Things you wish you knew about elk hunting

[Newtosavage]

In my somewhat limited experience, best advice I can give you is if you aren't smelling elk, move. Pure and simple. Guys that set up huge base camps and hunt the same dry hills for the whole season just amaze me. A herd can move a mile or more overnight. I've seen it too many times. If you aren't willing to move, then you'd better plan on being really lucky.

 

[Erussell01]

In my somewhat limited experience, best advice I can give you is if you aren't smelling elk, move. Pure and simple. Guys that set up huge base camps and hunt the same dry hills for the whole season just amaze me. A herd can move a mile or more overnight. I've seen it too many times. If you aren't willing to move, then you'd better plan on being really lucky.

Do you typically do a couple days in one spot, or if you arent seeing elk bail?
Last year we camped at the truck. Hiked in the 2.5-4 miles every morning and I didn't hate it except for the 3:30 alarm clock lol


This year for archery elk I am solo. So I might pack in and sleep on the hill just so I can save miles.

 

[GotDraw?]

Don't get me wrong, I am still enjoying the process and start looking forward to the next season as soon as the current one ends. Archery elk hunting has just improved my ability to eat humble pie.

We all eat servings of it, every hunt!
JL

 

[Erussell01]

We all eat servings of it, every hunt!
JL

Tag soup has me feeling hungry after last elk season. That was the first tag I have ever eaten. Won't be the last I am sure.

 

[Newtosavage]

Do you typically do a couple days in one spot, or if you arent seeing elk bail?
Last year we camped at the truck. Hiked in the 2.5-4 miles every morning and I didn't hate it except for the 3:30 alarm clock lol


This year for archery elk I am solo. So I might pack in and sleep on the hill just so I can save miles.

I take a full 2 weeks off so I can scout for 3-4 days prior to season. Usually by then, I've located some elk so I don't waste hunting days scouting.

If I don't see elk for two consecutive days, I bail. My scouting days usually give me 3-4 good options. I look for at least that many options so I have backups for when the hunters move in and in case the elk I've found move on days 1 or 2 (which is often).

I typically camp at the truck unless I've found a really solid spot more than 2 miles back where I can count on them staying. A lot of my hunt plans revolve around what the other hunters are doing as much as what the critters are doing.

Solo is the only way to go IMO. You'll love it.

 

[Erussell01]

I take a full 2 weeks off so I can scout for 3-4 days prior to season. Usually by then, I've located some elk so I don't waste hunting days scouting.

If I don't see elk for two consecutive days, I bail. My scouting days usually give me 3-4 good options. I look for at least that many options so I have backups for when the hunters move in and in case the elk I've found move on days 1 or 2 (which is often).

I typically camp at the truck unless I've found a really solid spot more than 2 miles back where I can count on them staying. A lot of my hunt plans revolve around what the other hunters are doing as much as what the critters are doing.

Solo is the only way to go IMO. You'll love it.

Man you got me fired up!
This is almost exactly how I roll as well. I hope the elk are in the same general areas I found them from last year. I found a perfect spot to ambush the elk on their way into the timber but it was the last day of my hunt on the pack out. Go figure...

Any tips about solo setup or calling?

 

[Newtosavage]

Man you got me fired up!
This is almost exactly how I roll as well. I hope the elk are in the same general areas I found them from last year. I found a perfect spot to ambush the elk on their way into the timber but it was the last day of my hunt on the pack out. Go figure...

Any tips about solo setup or calling?

I haven't done much calling since I've only hunted them twice in September (once archery, once ML) and it appeared they were all call-shy by the end of the 2nd week. So I'm not much help there.

Much like the public land whitetails I hunt around here in SE Texas, my strategy on elk has been to either go in deep or hunt within 1/2 mile of a major road. I've seen a lot of elk, including some 6x6's, that could see a major FS road from their beds and would watch hunters walk right past them to get further into the woods.

1-2 miles in seems to be the zone most hunters spend the day in. If you can find a really busy FS road where there aren't any camps for 1/2 mile or so, and find a saddle nearby, there's a good chance they will be near there.

If you go too deep in, you run into outfitter camps. So IMO 3-5 miles is the sweet spot in the backcountry. However, that also means a minimum of 30 miles of pack out with half of it loaded. That's more than I can do solo which is why I only hunt elk these days if I don't get drawn for a mule deer.

 

[Erussell01]

I haven't done much calling since I've only hunted them twice in September (once archery, once ML) and it appeared they were all call-shy by the end of the 2nd week. So I'm not much help there.

Much like the public land whitetails I hunt around here in SE Texas, my strategy on elk has been to either go in deep or hunt within 1/2 mile of a major road. I've seen a lot of elk, including some 6x6's, that could see a major FS road from their beds and would watch hunters walk right past them to get further into the woods.

