Hello everyone I'm an elkoholic

[Patapsco Mike]

Hey, new here. This is a great site and been looking for a couple months. It seems like a lot of folks here share the same addiction I do...

So maybe we can have a thread about how we all got started chasing these creatures in the mountains.

I'll start: in 2001 I took a road trip around the US. It really started in Colorado and hit all points west. I think we hit every national park while we fished for dinner and camped the whole way. I fell in love with the Rockies and a year later I set up shop in steamboat. My best friend still lives in a little town close by and have gotten to know the area well. The housing crash around 2008 sent me moving back east (md), tail between my legs looking for work I knew was there. That is where it all started. Flat tops wilderness is tough hunting but I love the area. Free place to crash makes it even better. I'm gathering points in other states but every year for over a decade I'm camping in what I think is the most beautiful/scenic place I've found. It's almost my second home. Yes, the bulls aren't huge and I do have antlers on the wall but it's not about that for me. My trophy is a freezer full and a great adventure.

This year will be a change for me as I'm taking my father along. We bought a trespass private land hunt 1st rifle. He couldn't come close to getting to the hunny hole so I'll be in uncharted lands this year.

Goodluck to all

Share how you started.............

[Trophyhill]

Welcome aboard and great first thread! My short version goes like this. The year was 2007. I had just killed my umpteenth mule deer with my rifle on opening morning. After telling my buddy's "I'm not killing a forky this year" my buddy tells me, "there he is.....he's at least a 4x4" ". This buck was tall and wide. So I make a great shot at 300 yards with my 7 and as I get to the buck my jaw drops as I gaze down at the deep forked forky:)

I know this is supposed to be about elk but I'll get to that in a minute

So anyway as we start the field dressing process, bullets start ricochetting (I hate trying to spell that damn word) off the rocks 10 yards above us like ww3 had just started. Not fun! I looked up at my buddy as I was elbow deep inside the bucks chest cavity pulling the liver and heart out for my father in law and said "f this chit, I'm a bowhunter next year. This is getting way to dangerous" as I see a "sea of orange vests" combing the hillsides in what used to be "my spot". Incidentally before forums existed we nicknamed these hills "Trophyhills". Thus my screen name later

So true to my word to my deerhunting buddies, I applied for all archery deer and archery elk the following year and as luck would have it, I drew both. I had no clue what to expect on my first bow and first elk hunt but told my buddies "I'm killing a herd bull this year" though I came very close that year the only thing I took home in 2008 were stories of what might have been and more importantly a passion in which I had not felt before. I asked questions on different forums after that, that looking back seem stupid but they were afterall born of passion and to be the best elk hunter I could become in as short a period I could. Now I realize that this passion is going to be a lifetime quest. One thats let me see things that most haven't. (Exception being those who share the same passion) now I try to pick the brains of some of the worlds best elk killers. What a ride it's been thus far! God I love bowhunting elk!

[Stick]

Glad to have you here. My story is that several buddies had tried for a while to get me to go elk hunting. 2 problems I thought. 1. Always to busy. 2. Cost to much. In 2005 I finally broke down and went. It was a rifle hunt and we packed in on horses. Got sicker than a dog and almost froze to death. Waking up in 10 degree tent and slamming my boots on the floor so I could get them on was kinda crazy. Shot a big bull opening morning at 50 yards. Loved the experience! Did not love the conditions! Told my buddies I would be back but not with a gun.

That's been 10 years ago. I'll never be to busy to go and I would borrow money if I had too! I've been blessed. I've hunted hard, had good buddies, great camps, unbelievable memories, and killed an elk 9 years running. I'm hoping to make it 10 for 10 in September but wether I do or don't I'll be there! Yeah, I'm HOOKED!!!

[ElkNut1]

Hey Mike, welcome to the Forum! That's one way to get started in elk hunting for sure. Keep that fire burning & good luck to you & your dad, you guys will have a great time!

