Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Paid $270 today for elk tag, never got an elk yet

This is 10 years of paying for cow tags. Never drew a bull tag.

I always get the deer and antelope if I buy the tag.

Elk are harder for me.

Often the hardest part of a hunt is getting the tag. Many of our bull tags have drawing odds of 1 in 10 or less. We quit doing that and went to cow tags. We'll draw 4 out of 5 years. We'd much rather get to hunt every year than to have to sit it out waiting for another set of antlers to draw dust. As a senior, the tag is only $16.

I'm in the same boat as Rock Chuck. Hunting every year is more important than killing big bulls.

Definitely .Hunting cows is far above sitting home and wondering why a person didn't draw a bull tag and wishing they did.The 6X antlers I got last year that was an OTC tag ,after I hunted ML cow elk,still sitting down in the barn.. There are only so many places on the barn/garage to hang a set of antlers, but always space in the freezer for a nice tender cow.

Non-resident where, Clark?

My brother lives in the 700 unit in MT. That is where I will be in Oct 2019.

Hunting anything beats sitting home watching Jim Shockey....

Good luck on your MT hunt.

While we have lots of antelope in the family freezers (there are a bunch of them), we are out of deer and elk. This year we have plans to hunt over-the-counter bull in 3rd rifle season and cow in 4th rifle - first time I'll have hunted two full seasons and first time ever for 4th rifle for all of us. As a meat hunter, I don't care about the antlers - any healthy-looking adult that matches my license will do.

The point of hunting two seasons this year is to have a better chance of catching the migration. There will ultimately be 4 of us - Daughter #1, her hubby and her BIL. None have ever taken an elk and BIL has never hunted them before. I'll go up 3rd rifle and try to get one and if/when the migration starts I'll call in the others. The plan sounds good on paper...

Again, good luck to you and your brother.

Washington state is a cow spike only for archery on east side of state.Takes about 10 years to draw a bull tag.

I always run into big bulls with no bull tag

I think mature cows harder to hunt in early season during rut and after the rut

That's what bows and arrows are for. Sucks to slip in on a herd with a nice big 6 point bull and have to shoot a cow........

Stick with it! I’ve taught quite a few buddies how to hunt elk (they weren’t blessed with a Dad like mine) and once they caught on to it they filled their tags on their own every year after.

I think that there might be some sort of a perception correction that takes place after you put one or two in the pickup that makes it easier.

Or, you could be hunting in the wrong place. I know nothing of elk hunting in the 700 Unit in Montana but I do know that just because the state sells you a tag doesn’t necessarily mean there are elk there.

Just like unit 12 in AZ. That is the biggest joke out there.

Getting a root canal without novocaine beats sitting home watching Jim Shockey

I love to hunt, but I also enjoy most of Jim Shockey's shows. We have hunted in some of the same places, but he does it for a living and I do it for fun.

donsm70