What is the attraction of elk hunting?

[barehandlineman]

Hunting whitetail takes sitting on your ass in a stand for long enough to get lucky! All the scouting in the world doesn’t do you a bit of good if you only have a 80 acre lot to hunt, you have to be lucky enough to have a big buck cross into your ground.

All that garbage in your last paragraph are excused for poor hunting ability. Every OTC unit has mature herd bulls and plenty of space for guys to kill them if they put in the work. Bulls don’t get quiet when they are smelling a hot cow they just move, a bull is not smart enough to be like hey buddy, there’s dudes around, let’s just impress this cow quietly and since there’s people around we won’t fight over this cow, let’s just talk it out while whispering! Elk scream and fight to impress cows and earn the right to bred them, they move there cows away from other bulls and try to kick those bulls ass if they get too close.

OTC Elk hunting for mature herd bulls is one of the most challenging and physical demanding hunts there is. The talk about killing rag horns is stupid, that’s like saying whitetail hunting is easy, i shot a spike on the way to may stand on opening day!

When it comes to archery elk hunting most people don’t have what it takes to be successful, some get lucky now and then buy most fail and give up. Those people sit down and start listing excuses on the web, it was too crowded, too many people hiking, elk were quiet, wolves moved in, it was too hot, it was raining too much, the moon was full, blah blah blah. all are a bunch of cry baby excuses that we have all made at some point. That’s why success rates are sub 10% not because of elk numbers or overcrowding, it’s because it’s hard and people don’t like hard.

You want a challenge, go find a herd bull in an OTC unit, put in the effort to put yourself in bow range while playing the wind, knowing escape routes, keep your composure when that bull starts screaming and trashing trees all around you. Listen to him scream in your face and when you get that huge adrenaline dump and you start shaking, calm your nerves, think about what the bull is going to do next, put yourself in the right spot to have a clear shooting lane in the right spot. Most of the time all of this happens in a matter of seconds. Now make that shot you’ve been training for all year, after the shot use your tracking skills to track that bull into the bottom of the nastiest blow down shot hole on the mountain. Now cut that elk up with the knife in your pack, break down that entire 800lb animal and pack him piece by piece out of that shit box, through waist high dead fall, through multiple creek crossings. You feel dead by the time you finally make it back to the trail head, like you can’t take another step. Now dump that load and go do it again 4 more times, only the last time you will have antlers catching on every branch or sapling along the way. By the time the month of Sept. is over your down 20lbs or more even though you ate as much as you could pack every single day!

After all of that, turn around and do it again the following year, and then the year after that, easy peasy. No where near as challenging as sitting in that stand in your body warmer suit playing candy Crush!!

Real Archery Elk hunting is a month long suck fest every single year and many of us can’t get enough of it and think about it from Oct 1st - Aug 31st every year!


Yes I’ve hunted mature whitetail, lol
View attachment 543332

What he said

 

[ckleeves]

Pretty good question, and over the last 20 years, I've often thought about this. I've said it before, I hunt elk a lot, but don't put it high on my list of hunts I like to do. But, for some reason, I spend weeks every September hunting elk. I do like to eat them, and would hate to go a year without an elk in the freezer, but if it was only about that, I could pick a cow tag up, and kill one in a day and be done with it, so there is surely more to it than just the meat.

The last couple of years has gotten a bit worse from a "bumping into hunters" standpoint, which makes it even more perplexing, but as sure as September arrives, I'll be out there hunting, spending weeks on something not high up in the rankings of hunts I like to do.

I think we are on the same page. I like eating them too, and I’ll be out there grinding it out again this fall just like every year doing the exact same thing “spending weeks on something not high up in the rankings of hunts I like to do” is a great way to put it.

I’m not saying anybody is right or wrong, I just find the pedestal elk are put on interesting. I work all over the country and you can’t hardly say you’re from CO without elk hunting coming up when talking to a fellow hunter on the job site. It’s never Mule Deer which I find interesting.

