What time do you come off the mountain durning archery elk hunting?

[Marble]

one thing I didn't see mentioned in this thread, if you are inexperienced in the woods at night, take safety glasses to wear out. sounds stupid but a number of folks have been seriously injured by branches they didn't see.

That's a great idea. I ride horses at night quite a bit and get whacked in the face every year.

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[shootnrun]

I killed my bull last year at least a mile from the truck with only minutes of shooting light left. And he covered 800+ yards and climbed 400+ ft to get to me. I couldn't believe it, but arrowed him all the same. If I had been at the truck before dark who knows what would have happened or if I woukd have had another opportunity. Hunt til dark, then walk out.

Crazy to know people get out before dark while packing around 2-3 headlamps and a backup flashlight...

 

[Wapiti_87]

Great thread, cool hearing other perspectives.

New elk hunter here so pop your grain of salt before reading.. but I hunt solo and backpack to the top of a ridgeline at 11,000' 3.5 miles from my truck,, 2400' gain. There's a spring on the saddle and otherwise water is scarce so it's a good place to camp, usually a few other groups camping up there or using the trail to get up. By camping up top I avoid most people and can hunt multiple drainages each day by dropping in from above tree line, a sidehill traverse is cumbersome enough to really limit the distance you can go.

BUT, what I've come to realize with my limited experience is the impact of thermal currents even when commuting to "hunt areas" from "camping areas" is huge, I'm kicking myself for the number of drainages I blew out by approaching from above in the cool morning hours - vs. the action I've gotten into mid-morning on when thermals rise and I can spend the better part of the day exploring and calling down into drainages. For me, hiking out at night on an exposed ridge would wash my scent down into the same drainages I'd hope to hunt during the day, so I spend the evenings a half mile or mile from camp hoping to call something up from the dark timber, then bolt back to camp as the light fades.

Does this make sense to anyone else or am I fabricating some BS to justify being afraid of Sasquatch's and lions?!?