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Need motivation

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Need motivation

Postby Elkhntr08 » 10 02, 2019 •  [Post 1]

Got to Alpine Wyoming on the 18th and started hunting that afternoon.
Been through 4 days of rain and 2 snow storms. Have literally seen 1 elk and I had him bugling at noon last Wednesday. Scattered tracks low, a few rubs high. Never seen anything like it. Not just me, all the locals are saying the same thing. Had a buddy hunting over the line in Idaho and he said it was the quietest year he’d seen over there.
Sure makes it hard to roll out of the bag at 5 am in the cold and hump the mountains. Came down this afternoon to have a hot meal and enjoy my wife’s company.
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Re: Need motivation

Postby Swede » 10 02, 2019 •  [Post 2]

I don't know that you need to get up at 5:00 AM to head out in the cold dark. I wouldn't. I would get up, have a breakfast, leave camp in the early morning, and look for some fresh sign. They are somewhere out there or will be. Check some different drainages. I see that scenario every year. The elk are not there then they come back around. I don't beat myself up or do anything too crazy. Just be ready for when they show up. A trip to town to see your wife is a good way to recharge your batteries. Good luck.
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Re: Need motivation

Postby saddlesore » 10 03, 2019 •  [Post 3]

You might be getting up too late. You need to be where the elk are before dawn. We get up at 3 , although we have horses or mules to saddle and an hours ride, but we are in position before it gets light.The1st 30minutes of daylight is prime hunting.This year, everything seems to be about 2 weeks late. Bulls are a lot quieter when it is warm. I have killed a lot of elk in that 1st 30 minutes.
Use the afternoons or late mornings to look evidence that elk are around.

A lot of areas where you aren't seeing elk,they are nocturnal due to the warm weather. If so, they start moving in late afternoon, almost dark. If it is raining or snowing,the elk usually start moving when it quits. Except for light drizzle or flurries, they don't like nasty weather any better than humans and will hole up during it.

Forget about going to see the wife or a hot meal, you won't see any elk there that's for sure. You have 55 weeks to do that.
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Re: Need motivation

Postby Swede » 10 03, 2019 •  [Post 4]

The key is the fresh sign. If there are no tracks and other sign of current elk use, then staying up all night will not get you any closer to killing one. If there is very little or no fresh sign around, there are very few or no elk around.
If the elk are there, then getting in position to shoot one may mean you need to leave camp early. Believe your eyes. I do not know if you can wait it out or if you need to move. Is there a reasonable explanation for not seeing and hearing elk? It may be just that they are moving around and not right where you are now. Maybe something else has happened and they are really gone. It is interesting that this situation is wide spread.
If the elk are gone for the season; move. Getting up early will not put elk in the area.
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Re: Need motivation

Postby saddlesore » 10 03, 2019 •  [Post 5]

The rubs are old.That is when they are rubbing the velvet off. Some may occur during rut when the bulls are thrashing trees. If the tracks are fresh down low,then you need to find the bedding areas and check out the use. usually on north slopes in dark timber .I suspect if you saw one bull,the elk are around, you are just not finding them. Probably hunting in the wrong place at the particular time of day or they are holed up due to the weather or you are moving too fast.

How well do you know the area?.

This past ML season, ( last week) I saw one bull during 7 days of hunting and then killed a cow on day 7. Elk were around just not where I was.Elk were bugling up high where it was colder. My party of four saw five bulls,none were bugling.We ended up killing two cows( 50%). Could probably filled out completely, but elk were in nasty stuff that made it hard to get mules into pack out.
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Re: Need motivation

Postby Swede » 10 03, 2019 •  [Post 6]

Ultimately we extrapolate on our experience and project the image of our hunting area(s) into our answers. I can sure agree with Saddlesore if I am using his assumptions. Anyone looking into this matter, and going on what they can read here, needs to consider how their own situation fits.
This past season I was out for days before sunup. There were a few days when it was raining, that I either came in early or waited until it quit raining before I went out. I can get out early in a downpour if the hunting looks productive. Also, I can turn off the alarm clock and sleep in if I am not seeing fresh sign. I can put on my cold wet boots very early, but don't discourage me too much, or tempt me with a hot breakfast and a fresh pot of coffee on a miserable drizzly morning. :)
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Re: Need motivation

Postby saddlesore » 10 04, 2019 •  [Post 7]

I don't hunt in the rain.
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Re: Need motivation

Postby Swede » 10 04, 2019 •  [Post 8]

I was in my stand just a little over 1/2 mile form camp one afternoon this past season. Suddenly I saw a dark ominous black cloud moving my way out of the north. I decided it was a good time to get out of my tree and head back to camp. Just before I arrived it started to rain. I got in the tent where my brother had our chairs and anything else that was not rain proof. I started bragging about how smart I felt about being able to assess what was coming. Within a few minutes there was thunder, lightning and a deluge of rain. We saw a flood of water flowing toward the tent. Immediately we had to run out and shovel a trench around it. We got most of the water diverted, but before we finished I wished I had the foresight to have built the trenches and dike before the downpour, and not in it.
Anyway it rained almost everyday until I left camp. I got just enough of a break to dry the tent before packing it up, but had to reset it up again back at home. I think if Saddlesore hunted nearby that I would mosey over his way when it was raining and share some coffee and some hunting stories or just invite him over for dinner in the dry camp. For me, hunting is not about suffering just to get another elk.
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Re: Need motivation

Postby saddlesore » 10 04, 2019 •  [Post 9]

Swede wrote: For me, hunting is not about suffering just to get another elk.


Ditto,this elk hunting stuff is suppose to be fun.
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Re: Need motivation

Postby Elkhntr08 » 10 18, 2019 •  [Post 10]

Well, family issues can up and we had to leave Wyoming on the 10th.
Now that things have claimed down, the wife says I need to head back and finish out the season. We have a commitment Monday and Tuesday, then headed back to Unit 13. Hunting with a friend of a friend.
Wish me luck.
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Re: Need motivation

Postby Swede » 10 18, 2019 •  [Post 11]

Best wishes. Send pictures.
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Re: Need motivation

Postby Elkduds » 10 18, 2019 •  [Post 12]

Good luck. I hope the break restored you, and I really hope you get a little tracking snow.
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