Same with Coues which I find one of the most challenging animals to hunt. You never meet a Coues deer nut outside of AZ. I’m sure they are out there but I have never ran into one.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I declined a transfer to Denver in the 80s and it was reasonable at that time. However that was influenced by a couple trips in 5:00pm traffic; canadian geese standing on the dumpsters at the federal center and the population in general.

Separate from that I hunt elk for the meat. I got the horn thing out of my life about 30 bulls ago. I just like the search but then again I'm haying during bow season and I rarely see anyone during rifle season.

Deer are just a bonus. I have a pile of muley and whitetail racks in the barn. After a few are in the house - enough is enough.

 

[St.CroixArcher]

Hunting whitetail takes sitting on your ass in a stand for long enough to get lucky! All the scouting in the world doesn’t do you a bit of good if you only have a 80 acre lot to hunt, you have to be lucky enough to have a big buck cross into your ground.

All that garbage in your last paragraph are excused for poor hunting ability. Every OTC unit has mature herd bulls and plenty of space for guys to kill them if they put in the work. Bulls don’t get quiet when they are smelling a hot cow they just move, a bull is not smart enough to be like hey buddy, there’s dudes around, let’s just impress this cow quietly and since there’s people around we won’t fight over this cow, let’s just talk it out while whispering! Elk scream and fight to impress cows and earn the right to bred them, they move there cows away from other bulls and try to kick those bulls ass if they get too close.

OTC Elk hunting for mature herd bulls is one of the most challenging and physical demanding hunts there is. The talk about killing rag horns is stupid, that’s like saying whitetail hunting is easy, i shot a spike on the way to my stand on opening day!

When it comes to archery elk hunting most people don’t have what it takes to be successful, some get lucky now and then buy most fail and give up. Those people sit down and start listing excuses on the web, it was too crowded, too many people hiking, elk were quiet, wolves moved in, it was too hot, it was raining too much, the moon was full, blah blah blah. all are a bunch of cry baby excuses that we have all made at some point. That’s why success rates are sub 10% not because of elk numbers or overcrowding, it’s because it’s hard and people don’t like hard.

You want a challenge, go find a herd bull in an OTC unit, put in the effort to put yourself in bow range while playing the wind, knowing escape routes, keep your composure when that bull starts screaming and trashing trees all around you. Listen to him scream in your face and when you get that huge adrenaline dump and you start shaking, calm your nerves, think about what the bull is going to do next, put yourself in the right spot to have a clear shooting lane in the right spot. Most of the time all of this happens in a matter of seconds. Now make that shot you’ve been training for all year, after the shot use your tracking skills to track that bull into the bottom of the nastiest blow down shit hole on the mountain. Now cut that elk up with the knife that’s in your 30lb pack you’ve been dragging around all season, break down that entire 800lb animal and pack him piece by piece out of that shit box, through waist high dead fall, through multiple creek crossings. You feel dead by the time you finally make it back to the trail head, like you can’t take another step. Now dump that load and go do it again 4 more times, only the last time you will have antlers catching on every branch or sapling along the way. By the time the month of Sept. is over your down 20lbs or more even though you ate as much as you could pack every single day!

After all of that, turn around and do it again the following year, and then the year after that, easy peasy. No where near as challenging as sitting in that whitetail stand in your body warmer suit playing candy Crush!!

Real Archery Elk hunting is a month long suck fest every single year and many of us can’t get enough of it and think about it from Oct 1st - Aug 31st every year!


Yes I’ve hunted mature whitetail, lol
View attachment 543332

Can I please come hunt with you!

 

[nphunter]

Can I please come hunt with you!

You can come hunt OR, the draw is next month.

 

[4rcgoat]

Elk hunting in the mountains is a super unique experience.

I grew up in the upper Midwest - we sat in a rifle blind from 5am until 5pm, freezing our dicks off, HOPING a deer walked by. Everyday, same thing, for at least a week. We absolutely loved it.

It is literally the most boring hunt ever. I moved to colorado 16 years ago and started mountain hunting right away. You couldn’t pay me enough to go back and sit in a blind all day like that again.

