Things you wish you knew about elk hunting

[PRC_GUY]

This is your year man. Go get that Bull

I definitely try this year again, , I already booked a trip to Wyoming 2024 with my wife, we both get bull tags and one mule deer. We will hunt with a Guide,

 

[Erussell01]

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

You can do it!!

No chit! Wow! Small world...

It's hard to wrap my head around. But dang it looks better every day

 

[Erussell01]

I definitely try this year again, , I already booked a trip to Wyoming 2024 with my wife, we both get bull tags and one mule deer. We will hunt with a Guide,

Should be a blast man. I really love Wyoming! That is almost heaven.

So cool to hunt with your wife, isnt it? My favorite hunts are when my wife is with.

Well or solo hunting something really hard hahahaha

 

[trophyhill]

My honest answer is nothing. Its a journey. A school of hard nocks if you will. I want to know I've earned it. Learning from failed attempts has put me into elk every season. Taking the great advice many have given me and learning to apply it correctly takes practice and opportunities. Instead of asking for places to hunt, i prefered to pick the great elk minds based on experiences/failed attempts i've had. It's turned into a life long passion and obsession 1 encounter and 1 elk at a time. I have a lot to be thankful for and many to thank along the way. Hunting elk with a bow instantly changed my life forever!

 

[Erussell01]

My honest answer is nothing. Its a journey. A school of hard nocks if you will. I want to know I've earned it. Learning from failed attempts has put me into elk every season. Taking the great advice many have given me and learning to apply it correctly takes practice and opportunities. Instead of asking for places to hunt, i prefered to pick the great elk minds based on experiences/failed attempts i've had. It's turned into a life long passion and obsession 1 encounter and 1 elk at a time. I have a lot to be thankful for and many to thank along the way. Hunting elk with a bow instantly changed my life forever!

What is one thing you have learned along the way that you can share with those of us who are new to elk hunting?

 

[fatlander]

My honest answer is nothing. Its a journey. A school of hard nocks if you will. I want to know I've earned it. Learning from failed attempts has put me into elk every season. Taking the great advice many have given me and learning to apply it correctly takes practice and opportunities. Instead of asking for places to hunt, i prefered to pick the great elk minds based on experiences/failed attempts i've had. It's turned into a life long passion and obsession 1 encounter and 1 elk at a time. I have a lot to be thankful for and many to thank along the way. Hunting elk with a bow instantly changed my life forever!

This is a great answer.

Failure is the best teacher. Mistakes that blow opportunities are the lessons.

You can read everything under the sun, watch every video, and listen to every podcast known to man; but you still don’t know what you don’t know until you get out there and start making mistakes.


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[Newtosavage]

This is a great answer.

Failure is the best teacher. Mistakes that blow opportunities are the lessons.

You can read everything under the sun, watch every video, and listen to every podcast known to man; but you still don’t know what you don’t know until you get out there and start making mistakes.


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#facts

OR, you can get lucky like my buddy and have an old college friend pick you up at your house, drive you 800 miles, set up camp for you, find your elk and then you go kill a 6x6 for your first elk on opening day. LOL He's pretty proud of himself, and his wife brags to anyone who will listen what a great hunter he is. So long as they're happy right?!?

 

[Steelhead]

A few examples of “learning opportunities” over the years…

-Calling to and tracking a bugling bull with his babes down a heavily wooded gully and ended up having him chase off another unseen bull with a small harem up and over the next 3 ridges in about 10 minutes. He was bugling, growling, jungle noises galore. Gone and done. Realized we weren’t being aggressive enough.

-Same area, same time of year. Chasing a bugling bull with his babes down a draw and pushed him away each time we’d close in, sight unseen, wind in our faces. Gone and done…realized we were being too aggressive.

-Bulls that don’t care that your bugling to them. Feels like they're just calling out my BS.

-Bulls that come in silent. The slow game. Catching us unsuspecting and bolting.

-Bulls that fully realize we are there, moving away but still stalling with each cow call enough to get in range.

