Best advice beyond getting in good physical condition and knowing your equipment (rifles, pack, boots - have all your 'stuff' dialed before you go): NEVER QUIT.
I see guys hunt hard for 2-3 days, get tired, discouraged from not seeing elk and start sleeping in, hunting close to camp, go into town - everything but hunt hard. I've killed more elk later in the week than I have early in the week.
Case in point: I didn't get drawn for a bull tag last year. We decided to do a cow hunt. Easy right? Cows, hell they're behind every aspen right?
I was preaching all week to a newbie to never give up. We simply weren't seeing elk, lots sign but limited sightings. I knew if we kept at it, our "luck" would change. It did Thurs at 2:00 in the afternoon. I literally went to a high spot at 1:00 and sent a text to the guys in camp that animals seemed to be moving and I was going to X to spend the rest of the day. On the way I ran into 6-7-8 cows. One came back to TN. These were the first elk I laid eyes on in 6 days. It seems the harder, I try the luckier I get.......
That’s about the best distilled down and straight forward advice I’ve seen in print. We have killed more towards the end than ever on the front end.
Thanks!
I have several more stories just like that with elk. Last year I didn't see a cow until the last afternoon. Saw several bulls but had another cow tag. And I mmmmmmissed.
didn't think it possible to miss an elk.......
Out of a dozen or so elk I've managed to kill, Thursday has been good to me. My skill set is strong on persistence, a little low on the skill side - I need 7-8-9 days <G>
Bwinters said it the best: "NEVER QUIT" I would have added some !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is the best advice given in this thread. My elk hunting partner is a little bit older than me and I've learned a little from him, but the best education is given by the elk, if you are smart enough to take note of what you did wrong. Every year you are going to F up. That happens, but you better learn from your mistakes. If not, you won't be much of an elk hunter. Making the shot is the easy part, choosing the bullet is the easy part, but finding them is the tough task. My elk hunting partner always said, "elk hunting separates the boys from the men". And he was 100% right. When you learn that, you will be on to something..
