Drawn West

How do you choose hunting optics without spending money on magnification and features you don’t need? I break down how to choose a spotting scope, binoculars, and a laser rangefinder for western hunting and whitetail scouting. From angled vs. straight spotting scopes to 10x vs. 12x binoculars, I explain the tradeoffs behind my glassing setup and what I’d look for before upgrading. I use my Maven S3 spotting scope, B6 12x50 binoculars, and RF1 rangefinder to demonstrate, but the buying considerations apply across optics brands. · Angled vs. straight spotting scopes—and why I switched to angled · Choosing spotting scope magnification to complement your binoculars · Why I prefer 12x50 binoculars for western hunting and whitetails · When higher-power binoculars might replace a spotting scope · Tripod mounting, binocular diopter adjustment, and digiscoping adapters · What rangefinder distance ratings mean for different targets · Angle compensation, brightness controls, and field/forest modes Subscribe to Drawn West and leave a rating and review. Sign up for the newsletter through the link below, and follow @getdrawnwest on Instagram. For the hands-on demonstrations, watch on YouTube or Spotify. Stay drawn. Check out the optics I run from Maven: https://mavenbuilt.com/?utm_source=&utm_medium=drawnwest&utm_content=archery&utm_campaign=bb_maven_2026 Stay Ahead of Hunting Season with the Drawn West Newsletter. Get practical emails on deadlines, draw strategy, new episodes, and giveaway updates. Join Here: https://www.getdrawnwest.com/newsletter Looking for more content from Drawn West? Check out our latest article! Check out Drawn West Apparel:https://www.getdrawnwest.com/shop FREE Gear Checklist: https://www.getdrawnwest.com/gear Connect with Brian Krebs https://linktr.ee/getdrawnwest Have Questions or Comments? Send an email to [email protected]! Sponsors and Discounts: GOHUNT Insider - $50 Gear Shop Credit with code DRAWNWEST https://alnk.to/g3aa8L4 GOHUNT Gear Shop – 10% off most items with code DRAWNWEST https://alnk.to/e75Pm4u Save 10% on Maverick Hunting Blinds & Accessories with code DRAWNWEST https://maverickhunting.com/?ref=getdrawnwest Save 20% On Reveal Cell Cams & Accessories with code DRAWNWEST20 https://www.tactacam.com/ Best Prices on Trauma Kits & First Aid at Jase.com https://rstr.co/jasemedical/getdrawnwest 00:00:00 Intro & Drawn West Updates 00:03:40 Angled vs. Straight SpottingScopes 00:12:45 Scouting Whitetails From YourTruck 00:19:40 Spotting Scope Magnification& Digiscoping 00:22:55 Pairing Spotters With Binoculars 00:25:15 Tripod Mounts &Interchangeable Eyepieces 00:30:50 Choosing Hunting BinocularMagnification 00:36:05 How to Focus Your Binoculars 00:40:00 Rangefinders & AngleCompensation 00:43:20 What Rangefinder DistanceRatings Mean 00:48:50 Rangefinder Brightness &Field/Forest Modes 00:52:15 Tripod Ranging & Maven RFZZoom

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. Stay Ahead of Hunting Season with the Drawn West Newsletter. Get practical emails on deadlines, draw strategy, new episodes, and giveaway updates. Join Here: https://www.getdrawnwest.com/newsletter Looking for more content from Drawn West? Check out our latest article! Check out Drawn West Apparel:https://www.getdrawnwest.com/shop FREE Gear Checklist: https://www.getdrawnwest.com/gear Connect with Brian Krebs https://linktr.ee/getdrawnwest Have Questions or Comments? Send an email to [email protected]! Sponsors and Discounts: GOHUNT Insider - $50 Gear Shop Credit with code DRAWNWEST https://alnk.to/g3aa8L4 GOHUNT Gear Shop – 10% off most items with code DRAWNWEST https://alnk.to/e75Pm4u Save 10% on Maverick Hunting Blinds & Accessories with code DRAWNWEST https://maverickhunting.com/?ref=getdrawnwest Save 20% On Reveal Cell Cams & Accessories with code DRAWNWEST20 https://www.tactacam.com/ Best Prices on Trauma Kits & First Aid at Jase.com https://rstr.co/jasemedical/getdrawnwest 00:00:00 ARC giveaway final announcement 00:04:09 Dr. Ed Ashby and the origins of his research 00:14:18 Natal study: testing broadheads on real animals 00:22:52 Broadhead failures and bone penetration 00:29:39 Bone deflection, tip design, and single bevels 00:40:57 Recovery records and modern arrow setups 00:45:29 High FOC versus proper arrow flight 00:50:28 The 650-grain threshold and shot selection 00:54:56 Blood trails, cutting width, and bleeder blades 01:14:59 Modern bow testing and African dangerous game 01:31:07 Conservation and close calls in Africa 01:40:04 Heavy-bone thresholds, shot placement, and final takeaways

