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PODCAST

Backbone Unlimited Podcast

Backbone Unlimited

Host Matt Hartsky shares real-world hunting tactics, backcountry elk hunting tips, shed hunting, gear reviews, wildlife adventures, and hard-earned lessons on grit, discipline, and mental toughness. For hunters, outdoorsmen, and anyone committed to living untamed and conquering challenge. Learn public land hunting strategies, preparation, backcountry fitness, elk behavior, survival skills, and mindset tactics that help you thrive — in the wild and in life. New episodes weekly on elk hunting, big

sports wilderness

All Episodes

11:07

UNDERSTAND ELK MOVEMENT | WHY MOST HUNTERS NEVER FIND...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2026/01/14

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down the single biggest root cause behind failed elk seasons: not understanding elk movement. Every year, hunters say the same things—elk vanished, the unit went dead, bulls disappeared overnight. The truth is simpler and harder to accept. Elk don’t teleport, and they don’t leave for no reason. They move with purpose, respond instantly to pressure, adjust to wind and thermals, and shift patterns the moment human presence enters their

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73:18

STILL RELYING ON LUCK? HOW SUCCESSFUL WESTERN HUNTERS...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2026/01/13

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky sits down with Cody Calkins, a New Mexico firefighter and dedicated Western hunter, to break down a full, real-world Western big game hunting season—from planning to execution. This conversation goes far beyond hunt recaps and dives into the mindset, discipline, and preparation required to stop relying on luck and start hunting with control.Cody walks through his season chronologically, covering multiple hunts across Colorado, Utah, and New

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12:12

THE GOLDEN RULE OF ELK HUNTING YOU MUST KNOW | 🎙️ EP....

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2026/01/13

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down what he believes is the most unforgiving and season-ending mistake elk hunters make: misreading the wind and thermals. You can have the right bull, the right setup, the right calling sequence, and perfect timing—and still watch the entire opportunity evaporate because of one small wind mistake. Wind is not just a factor in elk hunting. It is the entire game. Matt lays out the single most important law of thermals that almost every

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11:41

ELK CALLING MISTAKES YOU CAN FIX TODAY | 🎙️ EP. 113

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2026/01/12

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down one of the most emotionally charged and misunderstood parts of elk hunting: when to call, when to stay silent, and how calling actually helps—or destroys—your opportunities. Overcalling and undercalling ruin more elk encounters than bad shooting, bad wind, or poor setups, and it usually happens because hunters try to force elk into a script instead of responding to what the elk are actually doing in the moment. This episode explains why

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10:43

BAD E-SCOUTING | THE HIDDEN REASON YOUR ELK SEASON...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2026/01/11

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down one of the most common—and most painful—reasons elk hunters burn days without ever getting into elk: poor e-scouting and hunting terrain that simply does not hold elk when you’re there. Too many hunters walk into September convinced there are “no elk in my unit,” when the reality is that the elk have already shifted out of the terrain being hunted. Maps show what terrain could hold elk, but they don’t show pressure, security, wind

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9:32

HUNTING TOO FAST | HOW RUSHING YOUR ELK HUNT BLOWS...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2026/01/10

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down one of the most painful and overlooked reasons elk seasons fall apart: unrealistic time expectations. Too many hunters head into September believing a three-, four-, or five-day hunt is enough, only to walk out frustrated, confused, and convinced the elk weren’t talking or weren’t in the unit. In reality, the real problem is time—or more accurately, the lack of it and how it’s misused.Matt explains why short elk hunts almost always

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9:50

FATIGUE KILLS ELK HUNTS | DISCIPLINE AND GRIND WHEN...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2026/01/09

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky tackles one of the most overlooked reasons elk seasons fall apart: fatigue, discipline, and burnout. Gear, calling, wind, e-scouting, and strategy all matter—but the moment you get tired, sloppy, impatient, or mentally worn down, none of it works anymore. Elk hunting has a way of exposing how prepared you really are, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally, especially deep into September. Matt breaks down why slowing down actually

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11:29

HOW TO BUILD REPEATABLE ELK KILLING SYSTEMS | 🎙️ EP. 109

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2026/01/08

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down one of the most overlooked reasons elk seasons fall apart for Western hunters: not having a repeatable hunting system. Not a calling system. Not a gear system. Not a shooting system. A complete, disciplined hunting system that gives structure, direction, and purpose to every hour on the mountain. Most hunters don’t fail because they don’t work hard—they fail because they hunt randomly, react emotionally, and make decisions without a

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79:34

HOW TO FIX THE 8 REASONS ELK HUNTERS DONT KILL BULLS...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2026/01/07

In this 8-part Backbone Unlimited compilation, Matt Hartsky breaks down the most common—and most costly—reasons elk seasons fall apart for Western hunters. This series pulls together eight full-length episodes that expose the real problems behind failed elk hunts, from mindset mistakes and poor movement interpretation to wind misreads, calling errors, bad e-scouting, unrealistic time expectations, physical fatigue, and mental burnout. These aren’t surface-level tips. This is a full systems

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24:26

100 E-SCOUTING TERMS EVERY ELK AND MULE DEER HUNTER...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2026/01/06

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down one of the most important skills in Western hunting: understanding terrain, wind, thermals, and e-scouting at a functional level. Most hunters think e-scouting is dropping pins and circling basins. The hunters who consistently find elk and mule deer see something deeper. They can look at a map and immediately understand how animals move, where they bed, how wind and thermals behave, and why certain terrain consistently holds game while

