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Leaving Elk? Backing out?

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Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby Elkhunttoo » 07 10, 2020 •  [Post 1]

Lots of times I read on here to "leave them so you don't bust them out" or "back out and come back tomorrow"

I'm not talking about the same day, I completely understand waiting on a bedded bull. Waiting on the thermals to be right. Etc

I here lots of thoughts on here to leave the elk and come back the next day. How many times have you actually left elk (not because it got dark but for other reasons), and gone back in and killed one the next day on an archery hunt? I've done this with a rifle before but not with a bow. I hunt all public land and there are lots of times when I (my group) hear a bugle, and if we heard it that means other hunters heard it too. It seems to me on public land when you walk away from elk usually there are others right there to move them out for you.
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby Swede » 07 10, 2020 •  [Post 2]

Interesting proposition Elkhunt. I have left elk in the late morning and returned hours later. I have found the elk near where I left them, but to be forthright, I have never killed one.
In one situation what I remember was bugling back and forth in the morning, then leaving the area because I was going to be busted due to the shifting winds. I came back in the afternoon, but he did not want to engage me.
I have walked out in the evening and returned in the morning. The bulls that would not shut up the evening before, were quiet the next day, or something else happened and I just did not get one.
I think it is generally a long shot to come back, but we do because going in at the moment is even less likely.
My advise it get a good tree stand, have some good reading material, some snacks and wait for them at the waterhole.
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby saddlesore » 07 10, 2020 •  [Post 3]

Ha. In Colorado,you leave elk and the next hunter will be there PDQ . You make the best of the situation and go in for the kill.
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby Tigger » 07 10, 2020 •  [Post 4]

I never leave elk willingly. I may reposition, but never leave. Every time I have been forced to leave, the next day they are nowhere to be found. The time is now, make your move!

Might be different on a later season hunt when they are hitting a food source and IF there is little to no hunting pressure (good luck with that!).
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby Swede » 07 10, 2020 •  [Post 5]

No one wants to back out when they are close to an elk, but sometimes that is the only reasonable thing to do. Shifting winds and closing darkness make it impossible to close the deal immediately. Coming back later is sure a dicey proposition too. It only works well on internet forums. :D
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby saddlesore » 07 10, 2020 •  [Post 6]

I quit hunting late afternoons long ago. I got tired of processing an elk in the dark, but also passing on shots when I knew the downed elk would be hard to find. Sometimes the elk wins. Most likely they won't be there when you come back. I like that1/2 hour first thing in the morning of legal shooting hours.Find the elk in the half flight before that. Setup and drop the hammer when legal. The challenge is finding the elk.Once found, I sure don't wan to back out and come back later.I plan my hunt so I know what the wind will be doing. First thing in the morning,you have all day to make the kill, process it into bags and get it off the mountain. At least half of it.
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby Indian Summer » 07 11, 2020 •  [Post 7]

I never walk away in bow season. But it has nothing to do with other hunters where I hunt. It has to do with coming back the next day and wondering where the heck they went! I’d rather be aggressive and know that I did what I could to make today the day. Gun season different story. They are more focused on food and security than the rut so there’s a way better chance that tomorrow is just as good if something isn’t quite right today.
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby Swede » 07 11, 2020 •  [Post 8]

Good thought Summer. I was not thinking about the rut at all as our archery season is 2/3 to 3/4 outside the rut. Still I would recommend patience so you do not run off the elk. Ultimately it is as a lady once said to me; "you pay your money and take your chances."
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby Lefty » 07 11, 2020 •  [Post 9]

Tigger wrote:I never leave elk willingly. I may reposition, but never leave. Every time I have been forced to leave, the next day they are nowhere to be found.



The time is now, make your move!
!).