ElkNut1

[Charina]

Sep of '95 my friend stops by my work (butcher shop - working my way through school), and shows me the bull he took the night before. I bowhunted deer, but had not yet hunted elk. That weekend I picked up a tag, and joined him. We had several close encounters. The most promising of which had me 10 yards from a bull on the other side of a wall of willows as my friend hung back and called. This bull was bugling, tearing up the brush, and pissing all over the place. I never did lay eyes on him as the willow wall was too thick, and by the time I went around it, he decided to bug out of there. School, career, and several kids (along with the related recreational-poverty) meant that I couldn't hunt elk for the next decade, but the interest never died. The bug has come back and bitten me with a vengeance in the last 5 years, esp now that I live in UT. It's kind of pathetic how much of my time and attention it consumes year-round.

[Lark Bunting]

I didn't grow up hunting but always liked shooting guns and archery. I was teaching my son the basics, gun handling skills, archery form, etc. with my son in the garage with a BB gun and a cheap "compound" bow. He asked if I could teach him how to hunt. My honest answer was, "No, but we can learn together". We took hunter's safety two years later when he turned 10 and we began hunting small game. He turned 12 last year and carried his first ever OTC archery elk tag. Last year I had my archery deer tag and OTC archery elk tag and was blessed in getting my first deer. This year he will have his deer tag and we will both have out OTC elk tags for archery. This will be our third official year of hunting but I really don't count the first year since neither of us knew anything about hunting big game (literally, we wandered around in the woods together and didn't know what we were doing).

It's been really fun learning to hunt with my son and we have come a long ways. Hoping this year will be the year one of us gets an opportunity at an elk.

[WapitiTalk1]

An official welcome to "the" elk hunting forum bud. Glad to have you on board. Pull up a log by the campfire and make yourself at home.


My archery elk beginning involved a big Montana bull bellowing from the vicinity of a wallow on steep sidehill, 100 yards above myself and my highschool buddy, and, a tall spike surprising me as he silently appeared over the the top of a thin finger ridge 25 yards away, rendering me incapable of drawing back the 50 lb bear recurve I was armed with. Knees knocking (literally), I knew on that day in the fall of 1975 or 76?, I was hooked. Gary had received an answer using his PVC pipe tube and old Berry diaphram; we'd worked our way towards the bull and set up. We were both sophomores in HS. As the big guy screamed back a warning to Gary, I sensed something moving up and to my right. The spike was standing on top of the ridge, looking directly at me. I couldn't pull the bow back. Shock, awe, adrenaline, etc., etc....... Yep, that's when it started for me.

[CurlyTail]

Welcome! I just stopped lurking and started being active here a few months ago. I have mostly hunted the Colorado muzzleloader season during the rut, but am taking the plunge into archery in the next year.

I have been an avid bird hunter for years, but got bit by the elk bug about 7 years ago. Now I am super mad that I waited until I was almost 50 years old to find out that Elk Hunting is the biggest thrill and the best eating in the animal kingdom. I have always been a fitness buff so the physical part of it is fun for me and part of the attraction. Us older guys need proper motivation to stay in shape!

I started out when my brother, who is my hunting partner, decided to go mule deer hunting with his recurve bow. He was hunting an area known for big deer, but kept having close encounters with Elk- not deer. We decided he should be Elk hunting instead of deer hunting. The first year, My brother had an archery Elk tag, and I was the support crew. I did not want to drop the money for an out of state lisence when I knew we were clueless and low probability of success. By chance, we set up camp in an obscure area that just happened to be Elk Central for the rut that year. We had bugling bulls in camp, every drainage we checked, I couldn't believe the Elk I was seeing and hearing. My first ever elk call - on a ridge over a nice valley with a Carlton Fightin Cow Call was instantly answered by a Bugle! Wow! We did not get a bull that year. But we had multiple close encounters, enough, that we knew we could get this done with some effort and experience.

