Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting How many people have killed a Bull elk on a otc elk tag?

Beretzs, thanks for removing that freak bull in the third pic from the gene pool!

Elk in my avatar was a 0 point first rifle draw the year I killed him, in a unit that was OTC for a few of the various seasons, just not first rifle. It is no longer a 0 point draw though. We killed another bull in the same area the next year on the 0 point unit, just a few days before OTC 2nd season started.

If I don’t draw my bull tag in Oregon, I’ll do 2nd season OTC spike tag.
Killed many spikes and few bulls over the years.
My daughter almost killed a monster few years ago. Just couldn’t get a clean kill shot due to a cow in front of the bull. 4 years later and it Still hurts to think about.
I hunt 2 specific units that butt up to each other. So I know them pretty well over the last 13 years. Not trying to learn a new area every few years.
There is a reason why 10% take 90%

Killed my 10th bull last fall with an OTC DIY archery tag. There are no good OTC rifle hunts left in Idaho. I do put in for draws and have killed 6 more bulls with rifles when I draw a tag. I draw a rifle tag about every 6-7 years.

I've taken 2 dozen nice bulls on general MT licenses. 2 nice archery bulls on 2nd choice permits (guaranteed at the time), and one good rifle bull on a limited permit.

I've taken 2 bulls out of state (DIY) that were limited quota, once with an arrow in the Gila Wilderness of NM and another with a rifle in NW Wyoming.

I've usually struggled a lot more on the limited draw permits, maybe because there's some pressure, dunno.

I’ll come hunt elk in your territory Jud!!. If you can show me how not to get killed. I’m young enough to think it’ll all be good if I shoot something in the thickest schit ever.

td bank houston

I shot this guy on state trust land about a mile from the parting area, OTC tag.

State trust land, otc tag

Getting a tag is the hardest part of elk hunting. We switched to cows simply because we can get a tag almost every year while bull hunting is like you experience - every 6 to 7 years.

Consistently, No.
OTC bulls on public land, DIY, Occasionally.
Draw area bulls using preference points, better success there.
Too many checkmate encounters with nice public land bulls when I held only a cow tag.

Washington hunter here. We apply for branch bull tags but are happy to hunt spikes on the east side every year. IIRC I’ve killed 6 spikes since we really started focusing on elk in 2009. A couple cows as well. My 15 year old daughter killed a spike on opening afternoon on her first season last fall

I've killed a few OTC bulls, but it has been pretty hard to get a decent tag OTC in Oregon for so long I stopped trying except when I don't draw a tag. Most of the OTC tags are pretty low odds hunts to begin with but a few are in units we are familiar with so we keep trying when our preferred units aren't drawn in the lottery.

A few years ago, my brother and I had opportunities at a couple nice bulls over the counter in our OTC unit. The first one I brainfarted and we missed out on a couple spikes in a huge group of elk across a canyon. I read the rangefinder wrong - by 100 yards and shot right under the belly of the elk. So did my brother at his when he took my ranging advice...
The next day we spotted another spike quite a ways off and across a very large canyon so we sat for a couple hours and watched it feed until we got tired of watching and walked away. We were both fairly recently out of heart surgery and decided we didn't want to die packing an elk through that canyon that particular day....

Since we drew our tags last year, we will probably be going OTC this year again, so we are already planning some early season scouting ... but I think any more OTC hunting lots of states is getting tougher ...

Bob

Here's a few I got on general OTC licenses and taken on public land back when hunting was better. I've been getting pickier, and hunting is getting more difficult, so i don't get an elk every year these days.

MT 373 archery
MT 365 rifle
MT 370 rifle


Last ones I got were 2013 (370 archery), 2014 (347 archery), 2017 (335 rifle), and 2019 (347 rifle). Shot a permit bull in WY in 2020, an average 6X6 after a long season frustrating hunting - it took max points, I'd been applying for decades and it was one of the smallest bulls I've ever taken.

Without getting into my records, my best guess would be @15 to 20.

Some great elk.

Any big bears lately?

Hellava collection for sure. I’m with ya on the pressure of a good tag, though I’ve only drawn 1 bull tag, I know how it is for sure.

3 bulls over 360” on public land OTC is not something many can say they’ve done.

No it’s not.

Kurt, that pretty well describes my elk hunting - course, you’re a better elk hunter than me too. I never get tired of seeing those bulls and that grin!

You’re welcome buddy. I believe he broke his skull on his roll down the mountain. Probably laughing at me the whole time knowing I was using an 30-06…. Taught that sucker.