Vortex Nation Podcast

Our original intent was to have just a podcast about the sport of F-Class shooting, but when you get these brainiacs (Ian Klemm and Niles Richardson) talking about their obsession... er... "Hobby" you better believe it's going to turn into a full on long range shooting information assault to the brain. Fact of the matter is, in F-Class, the only thing that matters is long range accuracy - and when we say "Accuracy", we're talking about sub-MOA groups on paper at 1000 yards with .308's. Every single aspect of an F-Class competitor's game is completely dialed in for long range accuracy. We talk about the guns, their bipods, wind, mirage, barrel harmonics and the special scopes F-Class competitors need for their rifles. Ian even goes so far as to tell us how much his rifle has moved prior to the bullet leaving his 30 inch barrel. Just a simple equation involving acceleration, terminal velocity, moment of inertia of the rifle and coefficient of friction of the bipod and rifle on the ground. Ki

Eric Chesser (@gethushin), Ben Dettamanti (@ShedCrazy), Shawn Luchtel and Michael Hunsucker (@heartlandbowhunter) joined us in this East vs. West episode all about shed hunting. We break down what shed hunting actually is, why people do it, how they do it, what they do with the antlers, how it plays into their hunting strategy and many other little nuances of this off-season pastime from the perspective of two Utah shed huntin' fools as well as two heartland whitetail hunters that have hunted sheds in their own area for many years as well. Hard to believe we could talk about bones falling off deer and elk's heads for almost an hour but this one is packed with information all about sheds and antlers with a super fun group to talk to. Here's hoping you can make it out in your area, whether on your own piece of private or on some public to find a few sheds of your own this year! As always - let us know if there are any topics you'd like covered on the Vortex Nation podcast by asking us on any one of our social m

Remi Warren - Part man, part beast and all balls. Mark, Jimmy, and Paul sit down with the one and only Remi Warren to chat about the life of guide. We cover sleep deprivation, hallucination, Remi’s first guiding job and how he got it, untimely heart attacks, making a-dollar-an-hour and loving it - and a heck of a lot more. If you’ve ever thought about becoming a guide, Remi breaks down the three ways you can go about it, what he loves about it - including completely transforming people’s lives where they become a better version of themselves - all with some great stories along the way! One of the true greats and a genuine inspiration. Turn your ears on for an audio experience you won’t soon forget.

What happens when you get the crew together on a Friday afternoon with buffalo fried squirrel and an off the wall question to kick off some conversation? A whole bunch of rabbit trails about hunting and fishing. Jimmy, Mark, Ryan and Erik talk about the difference between baiting deer and fishing with bait, sturgeon spearing, smoke pole (muzzleloader) fishing, different styles of fishing, GMO corn, GMO dogs and the Chronicles of Narnia even popped up once, too. As random as this podcast was, it brought about some enlightening conversations that one could only appreciate by listening in! As always - let us know if there are any topics you'd like covered on the Vortex Nation podcast by asking us on any one of our social media platforms and using #VortexNationPodcast.

Jimmy got the chance to sit down with DJ Struntz, former world traveler and surf photographer, and now Minister of Propaganda at North American Rescue - A business dedicated to developing and distributing life saving tools to our nation's warfighters as well as the every day citizen. While no one likes to live their lives in a constant state of fear for the worst, DJ explains some of the reasons hunters, shooters, concealed carriers and just plain Janes and Joes should consider at least carrying the bare essentials when it comes to emergency trauma care gear. What training is necessary to learn the necessary skills to potentially save yours or someone else's life? Can someone who gets queasy around blood do this? What are some of the wildest stories a man in charge of the social media for a company dedicated to emergency trauma care gear has seen or heard? We talk about all this and more in this episode. Stay safe out there, Vortex Nation, and if you have any questions about emergency gear, how to use it or w

What started as a hobby to blow off some steam after his night shifts as a law enforcement officer turned into a full kydex holster business operation for Adam Weber in a fairly short period of time. Jimmy and Reuben sat down with Adam at SHOT show this year to talk about his story - From attempting to make his first holster using boat foam and an upside down bench grinder from a salvage store to his newest holsters employing science-backed design and manufacture for ultimate reliability and functionality in competitive shooting as well as duty use for our LEO’s. If you’ve been kicking around the idea of starting your own business venture or are just curious how much blood, sweat and tears it takes to get into making kydex holsters on a large scale, tune into this episode and you won’t be disappointed! As always - let us know if there are any topics you'd like covered on the Vortex Nation podcast by asking us on any one of our social media platforms and using #VortexNationPodcast.

