Backbone Unlimited Podcast

Getting a bull elk inside 40 yards doesn’t finish the hunt—it starts the hardest part. In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down why bowhunters blow close-range elk encounters and how to execute when a bull is finally in range. Learn how to identify shot lanes before the bull arrives, control movement and noise, choose the right time to draw your bow, avoid holding at full draw too early, stay disciplined under adrenaline, and wait for a high-percentage shot opportunity. If you’re an archery elk hunter struggling to convert close encounters into filled tags, this episode will help you improve your shot execution when the pressure is highest. Ready to build a better elk hunting plan? Explore the complete Elk Hunting E-book Series, join TEAM Backbone for ongoing guidance and accountability, book a personalized Elk Hunt Plan Audit, or prepare physically with Backbone Unlimited Training and Nutrition Plans. Visit BackboneUnlimited.com to get started. Train harder. Hunt smarter. Never settle.

When bull elk stop bugling, most hunters assume the elk are gone. In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky explains how to find and hunt quiet bulls when elk aren’t talking, especially on pressured public land. Learn how to connect feeding areas, bedding cover, and the transition routes between them; read fresh tracks, droppings, beds, rubs, and grazing sign; identify saddles, pinch points, funnels, and security cover; and use glassing, wind, and patient observation to predict where a silent bull will move. If you’re hunting elk that have gone quiet because of pressure or changing conditions, this episode gives you a practical system for finding them without relying on bugles. Ready to build a better elk hunting plan? Explore the complete Elk Hunting E-book Series, join TEAM Backbone for ongoing guidance and accountability, book a personalized Elk Hunt Plan Audit, or prepare physically with Backbone Unlimited Training and Nutrition Plans. Visit BackboneUnlimited.com to get started. Train harder. Hunt smarter. Never settle.

Killing your first archery bull elk takes more than calling harder or getting lucky. In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down the Backbone System for archery elk hunting—from physical preparation and locating fresh elk sign to reading a bull’s behavior, closing distance, controlling the wind, choosing when to stay silent or call, and building a setup around a realistic bow range. Learn how to avoid the common mistakes that keep elk hunters stuck just outside shooting distance, make better decisions during a calling encounter, and create higher-percentage shot opportunities on public land. If your goal is to kill your first bull elk with a bow, this episode gives you a repeatable system for finding elk, getting inside the bubble, and executing when the opportunity comes. Ready to build a better elk hunting plan? Explore the complete Elk Hunting E-book Series, join TEAM Backbone for ongoing guidance and accountability, book a personalized Elk Hunt Plan Audit, or prepare physically with Backbone Unlimited Training and Nutrition Plans. Visit BackboneUnlimited.com to get started. Train harder. Hunt smarter. Never settle.

Hunting pressure doesn’t always make bull elk harder to find—it can make their behavior more predictable. In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky explains how public land hunting pressure pushes mature bulls into specific security pockets, and how to use that movement to locate elk other hunters have given up on. Learn how to identify steep terrain, heavy cover, access barriers, escape routes, overlooked travel corridors, and pressure gaps while e-scouting, plus why bugling and aggressive calling can become less effective once bulls have been hunted. If you’re trying to find pressured elk on public land, this episode will help you use hunter pressure, terrain, wind, glassing, and disciplined movement to narrow down where mature bulls are hiding. Ready to build a better elk hunting plan? Explore the complete Elk Hunting E-book Series, join TEAM Backbone for ongoing guidance and accountability, book a personalized Elk Hunt Plan Audit, or prepare physically with Backbone Unlimited Training and Nutrition Plans. Visit BackboneUnlimited.com to get started. Train harder. Hunt smarter. Never settle.

Closing the distance on a bedded bull elk is one of the most technical stalks in bowhunting. In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down how to stalk a bedded elk without getting busted, including how to confirm the bull is truly bedded, locate unseen cows, read wind and thermals, choose an approach route, use terrain to stay hidden, and control your movement inside 150 yards. You’ll also learn what to do inside 60 yards, when to wait for the bull to stand, and how a single soft cow call can create a shot opportunity. If you hunt public land elk with a bow, this is a complete strategy for closing distance on a bedded bull and turning a difficult encounter into a high-percentage shot opportunity. Ready to build a better elk hunting plan? Explore the complete Elk Hunting E-book Series, join TEAM Backbone for ongoing guidance and accountability, book a personalized Elk Hunt Plan Audit, or prepare physically with Backbone Unlimited Training and Nutrition Plans. Visit BackboneUnlimited.com to get started. Train harder. Hunt smarter. Never settle.

September 22–30 can be one of the best elk hunting windows of the entire season. Herd bulls are breeding, protecting their cows and becoming increasingly vulnerable—but calling from long range still won’t pull them away from the herd. Part four of this September elk hunting series covers how to close inside a herd bull’s bubble, hunt bedded elk and use trailing bugles, raking and controlled aggression to force a response. Learn how to hunt transition zones, pressured elk and productive midday setups during the final week of September. Find the complete Elk Hunting E-book Series, TEAM Backbone, Hunt Plan Audits, Training Plans and Nutrition Plans at BackboneUnlimited.com. Train harder, hunt smarter, never settle.

September 15–21 is peak rut, but more bugling doesn’t make every bull easier to kill. A herd bull, satellite bull and pressured bull each require a completely different approach. Call the wrong bull the wrong way and the best week of September can disappear fast. Part three of this four-part September elk hunting series covers how to identify which bull you’re dealing with, use transition zones during the rut and choose the right calling strategy before making a sound. Learn when to cow call, when to challenge, when to intercept the herd and when to leave a pressured bull alone. Find the complete Elk Hunting E-book Series, TEAM Backbone, Hunt Plan Audits, Training Plans and Nutrition Plans at BackboneUnlimited.com. Train harder, hunt smarter, never settle.

September 8–14 is when elk behavior starts changing fast. Bulls begin separating, covering more ground, wallowing harder and making the first exploratory bugles of the season. The transition zones that produced last week may already be going cold. Part two of this four-part September elk hunting series covers how to recognize the pre-rut shift, relocate changing elk patterns and adjust your calling without becoming aggressive too early. Learn when to stay quiet, when to use a soft cow call and when one location bugle can help you find a bull and close the distance. Find the complete Elk Hunting E-book Series, TEAM Backbone, Hunt Plan Audits, Training Plans and Nutrition Plans at BackboneUnlimited.com. Train harder, hunt smarter, never settle.

September 1–7 is a positioning hunt—not a rut hunt. Early-season bulls are still focused on feeding, bedding and moving through predictable transition zones. Aggressive bugling and long calling sequences can educate elk before the rut ever begins. Part one of this four-part September elk hunting series covers how to identify active feed and bedding areas, locate the transition routes between them, build a wind-safe setup and use a soft cow call only when it helps finish the final yards. Find the complete Elk Hunting E-book Series, TEAM Backbone, Hunt Plan Audits, Training Plans and Nutrition Plans at BackboneUnlimited.com. Train harder, hunt smarter, never settle.

Stop hunting random elk sign and start finding where mature bull elk actually live. In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down how to identify the 200–400 acre core area a mature bull may use when food, water, bedding, and security cover converge in the right terrain. Learn how to e-scout potential bull elk core areas, read rubs, beds, tracks, and wallows as a system, locate feeding-to-bedding travel routes, identify security terrain, and avoid the hunting pressure that can push a bull out of his home pocket. If you hunt public land elk, this episode will help you turn elk sign into a repeatable plan for locating and hunting mature bulls. Ready to build a better elk hunting plan? Explore the complete Elk Hunting E-book Series, join TEAM Backbone for ongoing guidance and accountability, book a personalized Elk Hunt Plan Audit, or prepare physically with Backbone Unlimited Training and Nutrition Plans. Visit BackboneUnlimited.com to get started. Train harder. Hunt smarter. Never settle.

