What's Your Game Plan?

[Swede]

When you leave home to go elk hunting, do you have a plan? How did you come up with it and how flexible are you?

I start looking at Google Earth and good topo maps soon after I finish putting up my gear from my latest hunt. Normally, I find new places to scout and will check them out a month or two before my next hunt. I may go out this winter or early spring to look over an area. After scouting and looking over my hunt area the week before the season opens, I will set my stands. From that point on there is not much flex unless things ge very bad. I normally just stick it out until I get something. I am one that believes in my plan, so my hunt plans rarely change.

[saddlesore]

Not to much of a plan. If I go, I do the same as last

[Lefty]

Certainly nothing in stone
But next year there is a possibility of camping a couple different places. Maybe a spike camp I really like sleeping comfortable in our RV,, but I miss the night sounds ,,kelk and coyotes,,, even moo cows


Maybe more like 3, 4 or a dozen options for elk each day .

The weather , other hunters, other people, cows, ATVers,,, how I feel when I wake up,,,All sorts of input can make a change.
Ive been doing a lot of glassing, then typically head for the elk.

Hear an elk,,, change directions
The wind changes change direction
cowboys pushing cows over that way,, go somewhere else

[WapitiTalk1]

Gotta see how a few special permits, controlled hunt APPs, leftover OOS tags turn out before my fall elk plans can be determined. Last course of action will be a hunt here, general archery or ML tag, in Evergreen State….certainly not my first choice .

[Billy Goat]

I make a BUNCH of "hunt plans" every year, and have my "favorites" picked out well in advance, but time has taught me to remain fickle in case of other hunters, weather condition changes, or just..... whatever that might mean I need to shift gears.

[7mmfan]

I'm a master planner. When I step out of the truck I know exactly where I will spend my day and how it is likely to unfold. That lasts about 37 seconds after the sun comes up. This last season was case in point. Based on multiple years experience I had a very high expectation of what I would find in the basin we spiked out into. But the dry hot weather forced the animals out. I had considered that the weather may be a factor, but I hadn't experienced it in there before. I changed plans and tactics and found the elk and killed one. I think flexibility and being able to adjust as necessary is far more important than coming up with a master plan.

Plus, it's easy to stick to a hunt plan when you chain yourself to a tree and bring a solar powered generator that heats your seat and clothes and coffee for you.

[Swede]

Plus, it's easy to stick to a hunt plan when you chain yourself to a tree and bring a solar powered generator that heats your seat and clothes and coffee for you.

Do I detect a note of sarcasm here?
Maybe I will start taking a thermos of coffee with me to make life more pleasant in my stand.

Then I set up my camp for the month to follow as well as my tree stands, I plan to stay. It is going to take a lot to move me to change plans. I have done my homework and feel confident it will work. I have faith in that plan. I am not easily discouraged. It works for me.
Following the plan does not mean I can't change tree stand locations or flex due to weather, etc. I am not a robot, and I must hunt intelligently. Last season I set out another tree stand as a couple of women came and set up a camp in a saddle between two of my stands. Last season there was a huge forest fire that was just a few miles from my camp. The Forest Service closed the road into the area and told me I may be directed to leave. Ultimately, I was the only hunter within miles and the fire was an asset. I was never told to leave, and the elk moved my way. That was a first and worked out well. Having the F.S. give me the boot is about what it takes to get me to change plans and move on. It all comes back to patience and perseverance.

[MidwestHunter]

I am at the mercy of the draw system as to what my plans are. I have had to be fairly flexible and this year am adding an extra state into the mix (Wyoming) for elk, and adding multiple species to increase chance of participating in a hunt out West.

I usually make a couple upgrades on gear. All my scouting happens on the computer and when we get to the state we are hunting. My plans change depending on how mad my wife is, as September 12 is out anniversary, right when prime time for elk. Need to figure out a way to convince my wife our anniversary is August 12, so might take another 20 years for her memory to fade to that point. Slowly I will transition.