First solo backcountry elk hunt

[Walligood]

It does suck, best advice? Embrace the suck. No awesome hunting story starts when ya kill them 100 yards from the road. Being able to embrace what you have accomplished and own the suck, makes it soooo much better when you are eating elk and providing for family.

Killed this bear 4 miles from my truck in a awful hole. 117 lbs with the bow on my back and it brought the 3 of us so close as hunters, it was 100% the best hunt I have ever had.

Embrace the suck!!

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117 lbs is a hell of a pack weight.

 

[Marble]

I haven’t been able to find anyone that likes to hunt as hard as I do. So this year I will be hunting solo for the first time. I’m going to Idaho Sept. 16-23.

I have a few questions.
1) What are some strategies you use for calling solo?
2) If I happen to get one what order would you pack out the meat in? I’m thinking if I bone it out and hang it near a creek in the shade I should have some time to get it out safely. Thoughts?
3) any other advice is welcome. Minus the be in shape, be safe info that is obvious.

There is a meat thread on here that is pretty informative. Read through it and you'll be good.

What works for me in weather that is 50 maybe 60 daytime highs, and low 30s at night is to get it off the bone, put it in 4 to 5 bags, hang with a slight breeze out of the sun. IME you got a few days. If the meat is cooled off the bone within a few hours it holds the cold really well. You can drape a sleeping bag or a jacket over it in the morning to keep the cold in.

If it gets into the 20s and the meat is in place with a decent breeze, it might freeze. I've left whole animals for two full days and returned to find them in perfect condition. Obviously they have been cleaned and are not in the sun. Once you get it cool down you've got time.

 

[godeepKR]

I go solo in Co. and hunt dark timber almost exclusively. I cover a lot of ground but very slowly. For calling take it super easy and low key and SLOW. Use cows calls, then shut up and listen for a few minutes. Give them a chance to look for you. In dark timber THEY will walk up on you. Make sure you have a couple of shooting lanes prior to calling. The trick is getting them to come closer than the 30 yard stop when you are also the caller.
Last year, when calling, I had 4 diffferent bulls walk right in to me with no response to my calls. They come when you do not expect it. On another one, I walked right up on it bedding, and he exploded right as I nocked an arrow from 10' away. Patience.

Call and then move upwind if you have any visibility.
Also lots of eyes in the woods. Muleys and Cows can blow it for you, especially closer to rut. If there is a Bull 90% chance there is a COW or 10 of them with him and guaranteed they will find you if you are moving.. Watch out for grazing cattle on BLM land. They are still in the woods until muzzleloaders get in.

 

[godeepKR]

It does suck, best advice? Embrace the suck. No awesome hunting story starts when ya kill them 100 yards from the road. Being able to embrace what you have accomplished and own the suck, makes it soooo much better when you are eating elk and providing for family.

Killed this bear 4 miles from my truck in a awful hole. 117 lbs with the bow on my back and it brought the 3 of us so close as hunters, it was 100% the best hunt I have ever had.

Embrace the suck!!

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117 is a real bear. You da man.

 

[MTNTOPARCHERY]

117 is a real bear. You da man.

Lol maybe just slow to learn Is all, keep
Shooting critters in terrible places cuz normal people won’t go there! The company was good help both packed about 65lbs a piece which saved me one miserable trip or two bad trips at night in THICK grizzly country.


So moral of the story, if your gonna be dumb ya gotta be tough!


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[alindsey1237]

Thanks for all the info so far. It’s validated my thoughts and some new info i haven’t thought of either.

 

[HuntNTag]

I’ve done the solo journey twice in back to back years for elk. Both September hunts. Weather was in the 50’s-70’s during the day. 17-30 degrees at night.

I was back about 5 miles so packing out an animal is a multi day process. As mentioned from others, de-bone the meat and I would start with back straps and hind quarters as being first loads out to your cooler. Hang the meat in a shaded area and pay attention to where the sun will be in the morning/ evening so you don’t get direct sunlight on it. I hung mine in dark timber with little sunlight coming in.

I am a total wuss when it comes to Blind calling. I will use a cow call here and there but don’t depend on them because I don’t want to spook something in the case the sound doesn’t tickle their fancy. I rather take it real slow and look around. If a bull is vocal, then I’ll play ball.

In regards to area and or how the hunt goes, all areas are different. I glass and find them. Put them to bed and then go after them mid day. Or I’ll wait it out and see what happens 2 days in a row before I go pressure things up.

