intro and 1st "real" elk hunt planning

[alexanderg23]

Hello Everyone. I\'m Marshall from NW Arkansas and I\'m glad I found this site!

A little about myself. I primarily hunt whitetail here in AR. Surprisingly we do have elk in Arkansas and I own land where we get land-owner tags, but we\'ve never harvested one. I was on a hunt last year where the tag holder got one, but that about the extent of my elk hunting.

I\'m planning to go out to CO this year Oct 2017 and hunt. I\'ve applied for a unit in western CO where I\'ve got a decent chance of a either-sex tag and hopefully a better chance at a cow tag. I\'ve been very fortunate to have people give me some great tips and help me!!..

I\'ve got a Kifaru pack and sawtooth and slick bag, good boots and most of the basics, but there is still plenty of gear to get. I applied for 1st rifle so I guess we\'ll see come June 1st. Most of my friends are the typical lazy deer hunters and not western hunting material. Getting them out of bed is hard enough and they haven\'t worn a backpack since high school. But when you can shoot deer off you front porch, I guess that\'s their choice. My point is I plan to go solo. I hope go at least tour the unit in June.

I hope to learn as much as possible from y\'all and look forward to it.

Thank You

 

[cnelk]

Marshall

Glad to have you!
I hope the intel I sent works out for the best.
Keep researching and asking questions.
There are plenty of guys here to get some good information from.

What your rifle gonna be?

 

[bnsafe]

welcome marshall, your in a good spot here. no one will slam you for asking questions.

 

[F M]

Welcome Marshall! Good to have you on board. :upthumb:

 

[alexanderg23]

Right now I\'ve got a Winchester m70 270 WSM, tally rings and Nikon Monarch on it. I\'m looking to trade it for something lighter, but it will work.

 

[iccyman001]

Welcome Marshall!!! :upthumb:

That .270wsm will hammer some elk.
How much does your overall gun weigh?

I just put together a Tikka T3 lite in .270wsm and I love it! :mg:

 

[Billy Goat]

welcome Marshall!

1. start doing some jogging, and or load your pack up with weight and start hiking in the evenings. my normal routine is to jog through winter/spring, then start doing more \"loaded hiking\" around the neighborhood with my wife. good to have wife talk time anyhow....

2. maps are your friend. get to know your planned hunt area REALLY well in advance so you have a decent plan on day 1.

3. a solo elk hunt would be tough for me to execute. soooo much gear to pack, plan, prepare. not to mention the challenges of a pack out.

all that said, there\'s nothing I love better than a good elk hunt, so welcome aboard.

shane

 

[bowhunter]

Welcome Marshall.....Lots of good advice here. You have come to the right place.

 

[alexanderg23]

I had a Tikka in 270 WSM and just sold it, I\'ll try to sell this Winchester and either get another Tikka or possibly a Kimber Hunter in 280 AI.

I\'ve been trying to do the stair stepper for 30 min a lunch avg. 85ish steps per min. I\'ve also started with a 50# bag of corn in my pack and walking my gravel road, 1 mile up, 1 mile down. I\'m going to really start lightening my gear and do several solo trips catch what I\'m missing.

 

[elkmtngear]

I\'ve also started with a 50# bag of corn in my pack and walking my gravel road, 1 mile up, 1 mile down.

Bang for the buck, no better way to prepare for an elk hunt, IMHO! Getting your body used to having a load on it is critical.

Welcome to BTO, Marshall. You\'re going to have a great adventure this Season!

 

[cohunter14]

Welcome Marshall! Glad to have you. Are you planning on camping off a road and hiking in to your spot or are you thinking of a backpack hunt?

 

[alexanderg23]

Welcome Marshall! Glad to have you. Are you planning on camping off a road and hiking in to your spot or are you thinking of a backpack hunt?

I believe I plan on parking the truck and backpacking in. It looks like 1st rifle starts on a Saturday, so leave Arkansas Wednesday night or Thursday. 15 hour drive then get out to area day before hunt starts. If by some miracle I kill an elk, I realize I\'ll have many trips getting the meat and camp out, probably 4-5 I\'m guessing.

