Displaced FNG Military mbr in CA

[huntandfisheverywhere]

This will be my second year chasing elk and essentially hunting out west. I hunt in OR due to their wonderful military license program. I may hunt in Idaho next year 2019 once I get a system dialed in and build a better comfort zone. I read a lot of articles, watched a lot of video's, and listened to multiple podcasts as well to build a foundation. I am going to enroll in the UEH elk 101 program here in a few days or possibly hours. I have been attempting to utilize various E-scouting websites as well as On X but feel that I am missing the most important element of finding quality elk habitat. Last year I went to a unit that draws a lot of hunters but I didn't hunt the main area. I found a lot of elk sign around one water hole but no elk. I put 3 days into this area then fell victim of going where majority of hunters in the unit hunt. I went during the second rifle season November 4-12th roughly. This year I am going during archery season hoping the pressure will be lower and I have more area's to scout and at the very least familiarize myself with.

I will be "lurking" the sight and trying to detract valuable information. I will try to keep the FNG questions to a minimum as hearing them over and over again presses even my buttons. If anyone hunts the western portion of OR feel free to drop me a PM because I do have some questions that I am refraining from asking because I haven't scoured the forums yet to see if someone has already answered my questions previously.

Thanks for reading if you have and I wish everyone success this year!

 

[Greg Beck]

Welcome to Rokslide!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[reelnmn]

Welcome to RS. Also an AF guy here. I wish I could get stationed at Beale, but honestly my hunting days would be over as I wouldn't be able to get away from the bass at Bullards, Clear Lake or Berryessa. Will you be elk hunting solo or in a group? Archery or rifle? My number 1 recommendation is to start scouting now. Buy some trail cams (if legal in your hunting area) and get them up asap. Like you my scouting days are limited due to work, but trail cams helped me eliminate a ton of area that I thought looked like great habitat. Ended up getting a small 6x6 on my first archery hunt last year. 100% DIY over the counter solo archery on public land.

As far as trail cams, check camofire.com for good deals or you can even get some great deals on refurbished Stealth Cams on walmart.com. I'm running 10 cams this year and paid on average $40 for each.

 

[huntandfisheverywhere]

I did second season rifle last year so roughly the 4th-12th of November. By that time from what I could tell the heard moved out most likely in the first season which was the 24th-31st of October. This year I will be archery hunting for 10 days. I enrolled in the UEH course yesterday and have been diligently working on my digital scouting. The archery tag open up a whole lot more area and what is referenced as better hunting grounds. I will be solo again this year. The game camera isn't really an option but on X paired with google earth and a few other supporting websites my confidence is slightly increasing.

reelnmn are you at F.E. I am assuming? I've been building points there for 2-3 years now for elk, deer and pronghorn. I figured I would build up about another 3-4 before I retire and treat myself a little while on terminal LV.

If anyone would be willing to peruse my "potential hunting areas" through PM's via google earth and give me some feedback it would be greatly appreciated and welcomed.

Also thanks for the welcome, hopefully I can contribute in the future.