Tag stew x 6 years = frustration.

[Bar]

During hunting seasons?

 

[Brandon Pattison]

During hunting seasons?

Yes. We call them Bighorn Elk.

 

[MT_Nate]

Man, this is a long thread. Not sure what I write will stand out much, but worth a shot for your consideration. This may not be the focus of the thread, but is a tactic that has helped me gain good harvesting opportunities on a per day basis, rather than a per season basis.

We all scout maps looking for terrain, benches, fingered ridges, water, feed...the whole gambit. Every time I feel skunked by elk in an area where the sign says they're present, I take a look around me and ask "Where wouldn't I want to go?". It might be a drainage or exposure that's crazy steep, brushy, etc., but it's still in the general area of sign. Granted, this is hunting areas where previous information from others is nil (I hunt the jungles of NW Montana and very few hunters open their mouths about honey holes around here, including myself).

It seems stupid, and 5 times out of 10 I end up thrashing brush in the middle of nowhere with limited sign, racing back to camp in the late afternoon for the truck and a cold beer because of what seemed a wasted day in the field. However I don't consider this a waste of time...at least I know where they aren't. The other 5 out of 10 times have taken me to some crazy good spots and provided plenty of opportunities I otherwise wouldn't have come across. Maps and aerials don't show you that little 20-yard bench in the middle of a 3000-foot, 35/40-degree slope that has water, food, and bedding/security - you know, that slope that you look at and say "there's no way an elk is in that stuff, it doesn't match their habitat". Similarly, that 500-1000 foot hole in the mountain surrounded by cliffs..."why would an elk go there...they're trapped if a predator comes in!". Or that helpless corncob dry maze of second growth clearcut pines/firs adjacent to where the elk "should" be? I just described three of my favorite and most opportunity-productive spots.

You just don't find those spots until you stumble across them, and then the network of elk trails and patterns show themselves. Once you can figure out a pattern, your odds for an encounter go WAY up. I hate to say it, but pre-season summer scouting seems to show "where the elk were" (once you hit the season), not where they are during the hunting season. The only way to find elk during hunting season is to find out where they truly are, not where they'd been. It took me awhile to accept this fact, and it sucks, because it requires "in-The-Season scouting" when you feel you should have your hunt strategy down already...

I changed my tactics after reading a great short story by a local author named Roland Cheek in a book named "The Ghost of Harriet Lou" - a great read if you have the time. He wrote a story called "Angel Basinitis" that was well written and is true to what I'm writing. When many hunters can't find the elk and gain opportunities, they tend to resort to the ol' standby areas that are pleasant to be in.. Angel Basin kind-of-places...not the hell holes that we humans aren't comfortable in. Darn it if that isn't where I usually find elk on public land...

I know this is "needle in the haystack" methodology. I wish I had a better method to go by, but this seems to work in the jungle...

 

[IdyllwildArcher]

This will be my 4th season elk hunting. I only bowhunt DIY on public land. So far i'm 2/3. First year I was unsuccessful in CO, OTC. Next year I was successful in OR, OTC (4x4. Last year I was successful in WY (6x6).

Sounds to me like you've done everything I have done... except leave CO OTC. You've been doing this now for 7 years. You could have had at least 3 tags in WY, and probably a tag in either UT or NM.

The one common thread I generally see with people who are unsuccessful year after year after year, is hunting elk in CO, OTC. Yes, there's a lot of people who kill elk there every year. But for every one of them (mostly people with honey holes), there's 9 other people who go home empty handed year after year.

Why hunt archery in a unit that has 500+ people hunt during archery season + OTC rifle later on, when you could hunt a unit that has 100-200 (and in many cases less) people hunt it during archery season and no OTC rifle hunt?

As far as going to the ML, you can do that and you'll enjoy it, but if you've wanted to kill one with your bow for 6 years and have been trying to that long, it tells me what you really want to do is kill an elk with your bow. You won't match the satisfaction and elation of killing one with your ML as you will with your bow if that's the case.

 

[Hawker]

Idyllwilderarcher,
Pretty sure that next year I will be hunting Montana. A friend of mine told me that once you hunt Montana "you don't hunt Colorado anymore". For this this year I will be chasing them in Colorado.

 

[Bar]

Maybe for your friend that's true. I prefer Colorado.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

It can all change in a heartbeat...but you must be in the field for this to occur.

[video=youtube_share;AWiRrss_nAQ]http://youtu.be/AWiRrss_nAQ[/video]

 

[IdyllwildArcher]

Look at the success rates where you've been and where you're going. Most of the MT general tag archery success rates are similar to CO OTC.

In both states, there are zones that are better than others.

All of these zones carry elk, otherwise they wouldn't be elk zones. The key you mentioned though, was that you could get to elk but not get them to come closer than 80 yards.

IMO, a big part of that is that elk that are hunted hard survive by: not coming in, going nocturnal during hunting seasons, being more wary than in units where they don't have to be as wary, moving to private land during hunting seasons, moving to places that hunters don't go, anything they have to do to survive being hunted by people when people are their number 1 predator.

Many of these OTC zones see 500 archers and 2000 total hunters during a season. The data is posted. I'm not going to post links. Anyone who is motivated to do research can find it.

If you don't want to apply for LE tags or in multiple states and want to hunt OTC, there's still a method to setting yourself up for success (hunting the better OTC units). If you're not experienced with doing the research, PM me your unit and I'll give you the stats for it and give you a brief description of how it matches up to the good, bad, and average CO zones and other states.

I bet you're hunting in what I'd consider a shitty unit. I'm assuming this because 1) someone who knows you says you're a hardcore hunter. 2) you've been unsuccessful for 6 years. 3) Most OTC units, irrespective of elk population, suck, due to too many people hunting them - not just archers, I'm talking total hunter pressure. This is also why some CO draw units suck. (Again, there's honey holes all over; I'm speaking in generalities). Look at the general trend in LE units: The resounding theme (with exceptions) is less hunters and higher success rates.

BTW, did you even post that you've been hunting CO OTC or did I just assume that based on your story?

 

[IdyllwildArcher]

I'll add that if you're having wind mess up a lot of your hunts, than you're hunting the elk at the wrong time. Try sleeping closer to the elk or just plain getting up earlier and getting on top of bugling elk while it's still dark.

There's a reason they bed when they do: To take advantage of swirling winds to avoid stalking predators.

 

[Olydog09]

Good stuff Nate and Idlywild

 

[Brandon Pattison]

We got one!

 

[7stw]

Awesome ! Congrats. She'll taste lots better than tag soup.