Montana 1st Elk, DIY, archery, solo... hook me up?!?!

[camo24seven]

I was just thinking.. 'you don't know til you ask!'

ha.

I'm going on my first Elk hunt EVER this fall. DIY, archery, solo.

I've been planning since Nov. Shooting, training, learning.. repeat.

but, if anyone feels like hooking a guy up and helping out I'd love to hear from ya!

thoughts, landowner contacts, gps coords, tips, tricks, things I'm not thinking of, whatever, etc.

I'm coming from MN 2nd or 3rd week in Sept. Thinking Lewis & Clark forest or BlockMgmt in the area.

I'm already losing sleep!
thx,
-E.

 

[the gman]

I am in the same boat as you. I have rifle hunted NW Montana a few years ago. Going back with a bow this time. Going out in 3 weeks to scout some areas I have looked at on google earth, good luck to you!

 

[young7.3]

I was just thinking.. 'you don't know til you ask!'

ha.

I'm going on my first Elk hunt EVER this fall. DIY, archery, solo.

I've been planning since Nov. Shooting, training, learning.. repeat.

but, if anyone feels like hooking a guy up and helping out I'd love to hear from ya!

thoughts, landowner contacts, gps coords, tips, tricks, things I'm not thinking of, whatever, etc.

I'm coming from MN 2nd or 3rd week in Sept. Thinking Lewis & Clark forest or BlockMgmt in the area.

I'm already losing sleep!
thx,
-E.

Just a friendly warning man...asking for the stuff I highlighted/bolded will only get you some really negative responses, or none at all. As far as tips,tricks, advice? Use the search feature and search for "first elk hunt", "diy", "public land elk" and you'll have a ton of info. Get in the best shape of your life. A DIY, solo archery hunt is a big feat to start with.

And don't base the success of your trip on whether or not you harvest an animal. Good luck

 

[Brendan]

Hook Me Up?

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks :: Welcome to the Montana Hunt Planner!

 

[5MilesBack]

DIY.....solo.......and you want help with that? LOL.

 

[Shrek]

Tip number one is hunt the wind ! That generally means hunting low to high at dawn , get out of the elk or where you think they are as the thermals shift then stay high and hunt down most of the day. As it gets late get low and hunt up as late afternoon turns to evening. Elk live and die by their nose and so does your hunt.
Get out early before dawn and listen. Even if they're not bugling they're often vocal as they move to their bedding areas. Elk bed on cool dark north slopes generally. If you haven't put any to bed the get high and cruise above suspected bedding areas and use your nose to find elk. Little Belts have lots of timber and small meadows. There's plenty of elk and plenty of hunters but it's not hard to get away from the crowd if you are willing to hike a couple of miles into rougher country. You will hike past elk and blow elk out the first time just because you don't recognize the opportunities. It took three years of learning to put it all together the first time but I had a blast getting there. Little Belts is someplace I blew opportunities because I just didn't know any better.

 

[Bar]

Try to have fun. Even if you don't get an elk.

 

[camo24seven]

this is excellent. I appreciate the thoughts!

 

[NevadaZielmeister]

gps coords, tips, tricks, things I'm not thinking of, whatever

Being new as well, I do not have a lot of experience to draw from. HOWEVER, I would hope that NO ONE posts GPS coordinates of good hunting spots here or anywhere on the internet. That is a great way to ruin it for everyone else, because you will suddenly see 10 other hunters who wanted to get "hooked up". We see the same thing in Off Roading, in that someone posts trail GPS coordinates and then all the douchebags show up and ruin the trail, causing closures.

From what I can tell, best to just do your own homework and not try to sponge off of others. We all have to put in our time to get it right and there are no short cuts.

Congratulations on your tag and your interest in DIY hunting. I also will be doing it myself and know that my first plan, 4th plan or 10th plan will not work, so I will just keep trying... for weeks. Good luck!!

 

[NevadaZielmeister]

Try to have fun. Even if you don't get an elk.

Exactly.

