Good stuff Todd!
I have been an elk hunter for coming up 23 years; and I did not get an elk last year.
There were reasons that had to do with hunting; shooting; etc; but some reasons had nothing to do with hunting; but family issues. That and me doing stupid stuff.
I can add a few things here; one is to repeat the need to have water; and the suggestion of having a water purifier on you when hunting is about the best idea. Force yourself to drink water; because your going to be sweating; and your going to be dehydrating yourself; and that can lead to sore muscles and thick blood; and death and stuff.
I think one thing that people do "wrong" is that they do not 'carpe diem'; they do not seize the moment.
Elk; as stated; can not be totally figured out.
So; one of the best rules to follow is to hunt where there are elk. If your in elk country it might be enough to look back at a great hunt; even though you might not have gotten a shot.
Then again maybe you want to kill an elk...
I see people in their first few days of a hunt pushing themselves; and not ~hunting~ hard; and not paying 100 percent attention; and thus; alerting the elk they came to hunt. Then they spend the rest of the hunt in a futile search for the elk they moved out: the first days of the hunt.
Elk can live in an area for months; and get bumped and run for an hour and live for another month in equally good country. THERE IS LITTLE SENSE IN HUNTING YESTERDAYS ELK.
I took a bow killed elk for a bowhunter once; on my pack animals; his 39th elk with a bow.
His technique was to walk for a half hour; and then sit for 40 minutes. He would read a book. Elk are noisy critters in most cases; and you can hear them mewing and breaking brush when feeding and walking ~often~.
He would keep up his routine all day long; not going back to camp for lunch. He took it with him; and slept if the felt like it.
When he heard elk; and its often not calling; its just a 'snap' of a twig. He would put the book away and start hunting like he was playing chess with his life on the line.
I personally have noticed ( I see elk everyday all winter long- as well as -often- the rest of the year) that elk will move in early light; and usually not bugle past 10 am. If they bugle past ten:( when thermals start making them bed) its either that they are in a bed- and just do it; or they are walking to or from a wallow.
I notice that elk do not lay in one spot all day. They get up at about 2 ( when most hunters are in camp wondering where the elk are) and walk a ways. They may only walk a short ways; to a wallow or water; or even a hundred yards and lay back down; but the '2 oclock' pattern is quite common.
When it comes to calls; there is a common failure among most hunters. It has nothing to do with anything other than courtesy. When they are listening to elk bugle tapes or cds; they keep the volume down. A bugling bull elk will scream so loud it will make your ears flap in the wind if your within shooting distance. They bugle loud; and if you are at the wifes requested practice volume; your going to sound like an elk a mile away; and NOT very likely to anger a bull into answering.
If you want to really tick off a bull; then when he calls; repeat the call exactly back to him. EXACTLY. Note for note. That can be tough; and takes a lot of calling experience; but it is just plain effective.
I have tried a kazillion cow elk calls; and used them when I could see the elk; and the only elk call that I have NEVER seen scare an elk; is the little old grey plastic 'elk inc' call- with two plastic flaps and a rubber band going through it.
Why I don't know. I carry one all the time for cow calling - along with other calls...
What I see in the winter; is that there are herds of elk. There might be 65 in one herd; a hundred in anothers. As I know for a fact cow elk in the wild can- and do- live for 30 years plus; if your looking at a herd of elk; they ALL could be out of one cow. That means they can and they DO recognise the voices of elk they have known for decades.
Now in the fall; when the rut hits; and cows are either with a herd bull; or they are trying to avoid a herd bull ( cow elk are women elk) they will not be so worried about a new voice in the neighborhood. So that is when your cow calling works the best.
Elk are NOT dumb. If you use one cow call and call in spike and the cows; and then stand up and laugh at them; or walk out into the open because there is no monster bull in the group; or if you call in and screw up a calling session for whatever reason --- please don't be shocked if the same elk hear your 'call voice' and consider it a human: from the first mew.
Take more than one call; and be prepared to use both- because NOBODY knows everytime they have screwed it up.
Have a plan. If you and your buddy are going to bugle in an elk; cool. But plan it out; watch some Primos videos and LISTEN TO WILL!! He is saying the caller should be behind the shooter 40 or 50 or even more yards!! If your calling the elk will sneak in to see you - and then you have to figure out a way to draw and shoot with an elk staring at you at ten yards. Frontal shots do not count.
Be sneaky from day ONE. Be HUNTING from day one.
Other than water; and a water purifier - the only things I have not seen that you should take with you each hunt; is a couple of those little folded up space blankets. They can save you in an emergency; you can make a lean/to roof; and use the other to sit or lay on. Making a lean/to requires rope; and that is the other thing I don't see enough of. Parachute cord is perfect.
You will see the wisdom in carrying strong rope; and about 50 feet of it; when you get an elk down. First; you might need to tie the dang elk to a tree to keep it from sliding down 'hecks gulch' while your field dressing it. Then there is the matter of pine needles and dirt on the meat. If you lay one of those blankets down on the ground and lay your boned out meat on it; your meat processor will like it better; and some processors will not accept dirty meat (rocks can ruin a grinder blade for one thing).
Then when you have the blankets covered with skinned out elk quarters; and go to hang them up ( do hang them up- the higher the better) you will realise that if you have a lot of rope; you will be a lot happier. Its called the rope to happiness factor. H= LR X RLN ( happiness equals length of rope times rope length needed). :rolleyes:
Hunt where the elk are on the day your hunting them. Use your head. Remember elk put their head down to look UNDER brush all the time; so don't attract elk to your feet ( as in white socks or shoes) or movement.
Use your binoculars; they are using theirs.
All that and practice with your knees knocking; and you should do fine
and everything Todd said too.....
Topic: Wanna go elk huntin'? 2010 UPDATE. More photos Pg. 5 (Read 2135 times)
