Poser
WKR
Whitetails require food, cover and water the same way elk do. Elk and Whitetails both use terrain in a similar manner. Elk trails in elk country follow the same contours that Whitetails use in mountainous or hilly terrain. If that’s a concept you comprehend, I think it’s a good starting point. I’d think that guys who come from states or hunting clubs/properties where it’s all about providing food plots, bait piles, constructing habitat, sitting in shooting houses as opposed to hunting sign and terrain would be a significant disadvantage hunting elk vs. the Whitetail hunter who hunts natural landscapes, food sources and terrain funnels.
In short, I wouldn’t discount Whitetail tactics as a whole, however, there are subcultures and facets of whitetail hunting that have next to nothing in common with elk hunting just like the guy who pays 30k to shoot an advertised elk on a guaranteed hunt doesn’t in anyway do the same thing that I do. At a minimum, I’d take a hardcore public land Whitetail hunter (from a non baiting state) as a partner well before I’d consider the guy with a bunch of guided Indian reservation elk trophies on his wall. Deer and elk are cousins, afterall.
The biggest difference, I think, is that in Whitetail country you see deer sign where you expect to find it. It may be nocturnal sign but if it’s good habitat and the deer use it, then there will most likely be deer present with some kind of frequency even under significant hunting pressure. In elk country, you can find the most idealistic looking elk habitat and there isn’t one bit of sign that is fresher than opening day of archery season and there may not be another elk through there until next July when the snow melts and that’s how it goes and that’s why people cover 60 miles in a week and never see even a fresh track.
In short, I wouldn’t discount Whitetail tactics as a whole, however, there are subcultures and facets of whitetail hunting that have next to nothing in common with elk hunting just like the guy who pays 30k to shoot an advertised elk on a guaranteed hunt doesn’t in anyway do the same thing that I do. At a minimum, I’d take a hardcore public land Whitetail hunter (from a non baiting state) as a partner well before I’d consider the guy with a bunch of guided Indian reservation elk trophies on his wall. Deer and elk are cousins, afterall.
The biggest difference, I think, is that in Whitetail country you see deer sign where you expect to find it. It may be nocturnal sign but if it’s good habitat and the deer use it, then there will most likely be deer present with some kind of frequency even under significant hunting pressure. In elk country, you can find the most idealistic looking elk habitat and there isn’t one bit of sign that is fresher than opening day of archery season and there may not be another elk through there until next July when the snow melts and that’s how it goes and that’s why people cover 60 miles in a week and never see even a fresh track.
