How many years

How often are you killing

  • I kill every year, sometimes 2x if I have more than 1 tag

    Votes: 30 27.0%
  • Every other year 50% success

    Votes: 32 28.8%
  • 75% successful over 5 years

    Votes: 23 20.7%
  • I'm not sure what an elk looks like because I've never killed one.

    Votes: 22 19.8%
  • I'm sponsored and pay people to kill them for me

    Votes: 1 0.9%
  • I've never killed a Bull but I kill a cow every year

    Votes: 3 2.7%

  • Total voters
    111
Joined
Sep 28, 2018
Messages
1,670
Location
VA
I'm trying to wrap my brain around statistics of game harvest. Example for whitetail hunters is that I've read that on average white tail hunters take a deer every other year. I don't think I'm an exceptional hunter but I kill at least 3 a year. Over teh last 3 seasons i wanna say i've killed over 10 deer total.
Then there is the statistic that 10% of elk hunters kill 90% of Elk. I know Elk tags are a little harder to get than deer tags and some guys draw an elk tag in their state and another state so they have the option of 2 elk a year. Then there are guys that haven't shot an elk in the last 10 years

Or is it a cumulative thing, like hunt for 3 years seeing/killing nothing, Then you kill your first, then nothing the next year, then you get one 2 seasons in a row. And that builds till you're success rate goes up to basically 75% ???
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
15,528
Location
Colorado Springs
I rifle hunted for 25 years and shot a lot of elk......no idea how many. Then picked up archery and have shot a lot of elk. More interesting to me was something I hadn't really even realized or thought about until recently. But the last 7 bulls I've shot, have all been 6x6's.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
Messages
5,615
Location
Lenexa, KS
Killed 6 points with my bow the last 3 years and got humbled this year. I think I'll be in that 3 outa 4 range for the rest of my life. I tend to alter my goals to my success rate. I'm passing younger bulls, for example.
 

Laramie

WKR
Joined
Apr 17, 2020
Messages
2,616
One year I didn't fill a cow tag because I had too much meat. Other than that, I have filled every elk tag I have had since the late 80s. I have shot some great bulls but in general I don't discriminate too much. My family counts on elk in the freezer so I keep it stocked.
 

bsnedeker

WKR
Joined
May 17, 2018
Messages
3,020
Location
MT
The whitetail thing has got to be based on where you hunt. When I spent time in a treestand in my area there is no way I'm killing less than 2 deer a year unless I choose to pass...which I basically never do!

On elk I was unsuccessful my first two seasons, then started killing cows, finally my first bull last year. I should have killed a spike on day 3 this year but I screwed up, but we have a LONG season here in MT so I'm heading back out next week for one last chance with the bow, and then I'll be after them with my rifle. The amount of time I can hunt elk is also a big factor in being successful. If you only get to hunt elk for 1-2 weeks a year it's going to be difficult. I'm guessing most of the 10%'ers are residents hunting OTC elk tags.

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Joined
Jun 17, 2020
Messages
523
Location
Collinsville Oklahoma
0-4 and not happy about it.
I’ve had chances though. I passed a couple raghorns and a cow at close range during those 4 years. Each year I hunt longer but 2 weeks has been the longest so far. Archery only.
 
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Marble

WKR
Joined
May 29, 2019
Messages
3,219
The few things I see in successful hunters of any big game species is:

Not lazy
In decent shape
Can tolerate discomfort
Know the area they hunt
Know animal behavior
Are resilient

People usually start out on the low end of being successful. As they gain knowledge and experience their success rate increases.

I've rifle hunted elk since 2001 and I'm not sure how many killed. Enough to be ok with archery only. A lot of years I would kill 2 bulls and a cow, or a bull and two cows. The last 8 years I've killed less, meaning 3 of of the last 8 years I didnt kill a bull in rifle. Partially because of pressure, partially because I've had to take newbies with me, I've had cancer twice and I think mostly, some years I just didn't put in the effort.

I vwry much prefer hunting solo. Anytime I am forced to hunt with someone else, my success rate goes down.

When that other person is inexperienced, it goes way down.

This rifle season its just me and my dad. He is 72 and will not venture as far from his horse like he used to. He is in great shape for his age. It's pretty rare to see anyone near that age on the mountain.



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Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
2,591
Location
Tijeras NM
I’m in the 10% club about 70% of the time since ‘08. In my mind I should be in that club 100% of the time because I have opportunities every year. Blown opportunities and bad shots have prevented that.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
Messages
5,615
Location
Lenexa, KS
Certainly people improve, or quit. For every dude like me that goes west and eventually finds success I know one that went once or twice and decided it's not for them. The non-resident newbs are essentially subsidizing the elk hunting for everybody else, and I'm okay with that.
 
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Joined
Jul 20, 2022
Messages
54
My guess is that hunters on this blog are more passionate about hunting, and put in more work (e.g. learning about elk hunting year around), resulting in a higher success rate. People who do not visit blogs do not have the same obsessive mindset, and their success is less as well.
 
Joined
Apr 5, 2013
Messages
509
Location
Pine, CO
Depends on how the freezer is looking, if it is getting low, I generally go for a cow tag. I typically pass on bulls that aren't at least a good sized 5x5. I've had a few years where I didn't fill tags due to self-imposed limits. 100% on cow tags. The year I had my first child I passed on multiple elk at under 30 yards, because I only had a few weekends to hunt, and wanted to keep hunting, ended up getting skunked that year, but hunted every day I could, so that was a win that year, as the time in the woods was the important thing.

Took 5 years of archery only, hunting 15-20 days a year to fill my first elk tag, after that I have generally managed to get an animal every year if I want, and in the years that I don't have a good tag, I help a friend fill theirs.

This is aggregate across bow, muzzleloader and rifle. Typically hunt rifle if the freezer is getting low, and archery if I'm flush. Typically take at least a doe every year I hunt mule deer, but I typically focus on elk.
 
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Geewhiz

WKR
Joined
Aug 6, 2020
Messages
2,027
Location
SW MT
My guess is that hunters on this blog are more passionate about hunting, and put in more work (e.g. learning about elk hunting year around), resulting in a higher success rate. People who do not visit blogs do not have the same obsessive mindset, and their success is less as well.
I would definately say that this is a skewed sample group.

If only 10% of WKR's kill elk every year, then I would say 0.5% of the gen pop kills every year.
 

S.Clancy

WKR
Joined
Jan 28, 2015
Messages
2,310
Location
Montana
I think total success rate (rifle and archery) over the last 24 years is around 90%. That's assuming I dump an elk in rifle this year as I decided to turn into a trash archery hunter in Sept.
 

tylerwhat

FNG
Joined
Feb 13, 2022
Messages
12
0-6 here. I would barely count the first 2-3 years as “hunting”. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I’ve tried both archery and rifle on public land in CO. Had a few opportunities with a bow, but blew them. I’ve been getting a lot more serious about it and going for my 7th attempt next week.
 
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
2,591
Location
Tijeras NM
My guess is that hunters on this blog are more passionate about hunting, and put in more work (e.g. learning about elk hunting year around), resulting in a higher success rate. People who do not visit blogs do not have the same obsessive mindset, and their success is less as well.
I definitely dont agree with this! I know some great elk killers in NM who when asked if they are on Rokslide, Bowsite, MM, A/T etc, they say "whats that"? They still have flip phones and dont even have OnX......
 

gabenzeke

WKR
Joined
Oct 28, 2015
Messages
1,117
Took me five elk tags before I shot my first one. I will say that I'm now more consistently in the action than the first couple of years. I could shoot as many whitetails as I want. But I'm in Iowa, so lots of deer and not much pressure.

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