Your Most Successful Method!
Contributors to this thread:Elk
From: ElkNut1
15-Nov-18
Run & Gun!
Run & Gun!
What is your favorite or most successful way that you hunt & take elk? There are a variety of ways such as -------------
#-1 Spot & Stalk!
#- 2 Treestand!
#-3 Cold Calling Setups!
#- 4 Ambushing!
#- 5 Run & Gun!
No doubt many may employ several of these but which one offers the most success for you?
I'm a Run & Gun guy, been doing it for years!
ElkNut/Paul
From: IdyllwildArcher
15-Nov-18
Running and gunning, using herd talk and mimicking a progressively irritated herd bull with cows. Sometimes they wanna see the bull, sometimes they wanna see the cows. Either way, they come to have a looksie.
From: MichaelArnette
15-Nov-18
For me being a trad guy it’s ambush or treestand. But it would be different if I could shoot over 30 yards or were a good caller
From: Knothead
15-Nov-18
My favorite is run & gun but by far the best quality shots have come from ambush. Sitting water holes can work really well out west but it is not very enjoyable.
From: ElkNut1
15-Nov-18
Michael, I hear ya! It is easier to draw & shoot with a caller. I've been fortunate to take several without & took one bull that called me to him, that works too! (grin) Thanks!
ElkNut/Paul
From: YZF-88
15-Nov-18
Sort of run’n gun. I call just enough to get them going then sneak in quietly for a shot. Works good solo in a heavily hunted OTC area.
From: wyobullshooter
15-Nov-18
Runnin’ & gunnin’ is my favorite, but I also have to put treestand up there as a close second. They’ve both been very productive. As long as I’m calling them in, I’m a happy camper. My favorite part of elk hunting is calling them in, making them think I’m one of them. Shooting them is a nice by-product.
From: bullelk
15-Nov-18
I’m a run and gun guy. I hunt alone so getting the shot can be tough sometimes.
From: BIGHORN
15-Nov-18
I have called herd bulls away from their cows. I like using a hyperhot call. If you know how to use one the bulls will come a running.
From: ElkNut1
15-Nov-18
Wyobull, I hear ya bud, calling elk is what keeps me coming back year after year, it's an addiction! (grin)
Bighorn, so that's Run & Gun?
ElkNut/Paul
From: swede
15-Nov-18
For 25 years now I have been killing elk from a tree stand. I was reluctant at first to devote much time to it, but for me it has proved very effective. The first time I ever sat in a stand, I spent about an hour there and had to get out. The next Saturday I spent about three hours in the stand and killed a nice bull. My whole perspective changed.
From: stringgunner
15-Nov-18
Like Swede I primarily tree stand. It’s very productive where we hunt. I enjoy run and gun and will probably be doing some of that with my boys as they age in and won’t be able to sit a stand for 13 hours.
From: Inshart
15-Nov-18
For the most part, if the bugle is more than about 150 yards I just don't hear it, and cows talking - they have to be CLOSE, very, very close .... sooooo, I'm an ambush guy.
From: Franklin
15-Nov-18
Ambush....I prefer higher elevation and early season.
From: goelk
15-Nov-18
I like the run and gun and ambush but would like to learn treestand.
From: Well-Strung
16-Nov-18
I combine 3, 4 and 5! Stay versatile.
From: Mule Power
16-Nov-18
My hearing loss is terrible so my days of calling elk have come and gone. I glass to locate. But once I’m close and know the direction they’ll be coming from I’ll call to close the distance.
Nothing wrong with ambushing either. They are more relaxed in that scenario. A bull coming to calling can be wired tight.
From: ELKMAN
16-Nov-18
I just hang in among them until the one I want makes a mistake. I will never give up my location until there are no other options. It's just that simple.
From: Bowboy
16-Nov-18
I use what ever works at the time. My favorite is go in silent when there bugling on their own.
From: Huntosolo
16-Nov-18
Hunting OTC units near the Front Range of CO means quiet elk. So ambush and specifically tree stands work well.
From: ElkNut1
16-Nov-18
Thanks guys, a very well rounded out group so far! I figured there'd be more Run & Gun but heck you never know, use what works!