You and I are spoiled. We live in colorado - it’s a beautiful and amazing place. Most of these people live in a shit hole town in the Midwest, zero scenery, not much wildlife. Coming to colorado for an elk hunting is absolutely the highlight of their year.

Don’t take what you have for granted ;-)

If your lucky enough to be in the mountains, your lucky enough!

 

[MuleyFever]

Hunting whitetail takes sitting on your ass in a stand for long enough to get lucky! All the scouting in the world doesn’t do you a bit of good if you only have a 80 acre lot to hunt, you have to be lucky enough to have a big buck cross into your ground.

All that garbage in your last paragraph are excused for poor hunting ability. Every OTC unit has mature herd bulls and plenty of space for guys to kill them if they put in the work. Bulls don’t get quiet when they are smelling a hot cow they just move, a bull is not smart enough to be like hey buddy, there’s dudes around, let’s just impress this cow quietly and since there’s people around we won’t fight over this cow, let’s just talk it out while whispering! Elk scream and fight to impress cows and earn the right to bred them, they move there cows away from other bulls and try to kick those bulls ass if they get too close.

OTC Elk hunting for mature herd bulls is one of the most challenging and physical demanding hunts there is. The talk about killing rag horns is stupid, that’s like saying whitetail hunting is easy, i shot a spike on the way to my stand on opening day!

When it comes to archery elk hunting most people don’t have what it takes to be successful, some get lucky now and then buy most fail and give up. Those people sit down and start listing excuses on the web, it was too crowded, too many people hiking, elk were quiet, wolves moved in, it was too hot, it was raining too much, the moon was full, blah blah blah. all are a bunch of cry baby excuses that we have all made at some point. That’s why success rates are sub 10% not because of elk numbers or overcrowding, it’s because it’s hard and people don’t like hard.

You want a challenge, go find a herd bull in an OTC unit, put in the effort to put yourself in bow range while playing the wind, knowing escape routes, keep your composure when that bull starts screaming and trashing trees all around you. Listen to him scream in your face and when you get that huge adrenaline dump and you start shaking, calm your nerves, think about what the bull is going to do next, put yourself in the right spot to have a clear shooting lane in the right spot. Most of the time all of this happens in a matter of seconds. Now make that shot you’ve been training for all year, after the shot use your tracking skills to track that bull into the bottom of the nastiest blow down shit hole on the mountain. Now cut that elk up with the knife that’s in your 30lb pack you’ve been dragging around all season, break down that entire 800lb animal and pack him piece by piece out of that shit box, through waist high dead fall, through multiple creek crossings. You feel dead by the time you finally make it back to the trail head, like you can’t take another step. Now dump that load and go do it again 4 more times, only the last time you will have antlers catching on every branch or sapling along the way. By the time the month of Sept. is over your down 20lbs or more even though you ate as much as you could pack every single day!

After all of that, turn around and do it again the following year, and then the year after that, easy peasy. No where near as challenging as sitting in that whitetail stand in your body warmer suit playing candy Crush!!

Real Archery Elk hunting is a month long suck fest every single year and many of us can’t get enough of it and think about it from Oct 1st - Aug 31st every year!


Yes I’ve hunted mature whitetail, lol
View attachment 543332

Thats all cool and bad ass sounding but that is not what the OP is talking about. He isnt asking why the guys that grind it out for a heard bull do it. He is asking why thousands of people drive halfway across the country to fight crowds and kill the first raghorn they see. Why they find the experience worth the effort and cost. How they find that fun, considering so many never even get that raghorn anyway.

I think the answer lies in the adventure and opportunity to do something different. I am sure many of them have the dream of finding a big bull but they like the idea of filling the tag more. For many its just a vacation. I do some hunts just to get out and hunt and be out there with no real expectation of killing anything. Then there are the groups that just want to hang out. I would gladly go on just about any hunt if I could hang out with friends and family.

 

[woods89]

Hunting whitetail takes sitting on your ass in a stand for long enough to get lucky! All the scouting in the world doesn’t do you a bit of good if you only have a 80 acre lot to hunt, you have to be lucky enough to have a big buck cross into your ground.

