Hello

[Tifoso]

Name is Lou.
Glad to be aboard.
Thank you for accepting my request!

[WapitiTalk1]

Welcome aboard mister, thank you for swinging by our humble hunting forum. v/RJ

[Swede]

I am glad you are here, Lou. Tell us a little about yourself. Are you a seasoned elk hunter or wanting to learn so you can be better prepared for your elk hunt?

[>>>---WW---->]

wELKome! Always good to wELKome a new member to our elk hunting clan.

[RanchoSueno]

Welcome to the forums!

[Lefty]

I am glad you are here, Lou. Tell us a little about yourself. Are you a seasoned elk hunter or wanting to learn so you can be better prepared for your elk hunt?

Archery? rifle? muzzleloader", or slingshot?,,,,, hunting outdoor experiences, a bit of other backgroundoto!

[Tifoso]

Thanks, fellas.
Noob

[Swede]

Tifoso: There is nothing wrong with being a noob. Learning to understand what you see and experience in the elk woods will make a huge difference for you. Warning, it may not come easy and there are no shortcuts except having a guide who may or may not explain things. You will make a lot of mistakes when chasing after elk. Learn not to repeat them too often. Elk can see everything and moving at the wrong time will spoil any chance you had at shooting one. They have awesome hearing, and their sense of smell is unreal. That is what you are up against in attempting to get one. That is the challenge you need to overcome.

Knowing where you are makes it easier to offer appropriate advice. Though I have rifle hunted elk and called them, I am mostly a tree stand bow hunter when it comes to elk. Indian Summer is an expert rifle hunter who can help you locate and get the critters. RJ mostly calls elk and has a lot of experience with that. He hunts early with a bow then chases them with a smoke pole. Lefty and others have years of experience elk hunting different places and different seasons. We have people that have retired from elk hunting that are very knowledgable when it comes to elk hunting. I enjoy arguing with them, but they know what cooks when it comes to elk hunting. I am writing about WW and Saddlesore who have more experience that about anyone here.
Help us a little more. When and how do you plan to elk hunt? What weapon will you use? These things make a differennce. Public land easy draw or over the counter hunts are different than private land or hard to draw units.

[Tifoso]

I am mostly interested in a bull (but would take a cow, in a heartbeat if I had the tag).
.30/06
Let me turn around the focus a bit.
Let say you have to take a bull. It doesn't have to be a monster. Where and with whom do you go? (I am out of state for the elk states).
Over to you (all).

[RanchoSueno]

The rocky mountains during the rut! That's where I'd go. Lol Decide which manner of take(assuming rifle) and look at all the requirements to draw in each elky state. Choose which ever fits your budget and timeline

[Swede]

There are many rifle elk hunts available in the different elk states. Some premium hunts are during the rut, but to the best of my knowledge, they are hard or expensive to get. I would decide on the hunt perimeters (cow/bull, spike only, branched bull, etc. Roosevelt elk or Rocky Mountain, semi-desert or rain forest) I wanted to deal with and go from there. Remember a 10% success unit in Idaho is no better than a 10% success hunt somewhere else as far as your chance of getting an elk goes. Knowing elk and the country you plan to hunt makes a big difference. Knowing a good elk hunter, you can tag along with can increase your odds. If I was a novice elk hunter, I would purchase a hunt plan from Indian Summer here on the forum and take his advice. Ask him take into consideration how often you want to elk hunt.
Buying a lot of elk hunting junk is no solution. Learn about elk and how to hunt them.
Best wishes.

[>>>---WW---->]

If I was in your shoes, I'd get in touch with Indian Summer here on the site. I'll bet he can get you started in the right direction.