0 for 22 and counting....

[the weasel]

Hello,
New to this forum but i've been checkin it out for a bit.
I would like to intriduce my self a little and then toss out a question if it's ok with you fellas.
My name is John, lived in Central OR. since i was a little boy (7-8)? I'm an avid bowhunter with 22 yrs. in my pack. I've hunted from John Day to the Trask unit. And from Estacada to Central Point. Deer / Elk / and some turkey. Love to hunt / fish / camp, and just basicaly be outdoors.

Now the concern I'm having....
The title to this thread is me!!! 22 yrs. and never even sent an arrow at an elk in those 22 yrs. i have taken a nice (to me) 4x3 mullie and a forky. ( so yes every 11 yrs. I tag one) but 0 for 22 on elk. in fact only see a couple elk about every 3-5 yrs. now I've had my chances... a spike at 4 yrds. walking straight at me head down. another spike broadside at 25yrds. a bull thrashing a tree 50 yrds from my stand and up wind. and some cows so close i could see the sapplings moving when they walked by, but no shooting lanes.. to thick. so my concern is will I ever put my hands on one of these mythical creatures or am I just funding the ODFW's pocket book? I have almost quit this game a couple times because I think I'm better off spending the money planting a vegetable garden

i have walked, drove roads, done the old fashioned gun hunter deer push, tree stand, and ground blind. only thing that has produced was tree stand by a creek for the 2 bucks.

i stay as clean and sent free as possible, and try to pay attention to the wind as much as possible also.

what did i do to make the wapiti gods so mad????

[Swede]

The Weasel: First off, welcome to the forum. This site is truly dedicated to breaking your string of bad luck. Unfortunately you are not alone in not killing elk. The difference I see is that you admit it. That is the first step in changing things. Oregon experiences about 10% archery success over the long term. The truth is that 5% of the hunters take elk nearly every year, so 95% of the hunters go home empty handed. To make matters worse there are some hunters who get elk fairly frequently, so 90% of the archery hunters are probably sharing about 2%-3 % of the elk. What I think we can reasonably do is get you in that top 10%. Ultimately the rest is up to you.
It is interesting that you have never had a shot. Why? I appreciate knowing you are not just shooting indiscriminately.
You say you have hunted all over Oregon. You get to see a lot of the State that way, but you never get to know any area real well. Knowing an area, the elk, and their habits is very valuable. I am going back to scout my area here in Oregon again next week. I have worked and hunted there about as long as you have been hunting elk with your bow. I know the area well, and I put an elk on the ground almost every year. I know my area and where to expect elk to show themselves.
Oregon has a lot of call shy elk. It is over called in many areas. Calling still works, and I am committed to going on a call hunt late season. I will either be a hunter or a caller, depending on how I do in the early season. If you do not have Elknut's DVDs and Playbook, get them. They are the best investment you can make, especially for calling, but there is a lot more. Remember you do not have to know everything to get started. Learn a few things well and go from there. Be patient. Most hunters can't wait, and feel that if they are not moving they are not hunting. The truth is if you are not patient, you should get to write off you license and tag fee as a contribution on your taxes. You are wasting your time hunting elk.
I put together the book Elknut sell on tree stand hunting elk. If you are inclined to hunt that way, that book should help you shorten up your learning time and make you knowledgeable right out of the box so to speak.
Best wishes,and again welcome to the forum.

[stringunner]

+1 for Swede's tree standing hunting book if you are a tree stand hunter (must have) or simply wish to learn more about finding and locating elk.

+1 for Elknut's playbook and calling cd's. I don't have his dvds but the playbook and cd's are pure gold.

1+1= dead elk!

