Backbone Unlimited Podcast

SPRING TRAINING: BUILD A REAL BASE OF MOUNTAIN FITNESS FOR BACKCOUNTRY HUNTING | 🎙️ EP. 127

In this episode Matt Hartsky breaks down what spring training should actually look like for backcountry hunters who want to perform better in the mountains come fall. Too many hunters treat spring as a time to rush intensity, chase exhaustion, or copy generic fitness plans that don’t translate to real mountain demands. Matt explains why spring is the most important phase for building long-term durability, not short-term fatigue.
The conversation focuses on what it means to build a true base of mountain fitness. Matt explains why aerobic capacity, connective tissue strength, joint resilience, and movement quality matter more in spring than max effort workouts or extreme conditioning. He walks through how the work you do in the spring sets the ceiling for how hard you can safely train later in the year and how well your body holds up during long days, steep climbs, and heavy pack-outs.
This episode also covers common spring training mistakes backcountry hunters make, including training too hard too soon, ignoring single-leg strength, and skipping foundational movement patterns that protect knees, hips, and ankles under load. Matt explains how to approach volume, consistency, and progression so fitness actually compounds instead of breaking you down.
Built for elk and mule deer hunters who want to show up to the season stronger, more resilient, and better prepared, this episode reframes spring training as the foundation of successful mountain performance. If you hunt hard and train with purpose, this conversation will help you build the kind of fitness that carries you deeper, longer, and safer into the backcountry.

SOLO HUNTING: 7 TIPS TO HUNT ELK AND MULE DEER WITH CONFIDENCE | 🎙️ EP. 126

In this episode Matt Hartsky breaks down what really determines success when you’re hunting elk and mule deer alone: your ability to make clear, disciplined decisions without outside confirmation. Solo hunting removes the safety net. There’s no partner to validate your instincts, slow down bad calls, or share the mental load when things go quiet. Every decision — when to stay, when to move, and when to wait — falls entirely on you.
Matt walks through seven critical mindset and strategy principles that help solo hunters stay confident instead of reactive. He explains why most solo hunting mistakes aren’t tactical failures, but mental ones driven by doubt, impatience, and the urge to force momentum. The episode reinforces why confidence in solo hunting must come from process, preparation, and terrain-based thinking — not constant feedback or immediate results.
The conversation covers how to manage doubt when there’s no one to sanity-check your decisions, how to avoid panic moves when activity disappears, and how to stay committed to good setups even when silence makes you uncomfortable. Matt also explains why quiet days are often the most valuable learning days for solo hunters and how those slow periods sharpen judgment if you know how to use them.
This episode is built for Western hunters who spend real time alone in elk and mule deer country and want to hunt with more patience, clarity, and confidence. If you’ve ever questioned good decisions simply because no one was there to confirm them, this conversation will change how you think about solo hunting — and how you hunt when it matters most.

MASTER ELK HUNTING COUNTRY: HOW TO READ TERRAIN TO KILL MORE BULLS | 🎙️ EP. 125

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky breaks down one of the most misunderstood reasons elk hunters struggle year after year—misreading terrain. After more than three decades of hunting Western public land, Matt explains why most elk hunts don’t fail because of bad timing, quiet rut activity, or unpredictable elk behavior, but because hunters focus on movement instead of structure. Elk don’t need to do much to survive. They need secure bedding, efficient travel routes, reliable wind advantage, and ways to avoid pressure—and terrain dictates every one of those decisions.
This episode challenges the habit of chasing bugles, fresh tracks, and yesterday’s action, and replaces it with a terrain-first mindset that allows hunters to position ahead of elk instead of reacting behind them. Matt walks through how terrain quietly funnels elk movement, why bedding terrain becomes the anchor during hunting season, and how pressure reshapes elk behavior without changing the landscape itself. He explains the difference between “elk country” and true “kill country,” why micro-terrain consistently outperforms big obvious features, and how understanding funnels, benches, sidehills, and pressure terrain creates predictable opportunities even when the woods feel dead.
Matt also breaks down why most hunters overvalue rut events and undervalue the daily survival cycle that never disappears, how pressure changes movement windows, and why reacting to activity usually puts hunters one step too late. This episode will help you slow the hunt down in a productive way, sharpen your decision-making, and start reading the ground itself instead of guessing what elk might do next.
If you want to stop wandering through elk country and start intentionally hunting terrain that forces elk decisions, this episode will give you a clear framework to do exactly that—no luck, no hype, just proven understanding built from years of real public-land experience.

7 ELK AND MULE DEER HUNTING MISTAKES I WISH I KNEW SOONER | 🎙️ EP. 124

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky shares seven hard-earned hunting mistakes he made over 34 years pursuing elk and mule deer—mistakes that didn’t feel wrong at the time because they looked like effort, toughness, and doing things the hard way. These were the quiet habits that kept results inconsistent while confidence and years in the field kept growing. Matt breaks down how chasing noise instead of patterns, relying on gear to cover skill gaps, moving too fast, ignoring recovery, and confusing experience with real progress quietly held him back for decades. This episode is for hunters who care deeply, work hard, and still feel like something isn’t clicking. If you want to shorten the learning curve, hunt with more clarity, and stop repeating the same patterns season after season, this conversation will help you rethink what actually moves the needle.

