I've been spending some time reflecting on hunts past. It seems that I often spend time focusing on things that don't necessarily result in success. First thing is shooting just to shoot. Practice needs to be meaningful. Shots are almost always short and fast, mindlessly punching arrows at a target 50 yards away doesn't help. Second, scouting doesn't have help if it's not a year round thing. You need to know where the elk are and where they're going. Third, gear, gadgets and Camo will suck up lots of fuel money better spent on scouting. Fourth, scent controller is a waste of time if you don't know what the wind will be doing and when it will shift. Only boot on the ground time can help figure this out. So this is my short list of things to work on before season this year.

I never thought 50 yard shots were mindless. A good long shot helps me tremendously with the hunting style shots. Scouting all season is way easier to say than do. I wish like hell I had that kinda time. Totally agree on the gadgets and scent control! Good luck! Matthew

In many ways it's a lot like turkey hunting--the importance of calling, and even using decoys; the fact that there's always a bunch of sharp-eyed females around the male you want to shoot...but the big difference is that elk can smell you as well. So much has to go right to get a nice September bull.

I don't think mindless shots are good at any distance. Last year I practice a lot at 50. My shot was 28. Piece of cake. Two holes in the heart.

Scent controller (what ever that is???) is a waste of time. There's only one thing that controls scent and that's the wind. You don't need a weatherman for that. Puffer bottle and dental floss work best.

Bowmania

I've always said that all the mistakes I make elk hunting are the same ones I make turkey hunting. Moving when I shouldn't, over calling, under calling, only the wind doesn't give me away. I've had a few times when an elk presented a shot at ranges that most of us would consider long. My average shot distance has been 13 yards. At that range you better shoot fast or they are gone. Practice in different positions, from the knees, etc is what I try to concentrate on.

Just like turkey hunting the right set up is 75% of being successful. Thank goodness turkeys don't have a great sense of smell

lol...sorry, but scent control is HUGE to me. That includes showering every morning, keeping all hair short, and avoiding wearing hunting clothes around gas stations, resturants, and in town...and yes, spraying clothing with sprays that science has proved that works... Good binoculars are nice, but great binoculars are the best investment you can have. I'd rather shoot a $400.00 bow then settle for cheap binoculars. After last fall, I invested in a GPS, and will use it. Wandering around in the dark trying to find your stash of meat bags only exhausts you more. Camo? After wearing high performance clothing since 2009, I'll never again wear cheap, heavy clothing. Good clothing, like your bow and bino's, are an investment that could save your life.

I have a couple of counter thoughts. One, I enjoy archery- even shooting at 50 yards. If the only thought was to be a better elk hunter, and not enjoy archery, perhaps those long shots could be dropped. Perhaps you like elk hunting, but not archery? Next, knowing where elk are year around doesn't seem that productive about hunting in September. I have many scouting trips that got me super excited, then a month later when the season opens the elk just aren't there. Scouting just prior to the season is a great help. How does knowing where elk spend the winter help, when they might move to the next county by summer? I agree with you about scent control (hunt into the wind) and gadgets (hey, I have a drawer full that I should just dump in the trash). What I would add to your list is studying maps so you can scout the areas you think look hottest, and fitness, as elk hunting can be pretty tiring after day 3.

I agree with Buglmin, I do keep my hunting clothes bagged and as sent free as I can, but I've spent lot's of $ on scent control. Waste of time if you don't have the wind. If you can afford Swarovski ELs, buy them. Best money I ever spent. High dollar clothing is usually worth the investment. GPS is great if it works. Just don't like to focus my assets on things that need replacement,like electronics. Make no mistake, my hunting clothing represents several thousand dollars of investment. Buy it once and done. I'm going to try to focus on spending my resources on the ground this yearm

Kinda tough to year round scout from Wisconsin.

Oh well, between bum knees and a thin wallet, my mountain hunting days are behind me.

But I do have a lifetime supply of great photos 'n memories from my Wyoming hunting days...from 1975 to 1997.