 

[HeadHunter7x8]

1)Calling solo can be very rewarding. I will often turn to non vocal calling when I am solo. Lots of scraping and making quite a ruckus. If you can wait until he is raking you can close a lot of distance very quickly while he does it. They can't see or hear very well or at all while they have their head stuck in a tree.
2) Grunts. Soft low grunts and whines don't carry as far and you will be right in his zone by the time he hears them. These are great so that you don't stumble into bulls on accident. I've had bulls charge into 5 yards because of a well timed grunt not knowing he was 80 yards up the hill.
3) Meat. Like others have said, get that hide open and the meat off the bone if you can. For hinds if you don't want to bone it out just make a big cut to the ball joint, as that holds a lot of heat. You can certainly buy a lot of time by getting it hung up near a shady creek, it can be a difference of 20 or 30 degrees.
4) Most important when hunting solo is know your limits. If you're 12 miles away from the nearest driver road and you down a bull, even a backbreaking 5 trips would mean 60 miles. Be responsible and have fun. Good luck on your season.

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[AG8]

Eastman, what is your definition of really warm? In terms of degrees, at what threshold do you start taking additional steps like that? Thanks.

 

[Eastman528]

Eastman, what is your definition of really warm? In terms of degrees, at what threshold do you start taking additional steps like that? Thanks.

My biggest concern is if it isn't going to cool off at night or if I cant get the meat to a cool shaded spot such as a draw or creek bottom out of the sun. In terms of degrees if its in the mid to high 70's during the day or at night its only cooling down into the high 40's or maybe low 50's. just being in the shade makes a huge difference but if I hang quarters and I cant get them to some place like I mentioned above and its above 70 outside I'll do that to help the heat trapped inside against the bone to dissipate faster. Not something I have to do allot.

 

[TimberPhantom]

As someone who made my first backcountry hunt a solo one last year, be prepared to be flexible and go the extra mile. I hiked further than expected and stayed up late to process the meat and ensure proper cooling. Lots of instant caffeinated beverages were consumed. Calling solo shouldn't be much different than with a partner.

 

[Poser]

Something I didn’t see mentioned: practice your meat hanging rig. Seems easy but can be more complicated than you think. Factors to consider:

- simply throwing a rope over a limb isn’t sufficient.
-unless you get fancy with a 3:1 gear ratio, you will not be able to haul more than 40-50# up a tree at a time. Even with a 2:1, that can be a stout order.
-depending on the type and thickness of trees available to you, you may get a considerable amount of tree flex under weight. Your cross section of rope may need to be 20 feet or higher in order to hang your meat a mere 8 feet due to flex. Nothing more frustrating than taking a considerable amount of time rigging your system up 15 feet in the air to only get your meat 6 feet off the ground.
-probably a good idea to have enough cord and carabiners for 2 separate systems. This will invariably require more Cord than you think.


Seriously, Load up your game bags with some weight and practice. You find it to be a much more difficult proposition to hang 200# in a bear proof manner than you thought.

 

[alindsey1237]

Something I didn’t see mentioned: practice your meat hanging rig. Seems easy but can be more complicated than you think. Factors to consider:

- simply throwing a rope over a limb isn’t sufficient.
-unless you get fancy with a 3:1 gear ratio, you will not be able to haul more than 40-50# up a tree at a time. Even with a 2:1, that can be a stout order.
-depending on the type and thickness of trees available to you, you may get a considerable amount of tree flex under weight. Your cross section of rope may need to be 20 feet or higher in order to hang your meat a mere 8 feet due to flex. Nothing more frustrating than taking a considerable amount of time rigging your system up 15 feet in the air to only get your meat 6 feet off the ground.
-probably a good idea to have enough cord and carabiners for 2 separate systems. This will invariably require more Cord than you think.


Seriously, Load up your game bags with some weight and practice. You find it to be a much more difficult proposition to hang 200# in a bear proof manner than you thought.

That’s a good thought about the flex of the tree. I’m not terribly concerned about the bears as it’s not grizzly country. Is that a mistake I’m not taking into account? Also i work on the rescue in my fire dept. so fashioning up the z rigging isn’t a big deal. Thanks for the info

 

[Poser]

That’s a good thought about the flex of the tree. I’m not terribly concerned about the bears as it’s not grizzly country. Is that a mistake I’m not taking into account? Also i work on the rescue in my fire dept. so fashioning up the z rigging isn’t a big deal. Thanks for the info

I’ve never had any issues until this past season. A black bear was able to swipe open the bottom of a game bag and ate about 60# of meat. The trees had flexed considerably over the course of 24 hours allowing the meat to sag to about 6 feet off the ground.

 

[Solescade]

Also going solo this year got some great tips from this thanks!

 

[chlaudy]

Good info

 

[Donk]

There are a lot of places in Idaho where you can line up a packer with a horse, just saying. In Idaho that time you should be OK with the temps depending on where you are.