Elk Hunting Reality

[prm]

Do you guys think it’s necessary to go to 12,000 feet in September or should I try and stay at lower elevation?

Elk are spread across the entire elevation range in September.

 

[highcountrymuley]

To answer post 13 : I have found elk at 9500 down to about 8200 elevation in early Sept, so no u don't have to start at 12000 ft

 

[Marble]

Do you guys think it’s necessary to go to 12,000 feet in September or should I try and stay at lower elevation?

It's too much to guess on. Keep in mind elk will go to where they can be safe, have food and be comfortable. Probably in that order. Bulls will be where they have established their little zone, roaming for cows or with cows trying to keep them together.

Higher isn't always better. Sometimes, there are lots of bugs up high, the wind picks up during the day and it can get really hot. So elk might be up there early in the morning, but then drop over to the north timber when the sun comes up.

It's all depends on what the animals are used to doing and what pressure, weather, and the rut does to change things.

And keep in mind, if you are new to an area, the first several days will be just getting oriented and trying to find animals. So unless you hear or see them, you'll be searching and searching etc...

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[Tcatt]

thanks for all the responses! Soaking in all the knowledge I can!

 

[Marble]

And I'll add, guys that are new to elk hunting get fooled into thinking they need to target a specific elevation. It is probably the least most important aspect of elk hunting.

Concentrate on habitat. They like to eat a lot, be lazy all day, nap in the shade and never see people.

Well bulls have other things on their mind too...

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[Loggerdude]

The mind is a battle feild where most victory’s are won or lost.
Good luck

 

[TheHammer]

The physical aspect is a fraction of the necessity to being out there grinding it out. The mental fortitude. How you hydrate. What foods you eat, I see a lot of guys eating stuff they typically don’t eat on a day to day. Supplements the same. Pack not properly fitted, how much your pack weighs. Boots…. I see guys who don’t wear boots often having foot issues by day 3… takes weeks to recover from that. Equipment malfunctions, do you have a spare/back up? Loose ends at home or work.. a lot of small attributes that add up.

 

[cnelk]

Ive been elk hunting a looong time. A lot of different units and terrain. Never, and I mean never, have I needed to hunt at 12,000'.

Over 11,000' a few times, but never 12,000'

 

[hiker270]

Do your homework with all the options you have to study the terrain you'll be hunting. With all the online topo maps and aerial views of the area you decide to hunt you can save yourself some miles by using this Info. to narrow down the best spots. There are a lot of mountains out there and elk are not everywhere. Every year I look out over the mountains and wonder how it is you ever see any elk let alone kill one.

 

[Jimss]

In open country let your eyes do the walking instead of your legs! The trick with elk is to cover lots of country but don’t blow them out of your area! Also remember it will likely take 3 or 4 trips to pack a bull out plus another trip for your camp! If you shoot a bull even 2 miles from the truck that’s a heck of a lot of miles with 60 to 85 lbs on your back for each load!

You will learn an incredible amount if you do a test run in the summer. A lot of guys don’t realize the logistics associated with the type of hunt you are attempting and it often takes several years experience to figure things out.

 

[JjamesIII]

What is a realistic goal to cover (miles) in a day when elk hunting for a guy that’s in pretty good shape? I know there are a lot of variables involved but I’m just looking for a general rule of thumb. I’m going in September for an archery hunt and carrying camp on my back. I’m planning on staying out for 5 days and going back to the truck if need be. Thanks for any info!

Stay flexible, your truck is one of your greatest assets. You may be moving more than you think. A realistic goal for miles- less than one, lol

 

[M-Wig]

Way too many variables to give an estimate, but a lot will depend on where you live and train. I live at about 125ft elevation. I can hike around all day with my pack loaded here no problem. When I started a muley hunt at 9,000ft and got to 11,000ft in 5 miles I was whipped. From mile 3 on I could look up the trail and see where I would run out of air and have to stop. Never felt that out of shape in my life, but it is a whole different world than my body is accustomed to.

 

[5MilesBack]

I like options when elk hunting. If I hike back in several miles that's fine........as long as I still have multiple options for hunting once I get back there. If my options are going several more miles away from the roads from my camp, those aren't really the best options for me. I cover a lot of miles because I'll hike in 2-3 miles in the morning, then hike out and do the same in another area in the evening.

 

[Stubborn_bowhunter]

Maybe you'll walk 10 miles and see no elk.
Maybe you'll drive down a dirt one, and see a ton.

 

[S.Clancy]

Most guys way overestimate the mileage they cover in a day. We GPS track our days, we prob average around 6-8 miles, after packing in. If we are getting up to 12-15, it means we shot something and have multiple trips packing out, or we were packed in, blew out and completely relocated somewhere else.

Now, if you are cruising a lot of trail day hiking in, I can see doing 12-15 miles every day, but not packed in off-trail.

 

[Tcatt]

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.

 

[UTJL]

The physical aspect is a fraction of the necessity to being out there grinding it out. The mental fortitude. How you hydrate. What foods you eat, I see a lot of guys eating stuff they typically don’t eat on a day to day. Supplements the same. Pack not properly fitted, how much your pack weighs. Boots…. I see guys who don’t wear boots often having foot issues by day 3… takes weeks to recover from that. Equipment malfunctions, do you have a spare/back up? Loose ends at home or work.. a lot of small attributes that add up.

From start to finish this is great advice you won’t get from online courses, podcasts, etc.

My first archery elk hunt my nutrition wasn’t dialed in and I lost 10 lbs over a week. Just like your gear, test your food plan before you go. My toughest days haven’t been from the terrain but from forgetting to eat and hydrate properly.

Plan with your significant other what they should do if things go wrong while you’re hunting. My wife’s agreed unless someone is dying or the house is on fire she’ll wait and tell me when I’m home. If the hunting sucks or the trips a mess she encourages me to stick it out, rather than asking me to come home early.

Tell your boss you won’t have cell service, so they can’t reach you. Schedule time the week before with whoever is covering your responsibilities to make sure they are squared away. Don’t check your email (unless your job requires that you do). If you’re not available the vast majority of people will figure out a solution.

I think logistics/planning is one of the most overlooked aspects of elk hunting.

 

[wind gypsy]

I am trying to map out a hunt and my elevation changes from about 9000 to 12000 in about 3.5 miles. It will be my first backcountry hunt to just trying to be realistic with my goals. Everything I’ve read said the elk will probably be high, if not I’m planning other routes in lower elevation to try and find them.

If you're planning to start hunting 3.5 miles in and go further I'd say that's pushing it for most people, especially if solo. If that 3.5 miles is about the furthest point you think you'd hunt, that sounds about in the right ballpark IMO but 3k feet is a pretty good climb with any weight on you. More than I'd want to day hunt for a week.

 

[87TT]

I don’t backpack hunt anymore. My goal is to set up a camp in a central location and day hunt from there. Then if need be, pick up and move. I try to have a plan on how to get the elk out as easily as possible. Not always going to work but I try. I hunt solo and am 70 yrs old. That means 5 to 7 trips out with meat etc. two miles or so from a road is the target. Elk are going to be where they want to be.
Someone once asked where the best place to shoot an elk was, the answer is……………………..next to the truck.

 

[Gerbdog]

I'm gonna agree with the above that 3.5 miles from the truck is where i want that elk to die max. Past that and carrying the elk out gets to be really difficult. If you got a whole team of people with you or something to carry the meat out for you? Sure go further, but as one dude or usually a single other hunting partner, my experience says at 3.5 miles your looking at a real long day getting that elk all out.

It's all fun and games until you got a dead elk on the ground and then reality smacks you in the face.