What do you wish you’d done differently on your first western hunt?

[RallySquirrel]

There’s something out there that’s real hard to see. Turn around and it’s not there. Makes your hair stand up when it goes by. Moves around at the edges of your headlamp and makes it hard to get back to camp in the dark. It settles over your bivy sack and waits for you to come up for air.

You have to try to ignore that. It’ll keep you from killing anything.

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Ha! This is too funny!

 

[Scoot]

- Take good optics and use them.
- Know when to be aggressive and when to slow down...but error on the side aggressive.
- Get close once you locate a bull. Don't trade bugles from 1/4 mile away. Move in as close as you dare -- ideally under 100 yards -- before trying to call a bull in to your set up.
- Once you are close, take a moment to really think through the set up and how the elk might come into it. Give yourself every advantage.
- Visualize the shot: drawing your bow, placing the pin (the right pin) and following through on the shot. Visualize different scenarios and get your brain ready for a moment of intensity that can be overwhelming if you are not mentally prepared.
- You can get a away with noise, but wind will get you every time.
- Carry bear spray and know how to use it, even if you are not in griz country.
- Sleep is key to stay physical and mentally in the game. Don't skimp on your sleep system. You need to be comfortable and warm.
- Take care of your feet at all times. If you feel a hot spot coming on, stop now -- right now -- and take care of it.
- A GPS is great, but know how to use a map and compass and carry them. Before you set foot into the backcountry, study maps and have a low-tech plan for getting out if stuff goes south.
- Slow down after the shot. Way down. Eat some trail mix and drink some water. You'll be jacked up and can make bad decisions that can lead to a lost animal or an injury.
- Shot placement is everything. Yes, you need enough bow and enough gun, but you absolutely have to make a good shot. Period. Don't risk an iffy shot.
- Have a plan for taking care of the meat in the field, as well as getting meat out of the hills, taking into account weather conditions and terrain.
- Don't leave elk to find elk, but if you're not in elk keep moving.
- Carry a first aid kit, but don't go overboard. Pare it down to the basics that you really need: blister/foot repair including duct tape, NSAID pain relievers, a few heavy duty pain pills if you or a buddy gets seriously hurt, bandaids, butterfly bandages, antiseptic, anti-diarrheal and some latex gloves. All that your can really do in the backcountry is take care of minor injuries and prevent minor injuries from becoming major injuries. Beyond that you're really just buying time to get medical help for a major injury, so there's no reason to overdo it on the first aid kit and carry around a bunch of stuff that isn't going to do you much good.
- Live in the moment and enjoy the little things. Don't get so focused on punching your tag that you lessen the experience. Above all else, have fun!

Read the post above, then reread it! Excellent info in there.

 

[boom]

Read the post above, then reread it! Excellent info in there.

great info. but he is lecturing; NOT saying what he would have done differently on his maiden voyage.

there is a lot of lecturing on this thread. not reminiscing about your first western outing.

 

[North]

Didn’t know about the rondy, thank you!

 

[Boomer51]

great info. but he is lecturing; NOT saying what he would have done differently on his maiden voyage.

there is a lot of lecturing on this thread. not reminiscing about your first western outing.

Na. He's providing what was asked for - advice. Actually, exceptional advice to a new elk hunter...

 

[Gardner.jdavid]

Wish I would have been in a little better shape. Coming from south Alabama to Wyoming on a wilderness hunt with a friend was very tough. I’m going back this year with 1/3 of the gear I took two years ago. Learned a lot the first time.

 

[North]

OK, I just returned from Montana from my first elk hunt. There's plenty of great advice in this thread already, but while it's still fresh in my mind I'll go over a few things I found where my expectations were different from the reality and how I prepared for the hunt.

Preparation for the hunt:

From spring on I did everything I could to get into shape, lost about 45 pounds, did about 50/50 lifting in the gym and hiking and rucking on the steepest hills I could find in my area. I also practiced archery and listened to as many elk/backpack hunting podcasts as I could. Kifarucast and Rich Outdoors ended up being my favorites, but I'm sure there are other good ones. I also watching the Western Hunter videos and some Youtube stuff. I bought both the Elk101 program and the Roe Hunting Resources calling program. I did my best to practice calling, which probably was still one of my weaker points going out there, but I at least had a basic understanding of what the different sounds were and how to make them.

Once actually in the mountains, I physically felt pretty good. The lack of sleep and the elevation played a bigger role in the challenge than the heavy packs and rough terrain. You certainty need to be prepared for a tough hunt, but I'd say I'm in above average shape for 40 years old (OK, at least by Wisconsin standards) and my dad is in excellent shape for a 66 year old and we felt pretty good. Our longest days were about 15 miles over rough mountain terrain. We didn't carry our full camps in our packs, just clothes, food, water and some basics.

