Rifle Hunting Strategies

[cohunter14]

I know that these forums tend to get a lot more bow hunters than rifle hunters, but for those of you who rifle hunt, what strategies to you use? Are you a spot and stalk hunter, a stand hunter, a still hunter, etc? There are so many different options when you have the opportunity to extend your range beyond a bow or muzzle loader, so I am curious to hear if/how you take advantage of that.

 

[cnelk]

Derek
When I mostly hunted with a rifle for elk, I would use ambush setups and watch edges of clearings mostly.
And we did OK
Believe it or not, my success rates went thru the roof once I switched to archery - still hunting, tree stands, calling, etc.
After learning that, I now rifle hunt pretty much the same way as archery but with limited calling.
But I have called a few elk in rifle season that met their demise

 

[americanbwana]

The areas I\'ve rifle hunted elk are mainly sage brush, so spot and stalk are in order.

Other times we will \'pattern\' the elk. This herd would stage in a small bowl as they left and returned to their security area each day. I\'m actually sitting about 125 yards from this group in the chute they would come through. They would have came through my spot, had the young shooter not taken his shot.

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They came from the other side of the park, about 1.5 miles away. Picture was taken at @ 9:41 11/3/2013.

This is west of WW (Bill\'s) stomping grounds.

AB

 

[WW]

The regular rifle seasons are a sea of blaze orange around these parts. More hunters than you can shake a stick at. So what I do is set up on a known escape route and let everyone else do the hard work. Around 9-10 in the AM when everyone else starts moving around and heading back to camp, the elk use these routes where I\'m waiting for them. Then around 3 o\'clock in the afternoon is another good time to be sitting tight when most hunters start heading back out for the evening hunt.

 

[Bob Frapples]

We did that many years ago in the WT woods. There were two \"senior\" hunters that I\'ll wager a paycheck they did not miss a single day. In before daylight, out at 9:30 back in at 2 to dark. Set your clock by\'em, about 10 am the deer would start easing in to their feeders, 1:30 pm they would fly out of there. Ten minutes later you would hear their wheelers coming in.

It was almost comical, we talked to them on occasion but they weren\'t ever very friendly, I guess they stayed upset cause they hardly saw anything. All we told them was it\'s been a tough year, for each of the 5 years they were there.

Knowing escape routes is golden no matter the critter.

 

[bnsafe]

how do yall find an escape route

 

[cnelk]

Good question Scott.
Being familiar with an area and knowing the \'lay of the land\' is key.
Then factor in hunting pressure - where it comes from, when and how much.

 

[Buglemaster]

It\'s been close to 25 years since I hunted elk during a rifle season.I knew the area well enough to know where they were & also the corridors they took when leaving. Figure in where the pressure would come from & be there when they came through. I also Loved to still hunt through dark timber during the middle of the day or during a snowstorm .the last bull I killed with a rifle was slipping down a draw in the pm on his way to feed the night away on a ranchers hay field. I miss those rifle hunts, but not enough to give up those screaming bulls of Sept.

 

[flystrait]

Great thread. I have not rifle hunted for elk for many years, BUT thinking back when I did, I was not very good or successful. I could learn a lot on this one.

 

[cohunter14]

Great thread. I have not rifle hunted for elk for many years, BUT thinking back when I did, I was not very good or successful. I could learn a lot on this one.

Good point flystrait. It seems to me that I know more hunters who are in that famous 10% club who are archery hunters. It seems like rifle hunters have a harder time getting to that point.

Brad, your post has me thinking and I\'m going to start another thread on calling in rifle seasons.

As far as my hunting is concerned, I have used most methods and really prefer to spot and stalk hunt. I don\'t have the patience to sit in a stand that long and, to me, still hunting with a rifle is difficult because of having a scope. I am really looking forward to trying some still hunting with an AR style gun this year that only has a red dot. I think it will be easier if the shot presents itself. The escape route strategy is one that I truthfully have never really put into action, but it definitly gets me thinking... :think:

 

[americanbwana]

Take a look at Brad\'s harvest photo. He has a cow call hanging from his neck.

My RFW hunt 1st rifle last year, we had a herd coming to our cow calls. If you look close at my avatar, you\'ll see a call hanging from my neck.

And my youth hunt in early November had a few bull talking. All of the guides have a cow call with them.

A cow call at the right time may stop an elk long enough to get a shot off.

As for tactics during rifle season you can either chase the elk to someone else or let them move them to you. The sea of orange is like a tide. It pushes away from the trailhead in the morning, then returns near sunset.