-Bulls that come in at first light, first bugle, at a trot, right to me, bugling and thrashing shrubs.

-Hiking all day, bugling and glassing, miles and miles, ridges and draws, no bugles except for other hunters, returning to camp down in the dumps, sitting on a rock on a small ridge 50 yards from my tent and watching a 5 point bothering some cows drop in 100 yards in front of me, like out of a cloud of dust. No warning, no bugles but grateful I still had my rifle with me.

-Finding elk sanctuaries, thick with stink, fresh sign everywhere, not an elk in sight…or sound.

-Getting response bugles in the trees below, posted up in what we thought was great cover, the elk goes silent…finding fresh tracks 10 yards behind us in the dirt.

But its all good stuff, every minute of it…afterward anyway… each time a different experience and each time I’m reminded how much I don’t know about hunting.

 

[AaronMColeman]

#facts

OR, you can get lucky like my buddy and have an old college friend pick you up at your house, drive you 800 miles, set up camp for you, find your elk and then you go kill a 6x6 for your first elk on opening day. LOL He's pretty proud of himself, and his wife brags to anyone who will listen what a great hunter he is. So long as they're happy right?!?

That's the worst. A buddy and I had been tracking a nice (really nice) 7x7 on and off for about 10 days. It was public land general tag with decent pressure. One night a friend was out looking for deer in his truck, on a whim he told his wife to grab an elk tag in case they saw something while driving. I'm sure you can see where this is going...50 feet off the road sleeping. I'm not the jealous type usually, but that one hurt. I believe the journey is more important than the destination. So I guess my journey was better than hers. I ended up with a tiny 5x5 3 weeks later after countless hours of tough hunting.

What do I wish I knew about elk? I just wish I had a better understanding of tactics and tools to work with when I know they are near but I can't see or hear anything. More tools besides get up high and glass, a better understanding of where they go and what they could potentially be up to when I can't see or hear but I know they are all over the mountain I'm on.

 

[URE_G]

Be prepared for all kind of weather
Respect the lands
Make sure you have a good map of area you are hunting and understand how to use it.
stay positive
Embrace the suck

 

[trophyhill]

What is one thing you have learned along the way that you can share with those of us who are new to elk hunting?

I learned that doing my homework is half the fun of hunting elk because it allows me to learn all year

Edit; oh and lots of practice with my bow. Many take for granted that being able to make a great shot at "the moment of truth" when the adrenalin is flowing, should be automatic when it counts. Some call it auto pilot, some call it clutch, some call it ice in the vanes and some call it other things, but its the same thing when that elk is standing in front of you. Draw, anchor, aim, release, follow thru. Falling apart is not an option.

 

[5MilesBack]

Hunting elk with a bow instantly changed my life forever!

True that!

There's a very fine line between being aggressive and being patient.

 

[trophyhill]

This is a great answer.

Failure is the best teacher. Mistakes that blow opportunities are the lessons.

You can read everything under the sun, watch every video, and listen to every podcast known to man; but you still don’t know what you don’t know until you get out there and start making mistakes.


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True story and one thats played out for many hunters

 

[Erussell01]

This is a great answer.

Failure is the best teacher. Mistakes that blow opportunities are the lessons.

You can read everything under the sun, watch every video, and listen to every podcast known to man; but you still don’t know what you don’t know until you get out there and start making mistakes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Absolutely.
I watched every video.
Read every article.
Listened to everyone.
And still I was caught behind the dang pine tree when the bull was standing there within 40 yards.
Never again. Haha!

 

[Erussell01]

Absolutely.
I watched every video.
Read every article.
Listened to everyone.
And still I was caught behind the dang pine tree when the bull was standing there within 40 yards.
Never again. Haha!

#facts

OR, you can get lucky like my buddy and have an old college friend pick you up at your house, drive you 800 miles, set up camp for you, find your elk and then you go kill a 6x6 for your first elk on opening day. LOL He's pretty proud of himself, and his wife brags to anyone who will listen what a great hunter he is. So long as they're happy right?!?

Sounds like my father in law. You should hear him tell the story of how he found this place to hunt and shot his first buck in 5 min after opener.

