Archery Elk question from new elk hunter

[Sportsman]

That sucks. Maybe your schedule will pan out this year.

Not this year but eventually. Closing in on retirement and hunt when I can. I hunted hard for 17 days last year across two trips so it wasn't bad. I knew I would just build points for a while afterwards.

 

[TxxAgg]

Tagged

 

[N2TRKYS]

Not this year but eventually. Closing in on retirement and hunt when I can. I hunted hard for 17 days last year across two trips so it wasn't bad. I knew I would just build points for a while afterwards.

I had to cancel my Washington turkey trip due to the virus, so my days got cut down some. I was able to get in over 30 days of turkey season here, tough.

I missed the first week of our bow season this year while I was chasing elk in Wyoming. It wasn’t all bad, cause I killed my first elk. Only 0.2 of a mile from the road. Lol.

 

[sneaky]

Thanks for the input. I doubt I would pass one up if I had an opportunity on opening day to kill one 300 yds from the truck, but the idea of that bums me out. I am looking forward to the full immersion experience of solitude, no road noise, star gazing at night, and working hard. Getting one that close to the truck really would piss me off. (When I get older, my view might change). It would have to be a big one. I'm ok not harvesting one if after a week of hard hunting it doesn't happen. Ideally it would be on the 2nd to the last day after hunting my *ss off all week. Anyway, thanks for the good advice. I'm looking forward to the scouting trip. I'll update this after the hunt.

Sounds like you want to go on a backpacking trip with an elk tag in your pocket then. Considering you've never hunted out here you are making a lot of assumptions. Thousands of miles of dirt roads doesn't mean you'll be bothered by road noise... may not be more than 2 vehicles on it in a week. You can still see stars from a truck camp, don't have the crappy haze hiding them like back east. If you pass up ANY legal elk on your first hunt you should turn in your tag and save yourself the vacation time and money. You'll understand the folly of your initial plan after you see the country. Kill elk where you see elk, not where you want them to be.

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[sneaky]

This is why people lurk in the shadows of forums and not engage. Lots of incorrect assumptions to which I have no interest in correcting or further discussing. Thread is closed from my perspective. You have the right name.

Considering he has written books on elk hunting, done tons of podcasts on elk hunting, several videos on elk hunting, has an app he created on elk hunting and kills elk every year on heavily pressured public land, you may want to change your damn tone and listen. You asked for people's opinions on an open forum and got butthurt that sound advice doesn't line up with your fanciful dream of elk hunting. Drop the attitude and listen to what you're being told.

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[sneaky]

Guys, it's alright. Figured it out. Let him hike 6 miles in, that'll give him the same chance of being successful on elk as his GA bulldogs have of winning a national championship in football this year. It'll be glorious to see how similar the excuses will be.

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[njdoxie]

Guys, it's alright. Figured it out. Let him hike 6 miles in, that'll give him the same chance of being successful on elk as his GA bulldogs have of winning a national championship in football this year. It'll be glorious to see how similar the excuses will be.

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HAhaha, yeah, Clemson (probable 2020 national Champ) or Alabama will take joy in keeping them out of the playoff.

 

[Sportsman]

LSU

 

[Raberd14]

My 16 year son is coming with me. I'll manage.

Be prepared... I packed a bull out 8.5 miles 2500' of elevation change (up hill), 3 guys in our mid 20s, took 3 days. Needed a day off after we were done. Packing an elk for miles sounds badass until you have to actually do it.

 

[GotDraw?]

Remember that a person's greatest strength is also their greatest weakness. Consider this when deciding how you'll hunt.

Your so-stated addictive personality might have you thinking that you'll get to elk by going harder, deeper, higher and further than the next guy. It sounds like what you really want is HARD hunting, "Hard" being the keyword that allow you to "earn" your kill. God forbid you kill an elk 400 yds from your truck, sounds like that would just ruin it for you.

So the REAL question here is:

Do you want to kill an elk, or do you want to "elk hike" all over god's creation and hunt "deep and hard"?

Personally, I'd rather kill an elk.

It is simple fact that you will walk past a LOT of elk if you go straight up to 12,000 ft or however high you go. It's one thing if you've been to that area before and have boots on the ground knowledge of the usual hot spots the whole way up. You don't. All you have is e-scouting, and all the e-scouting in the world at 2am will not give you ground-truth earned by checking out areas as you go uphill.


