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Will you be hunting your opening day!

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Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby Lefty » 08 14, 2020 •  [Post 1]

Many statistics show that opening day is (rifle) is the best day to get your deer or elk.

Archery or rifle will you be there opening day?

My daughter made a strange choice. She was offered a department manager position, which meant a 70 cent an hour pay increase. Which also meant she could not hunt the first week of archery elk or the first few days of deer.. She told the store manager No.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby wawhitey » 08 14, 2020 •  [Post 2]

I think statistics showing opening day to be the best isnt necessarily because its the best, but because thats when the most boots are on the ground. Lotta guys that only ever hunt opening weekend. Me, ill just kick back until the weekend warrior hordes go home.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby Swede » 08 14, 2020 •  [Post 3]

I have killed more elk opening day than any other. How good it is depends on where you hunt. If opening day brings in the hordes, often the next day the elk are deep into canyons and other hidey holes. I plan to go out a few days early and be in my stand near first light on opening day. God willing.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby wawhitey » 08 14, 2020 •  [Post 4]

Swede wrote:I have killed more elk opening day than any other. How good it is depends on where you hunt. If opening day brings in the hordes, often the next day the elk are deep into canyons and other hidey holes. I plan to go out a few days early and be in my stand near first light on opening day. God willing.


Bow season is a bit different. Ill hunt an archery opener any chance i get. Opening weekend of rifle deer and elk in wa is a joke. I just may get to hunt mf elk this year. If i do ill just kick back opening weekend.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby saddlesore » 08 14, 2020 •  [Post 5]

The elk cannot read a calendars.

No offense meant, but more than likely your daughter shot herself in the foot. I am sure the company will look at someone else next time. Missing an opening day pales in comparison to a good job and raise.

I have killed elk opening day , last day, and about every day in between and have missed a few opening days myself. Last one, I didn't get into the elk country until Tuesday after it had opened the previous Saturday. I was out killing a cow moose. I shot a raghorn bull elk that Tuesday morning.

This year, Archery season opens Sept1, I won' t be hunting until about the 20th, but I will be MLhunting about the 9th.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby Pop-r » 08 15, 2020 •  [Post 6]

I've missed them but I can say it's not the best strategy. Luck is a big part in hunting and if you're not out there you aren't going to get lucky. Not to mention the animal pool is getting lower all the time.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby Swede » 08 15, 2020 •  [Post 7]

I know hunters that don't want to "waste their time" hunting early in the archery season. They have a point, because they do not know how to hunt early season. The truth is that they are not that good in the late season either. Pop-r is right. The elk are all there in the early season. They are just not as vocal. You need to be more patient and wait longer.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby saddlesore » 08 15, 2020 •  [Post 8]

Swede wrote:I know hunters that don't want to "waste their time" hunting early in the archery season. They have a point, because they do not know how to hunt early season. The truth is that they are not that good in the late season either. Pop-r is right. The elk are all there in the early season. They are just not as vocal. You need to be more patient and wait longer.


There are other reasons some don't hunt early in the season. One being that a lot of locals don't hunt early because it is too warm and the possibility of meat spoilage. NR's think they have to get here before all the elk are shot up. I know a lot of really good hunters that don't hunt early and are very successful. don't believe in pure luck. We make out own luck. Notice very good hunters seem to be luckier than poor hunters.

This year, in Colorado at least, a lot of people are going to be in for a big surprise when they try to take their elk or deer into processor before they make that long drive back home. Most processors are backed up until early next year because of the packing plants being on reduced out put. Locals are buying beef from ranchers directly and tying to find a place to have it butchered. I suspect this is also going to effect the availability of ice when the same people then try to go find some when they find they can't get a processor.