How did the hunt differ from what I'd envisioned?

We both carried bino harnesses and binos and neither one of us used the binos at all. If I had to do it over, for an archery hunt in a wooded area, I'd leave them at home, or at least in the truck. They could come in handy, but I don't know if they're a necessity. I pictured doing a lot of glassing and we glassed exactly zero times. Nice binos are a great item to have but I'm glad I didn't spend $2500 on top optics for this hunt and used my budget in other ways. Obviously, if you're hunting in more open terrain or gun hunting they will be much more critical.

Another thing that differed from how I'd planned it was we ended up camping next to the truck the whole time. We'd both geared out to be able to pack in 5 miles, and I thought this would be necessary to get to where the animals are, but in the end I think my dad wanted to stick closer to the truck and having the ability to drive to explore different areas was nice. My nice Cabela's Bighorn tent with the full sized wood stove was sitting at home in my garage, so we still used all the backpacking gear for our camp, and it was good to be flexible in the event we did feel the need to move deeper, but we didn't end up doing it.

Honestly, there weren't many people where we were so even camping on a forest service road seemed pretty remote and isolated. In Montana you get plenty of deep woods feel close to the road.

Things to consider:

At first, we spent too much time looking at sign and taking pictures of every elk turd and rubbed tree we saw. With whitetails, you can get excited over a few rubs on a trail, but elk leave a lot of sign. It's good to know there are elk in the area, yes, but don't focus in on sitting on one meadow just because there's some 3 day old elk droppings there. They move around a lot and have way bigger ranges than deer, so unless those droppings are literally still steaming all it's telling you is that there's elk in the area, but that area is massive.

Another thing to consider is not only do elk share range with moose and deer who leave similar sign, but there are also tons of cattle on public lands in the west. Now, a cow pie is obviously not an elk scat, but the trails that the cattle leave are pretty much indistinguishable from game trails. Cattle in the mountains go EVERYWHERE. It's crazy some of the steep stuff we'd find cow pies on. They're like mountain goats out there. I've heard that elk generally do not share trails with cattle or travel along hiking trails. I don't know if that's entirely true as I did see elk using trails, but I'm sure they prefer to not when they can avoid it. So, if you find a ridge with a bunch of well-worn game trails on it, just be sure they aren't cattle trails.

I sort of wish I'd used a bow sling, my wrist hurts after carrying my bow all those miles.

So how did the hunt end up going?

On day 8, after taking a morning off to let some blisters on my feet heal up, I was able to successfully kill a bull. We'd actually met another group of hunters that evening who usually camp at the spot we were camping, and they asked us if they could share it because it was their traditional camp. They invited us to come out with them and we got into a bull right away. My dad sat back with the caller and I was with another shooter and I was able to draw and was presented with a perfect broadside shot at around 18 yards. The other shooter, who I'd literally just met an hour prior, started whispering “Shoot it, shoot it” making it clear he didn't have a shot and I was clear to take it. The shot was perfect, elk didn't go far, and then the guys we'd just met helped us dress it out and pack it back to camp.

Obviously, it's great to have success killing the animal, but the best part of the hunt was the fact that these guys who'd been hunting this area for years took us out and then spent the entire night helping 2 total strangers from Wisconsin deal with the hardest part of the hunt. These guys and the other Montana elk hunters we talked to were literally the nicest people I've ever talked to. I can't say most Wisconsin whitetail hunters would be as friendly and helpful to out of state guys hunting “their” spots on public land. These guys were literally marking good spots on our maps for us and helping us pack out an animal down 2 miles of steep mountain at midnight. Then they invited us to hunt with them again next year. Not to mention the advice and support of people I met online, westrout on this forum, Les Welch for helping me with my archery, and everyone who posted to this thread with advice.

Oh, one more thing: Make sure your Kifaru pack belt isn't 2” too big for you before filling it with meat and an elk head and packing it down a mountainside in the dark! Not fun.

The whole experience was so awesome that I can say it was worth every minute at the gym and every penny spent on tags and gear and then some. My dad doesn't even hunt and I've never seen him as excited about anything in my entire life as he was when I killed that elk. If you've always dreamed of doing it, just go do it. Even if it takes a few years to be successful, trust me, it's going to be worth it.

View attachment 79662

 

[crazyhawksfan]

OK, I just returned from Montana from my first elk hunt. There's plenty of great advice in this thread already, but while it's still fresh in my mind I'll go over a few things I found where my expectations were different from the reality and how I prepared for the hunt.

