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You will get out what you put in.
The first few years are hard. You maybe lucky or just endless boring miles for first year or 3 or 5.
BUT, IF you stick with it, and learn the area, you will be lucky and it will all come in together.
It is true that 10% of hunters, get 90% of the kills. or something along those lines.
 
2 of my boys and I are going to Montana for an elk hunt this fall. They have a cousin that has been very successful on elk hunts and he invited us there. I have not hunted much due to my various medical issues, but with the bionic knee now I feel I can do it, and it is a bucket list thing, last elk hunt probably.

I mentioned it to them at Christmas time, and within 20 minutes they had their cousin on the phone and they whole thing set up. Got to work on the 300 yard shots now.
 
You will get out what you put in.
The first few years are hard. You maybe lucky or just endless boring miles for first year or 3 or 5.
BUT, IF you stick with it, and learn the area, you will be lucky and it will all come in together.
It is true that 10% of hunters, get 90% of the kills. or something along those lines.

Yup. Put in the work. The elk are out there. I can get into them almost every year with an OTC tag, but I'm scouting almost year round.
 
Some guy, for lack of better unrevealing description, told me he field dresses and comes out with only about 50lbs of meat.
Is this true or is he just wasting half the animal?

If that's all, I also need to start elk hunting!
 
Some guy, for lack of better unrevealing description, told me he field dresses and comes out with only about 50lbs of meat.
Is this true or is he just wasting half the animal?

If that's all, I also need to start elk hunting!

Holy hell! Wasting is an understatement!
An average bull will yield 200+ lbs of boned out meat. When packing in, I alway figure 4 trips out. 3 for meat, 1 for gear.

*edited*
 
Have your good friend teach you and if possible go with him next year;).

Public land seems to suck so if you have access to an area you know elk frequent at the right part of the year then your 10 steps ahead of the rest.


I see elk in the spring and summer but come fall I've yet to find one:oops:.


6 years running (except 2 years because of my knees) and haven't got one.
I might know of a place, but we'll have to figure out where to access it. Might be an expensive little permit.

If you're ever up to it. ;)
 
Last bull I got was about 240 pounds of boned meat.

We usually have 4 packs of meat to haul out. 2 packs have the hind quarters, 1 pack has both front quarters, and the last pack has the neck/rib meat/tenderloins/backstrap/heart.
The last pack is the heaviest. Usually 60-70 lbs.

Oh yeah, don't forget the head!
 
Maybe 50 pounds per trip?
Could be, something always comes up halfway through our conversations and we have to get a move on.

Eh... maybe I'll wait until I can find a few buddies or get an ATV. I'm not afraid to say I probably wouldn't want to make several 10 mile long trips through thick brush with an 80lb pack after field dressing an elk. Rather just buy a butchered cow, and shoot paper.
 
It is true that 10% of hunters, get 90% of the kills. or something along those lines.

This is so true .. Only 10% of hunters accualy have the time, money, drive, and knowledge to realy get out and figgure out some elk ... The first few years are going to be hard. Kinda getting a spot figured out where there are elk and not many people is one thing. Then puting the time in and leaning a heard is another ... Most guys who kill alot of elk, kill them in the same area year to year... Good luck and happy hunting
 
Some guy, for lack of better unrevealing description, told me he field dresses and comes out with only about 50lbs of meat.
Is this true or is he just wasting half the animal?

If that's all, I also need to start elk hunting!

If that's true, that guy needs punched in the mouth.
If any of my friends did that, I would turn them in in a heartbeat.
You might as well be poaching.

If you can't pack it out, don't put it down.
 
Want ducks to eat? Don't shoot those that have spent too much time on the coastal bays

Most resident ducks in my area spend time on the sh!t ponds (water treatment facility). They taste kind sh!tty.

The worst tasting Sea Bird is the Sea Gull!!! Now that is Really, Really, REALLY BAD!!!

50 years ago, I was Instructing in Firearms at the Jungle Survival School in the CZ. The Snake Eaters conned me into going out for a night with the rest of the Class for a day and a night. One of the Rules was "If you kill it, you eat it!!!" and yeah I had to try to to trap, snare, set-up a dead-fall of something. Well, within minutes my snare had been tripped by a Sea Gull. Well, even with Salt, Pepper and Garlic Salt, it tasted terrible. I kept it down, I'm not sure just how but I did. Bar none it was the worst thing I have ever eaten. Oh, I did save part of it for bait in one of my other traps. The Rules said that was OKAY. Fortunately, I was only out for the one day. And, that was fine by me.

That's a great story! Thanx!!!

Elk hunting is boring.
P

I take a book, start a fire, take a nap. I think the elk are pretty much going right by me. Not really. I stand hunt with a party that drives the elk, so I pretty much hear them coming long before I see the elk.

Last bull I got was about 240 pounds of boned meat.

We usually have 4 packs of meat to haul out. 2 packs have the hind quarters, 1 pack has both front quarters, and the last pack has the neck/rib meat/tenderloins/backstrap/heart.
The last pack is the heaviest. Usually 60-70 lbs.

Oh yeah, don't forget the head!

^^^ THIS!! ^^^

The last elk I harvested was down in a canyon and it rolled into the bottom after the shot. Coming up with the packed meat was up a 60degree incline full of viny maple and then a 5 mile walk to the trucks. I had help, but still... once the elk is down, the fun is over and the work begins... don't do the deed if you can't/won't do the work!!!

This is so true .. Only 10% of hunters accualy have the time, money, drive, and knowledge to realy get out and figgure out some elk ... The first few years are going to be hard. Kinda getting a spot figured out where there are elk and not many people is one thing. Then puting the time in and leaning a heard is another ... Most guys who kill alot of elk, kill them in the same area year to year... Good luck and happy hunting

^^^ This ^^^

I was unlucky for 15yrs while hunting weekends, after work, before work, half days, etc. Then I met some folks and I started going to elk camp. They knew where the herds liked to go. We almost always got some elk... one year we harvested 8 elk out of a group of 10 hunters. But when the wolves came in, all that stopped. The last few years we have either gotten skunked, or harvested only one elk.

-break-

Hunting as a party has many advantages in that the party can develop plans/strategeries. And then there is the joys of camping out, good food, good friends, comraderie, lots of stories and jokes, campfires, no DUIs.

It takes a few years to figure out where to go. Have fun along the way!!
 
Last Edited:
re: "But when the wolves came in, all that stopped."

I know a life-long bow hunter who spends an elk-camp week in the NE Blues with his extended clan. His last few years have been a bust, where they traditionally harvest nearly 1 per tag for their group. If I understood his last comment, wolves are certainly suspect.

A few hundred miles to the East, my Salmon River country buddy spots wolves from time to time from his back yard. Elk foraging and seasonal migration patterns have in fact changed there too.
 

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