Colorado has been hot and dry for most of the summer and national weather predicts a warmer than usual fall.I am fortunate. I have a friend that is an outfitter and she lets,me put my elk in her walk in cooler until I go home.Then once home,another friend has a walk in cooler that I can age it in.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby Swede » 08 15, 2020 •  [Post 9]

I understand that this year may be different, and that some people choose the later season for different reasons including vacation time. Still there are those that believe you need to wait until the rut to hunt elk with a bow.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby Elkhunttoo » 08 15, 2020 •  [Post 10]

Walk in coolers are awesome. Wish I had one :(

I won’t be hunting opening day here in Idaho. Going to go out and set up camp on Saturday and check trail cameras. Sunday is the opener and I will be in church with my family. I have to work a little on and off the first week but will get half the week or so in the elk woods. Then I have a bunch of time after that.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby saddlesore » 08 15, 2020 •  [Post 11]

Elkhunttoo wrote:Walk in coolers are awesome. Wish I had one :(

I won’t be hunting opening day here in Idaho. Going to go out and set up camp on Saturday and check trail cameras. Sunday is the opener and I will be in church with my family. I have to work a little on and off the first week but will get half the week or so in the elk woods. Then I have a bunch of time after that.



You can make one for less than $1000. Look at Cool Bot Controller using a std room air conditioner.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby Elkhunttoo » 08 15, 2020 •  [Post 12]

Just looked coolbot up... interesting stuff.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby saddlesore » 08 15, 2020 •  [Post 13]

Elkhunttoo wrote:Just looked coolbot up... interesting stuff.

Yea. My buddy has a small walk in cooler maybe 5 ft x 7 ft .The cooler on it was an old freon one, so we replaced it with the Cool Bot and an air conditioner.Works really great
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 08 15, 2020 •  [Post 14]

Yes, for stick n' string elk in Idaho. Buddy and I are gonna try hitting the elk woods in the spud state a bit earlier this year for a change; will see how it shakes out. No in WA for any weapon elk. Will get out in the late ML season for elk in WA a handful of days I think. No for deer modern in WA, but, a guy has to chase the rut here if you want a better chance of dropping a buck. I did pull the WA multi-season deer tag this year, so, I can slip in and out of some of my deer areas throughout the season (early/late archery, smokepole, modern) so I shouldn't have any trouble putting some venison in the freezer along with my Idaho elk 8-)
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby GoGriz1234 » 08 15, 2020 •  [Post 15]

50% chance I make the archery opener in 240 in Montana based on the kids school schedule and what happens with that. 100% I make the rifle opener further south in 328 in October. I plan to chase some deer in between, but 328 will be new to us this year, so we’ll see what we find.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby Lefty » 08 15, 2020 •  [Post 16]

saddlesore wrote:No offense meant, but more than likely your daughter shot herself in the foot. I am sure the company will look at someone else next time. Missing an opening day pales in comparison to a good job and raise..

I had a similar discussion with her: She is a stubborn cowgirl and seems to prefers learning everything the hard way.
She told me she is still mad about previous promises from a manager that is no longer there.

She has quit two other jobs when she felt she had been wronged instead of taking the opportunity to work it out,... She is an extremely hard worker and develops skills quickly and doesn't realize her talents.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby Indian Summer » 08 16, 2020 •  [Post 17]

Lefty your daughter sounds like a carbon copy of me and I love it! She knows what she wants. Zero tolerance for being disrespected. Nothing wrong with that. More power to her and I hope it pays off and she has a great opening day hunt!

I take the opportunity to hunt closer to the roads on the opener. Within 45 minutes I’m into bugling bulls. Things quiet down the very next day so I wouldn’t want to miss a day of hunting where the elk ate relaxed and going about business as usual in areas that are easy to pack elk out of.

After that I retreat to spike camp where the same thing is going on. We usually kill one bull the first morning. Where I hunt you wouldn’t want to skip that day. It’s downright fun! We probably heard a hundred bugles by 9:00 last year.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby Lefty » 08 16, 2020 •  [Post 18]

Our opening week plan is to hunt those close to the road elk too,.. It would be nice to have a shorter down hill pack


Indian Summer wrote:Lefty your daughter sounds like a carbon copy of me and I love it! She knows what she wants. Zero tolerance .