In this episode we sit down with the cool dudes from 60th Parallel (@60thparallel - If you're not following them on IG right now, you're missing out!) to talk about hunting the last frontier for the first time. According to John and Casey there's two kinds of people out there considering their first hunt to Alaska - Those who are completely overwhelmed by which quarry to chase, where to go and how to get there and those who are entirely too confident and in for a world of hurt once arguably one of the nation's harshest states finds every way to kick their butt. Hopefully listening to this episode can help you be somewhere more in the middle. Alaska isn't for the faint of heart, but it's absolutely doable for any avid outdoorsman/woman with the appropriate amount of time and resources dedicated well in advance. Being that there's so much to talk about like quarry, locations, logistics, gear and much more that is specific to this state, we're hoping to get these guys on for a part 2 based on the same subject. I

Ever wonder what things looked like at Vortex back in 2002 or maybe what some of the biggest hits and misses have been over the years when it comes to product? Mark and Jimmy join Paul Neess, frequent guest to the podcast and Vortex employee since darn near day one, and Joe Hamilton, new guest and one of the very first members of our sales team. We chat business and marketing from the perspective of an emerging small family business and what the relationship between product development and those pesky sales guys is really like. You'll hear some of our most notorious screw-ups as well as some of the biggest bright spots that ultimately led to the Vortex you know today. With only an "About You" section to read on our website and little information about our history elsewhere, many of you have asked for an episode just like this. In the end, the reason we're still around to this day and able to have this conversation is thanks to you, Vortex Nation, so the biggest shoutout and thanks goes to you! As al

Buckle those brains up, folks. Jeff Sturgis is about to drop more knowledge on whitetail habitat in an hour and a half than you ever thought possible. In addition to understanding the premiere habitat that whitetails prefer, we’ll dive into daytime locations vs nocturnal areas, what these areas are comprised of and how you can create them on the property you hunt if they don’t already exist. Most hunters who manage land for deer hunting tactfully plant food plots to attract deer to strategic ambush locations, but you’ll learn why sometimes doing so can actually have a negative impact on your property. Instead, there’s plenty of other tactics that can be used to create your own deer mecca – including waterholes, hinge-cutting, and more. Jeff has dedicated his entire career to understanding whitetails while hunting them on small properties and public land all across the country, so settle in and sink your teeth into this ultra-dense dish of deer hunting know-how.   As always - let us know if there are any topic

Mark and Jimmy join Ryan Muckenhirn, Ian Klemm and Adam Maxwell for some good old fashioned American show and tell. This time to the tune of WW2(ish) era rifles. This era in firearms has to be one of the most exciting, as powers from across the world called on their most intelligent minds to create better weaponry in order to outgun their opponents. Firearms we discuss in this podcast include Ian's "Cigarette rifle" - a sporterized Mauser 98 chambered in a cartridge you wouldn't expect, Adam's Springfield 1903 bolt action rifle, Mark's single shot US Army .45-70 1873, Jimmy's Lee Enfield No. 4 Mk 1*, Ryan's M1 Garand and the backup gun, a .22 LR replica of an STG 44. As we've said many times, if you like hunting, shooting, competing in shooting sports, or anything else involving guns, we'd have a hard time believing you don't think these things and their history are cool. Check this out and by all means - if you hear anything we missed or have any interesting pieces to add about any of these firearm

