This is a pretty good vid. I think he is correct on knowing one specific area inside and out vs jumping around to new areas. I'd say this applies to deer as well. You can compare this to public land hunting to your private land hunting....you know where the animals are and what they will be doing and when.
Who came up with the 5% kill 95% statistic? I've heard that for years, but have never seen any proof of it. How would anyone know, especially when some the best elk producing states don't have mandatory harvest reporting?
I dont know if that number is 5% but I do think there a group that have higher success rate that others on public land. That all changes on private land and guided, but public OYO hunting, yes.
I see it every year. Look at the success rates especially Archery. Rifle elk success usually around 25% and Archery is around 15%. So 1 out 4 people kill elk with a rifle and let's round up for Archery and say that 1 in 5 harvest. I know lots of people that are lucky to harvest 1 elk in 4 years. On the other hand I have a group of friends that harvest every year.
In Colorado you can hunt elk every year. I hunt elk every year on public land. I also have multiple opportunities to harvest bulls every year. If I don't kill, it is because I have choose to pass on smaller bulls for a chance at a larger one. One of the reason I switched to full time archery 12 years ago, not the only reason, was to have more of a challenge. In 18 years of rifle hunting I killed 17 bulls. The one year I did not kill was because I was after a bull that would not show himself. I was not always this successful, but you learn by mistakes.
Similar to Slipshot, I enjoyed about 2 decades of filling my elk tag nearly every year with a bow on public ground. But it was BLM that was landlocked by private. It was also some of the best elk habitat Colorado has to offer. When we lost that access to outfitter greed, I learned what “real” public land hunting is all about. Since then, I’ve killed a bull about every 4 years, or so, on average.
I guess my point is, not all public land hunting is equal. I know several guys who kill every year, but they all have some sort of exclusive access to land that the average Joe doesn’t have.
Honestly I have been blessed. I'm not a native to Colorado, but have been lucky to befriend locals that have shared their knowledge. As Grey Ghost has alluded to, location is key. If I archery hunted where I use to rifle hunt I would be lucky to harvest a elk 1 in 4 years. With that said, learn your area and you will increase your success rate. For example I have kill 4 bulls out of the same tree. If you were to walk by this location, there is nothing there that would lead you to believe this was a great location. Through observation over the years, we figured out that this location is a natural crossing point. Again the location is only good if certain criteria are meet; weather, hunting pressure, water availability, acorn production, and rut activity. It took years to figure this out.
Here in NY, deer hunting, we have in many instances seen on average 10% of hunters killing 90% of the deer. I think overall a few hunters are really consistent with any species.
I think folks who know the area and put their time in scouting, doing prep and spend time hunting will usually stand a better chance than someone who doesn't hunt as much or doesn't do their homework. Is it the same 5%, 10% or 20%...I don't know?? One of my buds in Florida is like that for deer. He lives right down the road from one of the WMA's and is in there a lot doing trail clearing, running cams, scouting, moving stands, etc. This WMA is a lot of swamp mix and gets a lot of pressure. He usually gets a buck after passing over some smaller ones. In this WMA....I see the kill logbook when I'm there snowbirding. I'd put him in the 3% - 5% group. He is a good example of someone who puts in the time and reaps the rewards.
Well we have lucky Joey ! You know the one that didn’t practice,has a 25 year old bow,can’t call,can’t walk in the woods very well but kills all the time! He came on his first elk bow hunt with us and shoots a 342” public land otc in Oregon. And I’ve seen him kill others over the years. He messes with the percentages
As stated above, kinda the 80/20 rule. Some folks are lucky, yeah, but some folks just have talents for certain things that most don't. My guess is a good part of it is some folks are driven harder to their goals than others are. The guy that's cruising around for 5 days having fun and good wid it is not the same guy that's in it hard grinding for two or three straight weeks and scouting a week before season opens.
Some folks are committed. Some think they are. Some others should be..... =D
Unless you hunt Colorado OTC every year or are a resident of a state where you can buy an elk tag every year like Wyoming, it's really hard to hunt the same unit multiple times and/or consecutive years and really get to know it. I believe most non resident elk hunters who apply in multiple states end up jumping around to different states and units from year to year based on what states/units they are able to draw. At least that's the way it works for me. For instance this year I will be hunting Wyoming general, last year I hunted Arizona for the first time, in 2020 I hunted Colorado in a unit I hadn't hunted since 2010. In 2019 and 2018 I hunted Wyoming general and hunted different areas each year. In 2017 I hunted New Mexico in a unit I hadn't hunted since 2010. I killed bulls each of those years and none of them were killed in areas I knew intimately. I moved around and hunted areas that I believed would be good based on knowledge of elk habits. That's how it's been for me since I started elk hunting in '98, multiple states, multiple units, multiple areas within units and about a 75% success rate which would have been higher if i didn't choose to pass some bulls.
I personally love to explore and hunt new states, units, drainages etc and I feel that the advantage of knowing an one area intimately may be overrated. My success rate on elk is actually a little better the first time I hunt an area. I think part of the reason for that is because I have an open mind when it comes to finding elk in a new area and will cover new ground until I find them. Whereas if I'm hunting an area I've hunted in the past I might spend/waste more time hunting for elk in areas I've found them in the past rather than moving on to new areas.
I have absolutely no reservations about hunting new/unfamiliar areas and in fact it's one of the things I enjoy the most about hunting out west.
I'm a flatlander from Indiana. Didn't start elk hunting until 2002 at the age of 40. I've hunted elk in five states, multiple public land units...always DIY. Never been on a guided elk hunt...although I have received plenty of great advice here on Bowsite!
Was fortunate to arrow four bulls on my first four elk hunts. First three were raghorns and then I got picky. Have ate three elk tags to date...but passed shot opportunities at bulls on all three hunts. My hunts are solo more often than not, but I have taken three friends over the years and called for them. Watched all three guys arrow their first bulls. Special times...one friend actually broke down in tears.
I absolutely love elk hunting...but learned early on, elk hunting is not rocket science. Agree totally with Mike...put the boots on the ground until you find elk. Once you find elk...you can kill elk. Keep the wind / thermals in your favor and allow each close encounter to dictate your next move. There is no one size fits all plan for elk IMO. Have successfully used cow calls, bugles, spot & stalk and ambush (bull bugling on his own) to notch elk tags. Never have shot an elk from a treestand...but confident that option is deadly under the right circumstances. Maybe some day!
