Lottery Elk Tag North Dakota

[DrakeKillerSX3]

Hey all i am new to the forums and to western big game hunting in general and really looking forward to long term tag planning and future hunting opportunities. Reason i am posting this now however is i am a ND resident and was lucky enough to draw a ND either sex Elk tag for this upcoming fall. I dont really expect to bump into anyone that has experience hunting elk in ND but if there is anyone that has i would love to hear from you. My question is what terrain do you think i should focus on when trying to find elk in ND? I am hunting the unit around the Theodore Roosevelt National Park but this area dose not have large elevation changes or dark timber like the mountains and most the other western states elk typically can be found in. Do i focus my attention more to valleys and river basins? The hunting season runs from Sept 7th to Dec 31st so i can hit almost all phases of the rut but would love to focus in on the peak rut time frame. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[BlakeA]

The elk are where you find them out there. Good Luck!

 

[DrakeKillerSX3]

Well Better late then never as a follow up to the Lottery Elk Tag that I held in ND here is how everything played out.

Through the Summer i did a bunch of E Scouting and talking with Local Game authorities and a few guys that had held the tag in previous years. With all this information i had narrowed my hunt down to 4 areas to focus in on. Due to a new infant at the house i was not able to sneak out and do any scouting so opening weekend was going to count as my scouting weekend. Me and a Buddy headed out on opening weekend and hit my #2 spot i wanted to hunt since we saw a few rigs in the #1 area. After a full day of scouting with no luck in Area #2 or #3 and me coughing up both lungs we called it and ended up heading back home as i was diagnosed with Pneumonia. The sickness kept me laid up through the next weekend as i regained my endurance and lung capacity.

Two Weeks later me and my buddy are back at in scouting the area we had designated as the #1 spot. We rolled in with about 1 HR of light left and was able to hear bugles and see a few cows so we knew we had good odds of tracking down some elk the next day. We also bumped into some guys that were packing out a 340" 6x7 they had harvested late that morning. These guys were more then happy to let us know what they had experienced that day where they saw the elk traveling and let us know their was a bigger 6x6 that they couldn't get a shot on due to him not crossing off the private land. With hopes high and bugles ringing out all through the night we set off early the next morning. We hiked right in to where the guys had mentioned they had a good vantage point the day before and sat down waiting for first light. All the Elk seemed to be calling from the Private land and this was confirmed as soon as it got light enough out. On top of the elk being a mile onto the private land there were 4 other hunters within sight of our vantage point waiting for them to come onto the public land. We decided to move closer to the boundary and attempt to call at some satellite bulls but it was obvious to see these elk had been pressured and knew the boundary. We spent the day spotting elk seeing 9 different bulls 3 of which were in the mid 300's including one that just stood out above the rest despite being 1.4 miles away. Sorry about the fuzzy picture didn't have an adapter for my phone to spotter at the time.


Also we were able to get this guy to respond to calls and come to within 150 yards of the boundary and put a show on for us!


The next day we hiked in even earlier trying to get into a position to cut off any bulls that may have moved onto the public over night and are headed back in the morning but bugles indicated this was not the case again and we spent the day spotting many of the same elk we say the day before and hiking some new ridge lines looking for any elk that may be quiet but resting on the public. Again we had no luck finding elk on the public and had one Satellite 5x5 work his way to 75 yards of the boundary but he would not cross that line.

