Question for Elk Archery hunters

[Steve G]

In your experience.... Given that an elk archery season currently runs from 8/30 - 9/30 how would you expect success and hunting pressure to be distributed during that time?

Opening day arguably gives you opening day advantage of the elk not yet having been pressured.

The second half of the season arguably gives you rut advantage.

[Losefreeze]

Not sure what official advantage their is either way but I sure hope the end of season rut shines on me next week

[Roosiebull]

hard to say on success, I would say I have killed more the first week than any other week, but I always take the whole first week off, so that data is a little flawed.

the second and 3rd week seem to have the least hunting pressure, opening weekend is the worst, and the last 3 or 4 days is busy too. the further into the season you get, the better chances you will hear unsolicited bugling it seems, but if you are trying to get them talking, most of the season this can be achieved. every week of the season has it's pros and cons. the second week is kind of a sleeper, and I think has the least hunting pressure, which can make it productive having more areas to access that are not pressured.

[Indian Summer]

Really Roosie? I guess it can vary by area. In Montana and Wyoming locals only hunt weekends for the first 2 weeks. Likewise the only non residents that come for the opener are the inexperienced and that's not very many. By far the most hunting pressure takes place from the 10th to the 25th where I've hunted and guided.

[Roosiebull]

Really Roosie? I guess it can vary by area. In Montana and Wyoming locals only hunt weekends for the first 2 weeks. Likewise the only non residents that come for the opener are the inexperienced and that's not very many. By far the most hunting pressure takes place from the 10th to the 25th where I've hunted and guided.

if I ever plan a hunt in that country, I will be in the inexperienced crowd, and also hunting that time then I do think a whole bunch of people plan their "hunting week" on the east side of our state, and coming over here to hunt roosies may just fill in that time. certainly a different set of dynamics around here i'm sure. every year it's the same story with pressure though. it has been easier to see the last 5 years as well, since we lost most of our access to timber company land, the people are more concentrated, and it's very obvious when it's busy around here.

didn't see much activity today, hunted with a buddy, and we were fighting swirling wind all morning, a couple close calls....maybe this afternoon. I expect this week to be mellow, with the last few days a mess. opening weekend is always the worst though, and the first half of the first week. the fewer folks around, the better the odds for me, I like options more than vocal elk

[Indian Summer]

Nothing wrong with hunting on day 1 if you can. But it's hot out and windows of opportunity can be very short in the morning with little to no mid day action. Even evenings can be dead because they don't budge until it's dark out. I always loved the element of surprise on week 1 but mid day is nap time. From the 10th to 25th it can hit the fan any time of day. If you only have a week or 2 thats prime time..... where Ive hunted anyway. When I hunted western Washington that wasn't the case. It was about patterning them and hoping to kill on day 1 before sll of the pressure ruined everything.

[BrentLaBere]

I like hunting early but it seems more and more lately I have competition. Its slowly turning into a busier time. Looking forward to heading out this next Sunday to help out with a friends tag. Comparing the times Ive went in early October, that was easily the slowest time period for competition I have seen. Im hoping I can finally experience some full rut times, but we will see how it goes. We had elk bugling opening weekend, only to shut down because of hunting pressure, I hope its not more of the same.

[olympushunt]

hard to say on success, I would say I have killed more the first week than any other week, but I always take the whole first week off, so that data is a little flawed.

the second and 3rd week seem to have the least hunting pressure, opening weekend is the worst, and the last 3 or 4 days is busy too. the further into the season you get, the better chances you will hear unsolicited bugling it seems, but if you are trying to get them talking, most of the season this can be achieved. every week of the season has it's pros and cons. the second week is kind of a sleeper, and I think has the least hunting pressure, which can make it productive having more areas to access that are not pressured.

Nailed it. lol I could not agree more. 100000%. I've hunted both western and eastern Oregon. I've killed more the first week but have had success in the 3rd and final weeks also. RB is dead on for Oregon. Most people pressure is the first and last part of the season with the second week being a pretty big sleeper unless the second week also coincides with the long labor day weekend but still early to mid September is the least pressured. It really depends from year to year the timing of things, weather and even their rutting to a degree. Roll the bones and hunt hard. That is all you can do!

[stringunner]

hard to say on success, I would say I have killed more the first week than any other week, but I always take the whole first week off, so that data is a little flawed.

the second and 3rd week seem to have the least hunting pressure, opening weekend is the worst, and the last 3 or 4 days is busy too. the further into the season you get, the better chances you will hear unsolicited bugling it seems, but if you are trying to get them talking, most of the season this can be achieved. every week of the season has it's pros and cons. the second week is kind of a sleeper, and I think has the least hunting pressure, which can make it productive having more areas to access that are not pressured.

Nailed it. lol I could not agree more. 100000%. I've hunted both western and eastern Oregon. I've killed more the first week but have had success in the 3rd and final weeks also. RB is dead on for Oregon. Most people pressure is the first and last part of the season with the second week being a pretty big sleeper unless the second week also coincides with the long labor day weekend but still early to mid September is the least pressured. It really depends from year to year the timing of things, weather and even their rutting to a degree. Roll the bones and hunt hard. That is all you can do!

+3. Nailed it. This is my experience in eastern Oregon precisely and for the past 12-15 years.

I also lived in and hunted Wyoming for 3 years and find Indian Summer's post completely accurate for the area we hunted in Wyoming as well.