Worst thing to ever happen to elk hunting

[trophyhill]

What leads you to believe they would not have found it with a paper map?

good hunters are always, always going to find their honeyholes regardless on whether other hunters are invading our "secret spots". and sometimes we adjust to the pressure and kill elk anyways

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Something to think about how do you think people felt about technology advancing that hunted elk in the 60's, 70's. 80's and so on?

When I started elk hunting, there wasn't the clothing available that there is now, we wore Malone wool pants, wool shirts. My sleeping bag that I backpacked with then, weighed more than my sleeping bag, tent, sleeping pad, and cookstove that I use now...COMBINED. A long shot back then was 300 yards and a rifle that weighed 9lbs loaded was a "feather-weight". Boots sucked major ass back then too, cant tell you how many miles I've hiked in sorels elk hunting.

Whining about technology seems to be a favorite past-time of every generation...but what you're stating here, is really just a fraction of what makes all hunting so much easier today. Lighter, better gear, easier access to information, books, websites, better shooting rifles, more disposable income, ability to travel farther, faster in better vehicles, better optics at cheaper prices,....the list goes on and on.

Plus, there's just this bullchit that many want others to believe that elk hunting and hunting out west is just so difficult, that you need to be some super-athlete to do it. That myth is rapidly dying because that's all just crap, it isn't that tough...and don't tell anyone, but it never has been. Anyone with a even a modest amount of ambition can find elk, hunt elk, and kill elk...just a fact.

Meh, technology from 1940-2000 in the hunting industry was a slow and gradual line. From 2010 to 2020 it’s a vertical line and there’s no arguing that. I don’t need to list all the advancements in the last decade compared to any other time in history because you know them. We need to police our own but so far all we’ve stopped as of late is using drones to find animals. But hey place 500 trail cameras at every water hole and pattern your quarry like a lazy SOB instead of scouting by boot leather all summer long.

 

[Next Ridge]

I think one thing is people losing hunting access closer to home. I deer hunt public land close to home but the quality of deer and experience are generally crap. It's ok to put some meat in the freezer. I lost my "affordable" hunting lease in 2012 and it's near impossible to find a comparable replacement that family and friends can enjoy also.

For me it's way cheaper and more enjoyable to go out west every year than it is to find a decent place closer to home.

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I’ve lived in the east and the west at different times. ^^^This is spot on.

 

[EastMT]

Out of state plates don’t mean jack. I’ll be rolling into Montana with southern plates and I grew up there before it was fashionable. Lic plates don’t tell you jack, I had the spots I’m going 20 years before you, too bad if my plates don’t match.

 

[MTSasquatch]

In Montana, the number of archery hunters doubles every ten years. If hunter numbers are declining, it isn’t in my state.

 

[BuzzH]

Meh, technology from 1940-2000 in the hunting industry was a slow and gradual line. From 2010 to 2020 it’s a vertical line and there’s no arguing that. I don’t need to list all the advancements in the last decade compared to any other time in history because you know them. We need to police our own but so far all we’ve stopped as of late is using drones to find animals. But hey place 500 trail cameras at every water hole and pattern your quarry like a lazy SOB instead of scouting by boot leather all summer long.

Agreed...still isn't tough to kill elk now.

 

[ManyBullets]

Declining hunter numbers is a myth. The percentage of people hunting compared to the overall population is probably decreasing.

Look at application numbers across the west and you'll see increasing demand for decreasing resources.

 

[Sled]

Hunter numbers are down in the East and the Midwest due to lack passing down the torch to the next generation you could say. That is because private land ownership is shifting to the next generation and they want the money for hunting big whitetails instead of letting the neighbors kids hunt it for free like the good ole days. This forces everyone to the west where hunter numbers are SKY rocketing. Couple that with your Newbergs of the world telling you exactly how to hunt western states. I don’t know why know one else realizes this. It’s not my opinion I heard this years ago..

I understand your point but honestly think you're missing something obvious. Coming from whitetail country myself I can say that most people would rather hunt in the west than sit and shoot in the east. The two don't compare if you've done both. Add your private property to the mix and it's even worse.

I'm sure there are other social factors but the above makes sense to me.

 

[bigharge]

My biggest complaint about elk hunting or really all types of hunting in general is how much emphasis is placed on harvesting/killing an animal. A successful hunting trip is measured by so many other things in my book than whether or not I put a carcass in the back of my truck. Life is too short to take hunting so serious. It’s an extreme privilege to even be on the same mountain as some of these animals and the sunrises and sunsets many of us have seen are things most people in this world will only ever see on a screen. And to experience most of it with my son, dad, and brother is more precious than any animal anyone has ever drew blood on.


