DEBATE THIS 2....!!!

[cnelk]

Standing side by side there are two very accomplished hunters [archery for sake of discussion - but other methods may apply too]

On the left is \'Billy Bob\' - A well known WT bowhunter. He shoots a very nice WT buck each and every year. Stuff you say wow!

On the right is \'Tommy Joe\' - A well known archery elk hunter that shoots nice bulls each and every year. Bulls that are very impressive

Which one would you say is the better \'hunter\'?

Why?

 

[Swede]

My guess is that they are equal, but I might be more interested in learning from the WT hunter, as I have no experience with those critters.

 

[cohunter14]

My immediate thoughts: I see a heck of a lot more big deer taken every year than I do big elk. I see way more television shows taking big bucks than big bulls. BUT, it is a totally different game. Whitetail, to me, seems like a lot more of a private land type hunt. People have their ranches or chunks of property and they can manage it however they want, put feeders out, etc. There are also more whitetail across the country than there are elk.

For the sake of the argument though, I will assume public land for both. With a bow, I would say both are probably equally as difficult, but I would still lean towards the elk hunter as the better hunter. With a rifle, no question in my mind, it would be more difficult to take a big bull every year than a big whitetail.

 

[Ol' Arky]

Tommy Joe...

Reason: Elk are tougher to hunt and kill than whitetail... At least for me...

Plus I like the name Tommy Joe more than Billy Bob...

Sorry to all the Billy Bob\'s out there... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[bnsafe]

i talk to the elk guy, but i think big wt are just as hard if not harder.

 

[WW]

WT???? Oh, you must mean antlered field mice ! Climb tree, deer walks by, shoot deer. Elk my not be harder but the learning curve is much longer. And elk can be a whole lot harder once you get one down.

 

[elky McElkerson]

i think the giant elk is tougher.

big whitetail, i imagine year long game cam scouting, food plots, tree stands, estrus scents, feeders, and anything with the Bone Collector logo on it.

just kidding..i cant kill either and i am in awe of both those guys.

 

[Zpd307]

elk here.....
both are on equal plains, to a point.
but in the end, elk hunting is by far way tougher!

 

[mainebrdr]

Hey Bill, lot of variables, but the method of hunting deer that you just described seems to fit the preferred method of hunting elk to some on here.

I think it would depend on what your goal is when deer hunting. If any deer fills the bill then the elk hunter by a comfortable margin.

Edit: Read your original post again Brad and realized \'any deer\' doesn\'t pertain. I am an elk newbie so in the interest of not aggravating Dan, who took a nice elk this year but just peed away a great chance at taking a nice deer, I will refrain from answering! :shh:

 

[Deertick]

Elk

 

[iccyman001]

There is no better hunter here.
They each have to battle their own challenges to be successful each year.


For this example I\'ll use bow, public land hunters in non-draw states or units.

Each hunter is able to run cameras, scout the areas (food, bedding, water, find does/cows locations), read maps, and learn their area.
Each hunter is able to pre-build blinds, hang stands (different states vary on when you can hang stands, but you can prepare trees), and trim lanes.


Some differences:
Whitetail are beyond skiddish. They here the slightest noise and it\'s game over. Elk however, you can be a little louder and not spook them out.
Elk are vocal. This does help people pin point locations and offers a chance to people to easily call them in during the right conditions. Whitetail are not as vocal and while they can still be called in, it\'s certainly not as easy.
A mature elk weighs about 2-3x more than a mature whitetail..... enough said on which one is more difficult to get out of the woods.

When it\'s all said and done, I can\'t pick a \"better\" hunter.
I have never killed a mature elk, but I have killed a mature whitetail and that was no easy task. I had to pattern him from June until Nov 28th and it was one of the most challenging tasks i\'ve tackled.



Who the sake of this, look at Will and Rick.

Will had his areas scouted, he was fully prepared and he killed a mature bull.
Rick had his area scouted, he was fully prepared and he killed a mature deer.

Did either one of them have to scout harder, hunt harder, etc? IMO... no.


They are both hard hunters who are masters of their own craft, and they took very nice animals.




Just my 3 cents, I\'d say 2 cents, but that\'s JF\'s coined term. :dance2:

 

[elky McElkerson]

the elk is more difficult to handle once it\'s down.

i know a big midwest WT is a giant, but any elk is a damn near a horse.

 

[razorback]

No right or wrong answer here. I\'ve killed many good WTs and I still won\'t call myself a good WT hunter. To be successful in my part of the country one most have time and patience. That\'s pretty much the key. Good bucks can be found on public land and if you are willing to put in the time you will likely come across one.

I have no idea what it takes to kill a bull yet. I do know it takes a lot of time working out and scouting online because of the distance.

From my perspective I say elk but that\'s just looking at it from my viewpoint.

 

[Tdiesel]

I would say the actual better hunter is the one than can swap places and find success. in the first post each is a great hunter and has honed his skills to his prey. to be the ultimate hunter one must be able to adapt and have the skills to change prey and still have the skills to regularly kill.

 

[bowhunter]

I would say the actual better hunter is the one than can swap places and find success. in the first post each is a great hunter and has honed his skills to his prey. to be the ultimate hunter one must be able to adapt and have the skills to change prey and still have the skills to regularly kill.

I agree...... :upthumb: