For me it’s been all about experience. I live 28 hours from my elk hunting area. I’ve bow hunted elk since 08. It took me 4 trips to kill my first elk (a cow) since then I’ve went 4 for 5. Killed bulls my last 3 trips. My first few trips I was lost and kept going in the same areas without much sign. Now I hit new spots every day until I find good fresh sign. That to me is the most important thing an East coaster has to learn.
Real World success
- Thread starter TexRed
- Start date
In that case. Does @Stubaby want to join me on my hunts this year?!
All great points. I feel like we give it hell when we are scouting and hunting. I think traveling further does give folks a bit more determination/drive/incentive to stay longer. I was originally just thinking about people of similar mindsets. If someone who has the same passion and determination as me but lives near the unit they should hypothetically be able to figure it out a little quicker than I could.
I also believe that luck plays a decent rolled well.
I was hunting deer in CO and ran into some guys from Pennsylvania that had been hunting elk in the same area for 15 years. They had only killed 2 elk in 15 years (1 cow, 1 raghorn). You could have taught th a thing or two!
SAJ-99
Well-known member
Certainly true. If you just hunt weekends on public land you are going to have a rough time, at least in MT.This is more the reality that the harvest statistics suggest
Not true. mtmuley
I give the idea credit but its not where you live its whats in the mirror! I host a couple of hunters that are disabled vets (not severely limited) every year, some of these guys i meet first time in camp. These guys can move around mountain but we need to go slow, nothing to steep and we need comforts of camp every night(no cold hard ground sleep). I take them to a very popular area that i know several on this board have hunted, because its easy access. Last year met rest of people in camps around drainage and bs'ing they all were struggling to see or kill elk. We went 4/4, one of those was a cow(either tag) but guy said from day one first elk he gets shot at, and shot led cow that had nice herd bull 12 behind her...he was excited and happy! We didnt kill these animals cause we had some secret spot, hunted same areas as everyone else but we did it better. These guys may be legally disabled but there tough SOB's who can at times excel at the suck. When it got cold and wet we didnt leave mountain and go to our warm camp,... we hunted! We know we had a decent walk so we got up hours before any other camp and took our time to get to spots in dark and when sun cracked we were already in elk not hiking up still. My point is takes grit, guts and drive to be in that alleged 10% that kills elk consistently. The traits i am talking about aint as common in people as it use to be...sorry this turned into rant,lol
brownbear932008
Well-known member
Your the elk killing king man!!!! Oh and Turkey's too
Haha hope to add to that in the morning! Good luck tomorrow buddy!Your the elk killing king man!!!! Oh and Turkey's too
Yep. mtmuley
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Deleted member 16014
Guest
Occasional success might have quite a lot to do with luck, but consistent success has almost nothing to do with it IMO. If you learn where elk live, and reside in a state with decent opportunities, you need almost zero luck.
SAJ-99
Well-known member
A one person sample size is not representative of the population. If you can donut successfully, god bless. You are the exception, not the rule.
You think I'm one person that does this in Montana? mtmuley
SAJ-99
Well-known member
Not packing it up when the weather turned also increased your hunting time, which probably has a higher correlation to success than anything else.
I’m sure this is going to offend some, but the numbers say that those that are successful will assign a greater proportion of the causality to skill and hard work and much less to luck. It doesn’t matter what the topic is. Seems to hold true here.
The numbers say? mtmuley
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Deleted member 16014
Guest
I should say, almost zero luck to kill any legal elk.
SAJ-99
Well-known member
You seem to hint that you are one. And I don’t doubt it. But the OP should not expect the same. Experience certainly helps, but I think more in finding elk. That can get you half way to success.
SAJ-99
Well-known member
Yes. In any field. Business, hunting, poker, anything. Think of the entire population curve. How you got where you are is a long and complicated process. Yes there are professional poker players that win consistently, but they certainly don’t assume any person can be a pro. And there is no substitute for playing time.
My apologies. The OP being a NR changes things. mtmuley
wannakillabigbull
Well-known member
I agree that it would be very interesting to see the correlation between distance from hunting spot and success rate. I haven’t personally found much correlation between the two. What I’ve found to be the most common traits among those that kill consistently is obsession and persistence.
I wouldn’t consider myself a great hunter but what I’ve done in order to kill consistently the past few years is pick units/areas that play to my strengths. I’ve found that much more effective than hunting the same areas consistently or close to home that didn’t allow me to separate myself from the other hunters in some way.
I wouldn’t consider myself a great hunter but what I’ve done in order to kill consistently the past few years is pick units/areas that play to my strengths. I’ve found that much more effective than hunting the same areas consistently or close to home that didn’t allow me to separate myself from the other hunters in some way.
What it takes for sure. mtmuley
