Hunting area commitment

[MTLongdraw]

I have lots of goals in life, and one of them is to shoot a bull every year. Hopefully with my bow. I think of myself as a Elknut Young Gun Assuming you have a good area that has elk in it, do you only hunt that area and hunt it hard or do you have a few areas? I guess if you know they are there why run all over looking for them? I think I'm only hunting one main area this year. Any opinions from you annual elk killers?

[Indian Summer]

Very good question Longdraw. I guess the obvious anwer is if you hunt it properly and the area is big enough you could keep hunting it with no reason to move.

But should you or do you really want to? Yes would be my answer. To me there's a HUGE difference between weekend warriors like say my brother who lives near you in Victor, and guys like me who hunt full time when the time comes. There's nothing like keeping your mind and body in the zone if you know what I mean. Not only do you stay in the groove of things but you have what Welka calls MRI. Most recent information. There's nothing better than knowing what a bull, or the elk in general have been doing for the days or weeks before any given day. You'll not only have a better idea of where they are but if they move on you'll be on top of that too. AND you'll have an idea of what mood they're in. Some days are quiet. Some days the elk feces hits the fan. Instead of losing confidence in my spot I think the exact opposite. If it's been quiet or the elk just don't want to play I'll say "well, it's about time for something to give". No matter where you hunt the day will come where all hell breaks loose. I sure wouldn't want to be somewhere else when my number was about to come up in my number 1 spot.

I'll have a milk run in the area. I'll check their favorite spots one at a time. Maybe I'll work one end of the area one day and then over in left field another day to mix it up a bit but I'll be in the same vicinity. Do I think about other spots while I'm hunting? Absolutely but the way I figure is that every day I'm just a step or two behind them. The next day could be the one where it comes together and I seal the deal. it takes awhile to get to that point so I'm staying put instead of relocating where I might find myself 10 steps behind and then what will we be thinking? Dang... shoulda stayed put.

That said... eventually the day will come where I have to go down to civilization to regroup or resupply. If it has been pretty dead in my main spot I may take a quick stab at another spot but it wouldn't a long term commitment. Instead it would be more like a hit and run in a place where I know there's a specific hole where a bull may be. If I don't locate him and get right on it I'll run right back to home base.

Yeah I have hopes of killing my bull early in the season. But really the first half of September are just the days where I'm paying my dues knowing that after the 15th I can have higher hopes of punching my tag in the same area. If I've done my homework & the elk are there & I have no company from other hunters there's no reason to leave.

[Swede]

I have hunted my area for years and know it well. In addition I still generally make two trips into the hunting unit each year. The first trip is primarily for setting out trail cameras. After that I head out again five days before the season each year to scout, check cameras, and hang stands. The elk are there I just need to find them. That said, I do move some, and have over the years. After all I am hunting elk, not scenery.

[Lefty]

You get to make the hunt what you want.
While Im not going to hunt an area with out elk I do chose to hunt an area with low density ,.. For me a lot of the hunt is the solitude,.. If I hunted with a partner that would be different.

I will say a person that knows his area and his elk is going to have a better chance of success.

[Swede]

Lefty sure makes a good point. Elk density is not much of a factor for me either. I too hunt a low density area, but have plenty of opportunity to kill an elk. The key is to know your area and the animals that live there. I jokingly comment that the elk look forward to seeing me come back each year. I say that because we are well acquainted with each other. We both know the game so to speak.

[sreekers]

My preference is to hunt areas that provide me with access to multiple basins, especially during the rut. Elk can flat move, and camping in locations that allow me to glass them easily and get to where they are quickly is important to me.

[bowhunterty]

I hunt the same areas year after year. Usually have at least three areas that have elk in them. I scout all my areas during the summer and pick my opening day area based on what I find. Knowing my areas provides me with the confidence I need. If one area doesn't produce I move to another area. All these spots are not far from each other. I also choose areas that are 3pt or better areas that don't have antlerless harvest. Usually equals to less people and better quality bulls.