Mark, Jimmy and Erik join Brian Austin, a local fitness instructor and big partner of Train to Hunt, to talk functional fitness for backcountry western hunting along with some of the awesome and intense archery challenges they put on throughout the year to get hunters in shape to enjoy their time more in the wilderness during hunting season. Jimmy draws on some of his experience as a former track & field athlete to point out the differences he's seen transitioning to the fitness necessary for hunting and Brian breaks out his pack, sandbags, wooden box and his bow to do some semi-live exercises and instructions for those of you looking to get off the couch this winter in preparation for next fall. We talk where to start, avoiding injury, exercises you can do at home with relatively minimal equipment and how you can even put your work into a competitive outlet with Train to Hunt's archery challenges all over the country. We do our best to explain the exercises Brian is doing verbally, but if you get the cha

"As deer hunters, are we doing more harm than good in the way we talk about our sport?" If you've ever said this yourself or heard others say it and got to wondering - "What really made that a nice buck?" This is the podcast for you. Mark, Jimmy and Erik dive in on the tricky topics of trophy hunting, naming deer, scoring bucks, the context (or lack thereof) that we put on social media as hunters, an interesting letter we received from an anti-hunting 3rd grader, killing a buck that someone else had history with and a ton more. The point of this episode is not to say that our opinion is 100% correct or that we hold all the answers by any means, but rather to shed light on a great deal of the behind-the-scenes work and respect for wildlife that goes into each and every hunt for those who are not as familiar with our sport. As hunters, we can always work to improve our messaging to the public, especially in this day and age of social media, to properly give our highly complex and incredibly

There could be infinitely many more podcasts dedicated to reloading and its seemingly countless talking points, but we did our best to cram some more advanced reloading knowledge into this 201 level reloading podcast with Mark, Jimmy, Paul Ness and in-house reloading guru Scott Parks. Ever wonder how ambient temperature can effect your load and its accuracy? Can having the highest possible BC bullet actually cause problems with your accuracy and consistency? Should reloaders choose a rifle first, then develop a cartridge around it, or is the opposite order of operations the best course of action? One of the most asked for episodes is finally here. If you haven't listened to our first episode as part of this "Mini series" yet, check out Reloading 101 for a basic introduction to the topic before Scott Parks infiltrates your brain with some serious knowledge in 201. As always - let us know if there are any topics you'd like covered on the Vortex Nation podcast by asking us on any one of our social medi

Our favorite hobbies tend to have two things in common - They're tremendously addictive and often times expensive. To many, a great way to ease this burden would be becoming sponsored by one or more companies in the industry or joining them as a brand ambassador to aid in some of the gear and financial aspects of our addiction - er - "Hobby". Mark, Jimmy, Adam Maxwell and Reuben Aleckson sit down with Josh Tarrant, competitive shooter and Vortex brand ambassador, to talk about what it's really like being in his position as an extension of the brand. It may come as a surprise to a great deal of people to learn that the life of a brand ambassador isn't all free products and casual Instagram posts. Josh explains it as an additional part time job to his regular full time employment and Adam Maxwell says "The cheapest piece of equipment you'll ever buy is the one you went to the store and paid full retail for." eluding to the large amount of sweat equity and work one would need to do in order t

Ball on a budget – The cost/perceived cost of gear, can be a barrier for those new to hunting. It doesn’t’ have to be! Jim, Mark, Erik and Ryan scour the web for 20 minutes and give 4 comprehensive, incredibly inexpensive, gear breakdowns to get you fully outfitted for a field foray you’ll never forget. We also cover gear buying tactics geared toward minimal impact on your budget and maximum impact on your freezer, offsetting gear costs with meat procurement, a $15 treestand, and more. If you’re new to hunting or just love a hell-of-a-bargain, listen up. This one's for you!As always - let us know if there are any topics you'd like covered on the Vortex Nation podcast by asking us on any one of our social media platforms and using #VortexNationPodcast.Already listened, but want the show notes for reference afterwards? You can find them here: https://vortexoptics.com/vortex-nation-podcast

