Elk hunting goals this year?
Contributors to this thread:Elk
From: Ucsdryder
10-Jun-20
Now that most of us know where we’re heading this elk season. What are your realistic goals? And we all have the goal of having a good time and spending time with friends and family, so you can skip that one!
Every year I tell myself I’m going to hold out for a big one and every year I seem to kill the first rag horn that I see.
My goals this year are to get the girlfriend her first elk...easier said than done! And hold out for a big one! ;)
From: MQ1
10-Jun-20
At 67 goals are not to high.
Just to have a safe hunt & fill the freezer.
From: Dale06
10-Jun-20
I’ll be almost 70 when my son and I go to New Mexico Sept 28. His first elk hunt. I’ve been on about eight elk hunts and have killed three cows, a 300+ bull and last year, a decent five point. The goal this year, is my son to kill one. If I get one, that’s a bonus.
From: altitude sick
10-Jun-20
To get my son in law a crack at one. And my friends son. Both on the first hunt in the mountains.
From: kentuckbowhnter
10-Jun-20
this year my goal is just to get to go
From: Grey Ghost
10-Jun-20
I finally drew a coveted trophy unit tag in Colorado this year, after a 21 year wait. My plan is to get into the best shape a 58 yr old man can get in to, scout hard and long, and kill a bull that will make all you b!tches eyes water.
;-)
Matt
From: 160andup
10-Jun-20
I'll be in Idaho for 2 weeks in September chasing elk for the first time. My goal is to find elk, and then shoot said elk shortly after!
From: bigmartbowhunter
10-Jun-20
I will be in eastern Oregon for the season, My goal is to kill the huge bull I missed last year at 45 yds, a chip shot for me. I used my 50 yd pin on top of his back, WRONG PIN. Did not have time to use range finder. Have a lot of fun, hunt & relax and enjoy my time.
From: midwest
10-Jun-20
New unit in some tall country. Any legal bull. Would settle for a cow after the first week.
From: jordanathome
10-Jun-20
I dunno....finally kill an elk? LOL naw not that.
Have a load of fun.....hell yeah!
From: jordanathome
10-Jun-20
Oh yeah, convince Matt to use sous vide.......that too.
From: Bowboy
10-Jun-20
Kill another decent bull. I'm retired and can hunt the whole 30 days of the WY season. I might get side tracked by mule deer some.
From: WI Shedhead
10-Jun-20
Colorado otc Kill in a new unit. I’m not picky
From: Z Barebow
10-Jun-20
A goal-Kill a nice 6 point and haul it out on my eBike.
B goal- Kill any elk and haul it out on my eBike.
C goal-Kill any elk
From: FORESTBOWS
10-Jun-20
100% shot opportunity for the guys that hunt with us.
From: wyobullshooter
10-Jun-20
Same as every year... fill my tag(s). If I draw a reduced price cow/calf license, I’ll try to shoot a yearling cow early, then use my general license on a bull. My priorities have changed the last few years. Shooting one reasonably close to a road/ trail has become much more important than antler size.
From: Norseman
10-Jun-20
340 or bust
Have fun Doing it with my best friend. no pressure, live in the moment with no regrets.
From: cnelk
10-Jun-20
Shoot an elk in Colorado and Wyoming
From: Trophyhill
10-Jun-20
I will be happy with any opportunities in a heavily hunted OTC unit. Should be a fun hunt ;)
From: willliamtell
10-Jun-20
Got a good setup with a good guide and a buddy. My #1 goal is to get him onto his first elk. #2 is meat period. If he tags out early, might upgrade to bone hunting. As usual, gotta see what the season holds.
From: TxHuntr
10-Jun-20
Same as David. With the draw changes down south I'm afraid there will be a hunter sitting on every log.....and there's more logs than trees at this point.
From: StickFlicker
11-Jun-20
I'm hoping for a 370+ bull, but sometimes when I draw a really good elk unit I get greedy and pass up some fantastic bulls just to come home with nothing. In the past, I was fine with that. But I'm getting older and may not have another great elk tag like this again. So hopefully, if the cards aren't falling into place, I'll convince myself to at least take a personal best late in the hunt! Dream big!!
From: Glunt@work
11-Jun-20
Getting my son an opportunity is my big goal. Enjoy a few days together in the woods is really what matters. I cherish the memories of hunting with my dad. Far more now than I did then. Always had fun but took it for granted that we would have many more years of hunting.
From: Irishman
11-Jun-20
Elk goals - find new areas to hunt during the summer, hunt in an area with few if any other hunters, call in several bulls, have at least one run in wanting to kick ass, kill a 330+ bull, and a B tag cow. Have my sons kill bulls also. Then I always have the same goal of killing elk, deer, antelope and bear all with my bow (2 of the 4 is the best I've accomplished to date, and never an antelope).
