How many years for your first archery elk kill?

[airlocksniffer]

I'm pretty new to archery and just finished my second year chasing elk in the mountains of MT. Seems like every time I go out I learn something new and had so many more encounters this year, just nothing I could shoot. I've read a few places that on average, it takes archers 7 years to get their first elk. Based on how much more I was into elk this season, I have a feeling next year I'll get one down. So for for all of you archery elk hunters, how long did it take you to arrow your first elk?

 

[Manosteel]

I arrowed my first elk with a bow the first year I went after them with a bow(in my early 20's). However, I had harvested several elk with a rifle before that, and all of those were under 200 yards, most under 100. I learned how to hunt elk in the thick stuff from my dad & uncle who used 30-30's back in the day, so getting close was what they taught.

 

[Brock A]

3 seasons.

 

[Big Sky]

8 seasons for me.

 

[weaver]

2nd season, but there were 2 years in between were I killed a couple elk with the rifle and called for my buddy one season so I was able to gain a lot of valuable experience.

 

[Tony Trietch]

Don't let some else's results get to you either way. Just enjoy your time afield and learn like sponge from anyone that knows what they're doing. My first year I killed two bulls in two states but it could have went the other way very easily.
Never stop learning and you'll be were you want to be fast.

 

[Brendan]

First season, last hour of my last day on my 12th consecutive day hunting. 15 years whitetail hunting before that.

 

[Colberjs]

I gun hunted my first time out west in 2010. I archery hunted my second time out west in 2014.

If it remember I'll let you know whenever I finally do kill one. I've asked the same question before and you'd be surprised by his long it took some people that you would consider accomplished hunters to get their first one.

 

[2rocky]

My First Elk was with my bow.

I'd been on one dedicated elk hunt once 10 years before, and missed a spike with a rifle. I'd carried an elk tag while deer hunting but wasn't really elk hunting.

So it could be considered my Second elk season with 10 years of experience...

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

5 seasons for my first archery elk...

 

[Jon Boy]

5 for me. It seemed for me I had to get the first one out of the way and my success in the field really multiplied.

 

[tttoadman]

2 for me. Reality could be perhaps 5 because I tagged along with my dad a lot in the same area before I started hunting.

 

[WRO]

7 for me, wounded a couple first, killed a pile with a rifle

 

[Arrowslinger]

1st year I shot one and lost it, then the next day I found him up and feeding, he wasn't as lucky on our second encounter. He was branch antlered and on year 2 I killed a 6x7. Both archery and both still hunted on public with no calling as I don't know how to talk elk. 3rd year I passed a spike and haven't elk hunted since.

 

[5MilesBack]

I had 25 years of rifle experience chasing elk and killing over 20 of them, so I already knew elk. But the year I switched to archery I actually put in for a ML tag because I figured I'd need at least a year to get proficient enough with a bow. Well my bow came in in June and I soon after got my draw results......no dice on the ML tag. So it was OTC archery for me. Was shooting very well at 60+ within a week of picking up the bow and I killed my first archery bull almost exactly 3 months later. I shot him at 71 yards and didn't even think twice about it.......until I got berated from every other archery hunter I knew. I didn't know we weren't supposed to shoot that far. That's still the farthest shot I've taken on an elk, and yet probably the most accurate shot I've hit. I still think I hit the hair I was aiming at.

 

[gelton]

Two years archery for me and still left wanting. First year I was solo for ten days. Called in two bulls to 20 yards, the first one busted me and the second one needed one more step to clear brush that never happened. What a rush, I was hooked.

Last year I was hunting with a partner and called in a nice bull to about 100 yards that my partner didn't see (I was the caller). Also had a cow and a calf come into our setup that just wouldn't get any closer than 85 yards. At the time, I was proficient to 60 and didn't have an 80 yard pin (even though I shoot a slider sight that wasn't ever sighted in because I didn't feel confident past 60, that wont happen again.)

Both seasons I was running into multiple groups of hunters per day 5-7 miles from the nearest road. Especially during muzzleloading, seems they always have a horse or mule.

Crazy how different the two years were, first year was towards the end of the season and the elk didn't seem herded up yet and were more receptive to calls. Last year was earlier in the season and the elk were already herded up, nothing seemed to care much about my calls. The only elk we have killed in the last four years was during first rifle and about 200 yards from our base camp which was right off a road

 

[camelcluch]

I was two years for archery. I met a guy that hunted 15 years and had never taken an elk. I felt bad for him due passion he showed in hunting elk.

 

[lintond]

Still chasing that elusive punched tag! I've gotten closer and closer each year.

 

[BruinPoint]

I met a guy that hunted 15 years and had never taken an elk. I felt bad for him due passion he showed in hunting elk.

That could have been me! I've lost track of how many archery elk tags I never filled but close to a dozen if not more. Murphy's law was always in full effect; missed shots, passed opportunities on cows and small bulls, blown set-ups, equipment failures, time/money shortages, you name it. I somehow managed to kill several with a rifle in the meantime but I finally broke the archery curse this year on a little 6 point.

 

[LazyV]

One day, but I won't pretend there wasn't a metric shit ton of luck involved...