I was not able to get back out for 2 weeks but was able to get some time off work and get my father to tag along. We found ourselves back in the same area the first morning and as we are walking out in the dark i pointed to my left and told my dad who had never heard an elk bugle in the wild before until we set up camp the night before that all we want to hear is a bugle out that way. Not 5 Min after that we heard what we wanted. We got out to the same vantage point for first light between the bugle and the private ground and 5 min before shooting light one group of hunters came walking right under us towards the bugle. I whistled at them to make them aware of our presence and they just kept heading in. Hoping that they carried a cow tag we waited until 30 min after shooting light until we saw another group of hunters coming into the area from the opposite side we entered. I told my dad we need to observe what these guys are doing and then make our plan. Both groups of hunters set up on some points watching the fence of the private public boundary and with Elk we heard in the morning being silent we decided to head into the private further to where he was last heard. As we were hiking across the bottom we happened to see two 5x5 bulls chasing a cow and calf across the other side. These elk were headed right between the other two hunters so we decided not to pursue and just keep an eye on them to see if they get turned back. They ended up getting into the bottom of the draw and woods and must have snuck through the other hunters or was not what they were looking for as both hunters passed on them. Feeling a little lost as i was thinking that one of the 5x5s must have been the elk we heard bugling in the dark i decided to let out a bugle of my own to see if anything would respond. As luck would have it we got a response even further into the public and off we went. We had targeted a hump between us and where we heard the bugle to either glass what we heard or let out another call. My dad not being in the best shape told me to go and he would catch up. I made my way to the top of the hump and with the sun at my back crawled up along a rock and started glassing. About 5 min later i noticed a string of cows coming out of a bunch of trees and working there way behind the next hump over. At the end of the line was a large 6x6 that was a no doubt shooter. Just after i spotted him my dad had crested the hump behind me and was able to glass him up as well. The herd was working behind a plateau about 1000 yards away and we had about a 1000 yard hike to get around the front face of the hump and cut them off. We made our way around with sun at our back and wind in our face we were able to get around to the other side and set up in the shadows of a rock pile. After waiting about 15 min we were wondering if they turned back or hung up on top of the plateau. I was just getting my things gathered back up when my dad said there's a cow. I got back set up on my rest and right at the end of the cows the 6x6 stepped out. My dad having never hunted elk or hardly seen them in the field before asked me if he was the same bull. I gave him a funny look and said of course look at how long his tines are. Pushing his cows around the hill and into the open he gave me a broadside shot at 300 yards. Elk Fever got the best of me and i shot right over him. All the elk picked up their heads and looked right at the spot where my bullet hit. During this time i was able to reload and get a 2nd shot off before they spooked. The sweet sound of a good hit rang out and the elk herd actually ran 100 yards towards us where they stopped and looked around again. He stood facing me straight on for what seemed like forever and i just didn't feel comfortable with the shot as i couldn't get me cross hairs to settle on that small vital zone. Finally he turned to his side and i was able to get another good shot into him where he ran another 50 yards then tipped over in sight. Being this was only my second elk ever after shooting a small 5x5 the year before the adrenaline kicked in as i fist pumped and shared a congratulations with my dad that i know is going to be one of my favorite memories for the rest of my life. Walking up to the bull i was in awe of the overall tine length and just overall size. My father looking at the bull says "How in the heck do we get that thing out of here?" "One Trip at a time" i said. Luckily i was able to get a hold of a nearby rancher that let me drive our rig to within 500 yards of the bull instead of the 3/4 of mile hike back to camp. Needless to say i can thank those that helped me enough and i am looking forward to getting my father on his first elk hunt hopefully in the next couple years.

 

[DrakeKillerSX3]

Here is another image loaded into the truck

 

[Duck-Slayer]

That’s a heck of a bull, congrats!
Matt

 

[Buschy]

That is an AWESOME bull. Congratulations!!

 

[Jape]

Love his whale tails! Congrats!

 

[hardscrabble]

What a great bull, congrats!

 

[Schism]

Great story and a great bull! Congratulations! One of these years I’m gonna draw that tag ��

 

[rtraverdavis]

That’s a great bull. Congratulations man.

 

[FYT]

Great story and congrats on an amazing bull! Love your perseverance and hard work and it's awesome you were able to share that moment with your dad. I'm jealous of the bull but also of the fact that your hunting season was so long and you were able to call back and forth with bulls during a rifle season. I haven't gotten into archery yet and the CO rifle seasons are too late for the rut, so I've never had that experience (yet).

I'm curious where you're from in ND? My wife grew up in Minot and still has family there, in Bismarck, in Williston and elsewhere in the state. I didn't even know ND had elk until this summer when we were back there visiting family and one of her cousins and I struck up a conversation about the Elk he had shot in ND the previous season.

How many tags do they give out? I was surprised to hear about all the hunting pressure you had to contend with. Do you know how many elk live in ND overall? Just curious on those.

Thanks again for the write up and good luck in your future adventures!

 

[DrakeKillerSX3]

Thanks all for the kind words! The Bull was i hope not once in a lifetime as i continue to pursue them but just may be. Either way he is at the taxidermist. Green score Gross 355" and had a 56" main beam on the right side and 50" on the left side.

So a little more information on the hunt the Season actually runs from the First weekend in September to the 31st of December so i had plenty of time to get an Elk down. From the people i talked to the later in the year it gets the more the elk move onto private ground and i really wanted to get it done on public land. The State Gave out a total of 404 Licenses this past year with 169 of them be an Any Elk tag. I am not sure on the total population of Elk in ND but Most of the Elk can be found along the Little Missouri River and there is a very healthy herd of them that live in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The Area i was hunting had 140 Tag holders and it was the bigger concentration of Elk that i had found or heard about so once i thought about it it doesn't surprise me there was hunting pressure. Being this is a once in a lifetime tag people are more willing to give out locations from past experience.

I live in Fargo, ND so about as far away in the state as i could be but 5 Hr drive to elk camp was nice vs 14+ to Colorado elk camp.

 

[Z Barebow]

Congrats on the draw and the bull! I hunt out there every year. If I ever pull an elk tag, I will likely reach out to you. (So far I am 0 for 12 and counting on the ND Big 3)

Congrats again. From another Fargo resident!

 

[Gr8bawana]

Congrats on taking a great and hard earned bull.

 

[NDMuley]

Congratulations on a beautiful ND bull. I also hunt out there and have seen some nice bulls. Hopefully 1 day I am lucky enough to draw a tag. 0 for 18 so far on the big 3.

 

[mtmiller]

Great bull, congrats and thanks for sharing your hunt.

 

[Little Big Man MT Chris]

beautiful bull congratulations

 

[Art Vandeley]

Congrats on the nice bull.

 

[iHunt]

Your Pictures have me Jacked Up for my ND Elk Tag this year!!