The Elk Thread

[Beargrasstx]

results in June... I am excited to go to CO this year for my first elk hunt. I am doing rifle though and leaving the bow at home this round

[Felix40]

results in June... I am excited to go to CO this year for my first elk hunt. I am doing rifle though and leaving the bow at home this round

Yep results in June. My draw odds are 100% for deer though. Nothing wrong with a rifle hunt. I'll be leaving the recurve at home and hunting with a compound this year. Really want to increase my odds.

[CLC]

Drew second season archery elk tag in NM unit 36! Psyched to say the least. Anybody hunted that unit or have any pointers?

I bowhunted mulies in 34 last year, which was torture watching those monster bulls with no tag. 36 is a lot steeper terrain though from what I hear.

[RdRdrFan]

Drew second season archery elk tag in NM unit 36! Psyched to say the least. Anybody hunted that unit or have any pointers?

I bowhunted mulies in 34 last year, which was torture watching those monster bulls with no tag. 36 is a lot steeper terrain though from what I hear.

Congrats. That's a good tag. Plenty of good bulls come out of 36. Plus you can go gamble at night.

[old killer]

Just finished fletching new 340 spined shafts. They weigh 412gr with 132gr up front. They shoot 289fps out of the Halon 6 at 57.5 lbs. One bow ready for September.

[Whirlwind]

Has anyone hunted Roosevelt elk successfully??? Going back to Idaho this year, but already curious about out north west. Read some old Glenn St Charles stories and want to try the thick stuff after huge bodied critters.

I have hunted them for many years. Not the easiest critter to find and even harder to kill. Best bet would be a guide unless you know someone that can help you out.

[westtexducks]

Just ordered a hooch mama and some mouth calls. What is the best way to learn the mouth calls? Youtube?

Youtube and just like when duck hunting don't blow on it to much as it will end up doing more harm than good. At least from my limited experience of having a dude run off a herd we were working on by blowing on his WAY to much. Practicing in the truck to and from work are great places to work on it and something I found helpful as well was to have some one listen to a vid of a real cow mewing/chirping and then I would blow and then get there input on what I needed to change.

[NMStickFlinger3]

Just ordered a hooch mama and some mouth calls. What is the best way to learn the mouth calls? Youtube?

Read the directions and practice.....preferably away from the wife and dogs!!!

[westtexducks]

So my question for the veteran elk chasers on here, any of yall haul in ground blinds to hunt over water? If you are hauling one in what brand and model are you using that is light enough to not be a problem yet still big enough for 2 and can draw comfortably?

Or would it be better to haul in a tree stand and hunt that way? I am really leaning towards a blind though to help with scent control for when the wind swirls as well as the ability of having a roof to keep from getting rained on. Especially since the area I will be seems to constantly have showers moving in and out of the area. What are yalls thoughts?

[unclefish]

Just ordered a hooch mama and some mouth calls. What is the best way to learn the mouth calls? Youtube?

Learn what each call means first before you buy a call. I thought I knew what each call meant until I bought the Rowe Hunting Resources app....this guy knows his stuff.

His videos are outstanding...they give examples of calling elk in the field while hunting. He explains what he does and then the elk respond. Pretty good stuff for us amateurs.

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[NMStickFlinger3]

So my question for the veteran elk chasers on here, any of yall haul in ground blinds to hunt over water? If you are hauling one in what brand and model are you using that is light enough to not be a problem yet still big enough for 2 and can draw comfortably?

Or would it be better to haul in a tree stand and hunt that way? I am really leaning towards a blind though to help with scent control for when the wind swirls as well as the ability of having a roof to keep from getting rained on. Especially since the area I will be seems to constantly have showers moving in and out of the area. What are yalls thoughts?

Im not sure where you are hunting, but from my experience.....pretty much any water I find already has some type of blind on it, usually a stick blind built by someone else!! I will usually utilize that blind to cater to my needs, especially if I expect afternoon/evening rains....I will build it up and put some sort of tarp or cover on it. I think if you put up a ground blind, it will take the elk some time to get used to the smell and sight of it.

