Things you wish you knew about elk hunting

Joined
Jan 30, 2022
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Hey guys,
As I look forward to my second elk season... It got me thinking. If there was one or two things you wished you had learned sooner, what would it be?

I made a ton of mistakes last year, and I know that I had more than a fair amount of chances on my first elk hunt. I just didn't get it done. In the 8 days we hunted, I called in a couple bulls to well within bow range, but set up wrong and couldn't get a shot. I snuck in on a bedded cow and didn't see the other cow and calf that spooked. I chased a bull across two ridges, only to get to the top of the second one and have him vanish on me. Turned around and there were elk at a wallow I had just passed on the way. Seeing them getting water right where I just was hurt my soul a little lol. Bumped a bedded muley that I didn't see because I was moving too fast trying to get to this bedded bull I had seen and the muley took off, spooking the bull. I set up on the wrong trail one morning where I had seen elk going back into the timber the prior two days and the elk ended up above me just out of range. I belly crawled for almost 4 hours across the rocks and sage to get within 100 yards of a herd only to have some guys come walking in from the road the other way and bump the elk.

All of these things taught me something and the experience was incredible.

I don't have anybody to teach me about this stuff, so I am working on getting as many elk hunts under my belt as I can in the next 10 years to try and learn everything I can. (Going back to Idaho again and hopefully Wyoming for a cow hunt)

So Roksliders, I am leaning on you. What do you wish you had known earlier? What mistakes have you made that taught you something you won't forget?
 
OP
E
Joined
Jan 30, 2022
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Pics for enjoyment...
Called this elk in without knowing he was even there. He came right in to 40 yards but I set up in a spot that didn't allow me to get a shot.


Snapchat-1839330166.jpg
 
Joined
Feb 17, 2013
Messages
2,254
That’s an easy question. For me it would be not to get hung up on the first couple areas you hunt unless it’s going really well. Really well means seeing elk every single day. Also learning what to look for when picking an area because that’s the main ingredient.
 
OP
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Joined
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That’s an easy question. For me it would be not to get hung up on the first couple areas you hunt unless it’s going really well. Really well means seeing elk every single day. Also learning what to look for when picking an area because that’s the main ingredient.
Last year we sure botched that... We were in elk on day 1 and 2, then left for day 3 and spent day 3 and morning of day 4 where there were absolutely no elk.

What do you look for when picking an area?
 

mavinwa2

WKR
Joined
Sep 11, 2018
Messages
528
Location
Res WA ST, winter>Gilbert AZ , NR>AZ, UT, NM, CO.
Here's a few...
Wind direction is everything.
Slow down, don't try to hunt everywhere, find the elk and hunt there until elk no longer there.
Apply the law of averages for better chance of success.

and this...

...I hunt other hunters.
Public lands are crowded where I hunt. Observe other hunters' behaviors, mistakes & whereabouts and adapt my hunt strategies, ethically use them to increase my chances of success. By knowing the unit's terrain, elk behavior and guessing right.
In 55 years, I've tagged a lot of bulls pushed to me by other hunters. Due to their mistakes with miss calling, movement, wind/thermals, terrain set up etc.

You make your own luck.
 

jpmulk

WKR
Joined
Nov 12, 2021
Messages
332
Well im still learning too. Always haha. But i grew up deer hunting and i tried hunting elk like deer my first year. I heard a lot of bulls but didnt understand i needed to close the distance and learn what different calls mean. After that I became a lot more aggressive and studied the elknut, did the online elk university, read books, and anything else i could get my hands on to learn.
 
Joined
Jun 22, 2020
Messages
42
I'm definitely still learning but here are a few things that came to mind when I read your question.

1. Learn an area as much as possible. Find bedding areas, water, and game trails.
2. Sitting water can be extremely effective. I shot a bull from a tree stand over a spring.
3. Stay on the mountain as much as possible. Afternoon can be slow but it can still produce shot opportunities. Don't go back to camp if you don't absolutely have to.
4. Obey the wind always. Walk with caution, even if you haven't seen anything all day. Things in the elk woods tend to change quickly.
5. Don't get sucked into hunting the same area just because you saw an elk there while scouting.
6. Practice shooting your weapon
7. Don't take a shot you're not 100% confident in. Tracking a wounded animal and not finding it is miserable.
 
Joined
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Messages
2,254
It's easier than you think, when you find them don't leave them.
True but…. Not always. That brings me to answer the question what do you look for in an area. There are places that have elk but are just terrible as far as user friendly goes. Mainly too thick. I don’t care about steep and rugged. But you can’t kill what you can’t see. What good are elk if you can’t locate them except by getting busted? I have gravitated toward at least semi open country. You can still use all the same methods as usual but you can’t glass in endless timber and glassing is hands down the best way to spot elk. The reason is simple… you can cover several miles in every direction from one spot. The advantage of locating elk without them knowing you are there is huge. Now march over there with confidence knowing when to slow down and go into predator mode. No different than birds of prey. I’ll take 30 elk in open country over 100 buried in cover. Think about it… when is the last time you saw a hawk perched in the middle of timber? Nope…. They make a living off of spot and stalk hunting.
 

go_deep

WKR
Joined
Jan 7, 2021
Messages
1,615
True but…. Not always. That brings me to answer the question what do you look for in an area. There are places that have elk but are just terrible as far as user friendly goes. Mainly too thick. I don’t care about steep and rugged. But you can’t kill what you can’t see. What good are elk if you can’t locate them except by getting busted? I have gravitated toward at least semi open country. You can still use all the same methods as usual but you can’t glass in endless timber and glassing is hands down the best way to spot elk. The reason is simple… you can cover several miles in every direction from one spot. The advantage of locating elk without them knowing you are there is huge. Now march over there with confidence knowing when to slow down and go into predator mode. No different than birds of prey. I’ll take 30 elk in open country over 100 buried in cover. Think about it… when is the last time you saw a hawk perched in the middle of timber? Nope…. They make a living off of spot and stalk hunting.

