Did you have a plan B?
- Thread starter cnelk
- Start date
I walked around a lot.....
ok ok ok.....
I was hoping to find areas that proved to have hot trails from feeding to bedding spots and find places to set up on them. what I found was a trail here used once and trail there used once....
just walking around, hoping to be in the right place and time, which happened.....
ok ok ok.....
I was hoping to find areas that proved to have hot trails from feeding to bedding spots and find places to set up on them. what I found was a trail here used once and trail there used once....
just walking around, hoping to be in the right place and time, which happened.....
JohnFitzgerald
New member
- Mar 31, 2014
- 1,108
I wouldn\'t say A,B, and then C. Instead I planned to hunt 3 different ways.
1) tree stand
2) spot-n-stalk
3) calling
Sometimes I mixed them together. Learned two valuable lessons this year. I suck at spot-n-stalk and I have no clue where to place a tree stand. The few tags we filled was from calling.
That\'s why I feel no matter how years you have under your belt or how many elk you\'ve killed, you will always be a student of the \"chase\".
1) tree stand
2) spot-n-stalk
3) calling
Sometimes I mixed them together. Learned two valuable lessons this year. I suck at spot-n-stalk and I have no clue where to place a tree stand. The few tags we filled was from calling.
That\'s why I feel no matter how years you have under your belt or how many elk you\'ve killed, you will always be a student of the \"chase\".
Lark Bunting
New member
- Sep 14, 2016
- 710
I had a Plan A, B, C and eventually decided after plan A wasn\'t going to work for me I went with plan D.
Plan A was to go to my spot where I met Atfrith last year. The bugling was ridiculous!
Plan B was to backpack in with some friends but I wasn\'t prepared to backpack in like I had hoped.
Plan C came up when A & B were NOT looking good and I was invited by a member here to join them on their hunt. Very generous offer! I opted out since I was completely new to the area and was actually closer to my plan D...the area Brad turned me onto last year.
I drove 70+ miles away from plan A and found elk. I just didn\'t have the mental fortitude to pull off an entire 10 day solo hunt.
I am working on \"Plan A\" now for next year. It\'s a draw area with a good chance of pulling a tag. If I don\'t draw the tag I will move onto other plans as the season progresses and my scouting allows.
Plan A was to go to my spot where I met Atfrith last year. The bugling was ridiculous!
Plan B was to backpack in with some friends but I wasn\'t prepared to backpack in like I had hoped.
Plan C came up when A & B were NOT looking good and I was invited by a member here to join them on their hunt. Very generous offer! I opted out since I was completely new to the area and was actually closer to my plan D...the area Brad turned me onto last year.
I drove 70+ miles away from plan A and found elk. I just didn\'t have the mental fortitude to pull off an entire 10 day solo hunt.
I am working on \"Plan A\" now for next year. It\'s a draw area with a good chance of pulling a tag. If I don\'t draw the tag I will move onto other plans as the season progresses and my scouting allows.
I had a plan A and B this year. My plan A was to go in nearly 2 1/2 miles from the road close in to the wilderness. The weather was lousy and I started asking myself \"what are you doing here?\" Who is going to pack out the elk if you get one? Soon I decided to go back where I have hunted for years. It was a poor location too, but I managed to get one anyway.
JF, I think you probably can figure out where to place a stand quite well on your own. I suspect those locations are right next to the spot where you hung your trail cameras. Just remember the critters don\'t come just because you are there. A good location has days and times that things are too quiet. Still, I would like to accept your invitation and go out with you, and scout for some good stand locations. Seeing new country, and thinking about critters like the one you were pursuing is always exciting.
JF, I think you probably can figure out where to place a stand quite well on your own. I suspect those locations are right next to the spot where you hung your trail cameras.
Just remember the critters don\'t come just because you are there. A good location has days and times that things are too quiet. Still, I would like to accept your invitation and go out with you, and scout for some good stand locations. Seeing new country, and thinking about critters like the one you were pursuing is always exciting.I was \"All in\".
Is that a problem? Well, depends on the bet, the odds, and how much you\'re bringing to the table.
\"Don\'t bet what you can\'t lose,\" as they say. With that in mind, I\'m ok. Early rifle season really helps make an \"All in\" bet easier! And I still have a rifle tag for the regular season, too.
Is that a problem? Well, depends on the bet, the odds, and how much you\'re bringing to the table.
\"Don\'t bet what you can\'t lose,\" as they say. With that in mind, I\'m ok. Early rifle season really helps make an \"All in\" bet easier! And I still have a rifle tag for the regular season, too.
iccyman001
New member
- Apr 30, 2014
- 5,489
I went where my gut told me to.
We train and prepare for elk hunting by reading, asking questions and learning.
When I got up to my camp this year, it was 2 days before opening day and all of my elk had disappeared from my camera about 8 days before.
I mean DISAPPEARED.
So this is when I went to a plan B.
I grabbed a map and starting checking out some areas I had planned on scouting.
The second I got into the area my gut started saying yes yes yes.