[Bowhuntamistad]

So my question for the veteran elk chasers on here, any of yall haul in ground blinds to hunt over water? If you are hauling one in what brand and model are you using that is light enough to not be a problem yet still big enough for 2 and can draw comfortably?

Or would it be better to haul in a tree stand and hunt that way? I am really leaning towards a blind though to help with scent control for when the wind swirls as well as the ability of having a roof to keep from getting rained on. Especially since the area I will be seems to constantly have showers moving in and out of the area. What are yalls thoughts?

I have a DB T2 I have packed in before. The hike was about 1 1/2 miles from the furthest point you could drive into.

Weighs in at 12 lbs and I strapped it onto my Horn Hunter Full Curl frame...rode like a dream because it was also the lightest load I have ever backpacked in

Got to the guzzler I wanted to hunt and there was an old brush blind already set up on it All that work for nothing but it all worked out in the end.

[unclefish]

So my question for the veteran elk chasers on here, any of yall haul in ground blinds to hunt over water? If you are hauling one in what brand and model are you using that is light enough to not be a problem yet still big enough for 2 and can draw comfortably?

Or would it be better to haul in a tree stand and hunt that way? I am really leaning towards a blind though to help with scent control for when the wind swirls as well as the ability of having a roof to keep from getting rained on. Especially since the area I will be seems to constantly have showers moving in and out of the area. What are yalls thoughts?

Man we hauled treestands and groundblinds for a couple years in the elk woods until we got smart. We found it to be such a pain we just started making ground blinds with the surrounding brush. Bring a little saw and a lightweight chair with you and it works great.
I killed a bull last year over a waterhole from my brushy ground blind.

There few things worse than having to take down a treestand on your last day of elk hunting.



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[westtexducks]

Im not sure where you are hunting, but from my experience.....pretty much any water I find already has some type of blind on it, usually a stick blind built by someone else!! I will usually utilize that blind to cater to my needs, especially if I expect afternoon/evening rains....I will build it up and put some sort of tarp or cover on it. I think if you put up a ground blind, it will take the elk some time to get used to the smell and sight of it.

I found me a nice hole that is virgin territory no brush blinds or anything, but it is a bear to get into and out of the hole it is in. And the plan is to head up in late july early august to both hang cameras as well as put up and brush in the blind to let them get used to it before we start hunting it. Figuring a month should be enough time as long as the squirrels don't take up residence in it.

Man we hauled treestands and groundblinds for a couple years in the elk woods until we got smart. We found it to be such a pain we just started making ground blinds with the surrounding brush. Bring a little saw and a lightweight chair with you and it works great.
I killed a bull last year over a waterhole from my brushy ground blind.

There few things worse than having to take down a treestand on your last day of elk hunting.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I have thought about this and we did throw up a small little brush blind last year, but only thing that worries me about this particular spot is the wind swirls relatively often so really trying to cut down on scent. But I maybe over thinking it a bit. Also would be kinda nice to not have to sit in the rain

Also what about those scent killer sprays they worth the hassle or better to just really try to hunt the wind as much as possible?

[unclefish]

I have thought about this and we did throw up a small little brush blind last year, but only thing that worries me about this particular spot is the wind swirls relatively often so really trying to cut down on scent. But I maybe over thinking it a bit. Also would be kinda nice to not have to sit in the rain

Also what about those scent killer sprays they worth the hassle or better to just really try to hunt the wind as much as possible?

Yeah we found out real quick that hiking up a mountain will kill any scent control you try to do. We spray down after but I don't really think it does much good.

Twice last year while sitting water I had cow elk come in behind me downwind after I had sprayed down with Scentkiller. I also had rubbed sage all over myself for a cover scent. When they got to my scent stream they turned themselves inside out bolting out of there. IMO if they come in downwind you will get busted covered ground blind or not.

We usually make two blind locations on a spot to cover shifting winds.....sometimes it will change hourly up there. Lots of swirling.