glad I'm not a newbie elk hunter

[Todai16]

This is an amazing topic.. I am new, like never seen an elk with my own eyes, new. 5 years ago, I ate a 2" round, 1" thick Elk blackstrap that a friend prepared medium rare. I was hooked! I had to find a way to get this animal that taste so good. This year will be my first time. I'll be loosing my elk hunting virginity somewhere in the WY Mts in October. All these stuff I read does help with preparations but it's true, it can get overwhelming for us new guys. I can't tell you how many times I bought and returned stuff just from my excessive reading of forums and realizing that I just spent my monthly cash allowance on a piece of thin wierd looking underwear. Lol. I read all the time and get yelled at by the wife for staying up too late or fall asleep on the couch. I do appreciate the forum tho but I will not even try the hunting stats. My head be spinning non stop. Great info tho.

 

[Luked]

I'm a newb but everyone has to start somewhere. I wish I wasn't a newbie but I'm doing my best trying to learn and figure things out

 

[Todai16]

If you learn something new everyday about elk and elk hunting, would you be called a newbie? I think I am a real newbie, just learned that elk is also called WAPITI. huh....learned something everyday!!! Not too bad.

 

[Jonathan_S]

I had a blast when I began hunting elk. I tagged along on trips when I was pretty young but all my real hunting experience had been with deer when I began elk hunting. Needless to say that didn't translate well in hunting elk in early October or late September. I had no mentor and thus the learning curve was long and full of heartbreak to get to the point where I knew I could get into elk somewhat consistently in "my area"

Elk have shown me more and more how little I know about my prey. I can spends weeks and months afield, watch video, read books and forums but they offer me a challenge every time and it's why I suspect so many of us are addicted to it.

In-short, I was that newbie about 8 years ago but I don't regret it

 

[jmez]

I'm just OK, I've always had at least 1 shot opportunity a year, ignoring my first years. And when I look back 25 years...whew I've come a long way, I would cry if I was looking at that learning curve now,

But you wouldn't be looking at it that way. You would be seeing it as an exciting new adventure.

 

[MAT]

Jason’s post reminded me a lot of my first time hunting out west. I was so green we wanted to start with mule deer to see what it would take to go elk hunting. Everything I read made me believe all elk were up high which needed some serious gear to get to but as it turned out we could have been elk hunting right where we were. Heck the first thing I saw was a fork mulie, the next a 6x6 bull. This was 100 yards off the road!

I feel a bit for newbies today, but you’ll never learn unless you jump into the fire. The problem is there is so much advice around today, much of it conflicting on where to go and how to call it’s a nightmare. It makes hunting harder IMO than it needs to be. You don’t need to go in deep, I’ve had my best elk hunting 200 yards off a major USFS road despite everything I’ve read about elk and roads. I’ve found them ¼ mile from a well-used dirtbike trail too. Everyone looks at maps for those hard to reach places, so guess where everyone goes? Everyone calls the biologists, but guess where they tell everyone to go? As a NR hunter we will never be able to go in further than the locals so it’s foolish to even try (trust me I’ve tried). If you keep expectations low and look at the first few times as a learning experience you will do great. If you think you’ll call in a herd bull with XYZ’s advice or some expensive call the first day you won’t be happy. My goal every year is just to see elk, and I’ve been 100% successful over the past 25 years.

It also helps to have experience hunting other big game animals like deer. If you never hunted big game before that’s a seriously steep learning curve, but if you know how deer behave elk aren’t all that different. If you can shoot a white-tailed deer you can shoot an elk. Keep an open mind, take notes of what’s going on and don’t ever rely on someone’s else’s advice exclusively. You’ll figure out what works for you but don’t be surprised if you discover it’s not always what you read here or in magazines. Elk live in a wide variety of habitat, are exposed to all kinds of differing interactions and pressures so they don’t act the same everywhere. Much of what is written about elk may not apply in your area, and even if it does it’s NOT easy or simple, that’s what makes it so much fun. Learn and adapt, but remember the grass always seems greener on the other side. There’s a huge advantage to getting to know an area even if it’s not as good as somewhere else so jumping to new places every year looking for the mother lode will burn up your best hunting years. Always expect the unexpected. I can’t relax until I’m at my camp the first day. You never know if someone else was there, climate conditions, winter mortality, etc. It’s never the same year after year either. But once I see elk it’s all good.

 

[KurtR]

Its going to be me and my buddies first trip this year. We were sitting around talking about how we would like to go elk hunting and finally said hell with it lets just go. Heading out to Idaho this fall and cant wait for the adventure but it can be daunting looking at all the info and advice.

 

[tyeager2964]

Thats kind of where 2 friends and I have been. Spent 5 years throwing the idea around while each having some kids, buying houses, etc. This year just kind of decided to go. Lots of information, lots of learning, lots of reading maps. I like the planning part but will probably be nervous until we get to our destination and hopefully of the 3 of us we have an opportunity at harvest.