I definitely qualify. I'd welcome any feedback.
I successfully killed a Bull in an OIL Draw in the Wichita Mountains in 2017. But the success rates there are ridiculous, and it took very little true hunting experience to accomplish. So we can toss that out.
I've coached Little League Football for 12 years, so hunting Elk out west, was on the backburner. 2022 we got eliminated from the playoffs early of my last season, and I decided Spur of the moment I wanted to go Elk hunting. Had no idea what I was doing. Bought an OTC tag. I was ill-prepared. Had limited knowledge of the hunt area. I saw elk and tons of Muleys. It was a start. And that mattered more than anything.
Year 1: 2022 CO - 2nd Rifle for Elk (Bull tag). I hunted 4 1/2 days. Only had 2-3 weeks of planning. Had no idea what I was look at E-scouting. Just can't fathom what the side of a mountain looks like with just topo lines until you see the side of the mountain. Learned a crap ton every day.
1st full day hunting, i found fresh sign on a seep in a meadow, set up on it that evening and saw a lone cow feed out in front of me. Saw elk again on Day 4, a herd of 20 or so Elk, working across the opposite ridge. I was set up and ready, but never had a Bull step out.
Year 2: 2023 CO - Archery. I hunted 6 1/2 days. 1st 3 days Solo, Days 4-5 with a non-hunting partner. Planned for this one for 6 months. Tons of OnX and Google Earth E-scouting. But still very difficult to compare what I'm seeing on OnX to real world based on limited time in the Wilderness.
Day 1: Hunting top of a mountain near treeline. Heard a Bugle first thing in the morning, saw glimpse of a bull. Lots of fresh sign throughout the day.
Day 2: Same area. Early morning Bugle same bull. I bugled back. Couple exchanges, they I heard him bolt. I'm 100% confident, I botched the Elk talk test.
Day 3: Down the mountain, different area. Stumbled in to a meadow that had fresh sign/bedding. I set up, and had 3 Cows come through. Took a long shot at a Cow, misjudged distance, clean miss.
Day 4: Work down a mountain from middle to drainage below with the "main road" in it. Saw a Nice Bull with small herd of cows. They saw us first, and bolted. We tracked for a 1/2 mile. Long gone. Found a well used saddle/travel corridor.
Day 5: Got in early and setup on the travel corridor. Saw nothing, heard nothing. Weather got bad. Spent time in the truck with my buddy who knows the area. That Evening we went to another area with a big valley at the top of a mountain. Scouting around found fresh sign. Saw heard of elk moving inside a treeline across the valley.
Day 6: Hunted the big mountain valley. Setup and had a bull come in, but bail about 100 yards out. Found a nice Muley dead head and Elk Wallow. Got in a calling contest with another hunter. Tracked fresh elk tracks all the way down a hillside.
Day 7: Last Day Morning Hunt. I went back up the mountain from Day 1. Worked in to a Bench in the thick stuff on Northside. Again in fresh sign. Had an elk chuckle at me after I bugled. But nothing else.
I'm on here year round. Elk Hunt, Elk Talk, Cutting the Distance Podcasts have replaced my Football Podcasts. Worked through Elk201 course. etc. I've already spent dozens of hours on Onx planning for Sept. I'm even taking my teenage boys to CO next weekend to camp/scout/hike for 3 days just so I can get back out there and see what else I can learn. I "should" have a 0PP Archery tag in South CO this year, and I drew a Big Game Combo for Montana. Will make a 10 day trip to CO in Early-Mid Sept. And a 7 day trip to Montana in November.
Self-Assessment......I've primarily based out of a friends cabin with 45-90 minute ATV rides from there to my hunting locations. I get in right at daybreak, which is too late. I've mostly hunted very thick stuff. Which with my limited to poor calling ability isn't ideal. Spent too much time chasing "Tracks". I'm impatient on "setups" bcuz I don't trust my calling ability, and I can't see shit in thick stuff. I typically do 5-6 miles in a day, so not afraid to cover ground.
Changes: More hunting time. CO trip will be solo. MT trip I'll have my old son with me. Truck/Base Camping this year in an area I can glass from camp, or can hike to an effective glassing location. (It's more basecamp, but can be broke down in less than an hour, to move and relocate if necessary.) Be on location 30 minutes before sunup. Work to find elk before dedicating a day(s) to a thick mountainside hoping to find some. Call much less. Focus on Cow/Calf calls. Focus on Finding Elk.
