u Save10%on Maverick Hunting Blinds & Accessories with code DRAWNWEST https://maverickhunting.com/?ref=getdrawnwest00:00:00 Introducing Dwayne Jones 00:00:43 The Colorado Two-Choice Application Hack 00:04:01 Archery Elk vs. Whitetail: What Changes 00:07:05 Base Camp, Spike Camp, and First-Timer Advice 00:08:37 Fitness for Elk Hunting — What Actually Matters 00:11:20 Knowing Rich Froning and Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable 00:17:00 Brian's Close Calls: Five Elk at Close Range, No Tags 00:33:21 Reading Elk — When to Call, When to Shoot, When to Wait 00:34:50 Broadheads for Elk: Why Brian Runs Fixed Blades 00:43:10 CRP Programs, Habitat Management, and What's Actually Working 00:53:01 Predator Control and Turkey Hunting with a Bow 01:25:48 Elk Calling Deep Dive and Paul Medel's Playbook
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Last Day to Win a Custom Bow! Enter at: https://www.getdrawnwest.com/giveaways And get 10x entries when you shop Drawn West Apparel! https://www.getdrawnwest.com/shop Your broadhead might work great when everything goes right. But what happens when an elk turns, your arrow catches a shoulder, or the blood trail disappears? I sit down with Dr. Ed Ashby to talk arrow penetration, single-bevel broadheads, and building a hunting arrow for more than a perfect broadside shot. I’ve followed his research since I started changing my arrow setup for elk hunting, and I brought out a box of broadheads to ask the questions I’ve always wondered about. We get into the Natal study, why structural integrity and arrow flight come before chasing high FOC, and what the roughly 650-grain heavy-bone threshold actually means. I also push on the other side of the equation: if my arrow already passes through, could a wider cut help me recover a deer in thick Minnesota cover? Ashby shares his perspective on blood trails, bleeder blades, and why breaking through bone doesn’t guarantee lethal penetration. What we cover: · How four unrecovered whitetails sparked Ashby’s arrow-performance research. · Lessons from testing 32 broadhead designs during the Natal study. · Why you shouldn’t sacrifice arrow flight for higher FOC. · How tip shape, ferrule design, and single bevels affect penetration. · What the 650-grain threshold does—and doesn’t—tell you. · Cutting width, blood trails, and recovering animals when the hit isn’t perfect. If this gives you something to think about before your next hunt, follow the podcast and share it with someone working on their arrow setup. Follow @getdrawnwest on Instagram to keep up with what we’re doing.
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