Contributors to this thread:
So I have been chasing elk with love and abandon since 2006. I think I only missed one or two seasons so far. I've missed shots on 3 elk but missed opportunities on elk probably 20 times. Hesitation. Waiting too long for the perfect time to draw. Caught unprepared. You name it. I done it and didn't even drop string 90% of the time.
I drew into a unit I've hunted before that has a higher than average success percentage, in fact about double the average. I know I will have opportunities to drop string on a quality animal this year based on past experience. But then......my record speaks for itself.
For fun, taking odds on Jordan's chances to score after 14, 15, 16 years of not..........
Have fun, be kinda nice, I bleed easily. Best of luck to all ya knuckle dragging BS'er's this year!
BTW I will be solo this year so hoping I can get into some kind of shape other than round and that some poor front range schmucks might be willing to help me if I do get lucky........my will is strong, my back and legs....not so much anymore. However, I do repay favors in beer and meat.
Carry on.....
That unit is going to have a flood, fire, and earthquake. CPW is going to shut it down the afternoon before season.
Good luck . Elk 9.2 Jordan 0.8
Sounds fun how about I think you sound like an average elk hunter. Don’t most of us have the same issues? I’ll say you’re average like most so 10%. Fred
I'll give you 50/50 Jordan, you are due.
Also... how do you repay favors in meat if you never bring any home?
'Odds' is just wagering based on statistics, and statistics only measures the past. The future is what matters.
You are Alive and well Jordan!
Good luck, Robb
Haha Nick, very valid point lol
You’re going to do it this year. You’re going to make the right decisions and put in the effort and you’re going to make it happen. Have a great hunt. Don’t pay any attention to these short-sighted comedians.
PM me after the season and I’ll get you the address where you can send me some steaks and beer.
In the off chance that I’m wrong, you can still send the beer.
Jordan , My nemesis is the turkey, I know how ya feel buddy. This will be your year!
I think this is your year. . . You'll get it done!
Jordan, sounds like you've had ample opportunities over your 15-16 year pursuits! I would have to point a finger at your Setups! That is the # - 1 reason most elk hunters fail at notching that elk tag. Seems most can call OK & spot & stalk OK to the point they can fill a tag here & there.
Issues that many struggle with is setting up too far away in an attempt to call them at too great a distance. -- Trying to call elk across openings, big or small. -- Not recognizing when to go to the elk as they call you to them. -- Setting up in spots elk can see where calling is coming from but do not see the resemblance of an elk & they are still out of your effective range. The list goes on. Work on solid setups sir & remember the best camo is not moving anytime elk may spot your movement in or out of range, these are controllable situations! Go getem, we're pulling for you!!! (grin)
ElkNut
I’m not an elk hunter, but I remember several opportunities squandered over the years while deer or antelope hunting. Some are painful still. Keep your head up brother, even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then.
With the amount of encounters you have had where things didn’t work out, you should be getting close to filling a tag.
Between now and opening day spend your free time remembering each of those encounters. Go through each one moment by moment and figure out what went wrong, and what you could have done different.
The people that fill their elk tags year in and year out may not necessarily get more encounters, but when they do they capitalize on it.
Keep going through your failed encounters over and over until you figure out what could have made you successful.
If you have a local 3D archery range, practice shooting through really small windows through the brush.
If you use all your time and experience, and learn from it you should have a 90 percent chance of filling your tag this year!
If you do the same thing you will most likely get the same result. Clearly you need to improve. Get in great shape. Shoot under pressure at shoots. Read and learn more about how to hunt elk with a bow. Learn your area well before season by scouting, using google earth, talking to others. Go out well before first light and hunt until the season closes for the day. Doing everything you can to increase the number of days you can hunt. If you use every moment you can between now and when your season closes to improve and hunt your odds will be good. If not that is fine too as long as you are having fun.
Good luck.
If you're solo in the early season, consider sitting on a good secluded waterhole and be patient. Might seem boring....but a resulting dead elk is the furthest thing from boring.
I’m an out of shape fatass with below average bow hunting skills, and I’ve killed elk the last 3 years in a row with a bow. All I gotta say is kudos to you for sticking with it!
Love it Ike! LOLOLOL!!!
I gots a bunch of good water holes to hunt. Settlers in the area banked up all the seeps to hold the water. I missed my 6x6 in 2017 over the best one and my buddy was unable to get a shot on two dinks I called in to him just up the hill in the timber in 2018 or 2019.....hell it all blends together.
