Odds of a NR harvesting elk on public land stats.....

[Car7x]

No Elk in MT, but I hear there are lots of them tied to trees all other western states.

 

[a_noob_hunter]

You see quite a few trolling the roads in Idaho.

Little bit off topic but last year muley hunting in Idaho every hunter I ran into was road hunting archery mule deer. Everyone I talked to was unsuccessful (for obvious reasons). I saw a doe and fawn in heavy timber from the road once but that was all the deer I saw that coulda been road hunted. Fine with me tho cuz I leaves more deer for the more serious hunters. But one dude I ran into was a NR and claimed to looking for a trophy buck but he just drove around the roads looking for his "trophy buck". I don't think it takes a genius to understand that trophy deer don't bed right beside a road.

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[Buckshotaz]

Success percentage has nothing to do with where your drivers license is issued from. Success comes from what you put into your hunt and sometimes just luck.

Some guys can put money into hiring a guide, while others do their own research.

Get in shape, learn where the elk will be when your season is, e-scout, have back up plans and then, hope for luck

 

[Bulldawg]

All this conversation just reiterated why all states should have mandatory game check in. If you kill an animal you should have to check it in with the game agency, not just mandatory survey response. It would be easy and not very expensive. Requiring every successful hunter to get checked in before leaving the state would allow everybody to know exactly how many elk were killed each year in each unit, would give solid data for game and fish to utilize while making changes to the hunting regulations.
A simple survey just gives the ability for hunters to lie and skew the data.

I am also a big fan of OTC hunts, but for in Colorado for example I think your otc tag should be eligible for one unit only, so we get an even better idea of how much success is coming out of one unit.


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[Swede]

The lower 2% to 5% for NR are for the newer elk hunters. As ones gain experience that % will no doubt rise as guys gain more experience & knowledge of their hunting area & quarry. If guys just want to kill an elk no matter what style used they can raise their % much quicker by hunting elk out of Treestands over travel routes & destination spots, don't get caught up in the youtube calling hype, leave it for the more experienced guys until you've elk hunted long enough to gain confidence as a caller of elk.

Hunting out of a Treestand doesn't offer the same glamour as calling in rutting bulls but it can get the job done for sure. It's all about Location, Location when setting a stand, of course wind direction is a huge factor as well. Want to raise your odds, consider this tactic!

ElkNut/Paul


That is the best description I have read on the hunting situation and the difference between the two hunting styles. Well said Paul.
A couple of years ago I went with a friend to the gem State. I shot a spike before the hunt was over. The elk were scarce and everything new. I had help finding good tree stand locations, but they were not a tried and true locations. No one had ever sat a stand there before.
I believe I could go back and have a better chance now that am more familiar with the area, but it is a <10% location. A 10% location in Idaho is no better that a 10% location in Oregon and I can hunt here for far less money.
BTW: The hunter that invited me to go with him and his buddy makes excellent elk sounds with his call, but he never gets an elk. That is unfortunate, but it has been true for a long time. I did not hunt much with him, but suspect it is mostly due to set up problems. I doubt there is a significant difference between Paul's sounds and this friend's calls. I suspect there is a difference in how they work their calls.

 

[Newtosavage]

All this conversation just reiterated why all states should have mandatory game check in. If you kill an animal you should have to check it in with the game agency, not just mandatory survey response. It would be easy and not very expensive. Requiring every successful hunter to get checked in before leaving the state would allow everybody to know exactly how many elk were killed each year in each unit, would give solid data for game and fish to utilize while making changes to the hunting regulations.
A simple survey just gives the ability for hunters to lie and skew the data.

I am also a big fan of OTC hunts, but for in Colorado for example I think your otc tag should be eligible for one unit only, so we get an even better idea of how much success is coming out of one unit.


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I didn't grow up with game check-in's and can't say I care for them. When I hunted IL and MO, we had mandatory check in's and it was a PITA because we had to produce the whole deer. Well, I don't want to drag the whole animal out of the woods when I can quarter it and pack it out.

As for 100% response, how many residents hunting on private are going to check in animals?