ElkNut/Paul
From: elkstabber
16-Nov-18
I used to run and gun with lots of bugling. It worked for small curious bulls. But then I wanted to kill bigger bulls.
I primarily use a recurve so I have to hunt thicker areas. Challenging big bulls has worked but opportunities are rare. For the last two years I've found the best success by either being amongst them as ELKMAN said, or just plain spot and stalk.
From: otcWill
16-Nov-18
Hard to pick one of those. I usually like to find elk by glassing or bugling in the dark. Then I move in close and get a feel for the situation. If I can kill the bull without calling, great. Otherwise I try to deliver what I think they are vulnerable to with my calling. Whatever you call that, it's my method ;)
From: ElkNut1
16-Nov-18
Will, that's the Running & Gunning style! That's why you do so well! (grin) Personally I feel it's the best way to consistently put elk down every year in mostly Dark Timber country!
ElkNut/Paul
From: Kodiak
16-Nov-18
Run and gun.
From: Elkoholic
16-Nov-18
Love to run and gun. Gets the blood pumping but have been more successful from the trees.
From: Trial153
16-Nov-18
High fence!!
From: cnelk
16-Nov-18
My most successful method is not to miss
From: TrapperKayak
16-Nov-18
Surfing the 'net.
From: Treeline
16-Nov-18
#1 and/combined with #5..
From: WapitiBob
16-Nov-18
I just go where the Elk are...
From: SlipShot
16-Nov-18
Yes, I do them all, my favorite is running and gunning! Most successful method to harvest is in tree stand, over a well used trail, cold calling with a decoy. So does that qualify as tree stand, ambush, cold calling?
From: Mule Power
16-Nov-18
I’m a fairly well rounded elk hunter. If I wasn’t so well rounded it might be easier to gain elevation! (grin)
Maybe a low carb diet would help!
From: ElkNut1
16-Nov-18
Lol! ElkNut/Paul
From: swede
17-Nov-18
Goelk, if you are interested in learning to tree stand hunt for elk, you can PM me and I will inform you where you can get my book called Tree Stand Hunting Rocky Mountain Elk.
From: StickFlicker
17-Nov-18
I enjoy run and gun the most, and do it mostly the first half of the day. I often sit water in the evenings, which can be fun to see different wildlife come in. I like to photograph and video, and it's easier to do from a ground blind at water. The quality of shot is usually better from the blind.
From: Backpack Hunter
17-Nov-18
....I suppose it is a mixture of wandering around finding a bunch of dumb ones then singling out the one that has a death wish.
From: 1boonr
17-Nov-18
I know two guys who consistently get into mature bulls year in and year out in Colorado and Montana. I just do what they do. Number one on their list don’t take advise from unsuccessful hunters. 2 would be location and 3 is don’t do too much calling if any. There are more but these are the 3 that help the rest
From: ElkNut1
17-Nov-18
Hey guys, thank you for your comments, all great stuff!
I will mention that it's rare these days to find hunters that call in many of the areas we hunt. They're there but most guys are staying pretty quiet. I will hear a bugle from then now & then but not even close to how much I call. Of course I hunt pretty thick stuff so calling is an asset in these areas. If I were hunting more open country I'm sure I'd be calling less, I'd wait for elk to get into cover first!
ElkNut/Paul
From: dirtclod Az.
17-Nov-18
#1 and #5 find em'and smoke em'!
From: Donnybowhunter
18-Nov-18
Run and gun
From: Ski & Skin
18-Nov-18
Not telling people on the internet about it!!!
From: LUNG$HOT
19-Nov-18
“Your Most Successful Method!“
I’m a fan of the “Wheel Barrel”. Works every time! :^)
From: Z Barebow
19-Nov-18
Finding the dumbest ones in the gene pool. Stupid animals don't taste any different than smart ones. (So I am told, because any animal that I kill is mentally deficient)
From: ElkNut1
19-Nov-18
Ha Ha! Hey, I'm not to proud to take those challenged ones either! (grin)
ElkNut/Paul
From: smarba
20-Nov-18
"run and gun"?! how about "go and bow"?...
