The 1 Thing You Learned- ELK

Oregon Hunter

WKR
Rokslide Sponsor
Joined
Aug 30, 2013
Messages
856
Location
Beaverton, Oregon
I think most of us make a mistake over and over again. We go on a hunt, but don’t make the effort to think critically about 1 thing we learned and will do different next time.

Think about it, how often do magazines write about a hunt, but fail to single out an action item to change in the future? Just 1 thing, maybe something you learned about elk behavior, your rifle setup, clothing, camping system. We can consume all the information we want, but if we don’t change anything, did it really do us any good?

I’d like to start the series of discussions to get us in the habit of reviewing our hunt, and share highlights about the 1 thing we learned on a particular topic. To start, 1 thing I learned about hunting elk in Eastern Oregon is to not waste time glassing for elk in places they are not likely to be. Growing up as a deer hunter, I am accustomed to using my glass to pick apart every little bush in search of a horn or an ear. Deer tend to have a smaller home range, and you can find them anywhere. After spending some time hunting with a family of loggers that gets bulls every single year, the one thing I learned is that elk aren’t likely to be anywhere, but instead have certain paths they use to move through country. These guys focus their effort on just a few travel routes they have learned that over the years, and they find way more elk than I ever did by picking apart country that isn’t likely to hold elk.


So how about you, what is one thing you have learned about elk? (include pictures if possible)


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Gerbdog

WKR
Joined
Jun 8, 2020
Messages
820
Location
CO Springs
Dont get into your hunting spot where you think there will be elk TOO early, i made the error of getting up the slope to where i thought there would be elk on opening morning 40 minutes before shooting hours and then had an elk bugle within 100 yards of me. Oops. He was of course way far away in the dark by the time shooting hours came around. Time your approach better then i did and maybe you wont scare the bull off opening morning in the dark. Sorry no photos, it would just be pitch black.
 

Winnie

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 13, 2020
Messages
168
Patience. I was at full draw for 6-8 minutes (let down 3 times) for a bull at 12 yards. Thank goodness there was a thick bush between us. Finally shot him at 34 yards. But I was sorely tempted to creep around that bush! We all know how that would have turned out.
 

Fullfan

WKR
Joined
Jul 31, 2016
Messages
981
Location
Nw/Pa
Get in shape, even when you think you are in shape. Me being 55 chasing elk w my 26 year old son, was an eye opener.
Be more aggressive, we either going to kill him or scare him. We killed our bulls a week apart last year. And had a blast doing it...
 

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cured_ham

WKR
Joined
Feb 5, 2020
Messages
324
Elk care way more about hunter pressure than human pressure. If you are in a highly recreated area with very few tags issued then the elk will be closer to people than a heavily hunted unit.
 

J5Hunt

FNG
Joined
Dec 5, 2020
Messages
15
Learn how to use your Topo map to pinpoint a bull and play the wind to him... he may sound fired up but is more than likely just keeping tabs on you as you draw nearer making the same calls you thought were going to bring him in. Then you find he’s rounded up his cows and pushed them away from the challenge. They will avoid you if they can.


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Saml_Stmb

FNG
Joined
Mar 10, 2020
Messages
22
Always be ready

An elk can appear and present an opportunity at any time
Yup! This happened to me this year. We had been calling back and forth to a bull for an hour. It stopped so we stopped and took a break to eat and regroup. 20 minutes later a bull is walking by us at 40 yards and no one in our party had a bow ready to shoot. We just watched the bull walk on by and weren't able to get another chance at him that day.

Cheers!
 

coast range

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 19, 2018
Messages
164
Location
oregon
Treating as if your deer hunting and expecting the elk to be in the same areas. Really need to open up and look at the bigger picture. A quality mapping system really helps with this


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