Elk Hunting Reality

[sodaksooner]

Hard to say, really I hunted a unit 9 years ago. 7 day hunt, 84 miles and 26000 feet of climbing. Same unit last year 12 days, 94 miles, 15000 feet of climb. We were in elk at 12,600 and in elk at 9500, so its really hard to say. I would say a normal day was 6 miles with a few 13 to 14 mile days sprinkled in there. Last year we were on elk every day, some days just a few hundred yards off the road, some days a few miles. Really not much need to spike out where we hunt. We were camped only about a mile from the trailhead and a couple of miles to prime stuff.

 

[Billy_Goat]

when I "hunt plan" - and I do...... the vast majority of my plans involve about 4 miles of total walking and no more than 1500 vertical feet of climb in a day. My preference is <1000 vertical feet in a day.

I can do more, but its an arse kicker, and it'll smoke me for the next day.

I'm 49. My hunting pardners range from 18 years old up to 70. Some in better shape than others. if I find a particularly easy hunt plan, I try to identify that hunt for the older guys who took me when I was younger.

YMMV

 

[Billy_Goat]

I will also caution you not to count your "mileage" from your GPS trip log. My dad came to camp one time telling me he had hiked 15 miles that day. Dad was about 60 at the time and not in stellar shape. We were hunting really steep country. No way Pop hiked 15 miles. I asked him how he knew he had walked that far, and he said his GPS log told him so.

well..... the GPS "updates" your location almost continuously, but not perfectly. an accuracy of +/- 50 feet with continuous updates will make it seem like you've moved back and forth even if you dont move at all.

to prove my point, I sat and ate lunch the next day, while watching my GPS add up about a miles worth of "movement", as I sat on a log, not moving at all.

 

[Jaquomo]

There is no right or wrong answer. You hike however far you need to hike to find elk to hunt wherever you decide to hunt. Like an old cowboy told me nearly 50 years ago, "Elk are where you find them".

I killed my last bull in National Forest 250 yards from a well-traveled county road, at 7800' in CO in September. One of my other best spots in CO (before the fires) was about 1/3 of a mile from a state highway. The downside was that traffic noise made it difficult to hear bugles sometimes, especially groups of touring motorcyclists. Last season I hunted a brand new area because my other best spots were burned to a crisp. I was into elk within a half mile of the road almost every day I hunted. Other guys were hunting way back in...

 

[PMcGee]

My plan is pack in 3-6 miles and have several drainages, mountains, meadows, ect. to hunt for a couple of days, if I can’t find elk pack out and try something else. My expectations are very low because this is new to me. My hunt will be 10 days, that’s two days driving and 8 days hunting. The areas I’m e-scouting may be totally different once on scene! I’m just trying to learn as much as I can from guys that do this often. Hopefully this will be a yearly deal for me.

6 miles in is a long way. I think you will regret killing an elk that far in solo. I’ve been part of several pack outs from that far in but it was with one or 2 other guys. There’s no way I’d kill one that far in solo.


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