Wind ruins more elk stalks than bad shooting ever will. In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down how to manage wind and thermals while spot-and-stalk elk hunting, including how terrain affects airflow, why canyon and timber winds can fool you, how to plan a stalk route before you move, when thermal transitions become dangerous, how often to check your wind, and when backing out is the smartest move. If you hunt public-land elk, archery elk, or pressured Western elk, understanding these two wind systems can be the difference between closing inside bow range and watching the herd disappear. For even more elk hunting strategy, terrain analysis, calling, elk behavior, wind and thermals, and complete hunting systems, check out the Backbone Unlimited Elk Hunting E-Book Series, schedule an Elk Hunt Plan Audit, or join TEAM Backbone at BACKBONEUNLIMITED.COM.

When should you bugle for elk, when should you cow call, and when is the best call no call at all? In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down a practical elk calling strategy for bowhunting pressured public-land bulls, including how to read solo bulls versus herd bulls, when to use cow calls, trailing bugles, challenge bugles and raking, why getting inside the 80–120 yard bubble can change a setup, how to use silence and movement to close distance, and why many elk calling failures are really positioning problems. If you want to improve your September elk calling, understand why bulls hang up, and make better decisions before you ever reach for a call, this episode gives you the framework. For even more elk hunting strategy, terrain analysis, calling, elk behavior, wind and thermals, and complete hunting systems, check out the Backbone Unlimited Elk Hunting E-Book Series, schedule an Elk Hunt Plan Audit, or join TEAM Backbone at BACKBONEUNLIMITED.COM.

Elk hunting thermals are one of the most misunderstood parts of hunting western elk — and if your entire strategy is “thermals rise in the morning and fall in the evening,” you’re going to get busted. In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down elk hunting thermals for beginners and explains what actually controls thermal air movement in the mountains. Thermals aren’t controlled by the clock. They’re driven by ground temperature, sunlight, shade, slope angle, vegetation, terrain features, cloud cover, and the prevailing weather wind. You’ll learn why cool overnight ground creates downhill thermals, why those thermals don’t automatically reverse at daylight, and what must happen before warming terrain begins pushing air uphill. Matt also explains why the thermal transition period can create dangerous swirling conditions in both the morning and evening. This episode also covers how prevailing wind interacts with thermals, why even a light directional wind can overpower weak thermal currents, and how crosswinds can create opportunities to approach elk from slightly above, below, or across the slope while keeping your scent away from them. Matt shares real hunting examples showing how dramatically thermals can change across the same hillside. Sunlit terrain can produce rising air while a nearby shaded pocket produces falling air — sometimes within only a few yards. Cloud cover, timber, draws, slope severity, and vegetation can all influence what your scent is actually doing around elk. You’ll also hear the story of three bachelor bulls approaching a cow call in late morning conditions. Even though the broader hillside was warm and the prevailing wind appeared favorable, the bulls entered a shaded timber finger roughly 40 yards below and immediately caught the falling thermal. If you’re trying to understand how thermals work for elk hunting, how wind affects elk hunting setups, when thermals rise and fall, how to keep elk from winding you, or how to use milkweed and wind indicators effectively, this episode gives you a practical framework you can use in the field. The biggest takeaway: thermals are temperature-driven, not time-driven. The mountain doesn’t care what your watch says. Learn to read the ground, sunlight, shade, terrain, vegetation, and actual air movement where you’re hunting. For even more elk hunting strategy, terrain analysis, calling, elk behavior, wind and thermals, and complete hunting systems, check out the Backbone Unlimited Elk Hunting E-Book Series, schedule an Elk Hunt Plan Audit, or join TEAM Backbone at BACKBONEUNLIMITED.COM. Train harder. Hunt smarter. Never settle.

