Ok, What am I missing???

[ThndrChkn]

Hey guys, I'm new here, but not new to elk hunting... At least I thought not... LOL!!

Anyway, I've taken 5 elk with my bow, all on public land. I was forced into a hunting hiatusback in 2003 when my wife was nearly killed in a car accident in which she was hit run by a driver high on METH. I only recently was able to start bowhunting again, and man has it changed!!

I hit it hard every time out, and I don't have any problems finding or getting into elk, just closing the deal. I've tried everything I used to do that worked, only to be educated to the fact that those skills & tactics no longer work... So, I figured I'd grab a couple of the newer videos, and see what's up, only to find out that most of them are nothing short of brag sessions, or promotional videos to sell their products. I understand the marketing side, but 95% of these videos are shot on private land and very little of what they preach has much if any effect on public land bulls...

I'm not trying to make this a sob story here, but let me explain my situation. I can only work a partime job do to my wife's situation. I can't afford to take a week or 2 and head to camp 15 miles from nowhere to get away from the crowds... I'm kinda stuck hunting most of the same ground everyone else does...

Like I said, I don't have a problem finding or getting into elk, like yesterday for instance: I got on a herd of about 60-70 elk, a great find for the parcel I was hunting. Got in fairly close by simply following their bugles, & there was 10 (shootable) bulls in the herd one of which being a 340" + - 7x7 that gave me a perfect shot @ 47 yds. I ranged him at such, drew my bow, and he started walking amongst some cows. Well with 40+ other women yacking in his ears, my cow calls to try and stop him were futile at best, so I let him pass.

I got back on the herd over the ridge and was planning my next move, only to have a couple of jackasses ride through on a 4 wheeler, hence foiling any further attempts at those elk.

I guess my point is, I know I need to go deeper than the rest, to have better success, but my situation is what it is... I don't want to know where any of your secret spots are, (unless you feel so inclined that is) I'd just like to know if some of you here can point me to something I may be missing to better my chances for what I have to work with....

Thanks in advance,

P.S.

If some would rather call/text me to strike up some chat, here's my cell:

406-431-3265

 

[Khunter]

i hunt busy areas. if you are in to them then obviously you are in a good enough area to be killing them. Maybe you are not consistently pushing right in to bow range enough? Would you say you are aggressive as in getting right into bow range when you know where they are? or do you hang back thinking you will call them in that last 100, 20, 400 yards? just fishing, but if the latter, do more of the former?

 

[drahthaar]

Did I miss something? You just said you were in on 60-70 elk and 10 bulls you can kill. Why would you go ANYWHERE else? I won't lay eyes on 60 elk all season where I hunt, bow and rifle.

Holy crap man, get your arse back up there every freakin chance you get until one of them screws up, it might even be the big guy.

Get over this idea that you have to go farther and farther. I did that for years with my buddies. I threw in the towel when we walked away from a gagger bull screaming his butt off, because we didn't know if the trail out the bottom was cut out or not. This was deep in the great bear wilderness, if it wasn't, the meat on that bull would have been rotted or grizz food for sure. Now, I make a living off figuring out what "the crowd" is missing. There are pockets of elk that are not being touched all over, that are an easy hike.

I am sure it isn't any different in this area around Helena, outside 380 of course.

But seriously, I don't know what you are yammering on about with a pile of bulls like that to go chase. Go kill one dude! Just keep going. Dont get bogged down on calling this, bugling that, just put yourself out there, keep the wind in your face, and one will screw up!

 

[drahthaar]

Did the 4 wheelers see them? did they even stop? Don't get all hung up on that either. These elk are probably used to them if there is a main riding trail nearby.

I bet they didn't even go that far. Find where they eat, find where they water, find where they bed, and get right in between. Is there a thick nasty north facing slope or pocket? That big bull will probably run some of those cows right into it for the day. Then push them out during the night to go get some grub or water. Do you pay attention to what they might have to eat? I don't know this part of the world very well, so I can't help you there. These dry lodgepole, ponderosa stands are really different from what I know.

Figure it out, and keep it to yourself. And don't go pushing them everytime you find them, if they bust you let em go, don't push. Elk get sick of stuff really easy and will walk right out of the county. Be patient and keep hanging around.

That is my theory on hunting elk closer to civilization. IMHO.

 

[ThndrChkn]

You guys are 100% right!! With all of my previous preoccupations, it's like I forgot how to hunt these things... LOL!

Khunter, you're right. I haven't been making sur I'm in the right spot to make sure I get a shot to begin with. After thinking about it, I use to do just that, when I would hear a bugle, or cows talking, I would run like a mad man in that direction and get that gap closed as fast as possible... And that's how I killed the 5 bulls that I've killed...

And drahthaar,

I agree with you about there being elk pockets close by, everywhere that may be overlooked... I live on the southern edge of area 339 in the north Helena Valley, and when my wife & I both drew that tag back in '03 just weeks before her accident, that's how we got our bulls... We hit all the spots everybody else went by, and overlooked... Heck, I shot mine literally 600 yds off of I-15!! Not a monster, but my 10 yr old son (at the time) was with me, and he said he was big enough, so there ya go... LOL!!

I do believe that the guys on 4 wheelers saw them, or at least heard them bugling... When I last heard th elk bugling they were across the coulee from me and it sounded like they were gonna bed up for the day, so I was making a plan to wait them out. This was about 11:30 and they were just screaming, so I let it be at that, and would bugle back at them about every 30-45 min, just to let them think there was another bull in the area... That's when I heard the 4 wheelers coming. The guys were talking so loud I could hear them over the engine noise... They had stopped almost directly below where I tought te elk were bedding up, and shut their engine(s) off, and a few bugles later, they fired em up and drove down the trail and up another wash that would've put them much closer than I ws comfortable with them being... That, I beieve was the turning point for hunt tha day, as the bulls/cows all just shut right up... I was already back there, so I decided to find some shadeake a nap and get some grub myself, and hoped I could wait them out... Well at 7:00 p.m. I grabbed my tube and let out a pre-dark bugle, and got an immediate response and I'm 98% sure it was from that big 7x7, but they were topped out 2 ridges back and it didn't sound like they were too interested in coming back, so I headed for the truck...

Thanks for the awakening guys... After reading your replies, I think I've figured out that during my hiatus, a few simple things had slipped my mind... Now, since I don't work until noon every day, there's elk to be killed, and they're close to the house... (somewhat) Who knows, I may just be calling in "sick" so I can pack one out... LOL!!

Thanks again guys,