I need to start elk hunting.

[pharmseller]

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.

It's boring because it's too easy.

Case in point:
Opening day, first light, hunting with my brother in the Mt. Washington Wilderness in Oregon. Just walking along, minding my own business, hey, looky there in that meadow 100 yards away, there's two bulls. Bang flop, bang flop. Done.



Another case in point, Diamond Peak Wilderness in Oregon. Opening day, minding my own business, having a sandwich by a no-name lake, give a cow call just for fun, up walks a bull, shoot him at 40 yards. On the way in to get him the next day my brother kills another bull. More work.



Sky Lakes Wilderness, Sunday of opening weekend, this guy was kind enough to bugle to let me know right where he was, then kept bugling to vector me in. Shot him at 68 yards.



I have a bunch more stories just like that. Too easy. I need a challenge.




P

 

[Herb g]

Good and informative post, bbbass. Wish I could trade someone 10 yrs of their youth for equal of my experience. Always thought youth was wasted on the young.

 

[Herb g]

Pharm, can you include a map to those stumps? No offense, but if you guys would let those young (dumb) ones go by, you too could shoot 6-pts every year, have more meat to pack out, and enjoy more of a challenge ( not so boring). Just because they have horns, doesn't mean you have to take them home.

 

[Herb g]

You get these from letting the little ones go by.

 

[bbbass]

It's boring because it's too easy.

Case in point:
Opening day, first light, hunting with my brother in the Mt. Washington Wilderness in Oregon. Just walking along, minding my own business, hey, looky there in that meadow 100 yards away, there's two bulls. Bang flop, bang flop. Done.

Another case in point, Diamond Peak Wilderness in Oregon. Opening day, minding my own business, having a sandwich by a no-name lake, give a cow call just for fun, up walks a bull, shoot him at 40 yards. On the way in to get him the next day my brother kills another bull. More work.

Sky Lakes Wilderness, Sunday of opening weekend, this guy was kind enough to bugle to let me know right where he was, then kept bugling to vector me in. Shot him at 68 yards.

I have a bunch more stories just like that. Too easy. I need a challenge.

P

I hate you!!

 

[Herb g]

Old avatar,by aging tooth, was 11 1/2 yrs old on property we've managed ourselves for 15 yrs. You can get same results on public land by asking ( even demanding) 4-pt and better, to let them get older (smarter).

 

[pharmseller]

You get these from letting the little ones go by.

Packing out six points is too much work.




Spikes eat better.









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[Herb g]

But boring.

 

[pharmseller]

Here's another good one. Sunday of opening day, walking along minding my own business, first time carrying a Ruger 1B single shot (.300 Weatherby Mag, ow, what was I thinking?) hey looky, there's a cow with a trailing spike going behind some puckerbrush, take a knee and get ready for the spike to come out from behind the trees, hey, white antler tips, boom.




Evidently the big bull was in front and I didn't see him because he was behind the screen of puckerbrush. And yes, I was a much younger man.

But the spikes still eat better.




P

 

[bbbass]

Okay... I'm a meat hunter, at least I was when I could still hunt. But my buddies still are. And since we put in for tags in popular units on public land here in NE OR, we mostly get spike tags... I'll always take what I can get. It would be nice to hunt on private land where the elk are managed like a game preserve, but I really don't care about big racks (on elk). I enjoy seeing them, but don't care about shooting a big-un. Just me.

Now that the wolves are here, we have to figure things out all over again. Yet the wolves change and migrate too... so there's that. Lucky if we saw any cows up on Mt. Emily, so we changed back to Ukiah, and then I get reports of big elk harvested on Mt. Emily. IDK. It's a new ball game.

 

[bbbass]

Here's another good one. Sunday of opening day, walking along minding my own business, first time carrying a Ruger 1B single shot (.300 Weatherby Mag, ow, what was I thinking?) hey looky, there's a cow with a trailing spike going behind some puckerbrush, take a knee and get ready for the spike to come out from behind the trees, hey, white antler tips, boom.

Evidently the big bull was in front and I didn't see him because he was behind the screen of puckerbrush. And yes, I was a much younger man.

