Whitetail to Elk

[SteveBurton]

I lived in MD and have hunted whitetail in MD, PA and VA for almost 40 years now. I can say that there is very little that will convey from whitetail to elk hunting. Heck, even hunting whitetail/coues in AZ is totally different than back East.
Hunting elk depends on what season you are in. Early, late, rut? Early isn't as bad because they haven't been pressured as much. Rut, the bulls are kind of dumb but not as bad as bucks looking for a hot date. Late is freaking hard.
Be ready to glass a lot and practice looking for parts of the animal in cover. If you don't see anything, don't be afraid to move, a lot. You'll be hunting big country and thinking that something will show up because the area looks good won't work out most of the time.
Unless you are bow hunting, you don't have to worry as much about camo and being scent free but you do need to pay attention to the wind.
Practice long shots with your rifle. You may not need to shoot 500+ yards but if you do, be ready. This year, my buddy shot his bull at 134 yards. Mine showed up at 635 yards with only 20 minutes of shooting light left so I didn't have time to close the distance.

 

[Npike4040]

I'm a mediocre whitetail hunter at best.....but I sure do have good luck killing elk.

I'm right there with ya! I thought i was doing something right but apparently i'm just lucky...i'll take luck anytime i can get it!

 

[Szwampdonkey]

I’ve been listening to podcast, watching YouTube, pretty much all of the tools available. I think I have a better than average chance of encountering animals with my skill set, but just wanted to hear from anyone who has directly made the game transition.

Not trying to be a prick. But nothing you need to know is on a podcast or Youtube. You just gotta go and learn on the fly, develop the woodsmanship, etc. You should learn to slow down and enjoy that process cause that’s where the real reward is. The Elk will come eventually.

 

[fatlander]

In my limited experience, it always comes down to shooting for archery elk. I’ve yet to go on an elk hunt that a bull wasn’t dead to rights. Making the shots has been the issue for the group of guys I hunt with. Aggressive bulls coming in hot, at eye level, is so much different than shooting a cracked out deer from a tree.

I agree with what’s been said above that elk are much more like turkeys than deer. If turkey hunting to you is sticking a decoy in a field and waiting, elk hunting is going to be tough. If you cut your teeth on running and gunning, killing turkeys with woodsmanship, you’ll do fine.


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[Indian Summer]

I would agree with that for the most part. Elknut’s podcasts are a good way to learn about calling. But that won’t do much good if you can’t find elk to call.

I feel that way about e-scouting. You might as well throw a dart at a map. You can pick several areas and come up with a plan to go there and scout it. But until you put boots on the ground you really won’t learn anything. I’ve ridden horses into areas that were far enough from roads to have very low pressure. Places that had everything elk need. Got back there and no elk. I don’t know why but I don’t stick around to find out. Onto the next potential spot. On the flip side, it’s not uncommon to find elk where they’re not supposed to be according to everything you read on the wonderful worldwide web.

Interestingly once I became a successful elk hunter I did learn how to hunt elk on a map. As long as there are actually elk in the area I’ll find them. That didn’t take years. It took a lifetime. Decades and decades and lots of dead elk…. And more that got away.

 

[doc holiday13]

Take the e-scouting course and get a subscription to OnX or the like . Start dropping pins and build a hunt plan. set aside 8-10 days for boots on the ground. Pick waaaay more spots than you think you can get to, because you'll get to your location and be like "oh yeah this place sucks"

 

[texastea23]

Born and raised on whitetail hunting the midwest. I went on my first western hunting trip in September '24 and had a blast! The main skills that translated for me were woodsmanship, mapping, and understanding thermals. I mainly hunt public land for whitetails which helped me develop those aforementioned skills - elk hunting was just the master class version of all of that.

My advice:

1. Get in the best damn shape of your life.
2. Get your gear organized and get comfortable with everything. Don't do this once you're on your trip.
3. Keep your mind in the game. Once your mind starts drifting to negative thoughts you'll give up.
4. Find elk - this means move on your feet, in your truck, etc. and bugle and glass until you find elk. Identify some key characteristics of things to look for on the map, mark them, and check them while you are there (content from Mark Livesay really helped me here. Check this out: https://www.treelineacademy.net/podcast-main--b42b4).