How do you make a riflescope? The idea, optical design, mechanical design, machining, finishing, tolerancing, metrology, assembly, testing and ultimately producing an optic in a commercial setting - Have you ever wondered just what it takes to make this a reality? Sam Hamilton, chief engineer of a special military-focused division within Vortex joins Mark and Jimmy to recollect the entire process of developing the AMG 6-24x50 riflescope from beginning to end. Many of you have asked how this process works, so we went to the source of what is now, to our knowledge, the most American made riflescope on the market today. Not only do we get an in-depth idea of what goes into the development of any riflescope, but also the daunting task of actually manufacturing that product from scratch to be a top-tier, ultra-precision optic. We discuss how your eye is actually a critical part to the optical system, misconceptions about "Glass" in optics, machining processes and incredibly tight tolerances, tough lesson

After battling some stomach issues, Jimmy, Mark and Ryan hammer out another HYR episode on late season Nebraska muzzleloader season. Commonly thought of as an “Old school” means of hunting big game, these guys brought out the technical gear from apparel to even the firearms themselves, rocking some very special, high precision, long range capable muzzleloaders. We also discuss buffalo, hunting in groups, learning experiences behind an unfortunate but clean miss and why you should never leave your ribs in the field! Check it out and maybe next December you, too, can add a special late season muzzleloader hunt to your schedule. As always - let us know if there are any topics you'd like covered on the Vortex Nation podcast by asking us on any one of our social media platforms and using #VortexNationPodcast.

Jimmy, Mark and Nick Laufenberg join Chris Andrews of Best Targets and Kristina Pugh from Grunt Style to discuss one of the most grueling and challenging shooting matches ever spawned – The Mammoth Sniper Challenge. This 3-day event takes place in early January and tests shooters’ endurance, skill and willpower as they ruck nearly 10 miles every day with precision long range shooting stations dispersed amongst their route. In the evening, those who opt for the tough-guy challenge are also required to camp out overnight, carrying all their gear on their backs throughout the entire challenge. Chris and Kristina have played an integral role in developing this year’s match which will be the first sniper match that is both open to civilians and takes place on an active duty military installation. Check it out and if you’re thinking this sounds like the match for you, start preparing for next year’s event right now! As always - let us know if there are any topics you'd like covered on the Vortex Nation podcast by a

Land Tawney, President/CEO of Back Country Hunters & Anglers (BHA), and Jason Meekhof, BHA Great Lakes Chapter Coordinator, sit down with Mark and Jimmy to talk BHA’s history and mission, as well as breaking down the huge variety of state, local and federal public lands at your disposal and their different attributes. We discuss BHA’s current main objectives, the differences between state and federal public lands, the politics and behind-the-scenes action behind each type of public land and what you can do to protect and serve the public lands in your area and around the country. BHA is an organization committed to ensuring there’s ample access to public land and waters in the U.S. and healthy fish and wildlife habitat when you get there. Land and Jason were kind enough to join us for a morning of rabbit and squirrel hunting, followed by a podcast and one heck of a pint night locally in the Madison, WI area. If you’re not part of BHA, listen in to this podcast to hear what they’re all about and decide if

Ever listened to a podcast where the hosts are also shooting while talking? Continuing with our semi-live series on setting up your rifle, we’ve gone from mounting the optic to getting things zeroed in and ready to go at your first trip to the range. Proper equipment, bore sighting, 3-round groups, making adjustments and troubleshooting potential road bumps are just a few of the things we discuss in this podcast at the range. Sighting in a riflescope can be intimidating to newer shooters venturing out on their own, and can even bring unnecessary stress or frustration to seasoned shooters who dread this crucial step in assuring your rifle’s longevity and reliability. It may come as no surprise that we’ve sighted in a riflescope or two in our time here at Vortex, and with all those scopes have come a host of tips and tricks that can make your zero-in process a snap and set you up for ultimately accuracy and a long time of success with your rifle and optic combination. Listen on your commute, or tune in on YouTu