A few friends and I are planning on doing an elk hunt in 2020 in Colorado (OTC tags, our standards are not high for what kind of bulls we’d kill). I’ve been doing a lot of research about where we think we want to go, but I also realize my experience is almost exclusively deer hunting on the east coast. Thus the question for all you elk hunters out there:
What are the top 3 (or more) things to know or skills to learn before we hit the road for this trip? Anything from elk hunting strategy, post shot meat care, camp set up, is appreciated. Thanks in advance!
#1-Remember, elk cannot read or tell time/have calendars. They don't know what they are supposed to be doing or when they are supposed to be doing it. (IE Elk are where you find them, not where you want them to be)
Deer hunters are used to seeing animals regularly. Be prepared for some days where you see nothing and have to keep your chin up.
Some of your friends will be hooked for life. Others will hate it and never go back. It’s not for everyone.
- Get in shape. You don't have to be a marathon runner, but you don't want to be miserable on the mountain either.
- Get hydrated and stay hydrated. Again, you don't want to be miserable on the mountain.
- Be mobile. Find and hunt FRESH elk sign....not month old elk sign. You will learn the "how" to hunt elk as you go.
Don't waste time where the elk are not. Old sign is just that, it's old sign. Move until you find them.
Buy the elk101 course, it'll lower the learning curve for you (or at least it did for me).
First couple days at elevation will likely suck for you, pound the ibuprofen and deal with it, it gets better. First 2-3 days hunting for me are always miserable but my body eventually figures it out.
You'll figure it out, you can read until your eyes fall out. Only way to really experience it is go.
- "Get in shape. You don't have to be a marathon runner, but you don't want to be miserable on the mountain either". So true. Very important while hunting, but even more so when you have to get that 7-800 lb beast out of a downfall-choked hole he ran into before he died.
- "Remember, elk cannot read or tell time/have calendars. They don't know what they are supposed to be doing or when they are supposed to be doing it. (IE Elk are where you find them, not where you want them to be)". So very true. Elk don't visit forums, watch videos, or read books. Elk are going to do what elk are going to do, which many times is the last thing you'd expect them to do.
- Keep a positive attitude! Sounds easy enough when you're planning your dream hunt...not so much when you're dog tired, the weather's been miserable, and you haven't seen or heard an elk in 4-5 days. It only takes a moment for a less-than- desirable hunt to turn into a "Thank You, Lord!" success story.
EDIT- Since you did say 3 (or more), I'll add one more. ;-)
grossklw mentioned something that I also highly recommend. Sign up for the University of Elk Hunting (UEH) online course at ELK 101.com. After 30+ years of bowhunting elk, I didn't think there was much I could learn. How wrong I was. I changed one thing in particular to "the way I've always done it", and it has absolutely been a game-changer.
1). Get into better shape 2) arrive to the mountains with a finished off boot/ sock system with quality boots to avoid blisters!!! 3)prepare for the vastness of the country. Your not hunting the back forty anymore. Have your gps, onX system and know how to use them. 4) be proficient to 60 yards 5) and most importantly- don’t tell people at home when you “might” be coming back. Have a return plan date and stick too it!!!!!
Elk hunting has a significant luck factor but you have to be out there to be lucky.
Don't be afraid to cat nap on the mountain when you think the elk are bedded or things have been slow just to re-energize your mind. I've had some great encounters immediately after a short nap probably because I wasn't walking around spooking them. Two weeks ago I killed a cow 10 minutes after a short snooze. I'm glad I woke up or they would have trampled me. (See luck factor above)
Amen brother!
Being shape wont help you a damn bit if you cant call an elk withing bow range, and being in shape wont help if you're a piss poor shot.
Just last week, I called in a bull for my buddy [big WT hunter]. The bull came in on the wrong side of the pine tree we were sitting at. My buddy drew and was wondering what to do. I told him to move around the tree and shoot the damn bull!
His arrow hit a limb on the way to the bull. Lesson = You can get away with much more with an elk than you can with a WT
Learn to shoot well off your knees or sitting flat on your ass......trust your bubble level.
Most importantly.....drive your own truck to where ever your going to hunt....may cost you more.....but it won't cost you your hunt when your pussy whipped hunting partner wants to go home early !!
The odds are slim you’re going to come to Colorado the first time hunt an OTC unit find a spot with lots of elk and low pressure from other hunters. Does not matter if you’re planning on truck camping or backpacking in 8 miles not very many places that are not overhunted. My brother and some of his friends went elk hunting for the first time this year in Idaho. They picked a random spot on maps. They got into lots of elk never saw another hunter.
this one I have lived out also...now I hunt solo too
Have a plan B and plan C area picked out when area A doesnt have any elk.
Relax and have fun. Elk hunting is in big country but you dont have to hike 8+ miles a day. Sometimes hunting 1 mile correctly beats covering 10 miles spooking elk as you go.
I could have killed a lot of cows and small bulls but wanted my first one to be a nice bull...I passed a whole lot of elk for years before I killed a biggie, wish I'd just pulled the trigger on the other ones and put meat in the freezer.
#2 Find an area you can glass North facing slopes and spend a few evenings glassing
#3 unless you live on the mountain and know the animals that live there kill the first legal animal you see.
