How can I become a better hunter?

[IDspud]

Clearly practice isn't it. I've been at it for 6 years and I still suck. I feel like my first two years I learned a lot, but now I feel like I'm just *wasting* my time. Field time is never a waste, I just mean I'm putting in tons of miles and not progressing in skill or knowledge.

How do you become better at this? I watch a ton of hunting videos on Youtube on different tactics etc. Not only am I still not at the point to pass on anything but the smallest bucks, but I almost never get into elk or decent deer. My neighbor slays it every single year. He passes on tons of bucks and bulls that I would die to take. I even offered to pay him to go out with me and give me a "lesson" to see if I could be doing things better but he turned me down.

I've taken one elk with a rifle which was mostly a stupid fluke. Last year during archery season I only saw 2 elk. One opening day, and one right at the end. Between that time I logged over 100 miles in rugged terrain on my GPS with nothing. Not even a bugle in the distance. I know my area isn't great (13% success rate) but what the hell? I feel like I put in way more work than the majority of guys out there. I know Youtube videos are edited and would be boring if they showed all the work that went into finding them, but I feel like I'm missing 90% of "the hunt." I can't even locate the elk to begin a plan of attack and stalking.

For the last 2- I'm always using thermals to make sure they aren't winding me. I'm seeing lots of doe, and barely any bucks. Maybe 30:1 ratio and the bucks are forks or at best 2x3. I saw one single bucks that may have had 4/5 points all year.

I think I'm justing pissing into the wind and hoping to maybe find one loner bull in a random draw like last year. Seeing so many deer over the years with only one decent one that situation doesn't seem too great either. Being curious if I'm missing things I took my thermal scope out for a test on my last hunt. I glassed with regular binos, then the thermal in a giant canyon. I had picked out just about everything. Not a single buck or elk in the entire canyon.

Does my area just suck that bad? Is hunting mostly about find the "sweet spots" to keep coming back to yearly rather than going to good looking areas? I attached a satellite photo showing how I might hunt. I usually go out before first light and glass a canyon, then call and move, call and move. 30 mins at each calling spot. I come back in the afternoon and then go somewhere else miles away and try the same thing until dark. Am I covering too much ground? Focusing on too small of an area? Least year I covered just about everything on this map. I'd hike up a ridge and connect with the one I hiked previously from a different side or access point. I did this same thing in 2 or 3 other areas 10-20 miles away as well.

The old saying about 10% of the hunters getting 90% of the game sounds so true. How do I become the 10%? As much as I want to down a decent bull, I'm more interested in become a good hunter that knows what he's doing more than becoming a lucky one.

 

[Young Blood]

How are you picking your areas? Are you seeing fresh sign when you are in there? If you are spending a bunch of time hunting/calling in areas with no fresh sign you are just wasting time. Are you hunting the same areas every year? If they are void of animals and you keep going back... well, you know the old definition of insanity...

 

[Indian Summer]

I kill elk where others never see one. Are you seeing sign? I’ve had guys say “We saw sign everywhere but no elk”. That’s because they stay on trails and ridge tops. That’s sight seeing not hunting. If you are seeing sign you just need to learn how the elk are using the area. That just takes time. If you’re in wolf country that may explain quiet elk.

 

[IDspud]

How are you picking your areas? Are you seeing fresh sign when you are in there? If you are spending a bunch of time hunting/calling in areas with no fresh sign you are just wasting time. Are you hunting the same areas every year? If they are void of animals and you keep going back... well, you know the old definition of insanity...

Last year there was a lot more fresh sign. This year I went back to the two spots I saw them last year and saw almost no sign. Maybe one track and some scat that looked ancient. All the sign I come across seems very old if I find any at all.

The only way to see if an area (like on the map I posted) has sign is to hike up there. The last week has basically been doing that and seeing nothing. Repeat that for a month and you get my entire last season.

I avoid trails like the plague. I know where everyone goes because it's easy so I try the opposite. In between to common trails or access points I hike terrain that I feel would be the last place anyone else would go.

Yes, allegedly there are a lot of wolves here. The neighbor (wherever he goes) called in two opening day. In 6 years I still have not even seen one. Or trapped one in the last season of trapping... I have 20/15 vision so I'm not blind.