Hunting pressure can completely change elk behavior — and if you hunt pressured public-land elk the same way you hunt unpressured elk, you're making an already difficult hunt even harder. In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down 21 ways hunting pressure changes elk behavior and explains what those changes mean for the way you locate, approach, call, and hunt elk. We cover why pressured bulls become less vocal, reduce daylight movement, move into bedding and security cover earlier, leave later in the evening, abandon obvious trails and open terrain, compress into smaller security pockets, and become increasingly difficult to locate and pattern. You'll also learn how hunting pressure affects elk calling behavior, bedding areas, feeding patterns, travel routes, wind use, water use, elevation, and private-land boundaries. Matt explains why pressured bulls may answer once and go silent, circle downwind, hang up outside bow range, or approach without making another sound; why getting closer before calling becomes even more important; and why realistic calling context matters when you're dealing with educated elk. You'll also hear why pressure doesn't automatically push elk higher — it pushes them toward security, whether that's higher, lower, deeper, steeper, thicker, or simply somewhere hunters aren't consistently willing to go. If you're trying to figure out where elk go when hunting pressure increases, how to hunt quiet elk, how to find pressured elk on public land, how hunting pressure affects elk movement, how to hunt elk near roads and trails, or how to locate elk after opening day, this episode gives you a practical framework for understanding what those elk are doing and how your hunting strategy needs to change. The takeaway is simple: elk can absolutely live close to roads, trails, and people — but heavily pressured elk often become a very different animal to hunt. Sometimes the better opportunity is found in the steep, nasty, difficult-to-access security terrain where fewer hunters are willing to pay the price to reach them. Want help building a better plan for your hunt? Visit BackboneUnlimited.com for Matt’s Elk Hunt Plan Audit, Elk Hunting E-Book Series, TEAM Backbone, elk calls, and mountain hunting training and nutrition programs. Train harder. Hunt smarter. Never settle.

Finding elk on pressured public land isn’t about hiking farther than everyone else. It’s about understanding where hunting pressure comes from, how elk respond to it, and where security terrain gives them an advantage over hunters. In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down a repeatable system for consistently finding elk in heavily hunted public-land country. Instead of trying to escape pressure completely, you’ll learn how to use roads, trails, access points, terrain, and predictable hunter behavior to eliminate low-percentage country and identify the security pockets where elk are most likely to concentrate. If you want help putting together a complete strategy for your upcoming hunt, visit BACKBONEUNLIMITED.COM to learn about Matt’s Elk Hunt Plan Audits, join TEAM Backbone, or grab the 328-page Elk Hunting E-Book Series covering elk behavior, terrain, pressure, calling, positioning, and execution. If you have an elk hunting question you’d like Matt to cover in a future episode, send it in or leave it in the comments on the Backbone Unlimited YouTube channel. Train harder. Hunt smarter. Never settle.

Fresh Elk Sign But No Elk? You’re Probably Making This Mistake You’re finding fresh elk tracks, droppings, beds, and rubs—but you still can’t actually find the elk. What are you missing? In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down one of the most frustrating situations in elk hunting: finding fresh elk sign without finding elk. The problem usually isn’t a lack of elk. It’s failing to connect that sign with elk behavior, terrain, direction of travel, and time of day. Matt explains how to determine whether you’re looking at sign from a nighttime feeding area, a morning transition route, or an active bedding area—and why treating all fresh elk sign the same can put you behind the elk or cause you to bump them out of the country. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why fresh elk sign doesn’t necessarily mean elk are still nearby How to use elk tracks and direction of travel to determine where the herd went How feeding areas, transition zones, saddles, and bedding cover fit together Why time of day completely changes how you should interpret elk sign When to follow fresh tracks—and when you should stop Why pushing into thick bedding timber can destroy an otherwise great opportunity How to turn morning elk sign into a midday, evening, or next-morning setup How Matt uses the combination of sign + location + time of day to build his next move instead of simply hunting wherever sign is concentrated If you’re hunting western elk, public-land elk, pressured elk, or silent elk, this episode will help you stop chasing yesterday’s information and start using elk sign to predict where elk should be next. Want help building a more specific strategy for your hunt? Visit BackboneUnlimited.com to check out Matt’s Elk Hunt Plan Audit, the complete Elk Hunting E-Book Series, Team Backbone membership, and hunting-specific training and nutrition programs. If you have an elk hunting question you’d like answered in an upcoming episode, send it in. Train harder. Hunt smarter. Never settle.

