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CHRISTMAS
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“ANSWERS
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VOLUME 1
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2008 Broadhead Review
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SCORE YOUR BULL
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Got Questions about Elk Hunting?
This is The Place For Answers
How does it work? Simple, you ask & we answer. ElkCamp.com is first and foremost a resource for elk hunters. The answers to questions posted here draw upon an entire network of pros and long time successful elk hunters. Note: Questions on where to hunt are not within the scope of this feature and will not be answered here.
To post your elk hunting question: Click Here
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Our Focus: Since 1996 ElkCamp.com has had a single focus, to educate and serve elk hunters. ElkCamp.com - Answers For Elk Hunters focuses on providing our readers with real “meat & potato” answers to their elk hunting questions. We make every effort to thoroughly research the answers and information that we share here at ElkCamp.com. We are the online leaders in the “how to” business of elk hunting. ElkCamp.com is one of the premier elk hunting websites on the Internet hosting over 10 Million visits in 2007.
Our Business: We are committed to making your next elk hunting adventure a success. At ElkCamp.com, our highest priorities are informed readers, satisfied clients, and successful elk hunters. If you would like to speak with us about planning a future elk hunt or if you would like more information about one of our outfitters or one of our private ranches for elk hunting, please E-mail us.
Our Desire: As always ElkCamp.com remains a place to hang out, build friendships, and share your own knowledge with others about this great adventure known as elk hunting. ElkCamp.com is about giving back some of the knowledge with which we have been blessed. Thanks for the opportunity.
See you around the campfire,
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Educating others about Elk Hunting is not just a passion or even an obsession It is our Life.
Bare Bones Basics
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More Successful Elk Hunter
Do your HOMEWORK
Get into the best physical shape that you can. This will provide you with the ENDURANCE to hunt longer and go farther.
Learn all that you can about elk and elk country. Elk habits and behavior are different from those of other North American big game such as deer. To be a more successful elk hunter you must take the time to LEARN THE DIFFERENCES. It ain’t deer huntin’.
IT’S MOSTLY ABOUT QUALITY FORAGE. Elk are creatures of opportunity and as they stock up on calories for winter they will always be on the move looking for high value nourishment. Find the food - find the elk.
Be willing to hunt long hard days. Elk may cover as much as 20 miles a day, and only the hunter who is willing and able to PURSUE THEM WHERE EVER THEY ARE TO BE FOUND will be successful.
Hunt MORE than a mile from the nearest road. 80% of all elk hunters hunt within one mile of a road...and the elk know this.
HUNT where the elk are. If there is no FRESH SIGN in the area you are hunting, move on to the next drainage or area. If it’s not green, it isn’t fresh
If these tips give you pause- good. It means that you are thinking this through.If they intimidate you, consider taking up another sport.
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To RMEF Online
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| Colorado 2009 Countdown |
Archery Aug 29 - Sep 27 |
| 234 days 21 hours 44 minutes |
Muzzleloading Sep 12 - Sep 20 |
| 248 days 21 hours 56 minutes |
1st Ltd Rifle Oct 10 - Oct 14 |
| 276 days 22 hours 28 minutes |
2nd Comb Rifle Oct 17 - Oct 25 |
| 283 days 22 hours 35 minutes |
3rd Comb Rifle Oct 31 - Nov 6 |
| 297 days 22 hours 50 minutes |
4th Comb Rifle Nov 11 - Nov 15 |
| 308 days 23 hours 2 minutes |
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REFRESH BROWSER WINDOW
TO UPDATE TIMERS
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Answers For Elk Hunters
Updated As New Questions Arrive
Q. 2008 I will be hunting the late-late hunt (1st weekend in December) with a rifle in very rugged terrain. This area will have been hunted the prior week. I recently injured my knee and will not be able to hike the canyons as I had originally planned. This hunting area is at about the 4000 to 5000 foot elevation and gets some elk migrating through to their winter range as well as some that stay all winter. Usually there is no snow yet at this elevation so it is hard to determine where they will be moving. I plan to glass from elevations and then to cow and calf call hoping to get a bull to come to me. My question: Do I have a better chance of getting a bull to come down to investigate my calls or do I have a better chance of having one come up from below? Do I hunt from above canyons or from below canyons and does this seem like a reasonable approach considering my new physical limitations?
Mike, Arizona
A. The general consensus among our researchers is that elk more readily respond to calls from below than from above. This may be due to any number of reasons. This does not mean that elk will not come uphill to a call, just that more seem to come in when the caller is below or on the same level. On that note, I would not bet the farm on getting bulls to come into calls that late in the season. It may happen if you get the attention of a younger bull but in my experience, it’s not likely. By that time mature bulls have lost interest in breeding and are lying low and recuperating from the rigors of the rut.