 

[Str8shooter]

Id say you could benefit from ditching youtube in exchange for reading about elk and deer behavior and ecology and to keep moving and glassing new areas. When I say "new area" I mean entirely new watershed, mountain range or large ridgeline. Change the habitat types and ecoregions that you are exploring. Change your elevation. Change your optics/glassing style. Change your calls/ frequency/volume. Adapt to incorporate what works and ditch what doesnt. Sweet spots are increasingly rare and finding elk in the same little area year after year isnt something many successful public land hunters rely on.

 

[SneakyThunderCat]

Have you tried wearing a flat billed hat?

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[Ross]

simply sounds like you need someone to show you the ropes….case in pt 2000 two buddies always told me they hear bulls but never get close they do same thing over and over…I take them out one day i bugle bulls answers a mile away I tell them we going over there they like what?yes we have to close gap most times to now get encounter we get over there an hr later I set them up two bulls come one for each I hear them close then nothing we regroup they saw both bulls inside of 20 yds neither picked a place they could shoot and froze in the momentthey learned mucho that one day out and both later killed many bulls…some things you need to experience to actually grasp how to do it….just like other sports…find a good mentor willing to teach

 

[SneakyThunderCat]

^ Try and find a mentor. You'll learn more from a good mentor in a year than you'll learn by yourself in 3 years.

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[Young Blood]

Last year there was a lot more fresh sign. This year I went back to the two spots I saw them last year and saw almost no sign. Maybe one track and some scat that looked ancient. All the sign I come across seems very old if I find any at all.

The only way to see if an area (like on the map I posted) has sign is to hike up there. The last week has basically been doing that and seeing nothing. Repeat that for a month and you get my entire last season.

Elk move a lot, and can do so pretty quickly. I don't know where you are hunting in Idaho, but where I'm at in NW Montana there is low elk density and a ton of country for them to roam in. You need to really dive in on what "fresh" sign is. Here, sign that is a week old is not fresh. If you are calling for 30 minutes in an area where there is no fresh sign you are wasting time. I realize that you have to physically hike an area to determine if they are in there, but if they aren't seeing the fresh sign then stopping to call in not effective. You need to keep moving until you locate an animal either visually, by sound, or by fresh sign/smell. Try driving the roads and calling at night to locate a bull for the next morning. Try going and exploring new country that has higher elk densities. Bottom line, you have to try something new to get different results.

 

[sagebuster]

Almost laughed...I’ve been chasing deer and elk for better than 60 years, and I still suck. Still, I’ve had my share of success, peppered, I’ll admit, with a healthy dose of dumb luck. I look back and all I see is the time I spent trying to eliminate the dumb luck part. Impossible. Now, every move I make, everything I do is designed to put me on the path where blind, dumb luck will slap me in the face. To get to that point takes time and an immense amount of learning. You really have to have a burning passion for it all: hunting in general, big mule deer hunting in particular. Keep at it, IDspud...your learning a lot more than just how to be a successful hunter.

 

[Fatcamp]

If you are seeing lots of does and forkhorn you need to look elsewhere for mature bucks. IMO. Until the rut, then it's all about the does.

I know squat about elk.

 

[IDspud]

Almost laughed...I’ve been chasing deer and elk for better than 60 years, and I still suck. Still, I’ve had my share of success, peppered, I’ll admit, with a healthy dose of dumb luck. I look back and all I see is the time I spent trying to eliminate the dumb luck part. Impossible. Now, every move I make, everything I do is designed to put me on the path where blind, dumb luck will slap me in the face. To get to that point takes time and an immense amount of learning. You really have to have a burning passion for it all: hunting in general, big mule deer hunting in particular. Keep at it, IDspud...your learning a lot more than just how to be a successful hunter.

Don't mean to sound rude, but that's exactly what I'm trying to avoid. Am I expecting too much success? When I see someone else like my neighbor religiously killing it then it seems like there's no reason to end up sucking after decades of doing it.

I'm getting tired of living next to this guy hahaha..... It's a real kick in the balls seeing this guy never come back empty handed from public land hunts. That makes me think I'm clearly messing up big time somehow. And it doesn't matter if it's elk, deer, or pronghorn. He's not just 100% successful, he's also very selective.

