Beginner elk hunter

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Good places to go, assuming you are wanting to get out this year: Idaho or Colorado for OTC, or try to pick up a leftover in Montana if there are any.
If you are going to sink money into one thing, let it be a good pair of boots. Stick with the major brands (Crispi, Kentrek, Schnees, etc)
You are from Georgia so i'm assuming you have turkey hunted. Elk hunting is a lot closer to that than anything related to whitetail, you are just hunting for a 500lbs turkey. You likely won't be doing much spot and stalk on an OTC archery tag. It's locating, calling, and making moves. Stay mobile and be aggressive (with your movement and set up, not so much with you calling), will pay out more than playing it safe on pressured OTC.
Get OnX and pour over it along with google earth, learn how to import locations from google earth to onX as it is easier to get an idea for terrain using google. Watch youtube videos on reading topo maps if you aren't familiar, will save you a lot of miles and wasted effort. Randy Newberg's escouting series is a good place to start.
Read everything you can and listen to podcasts, more information out there than there has ever been and most of it is free.
I'm in Florida, was in the same boat as you not that long ago, DM me any specific questions and if I can help I will. Have fun.

 

[boxzer8907]

All great tips. looks like i wont have to repeat the original post

 

[Trophyhntr2002]

Would not recommend the Vaprtreks. Don't want to derail this thread, but those boots were junk for me.

Really? I love mine. What was your issue with them?

 

[Trophyhntr2002]

Haha. Definitely going to be a budget trip. I can’t comfortably sink thousands of dollars on a first hunt. Boots, shelter, pack, sleeping I can see making a huge difference. I love hunting Whitetail and am fairly positive I could get hooked on a western hunt as well, but I’m not trying to be 10k upside down before I ever try it out. Thanks for all the input. I’ll take whatever info I can get. I have watched a ton of Cameron Hanes videos and of course being in shape seems to be a big focal point.


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I spent probably just under a grand for everything except clothing. But I shopped on ebay and on here. Bag was most expensive piece and I got that ebay half priced. And yes being in shape is important. You can't train for the altitude, but you can train for cardio and endurance. Get used to carrying your pack

 

[Hunt41]

Great info. Following along.

 

[Zcarlon]

This will be my first year as well. Listening to all the input.

 

[jbrownlow]

We're planning our first hunt for 2020 as well. spent lots of time in the whitetail woods, but never hunted out west. I look forward to following this thread and seeing what other advice is given.

 

[Rknight]

Great thread. I’m in the same boat. My workouts right now are carrying my 18mo old in a backpack carrier

 

[Mize4044]

Research, research, research....this forum can me a great resource

 

[jyoung1901]

Last year was my first year in Montana! I am so excited for all you guys to get hooked. Last year we weren't successful but had 4 encounters where we were set up and blew it. I let an arrow fly on the first day on the first encounter but it clipped some brush and missed completely (thankfully). This year we'll going to Colorado for an OTC hunt.

My advice from my experience last year (still a newbie for sure):
1. good boots and hike in them a lot, especially steep sidehills. Get off of a trail and walk sidehills in addition to normal hiking. I hiked a lot in them on trails around here but found i would get hotspots when sidehilling without a trail. Leukotape was magical in keeping me going though.

2. Research. If you can foot the bill OnX, GoHunt, and Elk101 were all worth the money, but thats 300 right there. OnX is vital IMO. GoHunt is helpful in picking a state and unit. Elk 101 was so helpful because the app can be used offline. You can read all you want to about hunting elk. But once you encounter some elk and blow it a few times, it all makes much more sense to read in the tent that night.

3. Once you pick a unit, watch Newbergs videos on how he E-scouts using Google Earth to pick areas to look for elk. Then copy them over to OnX. This got us into elk the first day. Create a plan A, B, and C.

4. If you can do it and have a partner that you trust to do it, drive straight through. Stopping and sleeping at a hotel sounds nice but once you're there you'll be wishing you had those extra days. We drove from Nashville to Montana straight through switching off. Plus, it will save you money you could put towards the aforementioned resources/gear.

Good Luck and enjoy the wilderness!

 

[Mwilson]

Last year was my first year in Montana! I am so excited for all you guys to get hooked. Last year we weren't successful but had 4 encounters where we were set up and blew it. I let an arrow fly on the first day on the first encounter but it clipped some brush and missed completely (thankfully). This year we'll going to Colorado for an OTC hunt.

