I Don't Get It!

[Swede]

I know you claim to be an elk hunter. Baa! You pack up your camping equipment and add in some large game bags and a bunch of elk calls. You bow hunters are anal about having very sharp broadheads. Why? I know you really don't expect to get an elk. You rarely do.
Many of you write that you are successful just being out in "God's country", but you pay $700-$800 for a license and elk tag. Why? That makes no sense. You could go out to some of "God's country" very near home and save $1,000 or more. If you really have $1,000, give it to your local church and drive out to God's Country in a nearby national forest. Thereby you are showing God your appreciation as you enjoy His creation.

If you really wanted an elk, you would find a good tree stand location and toss your calls down a badger hole. Let the badger play with them.
If you need exercise place your stand in some canyon far from your camp. As soon as you kill the elk you will have all the exercise you need and then some. Hunting at a good location, I expect your success rate will be above 50%.
I know many of you must have practiced using your phony excuses on your spouse explaining why you leave your tree stand at home. Please share them here with me.

[Lefty]

Somebody got kicked out of church this morning snoring too loud,,,,,

Good sense says anyone over 60 years old doesn't belong on a ladder or up in a tree,,, that's just crazy.

My wife gave me permission to hunt out of a tree stand,,, she also upped my life insurance policy the week before,,,

Just saying Ive never paid $600-800 for an elk tag,, My Montana tags were $1180 plus $50 for the point
And hey I took my tree stand along last year,, and my ground blind,, Just incase someone needed it.



Phoney excuses,,,, My couch isnt comfortable and I dont have Dish TV

[Swede]

Phoney excuses,,,, My couch isnt comfortable and I dont have Dish TV

How do you survive the Idaho winters? As tough as you are I suppose you could go elk hunting with a club.

[RanchoSueno]

I intend to do a little more ambush style hunting this season. It's just so hard to feel confident in choosing a spot to sit all day and roll the dice. It has worked for my whitetail adventures but they're a little more predictable

[Swede]

Elk are generally very predictable. The difference between them and Whitetails is the size of their territory. Where I live here in western Oregon the elk have a circuit they follow. About every two weeks the go by my place and a couple of days later they are in a field I pass by along highway 30. Where I hunt in eastern Oregon the size of their area is about the same as it is here. It takes about two weeks for the herd to complete its circuit. In the meantime, there are some stragglers or lone bulls that may come around very sporadically. Where I hunted in the past, things changed due to extreme hunting pressure. The elk quickly migrated to a large ranch for sanctuary. It was getting rarer and rarer to find a lone bull, so I moved. Where I am now the elk can go into Hells Canyon if the pressure gets too great, but I don't think they will because Oregon is limiting the number of hunters that get tags.
Tree stand hunting is not always quick, but it is usually sure if you have done your research. Let me explain. A few years ago, I dropped off my son at a tree stand I had set up. He had never been there before. After leaving him I went to another stand location excited for his prospects. We both saw the same thing at his stand site. We saw there was no evidence of any elk activity. To me that was perfect. To him it was depressing and seemed to point to a big waste of time. The difference in our perspective was that I knew the area. No elk for over a week (since the last rain) meant they would be back soon. If there was a lot of fresh sign there, he had missed them. That would not be good. I would have moved him to another location about a mile away. He told me later that he did not nock an arrow when he got into his stand but decided to take a nap. Withing a half hour the elk arrived and he got his act together and killed his bull on opening morning.
The key is knowing your hunt area and the habits of the elk that live there. I have been blessed as I have usually figured out enough to get an elk the first season I hunt a place. Sometimes I am fooled by a spot that loots good to me and have to move. That happens mostly when the elk leave an area they had been in most of the summer. They go to be with the cows and may come back late in the season. Talking with old hunters in the area can be a huge benefit.
Rancho, I think a lot of machos just love to share what they know with an "ignorant woman" just so they can show off. Be ignorant and take advantage of it. They will give you the straight scoop too so they can prove they are God's gift. They most likely will also help you pack out your bull if they are still around.

[Elkhunttoo]

I intend to do a little more ambush style hunting this season. It's just so hard to feel confident in choosing a spot to sit all day and roll the dice. It has worked for my whitetail adventures but they're a little more predictable

It’s crazy how confident i feel in my stand versus being on the ground. It seems to grow every year. I love being the invisible man in the woods.

In fact Swede you talked me into it. This year I will hunt from a tree stand

[Swede]

I have been thinking more about patterning elk. It is not simple. Hunting pressure, industrial operations in the area, predators, weather, forest fires, the rut, etc. can all cause things to change some or a lot.

I have killed loner bulls and elk out of a herd. Why did the loner hang out by itself and come to the same water hole day after day? I have my guess that he was beat by a bigger bull and stayed away, but I can't be sure. The bull I killed last season was a loner. He had lost his left eye recently to something. I suspect it was in a fight. The reason I don't call much and almost never from my tree is that sometimes I have turned bulls away by bugling. Also, they can pinpoint where the call came from a long way off.
Four years ago, I killed a bull that followed a herd of cows that were staying in a relatively small area. I saw the cows daily and hear the bull bugle often. The reason they stayed there was just north (2 miles) of my stand there was a large forest fire. There was a very busy road about a mile away between the fire and my stand location. The elk were hanging back from the fire and the busy traffic of the road. Once I realized what was happening, by seeing the elk, the rest was easy. It took a few days for the bull to come to my water hole, but it was pretty much a given that he would come there at some time.
You don't need to understand all of the whys or even the whole routine of the elk. You just need to know that they are coming around every so often. It really helps to know how often. The more you learn the easier it is to be at the right spot on the right day.