ELK Cheat Sheet

[Carlos42Sosa]

So I?ve been trying to create a cheat sheet to shrink and put in my bino case to keep my head in the game once I?m on a bull or any elk for that matter. As I?ve experienced before, once you see that bull , you sometime forget the basics and little things. If you could put a few important things on a cheat sheet to help not get tunnel vision what would it be?
What I have is
1. Where is the wind?/Where will it be?
2.Where is the Elk/ Where is it heading?
3. Is there enough time to get in position or put it to bed?
4. WIND!!

Let?s see what Y?all come up with!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Cullboss]

I think you nailed the two most important things. Numbers 1 and 4.

 

[cnelk]

Something I used to do was have a map of the area I hunted. I logged every elk encounter - number of elk, day of season, time of day, weather etc.


It wasnt long before I saw a pattern and consistencies.


That was my cheat sheet

 

[Rdub]

1. Breathe
2. Let the adrenaline rush pass
3. Range the animal
4. Wait for a clear shot
5. Exhale
6. Take the shot
7. Follow through
8. Shake uncontrollably and scream ? Oh Yes ?
9. Go to work


Some steps get missed along the way........

 

[?Ike?]

I like it...Like CNElk, I also keep track of where I?ve found or seen animals...OnX makes it that much easier! 

 

[ribo451]

Like Rdub said range the animal. If it's close enough you don't need to then your probably better off not adding the additional movement but if its far enough out to get a reading you probably should. Especially if you haven't got a lot of elk hunting experience. They are big animals and can look closer than they are.

I feel like I would rather know the range and get a good shot off and risk being seen ranging rather than guess the distance and hope for the best. I only get one to two chances a year if I'm lucky and I don't want to waste them.

3-d shoots on full size targets can help immensely to estimate yardage in real hunting conditions. 3-d shoots with targets that are smaller than the real animals can do more harm than good to your field ranging skills. 

 

[bardownsnipe]

I don?t have a whole lot to add, I would just recommend taping it to a limb on you?re bow. That way you?ll see it for sure. Maybe add a calming message too, breath, settle the pin, follow through ect. When you?re at full draw is when most people screw the pooch.

 

[mwt333]

Something I used to do was have a map of the area I hunted. I logged every elk encounter - number of elk, day of season, time of day, weather etc.

That's a lot of work, but it sounds like a good idea.

 

[WW]

Well, now let me see, You have this bull that has responded and is coming to your calls. The very first thing you should do is say, "Wait a minute Mr. Bull while I dig out my cheat sheet and see what I need to do next"!!!!!

Just razzing you a bit! But seriously, if you need a cheat sheet you need to find a different hobby. We all learn from our mistakes and also our successes. Deal with it.

When I started elk hunting almost 40 years ago, there were no books, videos, or cheat sheets. As a matter of fact, Al Gore hadn't even invented the internet yet and there wasn't even such a thing as a diaphragm elk call. But I lived and learned all the way through it and had way more fun and and killed way more than my fair share of elk.