Last but not least if you can afford to buy a guided hunt for your first time. I wish I would have as the learning curve is painful with Elk. If you don't get in them you will never learn about them.
Better yet... Just move west... I did over 29 years ago.
Got that tee-shirt. Started going solo after that. At least until you learn about the guys you hunt with.
“Get proficient to 60 yards”... #1, read the thread here on ensuring lethal shots on Elk. #2, know that tens of thousands of elk hunters have killed thousands of elk when they went out there with absolutely zero expectation of being able to kill an Elk cleanly at that kind of range. I would never discourage anyone from getting to be as deadly accurate (with their chosen weapon) as they can find a way to get, and I know that you hear all kinds of stories about guys who have done it, but nobody seems very interested in talking about how often those shots have gone wrong, and there have been so many guys who succeeded at 20 yards and in debt to believe that it’s necessary is just absurd. And the worst thing about believing that it’s “necessary” is that it becomes all too easy to talk yourself into trying something which you know damn well has an extremely high probability of going south... worse yet (IMO), being willing to take those long shots really gets in the way of your ever becoming a good enough Hunter to learn to get that distance in half.
Somebody else said to bring a spare pair of socks, and that he really wished he had some on a five-day trip.
Dude, are you out of your freaking MIND??? What are you 15???
OK.... My dad was a doctor in Uncle Sam’s Army right after World War II; Times and technology have changed things some, I suppose, but my brother and I carry three pairs of socks on a day trip, and when we stopped for a break, the boots come off so our feet can air out. If it’s wet out or we’ve been sweating a lot, the socks come off, Get tossed in a Ziploc, and we wear two pairs per day, with a spare in case something goes wrong. That may seem like overkill to a lot of people but - come ON - how much does a pair of socks weigh? And how much do blistered feet slow you down and detract from the experience of your hunt?
“Learn to call...”
Funny thing… On another thread I was talking about how different things were 30 or 40 years ago, and somebody pointed out that 40 years ago guys were calling in bull elk by honking the horn of their vehicle (I do recall one story where somebody did it with a Volkswagen beetle), or with measures as simple as blowing a spent .30-‘06 case like a whistle. Doesn’t work anymore, does it? Too many people “learning to call”.... Trouble is, you never know if you’re any good or not until you’re in the field, and by then it’s usually too late… And you still don’t know what you did wrong.... only that the Elk have left.
Personally, I play the thermals, watch the wind, and stay as quiet as I can possibly be. Seems to work for the Cougars.
Anyway, my recommendations...
Learn how to slow WAY down and pick the cover apart with a very good pair of binoculars.
Learn how to find a good bedding area on a topo map and KNOW WHERE YOU ARE so you don’t bumble into one by accident. If they are there, you need to spot them first and plan your approach, and if they’re not, there’s no sense in stinking up the joint.
Learn how to butcher a deer this year, so you can bone out your Elk on the mountain and leave big bones behind. An Elk is a mighty big pile o’ Dead, and it’s now YOUR problem!
Get good at stringing up a bear bag so that you can hoist quarters and backstraps out of reach, in camp or at the kill site .
And - related to what Vonfoust said about enjoying the experience....
The overwhelming majority of Elk hunters fail every year. One of the guys here said he’s 0 for 13. It’s not easy. By comparison, Virginia Whitetail hunting has got to be an absolute joke. Unless you normally hunt highly pressured public land where you’re lucky to get one shot per season, you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.
So make it about Learning, and seeing how close you can get, rather than setting yourself up for disappointment with great expectations of killing a bunch of Elk… If you don’t love doing it for the sake of doing it, you will have a whole lot more fun staying home and going fishing or something.
;-)
Matt
Then, pay attention to what those people say. . . . .
Then, go hunt elk.
I wish I had better advice, but I suck at elk hunting. I can't find my groove. My mojo. Maybe someday
Yup. My brother had a 7X8 walk right in on him one day while he was scarfing down a PBJ. Too bad he had drawn a cow tag that year! LOL
But a cow walked in about 2 minutes later, and by then he’d thought to get the Enfield within reach.
He muzzleloads usually 4-5 days a year; gets an Elk about half the time.
Most of the areas I hunt are deep in the dark timber. Depending on state and landscape but mostly in deep dark timber. When we get a bull going fairly close and are in striking distance to set up on them, the rookie hunters want to set up right where they are standing even though there are almost NO shooting lanes and impossible to squeeze an arrow anywhere past 8 yards. What's the point of even calling them in if there is no way to shoot at them? But it happens... A LOT. They freeze and set up there with the excitement of a close but out of sight screaming bull. Take the time to move 30, 40, 60 yards in a different direction to find some open lanes to shoot (with the wind in mind of course). You would be surprised just moving that far can open things up and change the view just enough. Heck, Even if I'm calling for the hunter and I'm back or up hill from the shooter 30 yards or so... My perspective view is so much different than the shooter. That's why it's important for the shooter to know this and move if they have to. Stay as positive as possible, and be persistent. A lot of the times it's in your lowest point that the opportunity arises and turns your trip into an epic one.
