Remembering the old days

J

JohnFitzgerald

New member
Mar 31, 2014
1,108
Those of you who have 40+ years experience hunting elk, what is one thing you\'d like to pass onto the younger generation? Maybe it\'s a tactic long forgotten or easily overlooked! Me, I\'m lucky because I\'m right in the middle. This makes me anxious to learn from the youngsters, but smart enough to listen to the old timers.
 
Learn to love the whole experience of the hunt. Soak it all in. If you\'re like me you\'ll be doing what you love most. Don\'t get hung up on just the kill. Of course the kill is the goal, but don\'t let tag soup spoil the whole hunt.

So, relax and smile. You\'re elk hunting. What can be better? You may find if you take the pressure off yourself the kill might come easier.
 
I dont have quite 40 years of elk hunting, but I got that much in HUNTING TIME in.
Pete is right, I like to shoot stuff, but I dont have to be successful

I would like to tell the youngsters to SLOW DOWN!
When you get up the woods, get to woods mode and woods speed.
There is no clock. The sun comes up each day in the east and sets in the west.
Thats about all you need to get excited about... :)
 
I would like to tell the youngsters to SLOW DOWN!


Thats good advice. I have noticed the older and slower I get the more I see and have become allot more successful. Some things do get better with age ;)
 
\"Still Hunter\" said:
If I slowed down anymore i\'d be walking backwards.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you go just the right speed while you are hunting Pete :p
 
When I read the question above, the first thought I had was, learn to slow down and be patient. That is what Brad and Pete are saying. That is the exact opposite of what I hear so many younger hunters saying. I read \"get more aggressive\" or \"run and gun\". It seems to be part of some industry. There is a time to be aggressive, but the great majority of the time watch, listen, wait. Slow down. I know you will see more game running and gunning, but you will kill more game if you are patient. This message especially applies to you elk callers.
I remember being told to slow down and look more, listen more and plan ahead when I was young. I thought it was just a way for old people to make excuses for not being able to keep up. I suffered from stinking thinking. I know better now. Watch a hawk or cougar. They are not running and gunning. Watch even a coyote, they are in no rush as they search. When the time is right they are quick and deadly, but they are patient and ever vigilant. Did I say be vigilant? Do not drop your guard. Even when eating lunch, break where you can react in short order. Don\'t call from places where, if anything is around, you will be busted. The elk are always there when you don\'t expect them.
 
So how much of the attitude of slow and patient is because with advanced years comes the inevitable? As we get older are we just adapting? I\'m older so it sounds wonderful to me but a few years back I had a younger neighbor that would cover as much ground as possible and was very successful. In fact one year he told me that he thought he could get an elk almost every year if he wasn\'t picky.
 
\"mainebrdr\" said:
So how much of the attitude of slow and patient is because with advanced years comes the inevitable? As we get older are we just adapting? I\'m older so it sounds wonderful to me but a few years back I had a younger neighbor that would cover as much ground as possible and was very successful. In fact one year he told me that he thought he could get an elk almost every year if he wasn\'t picky.
Click to expand...


Actually, I was just as slow when I was a youngster. It\'s what my dad pounded into my head, and it finally sunk in.

Scouting and moving between hunting areas is when I move fast Then of course getting the meat out I move as fast as I can. So for these I did to be in shape. Scouting 250 days a year helps keep me in shape.

However, the actual hunt is painfully slow. More standing/crouching than moving. Surprisingly, still hunting can wear you out. You\'re always fighting for balance, because most of the time you\'re steps are so slow you\'re standing on one foot on uneven terrain. It also takes a lot of focus to not let your mind wander. At any second an elk/deer can jump up. You have to be ready. I know I can hike all day, and not be anymore tired then a day of still hunting.
 
Probably some slowing comes from just getting older, and because we are not as capable. I am not sure just how much, and it will vary with individuals. While in my 20s I got some elk. I was a little more successful than the average, because I could and did cover a lot of ground. Those hunts were in late October and well into November with a rifle. I would attribute the success to simply being diligent in hunting. I was up early and hunted hard every day.
In my early 40s a conversion was made entirely over to bow hunting. At first I was rifle style hunting but carried a bow and bugle. It did not work very well. I saw elk, but could not get one. I got close but that was all. Then we started learning a few key points critical to bow hunting success. I learned that it helped to be close to the elk when calling. I found out that calling my way to them did not work well. The importance of waiting around when cold calling became evident. Then we discovered tree stand hunting and began to work on that. I was still very capable of covering much ground, but learning that there is a huge difference between bow hunting August-September and rifle hunting November made the difference.
Patience is a learned matter. The natural thing to do is keep on moving when you see nothing at hand. The idea is that the game must be somewhere else. Waiting seems to be a waste of time. The problem most of us experience is seeing just the rear end of elk, as they leave when we approach. Maybe Jeff got the picture for his umbrella top by running and gunning when he should have waited and set up. Jeff can now say to the elk, \"I will show you mine if you show me yours.\" :D
 
So what do you senior hunters think has changed the most since the first few years of your hunting career?

I ask this because during my son\'s Hunter\'s Education Class today, they taught him muzzle pointed straight up was the safest. When I was a kid it was muzzle pointed down.
 
It\'s one of the perks of hunting alone John. My only concern is to not shoot myself. :eek:
 
Whats changed the most since I started bow hunting is the bows. No such thing as a compound! I started with the Bear Grizzly, which I still have.
 
In Oregon a lot has changed. When I started you could hunt two (bow & rifle) seasons. Bow season was limited in the area you could hunt, but the rifle season was longer and you could hunt both sides of the Cascades. The elk situation has changed. Areas where there were very few elk, now have good populations. Some places like in the Cascades, things have gone well past their peak and have returned to about where they were 50 years ago. There are a lot more elk hunters and the elk have become much more call shy. The equipment has changed.
In spite of the difficulties we face now, I think skilled hunters have as good a chance to kill an elk now as they did 50 years ago.
 
Even tho safety is always first, having the muzzle up or down or to the side really doesnt matter.
The teaching point should be made that the gun should always be pointed where other people arent

The biggest change I believe is GEAR.
Footwear / Outerwear / Bows / Arrows

I remember being cold ALOT when I was a kid
 

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