Irony

[snowbank]

As I was feeding my horses tonight I noted that as each car sped past the ranch to get to the elk- the bull on the hill would bugle a salute to their passing. Maybe we hurry so much we miss the objective.

[Swede]

I am convinced that many hunters think they need to drive deep into the forest and hike for miles to get to the elk, when all the time they can be passing up the best opportunities. I see the elk in the fields along the highway. They are often on the farms nearby.

[Indian Summer]

It’s funny but there’s no question that small game hunters start hunting the minute they leave the truck and work their way further but when guys start hunting elk they begin miles from where they park. As they get older and more experienced they hunt closer to the roads and parking places.


Beginning of many a thread “Me and my buddies are planning our first elk hunt to Colorado. We bought all the latest gear so we can pack our camp 6 miles in to where we hope we can get into some elk”


The old grey beards just smile.

[BrowTines]

A couple of thoughts on that. I agree that hunters can bypass good elk country in their haste to reach target areas. It has been my experience that elk are where you find them (close or distant from the roads). There are not a lot of elk where I hunt here in Alberta, the biggest challenge is just finding elk. I start hunting as soon as I leave the truck.
However, I think there is more to it. Many hunters are discouraged getting permission from landowners and prefer the hassle-free benefit of hunting public land - so they zoom by private land that they know holds elk. I hunt both public and private land each year and wonder if it will be my last for private land access. Generally, private land access is better for hunting - I see and hear more elk. However, the hassles and uncertainty of getting permission each year wears away at my commitment to do that. Recent experiences are flavouring these comments. I guess what I am questioning is the objective. Is the objective to hunt elk on your terms or on someone else's terms?

[Fridaythe13th]

Funny story, as we tried to sleep there was a bull bugleing all night long so we woke from base camp and were going to try to get this bull. A hour before daylight the bull really started bugleing, our plan was not to start anything up or slam truck doors and go in quickly and quietly as possible as we were getting close to heading out a truck parks at the trail head and the bull is screaming away, this 2 Yahoo's get out and start bugleing and cow calling while the truck is running and the light are on. Not sure what there plan was, to call in the bull from a 1/2 mile to the parking lot and hope it jumps in the back of the truck. Lol. Needless to say it was the last bugles we heard this year.
That damn bull kept me up all night and it was awesome.

[Roosiebull]

I would prefer this not be discussed on a hunting forum i am just as proud of a bull i kill a flat 1/2mile hike from my rig than one that's a rough cross country 3 miles.

in all honesty, i hunt alone, and mostly pack alone, so in September heat, i'm not killing one if i can't get closer than 3 miles (unless it's mostly road walking) it's not easy to get 3 miles from a road here, but it's easy to get a long ways from where you can drive. the closer the better!

the biggest bull i have shot, i shot less than 100yds from my pickup, got on them earlier, and they worked back towards where i came in... ended up not being as straightforward as it should have been, but that was my fault. i get among elk often less than a mile from my access, but on the coast, there is a lot of habitat in a mile.

sometimes i would rather be a little further away when i find elk, i had some guys park on me and walk in on me this year when i got right on them, i had elk all over in front of me, cows chirping, elk right on my left side under 20yds for a long time, and a bull that wouldn't quit bugling.

this was a saturday, and this is an access i know better than parking at on a saturday, because many guys are just driving around with no game plan, and a rig parked may get their interest. about a half hour before light, a big "mall crawler" starts driving back and forth by me (been parked over an hour) i had a feeling what they were up to, and i was right. when i got out of my pickup, and out of sight, they parked on me, and walked right in on me. i thought some elk had circled around me and smelled me, because i thought i heard elk running on the gravel behind me.... but the sound stayed stationary, so i finally looked back to see these 2 dudes walking down the middle of the road.... wth???!!! i have elk all over in front of me, in plain sight of them, and this bull to my left cracking off every 30 seconds, and these guys are just walking down the road oblivious... crazy! i finally get their attention, and after some hand gestures, got them turned around.... i couldn't believe they didn't mess that up.... glad they didn't because i was beyond irritated how the morning played out with those guys..... that's the downside of parking close to elk.

i ran into some other guys the next time i was there, but they pulled in and communicated instead, so we didn't mess each other up.... of course i wanted the whole area at my disposal, but don't deserve it, so i was glad they had the juevos to come talk and make a plan.... that day was a bust, because i got on some elk, they were in the open, and they fed down into a drainage, and i decided to not make a move on them, because the other 2 guys were on the other side, and it wasn't worth showing up over there possibly messing their deal up. that's why i prefer harder to reach elk.... i feel like i have them to myself, and can do whatever i think is best to hunt them.

i think that's why i like chasing deer with my rifle too, i can walk 5 miles in the dark, and have a big area to myself for at least a good while for sure, and go further if i want.... if i kill one, i have one heavy trip out and that's it..... a hard pack job one way is very much worth the solitude that's nearly guaranteed. elk are too big for that approach, especially in the weather during archery season.... i don't mind packing meat, but there are realities.