Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting The Essence Of Wapiti

Yes. I've often sensed their presence via smell long before seeing them.

That's the correct usage. If you kill one, you killed an elk. But if you don't, you were outwitted by the wily wapiti.

Last time I was outwitted by the wily wapiti, the sonofagun moved just as I was pulling the trigger, causing the otherwise perfectly-placed shot to miss.

It's uncanny how they do that. Or, it could have been bullet failure.

Thanks for that, what big bodied bulls, gezz for a beautiful animal.

Sweet video!

My favorite smell (yes, even more than cheeleader snatch on prom night) is the way the top of a branch bull’s head smells on the patch between his antlers.

If you know what I’m talking about, you know.




P

Nice.

Even 60 years I heard the term wapiti used, generally in humor.

And you guys are right, one we kill one it’s an elk, when we’re outsmarted they become the wily wapiti……

Very cool video.

the title of the thread is 'essence of wapiti'. If you're ever down wind of an elk wallow on a warm Sept. day, you'll get plenty of 'essence'.

My daughter and I were still hunting through some timber opening morning this last fall. I told her elk were close and she asked how I new. I said I can smell them, they have a barnyard odor to them. She thought I was pulling her leg.

That same afternoon after she killed her bull and we were taking pictures ,she looked at me with a funny look on her face. I asked what she was thinking and she said dad you’re right, they do smell like a barnyard!

Or better yet, downwind of some elk with a tag in your pocket. Sometimes even the beds smell rank.

Several years ago in a late cow hunt, I got into an area with 10" of snow. As I approached a small pond (frozen over), the smell got pretty rank. I found a bedding area with literally hundreds of beds and the smell was really strong.
I was glassing from there and located the herd about 1/2 mile away There was an easy approach and I got one 30 min later from about 75 yds. Of course the herd vanished when I shot but as I was dressing her out, they came back. There were dozens of them a few hundreds yards away just watching me.

Second elk I ever killed with a bow, I initially saw them moving almost straight up a ridge on the other side of a ravine I was on. Down the ravine and up the other side I went. I could smell then right where I last saw them. When they hit a trail they could've gone left or right, I chose right and could still smell them. After a about a half hour of sneaking along the trail smelling elk I lost the scent, turned downhill and there they were in a wilowl park along the stream bottom.

I'll edit this to add that I guessed there were 70 or 80 elk and I didn't see an antler in the crowd. Cows stink, too.

Very cool vid!