I’m Matt Hartsky, and I founded Backbone Unlimited to help you Train Harder, Hunt Smarter and Never Settle.
With 34 years of Western big game hunting and 29 years as a professional strength, conditioning, and nutrition coach, I share the tactics, training, and mindset that lead to success—on the mountain and in life. This brand is about more than elk and mule deer. It’s about living with backbone in a world full of excuses—crushing limits and refusing to quit.
After losing my oldest son to suicide, I made it my mission to help anyone struggling with mental health and to build a community of hunters who push each other forward.
When you join Team Backbone, you get direct coaching from me, a private group of like-minded hunters, an exclusive monthly shirt, 20% off gear, giveaways, and member-only content to help you sharpen your edge.
Join us at BackboneUnlimited.com and let’s Train Harder, Hunt Smarter and Never Settle.
CHAPTERS:
0:00 – Intro | Hunting Mountain Whitetails Out West
1:27 – Understanding Mountain Whitetail Behavior
5:32 – Scouting Western Mountain Whitetails
11:06 – Timing Your Hunts Through the Season
16:39 – Mountain Whitetail Tactics and Adaptability
23:20 – Building a Repeatable Mountain Whitetail Plan
27:01 – Reflection, Mindset, and Final Takeaways
28:34 – TEAM BACKBONE Membership Invitation
Hunting western mountain whitetails is one of the most challenging and rewarding pursuits in the West. In this Backbone Unlimited episode, Matt Hartsky breaks down the exact strategies and mindset needed to consistently find and tag mature whitetail bucks in rugged mountain terrain. Unlike their flatland relatives, these deer live in steep, remote country where wind, thermals, elevation, and pressure dictate every move they make. Success comes from understanding how they use the land — from benches and saddles to creek bottoms and south-facing slopes — and adapting your tactics to match the terrain.
This episode covers every phase of the hunt, from preseason scouting and terrain selection to how mountain whitetails transition through early season, rut, and late season patterns. It explores how to time your hunts around thermals, how to glass effectively in broken country, and how to read sign where traditional patterns don’t apply.
Whether you’re hunting in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, or the Dakotas, this is your complete guide to mountain whitetails — how they behave, where they live, and how to hunt them efficiently. For hunters who thrive on challenge and want to take their whitetail hunting deeper into wild country, this episode delivers the proven tactics and real-world insights that turn preparation into success.
#whitetailhunting #westernwhitetailhunting
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