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How far from camp do you go, i am a firm believer that elk can be right behind your camp or within 100yds of any road or trail. I have been very successful hunting these areas. Do not overlook what's right in front of you, what is your experience.
Elk are where you find them.
Bull killed 1/3 mile from camp at 9 am.
Bull killed 1/3 mile from camp at 9 am.
bull killed 1/2 mile from camp at 7:30 pm
bull killed 1/2 mile from camp at 7:30 pm
Depending on how you define "Camp". I have killed my last 5 elk within 1/3 and 1/2 mile from my DIY, solo camp 2 miles from my truck. Camp set up down wind. No fires. No loud noises, I only hunt 3 hours in the morning and 1 1/2 hour in the evening. Hunt funnels, wet meadows, wallows. Between those hunts, I am back in camp. I do not tramp through the bedding areas and do very little calling. If calling, cow and calf calls and small bull sounds. Four bulls killed and under 20 yards.
I am talking base camp, I know elk are where you find them. but so many elk hunters think they have to go far from camp, when many times good bulls are within 1/4 mile of camp. I have killed several bulls and my friends have killed dozens of bulls within 1/4 mile of camp. Just wanted to share my experience for what it worth.
Since 2009, when the Go Deep craze started, we switched tactics and focus on areas 1 mile or less from camp/vehicle.
We’ve killed over 20 elk since then. Some only 200-300yds from camp.
Go Deep boys. Go Deep.
Confucius say: "if elk hunter never goes more than a mile from camp all the elk he kills will be within a mile of camp"
"elk can be right behind your camp or within 100yds of any road or trail"
Sure they can be but from my experience in Colorado and Wyoming they usually aren't. The average kill for me and my group would be about 2 miles from the truck. We've spike camped closer but usually try and stay 1/2 to 3/4 mile from where the elk hangout where we won't spook them.
I just want to add the area we are hunting has roads everywhere, camps and atvs. Good luck to to you all this year,
The area I hunt has lots of roads/trails as well. The times I’ve hunted out of camp I could count on one hand, but I’m rarely more than a half mile or so from one of those roads/trails. My treestand sits 1/4 mile from a forest service road that gets quite a bit of atv traffic as well as a few trucks. I’ve killed 9 elk out of it, and there’s only been 2 years out of the last 25 that I couldn’t have killed one had I chosen to shoot. One of my favorite ridges runs parallel to a major mountain highway. I’ve killed three bulls that were within a couple hundred yards from it. I killed a 340 bull 1/4 mile above a major county road. The furthest pack out I’ve had to make is 3/4 mile, the shortest 25 yards. I’d say 1/4 mile would be pretty close to average.
I understand the distance hunted depends alot on where you hunt, but I also know that a whole bunch of people hunt several miles back in because they think they HAVE to in order to kill an elk. I kinda like it that way cuz it makes it less crowded for me. Confucius also had another saying…”The further you hunt, the further you pack.”
I actually killed a cow a few years ago in my underwear. Getting up at pre fawn & heard her call from the tent. Grabbed my bow & slipped out to relieve the bladder. She called again & I slipped closer to where the call came from. Just stood there waiting for more light & when I could see to shoot did a cow call of my own & she stepped out of the oak brush 15 yards from me & only 60 from the tent. My 2 buddies in the tent heard the bow go off.
“The further you hunt, the further you pack”
Luv it!
Elk don't like humans...except maybe Estes Park, Colo! Keep in mind elk generally head to areas with the least amount of hunting pressure. Is this behind camp or in the deepest, darkest canyon? If you hunt OTC elk in Colo you are probably aware of what hunting pressure and what it does to elk. Things can change dramatically depending upon whether you are hunting OTC, private land, highly limited units.
I've got a 2 mile from truck rule as I'm getting older and hunt Solo so much, all the responsibility after a harvest is totally mine.
I might do 5-6 miles on the GPS, but not straying away more than 2 miles as the crow flys.
Good luck, Robb
During rifle season, I was 100 yards in from my truck. A 150 yard shot put it down. I wasn’t paying attention to the fact that it was across a small deep valley. I swear that 150 yard’s suddenly turned into a 500 mile hike to reach!!!
Last year my when I was with a friend he killed 100 yards from a road. We walked about 5 miles to get there though so it varies. All those elk in that drainage were pushed two drainages over by some Doug Fluite blowing a thunder bugle like a pied Piper. Sounded like a donkey trying to imitate an elk. I have rain into elk 50 yards from a road or as deep as I’ve been. Elk are where you are when you find them…
A little Monday poetry....I've killed elk close and I've killed elk far, the only certainty is you can only kill them where they are!
A poet and didn't know it----->
Good luck, Robb
Killed this bull with a client 1/4mile from a busy road.
Last year 1mile straight up from camp. In the wide open. A long way from cover
Man Forrest. You couldn’t find him a bigger bull closer to a road.
I’ve had success in heavy hunted areas. By looking for areas with no place to park. And really tough walking from the road. Either straight up from the road. Or nasty blow downs at the road. Or wide open sage flats with water.
Most people want to park and everyone head in form one spot. instead of being dropped. And most want easy walking.
When the pressure is on. Hunt nasty blow downs hip high
One of the easiest pack outs I had was in Wyoming on a Bull Ike shot. From where the bull went down to the 2 track I was able to get my jeep on was less than 200 yards.
We didn’t even put the meat in packs. We just ran game bags full of meat up to the jeep parked on the 2 track.
As Lou said elk are where you find them. I have hunted them 5+ miles deep and right off the road.
Piggybacking on Brot's post...
I've missed 'em in the sun and I've missed them in foul weather, but packing out unpunched tags is light as a feather.
This one was only 4 miles from camp… which was 7 miles from the truck. All your stories make me jealous… and a little sad… and want to call a shrink!?????
Use to pack 12 miles into a Mt Zerkel wilderness area with few encounters, and one year a cow ran through the parking lot at the trailhead as we came out. Far more elk while hunting from a truck camp.
