Tell us about your first elk hunt

[iccyman001]

The reason I mostly want to ask this is to learn what you learned.

I sit here now and have this \"glorious\" game plan that I hope works, but this is only because of research online, books, videos, but who knows what will happen the first day I start my season.


So, what was your first elk hunt like? Did you go in with a plan and stick with it? Did you just wing it? Were you successful?
Most importantly, what mistakes did you do and learned the hard way from?

I\'ve very interested to see the first time success rates. I am going all out to be one :upthumb:

 

[Deertick]

I think it was 2005 or 2006 ... Colorado, near Aspen. I went with an established group that had hunted the area for years, mostly without success. Good guys, mostly from front-range Colorado.

What did I learn:

1. Bugling elk respect aggressive action. As you can imagine, my first time out I was too timid in dealing with a screaming bull. I think I\'d do much better in that situation.

2. Water holes work. Should\'ve been done on day 4 when a cow stopped broadside at about 25 yards.

3. The areas around Aspen have some serious elevation changes. You have to be in shape.

4. Go with people who know the area if you can. Local intelligence trumps Google Earth every time. None of the guys in our group were successful, but we had a great time. Attitude is everything.

5. Finding elk is tougher than hunting them. Once you find them, have confidence in your \"game plan\". I didn\'t, and that\'s one reason things didn\'t work out as well for me.

I wasn\'t successful, though I had my opportunity. I had heard lots of bugles, been close to a number of elk, and seen a mountain lion at 72 yards -- I was \"hooked\".

 

[americanbwana]

Not successful, but did get on a few elk.

1. If it answers your call, it is an elk until you see the person making the call. Had one coming, but was talked out of continuing the hunt by my also rookie partner. :x
2. You will suck wind.
3. Never give your partner the water hole spot during mid day. :downthumb:
4. Elk have no problem going up a hill you can\'t.
5. You can\'t catch up to an elk

 

[iccyman001]

Definitely some good stuff that I will keep in mind!
Seems like water holes are a common one for you two :think:


I definitely am worried about calling, so I need to practice as much as I can so I don\'t get worried out there :upthumb:

 

[OldMan]

I was 12 years old, and as green as a pine tree. I still had everything to learn, but was soaking it up like a sponge.

So, my only advice is to absorb everything, and come up with your own method of hunting elk. Hunting is a very personal adventure. How boring it would be if we all did exactly the same thing.

 

[Zpd307]

my first elk hunt was in 2010 on a private ranch in Utah with a rifle. I connected with a cow. didn\'t learn much as I was told where they would be and that\'s where I found them.
my first real hunt was in 2012 in Colorado. it was with a bow and I ate tag soup. major lessons learned were: as much as you know your long time hunting partner, you really wont until you elk hunt with them. make sure you scout for a plan b or even c. learn elk behavior so you know where they are going and how they will react. get in shape! expect elk anywhere.
I picked the area because a partner of mine hunts it during rifle season so I knew there were elk there. we elected to go with bows as it would put us in the rut and the weather would be better. we also all ready had the camping gear. I scouted on google earth for a camping spot as we were going to hike in a couple of miles to get away from everybody. we printed off several satellite images to have for vegetation reference. I worked out a little but not that much.
the hike in to camp killed my two hunting partners and they were mentally shot the rest of the trip. one buddy routinely worked out and was in shape, my main buddy did basically nothing to get into shape again. neither one of them tried learning about elk hunting but refused to listen to anything I had to say. we hunted one day together and that was it. they didn\'t want to get up early.....
so once I was able to go where I had scouted on ge, i walked up to where a pasture met up with the timber. i let out a cow call and spike squealed back at me at about 80 yards away. i walked in 20 yards closer to throw off my location. wind was good until the last second. i heard him run off when he was directly in line with me, yep the thermals changed....... i found nothing in the area that i scouted. i remembered a logging road from my ge scouting but that was it. so after two days hunting my plan a, i changed to my nonexistent plan b. i checked out the road and got into elk after a couple hours of hiking. that was cool, having 6 different bulls bugling around you. i had a bull directly in front of me so i ran up the road to close the gap. i stopped and called when i figured i was too close, but he was farther away when he bugled next. so once again i ran up until i thought i was too close. i did this for about an hour until they got to their beds and shut up. but i wasn\'t confident with my knowledge of their behavior so i didn\'t keep chasing them. i didn\'t ge scout the area so i didn\'t know where i was going...... so i spent the next 2 days sticking to the road hoping to ambush them crossing it. i had a cow walk by me at 11 am while i was eating lunch with my boots and socks off.... when that didn\'t work i sucked it up and went up to hunt their bedding areas. which i figured out because their bugles at night started from where they quit bugling in the morning. i was hunting too fast and bumped a cow and a 5x5 on different days. came across a herd, as i heard several cows talking to each other, unfortunately the wind was really swirly and i couldn\'t after them. i tried to get along side of them but lost them. i did to a rag horn at 40 yards that didn\'t know i was there! i didn\'t think about stopping him with a grunt, i was too jacked up :i cow called him when he was out of view but i started coughing since i had picked up the nasty cold that one of the hunting partners had........... storms with lightning in the mtns are scary but way cool!
i know this was pretty winded....

