Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting How smart are old bull elk ?

There is huge difference between old bulls and the younger ones. I personally know several guys that have killed young bulls close enough to roads to load them whole. I know no one who has done it on public land with a 4 yr. old plus bull. E

Idaho did a study on bull elk mortality about 15-20 years ago before the wolves were brought in an area I used to hunt. The study was done in heavily roaded areas, lightly roaded areas, and difficult access areas. All bulls were radio-collared and located weekly during hunting seasons by air.

In heavy road areas over 60% of the bulls did not make it through hunting season. In lightly roaded areas more survived, but roughly 50 percent of collared bulls wound up dead. In difficult access areas about 30% wound up tagged. If you wanted a chance at a bull older than 2.5 years, the difficult access was where it was at.

Interesting thing from the study was the archery loss was pretty high and not a single elk over the the study died from winter kill or non-human predators (before wolves) The only way bulls in the study died was from bullets or arrows.

Seems you didn't learn a thing when others like Brad told you wear a headlamp. You are past the point of accepting advice, big elk are no smarter than a mature whitetail, no they aren't stupid but they are killable. Listen to others, you've been at this a long time and have nothing to show but are quick to say "I have the answers".

Eremicus,

You're making wayy too much out of how "smart" elk are.

IMO, and I've killed quite a number of elk (51), its really not a question of how smart an elk is, more a function of the country they choose to live in and how they respond to pressure.

For a bull to get old, they better not be standing next to a road that accessible via ATV, Truck, horse, or even foot trails in some cases.

Bulls that live to be old, usually just happen to choose a place to live where people dont hunt, or at least where theres just not the pressure.

Older, post rut bulls, seek out a secure place, usually off the beaten path, and stay there until some other factor forces them to move (snow, pressure, etc). If theres no reason for them to move...they likely wont. That makes them tough to find.

I'm not saying that elk arent capable of responding to pressure to find ways to survive...but they arent going to be challenging the theory of relativity anytime soon either.

I'm of the opinion that many hunters are much better at "out-smarting" themselves, than "outsmarting" elk. Hard work, staying positive, and staying out all day will lead to results.

The best elk hunters I know are extremely driven and focused. They'll get their butts kicked elk hunting 14 days straight, but they'll attack day 15 just as hard as the 14 previous. Those type of guys kill elk every year...they just flat refuse to fail. Its not they have better equipment, are better shots, glass better, or have some secret elk decoder pin...they just flat get it done.

Consistantly killing big bulls is hard work, most arent willing to do what it takes (myself included).

This^^, tips off just about any animal making them less likely to be seen.

For years I have been trying to tell guys that when the elk hear back packers, horse packers, people setting up camp, pounding stakes,cutting poles, etc, moving in right before the season,the elk line out and leave.Then these same guys camp right in the middle of prime elk habitat and wonder where the elk go. Same thing, they then procede to walk around in the timber with the pretense of "scouting". What elk may be left from the previous noise of the packers, leave also. Add acouple of ATV's to the equations and you end up with a camping trip instead of a hunting trip. Guaranteed this will have repsonses from guys that say they see elk right around camp, etc, butvthatis theexceptionto therule

Where hunter pressure is low, this isn't as common, especially on private land where elk come in contact with landowners working the land more.

Any bull that lives to be 3 yrs old gets educated real fast.One big educator is these guys that persist on calling bulls in and then the bull either bust them or the guys decides that bull isn't big enough and spooks the bull on purpose.
Those bull stick that info away in the recesses of thier brain and use it the next time they hear a bugle.

Gotta remember it's life and death to them and just a game to hunters.

Nonsense. We walk right through the middle of them. Camp within a half mile of them and still have no trouble shooting elk. Make meat. Not excuses.

A good bull can smell, here and see you better than you can see him.

that being said if your stomping around unknown area he's got the upper hand, however, if your a good still hunter, or you are hunting during the rut he's dumb and drunk..

They aren't ghosts, but aside from using weather changes to get them to expose themselves, good still hunting skills, and possibly hunting during the rut sure changes the odds.

If the odds are against you - they are