Started elk hunting 2 years ago. DIY, public land. Followed all the advice on getting away from the orange...
- Choose places without ATV access
- Find where the paved road ends. Keep driving
- Avoid marked/cleared trails
- Go deeper than the road hunter, but not as far as the guide/drop camps
- One road in, one road out. Fewer road the better.
Even went so far as to map all the roads in the unit and circle the areas that were miles from the nearest access point. Meaning - there is no way I'll see another hunter unless they drive the same nasty miles, then walk the same nasty walk. No way they can drop in off another road from any direction/drainage/ridge line.
All that said and done, I still couldn't get away from the orange.
It shocked me on multiple occasions to realize I wasn't alone in the woods I chose to hunt. Not to say the areas I was hunting was crawling with hunters, far from it. But on a handful of occasions, I would cross a set of fresh tracks, or see an orange hat sitting near a remote meadow I was glassing. With that, I've come to 2 realizations that I think are important for any DIY, walk-in hunter:
1) If OTC tags can be had for the unit you are hunting, you will be in the presence of other hunters. Plain and simple.
2) If you are willing to make the walk, slug the miles up/over/around, someone else is willing to do it too.
I've seen the advice given many times over about avoiding roads, walking the extra miles, getting into the thick stuff. And from my experience, that advice doesn't jive with avoiding the orange. Does it help avoid the crowds? Yes. But will it put you alone in the woods, being the only noise/scent/human pressure for those elk? No, no it won't.
Just my experience. And it was a bummer. All those miles in, and to cut someones tracks really made your heart sink. So to those planning a hunt in remote areas - go in expecting to see others. Maybe not the road crowds, but you won't be alone. If you have planned it and physically made it, so has someone else. Out wit the elk with your hunting knowledge, because outwitting the elk and elk hunters by going further and deeper is tough to do.
Excellent post/thread. Exactly right!! The elk around here will be here today and be gone tomorrow. Success all depends on finding them. Hunters push them around, weather pushes them around and so does food/shelter. You can read all the bs in books, but it doesn't do much good when everyone else is reading the same books.
There's some truth in that but I still say for a beginning elk hunter, the advice to get away from the road is solid advice. Yes, you may see other people back in there, but you'll see fewer, and the guys you do see will generally be more dedicated hunters who know how to hunt and not push the animals into the next county.
At one of my favorite spots there are always a few tents at the trailhead because it's a good area to camp. The guys who camp there generally hunt within a mile or two of the road, and invariably will tell me (mid September) that it's too warm, the rut hasn't started, etc. etc. and no bulls are bugling.
Then I walk in 3-4 miles to set up camp, and get serenaded all night. And see more elk than they do.