I was fortunate to shoot a bull on day 8 of our 9 day hunt! It was unreal. I'm hooked now to say the least and hope to be going again in 2025.

You can check out my hunt recap if interested here: https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/co-archery-elk-first-hunt-write-up-tag-filled.375936/

I’m from the Midwest and last year was my first year too! Congrats on the bull!

I was Not successful but I was one foot away, 50 yards and he jumped the string. He had a spike in front of him that was about to wind me so it was a champ or chump moment. I agree that the woodsmanship, map skills, and thermal understanding are the main things that transition. I think for archery knowing when to draw and shot placement on a live target are added benefits.

To piggyback off your advice:
1. Getting in shape is one of the best ways to give yourself an edge. A good test is if you can run 2 miles without stopping 3x in a week then you are at my minimum baseline for elk hunting (I know this isn’t the baseline for everyone, but for a complete newbie it’s an attainable goal for most folks before the beginning of next season).

2. Practice with your gear on both walking/hiking and shooting. Shoot until your arms feel like jello, and shoot some more with that to help simulate the shakes. Another good way is to sprint from your target to your bow, and put off a shot within 10 seconds. I set myself at 50 yards as my shot limit in the field, but I regularly practiced at 60 and 70. Move your target back and forth, start at 70 some days. That way when the shot happens your confidence is good if things go differently than what you’re expecting (they will).

3. Keep your mind in the game, but don’t forget to give yourself a mental break. Especially if you do it all by yourself like I did. Take a moment to appreciate your hunting in some of the most beautiful country in the planet, always take a look around! I took my naps on the mountain and that’s actually when I heard my first bugle. Also after 9 days of no real shower, I went to town and got a hotel for a night, then went and got a big meal. I hunted way harder for the rest of the trip after that. It also made me rethink my strategy and I moved myself to a completely new spot where I found success.

4. Since it’s the first time, once you find elk don’t leave them to find more. Elk aren’t always bugling their face off, sometimes they just do some quiet whistles or no sounds at all. If you take the time to hunt the quiet ones once they get loud you’ll be more confident. They aren’t all like the videos you see.

5. Don’t be afraid to talk to other hunters, and let them know it’s your first season and you really don’t know what you’re doing. Ask for hunting strategy advice. No matter how good or bad the advice is, think about it and see how you’d apply it to your situation. Write it down to remember it if you have to. The cockiest guys I met ended up giving me advice that was terrible, and the guys that only had a couple seasons under their belt ended up having some of the best advice. Offer some snacks/water or to help pack out for the advice. You never know when you’ll run into someone again!

Those aren’t everything you should take into the field, but it’s a good start to help get you prepared.

Elk hunting is truly an experience that you won’t forget. I tell people now that deer hunting just holds me over until turkey season, and then after turkey season it’s all about elk until September.

 

[Fullfan]

Remember one thing about E scouting. Everyone that can not put boots on the ground is doing the same thing. E scouting will not show you all the other guys looking at the same place.

 

[texastea23]

Remember one thing about E scouting. Everyone that can not put boots on the ground is doing the same thing. E scouting will not show you all the other guys looking at the same place.

E scouting is such a blessing and a curse. I asked a land management employee for some advice on current access when I got to the area. I pointed to specific areas where I had planned to try first. The second one I pointed to he goes “I’m warning you, this spot is asked about by literally anyone that comes into this office and has been like that for 5 years”. I took it as a positive in that I was looking at the right terrain, but it also sucks knowing that for every guy that talks to land management in person there’s probably 20 that have e scouted it and will be there anyways.

 

[cnelk]

If you’re E scouting and an area looks really good, it’s probably not.

The obvious spots are just that - too obvious.

 

[spike camp]

If you’re E scouting and an area looks really good, it’s probably not.

The obvious spots are just that - too obvious.

I escouted an otc spot years ago, and it’s awesome.
The terrain makes it totally obvious, absolutely perfectly elky beautiful, dead end trail head, ect..
Gets NR hammered, ML guided, and still can be awesome.
Hundreds of trail cam pics, generally up to 320ish bulls.
Saw a 350 in there years back.
Just gotta know how to work it.

Hopefully the change in tag allocations, makes it even better.