Trucker hats are live! Shop the most comfortable blaze orange hats and build some extra entries for the ARC! https://www.getdrawnwest.com/shop First focal plane vs. second focal plane scopes does not need to be complicated. The right choice comes down to how you hunt, how far you shoot, and whether you want a simple point-and-shoot setup or more options for dialing and precision. I break down how FFP and SFP reticles work, what changes as you adjust magnification, and how that affects holdovers, wind holds, and elevation adjustments. I also cover the scope features that actually matter when you are buying one: magnification, objective size, turrets, parallax, throw levers, and more. Whether you are setting up a rifle for Minnesota whitetails, Western mule deer and elk, deer drives, an AR, or a farm rifle, this will help you choose an optic that fits the way you actually hunt. What we cover in this episode: · FFP vs. SFP reticles and what changes when you zoom · When a simple SFP scope makes the most sense for whitetails and known-distance hunting · Why I prefer FFP for dialing, wind holds, long-range practice, and Western hunting · 200-yard zeros, MOA, holdovers, and when dialing is the better move · Choosing the right magnification range, from 3–12x hunting scopes to 1–10x LPVOs · Objective lens size, low-light performance, and the scope features worth paying for · When an LPVO makes sense for deer drives, ARs, close-range hunting, and varmint rifles I use Maven scopes as examples because they are what I have in the studio, but these same FFP vs. SFP principles apply across almost every optics brand. If this helps you choose your next rifle scope, subscribe to the Drawn West Podcast, leave a rating and review, and follow @getdrawnwest on Instagram. Don’t forget to claim your 50 bonus entries for the ARC and if you’re looking for even more entries, check out the Drawn West Apparel for even more entries! https://www.getdrawnwest.com/shop Stay Ahead of Hunting Season with the Drawn West Newsletter. Get practical emails on deadlines, draw strategy, new episodes, and giveaway updates. Join Here: https://www.getdrawnwest.com/newsletter Looking for more content from Drawn West? Check out our latest article! Check out Drawn West Apparel:https://www.getdrawnwest.com/shop FREE Gear Checklist: https://www.getdrawnwest.com/gear Connect with Brian Krebs https://linktr.ee/getdrawnwest Have Questions or Comments? Send an email to [email protected]! Sponsors and Discounts: GOHUNT Insider - $50 Gear Shop Credit with code DRAWNWEST https://alnk.to/g3aa8L4 GOHUNT Gear Shop – 10% off most items with code DRAWNWEST https://alnk.to/e75Pm4u Save 10% on Maverick Hunting Blinds & Accessories with code DRAWNWEST https://maverickhunting.com/?ref=getdrawnwest Save 20% On Reveal Cell Cams & Accessories with code DRAWNWEST20 https://www.tactacam.com/ Best Prices on Trauma Kits & First Aid at Jase.com https://rstr.co/jasemedical/getdrawnwest