I like that rookies overcall....blow that Sceery cow call boy!

It makes it easy for me [and the elk] to sidestep them.

I should state that most of my elk hunting is for Roosevelt's elk. They don't migrate. Knowing where the bulls live in winter applies to summer and fall. Normally bulls will stay within a a two or three square mile area. My elk are home bodies.

I don't waste energy carrying useless equipment such as binoculars. And don't waste effort on misconceptions like scent control.

A mountain lion kills a deer and occasionally an elk approximately every two weeks. Does it up closer than we do and all the while stinking like a lion.

Set a goal to be a hunter instead of a Bass Pro preferred customer. :-)

For me elk hunting is about having good information hotlines. I missed out on a chance to shoot a bull that was trying to get at some domestic cow elk because my buddy did not have my phone number readily available. The bottom line is elk do not know the rules.

DDave

Joseph, I miss being out there to hunt, scout, shed hunt for the Rosies and blacktails... I'll be back someday (to WA), but in the meantime, have fun out there in the PacNWRF hunting them big boys.

If you hunt the mountains, wind blows up the valley in the morning and down the valley in the evening/night. Wind direction is the most important thing when you get into the elk. Natural noises such as branches breaking is not that important just for the fact that elk are big and tend to break things. I always cow call a little if I am going to be crashing through the thick. I'm very capable of a 50 yard shot but I would never take a shot at an elk outside of 35 yards. The risk of a wounded animal is not worth the reward. Be consistent, don't change hunting locations just because you don't see the elk in there that day. Elk have a cycle, if you see fresh sign then the elk will mostly likely be back in the area in a day or two.Elk are like cows and water everyday. Don't overcall. It trains the elk. I'm not a pro, I'm a born and raised avid elk hunter and these are some things that work for me.

Not carrying bino's while hunting elk?? HUH...wow, I wouldn't be caught dead in the woods without my binoculars around my chest. Never. Ever smell a mountain lion? I've been chasin elk long enough to know to expect the unexpected, to never go past your abilities. Sometimes the quickest, shortest hunt can turn into a living hell in a heartbeat. And just like tom turkeys, finding the right cow call with the right tone that the bulls like that morning can change the hunt instantly.

Stumbling around in the dark trying to find your kill isn't the best feeling in the world. Modern technology has it's place, learn to use it and adapt to it and you won't have any issues with it. Abuse it, don't take care of it, and when it fails, you blame that lil gps in your hand because you failed to remember to change the batteries or turn it off, or to get it out of your rain soaked pocket..it's never our fault when technology fails us.

I would also recommend binoculars for elk hunting, esp. in the Rockies. Not quite as important in the Pac NW, but are still essential I feel. They can help immensely with finding your way around by helping to spot and recognize landmarks. I always used them to help navigate when deep in the mountains.

Modern technology has its place for modern technology hunters in which case we would all be hunting with the far more efficient compound bows.

DDave

Camodave, better check the regs in the state you hunt. I don't think you can use electronics in any manner to aid in the taking of game.

Bowmania

Yup, I'll take my GPS, my spotting scope, my bino's, my laser range finder, $10 a pack freeze dried meals, etc. etc., and then I'll use my long bow cause I want to be able to hunt "primitive"!

Scent control is fine (avoiding gas stations, restaurants and showering...etc.) if you elk hunt by driving to your destination and then head into the woods fresh each day. But if you backpack in and spend 8-10+ days back in the bush, you can drag in all the sprays and silver infused clothes you can carry and it isn't going to amount to squat. After a few days everything in camp is smelly like human, and after trucking up and down the mountain all day your going to smell. Lots of times your layering up and down when its cold in the morning, warm in the afternoon, a cold storm blows through... and you layer back up...etc Pretty impractical to carry a heavy bottle of spray scent control stuff and try to keep up with re-applying it every time you stuff layers in and out of your day pack.

