Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Deer v. Elk

It depends on WHERE you're hunting deer and WHERE you're hunting elk.

Some places are allot easier than others.

-Jake

I had a Colorado resident that hunts both ELK and Turkey tell me that Archery Elk hunting is more like turkey hunting then anything else. Elk do not have a home range like WD unless it is towards the end of the Season and a Bull goes into hiding . ELk can be hunted from a stand if on private land and they have very little hunting pressure.




This ^^^^^^

Good points, of course shot placement is priority #1 with Elk. (as it should be on ground squirrels on up) We have a 100 yard range inside a 200 yard mixed woods/ clearing bow range with about 60 targets.
Most days no one else is there, so you can enter from any direction and shoot the 3-D targets from 360 degrees at any range you care to...however the focus must be on quartering away shots.
Rifle hunting...
4 years in Utah... our camp was about 33-40% successful. Back in Utah I am the only (rifle) hunter in our camp to take an Elk with one shot. Double Lung is the lesson here!
Every one else in that camp would try their best to make multiple hits no matter how good the first shot is. Them boys could shoot and track, but really the fun is over when the trail is old and it is getting dark.
We found healed over bullet scars in bull's rib cages that should have been lethal. Elk break all the rules, it seems.
I know two Michigan lifelong bow hunters who did a DIY elk hunt in Montana last year...and killed two bulls and two mule deer. One of the boys is a 60 year old, smoking, 350 lb. heart attack waiting to happen.
But they could shoot and they made the effort. Lucky Bummers for sure!

Elk hunting means getting away from people usually. Gotta put in some country...to get into decent calling or stalking.
People is what screws up most elk hunting.
Definitely want to put the arrow up under the ribs from quartering. Much more effective.
Getting an elk down, can be a lot easier than getting one back to the vehicle. They are big, but much bigger when laying on the side of a hill, 4 or 5 miles from the truck. Livestock is really nice to have, or have access to.
I'm not in any way wanting to pack one out on my back. They are way bigger than I am. Even with livestock it is a chore.
Lots of people come out to kill them, but not very many come out and pack them out. Even a cow can be a huge load of work.
There's nothing as exciting, in my book, except maybe Brown Bears in thick cover, but elk are in a class by themselves if taken one on one.
Still, meats not meat until its in the pan.

re

yes elk can be patterned, but you need to think like a bowhunter and be able to make a shot at 50 yards ,mostly its smaller bulls that pattern easier,but these bulls taste fine too.

My buddies and I hunt out of tree stands for elk in a cow elk unit. Very difficult to draw bull tag in our state.
The area is very thick and steep with a lot of downed timber. We average around 80 per cent every. Every year we have all had mature bulls under our stands but of course no bull tags. I’m hunting elk out of state again and bringing a tree stand just in case find a decent ambush point. Just another tool to use. We of course spend time scouting before hunt.

Not exciting type hunting but most effective for that unit. I’ve archery hunted whitetail out of a tree stand 40 years now. We put in for bull tags out of state and other units and call and cover a lot of ground when hunting bulls. I’ve learned over the years you don’t have to hike in 10 miles to find decent opportunities. In fact with all the hunting shows the remote back country gets crowded. They’re a wonderful animal to observe

When tree stand hunting we all shoot heavy arrows and heavy broadheads ( 600 grains) with inserts as shots are 25 yards and under.


I have elk and mule deer on my property and agree mature mule deer by far the most difficult game animal with bow. I spend a lot of time in summer hiking in elk country and observing elk.mule deer does are very curious and will come into calls. I’ve experimented with grunt calls with mule deer bucks.

Patterns go straight out the window as soon as the rut starts and or they get pressured...........

Things change about Labor day. A bull will find a couple cows and they will sort out which is the leader. Then the lead cow will take off in a cross country run, presumably to find more cows. She will cover a lot of distance with the bull puffing along behind them trying to keep up. I once watched a herd of about 7 or 8 come down off the side of a mountain at a very fast pace with the bull 100 yds behind them. The cows stopped in some quakies at the bottom and waited for the bull. As soon as he got there, the lead cow took off again right back up the hill following almost the same route they'd come down. After he gets his harem gathered, she'll settle down and stay put.

Another time time I saw over a dozen cows motating along the side of a hill. The bull was a little raghorn & I figured he'd stolen the herd while the herd bull was preoccupied. The cow led them into a patch of timber. About 20 min later, here she came back out but this time the bull was a big 6x6 and the raghorn was following them bellowing his heart out. No tail for you this year little buddy.

bow hunting out west for elk is not easy but its something every bowhunter should try at least once ,it does help to have a few deer under your belt you have shot with a bow first. try to get into good shape before you go ,to be in the mountains with the sound of bull elk bugling,to get close to elk and get the scent of elk is something you will never forget. so if your headed to mountains this fall for a elk bowhunt i wish you luck and a safe hunt.> and as a old elk bowhunter told me : shoot to kill,Pete53

I'd disagree with this, I don't think elk are anything like whitetails, especially during bow season. Bucks don't advertise their location by bugling, and they don't gather a harem and defend it from other bucks. And it's much easier to sneak up on a bull than a buck. Apples and oranges IMO.

Whitetails are different than mule deer/ elk

Mule deer are different than elk.

I can easily see the correlation between turkeys and elk.

MARK THIS DOWN!

I agree with smokepole!

That will B the day...........


Well here it is!

Whitetails are different than mule deer/ elk

Mule deer are different than elk.

I can easily see the correlation between turkeys and elk.

turkeys can not smell,elk and deer can smell danger

the calling and run and gun style are very much like turkey hunting. Call and move til you get an answer, then figure it out.

Does ketamine cause a hangover?

Because you will see a bull go over a mountain and the next time you see him he's on another mountain - they must be able to fly. lol