My advice from my experience last year (still a newbie for sure):
1. good boots and hike in them a lot, especially steep sidehills. Get off of a trail and walk sidehills in addition to normal hiking. I hiked a lot in them on trails around here but found i would get hotspots when sidehilling without a trail. Leukotape was magical in keeping me going though.

2. Research. If you can foot the bill OnX, GoHunt, and Elk101 were all worth the money, but thats 300 right there. OnX is vital IMO. GoHunt is helpful in picking a state and unit. Elk 101 was so helpful because the app can be used offline. You can read all you want to about hunting elk. But once you encounter some elk and blow it a few times, it all makes much more sense to read in the tent that night.

3. Once you pick a unit, watch Newbergs videos on how he E-scouts using Google Earth to pick areas to look for elk. Then copy them over to OnX. This got us into elk the first day. Create a plan A, B, and C.

4. If you can do it and have a partner that you trust to do it, drive straight through. Stopping and sleeping at a hotel sounds nice but once you're there you'll be wishing you had those extra days. We drove from Nashville to Montana straight through switching off. Plus, it will save you money you could put towards the aforementioned resources/gear.

Good Luck and enjoy the wilderness!

Beautiful advice buddy. Thanks


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[WI in the west]

Well theres lots of good advice on here already, but besides boots and a good pack you probably got everything you need to hunt elk. I only have 2 years experience and killed one bull,seen elk or heard bugles 2/3 of days maybe, so im still trying to find my groove. So far what has been working for both mule deer and elk for me is staying mobile and glassin. By this i mean hitting new spots each morning or evening, its ok to hike in a mile or two to a glassing point but once you start going to far or setting up a spike camp you almost become trapped there. Which is ok if animals are there but can quickly use up half your hunt just to learn nothings there. I think being new your best off camping from your truck. one because your not killing yourself carrying camp on your back and two just finding elk is considered a successful hunt. You can cover an incredible amount of land with binos and changing spots each day until you find them. Ive been liking to glass until mod morning and if you see one now you have a play to make and you know your gonna be close. Also on september water is your best friend be sire to have enough with and a way to purify some if you find your self empty and a few miles from the truck. Goodluck and dont stress out on buying all the new stuff, all you need is food water a decent pack some boots and the bow that you already got and your just as lethal as anyw else on the mountain

 

[gabenzeke]

Good deals on gear pop up on classifieds here. It's a good way to get into this without spending too much. I'm from Iowa and started going west a handful of years ago and finally shot my first elk just this last year. Pick an OTC unit or get a leftover tag this year, but I'd also start buying points everywhere so you can have some hunts with theoretically less pressure in the future. Can't recommend you bring a partner enough. Elk are big, and archery season can get pretty warm. I've found that backpacking way in somewhere isn't all it's cracked up to be. For me, it's better to make shorter two or three day jaunts from the truck. Decreases the amount of gear you pack in and keeps you mobile. When you go way back in, you're committed and if they aren't there, it can be a pain to hike to another promising spot. The very first bit of your hike should be awful. Straight up terrain or thick timber. Really cuts down on the competition. Doing this, I can get away from people in just a couple miles. You'll never outhike people along trails.

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[fatlander]

Truck camping for year 1 would be my suggestion as well. Coming from the east coast whitetail world, your really don’t know what you don’t know. You need to dial in your gear before back packing and you need to have an idea of your capabilities and what you’re actually looking for. Take care your feet. If you can’t walk, you can’t hunt.

Pick a bunch of spots and check them out. Eliminating the places there aren’t elk will eventually get you to where they are. Seeing elk would make the trip successful. Killing one would put you way ahead of the overwhelming majority of first time diy elk hunters.

I’d also suggest picking a unit that you know you can come back and hunt for subsequent years. Once you start to learn your way around you can really dial in your approach.

And lastly, NEVER EVER EVER EVER talk about the unit/mountain/drainage on an open forum, local watering hole, butcher etc. unless you want all that hard work to be useless and you’re back at square 1.




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[smbolan]

Vaperteks, watched my partner go thru a pair a season for about 5 years. Then he got smart...



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[Apex_Hunt]

Colorado has some great opportunities for over the counter public land. The thing we love about elk hunting is it is a majority of everything. Spot and stalk, call in sequences, and sometimes sitting waterholes.