Lookin for a honey hole

[Jordan Budd]

It's interesting. I'm experiencing the same thing in an elk unit I love... used to be like a 3-4 pt and since I've looked at it 2 years ago, it's gone up to 6 pts to have any kind of chance. Throws a little wrench into what I thought I had planned out. I'm guilty of filming my hunts.. however I try really hard not to make it known to America where I am. And it's not that hard to keep some shots out of the video. But some of these videos make it totally obvious where they're at and some have A LOT of people following them.

This year I filmed a hunt for some people, in an area where there had been a hunt film posted the previous year that had a ton of views. When we pulled up to the trailhead it was like the parking lot to an amusement park.. there were horse trailers stacked in on each other with vehicles overflowing onto the sides of the roads. I had never seen anything like it. From the folks that have hunted the area a lot, that spike in hunters came directly from that video. I'm sure it was a little of both, but blatantly exposing the area didn't help it any.

 

[CorbLand]

If you naive enough to think that the majority of the problem is because people talk about... well I dont know what to tell you.

 

[Brooks]

Its like dating a real fine girl and giving out her phone number and telling all your little secrets about her next thing you know she’s out with your buddy. Keep your mouth shut and enjoy what you have !!

 

[Molon Labe]

Using anecdotal evidence to prove a point is just aflat out bad idea.

If you look at the numbers over the western states the nonresident hunters has increased I the past 30yrs. By very small amounts...low single digit percentage points. It is really difficult to get exact numbers but there is a small uptick. But you are also seeing a lower percentage of resident hunters in those same states. So you may have residents hunting out of state more often...lots of variables...to consider.

People on this forum spend way more time researching and taking in content in todays world than the vast majority of the general hunting public. We also have a tendency to hang out with like minded individuals. So we make huge assumptions thinking that the majority of the hunting public are similar to us and "hardcore" nonresident hunters. This is not the case.

Here is some of my anecdotal evidence to ponder:

I have had the opposite experience in a couple spots that I hunt...one out of state and one in state. The out of state spot I only saw a couple hunters last year and I would typically see a couple dozen in that spot 10yrs ago.
I ended up having an excellent hunt and saw over 500 elk and lots of bulls. That's an OTC public land tag.

My in state spot didn't have a single person in the parking lot when I went back in there. Once again had an excellent hunt with a mature buck. Years past there would be 5-8 trucks in that parking lot during that part of the season.

Maybe people are fleeing my spots to better spots they have heard about on a podcast...? Or maybe just maybe the random distribution of hunters is reverting to the mean...

 

[willfrye027]

It's interesting. I'm experiencing the same thing in an elk unit I love... used to be like a 3-4 pt and since I've looked at it 2 years ago, it's gone up to 6 pts to have any kind of chance. Throws a little wrench into what I thought I had planned out. I'm guilty of filming my hunts.. however I try really hard not to make it known to America where I am. And it's not that hard to keep some shots out of the video. But some of these videos make it totally obvious where they're at and some have A LOT of people following them.

This year I filmed a hunt for some people, in an area where there had been a hunt film posted the previous year that had a ton of views. When we pulled up to the trailhead it was like the parking lot to an amusement park.. there were horse trailers stacked in on each other with vehicles overflowing onto the sides of the roads. I had never seen anything like it. From the folks that have hunted the area a lot, that spike in hunters came directly from that video. I'm sure it was a little of both, but blatantly exposing the area didn't help it any.

South Cox mentioned in a podcast about a guy who basically stalked him through all his old videos and figured out his spots. The guy was bragging about it at an archery shop and it got back to South. That kind of stuff is nuts and I would be terrified to share any revealing pics or videos of a favorite spot. Spots are a wholeeee different subject for me!

 

[ElkArcher918]

All my decent elk, deer, and turkey public land spots have been hard earned. I don't mind helping friends and newbie hunters with general information but I'm very careful about discussing/taking anyone to my go to spots. Even with my best friends I make it clear what the ground rules are before hunting together. Some guys get it others don't. Choose your hunting buddies wisely.

 

[cnelk]

I was poking around on GE for a unit in Wyoming a couple years ago.
Then I happened to watch a YouTube elk hunting video and just happened to recognize the background.