1-2 miles in seems to be the zone most hunters spend the day in. If you can find a really busy FS road where there aren't any camps for 1/2 mile or so, and find a saddle nearby, there's a good chance they will be near there.

If you go too deep in, you run into outfitter camps. So IMO 3-5 miles is the sweet spot in the backcountry. However, that also means a minimum of 30 miles of pack out with half of it loaded. That's more than I can do solo which is why I only hunt elk these days if I don't get drawn for a mule deer.

Man this is really great advice. Thank you!
One of the nice parts of where my tag is good for in Idaho is that there arent a ton of huge pieces of country so the reality is even if I wanted to go back in 8+ miles I really couldnt do much more without running out of room. There is a decent amount of 3-5 miles across type stuff, but nothing too wild. I am so excited to go back, bur Im half tore between going right back and trying some place new. That question of what is over the next ridge burns me up all the time...

 

[Newtosavage]

Man this is really great advice. Thank you!
One of the nice parts of where my tag is good for in Idaho is that there arent a ton of huge pieces of country so the reality is even if I wanted to go back in 8+ miles I really couldnt do much more without running out of room. There is a decent amount of 3-5 miles across type stuff, but nothing too wild. I am so excited to go back, bur Im half tore between going right back and trying some place new. That question of what is over the next ridge burns me up all the time...

In the lower 48, there are few if any places you could go in more than 5 miles without being closer to a road on the other side of the unit. Even the largest wilderness areas are rarely more than 7-8 miles across.

Follow that desire to see what's over the next ridge. I have it too. It's led me to a lot of awesome spots over the years. For example, last October I was running into quite a few hunters near my base camp, down around 6500'. There were lots of deer there, but more hunters than I wanted to be around. About a 20-25 minute drive away was a corner of FS ground I had been looking at for years but had never been in. I just assumed it would have camps all in it but mid-day, after a good hard morning hunt, I figured I'd take a break and drive up there to look around. Much to my surprise, it had snowed at that elevation (that FS corner started around 9k feet) and there was only one camp along about a mile of FS road. So, I parked my truck and decided to do a little mid-day scouting loop. A little mid-day loop turned into a 4 mile hike through the snow because the fresh snow was showing me such good recent sign, and because of that same desire you have to see what was over the next ridge. I followed sets of mule deer tracks (that was the tag I had) until a bunch of them came together and led me to a saddle in the middle of those woods that dropped off a steep slope off of the FS property. I took some mental notes, quickly crafted a ground "blind" setup (really just a good place to sit next to a large downed tree root ball where I could see a couple shooting lanes), dropped a pin on my OnX and hiked back to the truck with the plan of returning the next day. That evening I just glassed from the truck at a couple spots because I had already put in about 8 miles and my body needed a break. The next afternoon, I made my way back to that saddle in the snow and got comfortable at the base of that big blowdown, watching those shooting lanes.

About an hour before sunset, a nice little buck came walking right up to me and I concluded it was a "gift deer" for all the work I'd put in to that point, and because I had tweaked my back a few days earlier. I didn't look that gift deer in the mouth and dropped him with a 40 yard neck shot. I had him packed out to my truck by 9:00 that evening and was on my way home the next day.

That's a long story to say that those curious moments you have of "I wonder what's over that ridge?" can really pay off. There were a few times I nearly went back to the truck but my curiosity of where all those mule deer tracks led in that fresh snow just wouldn't be satisfied until I knew. And it led me to a deer the next day. So follow your gut.

 

[Scrappy]

I quickly learned that driving 22 hours to go elk hunting sucked so I move out here.

 

[Erussell01]

In the lower 48, there are few if any places you could go in more than 5 miles without being closer to a road on the other side of the unit. Even the largest wilderness areas are rarely more than 7-8 miles across.

Follow that desire to see what's over the next ridge. I have it too. It's led me to a lot of awesome spots over the years. For example, last October I was running into quite a few hunters near my base camp, down around 6500'. There were lots of deer there, but more hunters than I wanted to be around. About a 20-25 minute drive away was a corner of FS ground I had been looking at for years but had never been in. I just assumed it would have camps all in it but mid-day, after a good hard morning hunt, I figured I'd take a break and drive up there to look around. Much to my surprise, it had snowed at that elevation (that FS corner started around 9k feet) and there was only one camp along about a mile of FS road. So, I parked my truck and decided to do a little mid-day scouting loop. A little mid-day loop turned into a 4 mile hike through the snow because the fresh snow was showing me such good recent sign, and because of that same desire you have to see what was over the next ridge. I followed sets of mule deer tracks (that was the tag I had) until a bunch of them came together and led me to a saddle in the middle of those woods that dropped off a steep slope off of the FS property. I took some mental notes, quickly crafted a ground "blind" setup (really just a good place to sit next to a large downed tree root ball where I could see a couple shooting lanes), dropped a pin on my OnX and hiked back to the truck with the plan of returning the next day. That evening I just glassed from the truck at a couple spots because I had already put in about 8 miles and my body needed a break. The next afternoon, I made my way back to that saddle in the snow and got comfortable at the base of that big blowdown, watching those shooting lanes.

