Rank your elk hunt

[cnelk]

Some recent posts have brought up a question about how hard or easy your elk hunts actually are.

I realize we all hunt different styles and terrain, but was wondering how your elk hunt ranks
in an 'over-all' way.

On a scale from 1 - 10 [ 1 is VERY EASY - 10 is EXTREMELY HARD]

Give a brief description of your rank please....


My elk hunts would probably rank 7.
Some steep and deep terrain with elevation up to 10,000+ft
Some is fairly level with elevations ~8500
LOTS of hiking
Run and gun & tree stands
Drive up base camp w/ wall tents

[Swede]

There is a lot of variety in the area I hunt. My hunts can be as tough or easy as I want. The elevation is about 5,500 ft. Most of my hunts are probably about a 4-5 level.

[Herb]

I'm confused on the scale, can you have a "7" with a drive up base camp??:)

[cnelk]

I'm confused on the scale, can you have a "7" with a drive up base camp??:)

Location, Location, Location...

[Solitude]

I'll play. I would say most of my stuff is a 5. Pack in a few miles and stay a 2-4 days, go out, reload, and head back in. I take my time, glass, and play the thermals. I have had my best luck hunting smarter, not harder. Part of the smarter is getting off the beaten paths.

[Herb]

I'll go with a "8".

We pack in with the help of some critters, and have a pretty comfy camp from that point on. Packed in adds some burden to any task that requires going back to the truck....packing meat, equipment repair, resupply or just heading for home. Been doing it that way for so long, really don't think about it. Steep and deep, that's normal. Probably harder than I think it is.....but I'll assume someone is doing it a harder way than me.

Now my two years hunting in NM, "4".

Felt like cheating, camper, atv, cell service, 20 minutes to town, and it all came with sleepless nights as the bulls screamed all around!!

Easy terrain too, flat by my Colorado standards.

[WapitiTalk1]

Interesting thread cnelk.

Will just give mine for last year in ID.
Steep, thick, steep, thick. Nothing much flat. Did I mention its steep and thick
Elevation up to 6,500K ish.
I normally, not always, do two hunts per day. Quad to target draingage/area before daylight and head down into the abyss or sidehill for a bit, and then, down into the abyss. Lots of finger draws on steep sidehills which hold singers. Noone home or it doesn't work out? Back up to the quads/bikes and on to the next area for an afternoon/evening hunt.
It's 8 or 9 miles in on the steel horses from main road then camp kind of close to a water source. Hunts from camp are anywhere from 1 to 7 miles via quads.
I'm guessing my hunts last year in ID were somewhere between 6 to 8. Some of them feel like 10's after I drop down a mile on elk trails, lured in by wapiti playing my song, and then coming up and out after dark. It's a sonofgun crawling up through alder fields go get back to the access trail/road in the dark.

[easeup]

is there such a thing as an easy elk hunt?

[BowKill]

Most of the time my elk hunts are very hard, I would rank them an 8 most of the time. But on the flip side this years bull was a #1, six hours of hunting. Left the truck at 6:00am with intentions for a 5 day bivy hunt and I shot him at noon. My very first archery elk hunt in 2004 also ended quickly at 1:30pm with my bull on the ground opening day. It's always nice to have a easy hunt, to me they are just as rewarding as the hard ones that last multiple days.

[planebow]

Where I hunt it is around 2700 ft which is actually lower than where I live. The country is fairly open so do lot of glassing and lots of hiking. I would say my hunts are about a 3 to 4 compared to areas I used to hunt.

[BrentLaBere]

Well, as much as I would like to say my hunt was hard, I have to say it was only hard for me. I have one elk hunt under my belt and by no means for a seasoned hunter was it difficult, and by that I mean the guy that is used to hunting solo and living in a tent for a week. It was something about the state of mind being 3 miles of the dirt road and alone that made it difficult for me. I would rank it as a 10 only because of the mental challenges I went through. Not because of the physical aspect of the hunt, which I will admit was more difficult than I am used to, but because of the rollar coaster of emotions I went through. No one to pick you up after a long day of glassing and hiking with no activety and the cold nights where all you have to look foreward to is "tomorrow is my day". I hope I dont sound like I am complaining because it has changed my hunting and now I am honestly addicted and have already started planning for next season out of state. I hope I can say my hunts get easier with more experience and still look back in awe on how much this hunt humbled me as a bow hunter. I give my hunt a 10 and hope I dont rate them that high from here on out ..
Brent

[Trophyhill]

is there such a thing as an easy elk hunt?

in my experience no! there is tough terrain and there is tougher terrain lol

[Swede]

It is interesting to read what different people use to determine how tough a hunt is. To me terrain is only a small factor. I hunt both steep and gentle terrain but my hikes are rarely very fast. Even when calling I seldom am in a hurry. To me the grind is going 35 days straight mostly by myself. I have killed elk on the first morning of the season and once was able to drive up to where the bull expired. Rank that a 1, but I have also killed them the last evening when I was being strongly urged to give up, and also on the last weekend. Those hunts are fueled on pure stubbornness and some unexplainable drive that won't allow a person to quit. What is crazier yet is, when the last day is ended and darkness settles on the forest, I am sad and wish I had just another day to be out there. But it is time to pack up and go home. Maybe that type of hunt is a 7 or 8, but when you consider the fun factor, the number is reduced to a 1 again even though I lost 10 pounds.

[foxvalley]

We park my truck then haul our camp down a closed road,then down a rec trail about 5 miles total via TW 200 motorcycles to the bottom of our drainage. About 80lb. packs x3. This rec trail only allows cycles or horses,and gives us access dozens of drainages.
Most mornings it's below freezing,and we hike up about 1000' before we start hunting ,total elevation about 4,500',but steep and thick! We freeze before we climb,but are drenched with sweat after the climb as we get ready to hunt.It still amazes me after taking off your pack and jacket,within 5 min.you go from soaking wet, to almost completly dry,and warm.Thank god for high tech clothing!!! The great thing about camping on the bottom,is when you kill,the meat packing is all down hill. I guess I would rate our hunt at a 6.

[ElkNut1]

All depends where we hunt for the day as we move around so much. It is tough to put a # on it because everyones definition of tough is not the same! We've had hunters come with us & they thought this was the worst terrain they've ever seen, I would have given it a 5-6. A lot is what you're used to I guess. Every year we hunt so many areas it will vary from 5-10 depending on the specific area hunted. If my son were to comment on here & referred to his packout for this years elk it would be a 10. It was brutal at the end but it started out so innocent! (grin)

ElkNut1

[>>>---WW---->]

Hard to rank each day so I think it might be best to rank the whole season in general.

Last fall was a #1. What more can you say about a 10 minute hunt and elk in the freezer? The year before took a whole 45 minutes start to finish. Also a #1. But don't get me wrong! I've encountered my share of #10s over the years. Both in hard hunts and lack of success. So I suppose I'd average somewhere in the #5 - #6 slot somewhere.

[Pop-r]

I'm surprised at nothing over an 8 I don't believe. I would have to rate mine at least a 10 & I say that mostly due to terrain. I was introduced to a unit by a relative and have never been smart enough to find one with easier hunting. At times it could be a 2 but they don't stay in those places all the time. Just hit & miss from my experience. EASY when they are! Otherwise, it's a pretty serious deal to get to them but they're there! I am in shape as almost anybody and I have pushed myself on so many occasion's on them mountain's that I could run for day's on end here at home & not get close to the level of exhaustion those dang mountain's can dish out!! Insanity! I lost 31 lbs last year in 35 days of hunting!! Eating like a horse! I see some guy's in the areas I hunt occasionally & sometime's even see some in places I have yet to be. These guys can't be on this forum rating this an 8 or under or I am not near as tough as I wish I was! Bottom line: Elk hunting is a _itch most of the time!! But man the rewards and memories are worth every bit of it!!

[elkmtngear]

If you asked me for a number at different stages of the hunt, you would get a different answer each time.

