Your hardest habit to break
Contributors to this thread:Elk
From: gil_wy
30-Jul-24
Just curious what your Achilles heel is. I’ve been doing this elk hunting thing for 30 years and patience is my nemesis. I will set up on a bull on a bull and say “wait, wait, wait…” and off I go to close the distance if there is even a chance he’s leaving! And yeah I generally screw it up. Now, in my defense, I’ve killed my biggest two bulls doing exactly that but 9/10 times it ends up with me getting busted! But I keep doing it!
Let’s hear your habit you can’t break!
From: Norseman
30-Jul-24
9/10 they are leaving. Herd Bulls anyway. The longer i sit the more chances i will see a bull up close, but it is usually a satellite that is late for the party. I am not patient either. I have learned that if i have time my beat op will be to use the wind and hustle to get 3/4 up wind of them and slowly slice in when they are parallel to me. My vice is my stomach, giving up to early in the morning and wanting more coffee and a big brunch.
From: jordanathome
30-Jul-24
Hesitate and overthink until the split second opportunity fades away.........
From: RJ Hunt
30-Jul-24
Sometimes I don’t wait long enough and can jump the gun
From: Jaquomo
30-Jul-24
Second guessing myself and moving when I should have stayed put.
Sometimes I don't follow my own advice I've published in many articles. Then someone calls to tell me how they killed a big bull using a tactic I described, after I screwed up by not doing the same thing the week before.
From: wyobullshooter
30-Jul-24
I can’t count all the golden opportunities I screwed up when moving in on bugling bulls in thick timber. I like to pressure bulls into making a mistake, and even though I knew they were closer than they sounded, I wanted to get “just a little closer”. I finally broke that nasty habit, but the ones that got away still haunt me.
From: Stoneman
30-Jul-24
Achilles heel’s for me. Lately it has definitely been lack of patience and not letting things unfold naturally.
The second is not taking the time to set up properly for the conditions and landscape when I know the bull is coming. This has resulted in having elk inside 25 yards and no shot opportunity.
From: Willieboat
30-Jul-24
Leaving elk to find elk.
From: Quinn @work
30-Jul-24
I shot my biggest bull by being aggressive and moving right in on him. I've probably blow opportunities 10 fold on bulls by being too aggressive. Murphy's Law.
From: sitO
30-Jul-24
Copenhagen
From: Brun
30-Jul-24
I'm guilty of everything mentioned.
From: cnelk
30-Jul-24
Shooting a cow before the bull comes
From: t-roy
30-Jul-24
Not applying for elk points in more states.
From: Norseman
30-Jul-24
Kodiak But i did it. Almost 3 years clean.
Booze and one night stands are next. 8)
From: EmbryOklahoma
30-Jul-24
Not going elk hunting more. Making excuses and not making out West hunts happen.
From: FORESTBOWS
30-Jul-24
Calling and not being ready...... like i dont believe they are coming.
From: Jaquomo
31-Jul-24
^^^ This, Forest!
From: badbull
31-Jul-24
Re: elk, not allowing more days to hunt. Not really a habit but biggest mistake has been "not waiting it out" when in a staring contest with a bull that comes in. I do not think it will happen again if I am in that situation ever again as I know that they will bolt at the first movement they see. This does go along with what Forest said re: "Calling and not being ready."
From: Altitude Sickness
31-Jul-24
Taking one step at a time then Looking for the bedded target animal for long periods. Concentrating very hard, picking apart every possible hiding location.
Then, Hey! There’s a shed !
Stumble towards the shed like a slug and boom. There goes the bull or buck I’ve spent hours looking for. :>))
Or hunting hard for days. Then getting complacent at the exact time you run into the animal your after :>)))
From: Altitude Sickness
31-Jul-24
From: BULELK1
31-Jul-24
I'm going Blind so I guess my Mom was right........
Anyways, what gil said for me too.
Good luck, Robb
From: sawtooth
31-Jul-24
As far as hunting, I am stuck in mid the 1960's.
From: In2dmtns
31-Jul-24
Letting the presence of other hunters in the area dictate my plans and getting me frustrated. I am always second guessing where are they, what are they doing and when the truth is I can't control that.
Also almost everything mentioned above.
From: Tejas
31-Jul-24
Not being able to draw a tag…ha!
From: Trying hard
31-Jul-24
Stop chewing tobacco.... Ohhhh hunting related... Hunting in all weather conditions for sure .
From: Insheart
31-Jul-24
Staying a little bit to long when I know the wind is going squirrelly / bad. Thinking.... "Maybe they will come from the other direction"
From: elkmtngear
31-Jul-24
Like others...moving when I should have been patient!
From: Cornpone
31-Jul-24
Passing up a good shot waiting for a perfect shot.
From: sundowner
31-Jul-24
Being too slow to move. My favorite elk guide outta Daniel, Wyoming always says, "You can't kill 'em if you ain't in amongst 'em. He was usually right, but sometimes they went to the next zip code. ;-)
From: welka
01-Aug-24
Opposite for me vs what many others have said - Start to call too early when we locate one and set up to call him in. Always think we are "close enough" to pull him in and we must just be outside of the range of pissing him off and the bull walks away with his cows to get away from the intruder (us).
From: Bowboy
01-Aug-24
Yep I agree patience is my issue. Sometimes I move in a little too close.
From: LeeBuzz
01-Aug-24
setting up a stand and not using it because stalking is too much fun... that and over cranking on RV friendly toilet paper
From: Brotsky
01-Aug-24
Patience, I have serious elk ADD. Many a bull is alive today because I get too aggressive when waiting just even another minute or two would have sealed the deal.
From: Bowaddict
01-Aug-24
Patience at different moments is probably the biggie, but I wouldn’t hunt elk any differently. I’ve killed most of my bulls by aggressively moving in on them when they are vocal, or after I spot them. I’m not aggressive with calling usually, but I’m never afraid to move in on vocal bulls! Sometimes I’m gonna blow it, but it works often enough!
From: KSflatlander
01-Aug-24
Follow through (not punching the trigger and not dropping bow hand when shooting at a live target). I struggled with that when I was younger.
From: Native Okie
01-Aug-24
Not knowing and understanding the “doorway” concept earlier. It’s cost me a couple.
From: Swede
02-Aug-24
Not taking the bird in hand. I have also shot spikes when a large cow would have been just as easy.
From: WapitiBob
02-Aug-24
Yea, I've shot a cpl spikes in my life, never again.
From: hobbes
02-Aug-24
Doing some of the same things year after year and hoping for different results. I'll hunt some areas that I should never set foot back in again but there's just enough chance that I burn precious time year after year.
From: Native Okie
02-Aug-24
Not knowing and understanding the “doorway” concept earlier. It’s cost me a couple.
From: gil_wy
02-Aug-24
Glad I’m not the only one! lol! I’m sure it’s a function of the “fun” way worked a few times. However, this last fall, my impatience cost me the biggest bull I’ve seen in the wild… legit 390+. Came in on a string and I was convinced he’d hang up. Caught me on a bright hill side staring at each other at 25 yards. I gave my quiver to my buddy so I didn’t stab myself with an arrow!
From: Norseman
06-Aug-24
Kodiak But i did it. Almost 3 years clean.
Booze and one night stands are next. 8)
