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Are You Dogmatic?

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Are You Dogmatic?

Postby Swede » 12 12, 2017 •  [Post 1]

There are not very many things I get dogmatic about when it comes to elk and elk hunting. Watching the wind and not being recognized by their eyes are on my short list. I see things and observe how elk respond. It is easy to say "that is how they behave under these circumstances", but do they always?
Another thread here invited us to discuss or argue about game laws. I would like to see here some things you believe to be true always or as a general rule and some things you may have doubts about.

Here are a couple of mine.
#1 Elk can be patterned. They are not like Whitetails, but they have habits and patterns, and if you study them long enough you can catch them. They frequent the same places over and over and follow the same paths they used before. The trouble we get into is when elk can and do change their pattern. Elk adjust and change due to pressure, rut, and weather. As hunters we need to be aware of this and, Note To Self, Adjust too.
#2 Elk are really stupid animals. They can't think. They react according to prior experiences, instinct and stimulus. If you are going to get them to react positively to your stimulus, i.e. call, decoy, etc., you better deliver the whole package. A decoy just set out is as likely to scare off an elk as anything, if they are not prepared to encounter another elk. Calls can be fright tools if not used in the right way, in the right place, and this can differ based on what the elk have experienced.

One thing I have come to disbelieve as my theory that, elk after running off will turn to the side they were hit on if they are shot. What this meant to me was that a bull, after running away, will somewhere turn and run to the left if shot on the left side. This happens when they are getting close to falling over. That has been my experience most of the time, but not every time. Oh well. It is still something to consider, but like many other things, elk cannot be entirely depended on to do what we expect.
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Re: Are You Dogmatic?

Postby saddlesore » 12 12, 2017 •  [Post 2]

What I have found is there are no hard and fast rules about elk hunting.Just when you think a particular rule applies,the elk will prove you wrong
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Re: Are You Dogmatic?

Postby Lefty » 12 15, 2017 •  [Post 3]

saddlesore wrote:What I have found is there are no hard and fast rules about elk hunting.Just when you think a particular rule applies,the elk will prove you wrong

Saddle sore is correct elk have no rules

Scent control,
Being aware what the wind is doing.
Ive stated over and over-because Ive had so many upwind experiences. Being a scent control freak makes a difference,... sometimes. there are way more elk in the woods than we think,.. well we get closer to elk more often than we realize.

Playing the correct wind is the hardest thing for me in the mountains.

Bulls do stupid things( just like 18 year old boys ).
In big bear and wolf country elk are more wary.

A few things that were told to me,Which Iv adapted to a different sense of thinking.
"Muskies the fish of 10,000 casts, fish every cast as if it is that cast"
An elk hunt comes down to 3 seconds you need to be ready.
Always take your gun with you.
In reality what they mean is the Boy scout Motto. "Be prepared" for what ever the hunt throws at you,
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