I think it must average about a 7; it might just be a five or 6 when we are down in the honey hole trying to move in and around elk, and it's more like a 9 when we have to do a couple thousand vertical feet back up to the base camp (sometimes with a serious load). I'm sure it is nothing like sheep hunting, but it is no cake walk!

[Pop-r]

If I thought one guy was probably in shape more than me by what i've seen you're "prep wrkts" are it would be you Jeff! You're commitment had me questioning mine a few times late last summer! And I see you rate some of it a 9 so I don't feel so bad now. Lol

[Lefty]

For me the toughest part is having time to hunt
Or is it locating elk because of lack of elk density,.. a 9 or 10

Well if elevation is a sign of toughness,.. my hunts a one
If it is ranked on tempurature Well I often start below freezing and end up hunting in the upper 80's or 90's maybe a 9
Miles walked,. most days 8-15 miles Ok its relitivly flat but still miles
Distance of camp from the truck,.. 5-10 feet so that would be a one,.. Hey I do sleep in a tent,... So can I make that a 2?

Distance from the truck to the blind 300-900 yards so another 1
Can I have a 2 for retrivial,.. I will have to do it myself,.. so far my shots at bulls were all less than 200 yards to a legal 2 track
If it comes down to calories burned, I expect Ill be below most archey elk hunters But I also know most "normal" hunter would have a very difficult time hunting where I hunt in the open desert

But mine would fit into the 1 catagory,... Well sort of

Now ranking my idea of the quality of my hunt,..7-10's every time out

[Da White Shoe]

Since 1978, I've hunted elk somewhere every year, well, except the year that my 1st son was born too close to the season for me to get away.
Early on, I was involved in some gut-busting, leg burning, freezing cold, wet feet, wet everything, sleep on the ground without a pad, cook on an open fire, don't get enough to eat... type "ten" elk hunts. Enough to know my limits, for sure!
After 3 years of that, we bought horses. A couple years after that, we got our first wall tent. Then a wood stove, Gore-Tex boots and decent rain gear. Camp chairs... finally! Cots, soon after!

When we don't draw somewhere, the OTC area we hunt in Colorado is 10,000 feet at both the main camp and the spike camp, 6 miles in. Horses to get in and out, but a lot of walking once we're in there. Other than that, walking the terrain could be as hard or as easy as you want to make it. Quite a bit of "flat" stuff on top, with some major canyons all around if you feel brave.
Keeping in mind, we only spike in the bare essentials... my Dad hunted elk with a muzzleloader when he was 70 and killed a bull on the 9th day of being in that spike camp.

Just being in that camp for that long would be at least a 7... for the 50 year old version of ME anyway!


What I've learned is... if you have enough stuff, you can turn a 10 into a seven!

[Harmy]

Mostly my elk hunts have been easy (1-3), relatively speaking. Hiking in rough terrain with a heavy pack is not something that I consider that tough in general even across multiple days (I have way too many extended days-weeks spent rock climbing and ice climbing and doing first ascents in the backcountry for any hunting experience to date to even compare on the same scale of suffering-nothing like being in a blizzard 1000 feet off the ground in the Windrivers or the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to make you feel how insignificant we humans are).

This year I killed my bull on the 5th day of the season and that day was the easiest ever for my relatively brief hunting career in that I had my bull on the ground 2 min after shooting light and drove my truck 5 feet from the kill. Although there were several days of hard walking in the preceeding days it was deffinitly a 1 scale overall. I camped in my trailer.

Now, 4 years ago it rained constantly for 5 days. That was suffering. I ranked that a 5 even though we were hunting the exact same terrain as this year. Goretex does not work in a continuous multiday downpour... Carrying quarters on steep slimy terrain is a huge effort. I probably had 20 lbs of mud on me on that carry and I would guess I fell several dozen times.

Several years ago I backbacked in for a couple of days and there as a foot of snow on the ground. That was not too bad actually (except dreaming of bears one night and then seeing bear tracks the next morning 20 feet from my bivy). That was probably only a 4.