Since he's not interested in helping me, how else can I find a mentor? How do I rule out no elk in an area and move on from sign? The one bull I saw opening day last year came out of nowhere with no sign anywhere. In fact the only sign I saw after him was from him running through.

 

[Bigcat_hunter]

I am always suspicious of people that kill mature animals on public land every year. I think some peoples egos and pride make them poach. Don’t get me wrong, I know some phenomenal hunters who regularly take animals but even they get skunked on public land probably 1/3 of the time. At least in Oregon public land.

 

[IDspud]

If you are seeing lots of does and forkhorn you need to look elsewhere for mature bucks. IMO. Until the rut, then it's all about the does.

I know squat about elk.

Interested in why. Do the bucks all congregate somewhere fairly far away until the rut? Is it based on a different type of food source, bedding, topography, etc?

I am always suspicious of people that kill mature animals on public land every year. I think some peoples egos and pride make them poach. Don’t get me wrong, I know some phenomenal hunters who regularly take animals but even they get skunked on public land probably 1/3 of the time. At least in Oregon public land.

Poach how? Hunt private land? I highly doubt that's the case as the guy is law enforcement. I have no reason to believe he's lying about hunting public lands because he talks about drawing controlled hunts or being stuck on public land(usually the latter). His mounts and pile of skulls that "didn't make the wall" don't lie. I physically see the animals he took as well as pictures of one's he either passed on or had a family member take instead.


Maybe he's just gods gift to public land hunting and I should stop using him as a reference.

 

[Fatcamp]

Interested in why. Do the bucks all congregate somewhere fairly far away until the rut? Is it based on a different type of food source, bedding, topography, etc?

Poach how? Hunt private land? I highly doubt that's the case as the guy is law enforcement. I have no reason to believe he's lying about hunting public lands because he talks about drawing controlled hunts or being stuck on public land(usually the latter). His mounts and pile of skulls that "didn't make the wall" don't lie. I physically see the animals he took as well as pictures of one's he either passed on or had a family member take instead.


Maybe he's just gods gift to public land hunting and I should stop using him as a reference.

IDK why, I just know it is. If your area has does and forks older bucks are around, you just have to find them. Look higher and thicker.

 

[trophyhill]

I read through the first few sentences and that’s all I needed. Attitude is your issue. Now pull your head out of your ass and get to work.......

 

[IDspud]

I read through the first few sentences and that’s all I needed. Attitude is your issue. Now pull your head out of your ass and get to work.......

There’s always one.

maybe if you took the time to actually read my thread you would’ve seen that I got to work and put in over 100 miles with no luck. I’m just trying to avoid doing the same thing if I’m doing it in the wrong way.

 

[Gila]

I live in the middle of some of the best Elk country in the world. Our problem here is to draw a tag to hunt them. Sounds like you need to find some better places to hunt, even if that means traveling. You have to be out there to find elk, just that simple. Should scout different areas, and scout often. A week of scouting in an area you know holds elk is not unusual. Our rifle seasons down here are 5 days, so the more pre-season scouting, the more likely a hunter will harvest an elk. I find elk when I turkey hunt and I find turkeys (the feathered kind) when i hunt elk. The bottom line is you need to find out where they feed, bed and get water. The “triangle” for hunting Western big game.

Bottom line is to get out there, wear out some boots and burn some gas.

 

[WCB]

Hunt more....A lot of the older guys that people are reading books from or watching videos of got their knowledge by doing. Guys I know that are straight up killers and great woodsman learned by doing not reading or watching.

If you aren't finding what you are looking for by what you are doing change it up. Try something just completely random and forget 99% of the stuff the "experts" recommend. If you have been generally in the same area for the last 6 years get the hell out of there and hunt new country.

Remember these elk shows that these guys are going out for 50+ days in multiple states etc. They break down a whole day of hunting into 1 hr or less. They are with a group of guys that mostly know what they are doing and have multiple tags for the group. They are using the combined knowledge of 2,3, 6 guys. It is a very skewed perspective.

Also, if you have only been at it for 6 years...what do you expect? How long has your neighbor been at it? If you need instant gratification or any semblance of it hunting is not your gig.

 

[Ehiggins]

Have you tried wearing a flat billed hat?

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Dang! Beat me to it!

Don’t forget mountain ops and taking shots at longer ranges than your ability.


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