Glassing as a Skill: What Most Elk Hunters Get Dead Wrong

Glassing as a Skill: What Most Elk Hunters Get Dead Wrong

From Elk Hunt by Cody Rich

April 24, 2026 · 1h 26m · Season 1

About this episode

Cody Nelson discusses the importance of glassing as a skill in elk hunting and shares insights on effective techniques and equipment.

This week I sat down with Cody Nelson, a man who has spent the better part of 12–13 years in elk and deer camps across Arizona and the West, helping legendary hunters like Jay Scott and Steve Chapa put tags on bulls by doing one thing better than just about anyone alive: finding game before the hunt ever starts. Cody just made a move over to Tricer as their Director of Innovation — and if you've been paying attention to what Drew has been building over there, this hire makes a whole lot of sense. Cody has been quietly consulting and pushing ideas on Drew for years, and now it's official. Big things are coming from that crew. But this episode isn't a gear ad. This is a masterclass. We dig deep into glassing as a genuine hunting skill — not just a tactic, but a discipline that separates average hunters from the ones who consistently find and kill mature animals. Cody breaks down why most hunters are simply in too much of a hurry, what his three pillars of effective glassing actually look like in the field, and why patience behind the glass is the single most underrated skill in the hunting community. We cover the binocular debate that never gets old — 10s vs. 12s vs. 15s — and…

People in this episode

Host: Cody Rich

Guest: Cody Nelson

Topics covered

  • glassing
  • elk hunting
  • hunting skills
  • binoculars
  • patience in hunting

Keywords

  • glassing
  • elk hunting
  • hunting techniques
  • binoculars
  • patience

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Tricer, Drew

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