Most hunting merch is a logo slapped on a shirt nobody actually wants to wear. I didn't want to do that. After months of sketching, the first Drawn West apparel line is live: eight shirts and hoodies built around real hunting stories, inside jokes, and a few statement pieces meant to start a conversation at the airport, at deer camp, or at the trailhead. I go piece by piece through the launch lineup. That includes the OG Hoodie and OG Tee, the Classic Hoodie, the One Country topo shirt with a bugling bull set into the map where I shot my first elk, the Speed Goat pronghorn on a Drawn West chopper, the Spoon & Crockpot Buck, and the 98% Non-Res Plate. I also get into why resident vs non-resident tension out West matters to me, why hunting is more than a score, and how we chose blanks, fit, and halftone DTF printing so the shirts feel good to wear. Then I explain exactly how apparel entries work in the Mathews ARC giveaway, and why it's statistically impossible to buy your way to the bow. No purchase is necessary to enter or win the Mathews ARC giveaway. If you like what we're building, subscribe to the podcast, leave a rating and review, and follow @getdrawnwest on Instagram. You can check out the apparel at getdrawnwest.com/shop, and you can enter the giveaway at getdrawnwest.com/giveaway and enter this episode’s code word for 50 bonus entries! Stay Ahead of Hunting Season with the Drawn West Newsletter. Get practical emails on deadlines, draw strategy, new episodes, and giveaway updates. Join Here: https://www.getdrawnwest.com/newsletter Looking for more content from Drawn West? Check out our latest article! Check out Drawn West Apparel: https://www.getdrawnwest.com/shop FREE Gear Checklist: https://www.getdrawnwest.com/gear Connect with Brian Krebs https://linktr.ee/getdrawnwest Have Questions or Comments? Send an email to [email protected]! Sponsors and Discounts: GOHUNT Insider - $50 Gear Shop Credit with code DRAWNWEST https://alnk.to/g3aa8L4 GOHUNT Gear Shop – 10% off most items with code DRAWNWEST https://alnk.to/e75Pm4u Save 10% on Maverick Hunting Blinds & Accessories with code DRAWNWEST https://maverickhunting.com/?ref=getdrawnwest Save 20% On Reveal Cell Cams & Accessories with code DRAWNWEST20 https://www.tactacam.com/ Best Prices on Trauma Kits & First Aid at Jase.com https://rstr.co/jasemedical/getdrawnwest 00:00:00 Drawn West apparel is here + Mathews ARC giveaway update 00:02:20 Why we didn't make logo-slapped creator merch 00:03:10 OG Hoodie and OG Tee: colors, fit, and sizing 00:08:14 Classic Hoodie: lighter athletic fit vs heavyweight 00:10:35 One Country: USA topo design and where I shot my first elk 00:13:40 Speed Goat and halftone DTF printing 00:16:05 Spoon & Crockpot Buck: deer hunting is more than a score 00:19:00 98% Non-Res Plate: resident vs non-resident tension 00:24:04 Pricing, 10 entries per dollar, and why you can't buy the giveaway 00:27:52 Why launch apparel now + send in your shirt ideas 00:31:02 Where to shop, new giveaway dashboard, and October 7 live drawing

Shopping for a new box blind and wondering if the upgrades are worth it? I sat down with Kile from Maverick Hunting Blinds inside their brand-new XLV to get an unfiltered first look at what changed this year — nearly double-sized windows, fully pre-assembled panels, and a patent-pending 7-bolt system that builds the whole blind in about 20 minutes. What we cover in this episode: · What's new on the XLV: bigger windows, pre-assembled panels, and a redesigned insulated door with full overlap. · The patent-pending 7-bolt assembly system and how it locks together in about 20 minutes. · How scent-tight the blind really is, including where the sweet spot for deer downwind seems to land. · Maverick's new adjustable platform — 5 to 10 feet in six-inch increments, including leveling on a hillside. · Hunting with a newborn and young kids, plus a shotgun-to-rifle debate on deer herd quality. Subscribe to the podcast and follow along on YouTube for the full walkthrough video, and head to drawnwest.com/giveaway to enter the Mathews Arc giveaway with this episode's code word. Save 10% on the new XLV blind with code DRAWNWEST! https://maverickhunting.com/?ref=getdrawnwest Stay Ahead of Hunting Season with the Drawn West Newsletter. Get practical emails on deadlines, draw strategy, new episodes, and giveaway updates. Join Here: https://www.getdrawnwest.com/newsletter Looking for more content from Drawn West? Check out our latest article! FREE Gear Checklist: https://www.getdrawnwest.com/gear Connect with Brian Krebs https://linktr.ee/getdrawnwest Have Questions or Comments? Send an email to [email protected]! Sponsors and Discounts: GOHUNT Insider - $50 Gear Shop Credit with code DRAWNWEST https://alnk.to/g3aa8L4 GOHUNT Gear Shop – 10% off most items with code DRAWNWEST https://alnk.to/e75Pm4u Save 10% on Maverick Hunting Blinds & Accessories with code DRAWNWEST https://maverickhunting.com/?ref=getdrawnwest Save 20% On Reveal Cell Cams & Accessories with code DRAWNWEST20 https://www.tactacam.com/ Best Prices on Trauma Kits & First Aid at Jase.com https://rstr.co/jasemedical/getdrawnwest 00:00:00 Rolling for the first in-person episode & meeting Kyle 00:01:19 First podcast ever recorded inside a hunting blind 00:02:06 First impressions of the XLV: bigger windows, better visibility 00:03:40 Scent containment test: guests have no idea we're in here 00:04:20 Pre-assembled panels and the new insulated door 00:05:24 The patent-pending 7-bolt assembly system explained 00:07:09 Just how airtight is this blind? Scent control breakdown 00:10:13 Hunting with kids and a newborn this season 00:14:17 XLV dimensions vs. the all-new XLTM blind 00:15:29 New adjustable platform system: 5 to 10 feet 00:20:06 Bear hunting plans and a close call while turkey hunting 00:26:26 Shotgun vs. rifle: will it improve deer herds?