 

[cohunter14]

I believe I plan on parking the truck and backpacking in. It looks like 1st rifle starts on a Saturday, so leave Arkansas Wednesday night or Thursday. 15 hour drive then get out to area day before hunt starts. If by some miracle I kill an elk, I realize I\'ll have many trips getting the meat and camp out, probably 4-5 I\'m guessing.

Marshall, a couple of things to keep in mind:
1) If you want to hike in, I would certainly get to the mountains a couple of days early to acclimate to the altitude. The last thing you want to do is jump out of the car after a 15 hour drive, throw on a pack, and hike multiple miles into the woods by yourself after gaining a bunch of altitude. You are asking for trouble in that scenario. Altitude sickness is a very real thing and if you are along multiple miles in, you could get yourself into some serious trouble.

2) First season is typically mild weather-wise, especially lately, but I\'ve also hunted first season when we get 15\"+ of snow. If you do pack in a camp, be smart and don\'t get caught out there when a storm hits. And also be prepared to camp and hunt closer to a road if that storm does hit.

3) You hit on this, but be sure to factor in some time to pack an elk out if you are fortunate enough to get one. Let\'s say you take an elk on the last day of the season (Wednesday). If you need 4-5 trips to the truck, you will be lucky to get everything out before Friday. Make sure you account for this. First season is only five days long, so you want to take advantage of hunting as long as you can, but don\'t put yourself in a situation where you have to be back to work on Friday. If you do, I wouldn\'t plan on hunting past Tuesday.

Hope this helps! Keep putting your thoughts out there and ask away with the questions. We are all happy to help and throw ideas out there for you.

 

[alexanderg23]

I believe I plan on parking the truck and backpacking in. It looks like 1st rifle starts on a Saturday, so leave Arkansas Wednesday night or Thursday. 15 hour drive then get out to area day before hunt starts. If by some miracle I kill an elk, I realize I\'ll have many trips getting the meat and camp out, probably 4-5 I\'m guessing.

Marshall, a couple of things to keep in mind:
1) If you want to hike in, I would certainly get to the mountains a couple of days early to acclimate to the altitude. The last thing you want to do is jump out of the car after a 15 hour drive, throw on a pack, and hike multiple miles into the woods by yourself after gaining a bunch of altitude. You are asking for trouble in that scenario. Altitude sickness is a very real thing and if you are along multiple miles in, you could get yourself into some serious trouble.

2) First season is typically mild weather-wise, especially lately, but I\'ve also hunted first season when we get 15\"+ of snow. If you do pack in a camp, be smart and don\'t get caught out there when a storm hits. And also be prepared to camp and hunt closer to a road if that storm does hit.

3) You hit on this, but be sure to factor in some time to pack an elk out if you are fortunate enough to get one. Let\'s say you take an elk on the last day of the season (Wednesday). If you need 4-5 trips to the truck, you will be lucky to get everything out before Friday. Make sure you account for this. First season is only five days long, so you want to take advantage of hunting as long as you can, but don\'t put yourself in a situation where you have to be back to work on Friday. If you do, I wouldn\'t plan on hunting past Tuesday.

Hope this helps! Keep putting your thoughts out there and ask away with the questions. We are all happy to help and throw ideas out there for you.

Thanks a lot for the words of wisdom on altitude, I\'ll try and take it real easy. I\'ve never been effected to bad by altitude. I lived around the Dallas Divide for a summer I believe around 10k feet, my buddy had issues adjusting, but I never noticed anything different. I\'ll proceed very cautiously.

 

[cohunter14]

It\'s just something to pay attention to. An extra day of hanging out in the mountains ahead of time to acclimate might be worth it before packing in.

 

[alexanderg23]

It\'s just something to pay attention to. An extra day of hanging out in the mountains ahead of time to acclimate might be worth it before packing in.

it turns out, I might have better access than I expected and could possibly truck camp, which would be helpful.

I hope to check the are out in June.

 

[Ol' Arky]

Welcome Marshall..

 

[Bob Frapples]

Go backpacking before it gets too hot now and figure out what you don\'t need in your pack, that\'s just as important as what to carry, but my number one rule is drink lots of water, sip on it all day long. I think that probably gets most people.