whitetail or elk

[ChuckC]

Actually, I would love to have a good spot to hunt bunnies and skwerls even more.  I can hunt them every single day for months and months at very little cost.  

Then I can not feel like I HAVE to go out on a day I really don't feel like it, just cause there are only a few days left to the season.

Elk are awesome, and I will continue to make the pilgrimage as often as I can.  Deer are incredible and make my heart beat fast and make me smile just seeing them.  Turkeys have their moments, but skwerls and bunnies could be unlimited.

ChuckC

[Stumpkiller]

I'd hunt elk, but hereabouts I don't think I'd have much success.  The Eastern Elk have been extinct in this region since the late 1700's.          

Have not had the pleasure of hunting out-of-state so I am pretty much limited to whitetail deer.

Though I did take a fallow deer off my property in a 1:10,000,000 chance that was an escapee from a permitless hunting preserve being shut down which had escaped years prior and made it to my land.  According to the game warden one other had been killed in the next county and six others vanished.  I keep my eyes open.             (All the meat tasted of liver     :(      )

[Tim]

I hate to be a sissy, but elk hunting is hard work!  I love elk country, the smells, the sounds, along with the cold mornings and warm afternoons.  It is something I don't get to do that often and once I get home, I  can't wait to go back.

With that said, whitetails are like a chess game.  I'm constantly checking the wind, remembering what I saw last time out. Thinking about food sources, weather changes and surrounding hunting pressure.  Google earth gets looked at as much as email in the fall, I just can't get enough.  I could honestly hunt whitetails and only whitetails the rest of my life and be happy.  The only thing I ask is the ability to hunt them in every state they are found, new country and different terrain would keep it interesting.

Oh yeah...Hunting whitetails starts on Sept 15 and ends on Jan 25th.  That my friends is a long season!

..Tim

[ron w]

I have been Elk hunting once......and it gets my vote. I just wish I was younger and lived where it could happen more.

[4 point]

I went with elk but my favorite thing to bowhunt is Pronghorn.

[fmscan]

I was an experienced whitetail hunter, moved to Oregon and LOVED elk hunting. So ELK it is. However once Oregon voters stopped baiting and dog hunting for bear and cougars .... the elk hunting took a severe nosedive. Now back in N.Y. and happy to hunt whitetail. Oregon is not like hunting Wy. or Co.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

If its a matter of traveling across the country or hunting in the back yard?

If I had the option..... ELK no doubt.

[centaur]

Elk drive me nuts, but when they are rutting, few things are their equal for fun hunting. I am much more successful with whitetails, but I love everything about elk and where they live.

[old_goat2]

I won't even hunt mule deer during elk season, I put in for the deer seasons out on the plains after elk season is over. That way I'm not distracted and miss a chance at an elk putzing around trying to shoot a deer and it greatly extends my hunting time.

[e alexander]

ELK

[Owlgrowler]

Everything about elk hunting is HARD. Hard to breath, hard to climb, hard to get in shape, hard to pack out, hard to pack in, hard to kill...and the older I get the harder it gets! I love it. But, I'm starting to appreciate hunting whitetails in Oct in the eastern hardwoods a lot more than I used too. A typical season for me is to have about 20 bucks within 25 yards, tough to beat that. (I don't bait)

I plated hide and seek last season with a 180 class whitetail.  I was close enough on several occasions to decide to pass on the shot, but never close enough to shoot.  Now if I had an undesturbed access to elk near the Devils Tower area in Wyoming, I would say elk.

[snag]

The country that elk live in, the sound of cows and calves, then the close encounter of a bugling bull...nothing compares. It isn't an easy hunt. But that's ok with me. The more you work for something the more you are thankful and fulfilled when it all comes together.

[kadbow]

There is nothing like being on the ground and spitting distance from a bugling bull elk.  I love hunting whitetails too and I am sure I would enjoy being able to hunt them day in and day out for months on end but I am happy with 5-6 days at a time a couple times a year.  Hunting bighorns, pronghorns, mule deer, pigs and turkeys is all good and experiences I cherish.  We are all lucky to hunt!

[damascusdave]

I can hunt elk, whitetails and mule deer here at the same time...I just saw a mixed herd of whitetails and mule deer feeding last week...last fall was the first time for an elk season in my area

DDave

[Tim]

Woah Dave....that's a low blow!    :rolleyes:   You're one lucky guy!

[Killdeer]

I am a Virginian.
When in Rome...

I would welcome the opportunity to hunt and learn different species and ecosystems. The awe of discovery is what fuels my spirit.

Killdeer