Best Chance to Fill Your Tag

[Swede]

Everyone can educate themselves pretty well these days on elk hunting. Tactics including calling, locating elk, tree stand placement, etc. etc. can all be learned at home. So after reading and following Wapiti Talk conversations, and taking in everything within reason, does the prepared bow hunter, or rifle hunter have the best chance to fill their tag in an OTC unit? Which hunter has the best chance to kill a branched bull if they are restricted to branched bulls only?

[Stick]

The bow hunter!! Now I will admit I'm prejudice so keep that in mind. My reasons:

1. Bow seasons are longer in duration. Studies show and also personal experience bears it out most elk are killed on the 10th day of hunting. So having ample time is a game changer.

2. Weather is more dependable and you don't depend on it near as much for elk movement, etc.....

3. Bow season usually runs concurrent to the rut which lets you hunt branch antlered bulls in their most vulnerable time.

4. In OTC units the crowds are never as big in bow season as in rifle!

I'm convinced.....think I'll get my bow ready to kill a bull.

[Indian Summer]

It depends on the hunter for sure. Statistics show the facts though. So overall gun hunters have a higher success rate. But I know bow hunters, and not just the Elknut, who are not only 100% killing their bulls but are also killing bulls in other states AND putting friends on elk too.

But again.... with the up close and personal nature of bow hunting there are just way more things that can turn a near shot opportunity into the one that got away.

I once had not 1 but 2 archery clients kill 6 point bulls from the horse trail while hiking/hunting their way into camp on day 1. 2 hours 2 bulls down. WHAT! I couldn't believe it myself.

But for me personally my hearing is so bad that I'm hard pressed to locate elk through listening and calling. But I have 2 spots where I know I can kill a bull with my rifle on the morning of day 1. I have done it in both spots already too and it's not just a fluke. When the sun comes up the WILL be elk there. I've killed lots of bulls on the first day of gun season.

[bald9eagle]

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Personally I think that archery hunters might spend more time studying and are better prepared. I say that because to kill an elk with a bow you have to narrow the distance to <60 yards. With a rifle you can take a shot at 500+ yards if you so wish. If I am rifle hunting I am simply riding around on my horse till I see some meat and taking a shot. For archery I am trying to learn exactly where I need to be and how to get there.

[saddlesore]

Statistics don't lie. Archery success is less than 10% more like 4-5. Rifle success is around 20 -22 % success. However, success is not measured in the filling of a tag. Rule that out of the discussion and everyone can be a succcessful elk hunter if they take the time to enjoy the hunt.

We can all quote specific hunters that run 100%. I am one of the rifle hunters that do that.
It is a well known fact that 10% of the hunters kill 90% of the elk and do it every year, and it is mostly from their experiences and years in the field. I don't lump people that use a guide into that because it is mostly the guide that does the work and knows what to do. The client usually only does the shooting and has no clue how he/she got to that point. There are probably a small percentage of clients that don't fit that description,but I believe generally it is true. That being said,I'd say it is an equal percentage of archers and rifle hunters that fill their tags when they are using a guide,but most of those hunts re not in OTC Units.

Learning all about elk hunting at home,doesn't equate to learning about elk hunting from experience. Anyone can pickup a book,or cruise the internet and pick up how to's, a lot of time those how to's don't work and the people who rely on them don't know what to do when they fail. When you learn from experience, hopefully you learn from your mistakes and that mistake will stay with you a lot longer if than anything you read in a a book. I am one that believes that there are no hard and fast rules in elk hunting. Elk don't read those books.

[Indian Summer]

I'll add that most of the bulls I killed on the gun opener were the result of my archery season experiences. In Montana you can hunt for 6 weeks with a bow, then they skip 1 week before gun opens. So I would just pick up where I left off and if it all worked out right things would come together pretty quick.

Baldeagle while you are probably right about the amount of preparation that bow hunters invest I think you're underestimating gun hunters. I know guys that are obsessed with their shooting and reloads as well as the topos and other pre season stuff.

The topic of the thread is Best Chance... I think you answered that when you said "with a bow you have to narrow the distance to <60 yards. With a rifle you can take a shot at 500+ yards" For that reason alone the best chance for people who prepared and those who didn't will always be with the long guns.

The other factor in filling your tag is finding the elk you shot and obviously there are more cases of unrecovered game in bow season than in gun.

A different spin on things might be to ask which season is more enjoyable to hunt. Most would say bow season because the elk are bugling but I'd just say whenever the elk are bugling because there are lots of places where the elk are talking pretty good during rifle season. Which method is more rewarding when you kill a bull? The archery kills will always win that one! Nothing is more rewarding than connecting with primitive weapons like bows and flintlocks!

[njdoxie]

It depends on the hunter for sure. Statistics show the facts though. So overall gun hunters have a higher success rate. But I know bow hunters, and not just the Elknut, who are not only 100% killing their bulls but are also killing bulls in other states AND putting friends on elk too.

But again.... with the up close and personal nature of bow hunting there are just way more things that can turn a near shot opportunity into the one that got away.

I once had not 1 but 2 archery clients kill 6 point bulls from the horse trail while hiking/hunting their way into camp on day 1. 2 hours 2 bulls down. WHAT! I couldn't believe it myself.

But for me personally my hearing is so bad that I'm hard pressed to locate elk through listening and calling. But I have 2 spots where I know I can kill a bull with my rifle on the morning of day 1. I have done it in both spots already too and it's not just a fluke. When the sun comes up the WILL be elk there. I've killed lots of bulls on the first day of gun season.

Indian, to digress, what makes those 2 spots so good?

[njdoxie]

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Personally I think that archery hunters might spend more time studying and are better prepared. I say that because to kill an elk with a bow you have to narrow the distance to <60 yards. With a rifle you can take a shot at 500+ yards if you so wish. If I am rifle hunting I am simply riding around on my horse till I see some meat and taking a shot. For archery I am trying to learn exactly where I need to be and how to get there.

You must be kidding, that isn't how rifle hunting works. Rifle hunting is about being in the right place at the right time, just like archery hunting.

[Fullabull]

Depends on state also, harder in WA but way better rifle opportunity in Colorado. Early rifle in Colorado is Sri during the rut and bulls are still with cows. Because rifles can reach out so far I would say a good elk hunter has a better chance at success than archery hunters.

[cohunter]

Statistics don't lie. Archery success is less than 10% more like 4-5. Rifle success is around 20 -22 % success. However, success is not measured in the filling of a tag. Rule that out of the discussion and everyone can be a succcessful elk hunter if they take the time to enjoy the hunt.

This is absolutely true!