Preparation for the hunt:

From spring on I did everything I could to get into shape, lost about 45 pounds, did about 50/50 lifting in the gym and hiking and rucking on the steepest hills I could find in my area. I also practiced archery and listened to as many elk/backpack hunting podcasts as I could. Kifarucast and Rich Outdoors ended up being my favorites, but I'm sure there are other good ones. I also watching the Western Hunter videos and some Youtube stuff. I bought both the Elk101 program and the Roe Hunting Resources calling program. I did my best to practice calling, which probably was still one of my weaker points going out there, but I at least had a basic understanding of what the different sounds were and how to make them.

Once actually in the mountains, I physically felt pretty good. The lack of sleep and the elevation played a bigger role in the challenge than the heavy packs and rough terrain. You certainty need to be prepared for a tough hunt, but I'd say I'm in above average shape for 40 years old (OK, at least by Wisconsin standards) and my dad is in excellent shape for a 66 year old and we felt pretty good. Our longest days were about 15 miles over rough mountain terrain. We didn't carry our full camps in our packs, just clothes, food, water and some basics.

How did the hunt differ from what I'd envisioned?

We both carried bino harnesses and binos and neither one of us used the binos at all. If I had to do it over, for an archery hunt in a wooded area, I'd leave them at home, or at least in the truck. They could come in handy, but I don't know if they're a necessity. I pictured doing a lot of glassing and we glassed exactly zero times. Nice binos are a great item to have but I'm glad I didn't spend $2500 on top optics for this hunt and used my budget in other ways. Obviously, if you're hunting in more open terrain or gun hunting they will be much more critical.

Another thing that differed from how I'd planned it was we ended up camping next to the truck the whole time. We'd both geared out to be able to pack in 5 miles, and I thought this would be necessary to get to where the animals are, but in the end I think my dad wanted to stick closer to the truck and having the ability to drive to explore different areas was nice. My nice Cabela's Bighorn tent with the full sized wood stove was sitting at home in my garage, so we still used all the backpacking gear for our camp, and it was good to be flexible in the event we did feel the need to move deeper, but we didn't end up doing it.

Honestly, there weren't many people where we were so even camping on a forest service road seemed pretty remote and isolated. In Montana you get plenty of deep woods feel close to the road.

Things to consider:

At first, we spent too much time looking at sign and taking pictures of every elk turd and rubbed tree we saw. With whitetails, you can get excited over a few rubs on a trail, but elk leave a lot of sign. It's good to know there are elk in the area, yes, but don't focus in on sitting on one meadow just because there's some 3 day old elk droppings there. They move around a lot and have way bigger ranges than deer, so unless those droppings are literally still steaming all it's telling you is that there's elk in the area, but that area is massive.

Another thing to consider is not only do elk share range with moose and deer who leave similar sign, but there are also tons of cattle on public lands in the west. Now, a cow pie is obviously not an elk scat, but the trails that the cattle leave are pretty much indistinguishable from game trails. Cattle in the mountains go EVERYWHERE. It's crazy some of the steep stuff we'd find cow pies on. They're like mountain goats out there. I've heard that elk generally do not share trails with cattle or travel along hiking trails. I don't know if that's entirely true as I did see elk using trails, but I'm sure they prefer to not when they can avoid it. So, if you find a ridge with a bunch of well-worn game trails on it, just be sure they aren't cattle trails.

I sort of wish I'd used a bow sling, my wrist hurts after carrying my bow all those miles.

So how did the hunt end up going?

On day 8, after taking a morning off to let some blisters on my feet heal up, I was able to successfully kill a bull. We'd actually met another group of hunters that evening who usually camp at the spot we were camping, and they asked us if they could share it because it was their traditional camp. They invited us to come out with them and we got into a bull right away. My dad sat back with the caller and I was with another shooter and I was able to draw and was presented with a perfect broadside shot at around 18 yards. The other shooter, who I'd literally just met an hour prior, started whispering “Shoot it, shoot it” making it clear he didn't have a shot and I was clear to take it. The shot was perfect, elk didn't go far, and then the guys we'd just met helped us dress it out and pack it back to camp.

Obviously, it's great to have success killing the animal, but the best part of the hunt was the fact that these guys who'd been hunting this area for years took us out and then spent the entire night helping 2 total strangers from Wisconsin deal with the hardest part of the hunt. These guys and the other Montana elk hunters we talked to were literally the nicest people I've ever talked to. I can't say most Wisconsin whitetail hunters would be as friendly and helpful to out of state guys hunting “their” spots on public land. These guys were literally marking good spots on our maps for us and helping us pack out an animal down 2 miles of steep mountain at midnight. Then they invited us to hunt with them again next year. Not to mention the advice and support of people I met online, westrout on this forum, Les Welch for helping me with my archery, and everyone who posted to this thread with advice.