BUILD THESE 6 OFF SEASON HUNTING SKILLS TO ACTUALLY KILL MORE ELK AND MULE DEER | 🎙️ EP. 123

In this episode of the Backbone Unlimited Podcast, Matt Hartsky breaks down the off-season hunting skills that actually lead to more elk and mule deer on the ground. This conversation is focused on the part of the year when tags feel far away, momentum is low, and many hunters struggle to feel like they’re making real progress. Instead of tactics that only work when conditions are perfect, Matt walks through the foundational skills that quietly separate consistent hunters from frustrated ones.
Matt explains why the off-season is where most animals are truly killed, long before opening day ever arrives. He dives into glassing discipline and why missed animals are more common than avoided ones, navigation confidence and how hesitation quietly costs opportunity, and decision speed and why clarity matters more than urgency. He also covers physical durability, showing how fatigue narrows options without hunters realizing it, and shot discipline, where knowing when not to shoot protects confidence and consistency.
The episode closes with mental patience, the skill that ties everything together when the woods go quiet and doubt creeps in. Matt shares how these skills can be trained without a tag in your pocket and why they matter more in pressured units, tough conditions, and slow seasons than any single tactic ever could.
This episode is built for DIY public land hunters who want to use the off-season with intention, build real skill right now, and arrive at elk and mule deer season calmer, more confident, and ready to capitalize when opportunity finally shows up.

DIGISCOPING FOR THE WESTERN HUNTER: THE KAPTURE GEAR SOLUTION | 🎙️ EP. 122

Kapture delivers one of the simplest, strongest digiscoping systems on the market, letting you lock your phone to your bino or spotter in seconds. Their rugged magnetic design gives hunters pro-level photos and video without fumbling with bulky adapters.
Kapture Discount: Use code BACKBONE for 10% off: https://kapturegear.com/?bg_ref=gCD000n5fB
 
In this episode, Matt Hartsky sits down with Eric Christensen, owner and founder of Kapture Gear, to break down one of the most common and frustrating problems Western hunters face with digiscoping: seeing something worth remembering through your optics, only to lose the moment while fighting a slow, shaky, or overly complicated phone-to-scope setup. They dig into why so many digiscoping systems look good on paper but fall apart in real hunting conditions—when the wind is ripping, your tripod is barely stable, and the animal can disappear in a single step.
Matt shares his own long history with digiscoping and why years of broken plastic parts, worn friction-fit mounts, and bulky adapters pushed him to look for a faster, more reliable solution that doesn’t interfere with glassing. Eric walks through how Kapture Gear was born out of those same frustrations, how early prototypes failed, and how real-world feedback from hunters and guides shaped a system built around speed, simplicity, and true field durability. Together, they break down what actually matters for successful digiscoping in the West: staying locked on the animal, minimizing movement, and having a setup that works with your optics—not against them.
The conversation also gets practical. Matt and Eric cover common digiscoping mistakes, how phone settings and lens choice affect footage quality, why light and glass quality still matter, and simple habits—like landmarking your target—that can keep you from losing animals when conditions shift. They also discuss Kapture Gear’s approach to product refinement, customer service, and what real innovation looks like when gear is designed for hunters who demand performance under pressure. If you care about capturing clean scouting footage, documenting hunts, and getting consistent wildlife video through your optics without the circus, this episode will help you understand what to prioritize and why it matters.

HOW I PLAN A WESTERN HUNTING YEAR: ELK, MULE DEER, TAGS, TRAINING, SCOUTING | 🎙️ EP. 121

In this episode of the Backbone Unlimited Podcast, Matt Hartsky breaks down how he plans an entire western hunting year—from tag applications and long-range strategy to training phases, scouting windows, in-season execution, recovery, and the post-season review that shapes the next year. This episode is not about quick tips or last-minute preparation. It is a full look at how successful elk and mule deer seasons are built months before opening day.
Matt explains why so many hunters feel rushed, scattered, or behind when the season arrives, and how that problem usually starts with poor year-long planning. He walks through how he evaluates application decisions, why he never lets a year depend on a single tag, and how guaranteed time on the mountain matters more than dream scenarios that rely on luck. The episode dives deep into how training phases should shift throughout the year, why durability and recovery matter more than short-term fitness peaks, and how fatigue quietly changes decision making in the field.
The conversation also covers scouting in detail, including how to use e-scouting to understand terrain and pressure patterns, how boots-on-the-ground scouting should answer specific questions instead of chasing sign, and how in-season observations become critical data for future years. Matt explains how gear systems, food planning, sleep, and logistics either reduce friction or steal energy, and why simplifying systems is a major advantage during long seasons.
This episode is designed for DIY public land hunters who want more consistency, less chaos, and more confidence heading into elk and mule deer seasons. If you want to stop planning hunts in isolation and start planning an entire year with intention, this episode lays out the framework in full.