From: BULELK1
11-Jun-20
Same as most every year, enjoy sharing the experience with some coming from back east--others in camp, if I'm not solo hunting.
Fill my tag's (4) in both (Wyo & Ut) states
Then head back to Wyoming in late December and hopefully fill my Wyo Bull Buff tag with my Wind River movie .45/70 lever action rifle!
Good luck, Robb
From: Brotsky
11-Jun-20
My goal is to get an elk and get home safely, pretty much the same goal every year.
From: splitlimb13
11-Jun-20
"My goal is to get an elk and get home safely, pretty much the same goal every year."
This is summing it up for me as well.
Have fun with my dad, pray we make it home safe.
From: yooper89
11-Jun-20
To spend at least 10 days in the woods in September, which has yet to happen in the 5 or 6 years I’ve been in Colorado. Hurricane work seems to always get in the way!
From: elkmtngear
11-Jun-20
Looking forward to some more great encounters in NM with my Buddy KHNC , hopefully for up to 10 days.
Hard for me to pass on any legal elk, but it would be great to bring home another nice bull.
From: ElkNut1
11-Jun-20
To have an awesome time with my new bow & of course my Son as usual! Funny how a new toy/bow can revive the spirit & rekindle the fire & desire to put a couple bulls down, heck we're both excited this year! OTC, 5 or 6 points each will be just fine! Stay safe guys!
ElkNut
From: RT
11-Jun-20
I'd be ok with a 380" this year.
If I don't see that a 200" will do.
From: Mule Power
11-Jun-20
For my partner and I to get bulls at least a little bigger than last year and for another guy to get his first. Hoping to go 3 for 4.
From: goelk
11-Jun-20
my goal is hopefully get away from the hospital and have a great time chasing elk
From: Treeline
11-Jun-20
Dang, y’all are making me feel bad that I don’t even have an elk tag anywhere...:-(
Lots of great goals, guys!
Good luck, everyone!
Looking forward to some awesome recaps of this fall’s successes:-)
From: elkocd
11-Jun-20
I will be hunting elk for 6 weeks straight with my dad and my teenage son will be with us for a couple weeks. That alone will be enough reward, but these are my realistic goals: ID 320+ bull My sons AZ hunt 360+ bull My dads WY hunt any 6 point. He's 73 and has a 375" bull. He won't be picky. MY WY hunt 330"+ bull.
All of those should be achievable, but there's always outside factors like weather and such that make hunting never a guarantee.
From: maxracx
11-Jun-20
Headed to Colorado 1st rifle season, hunting with a new group of guys on unit 43. Looks like steep and deep country. Busting my A$$ already to get in shape. I would prefer archery hunt but my wife drew a WI bear tag after 11 years. I need to spend Sept at home helping her. My goal is to see a nice 6x6, hopefully I get presented a shot.
From: Paul@thefort
11-Jun-20
Kill an bull elk with my Great Plains recurve bow this season. The odds are 66.6 % in my favor.
From: grossklw
11-Jun-20
Get into elk by the 4th day of my 10 day hunt. Hunting a new state for the first time, pretty excited. Just me and my main hunting partner. I think a realistic goal is for one of us to fill our tags.
From: thetruthhurts
11-Jun-20
A safe trip, a great week with my wife in the mountains and any legal elk.
From: South Farm
11-Jun-20
M-E-A-T is my number one goal. All the rest is icing on the cake.
From: PoudreCanyon
11-Jun-20
Meat in the freezer - any legal elk.
From: Bob H in NH
11-Jun-20
Goal 1: Draw tag (should know next week) Goal 2: Find elk and shoot it (Plan 1, my wife, Plan 2 Me!) goal 3: Survive getting said dead elk off the mountain with me and my wife - would be first pack out of an elk at 56 years old!)
From: goelk
11-Jun-20
Tree stand again Paul. Love the video shot from last year
From: Paul@thefort
11-Jun-20
Rich, I was lucky to draw that same unit as last year. Yes, the tree stand. That is my very best option to have a bull recurve bow close.
From: Vonfoust
11-Jun-20
Wish I had elk goals this year. As it was, my wife saw the CV coming and asked me not to put in with all the uncertainty. Sooo, my goal this year is to keep her happy so I'm going next year:(
From: Darrell
11-Jun-20
1. Be in the best shape of my hunting life so that I can enjoy this tag that I've saved points for the past X# of years to its fullest. I was down to 198# this morning (252# in January of 2019) and I will be 190# when I leave Sept. 14th.
2. Find elk in a place I've never set foot in. Have a local who knows the area well who is giving me lots of intel and plans to join me at camp for the first few days to show me around. (Yes, it is wonderful to be blessed with good connections) I've also been looking at it closely on GE for a couple years now.
