How do you remain calm with overcrowding?

[Hnthrdr]

Hunt the farthest place away from the roads

Yep just like everyone else these days hahaha

 

[Marble]

I've never cared about pressure. I've hunted OTC Colorado for over 20 years. Idaho when I can get a tag and Oregon too.

99% of the hunters don't have 3 days of hard hunting in them and will not walk off of a path, road or trail.

I'm not worried about it.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

 

[dusky]

Maybe it's a good thing I wasn't hunting during the glory days because all I've known is high pressure. I aim to get off the worn track, but I've also seen elk come back to the same feeding area for days even though the herd gets whittled down 1 or 2 at a time each of those days. Maybe that's a late season thing- when good food is harder to come by. The pressure makes me study my unit that much harder. Within a couple years I feel like I will have been on just about every public land ridge in that unit, and that helps me identify where they may go once they bump out of an area due to pressure.

 

[IdahoElk]

It has sucked the fun out of Elk hunting.
I wonder how many comments are from people that come out west for a week and then go back home to their leased land to hunt Whitetails rather than happily chase spooked Deer on public land with all the crowds?
Fishing is the same out here, you can fish streams that get pounded everyday or fish private streams, if you only have so much time where would you go?

 

[TradLife406]

Elk urine in the heater vents of the truck that parked on top of you after you were the first one to the gate into a small parcel of public A little extra if they're from out of state.

 

[Deadfall]

I've never cared about pressure. I've hunted OTC Colorado for over 20 years. Idaho when I can get a tag and Oregon too.

99% of the hunters don't have 3 days of hard hunting in them and will not walk off of a path, road or trail.

I'm not worried about it.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

Amen to this

 

[MallardSX2]

I elk hunt and find peace in the fact that 70% of the "hunters" are out of shape and can't hike far, 20% of the hunters are in shape but suck at hunting, and half of the remaining 10% cant shoot worth a shit under pressure.

Honestly, I'm waiting for most people to just give the sport up and things go back to normal. lol

 

[ewade07]

If there is an established trail into an area there will be tons of people. Start bushwacking. Most guys are afraid to leave the comfort of a well packed path that everyone and their brother has already been on.

 

[Marshfly]

As much as people are lazy they are also impatient. Find a great travel corridor and just sit like a whitetail hunter on opening morning. If there are elk and deer in that area they will get bumped when everyone gets up and starts walking around about 9am and they just might pass right by you on the way to the next, further from the road basin.

Sitting and waiting is the way on opening weekend because so few do it.

 

[Maverick1]

I remember when there was elk and low hunters, it was amazing. Those days are over, hunters from all over the place, all over the place. Just seeing if people even recognize the masses that now chase around small scared elk between patches of private land.

“How do you remain calm with overcrowding?” - When I’m in the field and a panic attack starts to hit me - I just think about all the threads I’m going to start online where I can b!tch, whine, and complain about it….and that makes everything so much better! Then I grab my juice box and start hiking again!

 

[holder171]

How dare someone else enjoy the same hobby as you!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MallardSX2]

As much as people are lazy they are also impatient. Find a great travel corridor and just sit like a whitetail hunter on opening morning. If there are elk and deer in that area they will get bumped when everyone gets up and starts walking around about 9am and they just might pass right by you on the way to the next, further from the road basin.

Sitting and waiting is the way on opening weekend because so few do it.

Killed a TON of animals doing this very thing. Not see anything until noon and then BOOM....there he is getting bumped past me because someone wants to go get a gas station hotdog and a slurpie. lol

 

[Wetwork]

I'd never seen so many rigs running the roads on my turf. counted 17 pickups road hunting openeing morning of buck season, all crammed in a 6 mile circle. I saw only doe's that day. The next day, I went to one of my other secret spots in the same area. As I went up the road, deep into the brush, a damn side by side was parked right in the middle of the road with guys climbing out of it. I hate that so I turned around and headed back the other way. I didn't drive 50 yards back away from them over a bench and there was the biggest mulie buck I'd ran across in years. Just standing broadside with a little forkie buddy. I stepped out, yanked my rifle out of the back seat , took two steps to get a lean on a tree and dropped the big one. All that happened in less than five minutes of having jerks park in my way. I promise those guys heard a huge bang, he-he and clearly they had just drove right by the pair of bucks and never noticed.

Thats the fourth time in my life I've shot a buck out from under folks not as good as spotting as I am. It was all public land so I wasn't worried about a robobuck and I always hunt legal anyway. I always drive to my spots, get out and hike a hour in, and hike a hour back. Hate lazy road hunters but in this instance I basically was one. But I did get out of the rig at least.

Never give up till the last light of the last day. I've found many times the deer and elk do that "Closer you are to danger, the further you are from harm" and they bed down just under and out of sight of the roads. Lots of times just 20 yards from the road.. -WW

 

[InteriorAKPopsicle]

You are going to run into other hunters almost everywhere.
I would personally say to show respect and try to give way.
We need to encourage people to be ethical - positive - and to see things from a good view point so we can continue to have opportunity and we can continue to have support for hunting.

 

[*zap*]

Keep Calm & Carry On.

 

[Phidelt208]

I’m lucky enough to be able to hunt in Oregon, so there’s lots of opportunities to get into some areas that are way out there. The deeper in you get the more elk, the bonus is very few men want to work that much for their meat.

 

[Mcribs]

Ran into some combat hunting in OTC, so I opted for less Elk and no people areas. Still hunted dark timber and got creative. Not my favorite nor the most effective but unwilling to sit next to 50 hunters waiting for elk to run by. That’s how I stay calm and enjoy the woods.

 

[Bigborealaska]

We go where most wouldn't want too. My brother and I saw 2 other bow hunters this year (Spotting Scope) and they were on the opposite side of the canyon.

 

[Poser]

For what’s it worth, I have a very good but extremely difficult area that holds elk 70% of the time. I haven’t encountered anyone back there in 9 years.

This year, because I was hunting solo, I had to be more conservative in my location. I was covered up by hunters, but also saw more elk than I’ve ever seen during the season.

 

[Weldor]

I hunt high pressure areas in AZ, I hunt my same areas and like most said after Sunday they are finished. That gives you until Thursday to get her done. The last 2 Elk I harvested were within a 1/4 of a highly used dirt road. I shot my cow this year with the noise from the side x sides ripping down the road. I'm glad they are more interested in driving than hunting.