Please note, this episode for how I locate and break down a transition zone to hunt silent bulls is a very visual piece of content you may want to watch here: https://youtu.be/dH5AdCe0xFI What do you do when the elk simply aren’t talking? Whether it’s early September, hunting pressure, predators, heat, drought, smoke, or just one of those frustrating days when the mountains are completely silent, you still need a way to consistently put yourself around elk. In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down his #1 strategy for hunting silent elk: transition zones. Matt explains how to identify the country between feeding and bedding areas and then layer in trails, saddles, benches, terrain barriers, security cover, wind, and fresh sign to determine where elk are most likely to travel. He also explains why transition zones can be especially effective in the morning, how he approaches them differently in the evening, and when he’ll move closer to a bedded bull. You'll learn: What an elk transition zone actually is How to identify likely feeding and bedding areas How trails, saddles, benches, and terrain help narrow the zone Why hunting ahead of silent elk beats chasing them How Matt sets up for morning movement Why some transition zones produce elk well into midday How pressure and security influence elk movement When soft calling can help—and when you may not need to call at all How Matt approaches a vocal bull near a bedding area If silent elk have you wondering what to do next, this episode gives you a repeatable framework for narrowing down the mountain and putting yourself where elk are already likely to travel. Want help building a better plan for your hunt? Visit BackboneUnlimited.com for Matt’s Elk Hunt Plan Audit, Elk Hunting E-Book Series, TEAM Backbone, elk calls, and mountain hunting training and nutrition programs. Train harder. Hunt smarter. Never settle.

What does the research actually say about finding, calling, and killing elk on pressured public land? In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky sits down with Evan Hunter, creator of Elk Nerd, for a rapid-fire conversation built around 20 elk hunting questions. Evan takes a different approach to elk hunting strategy by combining real-world hunting experience with research, GPS-collar data, elk behavior studies, and hunting-pressure data. We dig into how pressured elk actually use the landscape, why hunters may be getting to the mountains too late, where mature bulls go when pressure increases, how close you should get before calling, what fresh elk sign really tells you, and how Evan approaches e-scouting completely new elk country. We also cover: • How to find elk in a brand-new unit • Why pressured elk can become almost completely nocturnal • What to do when the mountains are silent • Whether to stay or move when you find fresh elk sign • The elk sign hunters put too much confidence in • How far you really need to get from roads and trails • Why security can matter more than obvious food sources • How Evan builds complete elk hunting routes while e-scouting • When to attack a bull immediately vs. wait for him to bed • When you should stop calling and close the distance • Why many hunters are too cautious when approaching elk • What GPS-collar research reveals about elk density and movement • How dramatically elk respond to hunting pressure • Bowhunting wound-loss and recovery considerations • Mechanical vs. fixed-blade broadhead research • How hunters can practice for realistic shot opportunities • The most important advice for anyone trying to kill their first public-land bull Evan also explains The Herd, his observational elk study designed to collect real-world hunter data on broadheads, arrow setups, rifle cartridges, practice, experience, and elk recovery rates. If you want to become a more consistent elk hunter, this conversation will challenge some common assumptions and give you practical ideas you can apply during your next September elk hunt. Connect with Evan Hunter / Elk Nerd: Patreon: patreon.com/elk_nerd Instagram: Find Elk Nerd on Instagram Join the HERD Studies: HERD Calling Effectiveness: https://forms.gle/VvALLXvXSN3e6G597 HERD Archery Effectiveness: https://forms.gle/Rq64xCPaMfUBu2c96 HERD Rifle Effectiveness: https://forms.gle/eTeQgZNfettGY9cT8 For more elk hunting strategy, education, and resources, visit: BACKBONEUNLIMITED.COM Train harder. Hunt smarter. Never settle.