I love how these posts bring out the true character in folks. Thanks to the good ones!!! Suck it to the rest of ya'll. LOL
I tell ya, I have a ton of fun no matter what. Hell I have more fun preseason with the scouting and pics, and anticipation and preparation than during the pressure of actual season I think.
Believe it or not, and I could give a rat's ass either way, my posts here over the years are genuine. I don't have an internet persona or any of that bs. Life is too short. BS has been a great retreat for me to share my experiences and absorb those of others, be it magazine cover queens, blog stars, or just your average stone cold killer....or folks like me who love the journey but have yet to notch a tag. BS has always had room for everyone and I love that.
So you can make your choice to read what I post or not, like it or not, in the end it isn't about you or me but about the community of folks with a common interest in getting outdoors and chasing elk! Thanks for having fun with me and these posts!!
How many elk have you killed Muche?
50000 or so but who's counting...... Nick is a legend in the making. Props to him for being a stone cold killer and taking advantage of the opportunities put before him to make it happen on some challenging species. Total props, no sh*t. For a time, I was talking to A-Ron elk reaper and I know what dedication it takes to be a stone cold killer. I recognize I lack that gene but do what I can to make up for it. Nick is cut from that cloth, maybe better. And thank you for your service SIR!
I”ll say 20% chance! Unless you decided to become a killer, then it will double.
Man some people just can’t pass up an opportunity to be a (m)Duche. I bet he drives a strawberry Monte Carlo. Good luck Jordan . I hope it’s your year
Always 100% You need that attitude when the down in the dumps start which they always do.
Your odds this year are not impacted by if you are 0-20 or 20-0 in the past 20 years.
Jordan i too am elkless. I will give you that boost in confidence and say 100% it is your time. Now go out there and be a chameleon and assasin all at once. Get Some
Do you cheer for the Maple Leafs by chance?
Jk, but I wish you all the best. Don’t hope to be in better shape...BE in better shape! :) 100% in your control. Being in better shape doesn’t guarantee a kill, but it will help you prove to yourself that this years version of you is better than last years and THATS why you’re gonna get it done! You know more, you’ve prepared more, and you’re more ready than ever.
Beyond that, EXPECT to kill. I’ve never gone on a hunt I didn’t expect to kill. If you don’t expect to kill, there’s a problem. Why not? Address the why and start again.
The day killing an elk becomes a driving force in your approach to elk hunting, is the year your odds will sky rocket. And, likely be the year you get it done.
This thread started as a joke. By the OP. People carrying that out aren’t being out of line. They are simply following the narrative set by the author.
Anyone that’s hunted much knows your chances go up depending on how bad you want to kill something. To have an affect on outcome, That desire can’t start when you hear an elk. It must start as a year round mindset. Jordan knows that as well. Nobodies said one thing the OP didn’t put into play.
Back on track. If you want to kill one, I’m rooting for you. Good luck and God Bless
Always rooting for you, Jordan. I got a surprise in NM last Season, in a unit where we had always had success, came home empty-handed. Definitely not for lack of persistence, because, that's how I roll...110 percent every Day.
Point is, even seasoned elk whackers get slapped down every now and again. Killing an elk with a bow is never a guarantee. Just go hard, and the "right" encounter is going to happen. Hoping for a full freezer for you, and a great recap to go with it !
APauls.....nope......I am torn this year with both the Lightening and the Aves in play. Watching alot of hockey right now!
Thx to the PM's offering support. Pretty easy to offer help when the odds are not in favor of it being needed. LOL! ;) Seriously though, yes nearly every post of mine is with a sense of humor, a joke if you will, but I can't express how much fun I have thanks to you characters on BS! It is a great community! Thanks for putting up with me!
Ahh, the perfect Treestand, sorta low though! (grin)
ElkNut
Good luck, be safe & enjoy. In my younger years I've done at least 30 Elk trips. I have shot 3 Bulls, nothing big, 1 Cow BUT I cannot remember never having an opportunity on any trip. THAT is success to me. All Public land & several solo. Missed Elk, OH yea...