I decided to apply for a different unit

 

[cnelk]

Many years ago [way before the internet], JIm Zumbo wrote an elk hunting article in Outdoor life about an area I sometimes frequent.

For 2 years there was an increased amount of people, but then it went back to normal... until the internet...

 

[Fatcamp]

I know a spot by Eastman's for deer. No doubt. They also left it out of their elk locations, supposedly because they were trying to draw.

Meh. Move on. But if anyone thinks Robby Denny or South Cox making a post about their favorite areas wouldn't increase their use I think that's naive. How many people scout by internet? Well, everyone from East of Nebraska at least. Talking about specific areas matters.

Our friends who hunt Colorado learned the hard way last year. New guy they brought two years ago told and brought ALL MY FRIENDS! and had a major impact on the area they hunt. Lesson learned, but bridges burned and now all of those people are gonna tell others and the cycle continues.

Loose lips sink ships. I asked a guy a while ago about a picture he had posted online on a nonhunting forum. Friday night. Holeee Cats! He told me everything I could hope for including GPS coordinates for glassing. Never spoke to me again. I think he may have had a drink in him. All I wanted from know was public or private and got the whole story. I was gonna hunt the area regardless, but it was excessive and he knows it.

 

[JBivens]

Look at Unit 27 Idaho. Specifically, what IDFG did after the local outfitter complained the hunters were crowding his public land spots.....FL and a couple of others had published on socials about specific spots and the groups on the airstrips increased approx 50% per year for 3 years.

 

[3forks]

Guys from non-western states come on this site and will argue with a resident hunter about an area that they have visited just once, or very infrequently, and discount the knowledge of the resident who knows it very well. Some of those non-residents will justify their argument by saying that anyone who doesn‘t want the area they hunt being discussed online is being petty or has some misguided sense of ownership over their “spot”.

I find it funny that those same guys who argue that resident hunters don’t know what they’re talking about when they complain about an increase in hunters to an area due to it being publicized - will also come on this site and ask for advice on gear for western hunt because they trust the opinion of guys living out west and who have used that gear.

If those non-residents want first hand knowledge on gear, why won’t they listen to residents when they provide first hand knowledge on crowding?

 

[Randyrock]

Guys from non-western states come on this site and will argue with a resident hunter about an area that they have visited just once, or very infrequently, and discount the knowledge of the resident who knows it very well. Some of those non-residents will justify their argument by saying that anyone who doesn‘t want the area they hunt being discussed online is being petty or has some misguided sense of ownership over their “spot”.

I find it funny that those same guys who argue that resident hunters don’t know what they’re talking about when they complain about an increase in hunters to an area due to it being publicized - will also come on this site and ask for advice on gear for western hunt because they trust the opinion of guys living out west and who have used that gear.

If those non-residents want first hand knowledge on gear, why won’t they listen to residents when they provide first hand knowledge on crowding?

Hello, weather question here. I am a nonresident and am hunting unit 27 10/1/2024. Can anyone help me to understand the weather out there this time of year? Not looking for your spots or anything, just am trying to find out info on what to expect that time of the year. Any help greatly appreciated.

 

[Clark33]

On a couple occasions you could pause the hushin youtube video when they showed onx on their phone and see creek and mountain names….

 

[IdahoElk]

I’ll admit that I’ve been prone to paranoia when it comes to talking about specific units on the internet. Plenty of anecdotal evidence about how “so and so” blew up a unit by talking about it in a magazine/podcast/blog/forum. Does anyone have any hard evidence of this occurring? For instance, I thought “my” unit in Wyoming was suffering from bad point creep and loose lips. But I’ve compared the trends to other general units in the same ballpark and it’s really just on par. My theory is that in a larger unit with say, 1000 tags or more, a few loose lips won’t sink the ship. Of course, specific locations are a completely different story. Any body have good evidence of a unit getting really burned?

About 25yrs ago a certain large drainage in my area was Elk paradise with few hunters, A NR archer shot a 370 bull, put it in Eastman's journal naming the drainage and it was a zoo for years to follow.

 

[willfrye027]

About 25yrs ago a certain large drainage in my area was Elk paradise with few hunters, A NR archer shot a 370 bull, put it in Eastman's journal naming the drainage and it was a zoo for years to follow.

Yeah at this point I disagree with what I had previously said..can’t really be careful enough with any good information.