First timer advice

[qmalone64]

looking for thoughts/ advice on first elk hunt. Plan is colorado. For first time elk would you suggest 1rst rifle or 4th rifle? Just looking for info to help with the pro/con list in my mind. First and 4th line up with my calendars best is why Im leaning to these two options.

Thanks!

 

[Soj51hopeful]

Do you have any preference points for elk? Those seasons are a draw I believe. You can get otc tags for 2nd and 3rd seasons.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

4th is usually cold cold, but it sure is nice tracking in the snow.

 

[ElkArcher918]

For your first trip up to the mountains if you're thinking DIY, I'd suggest 1st rifle. 4th rifle go guided, late season ain't no joke even for seasoned elk hunters. What's your skillset with camping, backpacking, knowledge of elk behavior and habitat. Enjoy the challenge and learn alot.

 

[qmalone64]

Definitely a novice still and thats kind of what I was thinking would be better bet going first rifle. Thanks for chiming in

 

[qmalone64]

Do you have any preference points for elk? Those seasons are a draw I believe. You can get otc tags for 2nd and 3rd seasons.

Yes but just a point. Have a couple areas im eyeballing that I should be able to draw looking at gohunt.

 

[cnelk]

Definitely hunt the 1st Season

 

[LaFever]

4th season is cold and snowy,that wouldn't be my first choice for a first timer

 

[Fullfan]

Take up golf..... Thank me later.

 

[M70.338CS]

I’d go 1st season and get as far off the road system as possible. Find water if it’s dry. Setup spike camp and save miles on foot.
Invest in good gear.

 

[Soj51hopeful]

Yes but just a point. Have a couple areas im eyeballing that I should be able to draw looking at gohunt.

Well you’re way ahead of a lot of new hunters if you don’t need the draw system explained to you. Good on you. I would go first season as others mentioned.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Take up golf..... Thank me later.

This is probably the best advice I've seen posted on RS. lmao

 

[Indian Summer]

This is probably the best advice I've seen posted on RS. lmao

This might seem like a smart ass comment, but really it isn’t. There are times when hunters walk out and are blessed with a quick easy kill. The first time I hunted Wyoming for elk I killed a six point bull 30 minutes after the sun came up. Unguided on my own. He was bugling in the dark, and I closed the gap before the sun even came up. That’s the only time that happened 40 years of elk hunting. For the most part elk hunting is a grind. An expensive and time-consuming one.

Every year people see pictures of elk on the Internet and watch elk hunting shows on television and our immediately drawn to the beauty of them and the size of the antlers. Who wouldn’t look at that and think to themselves “I wanna kill one of those!“?

But don’t ask yourself if you want to kill an elk. Instead. you should be asking yourself is do I want to get started on something that’s going to take many many years to figure out. Am I ready to spend thousands of dollars and potentially wait several years before I even kill an elk? Because that is the typical learning curve for someone is starting at ground zero.

You’ll be selling gear that you bought and replacing it with different stuff. Trying new areas because the first one didn’t pan out. Going through partners because it’s not for everyone. If you just wanna kill an elk, you should book a guided hunt. But if you want to be an elk hunter, you need to think about those things. To be honest, though I prefer it much much more than than golf.

 

[S.Clancy]

Take up golf..... Thank me later.

It's pretty similar to golf in a lot of ways. Takes tons of practice, years of failure, generally a decent amount of $$$ and you hate it 90% of the time looking for a sweet taste of the 10%

 

[wildwilderness]

Season all depends on where you will be hunting. I generally prefer 4th season over 1st, but that's because I know the winter range better.

 

[cnelk]

I wonder if anyone on golf forums tells someone new to go elk hunting.

 

[Soj51hopeful]

I wonder if anyone on golf forums tells someone new to go elk hunting.

I doubt it. Probably suggest bowling .

But don’t get Munsoned!

 

[qmalone64]

Thanks everyone for weighing in. First season it is this time around

 

[newbie247]

Thanks everyone for weighing in. First season it is this time around

Good choice!

 

[35WhelenAI]

Like, I think Fred Nosler or Fred Bear said grizzly hunting is be 95% boredom and 5% sheer terror. Getting good at elk hunting for the long haul is 95% work, 5% taking the shot.

It's not just the cost and the time away from work for one year, but unless you hook in with a person or group to short cut the process based on their experience, it's going to be multiple years of the same thing, with the potential to hit it good early on, but dry spells aren't talked about like they exist in reality, Imo