All that garbage in your last paragraph are excused for poor hunting ability. Every OTC unit has mature herd bulls and plenty of space for guys to kill them if they put in the work. Bulls don’t get quiet when they are smelling a hot cow they just move, a bull is not smart enough to be like hey buddy, there’s dudes around, let’s just impress this cow quietly and since there’s people around we won’t fight over this cow, let’s just talk it out while whispering! Elk scream and fight to impress cows and earn the right to bred them, they move there cows away from other bulls and try to kick those bulls ass if they get too close.

OTC Elk hunting for mature herd bulls is one of the most challenging and physical demanding hunts there is. The talk about killing rag horns is stupid, that’s like saying whitetail hunting is easy, i shot a spike on the way to my stand on opening day!

When it comes to archery elk hunting most people don’t have what it takes to be successful, some get lucky now and then buy most fail and give up. Those people sit down and start listing excuses on the web, it was too crowded, too many people hiking, elk were quiet, wolves moved in, it was too hot, it was raining too much, the moon was full, blah blah blah. all are a bunch of cry baby excuses that we have all made at some point. That’s why success rates are sub 10% not because of elk numbers or overcrowding, it’s because it’s hard and people don’t like hard.

You want a challenge, go find a herd bull in an OTC unit, put in the effort to put yourself in bow range while playing the wind, knowing escape routes, keep your composure when that bull starts screaming and trashing trees all around you. Listen to him scream in your face and when you get that huge adrenaline dump and you start shaking, calm your nerves, think about what the bull is going to do next, put yourself in the right spot to have a clear shooting lane in the right spot. Most of the time all of this happens in a matter of seconds. Now make that shot you’ve been training for all year, after the shot use your tracking skills to track that bull into the bottom of the nastiest blow down shit hole on the mountain. Now cut that elk up with the knife that’s in your 30lb pack you’ve been dragging around all season, break down that entire 800lb animal and pack him piece by piece out of that shit box, through waist high dead fall, through multiple creek crossings. You feel dead by the time you finally make it back to the trail head, like you can’t take another step. Now dump that load and go do it again 4 more times, only the last time you will have antlers catching on every branch or sapling along the way. By the time the month of Sept. is over your down 20lbs or more even though you ate as much as you could pack every single day!

After all of that, turn around and do it again the following year, and then the year after that, easy peasy. No where near as challenging as sitting in that whitetail stand in your body warmer suit playing candy Crush!!

Real Archery Elk hunting is a month long suck fest every single year and many of us can’t get enough of it and think about it from Oct 1st - Aug 31st every year!


Yes I’ve hunted mature whitetail, lol
View attachment 543332

A lot of what you said is true, but you can shoot elk off a pivot too, which is probably similar to a some private land whitetail hunting.

Whitetail hunting is what you make it. People talk all the time about sitting on stands on small plots, but there are hundreds of thousands of acres of pretty wild country in the Midwest and East, and not very many people are choosing to hunt them. Mature bucks absolutely exist in a lot of these places, and it's an incredibly enjoyable chess match to find and kill one.

 

[Dos Perros]

Granted I haven’t hunted Colorado OTC for a few years, I used to have good OTC hunts there with little competition and always bulls over 310”. Bugling, meatballs, the whole experience. I think you just have to work to find it.

I’d rather hunt OTC Colorado than spend any time in a tree stand. Has anyone ever uttered the words as the sun is rising “got damn that is a beautiful corn field” ? It just doesn’t suit my nature. Simple as that for me.

 

[woods89]

Granted I haven’t hunted Colorado OTC for a few years, I used to have good OTC hunts there with little competition and always bulls over 310”. Bugling, meatballs, the whole experience. I think you just have to work to find it.

I’d rather hunt OTC Colorado than spend any time in a tree stand. Has anyone ever uttered the words as the sun is rising “got damn that is a beautiful corn field” ? It just doesn’t suit my nature. Simple as that for me.

I'm probably strange, but give me a cliffy hardwood Ozarks ridge about 2 miles from the truck, with the whitetail rut rolling, and I'm a really happy guy.

