Most Insane Elk Research Tool We've Ever Seen — Mark Livesay Reveals Hunt Research IQ
Alright guys, this one is mind-blowing. I know Mark Livesay is talented — you all know him from Treeline Academy, the best e-scouting course on the planet — but I was not ready for what he showed me on this episode. Mark's been locked in a cave for six months building something called Hunt Research IQ, and he brought it to the Elk Hunt Podcast for the very first reveal. First show. Nobody's seen this yet.
This isn't a draw odds app. This isn't a spreadsheet. This is 20 years of harvest data for elk and deer across 11 Western states, run through AI, and turned into heat maps, custom scoring sliders, unit comparisons, moisture tracking, remote-core calculations, and print-ready reports that make every other research platform out there look like it's stuck in 2005.
We get into how the scoring system works, why averaging three, five, and twenty years of data matters more than looking at last year's numbers, why Montana's fractional bonus points might be sabotaging your odds without you even knowing it, and how Mark's moisture-tracking tool is already changing how he plans hunts around drought years and burns.
Then we shift gears and talk burns, same-year fire strategy, moisture-driven elevation shifts during the rut, and Mark's own busted rotator cuffs — which means he might be strapping a crossbow to a llama this September. You don't want to miss this one.
Take a listen, then go dig into Hunt Research IQ yourself. Links below, and use code TRO for a discount from our guy Mark.
Brought to You By
onX Hunt
This episode is brought to you by onX Hunt. If you've been through our free four-hour e-scouting course over at elkhunt201.com, you know I preach building color-coded waypoints, markups, and tracks for every hunt. Building a folder, building a plan — that's the difference between showing up and figuring it out versus showing up ready. This is what onX is superior at: hunt planning. If you're not an Elite member yet, Elite has a ton of tools to help you plan better.
Use code TRO when you upgrade to Elite for a special discount.
Maven Optics
This episode is also brought to you by the good folks over at Maven Optics. Direct-to-consumer optics company right out of Wyoming, and I've been using them for years. My favorite thing is watching people get their hands on a Maven for the first time and go, "Oh man, these are actually really good." Yeah — I told you. From binos to rangefinders to rifle scopes, Maven is the best bang for your buck out there, because you're not paying the big box store markup.
Use code TRO at checkout for a special gift.
Chapters
Time Segment 0:00 Intro & sponsor reads (onX Hunt, Maven Optics) 4:30 Welcome Mark Livesay — the big reveal, first show, six months in build mode 8:15 Elevator pitch: what is Hunt Research IQ? 12:00 Why averaging 3/5/20-year data beats single-year snapshots 17:30 Building custom scoring sliders and unit health trends 23:00 The heat map: dragging, hovering, live data pulls 28:45 Comparing units side by side & the "unit profile card" 34:15 Rankings tab, health trend colors, and finding sleeper units 40:00 101 / 201 / 301 hunter framework — what stats matter at each level 47:00 Print reports, unit briefs, and AI-written unit descriptions 53:30 Montana's fractional bonus point trap explained 58:00 Remote core, road density, and what "remote" really means 1:03:00 Bull-per-square-mile harvest density and reading hunting pressure 1:09:00 Moisture tracking tool & elevation focus bands 1:14:00 Hunt planning suite, checklist tool, and hike time calculator 1:18:30 Talking burns: mosaic vs. straight-edge fire boundaries 1:24:00 Live demo — analyzing a current Utah fire for same-year burn potential 1:29:00 Mark's Island Park story: why elk drop elevation in dry years 1:34:00 Rut timing shifting later into September 1:37:00 Mark's rotator cuff injury, crossbow talk, and this year's hunt plan 1:39:30 Pricing, free trial, and where to find Hunt Research IQ 1:40:30 Outro & free hunt planner
(Timestamps are approximate — built from transcript flow, adjust to actual audio if needed.)
Three Key Takeaways
- Averaging beats snapshots. A single year of harvest data can be wildly skewed by a low tag allocation or a random survey year. Looking at 3-year, 5-year, and all-time averages side by side — and watching whether a unit's score is trending up or down — tells you far more than last year's numbers alone.
- In Montana, buying a bonus point can hurt you. Mark's tool surfaced something almost nobody talks about: hunters with zero points had roughly a 53% draw chance in some units, while hunters with a single fractional point dropped to 0%, because a set percentage of tags are reserved specifically for zero-point applicants. Understanding your state's fractional point system can change your entire application strategy.
- "Go high" isn't a universal rule — moisture matters more. The common advice to push to the highest elevation in September doesn't always hold. In dry years, the grass at the top dies off first, and cows follow the moisture downhill toward better feed. Tracking soil moisture data for a basin can tell you more about where elk will actually be than elevation alone.
