First Time Elk Hunter - thoughts

[Wapiti1]

The 2 most important items of gear for me are a good pair of boots and a good pair of binoculars.

I put the backpack as #2 and optics in the third spot depending on the hunt. That said, I've never gotten a headache glassing like some have.

An ill-fitting pack just grinds me to the ground.

Boots are an interesting topic and are very subjective. Lots of folks like stiff boots. Some like softer boots. I know a few guys that wear tennis shoes until the snow flies and they spend 4-5 months in the rough stuff. I wear a light hiker until the snow flies and then move to a Zamberlan Guide.

Jeremy

 

[Northpark]

I put the backpack as #2 and optics in the third spot depending on the hunt. That said, I've never gotten a headache glassing like some have.

An ill-fitting pack just grinds me to the ground.

Boots are an interesting topic and are very subjective. Lots of folks like stiff boots. Some like softer boots. I know a few guys that wear tennis shoes until the snow flies and they spend 4-5 months in the rough stuff. I wear a light hiker until the snow flies and then move to a Zamberlan Guide.

Jeremy

Glad you brought up the subjectivity of boots. For me I can’t do a stiff boot like msny of the scarpas. But I love my Zamberlan guide gtx boots because they flex in the sole and I haven’t ever had a blister in them. One pack out with the last scarpas I had after breaking them in with a couple hundred miles at work left my heels looking like the lathrop and sons advertisement. One of my buddies loves the stiffest soles he can get and never gets blisters.

 

[Firehole Hunter]

Two big things come to my mine are: Liner socks to go under the smart wool socks and a insulated sleeping pad. The absence of either can result in a miserable experience during 2nd rifle.

 

[Wentzler1425]

This thread has turned out better than I had expected, thank you everyone for the advice! By the way, merino wool socks are on clearance at Duluth Trading Co. right now for $7 a pair.

 

[TauPhi111]

From one PA boy to another - man you sound like me when I was going on my first elk hunt. I only wish I started hunting the west in my early 20s instead of going the first time for my 30th bday. Here's what I'd say is my best advice as a novice.

1. For the beginner that knows next to nothing, ingest everything you can by Randy Newberg. His strategies and methods do seem to work.
2. You'll be fine with your level of fitness, but make sure your pack fits well and your boots are broken in. Those 2 things will break you if they're not squared away.
3. If you're a gear nut, you'll have all the right gear. But be careful not to bring too much gear. Everyone inevitably brings too much on their first few hunts and they are carrying a 65-70+ lb pack, but that is part of the learning process. You'll learn what is needed and what is not as you go.
4. Someone made a comment that elk are not big whitetails. Heed that advice. I made the mistake too and you will learn quickly that elk and whitetails behave very differently.
5. Do not underestimate how quickly you can move across country you have never seen. You'll need to get a feel for what is passable and what is not on a topo map. You might be surprised how steep things actually are in real life. Also, blowdown can make a relatively easy climb into a march into hell.

But here is my best piece of advice....

If elk hunting the west is something you plan to do for the rest of your years and something you eventually want to have consistent success at, set realistic goals for this first hunt. Make it about learning. If you do a 5 day DIY spike camp hunt, you will learn more about elk and hunting the west in those 5 days than you will in months of browsing Rokslide. When my buddy and I did our first elk hunt in Colorado, we simply said our goal was to learn, to make all the rookie mistakes, and find out what it takes. We fully embraced the suck (there will be lots of suck) and just accepted we were going to learn a lot. You'll learn what gear works for you and what doesn't. You'll learn how much clothes it takes to stay warm and how much food to bring. You learn what is definitely too steep on a map, and what you can climb. If you have that "I'm here to learn" attitude, you literally can not fail because you WILL learn things that will inform your elk hunting for the rest of your life. After that, maybe set a goal of just getting eyes on some elk. Just finding the damn things is probably the hardest part of elk hunting. They are definitely not white tails that come out to the same field every night. You'll need to cover more ground than you think is even possible in a whitetail mindset, but that is how you find elk when you're not seeing them. Past that, if you do get lucky and kill one, that's all just gravy on top. You will have already had a great hunt.

 

[Whiskey_Fish]

Maybe an unpopular opinion: remove the thought of 100lb pack outs. It’s 1. Unnecessary and 2. Dangerous in my opinion. Spike if you need to, but don’t try to hit home runs on the pack out. Work smart and safe.


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[Huntinaz]

All great points. As far as shooting goes there is a 600m range my dad goes to regularly, and i happen to live in phoenix where there almost isnt a limitation on distance (haha). But that sounds reasonable, I cant imagine either of us would be willing to take a shot past 400-500, just too many variables.

I was actually looking at the irish setters, their vaprtrek and elk hunter. The vaprtrek is the one that has lots of reviews about wearing out in a weeks time. I'm not against the elk hunters, they just seem a tad heavy to be my first choice.

My budget for glass is pretty fluid, and will honestly depend on how much glassing to reasonably expect. Probably try to stay under $1000, but at the same time i would rather spend towards a nice pair and not wind up buying a second pair 2 years from now.

I bought a pair of Irish Setter Vaprtrek last year before my elk hunt. Hunted five days with a lot of hiking and we packed out 4 bull elk. I’ve put at least thirty miles on them this spring horn hunting. Just looked them over the other day and not a single busted seam or failure. So far so good, pretty happy with them. Comfort is good and support is good. Much better built than the other $120 boots I’ve tried recently. The Keen Targhee II for example would already be half busted

For glass in that price range don’t overlook the Zeiss Conquest HD 10x42

 

[Wentzler1425]

From one PA boy to another - man you sound like me when I was going on my first elk hunt. I only wish I started hunting the west in my early 20s instead of going the first time for my 30th bday.

All of that makes lots of sense thank you! As far as getting started now I feel pretty lucky, if i was still living back east i likely would not be planning this trip for a few more years, but with colorado only being about an 8 hour drive, its tough not to make some time and do it.

I bought a pair of Irish Setter Vaprtrek last year before my elk hunt. Hunted five days with a lot of hiking and we packed out 4 bull elk. I’ve put at least thirty miles on them this spring horn hunting. Just looked them over the other day and not a single busted seam or failure. So far so good, pretty happy with them. Comfort is good and support is good. Much better built than the other $120 boots I’ve tried recently. The Keen Targhee II for example would already be half busted

For glass in that price range don’t overlook the Zeiss Conquest HD 10x42

Thats good to hear maybe i will reconsider them. For a thin and fairly cheap boot im not expecting the world from them, but i could pretty easily see putting in 100 miles in them per year between testing gear/training/actual hunt. The last thing i want is to put 90 miles in and start seeing some rips a month before our hunt starts. As for the zeiss, they are a definite possibility. I have one zeiss scope that is arguably the nicest glass i have. Second to nothing for light transmission imo.

 

[fmyth]

If you are training for your hunt by hiking in AZ below the rim you'll destroy the soles in about 100 miles. The decaying granite that litters the desert floors and foothills here in the valley is extremely abrasive. I stopped training in my expensive hunting boots after shredding the Vibram soles before the first hunt. I agree that you need to break them in but if you are in the Valley keep an eye on the wear. Resoleing a good pair of boots runs about $125. I now buy $65 Lowa Sestos on Ebay for hiking in the Valley and save my hunting boots for my hunting trips or hiking above the rim.

 

[Cale307]

In the same bot thanks for the info everyone