But the spikes still eat better.

You're killing me!!!

Gonna call you "Elk Magnet".

 

[bsa1917hunter]

It seems like every time you kill an elk, they do their best and try and kill you.

Great statement. My elk hunting partner always says "elk hunting separates the men from the boys". Excuse me if I've already said this. Elk hunting is an absolute passion of mine. There's no other feeling like it in the world. You spend enough time in the woods and you grow to respect the hell out of them too. This last year when I had the spike in my crosshairs, I decided to let him walk and to be honest, I felt better about that decision than I know I would have, had I shot the small critter. I felt like I wanted to give him more time to grow and maybe try to outsmart me in another couple years, the next time we may meet. Elk hunting, for myself, has been one of the best learning experiences in my life. It seems they are always trying to educate me, but I try to learn from that and just add that experience to the tool box...

 

[pharmseller]

Had to work a bit for this one. Same general area as the two bulls on opening day (we refer to them as The Twins), this was the third day, he was asleep behind a busted off snag, shot him in his bed.




Second-biggest bodied bull I've killed. We call him the Needle Bull, he was the only elk any of us saw the whole season.




P

 

[bsa1917hunter]

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.

I agree, I hunt public over the counter areas with a 4% hunter success rate. I generally get my bull about every other year.. Cows take more preference points, but it's pretty much a 100% success rate for my hunting partner and I. You have to be willing to hunt them though. That's the only way you are going to be successful...

 

[bbbass]

Had to work a bit for this one. Same general area as the two bulls on opening day (we refer to them as The Twins), this was the third day, he was asleep behind a busted off snag, shot him in his bed.


Second-biggest bodied bull I've killed. We call him the Needle Bull, he was the only elk any of us saw the whole season.

P

I swear I'm going to put you on my "ignore" list if you don't stop!!!

 

[Member 5605]

The Donner party was onto something regarding the best back strap.

Depending on who you listen to, you may or may not need a license.....

 

[osprey]

Elk is much better than venison IMO.

Well technically speaking Elk meat is venison but in general I agree Elk is usually better than deer. I have had some exceptional deer though, both Mulie and Whitetail. I have also had exceptional antelope and it is right up there with Elk in my opinion. It is all good in my book and my family eats very little beef as long as I do my part come hunting season.

 

[Herb g]

This is just jerking Pharm's leg because he said "boring". But, years ago, hunting public land, my brother and I decided we liked shooting mature bucks and bulls better than the first legal ones we saw. Pharm is right. Growing up, we never bought beef, and first legal things went home to feed the family. After the folks were gone, and we didn't need as much red meat anymore, we decided to "trophy hunt", if you will. Didn't take long to discover we were enjoying hunting more. To go home with nothing, after passing up double digit bucks and bulls actually felt good. To watch them without shooting them was a new kind of thrill. One year, we drew the line at 30" for bucks. Opening morning, brother watched a 28" at 200', before he walked away. First five days, we passed on eight bucks between 20-28", twentyfive total. Went home empty. Still remember that hunt. When brother passed, he and I had 49 bulls together, and can't count the ones we let go. Best elk hunt ever, we were in the middle of 200+ elk, bunched up getting ready to move. We passed on seven or eight 6-pts, waiting for a real trophy. Went home empty. It snowed the next day and they were gone. That hunt I'll never forget. So see, there ways to put the thrill back in your hunt.

 

[Blowgunner]

Pharm, can you include a map to those stumps? No offense, but if you guys would let those young (dumb) ones go by, you too could shoot 6-pts every year, have more meat to pack out, and enjoy more of a challenge ( not so boring). Just because they have horns, doesn't mean you have to take them home.

I was just listening to Steve Rinella the other day. He was saying some states had upped the legal minimum from spikes to 4 points for deer, and 6 points if I remember correctly for elk. In those states, animal population has gone up, and the Hunter success rate has gone up considerably too.
Sounds like a win to me!

 

[pharmseller]

I've passed on a bunch of bulls. I discovered that I like sipping the "meat on the ground" whiskey that night (we don't open the bottle until there's meat on the ground) more than I like shooting big, stinky, tough bulls.





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