I'll take whatever critiques, ideas, encouragement you got. This thread or DM. I'm a guy trying to learn anything and everything I can. Best learning is in my boots on the ground. But anything I can do between trips to the mountains to get better, I'm here for.
2024 Update:
CO Archery: Hunted for 9 days total. Truck Camping. Solo. First camp was around 11,600.
Day 1: Hunted the evening mostly just working around the area near my camp for sign after setting up camp. Saw mule deer down in the valley.
Day 2: Covered a ton of ground, hiked up to the treeline past 12k, found one area with some old bedding ground. Otherwise mostly a nothing day.
Day 3: Overnight the pass I was camped in became a wind tunnel. Gusts over 40. Didn't sleep much, ended up hunting some that day, but ultimately decided to move camp as the winds were enough to hold my pole tent up without the pole. Between no sign/sounds, and weather, I opted to move camp.
Day 3-5: Moved about 30 miles down the unit. Set up on a thick mountainside around 11,400. Area screamed of Elk. Spent the next 2 1/2 days covering areas and ground. Almost no sign and never a bugle. Talked to some mule deer hunters that have hunted the area for decades. Said they been in that area for 4 days and hadn't seen a single Elk...
Day 6: Moved again, this time up to a large Mountain Valley surrounded by hillsides and Aspen Forest.
Day 7: I'm in sign. Hunt all day and constantly get in fresh sign. No bugles. Bumped a cow mid-day, got drawn back at 40, but had brush, she circled and winded me. Saw another cow and spike later that were moving away from me later that evening. Finally seeing Elk!!
Day 8: Spend that morning and evening hunting two different areas. Again lots of sign, but no Elk. THEN THINGS CHANGED....It's the FULL MOON and clear skies, on my way back across the valley on my Ranger after shooting light, I spot an Elk on a hill side. NOTE: this is well past Dark 30. I stop on the road with a hill between me and it. Move up the hill. I spend the next hour standing on a hill under a Full Moon watching a total RUT FEST. Multiple Bulls Bugling like crazy, about a dozen cows. One Big Bull staying on the fringe of the woods only coming out to keep his cows close. 3 Satellites a couple hundred yards away and down hill. Then a mile across the valley another Bull pipes off and then drives his 5 cows all the way across the valley to join the party. It was insane. Heard dozens and dozens of bugles. And freely watched elk in their natural environment without a single care for my existance.
Day 9: Made my gameplan, got there 2 hours early. Slowly worked my way up the hill with thermals going downhill and waited at the edge of the woods until I had enough light to start working in. Had a bull bugling. We exchanged some, but ultimately his cows were working back to the thick to bedding. Dogged them for the next few hours. Thought I'd lost them. Then I heard a bugle in response to mine. I worked back around and got in position. Had 2 cows come by at 55. The bull trailing them. I'm at full draw he's just past 60. He hangs up with a downfall covering his whole body besides one leg and his antlers. 10...20...30 seconds go by. He then hangs a left and is gone. Not sure if he saw me, the cows likely did. They didn't bolt, just moved on as I was upwind. Never spotted them again.
Worked the area again that evening and the next morning. Then it was time to pack up and head home.
Lesson Learned from Day 9: Instead of chasing them from where I knew they would be from the open to the woods. I should have anticipated their movement and worked around the area in the dark along the trail and tried to cut them off as they headed for the thick that morning. Hindsight is easy. And I learned a shit ton that morning. I would do it different. But the experience and lessons matter. No regrets.
Nov. Montana Rifle - Also drew a General Tag (Elk and Muley). Waited until my 14yo Son's football season was over and we headed up to Montana 2nd week of Nov. Rented a Forest Service Cabin and glad we did. It was cozy and comfortable and we had Tons a snow that week. But lots of pressure that week and the cabin was at a Trailhead basically. So it's a spot of constant pressure. We were all over fresh tracks and found several fresh beds. Had eyes on a herd moving through a bottom at about 120 yards, but it was all cows/spikes. No legal Bulls. The last evening we had 2 spikes work across us. Never saw a legal bull. And shockingly. We didn't see a Single Mule Deer.
Ultimately this was an amazing trip spending time with my son. He's an avid whitetail hunter at home and LOVES everything to do with hunting. When he gets done with football in a few years, he'll be my every trip hunting partner!! This trip further cemented his aspirations. He also learned hunting the mountains is hard!!! And finding, much less harvesting an animal is far from a guarantee!!
