Have you Noticed a Pattern to Your Elk Hunting/Killing?

[Trophyhill]

whether it's a certain style of hunting techniques, calling techniques, terrain features, time of month or phase of the rut, elevation, location, preparation or perhaps tangibles/intangibles or any of a thousand other factors of an elk hunt, lets hear some common denominators that exist in your success as an elk hunter?

one thing that sticks out for me and the success I've had these last few years is that I've killed each of my elk so far just before dark. can't quite put my finger on that one because I've had some great opportunities in the mornings that for one reason or another haven't been able to close the deal in the a.m. yet.

[Bullnuts]

Yep. I kill the majority of my elk in the first week or 10 days of the season and I'm most successful in the morning. I have every elk I've ever killed, or seen, in my hunting area marked on my GPS - which is a ton of marks for sure - but that helps me pinpoint the exact center of the sweet spot. Over the past 15 years there have been only 2 years, last year included, when the elk weren't in my zone. I attribute that to the drought and the fact that there were some cowboys in there running cattle around the week before last season started. Anyway, from my GPS I can tell you that most of my encounters are between 7 and 9 in the morning and I kill almost every one of them by stalking in close, calling, and getting one to close the rest of the distance.

[easeup]

the years that success has come for this NR guy, were years when somehow the elk were found early on the hunt before it was near over. I suppose it is nothing more than once you are in the zone, it is sort of a matter of time until lady luck smiles upon you. the years when no elk was taken were the years when very little elk sign was located, couldn't find the elk and so forth.

One could say that it simply points to knowing the area that you hunt.

[Still Hunter]

Easy answer. 60 years of still hunting the timber. No need to change tactics, because it works.

[elkmtngear]

Morning, Evening, Mid-Day, from trees, spot and stalk, spot and decoy, cow call, bugle challenge, still hunt dark timber...I can't really see a pattern because all of the former have produced for me.

I think the common theme is I am a pre-dawn to dusk hunter; I try to utilize every available minute I have when I'm in the elk woods. I truly wish I could spend the entire Season out there.

[Washington Wapiti]

I've noticed that I much prefer to kill one than not.
While I've had many encounters in the morning and while being on the move; by far my closest and most intense encounters (in the Pacific Northwest) and eventual kill, have been in the afternoon (1pm-3pm) in an ambush position. Previous 4 years from a blind, this year was a treestand. My main set-up is at an intersection of 4 major game trails, so "lying-in-wait" works well at this spot, at least for the first week. However, the elk do not like the blind, even brushing it in and having it set-up for weeks before the season opens. I've had them come into within 13 yards of me but always at an off-angle or behind cover and never completely walk by it. Replacing the blind with a treestand worked beautifully. Besides the weird vertigo/fear-of-height thing early on, that was an easy transition since I'm used to sitting and waiting anyway. Ambushing may not always work at this area, but for now it does. I think it is important to be able to adapt and switch between strategies if necessary.

[Trumkin the Dwarf]

You bet. The seeming commonality to my killing of elk is hunting benches. But, I've only killed three elk so take it as novice advice.