Best online course to learn Elk hunting?

[njwan597]

Looking at online elk courses, I see Colorado Parks and Wildlife offers one, Elk101 also offers something similar. Does anyone have experience or recommendations for online resources for improving elk and elk hunting knowledge?

 

[OkayestHNTR]

Roe Hunting Resources which just switched to Elk Hunting Institute and the Elk Nut app. These address more of the elk behavior and calling but worth looking at. Also consider Tree Line Pursuits for scouting.

 

[ArrowHunt]

Roe Hunting Resources

 

[ElDiablito]

^ This. Great course/info!!

 

[butcherboy]

Boots on the ground is the best course you will ever take. I’m sorry but these “on line courses” and elk calling how to’s just crack me up.

 

[TaperPin]

I can remember being in your shoes - soak it all in, but most importantly get out in the mountains and look at where elk are and where they aren’t.

All elk leave tracks - learn to tell the difference between cows and bulls.

Keep in mind a lot of elk hunting success is based on local knowledge of elk behavior in that area.

Back in my firefighting days we flew over some really good elk country in the Wyoming Bighorns and saw a number of elk. On the ground we met up with the local Forest Service contact (that I knew was a long time elk hunter) - he said in that area it’s some of the best hunting in the entire area, but some drainages always have elk, and others that look identical rarely do.

In other situations elk rarely hang out in the most elk looking spots of a mountain, but are out in the foothills and flats.

Elk have long legs and can easily move 10 miles without breaking a sweat - when two legged goofballs get them moving around there are areas they will naturally funnel through and areas that just aren’t preferred for one of a dozen reasons. In some situation the bulls will move and some they have learned to dig into thicker areas and hold tight. Trying to apply textbook rules of thumb to moving elk is questionable unless you gain some local knowledge.

Figure out where you want to hunt, then focus on information that pertains to that area. If you’re a rifle shooter ignore most of the bow hunter advice since the rut is it’s own thing altogether. If you‘re hunting on foot, ignore a lot of the photos posted by guys on horseback - they can travel many times as far as a guy on foot and it makes sense for them to focus on different areas that benefit from being more mobile. Outfitters also know what works in that area for the type of guides and clients they have.

If you’re a backpacker it changes things compared to hunting with the crowds closer to roads. An identical timbered ridge that opens to a grassy bowl won’t hold much 1 mile from the roads, but 4 miles in it might. As a general rule, car campers hunt in up to 5 miles or so, and horse hunters camp at least 5 miles in and hunt out in all directions. There is probably a horse hunter that checks out that stereo typical ridge 4 miles in.

Luckily, elk are predictable. One outfitter told me guiding for elk is somewhat boring because they are so predictable.

Large bodied animals conserve heat better than skinny animals, (same as with people) - this affects where they spend the days in any given weather.

A friend of a friend was one of the most successful trophy bull hunters during bow season - every year he passed on many small six point bulls in a section of the state with low overall bow hunting success. Nothing you could read would suggest what he did made sense. He found pockets that held elk, but were avoided by hunters - that area only produced during the rut.

 

[wiarcher]

University of Elk Hunting by Corey Jacobsen is pretty solid.

 

[TheTone]

Boots on the ground is the best course you will ever take. I’m sorry but these “on line courses” and elk calling how to’s just crack me up.

Agreed! Also with the amount of free videos of people actually hunting on YouTube and websites like this I can’t imagine paying for a course of some type

 

[jaym_100]

Any updates on this? As it seems classes update and new stuff comes out.

 

[Read1t48]

Boots on the ground is the best course you will ever take. I’m sorry but these “on line courses” and elk calling how to’s just crack me up.

I understand where you’re coming from. However, there are a number of professionals within the industry that have dedicated hundreds and hundreds of hours to not only perfecting their craft with “boots on the ground“ but also articulating their learnings in a format that can be studied by people in the off-season and from behind a computer.

Each of them will tell you that there are no shortcuts, or easy buttons. However, based on the hours they have invested into their apps, I can assure you they are not big money makers. They have a passion to teach and have been lifelong students of the game. For me personally, I am very grateful they have spent the time to do this. There are a number of individuals that come to mind…

Paul Medel (ElkNut), Corey Jacobsen, Mark Livesay, Chris Roe, Joel Turner, etc.

Each of them have developed various apps, and or courses for those passionate about learning. As a lifelong learner, I appreciate all of the tools available. And yes… I still put boots on the ground.