Oh, one more thing: Make sure your Kifaru pack belt isn't 2” too big for you before filling it with meat and an elk head and packing it down a mountainside in the dark! Not fun.

The whole experience was so awesome that I can say it was worth every minute at the gym and every penny spent on tags and gear and then some. My dad doesn't even hunt and I've never seen him as excited about anything in my entire life as he was when I killed that elk. If you've always dreamed of doing it, just go do it. Even if it takes a few years to be successful, trust me, it's going to be worth it.

View attachment 79662

Freakin awesome man! These are the stories that make me proud to be a part of the hunting community. For sure out west you just don't come across to many a holes out bowhunting. This story blows me away tho! Stand up boys right there.. congrats on the elk as well! Thanks for sharing.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[Riles1050]

Nice work! Congratulations.

 

[GPool1842]

Lots of good info here. I just got back from my first elk hunt, 9 day solo wilderness backpacking hunt with a longbow, in country I had never been in. I was pretty prepared, been buying gear and researching, learning, listening for a year and a half. I had multiple opportunities and sent 6 arrows. Things I wish I knew better or had: wish I had a Kifaru Sawtooth. Seriously, it got old getting dressed/undressed in a small two person tent. I wanted some room. Wish I would have taken an extra dinner. I spilled one one night and that wasn’t a good evening. Picked every piece and hand washed each one in water just to still have a shitty dinner. Wish I would have mastered ElkNut’s calling sequences. I think he has 4 on the app. Get the app and download them to your phone. You can watch them each night in the tent. Wish I could do more than a standard bugle. Should have been practicing more on this for when I got in close to the herd and the herd bull was going nuts. Maybe I could have sent an arrow at him instead of spikes. Wish I would have had a tripod for my binos. The country I was in warrented a tripod. I resorted to a stick, Paracord, and luekotape.

Edit: I didn’t read far enough down. Very very cool story and congrats on your success!!!

 

[DmrbigEshotT]

Went OTC in Colorado for archery elk September 8-23. Base camp with a Cabelas Alanak and a guy we were with had a couple Davis canvas tents. We spike camped for 3 of the nights on the mountain.

Base camp:
-Wider sleeping bag than the one I use for spike camp
-Thick foam pads for the cot
-Wire brush to make cleaning euro mount skull a lot easier
-large bowl to soak meat in salt water, do laundry, etc.

Spike camp:
-Comfortable pillow
-Army shovel (if needed for flattening out spot for tent on mountain)
-Wider sleeping bag that is still packable and light

 

[Danimal]

Awesome job by the OP so glad to hear that story. I finished my first OTC public land elk hunt as well. Didn't have quite the experience you did but overall it is going to make the time when I get one that much better.

My list is. More and better clothing options. Need better warm and cold gear. We had 70's to 80's in the days and mid 30's some of the nights. I've been a deer/duck hunter for my entire life and should have known better that I would get cold after a hot hike in and then sitting in the wind after sweating.

Second would be to use a have a spike camp option. We packed in and out to base camp every day and it really added on the miles.

Lastly I would say a bow sling or sight cover. The first day of my hunt after losing 50lbs, training, shooting, etc my sight pin bent over and broke (single pin adjustable). Probably got caught in stick or limb while packing through some thick stuff. I didn't even realize it until that evening when I set up looked through my sight to see if I had clearance. What a terrible sinking feeling that was to have my whole week potentially ruined by my gear breaking. Luckily I brought my block target and gerry rigged it back to functional at the camp the next day.

No one in our group got one but we were in the game day 1. It was slow after that but I'm already getting ready for next year.

 

[crunchy]

I've been able to find bulls and a heard. Missed opportunity yesterday morning. Went out this morning a little earlier to.try and get the slip on them.to.get a little closer and a better set up.
the heard had moved into private they crossed over much earlier today and in darkness. There was 4 or 5 bulls, 3 in the heard all nice one being substantially larger then the others..then there was a younger bull and cow hanging out a ways back.

Among all the bulls there was constant bugling and running back and forth. The big guy would run at the loaner bull a few times.

I don't know what time do besides keep heading out in the dark and hoping for the best. Tried to catch them in the evening but no sign.

Anyone try scents successfully? I have a dummy proof cow call that they weren't interested in btw.

I should point out that the cows did not like the tension among the bulls.