 

[Zpd307]

just a follow up. last year we hunted the same area except with muzzloaders. i had ge scouted the area and felt pretty confident about chasing them in it last year. got into them again. but it wasn\'t because they were talking. only heard two bugling bulls the entire trip. and again had to hunt by myself as my partner didn\'t want to go with me, it was too hard.... anyways, i had lots of hang ups....... so i finally realized that i needed to learn about their behavior and better tactics.
that\'s how i found these two sites my confidence has really elevated and i am ready to get my first REAL elk!

 

[steviek]

last year was my first elk hunt. It was incredible I can?t wait until this fall.

Things I learned.
1. You don?t have to go 5-6 miles in to hunt. We found elk within 1.5 miles from the truck.
2. Be flexible to change plans or travel routes in a heartbeat to get to the elk
3. Don?t call your way to a bull if you?re if you have a long distance to cover.
4. Nothing prepares you for the moment. Just ask my buddy when I say did you get him? He stares BUG EYED Holly Crap he all most ran me over!!! how did I miss?
5. Attitude is a lot! You got to keep going.
6. To add to above you also have to pace yourself. 10 days in the mountains can wear you out.
7. Expand knowledge of calling. We got in on a couple vocal bulls and basically had no idea what to do.

 

[elkmtngear]

In 1998, I met a public land outfitter in my office. He had his lease in the White River National Forest, and his prices were very reasonable.

My buddy and I had been screwing around in Oregon for a couple years prior, mainly deer hunting but one of us always bought an elk tag. Didn\'t know what the hell we were doing, and the few elk encounters we had were brief and unsuccessful.

Long story short, we came home with two archery elk. I learned volumes from this Outfitter (who had 25 years of Archery elk hunting under his belt at the time).

1. Elk encounters can be few and far between, and can be over very quickly. You have to be able to \"think on your feet\" !
2. If your wind is wrong...you should probably not push ahead. Drop back 10 and punt!
3. Even the smallest bull can become quite aggressive if he\'s got a cow with him (the bull in the pic is my first bull, we got in between him and his cow, and he literally went ballistic on us. I shot him at 8 yards)!
4. Elk are where you find them, and you might have to cover a lot of ground in a day to do that (and that is never flat ground). If you think you\'re in great shape...try to get in better shape!
5. Pressured elk become educated very quickly. They will investigate your calls, and bug out if everything they are hearing/ seeing does not add up!
6. Anything can happen (extreme weather, silent elk), sometimes multiple days in a row. Persistence and attitude are your closest friends. Staying positive is a must!