Contributors to this thread:
Whats some tactics that you guys use in archery elk season?? Do you let your big eyes do the walking for you until you find animals? If so are you one of the road guys with a spotting scope that you can see the moon? Or are you hiking to a glass knob further in?
Or are you stalking dark timber? Calling lots or no calling? Let here some methods guys
Not much glassing where I usually hunt. Calling is what I enjoy most...to the point I definitely screw up some opportunities when shutting up would have been a better choice to get a tag filled.
Hunting within a mile of main roads where everybody else drives by and hikes past. There's a rule that the more expensive yiur hunting clothes, the farther you are required to hike before starting to hunt. My clothes are all bought on sale.
Little glassing, mostly "run and gun". Or, ambushing some evenings.
That being said, I haven't hunted a lot of open terrain for elk over the Years.
Calling is a major part for me. Learn the language, when to call, and when not to call. I'm still learning the latter, but elk are still taking permanent naps
Jacuomo
As many times as you tell them they will never listen or pick it up
It's classic !
Jaq I buy mine used n broken off eBay I oughta be killin em in the bar ditch lol. My biggest tactic is knowing where they will probably be and just checking each spot they will probably be until I sneak in n shoot one of em.
I walk, I glass, I call, I listen, I sit, I stalk, I still hunt. I think we all have our favorite methods, but you have to adapt to be really successful in my book. I have personally killed more elk by remaining silent and stalking and still hunting. I have guided more kills by calling bulls in for hunters. It's all fun and I'm ready for September.
RK, I have an ulterior motive - I'm trying to bait the flat brim Sitka Warriors out closer to the roads so I can reclaim my backcountry spots without the echo of Power Bugles and Hoochie Mamas bouncing off every ridge.
;-)
I'm a terrible caller or learned that the elk in my area are very wary of being vocal from hunting pressure. So I find their food and still hunt very very slow. Mid morning start paying attention to the darkest shady areas. Nap in the afternoon. Ambush transition areas in the evening.
I have also found lots of elk opportunities 1-2 miles from the road.. sometimes only a few hundred yards. Get a map, opening morning drive around, mark where all the hunting rigs are parked. Determine the best place for the elk to hide away from the other hunters between the parking lots, back country and main road. And wahala you gots elk.
Using my glass more as I get older. Primarily to field judge bulls that I've already spotted. To be honest, I don't really have a game plan per say. Pretty much let the situation dictate the next move. Killed bulls using cow calls, bugling, stalking and ambush. Will say, I tend to call more if the bull is a satellite....less if a herd bull. Prefer not to call the herd bull at all when possible.
Well, whenever I get to go…
Base Camp is the house that my folks built, and sometimes we sleep on the hill, and other times we don’t. So depending on where we’ve slept, our day begins with a climb of either 1000 or 2000 feet up to where the Elk usually are. Then it’s a matter of slowing down and being as sneaky as I can while listening for them to give away their position; then we sneak in. Sometimes my brother will put up a collapsible decoy that looks just like the back end of a cow. Then he’ll set up and call; so far he’s had better luck with the bears than with the elk!
It’s not a great place to go; certainly not going to be crawling with record-book bulls, though we have seen a few that would definitely be worth the trouble of packing off.
So far, though… We haven’t managed to close the deal on a bull. They only show up within muzzleloader range when we have bows in our hands, and we only get within archery range when we have ML cow tags.
Well, that’s not entirely true; I had a beautifully dark-racked 5X5 (or maybe a smallish 6?) that hustled right past me one morning on his way to fight off a satellite, and then I got pinned down by a cow and had to listen to the battle about 20-30 yards away while lying flat on my face trying to be invisible....
Should’ve figured out how to slide back down the hill and come up under the fighting, but it was only my second season and I wasn’t thinking creatively....
For me I love run and gun. Keep moving until I find elk or VERY fresh elk sign. I’m not afraid to test the waters with a bugle here and there but I do agree that many bugle too often. As far as specific tactics go it varies depending on the individual situation and which part of the season were in. One of my favorite methods/ scenarios to be in, is to get a bull going with cow calls during that pre-rut time frame. After a while of back and forth and work put in courting his new cow cut him off with a bugle and watch/listen to his entire demeanor change. In my experience they either shut up and take off completely or best case scenario come unhinged and move in for a fight. Man I love hunting elk in the rut. Cmon September!
When you run/gun calling, how often are you calling without an answer? How far do you move before calling again?
We only have 6 days and no pre-scouting so we get up at 3:00 am every night, bugle at around 10 locations and make game plans based on what/where we get responses. Usually in place by 5am so get a quick cat nap in and then get after 'em!
What do the regs have to say about being up on the hill, talking at them 2-3 hours before legal light?
I guess it’s All Good, so long as you have no hunting implements with you... ;)
GF, there’s no “legal calling hours” only “legal shooting hours”. Call all you want with or without weapon on hand. Just don’t loose that arrow or fire that shot outside of said parameters.
We call before light also because we hunt where the elk are usually within ear shot of the roads so we can check a lot of area before sun up
Calling an hour before & after light can be money! Solid tactic!
My "in all honesty" tactic:
Wake up a little late, hurriedly get ready and forget something. Usually not important because most of us carry too much stuff anyway. Arrive at the secret spot we came up with after reviewing what happened yesterday. Elk are already at our level and headed up to a bedding area. Really regretting not getting up earlier so I could have taken a trip behind camp with a roll of TP and because the elk are going up the ridge exactly where we were going to set up. Chance trying to cut them off because yesterday we played it safe and nothing came of it. Screw that up, about 11:00AM bump a bedded bull because we let our guard down and were more just hiking down to camp instead of hunting our way back. See elk that evening but run out of light before we can get on them. Spend the next 2 days looking for elk, any elk, they appear to have been abducted by aliens. Start over. :^)
