Hunt Smarter, Not Harder

[WapitiTalk1]

Hunt smarter, not harder while in the elkwoods. Or, hunt "hard but smart". What does this mean to you?

[easeup]

well...............the hardest thing for this NR is to find some elk. So hunting smarter is getting a local to tell me where they are. LOL.

[Lefty]

Being smarter
Trying to be ready for any senrio, knowing the country , knowing were the elk spend their time,

[Swede]

"Work smarter, not harder", "hunt smarter not harder", are just clichés. I do the best I can with the knowledge I have. Sometimes it is just not enough.
At the end of my hunt last year, I was tired and beat. I had been gone for nearly five full weeks. Except for a midday break, for lunch or to do chores, I was diligent in getting out early and I stayed until dark every day. I tried everything I knew how, but for different reasons, things just did not work out. "Hunt smarter, not harder". What should it mean?

[poisonarrow]

Number one for smart or hard- find elk.

[Trophyhill]

Number one for smart or hard- find elk.

This ^^^^^^^^ + getting into good position, timing and hopefully making the right sounds.

[twinkieman]

Learning all I can, and being able to adapt to whatever the elk throw me. Being able to take advantage of every opportunity. Spending as much time as I can in the elk woods.

[JPD350]

Learning all I can, and being able to adapt to whatever the elk throw me. Being able to take advantage of every opportunity. Spending as much time as I can in the elk woods.

This^^^ Adapting quickly and correctly, the next part of this is to do it premeditated by what you see from the sign on the ground and not from seeing the hind quarters moving away from you. I also think that if a person slows down it will give them more time to come up with a plan before it's too late, I know that sometimes you need to move quickly to set up a plan but you need to learn to walk before you run.

[Toby]

Learning all I can, and being able to adapt to whatever the elk throw me. Being able to take advantage of every opportunity. Spending as much time as I can in the elk woods.

This^^^ Adapting quickly and correctly, the next part of this is to do it premeditated by what you see from the sign on the ground and not from seeing the hind quarters moving away from you. I also think that if a person slows down it will give them more time to come up with a plan before it's too late, I know that sometimes you need to move quickly to set up a plan but you need to learn to walk before you run.

I like this, when I first started this game I thought the more ground I covered each day the better. Put on a lot of wasted miles and went way to fast. Even had a tendency to rush the encounters I had with bulls.

Now I hunt slower and "more thoroughly". Much more fun and just as, if not more, successful. Age probably has more to do with this than wisdom

[nrocchio]

I think you have to do both really. Hunt smart by doing your research and learning what you can about your area/time of year or elk in general. Hunt smart and be prepared by practicing with your weapon of choice. Do what you can in the off season to give yourself the best chance possible during the season. However, any elk hunt I have ever been on to be successful you also have to hunt harder. It is a grind. You have to be ready to work through that, and remember it is fun when you hit those walls if you don't want to bank solely on getting lucky. (which I think also plays a big part in a successful elk hunt ).

[WapitiTalk1]

Physical aspect: Using contour lines to get from point A to B is hunting smarter. Climbing straight up out of an alder choked bottom after dark versus using the same game trails that brought you to that point is hunting harder, not smarter. Ask me how I know this .

Efficiency aspect: Heading out after dark, even when you’re dog tired, to locate singers for the morning hunt is hunting smarter; it’s much easier to just hang at camp, drink beverages, and tell stories (yes, they have their place also). Having your next day’s gear 100% ready and packed the night before (pack loaded with correct gear, the day’s chow, water bladder filled, map for area to be hunted packed, headlamp batteries checked/replaced, rain gear packed/un packed dependent on weather forecast) saves time in the morning and usually prevents forgetting something (another hunting smarter example).

Safety aspect: Taking your time when negotiating difficult terrain (steep, brushy, wet/slippery, rocky, etc.) is hunting smarter IMO.

Elk battle aspect: A few have mentioned this, “hunt where the elk are”. I don’t hunt the same spot every day with my style of hunting (mostly R&G) but I will seldom expend precious energy/effort into going into an area that I have not either seen or heard elk in the preceding days (hunting smarter). Trust your tree stand location/setup and stay with it for the duration of time you planned on hunting there (daylight till noon, early afternoon till after dark, etc.). Abandoning your treestand/ground blind spot or plan too early to head over the next ridge or two to see if anybody is home may be hunting harder but not necessarily smarter.

Just a few hunt smarter, not harder examples that came to mind this morning. Anyone else have any examples?

[Screaming_btf]

While covering long distances especially while in Dense terrain stop often to just listen for animals and don't walk so fast or you may not hear ELK that are in your area.

[Olydog09]

As a Non Resident hunter, hunting smarter means a couple things to me.

First would be doing as much map work from home online as I can and coming up with a scouting plan and route I can download into my gps and use when I do get to go scout. This lets me maximixe my time in hopefully good areas. (I am fortunate enough that while I am out of state I am close enough to be able to make a few scouting trips during the spring/summer.)

Second for me would be from experience for myself personally. I would like to find good tree stand or blind locations to use for the evening hunts. Running and gunning pre-light to post dark leaves little time for recharging and taking everything in. Future hunts I want to have stand locations for evening hunts. That way I can run and gun the morning and then rest a bit in the evening but still have a decent chance to kill an elk. It does not have to be every night even just 3 nights out of a trip would be fruitful for me.