Binoculars are great, but it depends on what type of terrain you're hunting in. If you hunt elk with lot of wide open parks and places where you can perch high and look across to valleys, drainages and other peaks then they are probably indispensable. But the area I have went to the past three times is rugged densely wooded peaks and valleys, and if you are able to get to a clear spot to look across to another valley or peak it is just as thick. I've chosen not to carry the extra weight. All encounters have been within easy eye viewing distance. Anything further away and I'm not going to see it anyway. Thinking about maybe carrying a small light weight monocular just for closer verification of things, but not worth the extra weight of a decent set of binos.

I pretty much agree with everything Buglmin said. I've been bowhunting elk for 25 years so I ain't no rookie.

Juspassin, do you walk to Colorado to hunt elk? lol

People didn't walk to Colorado to hunt elk in the 1930's, so what does that have to do with limiting some technology that aids in hunting? That is usually the pat answer from folks who like to use every bit of technology to their advantage for hunting. You drive a car? You have a watch on your arm?

Spend the money for a copy of "Bows on the Little Delta" by Glenn St.Charles, and read of their hunts. Very successful hunts, matter of fact. See what all they used.

Well George, I happen to like my GPS, my iPhone and my recurve. I guarantee you I'll be using all of them this fall in Colorado.

Kris, just be thankful you have the time and resources to be able to go somewhere and hunt elk.

"Not carrying bino's while hunting elk?? HUH...wow,..."

Nope, just weight to carry. Apparently I'm not the only one to think that way.

"Ever smell a mountain lion?"

Yup, but that's not the point. The point is, does the deer or elk smell the mountain lion? Answer is, the one that becomes dinner for the lion did not smell it or smelled it too late. The lion is a hunter. The lion is successful despite the lack of scent control. Just sayin, be the lion!

The rest of the post that I quoted from is completely irrelevant to any of my remarks. I'm not opposed to using technology including gps, compass, rain gear, maps, etc. I just don't haul along a lot of stuff that I don't need.

I'm confused...how can even a thread on something as great as high country elk hunting turn into a pissin' match?

Only on the wall, I guess......

Yup.

I'm just glad to be there. I have no idea what you guys are going on about. LOL

Life is short. Go have fun - your way.

We hunt extremely thick country, aspen patches, sage and jumiper flats and oak brush hills, and use our bino's a lot.

And about mountain lions...most of the lion kills are done after running the deer down. Seeing tracks in the snow confirms this. Been on way too many lion kills to believe they sneak in super close then just jump on an unexpecting animals back.

Anyways, Now you have me dreaming of the high country of Colorado in September, or the high desert sage flats of New Mexico. The smell of sage and juniper mixed with the musky smell of elk..

X2

I have to agree with you on the optics. After bow and arrows and broadheads binoculars are next on the list. The thicker the country the more important they are. I spend many hours looking for an eye or a tip of antler at very short range, under fifty yards. In big open country I'll use the spotting scope. Never leave home without the best optics available. I know lot's of people who say "why would you spend that much on a pair of binoculars?" If you have to ask, you won't understand the answer. I digress, I plan on spending the summer cutting a few miles of new trail and building some nice comfortable ground blinds. A labor of love!!

" All encounters have been within easy eye viewing distance. Anything further away and I'm not going to see it anyway. "

Then either:

1) you have incredible eyesight

2) you hunt on a billiard table

3) you've missed out on an awful lot of "encounters" over the years.

The only thing I've found to be more important than learning how to use binoculars to pick apart the layers of cover out in front of me... is to slow down enough to do it.

If you can track them down by their prints like Larry... then maybe they're worth less. And yeah, I got to where I used to see Elk about every day even before I started carrying the binocs. But a lot more of those "encounters" involved Elk with eyes the size of saucers and watching the lightest-colored part of them slipping away through the trees.

Why is it that so many people have such strong "Anti" feelings towards the tools tat require the most skill to use effectively?