[CrazyElkHunter]

I feel very strongly on knowing a area very well. We hunted the same area for over 20 years until the forest service closed the road to our camp from a washout 1/2 way up the mountain. We tried camping at the bottom a few years and hiking up the closed road but it added 2 miles all up hill just to get to our old camp. It took me 3 days to get my last bull from that area in 1999. I took 18 elk bowhunting that area. It was hard to give up. We have been bowhunting our new area for 8 seasons now and I have taken 5 elk. 4 bulls, 1 cow and 3 bucks from there. If you know the area well, it will increase your chances of filling the freezer. Its amazing how many "Honey Holes" you can find. Every year I have hunters come into camp with heads hanging low from not seeing any elk asking me where are they? Without giving my best spots away, I just tell them to get off the roads and keep the wind to your face. They will show up. We camp in the same spot but you can hunt for days and never hunt the same drainage if needed. In 2011 I had 4 different bulls hitting my favorite wallow a 1/2 mile from camp. Hunters everywhere, public land over the counter tags.

[cnelk]

It all depends on how much time you have to hunt.

If Im going for the first 3 days of season, I approach areas different than when I come back and hunt for 10 days straight.

I have been sifting thru my areas for 24 years. I know LOTS of spots to check out.
I like to make big swings thru area to see what sign I see.
Then I will respond to that

My 'general areas' encompass ~ 100+ square miles

[CrazyElkHunter]

It all depends on how much time you have to hunt.

If Im going for the first 3 days of season, I approach areas different than when I come back and hunt for 10 days straight.

I have been sifting thru my areas for 24 years. I know LOTS of spots to check out.
I like to make big swings thru area to see what sign I see.
Then I will respond to that

My 'general areas' encompass ~ 100+ square miles

The luxury of resident hunting. Brad, Your lucky to live in elk country. You have all summer to scout and set up cameras. After driving for over 1000 miles and 2 days to get camp set up we are pretty much locked to our area. Our scouting is limited to the 3 days prior to opening day. Good part is we are all retired and can stay the entire season.

[MTLongdraw]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I'm pretty much going to pound the same area every weekend this year. In the past I'm jumped around so much I never really pattern them. I'm pretty much a weekend warrior (mid week for me) and then I get a week off. This year it will be the end of September. Hopefully hard work and perseverance will pay off again.

[Indian Summer]

I think you'll be happy with your decision. Good luck Josh.

[welka]

The advice of all the replies is basically the same (concentrate on an "area") and I totally agree. The only thing I can add is to punctuate the point. We don't have the luxury of scouting trips, multiple outings, etc and only get to hunt 7-8 days each year. I stopped counting the number of lost opportunities over the years because we kept trying new areas. After killing a couple of bulls in MT and not drawing a tag, switched to CO for a year. What a disaster. ATVs, cats, people everywhere, cattle ran over our camp and very few elk. Went back to MT to try our old area later in Sept, got on bulls, passed on several, and decided too much pressure and tried another area the next year. Bad call. Just not enough time to re-learn new areas every year. Then tried WA one year and won't do that again. After all these starts/stops, we are down to only 2 different areas we concentrate on. Still have a lot to learn on one of them, but it has promise. Heed to the advice of all prior and you'll kill more bulls. Good luck.

[Indian Summer]

And since Welka is a prime example: There's only one "1st" trip. The 1st time you're finding your feet and guaging other factors such as pressure. The second time in an area you're waay more deadly. If your ankle holds out Greg you and Frank will be killing elk. That is of course if there are no branches in the way and Frank doesn't zing one high (or low), & you nock arrows while napping.

You have to be fired up. I never did fill that spot on the hunt before you. That means only 3 drop campers before you. That's it. Maybe we can get Doug to put them in that lower camp we looked at. Wouldn't that be peachy.

Montana still has licenses for sale too by the way.

[welka]

Indian Summer,
Can't wait. Already killed 17 bullseyes in a row (first shot of the 1st series of the day or single practice shot when don't have time) from 30-40 yards. As you mention, that only works if trees aren't in the way, and, unfortunately, I have found 3 of them in elk adventures over the years. We "should" be 2 for 2 with the brothers at Indian Summer OFs and hopefully this year will make it 4 for 4. It will be hard to try WY if that happens!

[wideangle]

We put in for an archery draw tag every year in Oregon. If we are unsuccessful we hunt two adjacent units.
We have several "holes" in these units that elk get pushed into or move into later in the season.
However, if given the chance we do have a favorite area to hunt most of the season and know the geography very well.