Things I believed

[Swede]

What is something you were told or thought you found out on your own about elk hunting that you no longer believe? What changed you mind?

The first thing that comes to my mind is how the moon phase is supposed to affect the feeding and bedding times.
Another is how the scent of human urine adversely affects elk. For years I have peed out of my tree stand and it affects nothing. I have had deer come in a at on the bush I just relieved myself on.

What are some more untrue truisms?

[Lefty]

The first and last 15 minutes of the day are more important than all the rest of the day combined.
............Hmm never shot an elk before sunrise!

You have 3 seconds to make your shot .
.........Once I started archery hunting,,,way to much of what I was told about elk came from rifle hunters who were wrong

Elk hunting is all about covering miles.
......Glassing saves a lot of wear and tear on boots and tires on the truck

[Jhg]

Hunt bulls peak rut. Design your season around the peak.

Ok. My success rate spiked when I realized bulls cowed up pre-rut and were very open to "meeting" another bull. A great time to get in close to the herd bull because there is not the satellite issue, and though the bull is vocal he is not "tending" (protecting/defending) a hot cow and therefor more casual about encounters with other bulls.

[saddlesore]

Wounded elk always go down hill.

You have to travel back into the country a minimum of 5 miles to find elk

BTW,I have killed a few dozen elk right at daybreak at the first legal shooting time.I have never killed an elk right at the end of the day. I do believe the first 30 minutes are the best times to see elk

[color=#FF0040]
"way to much of what I was told about elk came from rifle hunters who were wrong[/color] ". Maybe you were hunting with the wrong rifle hunters. Ask Luke Kessler who first put him on elk.

[Tigger]

shoot on the first day what you would shoot on the last day. I now pick the animal I want, when I want, not according to some dumb saying. That may be a calf on opening morning or I pass one and go home empty handed. Either way, I did what I wanted to do with MY tag.

[saddlesore]

shoot on the first day what you would shoot on the last day. I now pick the animal I want, when I want, not according to some dumb saying. That may be a calf on opening morning or I pass one and go home empty handed. Either way, I did what I wanted to do with MY tag.

That's for sure.

[Jhg]

Amen to that.

"Elk are where you find them"

Sometimes, you don't find them.



"Bulls aren't cowed up yet"

Never, ever take that for gospel.

[saddlesore]

The elk never read all those "How To Books" anyway

[Swede]

The elk never read all those "How To Books" anyway

That does not mean they are illiterate. They can read those "no trespassing" and "no hunting" signs and understand which side they need to be on.

[Old school]

Elk want to be in dark timber when it’s unseasonably warm. That got debunked for us after 7 days and 60 miles of walking when I finally found the elk out in the open baking in the sun in 80 degree weather. Elk are where you find them, not where books tell you they will be.