Poor guy couldn't even find that woods if he tried. But at least all my scouting was worth it.

 

[Erussell01]

I learned that doing my homework is half the fun of hunting elk because it allows me to learn all year

Edit; oh and lots of practice with my bow. Many take for granted that being able to make a great shot at "the moment of truth" when the adrenalin is flowing, should be automatic when it counts. Some call it auto pilot, some call it clutch, some call it ice in the vanes and some call it other things, but its the same thing when that elk is standing in front of you. Draw, anchor, aim, release, follow thru. Falling apart is not an option.

I obsess about it every day. My poor wife has to listen to it lol.

Im lucky to be able to shoot indoor year round. And even when its nasty I can shoot up to 40 yards without ever stepping outside

 

[Erussell01]

A few examples of “learning opportunities” over the years…

-Calling to and tracking a bugling bull with his babes down a heavily wooded gully and ended up having him chase off another unseen bull with a small harem up and over the next 3 ridges in about 10 minutes. He was bugling, growling, jungle noises galore. Gone and done. Realized we weren’t being aggressive enough.

-Same area, same time of year. Chasing a bugling bull with his babes down a draw and pushed him away each time we’d close in, sight unseen, wind in our faces. Gone and done…realized we were being too aggressive.

-Bulls that don’t care that your bugling to them. Feels like they're just calling out my BS.

-Bulls that come in silent. The slow game. Catching us unsuspecting and bolting.

-Bulls that fully realize we are there, moving away but still stalling with each cow call enough to get in range.

-Bulls that come in at first light, first bugle, at a trot, right to me, bugling and thrashing shrubs.

-Hiking all day, bugling and glassing, miles and miles, ridges and draws, no bugles except for other hunters, returning to camp down in the dumps, sitting on a rock on a small ridge 50 yards from my tent and watching a 5 point bothering some cows drop in 100 yards in front of me, like out of a cloud of dust. No warning, no bugles but grateful I still had my rifle with me.

-Finding elk sanctuaries, thick with stink, fresh sign everywhere, not an elk in sight…or sound.

-Getting response bugles in the trees below, posted up in what we thought was great cover, the elk goes silent…finding fresh tracks 10 yards behind us in the dirt.

But its all good stuff, every minute of it…afterward anyway… each time a different experience and each time I’m reminded how much I don’t know about hunting.

Man that does sound like a lot of learning. I had a couple similar experiences last year that wil stick with me. When I was coming off the mountain to go find my lost buddy, I ran into two bulls bedded withing a couple hundred yards of the truck. Watched them walk off past where everyone was parked when I bumped them and realized that they could watch the road.

I sat down for lunch in the middle of elk beds that smelled like piss, no elk to be found.

Sat a wallow one morning to let my blisters rest and had a bull bugle from below me. Bugled back, he bugled. I sat there, he bugled again and then he took his 3 cows off up the other hill. Should I have been quiet? Should I have been aggressive? Heck I dont know haha.

I like that every encounter I had with elk was different.

 

[Newtosavage]

Sounds like my father in law. You should hear him tell the story of how he found this place to hunt and shot his first buck in 5 min after opener.

Poor guy couldn't even find that woods if he tried. But at least all my scouting was worth it.

My old college buddy took his brother the next year. Of course, they went back to the exact spots I took him. Funny how they didn't see an elk in 7 days of hunting tho.

 

[shax2lex]

following

 

[Scoot]

Man that does sound like a lot of learning. I had a couple similar experiences last year that wil stick with me. When I was coming off the mountain to go find
Sat a wallow one morning to let my blisters rest and had a bull bugle from below me. Bugled back, he bugled. I sat there, he bugled again and then he took his 3 cows off up the other hill. Should I have been quiet? Should I have been aggressive? Heck I dont know haha.

Yep, shoulda stayed quiet in that scenario IME. Elk often bugle before they come to a wallow to see if other elk are already at the wallow. Since you replied he assumed the wallow was already in use and let you have it. That's been my experience anyway...