3. Have multiple encounters with screaming bulls.
4. Kill a mature bull. I have two P & Y bulls under my belt and one of them is on the wall in my basement so it doesn't have to be the biggest on the mountain, but I love the challenge of finding a fully mature one.
5. Learn the country so when my buddy with twice as many points as I had to draw the tag is ready to go, I can point share with him and do it all again!
From: IdyllwildArcher
11-Jun-20
I won't have a bull elk tag this year unless I hit the lottery in California. I'm hunting moose this September and a short trip to NorCal to hunt Columbia blacktails.
But if we draw in the leftover, dad and I may have a few days to hunt cow elk at the end of our pronghorn hunt in Wyoming.
From: fubar racin
11-Jun-20
My elk hunting goal this year is the same as every year put 2 of them in the freezer.
From: Twinetickler
11-Jun-20
I want to get into a rut crazed, bugling, wild eyed, hump frenzy with a good lookin cow......Then leave home to spend 10 days hunting elk with my Dad in the backcountry of CO. 320+
From: Pennsylvania Bob
11-Jun-20
My goal is just , GET ME IN THE WOODS!. With the crap that's going on here in the east ,I can't wait to hunt our/my public land and hopefully see nobody but like minded people.
From: Buglmin
11-Jun-20
A decent bull in NM, a decent bull in Utah, and then in October, a big bull in Colorado. Horses will be here in July for the Utah and Colorado trips. In between, a bear for my daughter and a decent muley for me in September.
From: Royboy
11-Jun-20
Not needing to shoot a monster even a 5 pt would be fine for me. Funny how the older I get the less need for monster bull.
From: joehunter
11-Jun-20
Call in two bulls for my daughter and son again this year for easy shots then kill one for myself now that I have a tag this year. LE in Colorado!
From: Mountain sheep
11-Jun-20
Craig, Congrats on the retirement, been a long time coming. Good luck on the elk this year!
From: MPN
11-Jun-20
Looking forward to a great hunt with Forest and his new outfit in CO. Primary goal to help my buddy get his first bull. If I get a crack at one that would be icing on the cake!
From: Mule Power
12-Jun-20
If my wife’s happiness was fulfilled by me not applying for an elk tag we would have serious marital issues! Elk hunting has zero to do with pulling the covid card! I wouldn’t cut the grass all year. No lifting the toilet seat. Stop at the bar after work every day to drown my sorrows. The list goes on. All the while I’d be planning my 30 day 2021 elk hunt, my 15 day moose/caribou hunt and the guys only Key West trip!
From: midwest
12-Jun-20
lol@ Twinetickler!
From: Smtn10PT
12-Jun-20
Kill my biggest bull
From: Hank_S
12-Jun-20
"I want to get into a rut crazed, bugling, wild eyed, hump frenzy with a good lookin cow."
Fabulous answer...love it!!!
I read that to my wife...she said "so that's what we're doing the last week of August." Absolutely!
In September, I promise NOT to pass on 5 x 5's!
From: Bowhntn
12-Jun-20
This will work!??
From: Ermine
12-Jun-20
Goal one is get my arm Healed so I can hunt. Second goal Arrow a mature bull
From: BIGERN
12-Jun-20
DO NOT bump or meet any Grizz.
From: Lark Bunting
12-Jun-20
I hadn't really thought about setting any goals for elk hunting. Hunting with my son this year will be different as he has turned 18 this summer. When we first began hunting he was 10 and we'd laugh as I'd step over downed trees while he'd crawl under them, like a little kid. His daypack looked humongous on him. His bugle tube was literally half as tall as he was. It was all about the adventure, exploring, snack time, having fun. He idolized me. Now? I'm not sure. He graduated high school, meaning he received a cap and gown, and his diploma from the back parking lot at his high school. We were asked not to be in the vehicle. There's no commencement ceremony planned. Strange times. We don't see him very often these days, on the go, gaming, editing, uploading, avoiding. Goals for 2020? That he takes what he's learned from my parenting and applies them as a functional member of society. Elk goals for 2020? I look forward to getting the f*** out of town for a week, maybe 10 days, no cell reception...no video games, no news updates, just get out of town, have some fun with my now-adult-son. It would be great if we got into elk, we should based on the area we drew. I'd like to catch a glimpse of what it was like when he was 10; have an adventure, go explore, enjoy snack time, have some fun, see a smile.
From: TrapperKayak
12-Jun-20
My goal would be to just get to go elk hunting again. Been far too long. Seems plans get made by everyone but me these days. Just gotta go with the flow, its not all about me.