My expierience exactly
I use do otherwise and in big country they can be gone
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 07 11, 2020 •  [Post 10]

Yes, and, yes. I very seldom encounter other hunters in the spots I hunt (by design) so worrying about somebody else getting to my located elk (or elk/patterns that I have known intimately for many years) is a non issue. Oftentimes, actually most of the time, I have a morning and and evening hunt planned, these can be miles apart. If it’s not working out on a given hunt for a variety of reasons, sure I’ll sometimes (not always) back out and return to that spot a day or two later. It all depends I suppose on the spot, what I know about it, and what is transpiring on that particular place in time in the elk woods. If it’s just thermals that are an issue as the situation develops, I’m a fan of crawling under a cedar tree (or blowdown, or down to a creek bottom, or on the facing ridge) for a handful of ZZZZ’s till it’s “right” then onward. It all depends...... Good thread Elkhunt. And FYI, I mostly hunt wapiti during SEP so that’s what I’m basing my comments on ;)
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby Swede » 07 11, 2020 •  [Post 11]

Here are some things I have observed. Sometimes in the evening I bugle down into the canyon below camp. If I get an answer I don't go after him. I come back the next morning. I think they are still lthere, but sometimes I find them and sometimes not. I have left bulls in the late morning and came back to find them still bedded in the mid afternoon.
While sitting in my tree stand I have heard bulls bugle not far away. I am at the local water hole so I just stay put. Sometimes they come around in the late afternoon. Sometimes I have had them quacking as they go to their bedding area in the late morning. I shot and killed a small bull that came in about 10:00 AM.
I guess the point is that if nothing is disturbing them, they are likely to follow a very normal feeding, bedding, watering routine. If the elk are in a meadow in the evening, they will stay and feed until morning. If they go to a bedding area in the late morning, they are likely to stay there until mid to late afternoon. If as RJ suggests, you can come back in a day or two, they are probably residents. In that case I would be very careful not to push them out. Just my thoughts. If it is the last day or two for your hunt; then throw some caution out and take more chances.
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby Lefty » 07 19, 2020 •  [Post 12]

Indian Summer wrote:I never walk away in bow season. But it has nothing to do with other hunters where I hunt. It has to do with coming back the next day and wondering where the heck they went! I’d rather be aggressive and know that I did what I could to make today the day. .

It took me 9 years to figure that out,..
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby 7mmfan » 07 19, 2020 •  [Post 13]

Lefty wrote:
Indian Summer wrote:I never walk away in bow season. But it has nothing to do with other hunters where I hunt. It has to do with coming back the next day and wondering where the heck they went! I’d rather be aggressive and know that I did what I could to make today the day. .

It took me 9 years to figure that out,..


A few years back a friend and I were on a herd of elk with a very nice 5x5 bull bugling his head off during rifle season. They were in a somewhat difficult, but not impossible spot to get on. I didn't have a tag so I was just giving my 2 cents on what was his hunt. He opted to watch and wait and see if they moved to an easier to get to spot. We watched them for an hour or so before they up and left. Over the ridge and gone. If we'd just taken a couple chances we could have been inside 300 yards and let the 7 mag speak. The lesson learned was if you can see them, and you have any kind of a play, play it. Otherwise you may be left with no play at all. The absolute worst thing that can happen is you blow it and have to go find more elk. Bummer.
I hunt therefore I am. I fish therefore I lie.
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby Swede » 07 19, 2020 •  [Post 14]

Just remember there is a multitude of stories out there where people got too aggressive at the wrong time and blew the critters out of the country. The ranches near where I hunt are full of pressured elk. Bad approach situations and swirling winds have been the salvation of many elk. I would rather go after the elk that just walked away on its own, rather than try to catch them after they scented or saw me.
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Re: Leaving Elk? Backing out?

Postby 7mmfan » 07 19, 2020 •  [Post 15]

Swede wrote:Just remember there is a multitude of stories out there where people got too aggressive at the wrong time and blew the critters out of the country. The ranches near where I hunt are full of pressured elk. Bad approach situations and swirling winds have been the salvation of many elk. I would rather go after the elk that just walked away on its own, rather than try to catch them after they scented or saw me.


That's true Swede. As much as I hate to say it, you're right. There is a time and place for everything
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