Percent of Elk Killed - mornings or afternoon?

[jvonbank]

Mornings before noon 5:1 for me.

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[Jon Boy]

Used to always be mornings but has shifted to afternoons lately as my hunting style has changed.

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[Ross]

About 70% before 10am, 10% around noonish and 20% last hour of the day.

 

[bobhunts]

Are you seperating between archery and rifle? Overall I guess in 21 hunts only two after noon. One rifle and one archery. Not because they were not there. Just how it worked out.

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

1 morning and 2 evening

 

[kicker338]

50/50 for me, even throwing in missed opportunities the same 50/50

 

[COlineman78]

Pretty close to 50/50 for me. Your strategies need to be different in the morning than evenings IMO. In the mornings I find it most effective trying to intercept them on their way to their bedding areas. In the evening we usually try and intercept them in their feeding areas, but often strike out due to lack of shooting light and not being in the wrong place.

 

[elkyinzer]

Very enlightening responses to a good question. My one was in the early afternoon. We have had more bugling in the morning about 4:1 by my rough count but it seems we have a much more even ratio of close encounters as we can get on them easier in the afternoon/evening. So often in the first couple hours of daylight they have really been on the move and use the thermals to their advantage making it hard to get in front of them.

 

[The Ace]

2 before 10am, none after

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[Whip]

4 morning, 2 evening for me. So while mornings may be better I sure wouldn't skip an afternoon hunt.

 

[5MilesBack]

About 70% before 10am, 10% around noonish and 20% last hour of the day.

This is pretty much exactly what I was going to say.

I prefer evening hunting, but most kills are before 10am.

 

[danarnold]

2 am 2 lunch 2 eve
wyoming was more consistent bugling in the am first part of september

 

[wyosteve]

Rifle--mornings. Archery--noon to 4pm.

 

[tfitter]

Thanks everyone for the responses! I think it is awesome to see the ratios by other elk hunters. No doubt I will be hunting all day, the afternoon and evening kills have just provided me with more motivation for sure.

 

[bz_711]

100% in last hour of day for me. Of course that is only 2 bull elk with bow...I have sure had close calls in morning, and most evening hunts are typically quick hunts in new area to allow me to check it out - both times resulting in kills, one at 6:00, other at 6:40.
I've hunted many more hours before noon than I have after noon...just too small a sample size at this time I'd say...I'm sure mornings will eventually catch up and surpass evening kills.
I sure would not plan a hunt around time of day - go any chance you can get.

 

[cnelk]

Looking back thru my hunting notes, I should add that the 10:1 ratio I posted earlier was our combined rifle and archery over the past many years.

Only taken 4 in the afternoon, 40+ in the morning

 

[Osprey]

I don't have a large enough sample size but I see more in the open in the evenings on my last Elk hunt even though I killed a nice bull in the morning at first light I located them the evening before so I knew right where to find em at first light. However the evening movement was better over all during the entire hunt I probably saw 70 cows 12 spikes 1 legal bull in evening out in open and 2 legal bulls about 30 cows in morning only the 2 legal bulls were in the open all the cows were in the timber. This was over 7 days of hunting in various conditions mornings were just harder to get onto animals especially if you didn't find any the evening before and knew where to start your search. Midday was when I encountered the largest bulls mature 6pts which I found by tracking came very close to killing one. I'm not stuck to any particular method so all times can be good for me I don't take a break just change tactics throughout the day. Honestly my kills don't really reflect the actual potential opportunites rate and all my expereince has been on CO rifle hunts. Ive heard bugling at all times and one day easily 100+ bugles in a evening starting 2 hours before dark and i've heard nothing at all times too so I wouldn't rule out anything in the Elk woods. For location purposes alone I would hunt evenings if nothing else Elk seem to really like to talk once it gets dark!

 

[idelkslayer]

Tell your friends that they are right and the general consensus is that hunting for elk after 1 PM is a waste of time. Then go out by yourself and enjoy the solitude and kill some elk.

50/50 for me.

 

[elkdog]

One in the Morning and Two in the evening, for me.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

50% morning, 25% mid-day and 25% evening for me