Starting fresh on a new elk unit is one of the most disorienting situations in the sport — and most hunters respond by loading waypoints near the closest trailhead, glassing the biggest open basins they can reach, and burning the first two days on country that gets walked by every hunter with a tag in the unit. This episode covers the complete Backbone Unlimited new-area framework: how to zoom out and read an entire unit before you make a single on-the-ground decision, how to use road and trail systems to find the terrain gaps with the least access and the most elk security, why the most productive country in any new unit is almost always the terrain most hunters look at on a map and decide not to hike into, how to identify transition zones between feeding and bedding before you drive in, and why hunting a located bull — not sign — has to be your target from day one. This episode covers how to map road and trail access to identify pressure, find the largest roadless gaps in the unit and why those gaps hold the most undisturbed elk, the specific terrain characteristics elk prioritize for security in any western unit — north-facing drainages, finger ridge complexity, multiple escape routes — why secure elk vocalize more and are easier to pattern than elk living under constant pressure in open country, how to identify transition zones between feeding and bedding on satellite view before you ever leave home, and why hunting sign instead of a located bull is the most common reason hunters burn a full week in a new area without a real encounter. This episode includes visual map diagrams and terrain overlays. Watch the full video version on the Backbone Unlimited YouTube channel to see the complete map and access breakdown. Get the full elk hunting system — new-area assessment, security terrain identification, and field execution in one framework — Elk Hunting E-Book Series at BACKBONEUNLIMITED.COM Want my eyes on your actual hunt plan before season? Maps, terrain, access points, wind strategy, and pressure identification — Elk Hunt Plan Audit at BACKBONEUNLIMITED.COM Daily guidance and accountability alongside a community of serious western hunters building real systems — Team Backbone at BACKBONEUNLIMITED.COM Training built specifically for the physical demands of mountain elk hunting — legs, lungs, and the ability to handle hard miles under load day after day — Backbone Unlimited Training Plans at BACKBONEUNLIMITED.COM Fuel long days in the field and dial in your in-season performance — Nutrition Plans at BACKBONEUNLIMITED.COM The elk are in the unit. The map will tell you where — if you know what you're looking for before you leave home. Train harder, hunt smarter, never settle.

Finding elk sign doesn’t mean you’ve found the bull. You can spend days hunting a torn-up wallow, a heavy rub line, or fresh-looking tracks—and never lay eyes on an elk. That’s the sign trap: treating evidence of where elk were as proof of where they are right now. In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky explains why successful elk hunting requires shifting from a location-based approach to an animal-based approach. Elk sign can put you in productive country, but it cannot replace locating a living bull, understanding his current priorities, and adjusting your strategy in real time. You’ll learn how to distinguish historical elk sign from truly fresh, actionable sign—and how season timing, hunting pressure, weather, thermals, rut activity, food, bedding cover, and cow movement can quickly make yesterday’s best location irrelevant. This episode covers: • Why hunters get emotionally anchored to wallows, rubs, tracks, and heavily used elk country • How elk movement changes from the preseason through the peak rut • When elk sign is valuable—and when it becomes misleading • The difference between historical sign and real-time information • Why glassing and listening should happen before you enter a drainage • How to locate bulls using vantage points, bugles, terrain, and current conditions • Why the ability to move and adjust creates more opportunities • How to build a current movement picture around feeding, bedding, transitions, pressure, wind, and thermals • Why the best elk hunters cover ground with their eyes and ears before covering it with their boots Sign hunting asks, “What happened here?” Bull hunting asks, “Where is this elk right now?” That distinction changes how you scout, how you move through elk country, how long you stay in an unproductive setup, and how quickly you find your next opportunity. Matt brings more than 34 years of western elk hunting and guiding experience across high alpine basins, dark timber drainages, and rugged canyon systems. His approach is built around reading current conditions, making informed adjustments, and hunting the animal—not camping on evidence from the past. Stop asking where elk were. Start finding where the bull is now. Ready to build a better elk hunting plan? Explore the complete Elk Hunting E-book Series, join TEAM Backbone for ongoing guidance and accountability, book a personalized Elk Hunt Plan Audit, or prepare physically with Backbone Unlimited Training and Nutrition Plans. Visit BackboneUnlimited.com to get started. Train harder. Hunt smarter. Never settle.