I begin every elk season (25 seasons) with the thought/goal to kill an elk. Every single day hunting elk gives you another opportunity so take advantage of every hour to plan and then to work the plan and hunt smart. Plain and simple. This does not mean you have to hunt every hour but those hours that give you the very best opportunity. You may find that mornings are the best times, and some times the last hour of the day is more productive. The last two years I have killed a bull over a wallow, one in the am, ie 9am and last season at 7 pm over a different wallow. I only cow called a few times at each site. Later when the bulls become for active, I might also become more active and "chase them", but do it with a plan and stealth and try not to let them know you are around.
I hope this elk season is the best for you. Paul
I don't think having the attitude that "this is my year" will really help get it done. A positive attitude is very important but if you believe that somehow you're going to be successful because you've paid your dues with your past lack of success and now it's "your turn", I think you're looking at it from the wrong perspective. Success breeds success. I don't think focusing on past failures is gonna help anything. Yes, you need to learn from past mistakes but I don't believe dwelling on them will help anything. The mountains and the "elk gods" don't care if you've killed an elk every year or if you've never killed one. Each year is a clean slate and you have to make the right decisions each year regardless of what you've done in the past.
If its an either sex tag, shoot the first legal elk that gives an opportunity. Call it a slump buster, dam breaker, opening the floodgates, whatever. Plan B is the George Costanza - since nothing is working, do the opposite of what you normally would :^)
"Hi, I'm George. I'm unemployed and I live with my parents."
Hell, I've never passed on a elk be it due to sex or size of antlers. Never will.
Damn midwest.........not even close but....damn........
I’m betting it’s 50/50 at best. Good luck this year, Jordan!
Jordan, this is your year. Two years ago my season sucked. Elk were not in my usual places, nor in my "shot in the dark" spots. My pulmonary hypertension issues were just starting but I didn't know it. Only knew I couldn't climb ridges I climbed easily before, for some reason, even though I'd worked hard to get in elk shape. With three days left I hadnt yet nocked an arrow. That night a buddy I'd hunted with earlier in the season (who killed a bull his first morning in one of my honeyholes I sent him into), who is one of those manifest/willing a positive outcome guys, texted me and said "Tomorrow morning you will kill a bull. He will walk right up to you and you'll shoot him".
The next morning I took a flyer on a little spot close to home that I'd been eyeing but never hunted. I felt a weird sensation, like an aura, and in my heart I knew it was going to happen that morning. About 300 yards in on the ridge, poking along listening, I spotted a five point up ahead, walking away. On queue, he turned and started walking right at me. I shot him at 7 yards and he fell over in 40. Died 200 yards from a county road. A few hours later my friend texted me and asked if I had killed a bull.
Coincidence? Probably. But it is an absolutely true story. Believe. Don't doubt yourself. Try different places with a positive outlook. You are going to kill a bull this year.
Love it Lou! Thanks for sharing. Still hoping to catch up and have a beer or three with you (and Brad and a whole pile of local ne'erdowells on here) some day soon. My fault that I haven't gone to any of the CO shindigs at Hooters and made it happen.......
Jordan, if you go into each year just hoping the cards may fall your way you may have a long wait sir. You seriously need to take the bull by the horns & take control, put them on the defense. As of now you are allowing the elk to call the shots, this is something most of us have been guilty of. Avoid that, put them on the defense, this shows you call the shots, not them.
If you want to know how this is done; just ask!
ElkNut
Let me know what your plan is this fall. I was not so lucky in the draw and will have an OTC tag. I am helping my friend opening weekend but will be available if you want company and help getting an animal out of the woods. I have lots of time off this fall so let me know what works for you, if interested.
I know nothing about Jordanathome but have read his musings on here for years. Draw area he has hunted before, one he has had opportunities in before, has a "bunch of good waterholes to hunt". And then this nugget: "I have never passed on an elk based on sex or size of antlers..." Now, I know very little about killing an elk w a bow but the one thing I have learned on here is wind is #1. Let them wind you and it will cost you an opportunity and very well could cost you the season. I seem to have read that some on here stay out of areas until the thermals normalize- even if its for the last 30-45 minutes of the day. I am sure Jordon has had to have learned this as well. Put all this together and, since there are no absolutes, I say 95% chance he scores.
Definitely ready to see you posing with a dead elk!
Persistence + Preparation = Success.
You got this! Now go kill an elk!
I'm in. 75% chance you get one this year. Upping that to 90% now, I got a good feeling about this year! Go get 'em!