Because they feel like its a burden to carry around the extra weight. Its a burden NOT to - you spend way more time just searching mile after mile without them than you do actually stalking, with them. It is well worth the effort packing good optics. JH and GF are spot on when it comes to binos, and slowing down enough to make effective use of them. And yes in both types of cover - open mountain country and thick dense mountain jungle.

Many different experiences and different terrain. The "Wall" covers a lot of ground and folks. Most of my experiences,I just about as soon forget my arrows as binoculars,at least I could be scouting.The big question I can't solve, is how the heck to shower ever morning, and how to carry enough clothes to change to fresh ever day. Even more important,how do you keep from sweating like a work horse when hiking steep terrain. The solution to these major problems for pack in hunting would be worth a small fortune. You have to keep on trying though.>>>------> Ken

Colorado specific question...Hunting around Steamboat.... What's the analysis on carrying a handgun. Never saw a bear or lion last two years but loading up with all the weight from binocs to GPS seems unavoidable. But the handgun seems over the top. Last two years, saw no lions or bears....But it only takes one. Daily excursions from camp. Handgun yes or no?

I never take a handgun. I've hunted unit 4,5,441 near Steamboat since the early 90s and never felt the need. Seen a few bears but no cats.

Kodaman, what about tigers? :^) 2 bears, I have used this as a solution to cloak my BO: If you are hunting in snow, gather up all the yellow snow you can find from an ELK or many, and rub it in your clothes. No kiddin, I do that, and it works pretty good at covering your own scent. It may be tough to sleep in the tent with, but I never had much problem with the smell of elk pee anyway (it smells like VICTORY). It works in a pinch, if you really get stinking after several days. I do it even when I'm fresh the first day out. Of course if there is no snow, you may have to go another route, but I hesitate to try method #2... ;)

One year hunting in unit 5 I saw five bears in 3 days. It's more a matter of the country you are hunting. September the bears are on the oak brush and serviceberries in the steamboat area. If you see one above 8500' it's probably traveling from one food source to another.

If you see a mountain lion then that's an infrequent and special experience. Lions attacking people in Colorado is a very rare thing. In the past forty years there have been four incidents that I'm aware of. When it does happen it's a huge news event. Incidents are well known. Two of those attacks were on children who were hiking with adults but were spread out. One of those two was fatal. The other was stopped by adults who ran the cat off.

Another fatality was a high school boy who was training for track on abandoned mining roads. The Fourth was a lady who was not killed but I know no other details.

The common thread in lion attacks is the victim doesn't see it coming so the best your handgun might do is to chip a tooth while you are being eaten!

And, it's oversimplification to say a lion simply runs it's prey down. They stalk to a very close distance and make a short rush. Usually from less distance than stickbow range.

Last I checked Alberta was not a state. I use technology when I am guiding. I travel light when hunting by myself.

DDave

I usually jump in an Elk wallow on day one. Don't need scent control after that.

Some interesting reading on mountain lion attacks on humans over the decades.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_Nor th_America

Good old Google Chrome. You will have to omit the space betsen Nor and th.

This year I decided to enjoy elk hunting for what it is. Forgot about camo patterns, the latest gear, and trying to outsmart them. I just went and enjoyed being in the woods. Saw more elk this year than I ever have. Maybe I'm just in a better area.

If you're gonna worry about bears or lions, you won't enjoy yourself that much. I never carry a handgun, and almost regretted it last year. At 4:30 in the morning, walking up a trail, I almost walked into a bear. Thing that saved me, we think, was my headlamp blinded him for a second and scared him. I now carry a 9mm in a Nose gunner bino system. And when a bear came out of a tree a few mornings later just as I went under it, the pistol sure came out quick!

When cutting up my bull last year, I built a fire and had the handgun within reach. When working on my bear two years earlier, the big bear I had wanted to kill actually sat and watched me 20 yards away. The handgun I had with me was right beside me..

The .45 kills, the .40 wounds and the 9 heals. (:^)

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