Is this a reasonable approach? I would have a couple of concerns given your stated physical limitations. If you plan to hunt migrating elk, they will be on the move. Once you locate them, you will probably have to relocate and perhaps quickly to get into position for a shot. How do you plan to do this? If you kill a bull, how do you plan to get it out considering the bad knee? I ask these questions to offer a suggestion. Consider hunting with at least one hunting partner, possibly two who are sensitive to your limitations and are willing to help you by doing more than their share of the work. Also, I would have a serious talk with your doctor about your plans and see what they recommend. I really hate missing out on an elk hunting season (as I will in 2008 due to recent surgery), but it beats the heck out of getting oneself into a situation where there is no good way out.
Q. 2008 Being an old geezer and still trying to bag my first elk on a DIY hunt, what is your recommendation for the best season to harvest an elk. I have hunted MZ season, and this year hunted the last two weeks of archery. I definitely saw more elk this year and had a ball, but was unable to put meat on the pole.(I lost a good bull to a poor shot). I guess put another way, is when would a hunter have the highest odds of getting close to elk on public land?
Mike, Pennsylvania
A. I've not found that there is a best season Mike. I have preferences and those depend upon where I'm hunting and what my expectations are for the hunt. By this I mean, do I want to have a bowhunting experience. If so, I hunt near the peak of the rut. If I am meat hunting, I usually plan for a late season cow hunt. If I want to hunt a really nice bull, i.e. 300+ then I will usually hunt private land during 3rd rifle season in Colorado or New Mexico. As you can see there really isn't a short answer to your question. However, hunting the first available rifle season following the rut is usually a pretty good time to have a good chance of sneaking up on a raghorn bull as they are younger and can sometimes still be found hanging around the cows. Their youthfulness sometimes works to the hunters advantage as these bulls can often be located using a call. If I cannot hunt this season, then I jump to a rifle season where I can expect that there will be some measure of snow on the ground. This makes it easier to locate the elk as well as the elk tend to move around a bit more once the weather has cooled off.
Q. 2008 I hunt elk in lower elevations between 7000 to 8500 feet in south-central Colorado. The terrain doesn't have tall pines, aspens, or slides. How would you locate bull elk there in mid November?
Jake, Colorado
A. The specific area that you are hunting (deleted) is pretty much high desert. Cover is mostly PJ (Pinon Juniper) and sage. Your best bet will be to find a high point and spend a lot of time with your binoculars or spotting scope looking for the elk. You might try some cow calling, but the sound of the call may not carry far enough in the area you are hunting. If the weather is warm, the bulls are going to find cover one way or the other. If that means that they have to travel 10 miles to find it they will.
Q. 2008 What is the best color combination for fletching on arrows? Should the colors be ones that are not noticeable to an elk at close range, but would that still make an arrow easy to find.
Patrick K, Washington
A. Patrick, I think your argument about easy to find is the best argument and the same argument that most of us make for the color of the vanes we use. I use easy to see arrow wraps as well as easy to see vanes. Not only does this make them easier to find at the range or if you miss while hunting, but these are also easier to track visually immediately after release. To worry about the color of your arrow vanes with regard to how the elk might or might not respond to them would probably be splitting hairs.
Q. 2008 I recently read your Elk Hunting 101 book and found it interesting how you said the older you get the less you want to carry. I agree and don't want to carry seven knives to field dress an elk. What type of knife is best for field dressing elk conveniently. I also plan on quartering the elk and packing it out on my back. Let me know what you think.
A novice elk hunter
A. I carry two knives. One is a drop-point fixed-blade buck knife and the other is a Benchmade folding drop-point knife. In addition I carry a small ceramic sharpener and a folding diamond dust sharpener. There are many excellent knives on the market. Try to avoid the cheaper imported knives as the steel in these is often inferior and can break leaving you with a real problem and no solution. Having a sharp blade is critical however. When I am preparing my gear for ElkCamp I use a Lansky sharpener to get the blades to 100%. One of the keys to getting the sharpest edge possible on a blade is a consistant angle between the blade and the sharpening surface. This is where a Lansky really shines. I take the Lansky to camp, but I do not carry it in my day pack. When you are field dressing your elk, try to avoid allowing the blade to come into contact with the hair on the hide any more than is absolutely necessay as this will dull your blade fast. For packing out, I suggest boning out the meat before you load it up. The bones are just added weight that have virtually no value so why carry them.
Much More Q&A on Elk Hunting (click here)
For more information on elk, elk hunting, and elk country check out the rest of our website. You can also find a tremendous wealth of information in our books, Elk Hunting 101, Elk Hunting 201, and Elk Hunting 301 and many of the other books on this great outdoor adventure featured here on our site. If you cannot find the answer to your question here on our site or in one of these resources, ask our loyal Hunter’s Forum members or E-mail me at: elkmaster@elkcamp.com.
* NOTE: When published on this website questions and answers become the intellectual property of ElkCamp.com. a division of Jackson Creek Media Group, Inc. As such we reserve the exclusive right to republish any question and it’s answer in other formats at our discretion without prior approval of the individual submitting the original question.
“There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot. These essays are the delights and delimmas of one who cannot.” Aldo Leopold, Sand County Almanac
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