Can you elk hunt every year... successfully?

[Chester]

Yep it’s plenty doable. Know several people that live on Elk meat throughout the year. They put the time in and found out what it takes and put that effort in every year.

 

[Robinhood21]

If you know anything about general season Utah on public land the elk hunting is tough, with that said I filled every tag in the last 25 yrs except 2. very few in the same area. I have found the best way to get it done is cover ALOT of ground before the hunt and wack your bull when the sun comes up on opening day. 2 years ago I saw 14 legal bulls the 1st day within shooting range. did not kill one because I knew I could come back and kill a 6point. the next Saturday wacked a 280 6point and made it to my grandsons football game at 1130 am. another time I went thru 8 bulls before I took one within the 1st hr of the hunt. you need to hunt where the elk are not where you think they could be....I have killed 12 6pt or better public land bulls. it can be done if you think outside the box and turn over every rock.

So... can I go with you?

 

[Bigjav]

It can be done, but be ready to eat tag soup at roughly $600 + travel expenses per bowl for about 5-6 years if you're a nonresident till you find an OTC area that has bull elk...I've been told they exist but have yet to find one myself. Cows are easier to hunt and the tags generally cheaper

 

[squirrel]

If you pay the dues to be in the top 5% you will reap the rewards of being there, but 95% will not cough up the membership fee. The fee costs no money at all... or 1000's, depending on how you go about it. You can get several elk/year once you have your membership card, they come arunnin just to come see it.

 

[David Gough]

Can you? Yes. If you actually do depends on what you put into it, like most other things in life.

 

[jtm307]

If you want to kill an elk every year, move to WY. A WY resident can easily kill an elk every year. I get 2 tags every season and expect to harvest at least one.

 

[CTELK83]

I'd say it depends on how good of an elk hunter you are haha

 

[mtmuley]

Greenhorn nailed it. Kinda why I referenced the 80/20 rule. Tougher for guys that have to travel to elk country as a NR obviously. But guys that live in elk country should be able to tag regularly. mtmuley

 

[Mountainguide]

I can honestly say I have hunted elk successfully every year for the last 13 years. And most of those hunts I never took my rifle off my shoulder

 

[shaffe48]

Well this is the first time I stirred up enough commotion to get two pages of posts.

I guess the problem with the internet is you can quickly go public with the latest hunting idea you are lusting after...perhaps a little too easily.

Sounds like I have a good picture. For this fall I just got my book on pronghorn hunting in the mail after a long 10 day wait. As I read about how cool these animals really are and how conservation efforts brought them back from extinction I'm a little less frustrated about the prospect of fighting for elbow room with a few other hunters. Liking the animal makes it easier to embrace the challenges of hunting them. Sounds like a lot of people have grown to like elk and I can't say I blame them. I mean they're huge, regal, and challenging creatures.

 

[David Gough]

Well this is the first time I stirred up enough commotion to get two pages of posts.

I guess the problem with the internet is you can quickly go public with the latest hunting idea you are lusting after...perhaps a little too easily.

Sounds like I have a good picture. For this fall I just got my book on pronghorn hunting in the mail after a long 10 day wait. As I read about how cool these animals really are and how conservation efforts brought them back from extinction I'm a little less frustrated about the prospect of fighting for elbow room with a few other hunters. Liking the animal makes it easier to embrace the challenges of hunting them. Sounds like a lot of people have grown to like elk and I can't say I blame them. I mean they're huge, regal, and challenging creatures.

Hunt what trips your trigger, whatever animal that is.

 

[Wulffhunter]

Killing any elk on any public land tag that’s allows the harvest should be considered successful. Here in SD where it takes an ungodly long time to draw an any elk tag I’ve decided I’m not going to wait 20+ years to draw so I have been putting in for cow tags. I get to gain some knowledge about elk hunting do when I finally go further west to hunt I will have a clue what I’m doing.

 

[2rocky]

I think filling tags, or having opportunities to pull the trigger consistently comes with knowing the country. The reasons residents and outfitted hunters usually have a higher success rate points to that. So it comes down to finding a few hundred square miles you can get a tag in consistently. Maybe you have to rotate years between bear, deer and elk.

Experience is also a great indicator of success. Heck , the more encounters you have with elk, the better equipped you are to find elk in new areas.

In my personal experience, I started hunting a public land area with my father and uncle who started hunting it a few years before me with a local ranch owner/outfitter. I had 2 years of deer tags before I drew an elk tag there. By year 4, the local began asking us to show his new guide the country. Since then we have hunted elk for 8 more years in 3 different areas on the same tag, and only had one year where none of us punched a tag. I also drew a couple of once in a lifetime tags in other states, and that experience in my "core area" helped me be successful in a couple places I'd only scouted for 3 days in the summer before.

 

[oleefish2]

For me yes but I only have to travel between 30 and 43 miles and have a 50 day season for rifle. I also have access to some private land, that is about 50% of the time successful. Also there is some public access lands for the cow/calf season. The hard part is that the elk run in large groups so you have to have luck in locating them.

 

[cmbbulldog]

Absolutely you can.

 

[ElkNut1]

All depends on your present hunting skills, bow or rifle? Some guys can most guys cannot! If you have many years of success & the question was asked from here on out then the response could heavily favor Yes! As a new hunter & totally into archery your odds would be slim to have yearly success, another thing may be the days you had to hunt? The more days the higher your odds & do you know your country! Are you picky or do you just want to fill the freezer! Lots to consider & an individual decision. Whatever you do, have fun doing it!

ElkNut/Paul