OTC tags that are good for only one unit would be very disappointing to me. For example, unseasonably early 10" snow for 1st rifle had me and my buddy hunting 80 miles from our original location, on the same tag. Being able to move units during a 7 or 9-day hunt, or better yet, the whole month of Sept. during archery season, is a great help to hunters IMO.

 

[cnelk]

I dont see OTC for a single unit.

I would be in favor of OTC in a particular DAU tho. [Data Analysis Units]
Similar to Wyoming's deer 'Regions'

 

[sneaky]

Buzz, I am not confused, you are one of those people who believe they are the know all, tell all , end all. If you can not realize you went off on a completely different tangent, your not as bright as you wish to think.

I can tell you for a fact that MT pulls elk harvest numbers out of their ass. They never asked, or cared if I provided, info on elk success. All they've asked through phone surveys is about deer. You want to accept their numbers as gospel for choosing a unit and planning a hunt? Good luck with that. On top of that, in many states guys won't answer truthfully when called because that inflates success rate percentages which drives more hunters to their units. Any success percentage is gonna be a crap shoot.

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[Bulldawg]

I didn't grow up with game check-in's and can't say I care for them. When I hunted IL and MO, we had mandatory check in's and it was a PITA because we had to produce the whole deer. Well, I don't want to drag the whole animal out of the woods when I can quarter it and pack it out.

As for 100% response, how many residents hunting on private are going to check in animals?

OTC tags that are good for only one unit would be very disappointing to me. For example, unseasonably early 10" snow for 1st rifle had me and my buddy hunting 80 miles from our original location, on the same tag. Being able to move units during a 7 or 9-day hunt, or better yet, the whole month of Sept. during archery season, is a great help to hunters IMO.

I’m not saying bring out the whole animal, but to be legal you have to bring out all the meat and evidence of sex, why wouldn’t you be able to check that in?

It might be a bit annoying but it’s should be part of the process if you kill an animal. I would be surprised if someone that came into the state, hunted and left without driving through a town.

I’m strictly talking for data analysis, expand it to a cluster of units like a dau like cnelk said.

As far as people hunting private land not checking in their animals, not everybody killing elk are doin it from their house, they likely are going to be leaving and driving through town, and even still it’s not too much trouble to drive down to town to check it in.

A few simple questions:
Were you hunting private or public
Days hunted
Unit hunted
Sex of animal
These should be required

All this would allow all of us to answer a lot of questions we just guess at, and would allow the game and fish to make the best possible decisions because they would know exactly what the harvest success is. Because I think a lot of these areas harvest is inflated a lot as well as the overall populations.

 

[cnelk]

Nebraska has 'Telecheck' to register your deer, elk, antelope. Its Easy Peasy.

I often wonder why other states dont do this.




TELECHECK • Telecheck allows hunters to check deer or antelope by telephone or online, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To use Telecheck, visit OutdoorNebraska.org/Telecheck or call the toll-free number on your permit. • All deer harvested outside the November firearm season and all antelope harvested outside the October firearm season must be checked via Telecheck. • When completing Telecheck, the following information will be required from your permit or animal: species, permit code, permit number, date of kill, county of kill, management unit (see maps below), sex of animal, and age of animal (adult or fawn). • You may be asked the inside spread in inches between main beams on your deer and the type of weapon used to harvest it. • You may be asked whether the longest horn on your antelope is less than or more than 9½ inches (measure from the base around the outside curve to the horn tip). • Write the seal number and security code on the permit after completing Telecheck.


CHECKING DEER, ANTELOPE AND ELK • A list of check stations may be found on the deer, antelope and elk regulations sheets and at OutdoorNebraska.org. • It is unlawful to separate a deer or antelope carcass into sections smaller than quarters before completing the check station process. Quartering is defined as four legs, with femur or scapula naturally attached, and loins. Hunters may remove meat from an elk carcass in the field, but the head and all edible portions of meat must then be presented at a check station. • If delivery to a check station is required, the head must accompany the carcass to the check station. • Permit and check station seal number or check station verification number must be retained when transporting all or a portion of the carcass to a point of permanent storage or processing. • Following the kill, hunters who harvest any big game animal must immediately punch or notch the permit or tag to indicate sex and date of kill. The canceled permit or tag must be attached to the animal, or it may remain with the hunter if the carcass remains in the hunter's possession. • Deer, antelope and elk must be checked in before the carcass leaves the state. • Deer harvested during the November firearm season must be delivered to a check station no later than 1 p.m. on the day following the close of the season. • Each permit holder must accompany the deer to the check station. • Deer harvested during seasons outside the November firearm season (Nov. 10 -18) must be checked via Telecheck within 48 hours of kill and before 1 p.m. on the day following the close of the season. • Hunters must record the seal number and security code on the permit. • Antelope harvested during the October firearm season must be delivered to a check station no later than 1 p.m. on the day following the close of the season. • Antelope harvested during seasons outside the October firearm season must be checked via Telecheck within 48 hours of kill and before 1 p.m. on the day following the close of the season. • Elk must be delivered to a check station within 48 hours of the time of kill.

