Do I shoot the first legal elk I see and have an opportunity or wait?

[Chad Bell]

What would you do?  I'll be in the mountains with buddies for 8 days.  We will split up in two groups of two and get after them.  I have a general combo tag for elk and mule deer.

 

[NJDiverDan]

The saying is do not pass up an elk on day one that you would take on the last day of your hunt. 

 

[Rich Z]

Well if it helps... I'm shooting the first legal elk that gives me the opportunity

 

[AWHunt CDAID]

First one I see with horns and is in range will have an arrow flung at it, can't eat the horns.

 

[dave6297606]

Well the last 2 years i passed on smaller bulls, which gave me awesome opportunity at Large Bulls. However I didn't harvest any of them. So this year I need to kill the first Bull

 

[bowhunter]

With four of you guys hunting gives you less of a chance of getting one, and if your freezer is empty I would shoot the first I see.  But if you want a bigger bull hold out.

 

[Bullhunter]

Shoot the first legal one.  Last year I passed up a nice raghorn at 30 yards broadside on day one and by day 14 I was regretting not shooting that bull since I never did see another bull my whole trip.

 

[Elkoholic505]

As you have read once before "Don't pass something on day 1 that you would shoot in the last day". Take the opportunity when it presents itself. Good luck

 

[BrentLaBere]

I dont believe you will find your answer here, you are the only one that can say what you are satisfied with. Is there a shame in shooting a cow? Only shame is the season is over, but now you have a deer tag to fill. Shoot a cow if you are happy with the harvest and take care of the awesome meat you have filled your freezer with. Its all about the experience. If my hunting partner and I went out this year and shot two cows, packed them out and put them on ice, we would have an awesome time sitting by the river with cold beers and catching trout before the drive back. Have fun, its that simple

 

[loopmtz]

Shoot, nice to get that freezer filled up and most archery hunters never get an opportunity on a legal bull.

 

[BUCKBALLS]

if you havent killed many shoot the first one, every elk is a trophy and the taste is well worth it!

 

[Martin Torrez]

I will hold off on the cows and spikes early in the hunt.  Towards the end everything is legal. 


If my Pop's had a say he would pick the closest to the road. 

 

[HardLoadHunter]

i try to never pass on any elk, did last year and with an empty freezer this year i remember why i dont

 

[MT_mulies]

I always shoot the first legal elk I see cow, raghorn, or nice bull. I would rather feed my family with elk then buy $6 meat at the grocery store.

 

[Evergreen]

I stick the first legal elk I see.  Chances for me seeing a monster are limited.  If you see a lot of big bulls in your unit then you might not regret passing a smaller bull. The young ones eat good ;D

 

[Bullfrog00]

Im hunting a trophy unit this year so im holding out for a 320 or better.  It depends on the unit you are in and the goal of the hunt.  Tag soup isnt bad if you had some cool encounters and just never saw what you wanted to shoot.

 

[Scott Pilant]

A bird in the hand so they say. I tend to be less greedy the older I get. Good luck

 

[steel4sam]

As a public land general unit hunter I am pretty much take the first opportunity I get. My only hesitation is with a spike. I am more interested in filling my freezer and a larger bodied rag horn or mature bull does a better job of that than a spike. Good luck. We start saturday.

 

[northwesthunter84]

I'm with steel, I want as much meat in the freezer as I can.  Luckily my unit is a 3 pt min so its a rag horn or larger for me.  Late season is cow only so I usually try for a mid sized cow of opportunity when it comes to that.

 

[Beastmode]

Elk steaks are the tastiest treat and taste better than anything. It definitely tastes better than having your tag still in your pocket. The trophy is in the eye of the hunter. Every elk taken is a trophy to me.