ADVANCED ELK HUNTING STRATEGY: HOW TO BECOME A CONSISTENT KILLER | 🎙️ EP. 120

Elk Camp 2026 is your chance to learn, train, and run real-world scenarios alongside experienced elk hunters, Matt & Saxton Hartsky, in the mountains. Spots are limited—secure yours today and take the next step toward becoming the elk hunter you’ve always wanted to be. LEARN MORE about Elk Camp 2026 or reserve your spot: https://backboneunlimited.com/pages/elk-camp
 
In this episode of the Backbone Unlimited Podcast, Matt Hartsky tackles one of the most uncomfortable but important truths in western elk hunting: most elk hunters never become consistent. They may kill an elk once, get lucky every few seasons, or have a great hunt that keeps them coming back—but year-over-year consistency remains out of reach. This episode breaks down why that happens and what actually changes when a hunter moves from hoping for outcomes to controlling what they can.
Drawing on more than three decades of elk hunting experience, Matt explains why time in the field does not automatically equal improvement, how random success can quietly reinforce bad habits, and why inconsistency is usually self-inflicted without hunters realizing it. This is not an episode about calling techniques, secret spots, or trendy tactics. It is a deep dive into decision making, preparation, mindset, and systems—the things that determine whether success is repeatable or random.
Matt walks through the difference between reactive hunting and proactive hunting, how physical durability directly influences strategy on the mountain, and why patience under uncertainty is one of the most overlooked skills in elk hunting. He also explains how consistent hunters evaluate seasons differently, using every hunt—successful or not—as data instead of emotional proof of failure or success.
This conversation is especially relevant in the off season, when applications, planning, and training are all that’s happening and motivation can feel low. It focuses on what can be built when nothing feels urgent: better judgment, stronger preparation, and a clearer understanding of how elk hunting actually works over time. If you’re tired of guessing, chasing luck, or feeling like every season resets the learning curve, this episode will help you understand what consistency really looks like and how it’s earned.

BUILD A WESTERN TAG STRATEGY THAT WORKS | 2026 BIG GAME HUNTING APPLICATION GUIDE | 🎙️ EP. 119

HUNT PLANNING with EAST 2 WEST HUNTS: East 2 West Hunts provides premium Western big-game application services with deep expertise in elk, mule deer, and high-country adventure. Alex delivers proven and personalized hunt planning, and professional application guidance to help hunters maximize every opportunity. BOOK A FREE CONSULT with Alex and mention Matt Hartsky sent you for priority attention: https://www.east2westhunts.com/
 
Elk Camp 2026 is your chance to learn, train, and run real-world scenarios alongside experienced elk hunters, Matt & Saxton Hartsky, in the mountains. Spots are limited—secure yours today and take the next step toward becoming the elk hunter you’ve always wanted to be. LEARN MORE about Elk Camp 2026 or reserve your spot: https://backboneunlimited.com/pages/elk-camp
 
In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, host Matt Hartsky sits down with Alex Gruin, the owner of East to West Hunts, to break down why so many hunters struggle with Western hunting long before they ever step into the field. From confusing regulations and missed deadlines to wasted preference points and applying without a plan, this conversation gets honest about the real reasons hunters get stuck—and how to fix it.
Alex shares his journey from a Midwest hunter trying to break into Western big game hunting to building a system that helps busy hunters create clear, long-term application and hunt strategies. Together, Matt and Alex discuss the dangers of information overload, why effort alone isn’t enough without direction, and how disciplined planning allows hunters to hunt sooner while still building toward long-term goals and dream tags. They also dive into what happens after the draw—why preparation, fitness, execution, and realistic expectations are critical if you actually want to succeed.
This episode is for hunters who feel overwhelmed by points systems, applications, and regulations, and for anyone who wants to stop guessing and start approaching Western hunting with intention. If you’re looking to hunt smarter, reduce frustration, and build a plan that actually works, this conversation delivers practical insight rooted in real experience.

ELK HUNTING - WHERE TO START - A BEGINNER'S COMPLETE GUIDE | 🎙️ EP. 117

In this episode of Backbone Unlimited, Matt Hartsky tackles one of the most common and overwhelming questions new hunters ask: Where do I start with elk hunting? Drawing from more than three decades of western big game hunting experience, Matt strips away the noise, myths, and overcomplication that stop so many people before they ever step into elk country. This episode lays out the true foundation of becoming an elk hunter — defining your why, understanding elk behavior, choosing a state and season, using e-scouting the right way, preparing your body, building a functional gear system, respecting wind and thermals, learning calling discipline, and developing the mental toughness required to stay in the fight. Whether you’re brand new to elk hunting or feel stuck spinning your wheels, this is an honest, experience-driven roadmap designed to help you start the right way, avoid common mistakes, and build confidence in the mountains.