About an hour before sunset, a nice little buck came walking right up to me and I concluded it was a "gift deer" for all the work I'd put in to that point, and because I had tweaked my back a few days earlier. I didn't look that gift deer in the mouth and dropped him with a 40 yard neck shot. I had him packed out to my truck by 9:00 that evening and was on my way home the next day.

That's a long story to say that those curious moments you have of "I wonder what's over that ridge?" can really pay off. There were a few times I nearly went back to the truck but my curiosity of where all those mule deer tracks led in that fresh snow just wouldn't be satisfied until I knew. And it led me to a deer the next day. So follow your gut.

Love that story! Sounds like a freaking blast and a great example of where not settling on an area too much really paid off.

There was one deep part of the bowl that I didn't touch last year. The first morning of the hunt I watched a big bull walk into it from a ridge a ways off. We made the decision to make a play for a cow that was much closer to us at the time and didn't go to check that bull out. That part of the bowl was thick thick timber, dark in there all day and very very steep. The last morning of the hunt one T-Rex quality bugle came from down in there and my hunting buddy and I ended up going the other way to check a wallow he wanted to sit. I am still am kicking myself for not being in there sooner to check it out. I will absolutely be in there this year. Up the hill from that spot is a great glassing knob so if nothing else I will sneak through it and look for sign. Can't hurt.

I can't stop thinking about that spot.

 

[Erussell01]

I quickly learned that driving 22 hours to go elk hunting sucked so I move out here.

Don't tell my wife that because she will seriously pack my bags for me.

She is absolutely leaning on me to move to MT, WY, SD or ND. She hates where we live now and she wants a big time adventure.

 

[OregonSteeler]

Don't tell my wife that because she will seriously pack my bags for me.

She is absolutely leaning on me to move to MT, WY, SD or ND. She hates where we live now and she wants a big time adventure.

100% do it and move to where you want to be. If you're not too tied down and can make it happen, you'll be thankful you did. Don't look back 10-20 years and say damn, I wish I did that when I was younger!

 

[Erussell01]

100% do it and move to where you want to be. If you're not too tied down and can make it happen, you'll be thankful you did. Don't look back 10-20 years and say damn, I wish I did that when I was younger!

My only hangup is the dang job that I have and my family isnt getting any younger. However, she will win and we will likely end up in SD.
SD is pretty great for outdoorsmen, but not a lot of elk opportunity lol

 

[Scrappy]

Don't tell my wife that because she will seriously pack my bags for me.

She is absolutely leaning on me to move to MT, WY, SD or ND. She hates where we live now and she wants a big time adventure.

You only get one spin on this earth don't waste it.

 

[Scoot]

Don't tell my wife that because she will seriously pack my bags for me.

She is absolutely leaning on me to move to MT, WY, SD or ND. She hates where we live now and she wants a big time adventure.

I'm curious where you live now and why you're fighting her on that? Unless the answer is Alaska, you're fighting the wrong battle!

 

[Erussell01]

I'm curious where you live now and why you're fighting her on that? Unless the answer is Alaska, you're fighting the wrong battle!

I live in Bemidji, Mn
We dont have the best of anything here except maybe walleyes.

She is definitely in the right... my biggest hangup is the cost of moving to a new state and starting over. I'm finally at a place in my career where I make enough money and have enough time to go elk hunting, antelope hunting, whatever. Starting over and being low man on the ladder is hard to handle.

Ultimately, I am sure she will win. Hahaha

 

[PRC_GUY]

I try elk hunting 2 year straight and didn’t shoot one yet, hopefully , I wil kill one this year

 

[cnelk]

I live in Bemidji, Mn
We dont have the best of anything here except maybe walleyes.

She is definitely in the right... my biggest hangup is the cost of moving to a new state and starting over. I'm finally at a place in my career where I make enough money and have enough time to go elk hunting, antelope hunting, whatever. Starting over and being low man on the ladder is hard to handle.

Ultimately, I am sure she will win. Hahaha

Dude. I moved from Baudette to Colorado 34 years ago.
Best thing I ever did.

You can do it!!

 

[Erussell01]

I try elk hunting 2 year straight and didn’t shoot one yet, hopefully , I wil kill one this year

This is your year man. Go get that Bull