SemperHunter
Lil-Rokslider
It seems almost surreal that my buddy and I got the opportunity to get out to Idaho on our first elk hunt. I definitely count myself very fortunate to have had the experience as it wasn't long ago it was only a dream I had of being able to do so. I'll cut to the chase and state that we were not able to fill our tags, but then I don't think anyone reasonably expects to be able to fill their tags on the first go around. There were certainly a lot of lessons learned and things that we would do differently if given the opportunity again. We were able to see a few but no shot opportunities were presented.
I really just wanted to state a few observations as a first timer (to experienced elk hunters some of these will be blatantly obvious).
1.) When it's stated that you need to get in shape before doing this, it can't be understated. I worked my butt off for 3 months to get in shape and was pretty easily gassed.
2.) Even with doing e-scouting, nothing replaces the boots on ground scouting, not even close. We knew there would be obvious elevation change from topo maps but were still taken back from the sheer physical presentation that we took for granted looking at maps.
3.) Coming from Missouri white tail hunting where you sit on a choke point and wait for them to pass, this was far and above different although part of my strategy still relied on this basic principle for day 1.
4.) Going into this I thought rifle hunting elk gave us a significant advantage but after 5 days of scouting and hunting and only seeing a few, I'm convinced that elk are just very large ninja deer. I'm very intrigued at the thought of trying archery elk during the rut now.
5.) I've seen a lot of residents talk about the hunting pressure from non-residents but I saw very few out of state tags where I was. I'm sure that isn't necessarily the case everywhere. I was expecting to see a lot more for sure.
6.) It was an interesting experience as a non-resident hunter. This was the first time I've hunted out of state and I certainly got a mixed bag of responses from residents. A lot of glares and non-responsive folks as I would wave driving past. I definitely chose not to dwell on this though as the positive far outweighed the negative. There were a handful of residents that offered some great advice, a friendly wave and even one that went above and beyond to help which I'll go on explain later as my closing point.
7.) Lastly, the advice and assistance that was offered by a particular individual and his friend will never be forgotten and have forever altered how I will treat non-residents hunting in my state. They offered lots of helpful advice, drove out to meet us a significant distance out of their way and even went so far as to lend us the use of his wall tent and stove when we were gritting it out in our small tents while everyone around us in the campground were in campers and wall tents. This generosity was never expected and won't soon be forgotten. Had we just gone in and hunted hard as we did with seeing as few animals as we saw it would be easy to feel pretty dejected but this person helped make this a very positive experience. I'm not saying that you should go and give away your honey holes or even offer up your gear as this person did, but how you treat people can make a world of difference.
Good luck to everyone out there still chasing!
I really just wanted to state a few observations as a first timer (to experienced elk hunters some of these will be blatantly obvious).
1.) When it's stated that you need to get in shape before doing this, it can't be understated. I worked my butt off for 3 months to get in shape and was pretty easily gassed.
2.) Even with doing e-scouting, nothing replaces the boots on ground scouting, not even close. We knew there would be obvious elevation change from topo maps but were still taken back from the sheer physical presentation that we took for granted looking at maps.
3.) Coming from Missouri white tail hunting where you sit on a choke point and wait for them to pass, this was far and above different although part of my strategy still relied on this basic principle for day 1.
4.) Going into this I thought rifle hunting elk gave us a significant advantage but after 5 days of scouting and hunting and only seeing a few, I'm convinced that elk are just very large ninja deer. I'm very intrigued at the thought of trying archery elk during the rut now.
5.) I've seen a lot of residents talk about the hunting pressure from non-residents but I saw very few out of state tags where I was. I'm sure that isn't necessarily the case everywhere. I was expecting to see a lot more for sure.
6.) It was an interesting experience as a non-resident hunter. This was the first time I've hunted out of state and I certainly got a mixed bag of responses from residents. A lot of glares and non-responsive folks as I would wave driving past. I definitely chose not to dwell on this though as the positive far outweighed the negative. There were a handful of residents that offered some great advice, a friendly wave and even one that went above and beyond to help which I'll go on explain later as my closing point.
7.) Lastly, the advice and assistance that was offered by a particular individual and his friend will never be forgotten and have forever altered how I will treat non-residents hunting in my state. They offered lots of helpful advice, drove out to meet us a significant distance out of their way and even went so far as to lend us the use of his wall tent and stove when we were gritting it out in our small tents while everyone around us in the campground were in campers and wall tents. This generosity was never expected and won't soon be forgotten. Had we just gone in and hunted hard as we did with seeing as few animals as we saw it would be easy to feel pretty dejected but this person helped make this a very positive experience. I'm not saying that you should go and give away your honey holes or even offer up your gear as this person did, but how you treat people can make a world of difference.
Good luck to everyone out there still chasing!