 

[westonhoma]

Corey Jacobsons Elk 101 university of elk hunting was great. Not sure if it is still offered now in that format since it looks like he bundled his content into Outdoor Class but def worth looking into in my opinion

 

[Bowhunter50]

Elk collective is another good one. I watched all of the videos last year and although I have a decent amount of time elk hunting and have killed a decent number of elk, I thought it had helpful information. I agree that boots on the ground is the best experience but if you only get to spend 2-3 weeks a year elk hunting, it’s nice to try to speed up your progress as an elk hunter through these courses. Not everyone has a mentor that has spent decades elk hunting to walk them through everything. This year I’m planning on trying out the elk101 course. If nothing else it keeps you motivated and gets you out shooting your bow, staying in shape and scouting/researching states and units in the off season.

 

[sierracharlie338]

I hear Meateater re-runs are a solid option

 

[SDHNTR]

Just go hunt. Make mistakes and learn. Elk hunting is not learned in front of a computer.

 

[Wrench]

Good advice so far. Be careful about what you see on YouTube being realistic. Guys that rip bulls in pissed off don't show you the other 87 flops that month.

Learn the wind and thermal habits.

Learn what elk feed on in your area.

Learn where pressure comes from.

Learn where elk like to bed based on the above.

Learn that you can kill one in transition about 2% as often as you can after they are bedded and settled.

Have fun.

 

[poboy2214]

Roe Hunting Resources

I haven’t tried his course but his podcasts and YouTube videos are full of info and detail that you don’t see everywhere else. I would imagine the course would be great.

 

[poboy2214]

I can remember being in your shoes - soak it all in, but most importantly get out in the mountains and look at where elk are and where they aren’t.

All elk leave tracks - learn to tell the difference between cows and bulls.

Keep in mind a lot of elk hunting success is based on local knowledge of elk behavior in that area.

Back in my firefighting days we flew over some really good elk country in the Wyoming Bighorns and saw a number of elk. On the ground we met up with the local Forest Service contact (that I knew was a long time elk hunter) - he said in that area it’s some of the best hunting in the entire area, but some drainages always have elk, and others that look identical rarely do.

In other situations elk rarely hang out in the most elk looking spots of a mountain, but are out in the foothills and flats.

Elk have long legs and can easily move 10 miles without breaking a sweat - when two legged goofballs get them moving around there are areas they will naturally funnel through and areas that just aren’t preferred for one of a dozen reasons. In some situation the bulls will move and some they have learned to dig into thicker areas and hold tight. Trying to apply textbook rules of thumb to moving elk is questionable unless you gain some local knowledge.

Figure out where you want to hunt, then focus on information that pertains to that area. If you’re a rifle shooter ignore most of the bow hunter advice since the rut is it’s own thing altogether. If you‘re hunting on foot, ignore a lot of the photos posted by guys on horseback - they can travel many times as far as a guy on foot and it makes sense for them to focus on different areas that benefit from being more mobile. Outfitters also know what works in that area for the type of guides and clients they have.

If you’re a backpacker it changes things compared to hunting with the crowds closer to roads. An identical timbered ridge that opens to a grassy bowl won’t hold much 1 mile from the roads, but 4 miles in it might. As a general rule, car campers hunt in up to 5 miles or so, and horse hunters camp at least 5 miles in and hunt out in all directions. There is probably a horse hunter that checks out that stereo typical ridge 4 miles in.

Luckily, elk are predictable. One outfitter told me guiding for elk is somewhat boring because they are so predictable.

Large bodied animals conserve heat better than skinny animals, (same as with people) - this affects where they spend the days in any given weather.

A friend of a friend was one of the most successful trophy bull hunters during bow season - every year he passed on many small six point bulls in a section of the state with low overall bow hunting success. Nothing you could read would suggest what he did made sense. He found pockets that held elk, but were avoided by hunters - that area only produced during the rut.

This is great advice. When I started doing this a few years ago, boots on the ground wasn’t really an option due to a number of life’s circumstances so I used the classes and videos. It’s a good starting point but there’s no substitute for intimately learning an area during a particular season. As you stated, just because an area looks “elky” doesn’t mean it will hold elk. And once the shooting starts, that’s when the fun begins. Your unit also might also be weather dependent and it’s hard to know that until you get there.

 

[Indian Summer]

A big part of killing elk is knowing your area. But first you have to pick an area. All the E scouting an online courses in the world aren’t going to help with that.

Try Headin West Hunt Consulting. You can learn how to hunt elk in a specific area. You will get an topo map and written instructions on how to hunt that area. More importantly, unlimited text, emails and phone calls to answer all of your questions teaching you tactics and techniques for hunting elk. After that continue to learn your area and ask questions along the way. The plans are for Wyoming and Montana exclusively. Good luck.

 

[mtnbiker208]

personally it is a combo of actually hunting and studying the art of hunting. Both have value.