The next year were were back on opening day of Archery Season. We had stayed up late debating whether we would shoot a cow, or first legal bull on this opening weekend. We decided that any elk with a bow was a trophy and that we would shoot the first legal animal we could. Sure enough, we hiked to a high ridge, with a good saddle, and set up to call. On the way up we bumped a mother black bear with 3 cubs in the twilight. Then we bumped two raghorns. I sat down to call and there on the ground in front of me was a huge 6 point shed in great shape - my first elk shed ever! Needless to say, we were having a great day. About 9 am 2 cow elk came across the saddle out of range. We repositioned to cover this trail. I called some social cow talk and amazingly was answered by many cows . We thought it must be other hunters because the calling was too loud and frequent. Up comes another two cows on the same trail. One passes about 15 yards, and my brother draws on the other at about 20. About this time I hear thundering hoofs and realize an entire herd is coming up to our saddle and will soon be upon us. I tug on my brothers pant leg and say "dont shoot!" - just as he releases his arrow and drills his cow with a perfect heart shot. Up comes the herd about 15 seconds later , led by a magnificent 6x6 herd bull who proceeded to pass by broadside at 10 yards. He even stopped to stare at us in the shadows for a few seconds to see what we were. Simultaneously thrilled and disappointed, we decided that we could not get enough of this Elk Hunting! The butchering (literally without a mentor to show us how), and the pack out was strenuous and just icing on the cake. And when we found out how delicious elk meat truly is - I have been an addict ever since.

We continue to learn our area, hunting more efficiently and with increased success. We are now 3 for 5 and are beginning to apply in other states as we just cannot get enough elk meat in the freezer! I have learned a ton from Paul and the other guys on this forum and know you will really like it here.

[Trophyhill]

Very cool stuff! Curly Tail, I too got a late start at bowhunting and elkhunting at 45. I feel the same. I wish I had started long ago. These last 7 years have been a great ride!

[Lefty]

when I was a kid )(late 60's early 70's my neighbor was a Trophy hunter traveling western states and Canada. He picked me out a bow,supplied me with aluminum arrows he was testing I began shooting,.. I was pretty good as a 7th -8th grader maybe 85 lbs I was drawing a 43# recurve hundreds of times a day. A 6" paper plate seldom was missed at 33 yards, Somewhere between 20 and 30 I bought a few archery tags to hunt with a friend after everything was frozen in Minnesota.
My wife was from Idaho and she was her dads hunting partner. Though the years I tried shooting my Childhood bow; With a bad shoulder I just couldn't do it. With three young daughters I felt limited in what I should be hunting, and spending time away from home.For 15 years I concentrated on waterfowl so I could be home for breakfast, or take my daughters hunting after school. I did have a few big game hunts that generally were 2-3 weekends a year.
Moving to Idaho I was"set up" by a neighbor to take his S-I-L goose hunting. I wasnt looking for a companion to hunt with. Dave and I got along great and killed a few geese together. Dave had also started archery hunting, and when Dave does something he only does it first rate. Dave learned archery inside and out from one of the best, and archery elk hunting from his FIL.

Dave kept telling me to shoot with him. With a bad shoulder It plain scared me. That year my daughter had an antelope tag. We spent a lot of days tring to track down one real nice buck. We drove over a lava flow , and there were two bull elk laying under sage brush I told my daughter the set up was perfect. We were off to town to buy a bow, arrows and a tag. But soon realized archery elk season was over
One evening Dave brought over his bow and set up a deer target in my front yard and told me to give it a try. Dave was impressed with my shooting ability and I realized I could pull a compound bow without too much pain. Dave worked out a deal with my wife, I got his bow and Dave bought a new bow. I jumped on Archery talk and read and read. I planned to kill an Idaho desert elk. My daughters had more interest in boys and school I hunted four Saturdays and Friday evenings and one week night. My 2nd night out I heard my first bugle,.. I got goose bumps and began shaking the elk was bugling from the place where I had seen the two bulls. That first year I had incredible encounters, but seemed to make lots of mistakes.
Now seven years later