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[CamoPirate]

My biggest complaint about elk hunting or really all types of hunting in general is how much emphasis is placed on harvesting/killing an animal.
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I'd disagree here; you're combining two different statements of hunting into one statement.

I don't feel like whether you kill or not should affect you enjoying the thrill of the hunt, the adventure, and the effort, and everything going along with it. But when it comes down to it, if you don't kill and bring home food, it's not a successful hunt. One part of it is a spectrum, your experience. But the result? That's very black and white, IMO.

 

[timekiller13]

All this technology and the success rate is still about 10%, year after year.

So, is it really helping that much?

 

[deerhunt1988]

Exact same thing that has happened to turkey hunting.

 

[def90]

I don’t know, I don’t think OnX is any different than looking at topo maps, no matter how good the area looks on the satellite view I still hike in to places to scout and more often than not find zero sign of elk on the ground. I’ve hiked in to 4 different basins over the last month that looked like honey holes online only to find zilch. You still need to do the same work of verifying with OnX that you do with a map.

I think youtube videos and podcasts such as meateater have more to do with the uptick of people finding “your spot” than OnX does. I know I’ve recognized an area or two in Colorado while watching various hunting videos.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

It's always interesting to see anti nonresident sentiment. Especially as it relates to NATIONAL Forest land in the UNITED States of America.

As far as people using posts, photos, comments etc. to learn where to hunt, have you ever heard of a counter intelligence operation?

 

[mwebs]

I think what’s being missed, maybe this was mentioned in the thread, is that the barrier to entry for western elk hunting has been lowered significantly by the tech advances. Yea you can say topo maps were always there, clothes and weapons have always been advancing, etc. But tell me how many guys from Wisconsin we’re calling a FS office to get a topo map mailed to them in the 90s so they could scout. It’s just so easy now. Anyone can download OnX, watch a few YouTube videos and then they feel comfortable enough to drive 20 hours out to hunt elk. That did not happen back then, period.

And yea the hunter number argument is tired and false. More people than ever are and are trying to hunt elk out west. Less people are hunting squirrels on their neighbors farm and less people as a percentage of the population are hunting. But ID tags sold out in record time again, draw tags just get harder each year, and I feel sorry for everyone going to CO this year. We don’t need more hunter recruitment into western elk hunting.

 

[cuttiebrownbow]

The same people complaining about ONX maps providing NRs technology and getting them to different spots would still be complaining about NRs even if the internet was never invented.

Working within the outdoor industry I find the older people get the more selfish they get. You enjoyed hunting by yourself for 20 years? Now you want to cry about someone being in your spot? LOL

Talk about entitlement. Attitudes like that is what creates horrible point systems throughout the country, limits public access, etc.

I belong to some large hunt clubs with limited membership. The older members are even the problem there as they get so selfish as they get older.

Old gray hairs created the problems in the western states not the internet. Then make it harder to get tags, get access and then the states that don’t do that suffer because everyone is forced to go there.

Personally, I don’t mind limiting tags as NR. But, give me access to federal lands, don’t make me wait to hunt. My hunting license should be the same as a resident. I’m not here to prop up some outfitter industry.


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[OnPointBrands]

One perspective I’d add to this is that yes, likely more people are coming to hunt out west due to lower barriers of entry, but why do they want to? Lower barriers just means that they can, but why? Because people like to have adventures, try new things, and revolve as hunters.

You might get tired of sitting in the same 3 tree stands on your family’s 40 acres season after season, regardless of how successfully you may be, and want to try something new. So for those who have been hunting the same spots year after year only for them to now be “found” by others, is it such a bad thing that you need to evolve as a hunter and try your skills in finding new ground? I understand the frustration and deal with it myself when deer hunting public ground only to have someone stroll by an hour after sunrise, but it is public hunting land. Without everyone’s tax dollars and license fees, it wouldn’t exist, so everyone has the same claim to it regardless if you’ve been hunting it for 20 years or 20 minutes.


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[AG8]

Out of state plates don’t mean jack. I’ll be rolling into Montana with southern plates and I grew up there before it was fashionable. Lic plates don’t tell you jack, I had the spots I’m going 20 years before you, too bad if my plates don’t match.

^^^ THIS. This deserves to be repeated.

 

[Nuke Man]

The worst thing to happen to hunting in general, heck to society is social media.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

The worst thing to happen to hunting in general, heck to society is social media.

And yet here you are on social media. Crazy isn't it?