So then I analyzed it and processed why I liked it.
Off the beaten path...check
Water....check
north facing slopes....check
lots of food....check
bedding....check
elk sign.... CHECK
I started there that morning and heard bugles. It wasn\'t RIGHT where I was, but it was close. I ran them and found the areas they were in.
More of the gut talking..... I like this I like this I like this.
basically my answer is I have a plan B.
If I am familiar with the area and something is not going my way, I let my gut speak.
Sometimes I think people try to be logical with their next move when they should be listening to something else. :dk:
We train and prepare for elk hunting by reading, asking questions and learning.
When I got up to my camp this year, it was 2 days before opening day and all of my elk had disappeared from my camera about 8 days before.
I mean DISAPPEARED.
So this is when I went to a plan B.
I grabbed a map and starting checking out some areas I had planned on scouting.
The second I got into the area my gut started saying yes yes yes.
So then I analyzed it and processed why I liked it.
Off the beaten path...check
Water....check
north facing slopes....check
lots of food....check
bedding....check
elk sign.... CHECK
I started there that morning and heard bugles. It wasn\'t RIGHT where I was, but it was close. I ran them and found the areas they were in.
More of the gut talking..... I like this I like this I like this.
basically my answer is I have a plan B.
If I am familiar with the area and something is not going my way, I let my gut speak.
Sometimes I think people try to be logical with their next move when they should be listening to something else. :dk:
I map out at least the first 5-6 days of my season splitting up am/pm hunts and exactly where I\'ll go. Of course things change based on results/glassing/pressure etc. but I have a backup for a backup and a backup for that. I\'ve got about 30 different locations within a 50-70 mile radius that I hunt. If one doesn\'t pan out I\'m on to the next and so on. I personally think that failure to be mobile and failure to leave a decent spot in search of a great spot lead to more tag eating than any other two mistakes in elk huntn. All the great elk hunters that I know have a plan A-Z.
Trust me ... I\'m reading it.
Again.
I\'ve chosen to hunt \"pack-in\"-style the last few years. The advantages have been that I\'ve seen un-pressured animals, and haven\'t had to deal with other hunters ... UNTIL THIS YEAR.
This year, hunting pressure and weather were tough to deal with, and because we were planted in one spot, we couldn\'t do a lot about them.
I\'m really weighing Will\'s comments against my nostalgia for a good spot.
Again.
I\'ve chosen to hunt \"pack-in\"-style the last few years. The advantages have been that I\'ve seen un-pressured animals, and haven\'t had to deal with other hunters ... UNTIL THIS YEAR.
This year, hunting pressure and weather were tough to deal with, and because we were planted in one spot, we couldn\'t do a lot about them.
I\'m really weighing Will\'s comments against my nostalgia for a good spot.
I had plan A,B and C. Plan A was good plan B was a bust and I never went to plan C. Plan A just kept giving me enough hope to keep staying with it. Know that I look back I should have given plan C a chance. I stayed with plan A because I was having good encounters with elk but the last weekend of the season it dried up due to hunting pressure. Just as I was thinking of moving to plan C I would hear a distant bugle in plan A so I would talk myself into giving it another chance and before I knew it I was out of chances and the season was over.
Stringunner
New member
- Mar 13, 2014
- 146
My plan A-K (11 game cameras with 7 stands) were in the same general hunting area spread over several ridge systems. About a 30 minute drive between the farthest stands. It didn\'t work out this year. First year in 4 years not punching my elk tag. The elk numbers were lower this year in the area unlike last year where we were seeing higher numbers. The hunting pressure is high in the area but with multiple stands we have for the past several years been able to connect.
There elk were around enough that I had confidence in getting an opportunity. I was literally zigging while the elk were zagging. For instance, I sat a stand 3 days in a row that had semi decent elk activity prior to the opener, nothing came in. I switched stands on day 4. Came back to the first stand on day 5 and there were elk there on day 4. Sat it day 5 and the morning of day 6 nothing....came back on day seven to see a bull had been there the afternoon of day 6 just two hours after I left.
Stand hunting can be that way. I did learn that I am either going to have to keep pressing into this area knowing it is going to be different from one year to the next or find a solid plan B area that holds greater elk numbers. I\'m torn as I know the area has elk that frequent the stand locations enough to give me confidence to stay but.... Always mulling over new ideas.
There elk were around enough that I had confidence in getting an opportunity. I was literally zigging while the elk were zagging. For instance, I sat a stand 3 days in a row that had semi decent elk activity prior to the opener, nothing came in. I switched stands on day 4. Came back to the first stand on day 5 and there were elk there on day 4. Sat it day 5 and the morning of day 6 nothing....came back on day seven to see a bull had been there the afternoon of day 6 just two hours after I left.
Stand hunting can be that way. I did learn that I am either going to have to keep pressing into this area knowing it is going to be different from one year to the next or find a solid plan B area that holds greater elk numbers. I\'m torn as I know the area has elk that frequent the stand locations enough to give me confidence to stay but.... Always mulling over new ideas.
