The hardest part of elk hunting

C

cnelk

New member
Mar 23, 2017
5,542
We all know that many factors go into an elk hunt.
Something things are easy but many are hard.

What is the hardest part of elk hunting for you?

Is it the prep?
Is it the terrain?
Is it killing an elk?
Is it hunting pressure?
 
its the mental game. that kinda incorporates all of your answers into one. but if you can keep positive an believe you can an will kill an elk you will overcome all obstacles. if not all those factors will beat you.
however, to pick on of yours, its the prep. i hate working out.
 
I would say it is killing an elk. We can practice and be good shots. We can exercise and be great athletes. We can hike further and find where less hunters are. Finding the elk and all the things needed to come in place to put the tag on one is the hardest.
 
It\'s the \"Needle-in-the-haystack\" Problem.

Have you noticed how BIG elk country is?
 
Getting the meat out is the hardest for me now.

The second hardest part is waiting a whole year to do it again.
 
Waiting in my stand can get long and hard, especially after about three weeks of waiting. Sometimes I really enjoy those last days and wish I had a few mere. It depends on how encouraged or discouraged I am. That pack out of the elk can be a problem, but at least I can see the end in sight. I love the prep and set up, but gathering things up to leave can be a sad point too.
 
Hardest part is being gone away from the family. We are very close and it kills me that my daughter, even at 10 years old, cry\'s when I leave.

Also, the hardest part is deciding to hunt the last day of season. This is when everyone rolls in and the hunting pressure gets really bad. I know....I know.....I should hunt till the last possible moment. But many years of being burnt by hunting pressure has left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

jf
 
Finding elk! Was in an area this weekend that everyone swears holds elk and the only sign I could find after two days of hiking was old, dry, brittle elk turds. :evil:

Found a ton of deer though... :mrgreen:
 
For me this year, being it\'s my first year, the hardest part is having no clue what the heck is going to happen.


I train with my bow, I train my body, I will scout, but who knows if I will even find elk!
I guess now that I think about it, the mental part is what is so hard. I can put in all this hard work and end up not seeing or finding anything :ugeek:
 
The last few years, killing elk has become the biggest obstacle; I\'m seeing/ encountering smaller numbers of elk in my regular areas. So encounters can be few and far between over the course of several days sometimes.

This will be the first Season I\'ve done an entire 12 day hunt completely solo, so I can\'t blame lack of success on anybody but me !
 
\"elkmtngear\" said:
The last few years, killing elk has become the biggest obstacle; I\'m seeing/ encountering smaller numbers of elk in my regular areas. So encounters can be few and far between over the course of several days sometimes.
Click to expand...

That sure defines my experience.
 
Lot of good comments so far that I can definitely relate to. Being away from the family is definitely difficult and is a reason for my season being a little shorter this year as our family has grown. Waiting a year in between hunts is also brutal. However, I have to agree that the mental part is the toughest part of the actual hunt. Waking up at a crazy hour on opening morning is always easy, but it gets more and more difficult to do each day. The mental discipline to continue to wake up early and to continue to press on while out hunting is by far the toughest thing about the hunt in my book. Finding elk is difficult, but if you can\'t get your butt out of bed or up and over that next hill, you won\'t ever know if there are elk there.
 
\"cohunter14\" said:
Lot of good comments so far that I can definitely relate to. Being away from the family is definitely difficult and is a reason for my season being a little shorter this year as our family has grown. Waiting a year in between hunts is also brutal. However, I have to agree that the mental part is the toughest part of the actual hunt. Waking up at a crazy hour on opening morning is always easy, but it gets more and more difficult to do each day. The mental discipline to continue to wake up early and to continue to press on while out hunting is by far the toughest thing about the hunt in my book. Finding elk is difficult, but if you can\'t get your butt out of bed or up and over that next hill, you won\'t ever know if there are elk there.
Click to expand...

I have a cure for the getting up early part. A month before hunting season I start to get up at whatever time I plan to get up for the hunt. I read someplace it takes 21 days to adjust to new hours of getting up. So, I give myself a month. Once I get used to it I don\'t feel like i\'m getting up early for the hunt. I don\'t even need an alarm once i\'m used to it. I\'ll wake up within 10 min of the time I want to get up.

Trying to get earlier than i\'m used to for a hunt just drains me of energy all day.
 
The \'needle in a haystack\' for me. Living away from the mountains and having 5-7 days puts a lot of pressure on locating anything shootable.
In looking at the replies it appears that for those living close and having the entire month at their disposal the mental aspect looms larger than the locating aspect.
 
1st 2 weeks
  • Getting a legal elk within my short 25 yds bow range to stand still at broadside or slightly quartering away[/*:m:1div3zin]
  • 4:30 am wake up[/*:m:1div3zin][/list:u:1div3zin]
    2nd 2 weeks
    • Finding the elk[/*:m:1div3zin]
    • 4:30 am wake up when it\'s freezing outside[/*:m:1div3zin][/list:u:1div3zin]
      Last day of season
      Eating Tag Soup for dinner

      I will try still hunter\'s method regarding waking up. I am very light sensitive. I need the sunrise. I currently wake up naturally at 5:30 am because that is when the light first appears. I need an indoor battery operated sun.
 
\"mainebrdr\" said:
The \'needle in a haystack\' for me. Living away from the mountains and having 5-7 days puts a lot of pressure on locating anything shootable.
In looking at the replies it appears that for those living close and having the entire month at their disposal the mental aspect looms larger than the locating aspect.
Click to expand...

Finding them is never \'easy\' unless they are being vocal. But if you aren\'t out there pushing it and working hard, it is even harder to find them ;)
 
I do exactly what Still Hunter mentioned about getting up at 330-4am am about a month before season.
Partly is because Im kinda excited :)
 
\"iccyman001\" said:
For me this year, being it\'s my first year, the hardest part is having no clue what the heck is going to happen.


I train with my bow, I train my body, I will scout, but who knows if I will even find elk!
I guess now that I think about it, the mental part is what is so hard. I can put in all this hard work and end up not seeing or finding anything :ugeek:
Click to expand...

This. I don\'t think I will mind so much if if I don\'t get into elk or shoot an elk my first year, just as long as I feel like I was on the right track. I really don\'t want to be kicking myself after the season, saying \"I really screwed that up\" or \"I went about it all wrong.\"
 
Getting stuff ready is difficult for me.
I have all the tents and camp gear to go thru and set up.
I do all the food for 3-4 guys for a week +
That way when my buddies roll into camp, all is ready.
 
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