JL

I'm derailing my own thread now. Elk-fluenza, I like that! You are correct, I already have pre-elkfluenza. I googled where is the hardest least accessible place to hunt elk. I was staying up till 2am cyber scouting and placing waypoint pins all over my area on google earth for a couple weeks. I have an addictive personality, in that I dive in hard. I go to bed watching youtube elk videos. I've been a hunting addict all my life. My only regret is waiting until i was 52 to hunt elk. I don't like hunting the easy way. I've been antelope hunting a few times in S.E. Colorado just above new mexico. The guys I go with get their antelope on opening day rolling out of a truck and making a long shot. That's not my idea of hunting, thats shooting. I enjoyed crawling to see how close I could get to them and making my hunt last days. Getting so close to them that when I went to shoot, the buck was blurry because my scope was on 9x. I don't want my elk hunt to be over the day or the day after I get there. I want to savor it, and make it last. I am planning on hunting Colorado and Montana next year. I'm 52, I have to make up for lost time hunting elk. I hunt everything in the south, deer, hogs, bear, ducks, turkey. Time to head west while I can still carry sh*t on my back.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Congrats! That sounds awesome to me. Well, not the guiding part. Lol. I would’ve moved on to the pursuit of another animal.

I get plenty of tags. Usually 4-5 but I don’t have anything else to hunt in September and helping a friend and my significant other get into elk is more gratifying than killing an elk myself. The thought of “moving on” never crossed my mind.

 

[PablitoPescador]

I know you don’t really want advice but I’m gonna give it anyway. Take it or leave it.

Something you should realize is that you can sometimes get away from people and be more remote 1-3 miles from the truck than 5+. 5-10 miles back on a trail just puts you next to outfitters and wall tents. Another thing to think about is that 6 miles doesn’t equal 6 miles. If you kill a bull 6 miles back, it means you’ll be hiking 18 miles minimum and more likely 30. Do that on your first elk hunt and it’ll be your last elk hunt. Mule deer and black bear are better suited for 6 miles+ but packing out a bull even 3 miles back can ruin your life.

 

[NevadaZielmeister]

This is why people lurk in the shadows of forums and not engage. Lots of incorrect assumptions to which I have no interest in correcting or further discussing. Thread is closed from my perspective. You have the right name.

This thread seems to be more about you and what you want to hear to support your strategy, not for asking honest advice. As such, you, without a doubt, meet the definition of an "askhole".

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Askhole :
"A person who constantly asks for your advice, yet ALWAYS does the complete opposite of what you told them to do."

Happy trails sir and good luck. I hope we don't read about you in the newspapers: "Southeast area man found collapsed underneath his 250 pound pack after trying to hike 10 miles out of wilderness area."

 

[pk_]

just shoot one by the road and say it was 3 miles deep like everybody else...

 

[jmez]

There is only one keyboard cowboy in this thread. Hint, it isn't anyone trying to answer questions.

 

[sneaky]

I think he got mad and left, I mean, he already knows the best plan and we're all just too stupid to realize it.

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[Peaks&Creeks]

This guy is gonna resurrect this thread around September with photos of the 310” bull he shot 6 miles back in an OTC unit, and how he passed up a “bigger” bull day 1 because he didn’t want the trip to end early. I like betting on the low odds, high payout though, just like my New Mexico draws.


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[Pbast81]

Man there’s some good responses on this thread! I don’t think i would be shunning the advice of some of these guys but He will figure it out on that scouting trip. 6 miles is a long ways in the wilderness with camp and an elk on your back if you kill.
My brother and I had that same mentality of thinking you had to get deep to get into elk but every year we are proven wrong when we kill one within a mile of the road.

 

[robtattoo]

This is the face you make at 3 miles, carrying 80lb at 10k feet when you're from the south east.....

 

[tjihrig]

My advice would be to take advice. There’s a lot of good input here. There is one thing that you absolutely must have when hunting elk in the west with a bow- humility. Those without humility are short timers and don’t come back. You’re not just getting knowledge, you’re getting wisdom from these guys. And wisdom is knowledge with experience. I’ve been hunting these critters for a decade and I’m writing this stuff down.