[CrazyElkHunter]

Welcome to the forum! You are lucky to live in a state that you can hunt elk and watch them year round. Most of us have to travel 1000 miles+ and only have a few weeks to try and fill the freezer. Swede is right on with the % of successful hunters. Some have a golden horseshoe in their back pocket and fill there elk tag every year. Some have been at it for a long time like Swede and myself and have learned how to think like a elk and what to look for to find them. We have tred on this topic a few times before, and the #1 thing to do is be patient. Don't put pressure on yourself because you have not filled your elk tag. Learn from this forum, wear out a few pairs of boots, learn to call, learn elk habitat and habits, and it will eventually happen. For over 30 years I have hunted on public lands, make that 1000 mile trip, hunt the same woods all my friends hunt. I have never been on a archery elk hunt that I did not have at least 1 opportunity for a shot at a elk, while a few of my friends will go the entire hunt and not see 1 elk. Patience turns into confidence. If I did not learn to be patient to gain the confidence, I would be in the 90% instead of the 5%.

[Fullabull]

Welcome! Preparation is the number one thing you can do for elk hunting. You would think that with the size of these creatures they should be pretty easy to hunt but they are actually very difficult to hunt and if you want a big one, even harder.

Sounds like you need to stick to one area and get to know it well. If you are like me, I do not get a chance to scout at all so I need to get to know my area well over years. If you do have the time to scout, that is probably the number one thing successful elk hunters do. They find their elk before the season starts. Another thing I noticed is that you did not mention calling, I believe that is the number 1 way to find elk when hunting. Notice I did not say call in but find, once you know where they are they are much easier to hunt

Learn to call and read Elknuts Playbook!

Good luck

[JimKirk]

I think scouting is the key especially if you live in the state you hunt. I listened to jim horn seminar once and I believe he mainly hunted oregon. He stated he usually got an oregon elk before sept 5th. Its the element of surprise that archery hunters benefit from since they are the first gun in the woods for hunting season. and if you know where they have been hanging in august , you can find them early sept. just have a plan for quick meat removal because its usually hot in oregon that early. good luck!!

[otcWill]

Good advice here. One of the things not mentioned yet which I believe to be one of the most important factors in elk hunting is TIME. How many days do you hunt? I am usually successful getting my tags punched but I spend over 20 days hunting and at least that many scouting. I think alot of guys see "so and so" is successful every season and assume that it happens in a week long hunt. Not so. I know some of the best dedicate at least half if not the entire season to it in order to fill their tags. Not feasible for some but spending more time in the woods is the easiest way to increase your odds once you've selected an elky area. Good luck!

[bnsafe]

I cant help you kill an elk cause im 0-1, but welcome to the site. like the folks said above swedes treestand book and elknuts dvds etc are extremely valuable. I read a lot of books on elk last year and it got redundant and did not help. almost all of them wanted to start out with cows calving and by the time I got done with that I was so bored I missed the nuggets on how to kill one. swedes book and elknuts stuff doesn't waste your time like that.
the only thing I might add is sounds like your mentally beat before you ever step foot out the door. "if you believe you can you will, and if you believe you cant you will". I would say if its a goal to kill an elk take a hard look at your mental and physical attitude towards actually killing one. im not saying its easy, we have all been beat mentally at some point. believe in yourself, your scouting, your equipment, etc and go make it a reality. good luck and keep posting, you will learn a ton on here.

[cnelk]

Howdy and welcome!

One item to remember is that you have to hunt elk where are.
Many, many people hunt in the perfect looking elk country but it is in fact sterile of elk.

Since elk like to wander, you will up your chances by finding an area that holds plenty of elk so their wanderings and your wanderings meet....

Good luck to you this fall. Keep us posted

[the weasel]

i tree stand 95% of the season, and can call but choose not too. i have called elk in for others in my group, but i'm too scared to call all the hunters in the woods over to my hole.

