New plans/strategies for 2026 archery season

[Acorn]

I am of the mindset that I’ll never be done learning and growing as a hunter/outdoorsman. As we approach this upcoming hunting season, let’s share some lessons learned and what we’re gonna change this year to get better.

What’s a mistake or shortcoming that you experienced last year, and what are you going to do differently this year to improve?

For me, I made the mistake of improperly fueling for a packout. First, I underestimated the amount of effort and time it would take to break down a bull by myself. I ate a small snack before beginning the work, but only had some water once I was done before loading up and beginning the first trip. Well that about took me out! I was completely tanked after 1/4 mile and was having to stop every 50 yards or so and rest with my hands on knees—at that point it was the heat of the day. Ended up crashing in the shade, dumping my pack, and eating all the snacks I had with me. 20 minutes later, I was a new man. Covered the next 2 miles in the same amount of time as the first half mile.

This year I plan to carry more food with me, and eat as much as possible BEFORE I have a heavy load to haul.

 

[SleepyJones]

Shot my bull, went to reload and my gun jammed due to frost and neglect. Luckily the one shot did the job but I felt foolish for having my equipment in poor shape.

I've already cleaned it so it's ready for next year.

 

[jgilber5]

Continuing to use my critical thinking skills beyond day #5 haha.

I seem to be in a pattern where if its not happening, I tend to result to brute forcing it and hiking myself into the ground rather than slowing down and hunting smart. So far it has worked as I've gone 4/4, but shockingly, I had a dry spell for 5 days last season until I finally took a slow morning to glass and got back on them. Still going to hunt just as hard, but want to focus that effort a little more "tactically".

 

[Gerbdog]

I need to give myself more than 1.5 days to hunt....

Which means i can slow down. I made every rookie mistake in the book last year (not staying in setup, blowing setup location, wind) in those 1.5 days and blew some absolutely great encounters on great bulls. Slow down, take my time, think the setup through a bit, be more patient and i'll get the mature bulls.

 

[mad_angler]

My 2025 mistake was not sticking to my plan... I had 6-8 spots that looked good and needed to be checked out. I got tired and wimped out. I did not get to all the spots.

 

[Weedis]

I will start by saying, going on my first archery elk hunt this fall. Knowing this, tuned my bow which is an older bowtech, but what a difference it made and not sure why I waited so long. Getting good groups at longer ranges then ever before and confidence is great. So advice to others, if you have an older now, they still can be tuned and you don’t need the latest and greatest. Well worth it to spend the time to tune your bow. I may still f everything else up during the actual hunt but confidence is there with my shooting and bow so far this summer.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I will start by saying, going on my first archery elk hunt this fall. Knowing this, tuned my bow which is an older bowtech, but what a difference it made and not sure why I waited so long. Getting good groups at longer ranges then ever before and confidence is great. So advice to others, if you have an older now, they still can be tuned and you don’t need the latest and greatest. Well worth it to spend the time to tune your bow. I may still f everything else up during the actual hunt but confidence is there with my shooting and bow so far this summer.

What specific adjustments did you make to tune it?

 

[Weedis]

Started with yok tuning at a local bow shop. After that I did step back paper tuning on my own adjusting release. Did this in my garage using a 30.06 paper tuner. In my garage I was able to tune out to 15 feet to keep wind as a non factor. Been shooting broad heads (hydes) and field points lately and they have been flying dang near identical out to 60 yards. Going see how the exodus fly at these ranges next and try some longer distances.

 

[MBNAZ]

I passed on a great bull on day 3 with my son watching over my shoulder hoping to get a bigger bull I had scouted. Ended up shooting a decent bull solo. So good experiences with my kids even if that means deviating from the plan/expectations.
Also I have a tendency to take it slow and wait, so I want to recognize opportunities to be aggressive and act quickly.

 

[Beendare]

There isn't much I can do to fix last year where a couple guys on motorcycles were riding a couple of the no motorized areas I was hunting- just move spots. I had multiple bulls on Trail cams for a month until These guys rode in past my cams- then nothing.

I am an equal opportunity guy- I take what the elk give me. If they don't come to calls I ambush or spot and stalk without calling.

..

 

[wyohayes]

I primarily archery elk hunt (i will kill an elk with a rifle to fill the freezer when I have to).

I live an hour from where I typically hunt and camp/scout all summer. I have plan A-E. However, that just isn't enough. Last year, no idea what happened, but it was about 3x worse than the fourth of July ALL archery season. There were more people then I've experienced in any season (maybe several combined and worse than rifle season). Well, 5 plans is just not nearly enough. There hasn't been a change to tag allocations so it was just a random distribution of hunters that was quite a bit more dense than rifle season.

So, the thing I learned is that I had too many, too similar plans. While my plans did cover about 30sq miles, it was too small of an area and too few plans. While I still harvested an elk in archery season (as well as a deer), it was a pretty rough season.

More plans, more areas, more mountain ranges. All the plans considered/included steep/nasty but needed more. I'm not certain what happened specifically last year and if it was a fluke or not. I've hunted all September for the past 5 Septembers and ~2-3 weeks for the 10 Septembers before that. I suspect it was just a statistical fluke of hunter density. But, I won't be caught in that situation ever again.

 

[Can’tDraw4Shiz94]

Was out of shape the last few seasons and I know that’s what prevented me from getting into range multiple times. Took the time this year and got into the best shape of my life finally. -67lbs from Jan 1.

I plan on doing more scouting this summer as I only had a couple plans last season.

 

[wyohayes]

Was out of shape the last few seasons and I know that’s what prevented me from getting into range multiple times. Took the time this year and got into the best shape of my life finally. -67lbs from Jan 1.

I plan on doing more scouting this summer as I only had a couple plans last season.

Wow man, that is impressive. Keep up the hard work and stay at it. It'll pay off for elk and for daily life!

 

[patagonialuke]

I live an hour from where I typically hunt and camp/scout all summer. I have plan A-E. However, that just isn't enough. Last year, no idea what happened, but it was about 3x worse than the fourth of July ALL archery season.

I'm in a very similar situation and had a very similar experience last year. Trying to spend more time this summer identifying even more (and more varied) backup zones in case this year is a repeat in terms of lack of vocalizations and higher pressure in my usual spots.