Never found a spot to thick to hunt elk. If there's a will, there's a way.
 
OP
E
Joined
Jan 30, 2022
Messages
1,017
Here's a few...
Wind direction is everything.
Slow down, don't try to hunt everywhere, find the elk and hunt there until elk no longer there.
Apply the law of averages for better chance of success.

and this...

...I hunt other hunters.
Public lands are crowded where I hunt. Observe other hunters' behaviors, mistakes & whereabouts and adapt my hunt strategies, ethically use them to increase my chances of success. By knowing the unit's terrain, elk behavior and guessing right.
In 55 years, I've tagged a lot of bulls pushed to me by other hunters. Due to their mistakes with miss calling, movement, wind/thermals, terrain set up etc.

You make your own luck.
Slowing down would have been the key for me last year. I was moving way too fast early in the hunt and just needed to take a second to slow down and figure things out.

When you say hunt the elk until they are no longer there, that really resonates. We left elk to go find elk and burned valuable time and miles of boot leather.

I think we did a good job of using other hunters and getting past them to where the other hunters push elk. I had used that idea hunting whitetails on public land in Mn a lot and it seemed to hold true. Do you find a distance most guys will go from a trail head? We were in a pretty heavy pressure area, but there was almost no pressure when we dropped over the first big ridge that was right around 1.5 miles from the truck.

Man 55 years of elk hunting. Congrats man, that is so awesome. I hope to learn everything I can on my way to 55 years of elk hunts
 
OP
E
Joined
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Well im still learning too. Always haha. But i grew up deer hunting and i tried hunting elk like deer my first year. I heard a lot of bulls but didnt understand i needed to close the distance and learn what different calls mean. After that I became a lot more aggressive and studied the elknut, did the online elk university, read books, and anything else i could get my hands on to learn.
Man I was so timid to get in close early in my hunt last year. The first bugle I heard was from a ways off and I just sat there like a dummy expecting him to come to a cow call from a half a mile away LOL. Wish I had gone over there and tried to get in close on day 1.
 
OP
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It's easier than you think, when you find them don't leave them.

Boy that is tough to hear. I got my tail kicked in, but I can see what you mean. I can see how it all could have come together, I just wasn't good enough.
 
OP
E
Joined
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I'm definitely still learning but here are a few things that came to mind when I read your question.

1. Learn an area as much as possible. Find bedding areas, water, and game trails.
2. Sitting water can be extremely effective. I shot a bull from a tree stand over a spring.
3. Stay on the mountain as much as possible. Afternoon can be slow but it can still produce shot opportunities. Don't go back to camp if you don't absolutely have to.
4. Obey the wind always. Walk with caution, even if you haven't seen anything all day. Things in the elk woods tend to change quickly.
5. Don't get sucked into hunting the same area just because you saw an elk there while scouting.
6. Practice shooting your weapon
7. Don't take a shot you're not 100% confident in. Tracking a wounded animal and not finding it is miserable.
Thanks man! This is great.

I am going right back to the same area as last year since I felt like in the 8 days I learned so much. I found a couple hidden little wallows, found some great bedding and have a much better understanding of the area.

I have a little bit of a hard time sitting water. I understand it can be productive but Im a whitetail hunter normally so when I go west part of the experience for me is being more active in the hunt. Maybe that is just stubborn, but I wanna sneak and peak and move haha.

One thing I am proud of- we hunted dark till dark every day. No way I could come back to camp. The only time we were off the mountain was to sleep and to drive to another spot to look for elk.

The mountain wind was so new to me. Thermals in the mountains are not at all like thermals here. That is a big learning curve for me for sure.

Those are great man, thanks!
 
OP
E
Joined
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True but…. Not always. That brings me to answer the question what do you look for in an area. There are places that have elk but are just terrible as far as user friendly goes. Mainly too thick. I don’t care about steep and rugged. But you can’t kill what you can’t see. What good are elk if you can’t locate them except by getting busted? I have gravitated toward at least semi open country. You can still use all the same methods as usual but you can’t glass in endless timber and glassing is hands down the best way to spot elk. The reason is simple… you can cover several miles in every direction from one spot. The advantage of locating elk without them knowing you are there is huge. Now march over there with confidence knowing when to slow down and go into predator mode. No different than birds of prey. I’ll take 30 elk in open country over 100 buried in cover. Think about it… when is the last time you saw a hawk perched in the middle of timber? Nope…. They make a living off of spot and stalk hunting.
This is gold!

I bumped too many elk in the thick stuff just because I couldn't find where they bedded. I knew they were there, but I just couldn't find all of the eyes. I know they are in there, but the elk I got the closest to shooting were all in mixed country. Especially since the elk weren't bugling much for the first part of our hunt, locating them was so tough in the thick stuff.

Thanks!
 
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