Sometimes that's good trait,,, Other times just stupid :x
This is a girl who snuck out of camp, well before light, to be in her bear stand in active grizzle country.
I think she was the poster girl for those T-shirts about girls guns and trucks,.. And some of that is OK.
But me being dad I wish she would talked to her parents about some of the things she does. ,, One day she was tossing stuff in her horse trailer, then tells us she is moving into her house. We didnt even know she was looking at houses. There have been some pleasant surprises though too. One Friday night she had new big tires on her F250. The next day , (Wish I would have know , I would have been there) She was the only women in a Mud race and she got third place.
Once she asked where my gun oil was( generally always on my workbench) and she pulls out a pistol, then tells me she she got pro-price when she completed her CC. And had just been to the range where she had a membership. We knew none of that. :shock:
Came home from church one Sunday,.. and she had a deer hanging in my shop, she had gone on her own ( in grizzle country :evil: ) the night before , slept in her truck the night before

Defiantly Zero tolerance. And seems to have way to much self confidence in what she can and does do
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby Indian Summer » 08 16, 2020 •  [Post 19]

Never too much self confidence. Now I know she’s going to kill an elk!
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby TennMatt » 08 28, 2020 •  [Post 20]

Yes. I'll be out in the woods my opening day for rifle in Colorado. I've got a 5 day window...

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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby 7mmfan » 08 28, 2020 •  [Post 21]

I am most likely going to miss the deer opener, but that's ok. I have never made an Idaho deer opener and it's never slowed me down. The Thursday elk opener is twisting me around a little bit. To make best us of my vacation, I should show up Saturday after the opener and stay through the following weekend, but man I've seen some good action on the 15th of October in that area. Would make me sad to miss it.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby Rangerz » 08 29, 2020 •  [Post 22]

I will be out opening day and am already planning to change tactics a little bit to deal with the crowd.

After a 10 year wait for an AZ archery elk tag, I want to take full advantage of the opportunity.

Good luck to all.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby wawhitey » 08 29, 2020 •  [Post 23]

Here i am waiting til monday to get back hunting. Just dont like weekends. Other hunters, berry pickers... weekends are for getting stuff done around the house, resituating gear, butchering meat. I just like to have the woods to myself, which never happens for opening day mf deer or elk here, thats always a saturday. Just glad im not a monday to friday 9-5er, so i can lay low weekends, opening days, and have the woods when everybody else is at work. Back to bear calling monday morning, and tuesday is opening day for cougar, so that will increase my options when out cold calling.
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby Lefty » 08 31, 2020 •  [Post 24]

Yesterday was our Idaho opening day
The end of last week we started setting up camp. After a good Day of Rest I drove up to camp.
I was hoping some mountian air would cure me of the allergies,
Went to bed exhased.

I woke to a sight just after 1:00 AM which I have never witnessed,

The moon was bright but the sky was a brilliant burgundy color.
A short time later the smoke from some fire was so bad , burning my eyes and choking me

I was almost ready to hook up and get outta here,
And the smoke cleared as fast as it’s showed

I’ve seen some great sunrises and sunsets
But never anything like last night

So today
My first day to hunt and I was sick and slept most of the day

I don’t feel too bad, it was raining and snowing
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 09 01, 2020 •  [Post 25]

Hope you get to feeling better Dennis and have a great hunt ;).
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Re: Will you be hunting your opening day!

Postby saddlesore » 09 06, 2020 •  [Post 26]

I will be hunting opening day, ML season. This coming Saturday. We are leaving tomorrow as there is a nasty snow storm moving in Tuesday. I prefer to sit it out in the camper for two days rather than fight driving in blizzard conditions going over two 11,000 ft mountain passes.
I will be hunting ML until Sept 20 unless we both tag out.Then it is Sept 21 thru Sept30 for archery either sex elk with my crossbow

That is assuming my body agrees with what my brain thinks it can do. There has been serious disagreements in the past with my body winning.

If all goes well, I will be back on here Oct 1.Everyone stay safe and good luck.
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