Am I The Only One Suffering?

[Swede]

I just looked at my calendar and was repulsed by the months, weeks and days remaining before elk season starts over for me. I offered to help a neighbor pack out one, f he scores during the rifle season. Tat is all I have left to go on. Is anyone else going through withdrawals already, or is your hunting fix still working for you? I have heard that addicted people need more and more drugs to keep up their level of satisfaction.
There be another long winter on the way.

 

[Buglemaster]

Swede, you are not alone. I didn\'t draw a deer tag this year, so will just have to pass the spare time away hunting a fall turkey, calling a few coyotes & do some bird hunting.there were a few guys on here who used to make a short trip that took a LONG time to Texas & shoot a hog or two, but we haven\'t done that for a few years. I\'ll stay busy, but the next 11 months will absolutely drag by.

 

[CrazyElkHunter]

Swede, it\'s a yearly tradition. Hate seeing elk camp in my rear view mirror and even before the hunt is over, next years plans are already on my mind.
I bet we got close to 80 years between us chasing elk and the fever has never gone away. Best pain killer to make me forget how bad my knees and back are is to be in elk camp. Watching the calendar reminds me when we were in school watching the clock for recess. Only makes it go slower.
No, your not the only one suffering. :crazy:

 

[Billy Goat]

you are not alone.

my hunt planning spreadsheet says I am presently:

377.4 days
9058 hrs
544,000 minutes
33M seconds

from the 2016 rifle hunt launch schedule.

but all things considered.... I\'m better off than that squirrel!

 

[bnsafe]

i didnt get to go this year, so yea, i know the feeling

 

[otcWill]

Geez, Swede, you really should try huntn some other critters! You\'d be amazed at how much fun pronghorn, WT, muley, and even turkeys are to hunt. Maybe you already hunt these? Also, nobody said you can\'t go elk huntn! You just can\'t shoot one. Shooting them with the camera can be both challenging and fun. I can\'t wait all year either. So I don\'t

 

[cnelk]

I have PTSD - Post Tracking Shooting Disorder....

I have rested up some and next week Im thinking about heading out after some WT in Nebraska.

My father taught me to hunt elk/deer in months that end in \'R\' so that what I do

 

[Deertick]

I\'m with you, Swede ... this year\'s archery elk hunt left some scars ... I\'m licking my wounds.

I\'ve helped a friend hunt pronghorn, and will help my son soon. Going after deer in NE in November, and probably take a swing at elk again with a rifle in later October.

But archery elk is \"it\" for me, and this year was tough. I DEMAND A REMATCH! But I can\'t get one for a year!

 

[Lark Bunting]

Yeah... third year now without an elk in the freezer, no deer tag for myself, no means to hunt rifle seasons, my son had other priorities other than hunting this year, yeah, I\'m a little bummed.

I try to stay positive in that I drove 70+ miles from one unit where I wasn\'t seeing or hearing anything to another and found elk...had four \"encounters\" in one day. Truth be told though I put a lot of pressure on myself to yield results. I have never killed an elk and I\'m sure there will be a time in my life when \"it\'s just nice to be out there\" but that time is not now.

I look forward to new challenges next year and am debating on a draw unit which will require a backpack trip. If that doesn\'t pan out I\'ll return to old haunts and hope the elk are there. I\'ve determined scouting is a crap-shoot. The elk can be there one week and gone the next.

Next year though, I will not be discussing my hunts with \"outsiders\" (work associates in particular). It sucks coming back after hyping it up and having to admit defeat...time and time again.

 

[Kevin W]

Next year though, I will not be discussing my hunts with \"outsiders\" (work associates in particular). It sucks coming back after hyping it up and having to admit defeat...time and time again.

THIS^^^^^ I was so excited for my sons hunt that everyone at work knew what I was doing when I was gone the last 2 weeks. Pretty much everyone asked today when I returned to work and almost all said \"What....... just a spruce grouse!?!?!\" All except one guy who said \"I knew you wouldn\'t get an elk\". Atleast they were all glad to see me..... I think...............
It\'s all on me though, shoulda, coulda, woulda. With the weather forecast being so hot and the lack of rutting reports in the area we hunted. Honestly I should have waited until the rifle season to take my son. Hind sight is 20 / 20 though but lesson learned. My vacation time is pretty flexible so next season we will be more in tune with the reports and the weather forecast. I will also be in better shape, better prepared and more focused. Kevin W.

 

[cnelk]

Lark and Kevin
The best thing is that you both WENT AND DID IT!
Nobody can take that away from you.

Plus, the naysayers prob dont have the cojones like the above squirrel has to even try what you did.

 

[Deertick]

As a (usually) unsuccessful elk hunter, I see both sides, but Cnelk\'s \"they can\'t take that away from you\" is spot on.

As a former whitetail hunter, it\'s tough to get out of the mindset of success rates in the 70%+ range. Of all the years I hunted whitetails, I had some tough ones, but I always came home with venison, and I never hunted a whole straight week like I do for elk.

Non-hunters at the office don\'t know any of this. They just know that \"So-and-so\" eats elk every year, so why don\'t you? (They don\'t know that \"So-and-so\" has access to private land, or pays for access to cow elk hunt with a rifle -- a far leap from hunting bulls with a sharp stick.)

Nonetheless, it\'s tough to not feel beat up and dejected after a hunt with no kill. Heck, I WAS physically beat up, 8 pounds down, tired.

But it\'s the years of failure that make the years of success so much better. When you finally stand over a bull, there will be no bragging to office co-workers in mind, only a satisfaction that you know what went into this like no one else. And you\'ll sit next to that bull and just think for a while.

 

[AndyJ]

I\'m with you, Swede ... this year\'s archery elk hunt left some scars ... I\'m licking my wounds.

But archery elk is \"it\" for me, and this year was tough. I DEMAND A REMATCH! But I can\'t get one for a year!

+1- I feel like a dog that just got beat. This season was hard hunting and my buddy and I still ended up with some great opportunities...and we missed!...TWICE!!!! It was extremely frustrating.

Next year I\'m saying goodbye to the unit I have always hunted and I\'m looking at greener pastures. I\'ve already been scouring maps. I think I know where you\'ll find me next fall.

 

[Lark Bunting]

You guys are right in that nobody can take the experience away from me. In fact, my dad sent me a text after I\'d returned to civilization and mentioned that he was proud of me for lasting five days out in the woods by myself as he never could have done it. That meant a lot to me.

As for the \"suffering\" Swede mentions, it is a bit bothersome that we all have to wait a year for redemption. roblem: It\'s not like fly fishing where I can explore new waters, not have a good day fishing, get skunked, deal with crowds, spend more time untangling wind knots than fishing, etc and know that I can return in a few weeks, months, or pretty much whenever I want to go try again.

As you all know, there is a LOT of preparations that goes into an elk hunt, especially for us that are new to this whole hunting thing. I take a week off to get it done and a couple weekends if I\'m lucky. I know being a part of the 10% club isn\'t an easy task but It is a bitter feeling to have to wait another year for the opportunity.

Cnelk, I\'m seeing some leftover tags for the area you turned me onto. I\'ve been tempted to get one for first rifle and take my bow up there...however, after almost taking a shot from a .22 during archery season by a grouse hunter I\'m a little paranoid to be out there with rifle hunters. :!: