If I had A Mulligan

[Swede]

Of coarse real life hunting offers no mulligans, and I can only wish I knew then what I know now. Hindsight may not be 20-20, but it is usually better than what we have available on the spot. Over the years I have missed opportunities and made my share of mistakes. Here are a couple of my blunders and a couple of things I have learned.

1. Elk can be close when I least expect them. Letting down my guard has cost me several elk over the years. The worst part is that I knew better. I was out hunting in a elk area. I started calling, so why did I not prepare to see one. I thought they would answer, but they were close by and came in silent. aarg! The moral of this story is; always be ready, even at the last hour of the last day. Also a lousy sounding call(s) can bring in bulls. Don\'t underestimate the possibility to attract a bull. Again be a good boy scout. Be Prepared.

2. This is a big one for me. I have waited too long hunting an area that used to produce. I need to believe my eyes. Hunting an area for days, and seeing no fresh sign, should be a good indication there are no elk around. Just because the area was a reliable place to shoot elk for many years is no basis to hold on to it. Nostalgia does not kill elk. That is why I am going on another scouting trip to a new area again tomorrow. My first trip out in June was productive, but I am not satisfied with it either. I am not going far from my familiar haunts, but enough to take in some new spots.

So, what have you messed up on and what have you learned that makes you a better hunter now?

 

[mtnmutt]

Holding on too long to mostly one tactic: cold calling. As a solo hunter with a significant hearing loss, it would have been wiser to at least try stand hunting long ago. I blame it on a 4x4 for my first day hunting when he came over to my single cow mew call. It\'s his fault. The excitement from cold calling is more seductive than sitting still and waiting for an elk to pass by. Calls will stay at camp for a full 2 days for opening weekend. I already made this pledge to myself.

This is a really stupid one. Go to the Chiropractor a few days before opening weekend. My neck locks up from an old injury which restricts moving my head. It is better to move my eyes and/or head than my whole upper body to check for movement. Last season\'s opening week was bad. In haste to get ready, I skipped an adjustment. By day 3, my neck was locked up.

 

[cohunter14]

Swede, I can relate to both of yours. Probably 6 or 7 years back I had just completed a hard morning hunt on the last day. The plan was to head back to camp, pack up, and head out. I was walking back to camp down an old logging road with another one of our guys, talking the whole way, when a cow elk comes running across the road about 30 yards in front of us (and I have a cow tag). I hesitated and she took off. Never got a shot off. Amazing how many times you can be BSing with someone loud and clear and an elk will walk right by you.

I can also relate to the changing of scenery. I hope you have better luck than I have had. We have bounced around a few different areas over the last four years and are still hoping to find a place to call home. I will tell you that the temptation to go back is a killer. Nostalgia for sure, and like you said, nostalgia won\'t kill elk.

One of my biggest regrets came a year before my first story. I was sitting in my ground blind and had a really nice 5x5 come by at 90 yards, a chip shot for me with a rifle. Nothing huge, but definitely a big bull for the area we hunted. I sat there and watched that bull through my crosshairs, just waiting for the perfect shot, even though I already had a shot that would have done the job. I knew the bull would continue his trek down the game trail, giving me the broadside double lung shot, so why shoot now, right? As I waited, I watched through my scope as the bull stuck his nose in the air, exhaled (you could see his breath), took a whiff, and spun around doing a 180 and took off for parts unknown. That was a hard one to swallow and I think about it frequently.

 

[elky McElkerson]

rangefinder. in the excitement, my mind turns stupid.

if i could redo anything..it would be a public hog hunt. shooting a pig on this piece of property is rare. it is super challenging. as a matter of fact, i want three successes in hunting. a big bull-elk (quickly downgrading to \"any elk\"), any couse deer buck, and a Lake Sonoma public land hog.

all archery.

i had one. a big sow. she was clueless i was there. i ranged her and read 48 yard. she was big and black and was an easy target. shooting uphill. i drew back and let the arrow fly. i kid you not when i say my arrow went over her back by about a foot. i missed BIG. i missed so far, my friend asked me, \"what pig are YOU shooting at?\". she blasted out of there. i re-ranged a bush she was by and it was 30 yards. a chip shot. i was shaking so bad, i must have range the tree in the distance..second mistake, not using my mind to tell myself, that no way 48 yards was correct. she was right there!

second hog. 38 yards. quartering to me. bad angle. i came to full draw and waited for him to turn. i had two guys in my ear saying \"shoot\"..i wanted to wait. he was eating and had no clue i was there. but these two guys kept chirping in my ears..\"shoot! he is gonna run\". i let loose. it hit bullseye, right where the heart is. arrow went into the shield 8\". it ran away..gone.
a few weeks later, my buddy saw him eating acorns and humping a sow. he crossbowed him right off of her back. . coitus interuptus. killed it and texted me a pic of my slicktrick broadhead. my arrow careened off the shield and went parallel to his fat layer. he was unharmed.

i want both of those shots back!!

 

[timberland]

Easy: Years that I elk hunt I practice out to 60-70 yds. I have a confident deer killing range of 60 yd. A couple years ago I grunted in a \"Booner\" to 55 yds. Needless to say I hadn\'t gone elk hunting and had two pins on my bow, a 20 and a 40. Let him walk, but got to watch him for about 15 minutes.

 

[elkmtngear]

Good thread idea, Swede!

About 10 years ago, we were coming back up to camp from a deep drainage on the very first evening of our hunt, when a bull screams at us from 60 yards through the trees. My buddy dropped back, and I took a knee and got ready to draw. The bull cleared the trees on a run, stuck out his front feet and skidded to a stop, and started walking right down to me, looking for my buddy who was cow calling intermittently.

Wide open, bull is broadside at 10 yards, I\'m drawn, and my arrow falls off the flipper rest.

I\'m pinching my fingertab together on the nock, trying to flip the arrow back up on the rest at full draw, and when I finally succeed, he catches the movement. He bolts...no shot! :ill:

Another time, on a cold morning, I had a 30 yard broadside shot at a cow, and thought I could execute it with a neoprene glove on instead of using my tab. Swing and a miss

The moral of the story is (for me): make sure your equipment is all working good, no issues, and do not vary from whatever routine you are used to. It\'s hard enough to make the shot when a bull is coming at you like a freight train, varying from your \"autopilot\" routine just compounds the issue.

Whisker Biscuit solved the first issue...and if I\'m into elk, my glove is always off, and and my fingertab on!

 

[elky McElkerson]

the most painful i\'ve witnessed.

my buddy Justin..the \"boo\" guy. we spotted a 4x4 couse deer. we watched for 2 hours. he finally bedded and behind a nice rock shelf..if Justin approached from the right, the shelf would block him. the stalk was on!!

i watched with the spotter for another 2 hours. justin sidehilled forever.got to the white rock we knew would put him close. i look for the deer and it wasnt bedded anymore..i bet this was happening 2 miles from me. the big Leica spotter was awesome. i see justin creep up to the shelf and peek over..i see him squat down really fast and load an arrow. i was talking out loud, \"is this gonna happen?!!\'..i see justin lift the bow, start the draw..and plink! he pulled the trigger at 1/3 draw..i couldnt see the arrow fly away slow, but i did see justin squat back down and put his face in his hands. he hiked back to me, and i asked what happened..he spiked his bow into a soft bush..wow, he was upset.

the nerves got him. couse deer was at 45 yards broadside..he prematurely pulled the trigger on the draw. it was crushing to watch.

i think i have a digiscope pic of the deer and the rock shelf. haha.

 

[Jaquomo]

First day I ever bowhunted for elk, 40 years ago. I\'d killed a deer with a bow and we decided to go after elk, knowing nothing about how to hunt them, setting up a camp in a spot where a friend\'s dad suggested. That evening I walked over a rise above camp and there was a gorgeous 6X bull feeding in front of me at about 30 yards. I didn\'t shoot. At that moment I didn\'t feel like I was an elk hunter, and I guess didn\'t deserve this incredible animal in my first 30 minutes of elk hunting.

It would be ten more years before I would kill my first 6X bull.

I learned to take nothing for granted, to take advantage of the gifts presented whenever and wherever I\'m hunting.

 

[cohunter14]

I learned to take nothing for granted, to take advantage of the gifts presented whenever and wherever I\'m hunting.

Wait, I thought I read in your magazine article that you passed up a bunch of those 6x6\'s last year! :lol: Just kidding Lou, I know what you are saying.

The fact that it took you ten years to shoot a bull is a great lesson for anyone out there. Someone who is a known elk slayer struggled to get there. The dominoes don\'t always fall your way.

As a side note Lou, I think it would be a great thread or even a future article to hear what changed you from killing a bull once in ten years to being as successful as you are now :upthumb:

 

[Jaquomo]

Cohunter, I was killing small bulls during that time, just not a good one. Honestly, the most important aspect for me was just to continue learning everything I could. I\'m pretty analytical, so I spend a lot of time figuring out why elk are where they are when they are there. Also why they aren\'t where I assumed they\'d be.

The other thing is learning how to craft close range shots. That is a special craft in itself. There\'s a huge difference between getting an elk at 60 vs 30 yards. For some longer range shooters, the challenge is getting the setup from 100 yards down to 60, or whatever. Either way, too many hunters just sit on a log and start calling with little thought about the shot set up. Or they hear a bugle and immediately call back without first thinking about how to craft a shot if he miraculously comes trotting right in.