I have never had a problem with tagging out on the first morning, but it has been a long time since I have done it. The only time that it bit me in the ass was one year when I shot a decent 6x6 opening morning, and spent the next two days looking at interesting places that I might want to hunt.
While sitting on an abandoned logging road on a hillside above a little spring seep, to see if anything would show up, I heard a series of bellowing bugles getting closer and closer. After a five or ten minutes, a herd of cows, calves with several bulls wandered into sight on the old road bed that I was sitting on. The lead cow was taking her time and looking at the spring down below and up a small canyon that led up to a mesa above me.
The herd bull was by far the best elk that I have ever seen in the wild, in or out of hunting season. While the old cow made up her mind, he stood there and screamed and hollered for a good five minutes, standing 63 yards away from me. I know that because I had plenty of time to dig my rangefinder out of the day pack at my feet and confirm the distance several times while he stood there. The group finally meandered up the canyon, filtering out of sight.
Since then, I have only tagged out once on the first morning, taking a decent 6x6 that was the largest-bodied bull that I or anyone in our hunting camp had ever seen. But I do tend to be more choosey about what I shoot these days, and where I shoot it. It also leaves me free to help others who do get their elk, something that gives me almost as much satisfaction as getting a good one for myself.
Last edited by mudhen; 03/02/17.
