The Big Secret

[Swede]

I am confident that most of us who have hunted for awhile, have met other hunters who are tight lipped on everything they know or think they know. If they ever got anything, what they did is a big secret. No one should expect the GPS coordinates to where anyone got their latest animal, but are there techniques people use, that are off limits and should not be shared? I know of hunters that lie and try to throw others off. Is that a good idea when it comes to elk hunting tips? If anyone knows a hunting trick that is effective, but they feel they should not share it, I would be interested in learning why it is best kept secret. I could write several stories about tales I have been told, but will limit it to just one for this post.
I have to admit that in my 55+ years of hunting and working in the forests, I have learned nothing about hunting that I will not share, other than where I am actively planning on hunting. I do not understand all of the things Elknut1 writes, but I do not think there is one stinking thing he is hiding from anyone willing to take the time to read what he has offered. I think there are many other here too that are completely open. Sharing hunting skills and tricks of the trade has never cost me any elk.

What has been your experience and what tales have you heard?

A few years ago, my son and I were camping and hunting together. It was hot that August first day of the season. We came in after a morning hunt and saw a lone fellow hunter with a good bull already hanging in the old industrial camp, where we had also pitched our tent. The successful fellow was skinning out the 5x5 bull he had hung from a meat pole. A whole unskinned bull in camp is very unusual. Still, I did not think too much about it when we went over to admire his trophy, and to congratulate him. Without asking, it was obvious that he had to drive up right to where the bull fell over dead. He had left camp a few minutes before my son and I did in the morning, and I saw the direction he went.
Without being asked, he proceeded to inform us where he got the elk. The location he claimed was in the opposite direction from the one he took, when he left camp five hours earlier. Then he goes on to say he was down in "the canyon" and called the bull it in.
I have hunted that canyon very many times. There is no way any human could pack, drag or haul a whole good 5x5 elk out, without far more equipment than he had. There is no pickup truck access, even to the canyon rim it that area, so a person can get close enough to get a line on a bull. The obvious truth was the fellow shot the bull over a water hole, on the large flat that lay in the direction he went when he left camp. He was trying to throw us off and keep his hunting technique a secret even though no one asked a thing about the matter.

[idahoghost]

Well said. I don't believe there are any secrets. Only information shared. Elk move can and do move day to day.

I thought I had this great spot, right. Followed the herd from June till August with trail cameras. Knew where and when they were at any given time. Boy was I excited. Then on August 17th the herd disappeared. Never found them again. Gee, what a great secret spot that was....

I agree completely the words you said about Paul. The calling class he volunteered to do is just one more example. I for one appreciate all the information you and the others give so freely on this site. Thank you.

[Lefty]

Well said. I don't believe there are any secrets. Only information shared. ,......

I think I willing to share information on about anything except my exact current hunting locations.
Ive had some unique hunting experiences hunting in non traditio0nal places using lesser used methods (sitting in a box blind on a waterhole).
Maybe the only reason I don't believe there are secrets,.. is , well ,.. its a secret

[Indian Summer]

No secrets here Swede when it comes to what works for me. Of course where I pitch my tent might be a little different.

[Trophyhill]

If not for the information that's been shared with me since I started in '08, I'd still be early on in the learning curve. (Still have a lot to learn) The "big secret" in my eyes is applying the good info and weeding out the bad.

[Indian Summer]

Well said Trophy. But I don't think much of it is bad persay. In all my years of using this and other forums I'd say the big secret is realizing that not only are there different strokes for different folks but more importantly the information passed along usually pertains to the particular area where the poster has had their experiences. If a guy or gal hunts all timber and someone else gives their 2 cents based on open country elk hunting it may not be very helpful. BUT... I bet there is still a thing or two both posters can learn from each other. Different perspectives are a good thing. But I do think it's important to think about the fact that everyone's answers are based on their experiences where they hunt.

[twinkieman]

Sharing info here on this forum, is what makes it work so well. Whether a novice elk hunter, or veteran, ideas about what works are openly shared here. Successful hunters who post on here, that without all the help, they probably wouldn't have had their success is what this is all about.
The Elknut method has greatly increased my camps success to the point where everyone now has an opportunity each year to harvest a bull( although bull fever still affects a couple of our members) GRIN. I love the fact that we can and do openly share our experiences with each other. I would never presume to ask for someone's honeyhole hunting spot, even when we were burned out of our regular area, invitations came to hunt with people I have never even met off of this forum.