[the weasel]

my elk life:
#1 blew cows off a finger ridge, stopped to figure out new plan and heard noise coming up old skid trail. here comes a spike straight at me! nose to the ground (guess he was looking for his ladies?) at 10 yrds i step to my right and draw. he would have been 3 ft. but takes a left at the "Y" in the trail an goes behind me. too thick, no shot. i cow call and he splits like a jet fighter!
#2 stop on gravel road after morning hunt and grad stuff out of cooler and pee break. my buddy walks up the road 20 yrds. and tosses out a couple cow calls. we get a squeal and here comes a spike over the ridge 100 yrds. out! so i have cold chicken in 1 hand and a "cold" one in the other... i drop them and scramble for my release and bow (both in back of truck). i run down the road a ways and find a place i can ease down over the bank for a better shot. i get down and he's walking 25-30 yrds out from my left to right, i need to adjust. so a rock the size of a grapefruit rolls out and he "TURNS AN BURNS"!!
#3 cows in a thicket so close i can hear footsteps and see the tops of the sappling moving. so THICK i can't see them though. by the time i get around and to the side they were gone!!
#4 last yr. evening hunt in stand. bull starts ripping into the willows 50 yrds. to my "8 o-clock" i start to cow call quietly but nothing..... so start to get down and he stops, so i stop. this happens 3 more times and finally i decide to wait and see if he comes down my trail on the way out to the meadow. it's perfect 21yrds. to trail and he's up wind! but nope.. he decides to turn and go across the creek and up the north slope. i go in after the morning hunt the next day and find poop and 2 big willows trashed!!! and have pics of a 6x6 on my came from this trail... could have been him!!

[CrazyElkHunter]

I think scouting is the key especially if you live in the state you hunt. I listened to jim horn seminar once and I believe he mainly hunted oregon. He stated he usually got an oregon elk before sept 5th. Its the element of surprise that archery hunters benefit from since they are the first gun in the woods for hunting season. and if you know where they have been hanging in august , you can find them early sept. just have a plan for quick meat removal because its usually hot in oregon that early. good luck!!

Jim Horn, That's a name I have not heard in awhile. I don't think he is doing seminars anymore, but if you ever see him again, ask him who arranged his 1st elk hunt and who called in his very 1st bull in 1985 Oregon He never returned the favor And yes he did move to Oregon from Calif. when he retired from law enforcement back in the 90's. I have not seen or talked to him in years.

[Bullnuts]

Welcome to the forum! Lots of good guys here and lots of good info.
I concur with everything said here. Scouting, spending time in the woods, calling at the right times with the right calls, having a positive mental attitude...all those things go toward success.
I would suggest this: If you're spending 95% of your time in a tree, are you actually hunting areas where you're seeing a lot of sign or are you going back to areas where the elk were before? If you're setting up over a hot travel route, water hole, wallow, etc. that is being hit during hunt times, then it's just a matter of time. But a lot of guys go back to the same spots where Uncle Billy whacked a bull 20 years ago, and there hasn't been another elk sighted in that spot since. But they go there because it produced in the past.
I say if you're not seeing more than a couple elk every couple of years, it's time to get out of that tree and explore your area. You may be just a ridge away from the Mecca Valley of Elk. Still hunt and don't be afraid to call a little bit. Soft calling is best. Set up with a good wind and give it a go.
Second, to reinforce mental attitude, you've got to stay positive. Every morning, before me and my brother and kids hit the woods, we whisper "Picture Day" to each other. That means we're going to get one that day, and we hunt like that. From the moment we leave the truck, we're in hunt mode until we're back in the truck, knowing that an opportunity can show up at any moment and we've got to be ready to capitalize on it. Picture day Weasel! Be ready from day 1 to day 30 if you have that many days to hunt and put in the work. Scout as you hunt, expect an elk to show up, and then take the first best shot you get presented with. Good luck!

[Lefty]

I feel Ive been successful over the past 4 years killed a yearly but have been close to a lot of nice bulls,
practice calling,
learn your elk habitat
learn everything you can about elk
This and one other forum I use to attend has helped me a lot, elk aren't deer
Get on the video clips, buy the play book or more

[cantgetdrawn]

Welcome to the forum and welcome to the club. I first started hunting elk in 1987 (with a bow). Following the advice of some acquaintances I put in for a cow rifle tag the next year and got a cow. After that I hunted for bulls switching between bow and muzzle loaders most years afterwards (when I got drawn) for about 10 years but never connected. Then the drought came on for me, as my handle suggests I have not been drawn in New Mexico for 16 years. Two years ago I went up to Colorado for an OTC rifle hunt and did not see an elk. Last year I went back up to Colorado for and archery hunt, I saw a few cows and had quite a few bulls answer my call but never saw one. I will probably go back up to Colorado this year.

