Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Help me understand Elk

Hunting with a bow, rifle, or late season muzzleloader are all totally different ballgames in regards to strategy for both cows and bulls.

Advice to first time elk hunters: Just go. Don't let perfect become the enemy of plenty good. There's no perfect time and place. Don't over think things, Pick a time and a place that works for you and just go.

Looking back I’ve hunted elk over thirty years and have taken eleven bulls and two cows. About one animal for every two and a half hunts or so. Two were unguided hunts, the rest guided to various degrees.
Being from the Midwest and still working, I was limited to a block of time, usually 5-8 days picked from the calendar, sandwiched between travel times. All my hunts were in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, or Colorado.

Obviously, the majority were unsuccessful in not harvesting an animal, but non were failures, and almost all were a grand time.

Guides ranged from a college kid from Tennessee (who probably had never seen a live elk) to very good and knowledgeable older guys who had no quit in them. There was one outfitter-guide that was downright unfriendly, and another who occasionally forgot who was footing the bill. The hunter that came in and began an eight hour pack into a wilderness area on horseback wearing his tennis shoes was the recipient of a few pointed comments from the latter.

Camps ranged from a very Spartan sleeping bag on dirt and freeze dried food to very, very comfortable and almost slavish meals. Country was wilderness with eight-hour packs in to a couple miles off the trail head in forest service country; from pristine beauty to cattle drives through the middle of the hunting area.

Ah, horses. Among which, I had a leg-biter, a stream-jumper, awannabe rodeo bronco, and then a white mountain of a Belgium Draft that half scared me to death as he was unloaded from the trailer. I don’t know, but maybe 17 hands high, 1700 lbs? He fell on an iced surface once throwing me off to the side, but he was the most tractable, gentle beast I ever climbed up on — a 1700 lb white lab. The downright smoothest, surest 4x4 ride though goes to a very large mule in Colorado. Of course 1st low was the only gear available.

Terrain varied from mostly gently timber and meadows to switchback trails on slopes you began to fear every day. And about which you prayed in the dark.

We hunted in from too hot weather to too cold, from too dry to too wet with rain, but more often snow. Late season hunts were more often snow which could really help; or if it had melted, then refroze a couple times, was an extreme detriment as walking anywhere was crunchy loud.

Good gear is never a mistake. Inexpensive gear can cost a lot.
As to armament, I took nine bulls with a semi-custom 340 Wby, one with a 30/06, and one with a 284 Win. The two cows were taken with a 45/70 and a 45 Colt.

Interestingly, contrary to the experience of many here, with the exception of the two cows and two bulls — taken at 100 yards or in — nine of my bulls were taken at from 400 to 500 yards. And these were without means or time to get closer.

Long way of saying each hunt is different, sometimes very different, aside from being guided or a DIY type hunt.

As BKinSD said, get a plan, and start “going to school”.

I should have mentioned,…they are the grandest of animals!

It is going to be easier than if you had asked "Help me understand women", not a lot but easier for sure!

Are you considering bow hunting or rifle? That is a fairly big difference between the two with the biggest being hunting in the rut vs post rut or late season. If your muzzleloading season is in september than the bow hunting strategies should pay off. Like many have said actual experience is great but not living in elk country makes that hard.

Google ElkNut and follow his calling and hunting advice. Regular dude and solid advice. He even has an app. Especially for calling Elk.
I would check out Randy Newberg's videos both on youtube and tv, check out eastman's stuff as well. I am not a fan but sites like hunting fool and other will help you pinpoint areas to start with.

Super good post George.

Getting a general tag for elk with a muzzleloader will most likely be difficult if not impossible. Bow hunting yes, but not rifle. I am MZ cow hunting in Washington on the 2nd of October , and it took 7 preference points to draw. This will be my 57 or 58 th season. Your getting lots of good info here. I have never called in an elk, but have killed a couple with a MZ and came very close with a Bow. I like the later season hunts WITH A RIFLE where there is a chance of snow, which herds them up and makes them easy to find. I think they are pretty easy to hunt if you have a general idea of where they are living. A new area is always very tough, but they always eat and drink and that helps. Some will bugle clear into the middle of October, and that really makes them easy to locate. My first day elk last year was taken at 6 pm. We got up on them at daylight but they were already back into the timber, where three of them bugeled, and grunted until 10 am. We set there all day (which many can't do) and waited . At 6 they started coming out of the timber. I picked a nice fat one, shot her and my season was over. My 3rd day bull was in November, with 6 inches of snow on a long ridge with 40 or 50 of his brothers and sisters with him. As they frequently do, they had walked out of the timber to feed at 1 in the afternoon. He was about 50 yards from the timber and 420 yards away when I killed him. His brothers and sisters watched him slide down the hill a ways, and did not leave until we were well up the hill to retrieve him.. Again lots of good info here, listen, ask questions, and START PLANNING NOW, you can pm me if you would like