YOUR success rate on elk.

4 elk hunts in 4 years
2 bulls killed
All archery
All public land
2 OTC and 2 draws
6 consecutive days a year
And a whole lot of fun!!!
 
This thread is full of hunters who enjoy some serious success! Impressive stats from some of you, makes me feel very inadequate haha I guess I need to treasure my few harvests less than I thought!
 
Years hunting 5 years elk hunting DIY
- Elk taken - 2 Bulls (1 in Colorado OTC and 1 Wyoming - Gen. / Archery
- Archery, Rifle, ML? Archery
- Public land or private - Public
- OTC or draw? 4 years OTC Colorado - 1 yr. Draw Wyoming Gen.
- Days per year spent hunting - 6 (Colorado killed bull on day 1, Wyoming Day 5)
 
Ive killed 23 elk in 25 years of hunting.
9 bulls and the rest are cows and calves...Saskatchewan has an open season for elk for either archery or rifle....cow calf bull is legal in most zones.

Of the 23 kills 9 are archery the rest have been with rifle. Furthest hunt from home, was Utah this year with a spike on day five.

Largest bull is 324 4/8" 6x6....Great bull for Saskatchewan.

Mostly private land for the elk in Saskatchewan but a few have been on public land.

Usually spend 4-7 days hunting archery, and 2-4 days for rifle elk each year.....7 days in Utah this year.
 
This thread is full of hunters who enjoy some serious success! Impressive stats from some of you, makes me feel very inadequate haha I guess I need to treasure my few harvests less than I thought!

I wouldn’t sweat it. In my case, the fact that I live in the middle of my hunt area is huge. I can get in a good evening hunt after work. I know a few pockets that hold elk that people ignore, and several are less than 2 miles as the crow flies from my living room. Living in the middle of it, with plenty of time off makes it pretty easy. Treasure every harvest, I do!


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Worlds best bow hiker....7 years of tag soup on elk. Typically hunt 5-9 days on public land OTC. I’ve had opportunity but just haven’t put it together. :(


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I didn't start out this way, but I've killed an elk every year for the past nine years with a rifle on public land in Montana. All but one of those were bulls and all but one of the bulls were killed on a general tag. I drew and filled a cow tag one year in that span and held out on my general tag for a bigger bull, which I never found.

I feel like I can get the job done if I have a week.
 
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I live in WI. Never hunted elk, and mules only once, prior to '09.

Archery. All public land. All DIY. No fancy high $$$ tags. Just normal shit you all can buy.

11 elk seasons. 11 bulls I have notched tags on. I have called in more than that, for my buddies, during my same hunt periods. This year alone was amazing. 9 bulls on the ground in September.
 
5 elk hunts since 1992
1 bull, missed a cow and passed on 4-5 others
all archery
all public
all otc, diy
try to hunt 8-10 days
Cant win em all but I try like hell to...
 
4 years, I avoided it forever because WA is a Zoo.
2 bulls taken
0-2 archery (had 3 shots...) 2-2 rifle
public land
OTC
7

My group went 2-2 last year and 4-4 this year, all rifle hunts.
 
11 years hunting
3 bulls, all archery
2008, 2014, 2019

average around 10 days a year.
 
In 9 years of hunting I’ve killed 11 elk, 7 bulls and 4 cows. All in MT, all the bulls except 1 were on general tags. 1 was on private. All with the rifle. Planning on changing that this year! I’m blessed to be able to hunt 15 minutes from home so i have an advantage over most.
 
this is interesting seeing other folks' numbers; as for me:

3 elk total in 5 hunts, 2 archery and 1 rifle (all public land; usually hunt about a week)

2011 - shot a cow on a late season rifle tag in NM (last year a NR could draw the tag I think)
2015 - OTC archery CO - nothing (could have shot a cow day 1, but that was dumb luck & ignorance passing the shot)
2016 - i didn't buy a tag, but helped my buddy hike around CO OTC, nothing
2017 - drew NM archery - shot a small 6x6
2018 - wasn't able to go
2019 - shot small 4pt Wyoming General (archery)

I'm curious to see where I'm at now and if I can get it done in CO OTC - I feel like that's the ultimate test
 
5 hunts over 9 years, 2 bulls. I could have killed elk on every hunt but the creatures didn’t always meet the requirements of my tag.
 
I have hunted elk almost every year for 18 years. With that said my success rate on cow hunting is around 90%, all firearm and mainly public or walk in access.

For bulls my success is drastically less. Most of this is due to me being highly picky and trophy hunting. I would say I have hunted bulls 12 seasons for my self. Many otc tags with say 40% success with bow/rifle combine and limited draw of 10% success. Again with otc I am a little less picky, while limited I am holding myself to a trophy standard (330+ b/c). All of my bulls are absolutely public, foot and horseback.
 
2015- NM cow
2016- NM cow
2018- Idaho missed bull, killed mtn lion
2019- MT 6 point

75% success rate.
 
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