[Duck-Slayer]

I have a certain mentality that drive's my success, that is if I don't harvest my family don't eat(I am generally not a trophy hunter) I like too fill my tag, I have been lucky too harvest lots of game every year with my bow, not just elk, my family has not bought meat in 10 years that I have been married, if you look at it as a hobby or luxury too hunt than your not as determined too harvest or go too the appropriate measure's too harvest year in and year out, Elknut1 has a business that is his passion so he has plenty of determination too harvest a good bull year in and year out, like said earlier the advice is usually only good for a particular area being hunted too a point.... it's usually going that further distance than most will go or hunt the overlooked area's, the area I shot my spike everyone just drive's by these 3 small ridges that are overgrown with brush, my buddy shot a really good 6 point and I shot a spike in there, but everyone else just drive's by, it's too steep and thick, even thou my buddy shot his 50 yards of the main gravel road , if you think outside the box "most video's on private land" you can be successful, the first "secret" and only secret in my opinion is learn your area, take's several years, heavily pressured elk act different than less pressured elk, than you factor is predator's... i.e. wolve's... i'm not claiming too be an expert, far from it, just giving my opinion at this moment(may change )....
Matt

[Swede]

Some great points are being made. As mentioned earlier, we write from our personal perspective. I have not had Indian Summer's experiences. I have only had Swede's experiences. Indian Summer is valid just as much as I am. Often the key to applying what tips are shared is understanding the context. I know Elknut is a good teacher and knows elk hunting. His advise does not always work well where I hunt. Oh well, skip it and move on. Experience, along with what we read will combine to give us the best techniques for our area and style of hunting. As I.S. wrote, we see things based on our experience.

I was hoping some of you had some good stories about how someone tried to throw you off from what they were doing to get elk. My friend tried to throw some hunters off one day. I told them he got his elk in a place he had not hunted. After the visitors were gone, I asked my friend why he chose the place he claimed to kill his bull, to throw them off. The place he named was right next to where he did hunt, and the trail in there led right back to where he was. Since no one had asked where the bull came from. they probably did not believe him anyway.

[Trophyhill]

I'm on the fence as to whether certain tactics apply to one area over another unless you're hunting dry open country or some type of area affected by predation by wolves. Elk are elk and identifying what tactics and sounds to use means reading the encounter correctly and applying what you know about a given situation and or given tactics and sounds. Of course I've been wrong before. I agree that our own experiences are what we draw on.

[Swede]

Trophy: I can assure you that just as elk get wise to wolves, they can and do learn all about hunters. Too many hunters in a given area will change their routine and as we know can drive them out of an area. This is clearly visible around where I hunt when 700 or 800 elk can be seen on the fields of the neighboring ranch after the first days of the season. Hunters can't go there and they know it. I jokingly say elk can read those "No Hunting" signs. It is often noted on this forum that you need to hike well back from the roads, shortly after the hunting season opens, because elk respond to pressure, that comes in the form of elk calls, scenting humans, vehicles, etc. Sometimes these come all at the same time. Elk avoid humans as much as they do other predators. Where I hunt wolves have not been a problem yet. They too are coming.

[Trophyhill]

I'm not doubting that at all Swede. Elk will respond to heavy pressure like that just about everywhere. Elk are elk barring elk running onto private land though doesn't mean pressured elk aren't killable. It's up to us to adapt and this is where versatility comes into play. I remember Paul telling me a couple years ago "not all elk encounters are created equal". The more I hunt them the more I see how true this really is. I'll elude to the cold calling thread. I've used this technique in 6 different units in 2 states and called elk in like this in every unit. Now if I could just get it right when a bull sneaks in

[Swede]

What I am saying is that, elk are not all the same. That is why high fence area elk, where the owner fills the feed trough, and the elk come on the run are not accepted into P&Y or B&C. If you go to some OTC areas and try the same things you would on a draw unit, where 30 people per get a tag, you will find the elk respond totally different. Sure pressured elk are killable, but you need to respect them and change your tactics, especially up close. Just because we can get a bull to answer does not mean we have filled our elk tag. No disrespect intended here. I just want people to keep an important matter in the forefront of their mind when they are out hunting. We need to know our elk. They are not all the same.

[Lefty]

What I am saying is that, elk are not all the same. ,........ They are not all the same.

I will agree on that one.
Where I hunt Ive seen passer by's drive past bulls bedded in sage brush laying in the open,.. until you stop too long. When they get up to leave it isnt a canyon or two or three before they stop.
Individuall elk will often do their own thing. A neighbor put a kid on a bull that he had watched for years. The same bull traveled from two fields to feed to a relatively inaccessible to bed. Even in September that bull did the same thing until the kid killed it. My father in law picked up the sheds of a bull moose for years from a bull with in 100 yards every year.
The elk I will go 15 miles for water. They seldom bugle during sunrise and Ive watched whole herd sit on a rise with not a bit of grass or shade in 97 degree temps

Ive mentioned before Im an avid goose hunter. I hunt different regional geese differently. While some technique will be the same, some wont. I guess you could say the same about almost any animal

[Duck-Slayer]

Ive mentioned before Im an avid goose hunter. I hunt different regional geese differently. While some technique will be the same, some wont. I guess you could say the same about almost any animal

I just realized who you were Salthunter or Mr. Hauser,
Matt