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21:39

MULE DEER HUNTING: 101 MULE DEER FACTS EVERY WESTERN...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2026/01/05

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down 101 mule deer facts every Western hunter should know, not as trivia, but as a complete behavioral blueprint for consistently finding and hunting mature bucks. Mule deer are one of the most misunderstood big game animals in the West, and most hunters struggle because they hunt fast, reactive, and scattered—while mule deer survive on consistency, memory, habit, and instinct. This episode explains how mule deer actually think, feed, move,

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18:49

ELK HUNTING: 101 ELK FACTS EVERY WESTERN HUNTER MUST...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2026/01/04

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down 101 elk facts every Western hunter needs to understand, not as trivia, but as a complete behavioral framework for consistently finding, stalking, and killing elk on public land. Elk are one of the most misunderstood animals in the West, and most hunters struggle because they chase randomness instead of recognizing patterns. This episode explains how elk survive by following repeatable systems built around terrain, wind, thermals, herd

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84:34

SAXTON HARTSKY | 🎙️ EP. 104

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2025/12/24

In this episode of the Backbone Unlimited Podcast, Matt Hartsky sits down for a long-awaited and deeply personal conversation with his son, Saxton Hartsky, founder of Wildborn Outdoors. This episode is not about highlight reels or chasing validation through kills. It’s a raw, experience-driven breakdown of what disciplined, intentional western hunting actually looks like when patience, preparation, and respect for the animal guide every decision. Matt and Saxton unpack how hunting became Saxton’s

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11:33

HOW SNOW HELPS YOU KILL MORE MULE DEER BUCKS | 🎙️ EP....

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2025/12/10

In this episode, Matt Hartsky breaks down why snow is one of the biggest advantages a western mule deer hunter can get. Most hunters see snow as a burden — cold, wet, and miserable — but snow is actually a gift. It wipes the mountain clean and turns mule deer behavior into a readable map. Fresh snow reveals exactly where bucks fed, where they moved, how recently they passed, and which pockets they’re holding. It shrinks their world, tightens their patterns, and gives you timing you’ll never get in

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15:48

10 MULE DEER HUNTING MISTAKES | HOW TO HUNT SMART TO...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2025/12/09

In this episode, Matt Hartsky breaks down the biggest late-season mule deer hunting mistakes that cost hunters mature bucks every single December. When the snow piles up, the days shrink, and deer tighten into their smallest home ranges of the year, the entire hunt changes. Bucks aren’t cruising, chasing, or wasting energy. They’re conserving calories, bedding tight, and only moving when light, thermals, or weather tell them to. Most hunters fail because they show up with a September mindset, move

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51:46

KILL GHOST BUCKS | HOW TO STILL HUNT TIMBER | MULE...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2025/12/08

In this episode, Matt Hartsky breaks down one of the hardest and most rewarding ways to kill a mature mule deer: still-hunting bucks in the timber. These are the deer that refuse to live in the open, vanish into shadows, and survive by slipping through cover most hunters never take the time to understand. Matt explains why older bucks choose dark timber over open country, how they use shade, structure, thermals, and micro-terrain to stay alive, and why the first two layers of trees often hold the

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16:44

WHY WE HUNT | THE TRUTH ABOUT FOOD, CONSERVATION AND...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2025/12/07

In this episode, Matt Hartsky steps away from tactics and dives into the deeper reasons hunters keep showing up year after year. This isn’t a gear breakdown or a strategy session. It’s a raw look at the purpose behind hunting and why the lifestyle carries so much weight for anyone who lives it with intention. Matt walks through why food sits at the foundation of everything he does in the mountains, why providing clean, earned meat matters, and how taking responsibility for every part of the process

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45:48

KILLER LOW ELEVATION BUCK TACTICS | LATE SEASON MULE...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2025/12/06

In this episode, Matt Hartsky breaks down how to hunt low-elevation mule deer when winter pushes them out of the high country and into the foothills, sage flats, creek bottoms, and broken terrain near the valley floor. A lot of hunters struggle in this country because it looks too open, too close to the road, or too chaotic to make sense of. Deer seem scattered, does pile into the obvious feed, and mature bucks appear to vanish. But once you understand how mule deer transition into winter range —

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42:55

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MULE DEER BUCKS LEAVE DOES | MULE...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2025/12/05

In this episode, Matt Hartsky breaks down one of the most critical but misunderstood phases in mule deer hunting: what happens when mature bucks leave the does at the end of the rut — and how to adjust your tactics to find and kill them. Through November, bucks run themselves ragged. They chase, fight, cover country, and glue themselves to doe groups with zero regard for energy or security. But when breeding tapers off, that entire behavior pattern collapses almost overnight. Bucks slip away from

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45:25

ADVANCED MULE DEER GLASSING TIPS | MULE DEER HUNTING...

Backbone Unlimited Podcast ·

2025/12/04

In this episode, Matt Hartsky breaks down exactly how to glass mule deer efficiently when daylight is limited — a challenge every late-season hunter faces. Once December arrives, the sun hangs low, mornings brighten slowly, evenings disappear fast, and the usable windows where mature bucks actually move get brutally short. If you’re not in position before gray light hits, you lose the highest-value minutes of the entire day. And when bucks are conserving energy, bedding tight, and feeding in

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117 results

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