 

[camo24seven]

weak attempt at humor,,,

 

[camo24seven]

certainly I didn't expect coords to be posted... weak attempt at humor.

good luck to you too !

fyi, I have gotten private responses to this. Good dudes on this forum, despite the way to serious negative folks.

is it September yet?!

go get em!

 

[camo24seven]

don't want to offer anything.. easy.. don't reply. plenty of nice folks on here who love to share.

everyone gets knowledge from somewhere.

 

[strand]

The obvious one, and it's covered in every thread, and I'll mention it again.... get in shape. Hike with your pack on as much as you can, and hit the biggest hills you can as often as you can in preparation.

The other thing that I was not prepared for is the amount of hunters on public ground out west. It has been very hit and miss for me. I've been in places I thought no one else could possibly be interested in hunting and had people popping up all over, literally called in other hunters while calling elk in. And I've been parked at very popular trailheads, hiking in on well worn trails in Colorado (so wide from horse and human traffic you could drive a jeep down them if it was allowed), fully expecting to see hunters and hikers everywhere and had the mountain to myself for 4 days. Be prepared for the people, and have as many as 10+ potential areas to check out throughout your hunt. It adds substantial time to your e-scouting efforts (since I assume that's how you're scouting being in MN), but unless you like hunting the people instead of the animals, it's worth it. I will say you can use other hunters to your benefit at times, but that's not the experience I buy expensive NR tags, burn precious vacation time, and travel out of state for.

 

[camo24seven]

THANKS!

I do spend a lot of time on this and many other sites. Montana is rich in info and data.

I appreciate the help!

-E.

 

[AdamW]

everyone gets knowledge from somewhere.

That's definitely true and for many/most it was from researching themselves half to death and then getting out there. Don't be too offended when folks don't want to give that info up before seeing that you're putting your work in.

As another elk noob...pour out the list and post all the things you are doing to put in work on your end, show effort, post updates, practice run trip reports, etc. and see if it gets you some more info between now and then.

For our first hunt last year, I worked my ass off for info going so far as to contact people that hunted the unit 5+ years ago and hadn't been on the forum I found their post on in 3 years. One of the guys I never heard back from, one of them wasn't hunting the area any more and talked to me for over 2 hours.

Your approach and attitude will garner 90% of your results. Good luck on the hunt and have a good time.

Tips from a 1 season noob:

Stay positive
Hunt all day, nap if you need/want to
You'll be tempted to not hunt the last evening. Don't do that.
Good pack and good boots.
Leukotape on your heels will change your life.
You'll pack too much food.
You'll be wishing you didn't pack all that food.
You'll never regret good gear, but spending money where it counts most (pack, boots) reaps the most benefit.
Have fun.

 

[ScottinPA]

Did same as you last year and had a blast. Elk University helped with the scouting/planning. Like mentioned before, the search feature on this forum helped a lot also. Something I was somewhat prepared for, trees fallen over 2 track. Came out from trailhead one night to change location/hunt with a local I met online and a storm had blown down 8-9 trees in a small area blocking me. Axe worked until handle broke at head. Used an InReach to let local know I wasn't going to make it. About an hour later he showed up with a pair of chainsaws and another local stopped by to help. Just an example of stuff that can go wrong. Also had a jumper pack and hand winch in truck just in case.

 

[Redside]

I'm happy to help and share some prime MT hunting spots. Here are a couple of my favorite, just put these into google maps and it'll take you right to the spot Google Maps

45.2415055,-111.4065602 (private landowner, great hunting for a small access fee)
44.4258438,-110.5876009 (my best public land spot, this is where the big boys hang out, go in before dark and out after dark, do not let people know your hunting here, it's a secret)
48.9809824,-104.1367652 (this is where I heard they shot the new archery world record, definitely worth looking into)

Good luck on your hunts this season!

 

[kingfisher]

Jellystone had me laughing. Good shed hunting too!

 

[Roughwater]

Just reading this old post. I appreciate the secret public land hunt spot Redside provided. It's sure to be full of Elk. And I agree with his strategy of keeping a low profile as well. Very low.