Hunting Success

[Swede]

Elk hunting seems to be the ultimate challenge for many people. Usually, it takes several seasons before we can go home after a hunt and have a rack of antlers sticking out above the pickup bed. Then, we also have a cooler filled with meat to share with the family. To be successful frequently we need to hunt a decent area we are familiar with and know basically how to get an elk. We may use different tactics, and these may change over time, but generally successful OTC or easy draw unit public land hunters continue to be successful.
Elk hunting skills are developed in a variety of ways and places. We can read and watch how others succeeded, or we can try to learn in the forests and fields. I think a combination of these has helped me. So far, I have not written anything on this thread that you do not know already, so I want to present you with a few questions.
1. Do any of you cotton pickers know anything we do not already know that would make us a better hunter, and if so, what is it?
2. Can anyone contribute anything to encourage others to continue the elk quest? I have to admit I have not been holding up my end. I will try to use the excuse that it is because I did not get to go elk hunting this
year. The worst part is that I burned my 15 preference points.
2. Seeing that we are getting very few posts on this forum, and I see the same on others, have we worn the subject of elk hunting out? I hope we are not al being sponges now and waiting for someone else to post.

[Tigger]

1. Yes, I know things that would make you a better hunter. Turn one battery around in our headlamp so it doesnt accidently go on and drain the batteries.
2. Yes. "Don't quit". Also, Why didnt you get a chance to go this year?
3. Havent wore out elk hunting, but elk hunting has wore me out!

The above advice should make it easy to bag a 6 point bull next year.

[Swede]

Also, why didn't you get a chance to go this year?

Thanks for asking Tigger. My wife was sick for several months including all of the archery season. I finally felt comfortable leaving her at home in early November and went deer hunting for three days. I can tell you middle aged hunters that you need to take advantage of your hunting opportunities. When you get older, there is no telling what may come in the way. I was pleased to stay at home to care for my wife, but I missed hunting. I am planning on 2025, but no-one knows what lies ahead?

[Tigger]

So sorry to hear about your wife Swede. I commend you for dedicating your fall to taking care of her. I hope and pray she is doing well.

[saddlesore]

Same as Tigger. Elk hunting wore me out. I did try to go elk hunting this past season with a muzzle loader.. By the 3rd day my body was asking "What the heck are you doing here". BY the third day, my brain caught up and I packed up and came home.

My tip to make you a better hunter, is to know your limitations. You might have to compromise, but change your tactics to match your ability. This might means you have to completely change your mind set and develop new techniques. I don't know if it will make you a more successful hunter,but you still get your battery charged and get the knots out of your rope from being out in the high country

I will try to get a disability permit to hunt from a vehicle, but I seriously doubt I will be successful. We have been seeing herds of 150-200 elk out on the eastern plains since these big early snow storms hit but it is all private land and the land owners or outfitters leasing the land want $3000 for a cow tag. Since I mostly hunted to fill the freezer, I can buy a 2 year old 1100 pound beef or bison for that.

I did go deer hunting on a friends farm. Driving the pastures or CRP land I was able to tag a mulie. . Then drive up to it and winch it into the back of my truck

[Swede]

Saddlesore has it correct about knowing and managing within your limitations. Trying to follow someone that has a different area, or different ability does not work. I cannot shoot well enough past 40 yards to take an elk. I know. Also, I did not just dream up the idea of being a tree stand hunter. To be truthful, I hated it at first. I sat in my stand the first time and climbed out after about 2 hours. I was bored. I had heard a herd go by and decided to go after them. The net week I set up my first successful tree stand. The reason I finally gravitated fully to stands is because I have poor eyesight. I did not see half or the deer and elk people that were right with me were seeing. I can see elk within bow range well enough to be a problem for them. I don't see as many elk as others do hunting on the ground, but I get more.
BTW: Next week I have another eye operation on my right eye that I pray will help me see better. I was given an option of a new cornea, but that has its own set of problems. After that I am supposed to get my left eye operated on. Maybe that will help me see elk better, but now at age 77 I could have other issues.
This year I am buying beef and chicken more. That was a shocking experience! I went to the store and paid $18 for two pounds of beef to make a stew. Most of the pot got filled with spuds and vegetables.

[RanchoSueno]

I just don't think I have gained enough experience to give advice. I'm just here lurking on everyone else's pieces of wisdom and counting the days down till next September lol. Been a slow whitetail season but muzzy opens tomorrow, so I'll be sitting in my sneaky ridge bedding area hoping to pick off a late season booner like last year

[Swede]

Rancho: I think you are selling yourself a little short. Even when you do not get an elk, you are learning. Maybe you have not figured out why you have not succeeded, but you know some things that do not work, and you know there is a piece or two that you need to get into the puzzle to know the whole picture. I suspect you do not know any area well enough and the elk in that area. Once you figure that out you will have more shooting opportunities.

[RanchoSueno]

You are correct! Each year I think I've got a niche, I end up coming up empty-handed so I fly by the seat of my pants, walk into a new area ... BAM elk! I will say I learned to invest more time getting into elky areas long before sunrise and it definitely gained more elk sightings come shooting light. Also, if you take your senior meat hauling nag strap a gps tracker to her because she's bound to abandon you in the middle of a stalk

[cohunter]

Man, Swede... It's tough when you can't get out! I took the year off too. Just watched a Fresh Tracks episode where Randy quotes his uncle: 'livin's a lot different than breathing." I guess sometimes life's a lot more about breathing. And there's a lot of things I'd call livin', but if you've got the chance, you might as well get out there and do some livin' while you can! Thanks, Swede for helping us all learn and think about elk hunting on this forum!

[Tuffcrk14]

Leave home on a positive note with the wife and kids! That usually starts months before the hunt even begins.


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