From: jordanathome
12-Jun-20
Hell yeah Tom......my boy is 22 this year. When he turned 13 I brought him out to CO for his birthday and we went shed hunting with Elkreaper. Had a blast. Found a dead bull just emerging from the snow. The pic is a fav. Now he has a girlfriend, we only see him when he needs help. LOL...sob....sigh........such is the cycle of life. Like you I just hope he kept some of the lessons I tried to teach him. So far he's a good dude but focused on his own thing right now.
From: Basinboy
12-Jun-20
To kill an elk with my Selfbow Any Elk!
From: adogg437
12-Jun-20
To be there when my buddy punches his tag on his first Bull, he has shot a hand full of cows. As for my self fill the freezer with a nice Bull.
From: LUNG$HOT
12-Jun-20
Any legal elk on the ground!
From: welka
12-Jun-20
New place in NM so get my buddy one first (he's due) and then 350+. Realistically, 1/2 is good enough!
From: Big John
12-Jun-20
As hard as NR tags are to draw and with my age concideration, my goal is to enjoy the hunt to the fullest and if I'm blessed enough to fill my tag it is a great bonus!!!
Everyone be safe out there...Big John
From: IdyllwildArcher
12-Jun-20
..."about 370" of horn."
I think someone slipped and hit a "3" instead of a "2."
From: Quinn @work
12-Jun-20
Well I have a good tag for WY that I waited 12 years for. My goal is 350+. If I don't kill an elk I'm fine with that too.
Probably pick up an OTC archery cow tag here in Colorado. Hope to shoot a nice 1.5 year old for the freezer.
From: Shaft
12-Jun-20
2 x IdyllwildArcher
From: Hank_S
12-Jun-20
Bowhntn...that will work!
From: BigSkyHntr
12-Jun-20
Anything with a 4” brow tine ;)
From: deerslayer
12-Jun-20
I have had a good run, but this year I would like to shoot a 300" plus bull. I don't want to put an exact number on it, but I'll know him when I see him. However, this goal can change depending on the conditions of the hunt. In 2017 I passed up some really nice public land bulls before killing a big one. It was that kind of hunt though, and I knew it within the first 2 days, but in the last two seasons I have not had that kind of action with that amount of truly big bulls. Last year I saw a few big ones, but they were few and far between. There are a lot of dependent factors on passing up a decent bull for me. I am hoping this year the stars align again, and I can hold out. I also just found I drew another cow tag so my #1 goal is to kill 2 elk solo this year. #2 goal is kill a 300" plus.
From: elknailer
13-Jun-20
kill the first legal elk I see
From: Grasshopper
13-Jun-20
I don't want guys getting pissed at me, but I have 3 elk tags plus a sheep tag this year. It is a dillema. One bull archery tag, a b list plo cow tag, and a list c cow tag that may get me drawn for open space.
The sheep hunt is Sept 12 to Nov 10. The bull tag is Sept 1-29. I could hunt a bull and a sheep, it is a real dillema to have, got any advice?
If I do shoot a bull, I will hold out for an impressive one.
Ive heard it said blessings come in groups, I think it is true.
From: Treeline
13-Jun-20
Steve,
Food problems to have!
Based on the schedule given:
Hunt bull elk till you can’t hunt them any more. Spend as much time as possible for a good bull in September. If you don’t kill a good bul, you still have the later option for a cow elk to fill the freezer!
Then focus every possible second afterwards on that sheep tag! The back end of that sheep tag will have some rams appearing out of nowhere and sniffing around for a girlfriend. Although there will be outfitters and hunter’s knocking off the resident rams, there will be a reload of rams late. Love sheep meat, just not enough of it!
The “B” and “C” cow tags can wait or be burned. Depending on when you get that ram killed, you may be able to pick up the extra cow... Cheap insurance for a full freezer;-)
Awesome hunting season ahead of you, buddy!
From: Huntography
13-Jun-20
Get one.
From: Brun
13-Jun-20
I will be guiding a lot this season and have two friends with Colorado Unit 10 tags that I'd like to help with their hunts. Between those two things I won't have much time for my own hunting, so it will be any elk when I do get out.
From: Old School
13-Jun-20
Apply what I’ve learned the last 2 years and arrow a legal elk.
From: KMAN1
14-Jun-20
My goal is to be able to pull my bow should the opportunity arise. I separated my shoulder in March of last year and had to sit last season out. So far so good in practice, but things are a little different 25 feet up in a treestand...
From: KSflatlander
14-Jun-20
I’m taking a young man who has never hunted elk before. He is super excited. I’ll get to observe many first for him which will be great in itself. Goal...enjoy the hunt.
Also, I’m taking the new camper this year. Can’t wait.
From: goelk
16-Jun-20
grasshopper ill take a cow from you. LOL Paul good luck with your Great Plains Looking forward to hear everyone adventures.