But no one else should do it.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I’ve had some pretty awe-inspiring sunrises from treestands over CRP and in the woods. Watching a line of deer come to you from a distance, covered in frost, with steam coming out of their noses, completely unaware that you’re watching them, is pretty cool. Being 100% immersed in nature and listening to the world wake up is incredible wherever you hunt.

However, being in the mountains is just different. Hunting WT during gun seasons over food plots and ag fields can be very predictable, and if you have enough patience, and some luck, you can consistently kill mature bucks most years. On the other hand, the same cannot be said for elk hunting in my experience.

 

[Coveyleader]

It is weird, i have shoot tons of rag horns but never never shoot spikes, 2x2 3x3s Whitetails which are the same as a raghorn.

Weird we are!

 

[Jbow387]

Kinda an odd question and it’s hard to put in writing exactly what I mean. I’m not talking about good quality tags, limited units anything like that.

I’m talking Colorado OTC, public land, success of 10% type hunts. How are people lining up by the thousands to pay 760.00 plus time off work, fuel, food, gear etc for this type of experience?

I guess I just don’t get it. There are far more challenging animals to hunt than raghorn bulls, IMO a big mature whitetail is far more challenging to kill.

From the woods with way to many hunters, non hunting outdoor rec, small, quiet bulls that don’t really even act like elk etc. Are people genuinely happy with this type of experience or is it just kinda a novelty that is something new to try?

For me, I grew up in NM and southern CO then joined the military and have been stationed on a coast the past 2 decades. I love hunting white tails and trying to kill an old, mature buck may be one of the most frustrating things in hunting. But there is just something about getting out west again for me that I will continue to do until I retire and move back out there. Some of it is the solitude, some of if it the challenge of going somewhere you’ve never been and be part of the 10% whether elk, mule deer, sheep, etc.
That being said, I am not hunting CO OTC any time soon, I’ll try to cash in points when i retire.

 

[elkguide]

What is the attraction - of - elk - hunting?

ELK


To describe elk hunting to someone that has never done it the best description I can give you is....


Take a turkey, cross it with a whitetail and add 400 pounds.... that's why I do it.

 

[Elkangle]

https://www.bowhunter.com/editorial/ranking-toughest-big-game-animal-to-hunt/384789

Good article for this thread

 

[cnelk]

When you are in the 10% club year after year it kinda grows on ya

 

[Roughwater]

I'm not in the 10% club but I like most everything about Elk hunting. I'm 73 and never lived in real Elk country but maybe that's part of the draw for me? I love being in the mountains and should have moved their long ago but a little late now and my wife hates the mountains. I've always enjoyed hunting, hiking and camping. Making the the trip is even exciting to me. I love hearing the Elk bugle so for me Archery season is my favorite time to Elk hunt. I have hunted in Colorado 3 times, Utah 3 times, Idaho once and Montana once but hoping to draw Montana this year. There is nothing much better to me than hearing a Elk bugle back that I've located. It's a huge challenge, especially now at my age but I am still able though I don't get around as quickly I can get up most mountains. I would be tempted to go in the future even if I couldn't hunt just to be there. Regular folks can have their streets of gold when they pass, just give me mountains with cold creeks, aspen and pine and emerald lakes.

Terry

 

[Whip]

I've often asked myself the same questions. Why put myself through all that? Hike in the summer heat with a loaded pack, buy piles of gear that only gets used when I hunt out west, spend countless hours planning and dreaming, not to mention untold dollars on tags, bonus points, extremely low odd draw applications, convincing my wife that our summer vacations should consist of driving out west to learn a new area. The list of unanswered questions goes on and on. None of it makes any sense.

But I do it because I have to. It is my passion and keeps me alive. I dread the day when I decide I just can't do it anymore.

Elk hunting is hard. Really hard, to the point that most guys I know here in the Midwest don't even attempt it. But give me one screaming slobbering pissing bull in a season and I'll be begging to go back again and again.

 

[Coveyleader]

I’ve come to the realization I hunt OTC to simply keep in shape and look like an actual human vs the majority of the US these days!

 

[EmperorMA]

Elk taste good.