 

[sneaky]

Several states use TeleCheck. It's ridiculously easy. Should be mandatory everywhere.

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[Scoot]

MT NRs who are unguided and in a general unit-- I believe the number hovers around 4%. I'm happy to report I'm 2/4 in that department, so I'm pretty fortunate. The year I didn't punch my tag we end up going home early-- long story, but I was not happy and haven't hunted with that idiot since!
Knock on wood- but I'm 3/3 in WY for unguided and public land.
NM- 1/1 and hope to bump that to 2/2 this coming Sep.

All are archery hunts too, so it can be done. I'm nothing special in terms of ability, intel, or anything else. I am persistent though!

 

[Btaylor]

We have an app that is even easier than telecheck imo. besides hunter info you setup, it gets date of harvest, animal, weapon, county, zone or WMA, sex of animal and thats about it. Takes 2 minutes to submit and you get a check # that goes on the tag.

 

[Newtosavage]

We did eventually go to telecheck before I left IL and you're right. It was very simple to do. I checked in my 1st turkey with my cell phone from the spot I killed it.

 

[Newtosavage]

MT NRs who are unguided and in a general unit-- I believe the number hovers around 4%. I'm happy to report I'm 2/4 in that department, so I'm pretty fortunate. The year I didn't punch my tag we end up going home early-- long story, but I was not happy and haven't hunted with that idiot since!
Knock on wood- but I'm 3/3 in WY for unguided and public land.
NM- 1/1 and hope to bump that to 2/2 this coming Sep.

All are archery hunts too, so it can be done. I'm nothing special in terms of ability, intel, or anything else. I am persistent though!

What was it cnelk said about luck?

 

[WRO]

I think non residents tend to do better because they put more time in..

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[ElkNut1]

The only way for things as Telecheck to be accurate is for ALL hunters to be honest in their reports! Good luck with that!

It's common practice for hunters to mention false units when filling our a Report Card as Idaho has. Other states may use a different phrase but in the end most hunters are not truthful! Why? Because they do not want other hunters to know the units they are hunting. Many will report no elk taken when in fact they did! This is why I put zero stock in stats as hunter numbers, elk taken, etc. -- I choose areas that appeal to my hunting style not what I read in the regs or what a biologist would tell me. Most stats are obscured at best & do not reveal accurate info.

So to expect accurate percentages as the thread starter asked about NR success rates is basically unrealistic. BuzzH was trying to assist you in this very info & why such info even if it did exist that it could still be misleading!

ElkNut/Paul

 

[Swede]

The problem with lying to the game commission is that you are cheating yourself. For the most part they use the success rates to determine how may tags to offer the next year. If few hunters were successful, but they are over their management objective, they will increase the tags sold. They sold 500 last year and they still are at or above MOs so they can sell even more. If they are below MOs they will cut them more including the cow tags.
A hunter may say "well that is fine for my unit", but just wait until a lot more people come to your unit because theirs was cut back.
The unit I hunted for years kept allowing hair tags while most of the surrounding units went to bull only. Guess where many people flocked too?

 

[Scoot]

What was it cnelk said about luck?

Yep, I just keep getting lucky with my stick and string!

 

[Newtosavage]

Yep, I just keep getting lucky with my stick and string!

Like my buddy proved last October, there's no substitute for luck. But what cnelk said is absolutely true. Most luck is the product of great preparation. You may not think you're doing anything special but if those are your odds, you are and just don't realize it.