How long did you hunt before you went for an elk?

[GhostBass25]

Watching these guys hunt these animals is absolutely amazing. I feel like this is the top of many guys bucket lists. For those that have had experienced this, how long were you at before you got the chance?

 

[wanderingwolf24]

Luckily, I got to go pretty young. Did my first hunt at 14 and made the trek from Ohio to Colorado. Didn’t kill, but it was a great first hunt.

 

[GhostBass25]

Luckily, I got to go pretty young. Did my first hunt at 14 and made the trek from Ohio to Colorado. Didn’t kill, but it was a great first hunt.

I can’t imagine hearing a bugle at 14. I hope to one day hear one in person. This had to have been some real fuel in your journey

 

[sveltri]

When I was a kid I thought you had to hunt deer until you were a good hunter and then you could hunt elk.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Uhhhhh 28ish years and counting?

 

[rayporter]

I was 34 in ’83.
the dream was alive before that Even though i never expected to hunt them….….until that day in September sitting on a rail in pleasantville ohio when a bud says “ i need someone to hunt with”
boy, what a ride it has been.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Lived in Colorado after college for a short time and helped a buddy who was guiding archery hunters get his camp set up. We scouted around with the horses and heard some bugling. It was awesome

Didn't get to hunt them myself until 2020 at the age of 42.

 

[Jaquomo]

Four years of archery muley hunting before I branched into elk in 1974 at age 20. Then it took me another four years to kill one, but I was being greedy because in those days nobody bowhunted elk and we had some big bulls. Just didn't know how to close the deal, and we used wooden flutes and coiled gas pipe for bugles.

Have bowhunted them every year since and guided rifle hunters for few seasons, plus "guiding" rifle hunting girlfriends, wives, and a few friends.

 

[GhostBass25]

When I was a kid I thought you had to hunt deer until you were a good hunter and then you could hunt elk.

I’m 23 and this is how I think..

 

[TaperPin]

The first year it was legal the young kids go out with the older guys, but we didn’t get to shoot first - the most experienced guys had to get their elk first. The kids that were better on horseback faired much better than those of us who were stuck tagging along driving back roads scanning for elk. We were considered cheap labor - sort of an apprenticeship - mostly learning bad habits and how not to hunt elk. Lol

 

[cnelk]

Killed my first WT at 12, went to Colorado for elk at 16.

That was 43 years ago.

 

[Binz17]

I think I was 9 my first deer hunt. First elk hunt was at 24 or so. I SAW an elk on the last day. We killed one the next year.

 

[tkhuntsman]

Watching these guys hunt these animals is absolutely amazing. I feel like this is the top of many guys bucket lists. For those that have had experienced this, how long were you at before you got the chance?

It was my first big game hunt

 

[Pony Soldier]

First elk at 12. This was season 61.

 

[cqh1111]

First elk hunt at 22. First elk harvested at 25.

 

[goodgrouper]

12 years old, three days into my first hunting trip. Dad called in a rag horn bull with an original “cow talk”. 1984.

 

[Jethro]

Hunted 27 years before going for elk in 2010.

 

[COJoe]

Grew up hunting whitetail in PA with my dad and brother starting at 12, lived and hunted in AK for six years in the late 90s then moved to Colorado in 2000 and tried hunting pheasant in 2001 during the terrible drought year but finally went elk hunting in 2022 and shot a small cow elk at 51 years old, so almost 40 years in between. Wish I would have started sooner.

 

[roosiebull]

Watching these guys hunt these animals is absolutely amazing. I feel like this is the top of many guys bucket lists. For those that have had experienced this, how long were you at before you got the chance?

I had no help or mentors, and killed my first elk my 4th year… once the monkey was off my back, it got a lot easier.

I think part of it was hard to imagine an arrow being the death ray it is when ran through the lungs.

I didn’t grow up around hunting or hunters, so my learning curve was steep, I think a person who has hunting experience and the resources we have today has a good chance on the first year… nothing is guaranteed in the woods, but there is a lot of good info out there.

My biggest piece of advice is don’t go all in with calling as your only strategy, try to go in prepared for different scenarios, and different strategies…. Calling isn’t always the best way to kill one, especially with no experience around elk watching them actually interact with each other… a silent strategy may be a better plan A so you have a chance to see them interact so you have some comprehension of what you are actually trying to do calling… calling elk is fun, but it’s not always the best way to kill one, especially if you don’t know how they actually interact with each other

You always could run into a bull that charges into a bugle, but I wouldn’t make that my plan A and only plan on your first elk hunt

 

[One-shot]

Watching these guys hunt these animals is absolutely amazing. I feel like this is the top of many guys bucket lists. For those that have had experienced this, how long were you at before you got the chance?

I was poor, putting myself as a single mom through grad school in Montana. Dad said, “We’re not giving you $, but I’ll give you a rifle. If you want to hunt great, if not, you have a rifle.” So I bought an otc deer tag, went out mid-day solo, and brought back a small doe. One shot, and meat in the freezer. I was sold on hunting. Since then, moved to NV, have got a few large Muley does, cow elk, Pronghorn does, and 1 bull elk. Ahhh full freezer most years. Elk hunting is the most rewarding endeavor in one’s life - challenging, takes thought, physical prowess, and persistence.