We have to have faith that this year will be our year!

Good Luck

Jimmy

[the weasel]

ha....funny! thats been the running joke around me for about the last 8-10 yrs. "this year is your year"! i had a good spot picked out last year but they came in and logged it during hunting season an spooked most everything i had on my camera out of there. then they "opened the skid road" and never blocked it back off. so now people can drive 100yrds or less from my old stand spot. easy too as the road was cleaned up and smoothed out. it was a nice horse shoe shaped bowl running east to west. so this year i explored on google and found stuff on the other side so that is where i am now. only 2 miles as the crow flies but 20+ on gravel roads to get back around to that side. first time into the spot i found fresh (a day or two) cow tracks, and bull tracks 1/4 to 1/2 mile away in a clear cut. as i was walking into the spot i found a 6 pt. elk shed and a rub. went 2 weeks later and had more cow tracks on the new trail and 2 FRESH piles of poop. (fresh enough that when i pushed it around with my shoe the whole pile stuck an picked up when i lifted my foot)! and when i got to the willows at the edge of the meadow i blew a deer out of them. in years past i was always at the bottom of the draws or canyons, this year i'm 500 yrds or so from the top of the finger ridge and directly in line with the saddle on it. so "this might be the year"! now if i can only hold out on checking my camera till the weekend before season! i just don't want to be in there too much disturbing things.... but it's driving me crazy!!!

[the weasel]

another concern for this year kind of...... opening week is full moon. what is your feelings on this? i've always tried to avoid it. however the next week (labor day week) it's on it's way out. so reading some of the posts on this site some guys really like to hit it harder the early time of season to get to the elk before the woods become a zoo and the elk start getting anoyed with us stinky humans and vanish. so my problem is do i take off the first or second week of season this year? if do the first week with my vacation, it gives me 11 days in the field using 6 days of vacation. the second week gives me 9 days in the woods using 4 days vacation. any thoughts? i'm actually starting to like the "get in there early before the zoo happens" idea!!

[pd]

John (The Weasel): It is clear to me that you have already earned your stripes. Go out there and get us a nice elk this year, will you?? This entire community is rooting for you (as long as you stay in C. Oregon, and don't bother me....).

[Swede]

Sometimes I would like to tell everyone who would hunt within 100 miles of where I d,o that it is useless to hunt the full moon. I would tell them that it is also useless to hunt on all the other moon phases too, but the truth is that it doesn't make a difference. I have been keeping records of when I kill elk for 20 years now. I have killed slightly more elk during the full moon that during any other time. Some people claim hunting the full moon is poor, while others swear it is the best. Just go hunting.

[Bullnuts]

Sometimes I would like to tell everyone who would hunt within 100 miles of where I d,o that it is useless to hunt the full moon. I would tell them that it is also useless to hunt on all the other moon phases too, but the truth is that it doesn't make a difference. I have been keeping records of when I kill elk for 20 years now. I have killed slightly more elk during the full moon that during any other time. Some people claim hunting the full moon is poor, while others swear it is the best. Just go hunting.

The only thing worse than hunting on a full moon is hunting when there's a new moon, crescent moon, half moon, or waning moon.
I've killed a lot of elk and never really considered the moon that much. I know that a full moon sure makes it easier to see when I want to get out and be half way up a mountain by the time the sun come up, and it's a whole lot easier finding my way out of the woods after dark.

[hike2hunt]

My bow count for elk is 0-7 but I have a great deer, antelope, and small game count. Last year was my toughest as I had three opportunities but the swirling wind got me.

My hunting partner (he's 0-4) and I have stayed positive through the years, and every morning before we step out, we pray on the day, and then say "let's make this a long day."

good luck

[mongopino915]

Keep going and be positive and one elk will come home with you. It will happen when you less expected.

[the weasel]

thanks, i think i got a feeling this year....