Solo Elk Hunting
- Thread starter durandja11
- Start date
If you're trying to call elk, 3 early mistakes I made.
1. when you call set up as though an elk is close and may come in vs sitting on your butt eating a sandwich, call and have a nice 5 pt walk in at 10yds.
2. If the thermals are changing and have a bull responding come in from the side.
3. If you have a bull responding and you don't want a frontal shot move forward and downwind from your last call or try to project your call behind you up wind.
Have fun, enjoy the woods and have bear spray if your in grizzly country.
1. when you call set up as though an elk is close and may come in vs sitting on your butt eating a sandwich, call and have a nice 5 pt walk in at 10yds.
2. If the thermals are changing and have a bull responding come in from the side.
3. If you have a bull responding and you don't want a frontal shot move forward and downwind from your last call or try to project your call behind you up wind.
Have fun, enjoy the woods and have bear spray if your in grizzly country.
Sagebrush1
Well-known member
This is just what I was going to add. It really kicks in after 4 or 5 days.
Carl 9.3x62
Well-known member
I hate when people use the excuse of it being the last day and last hour (or what have you) to take an iffy shot.
Roughwater
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2015
- Messages
- 246
On average the Rut is starting to kick in around the 15th of Sept. If your season is open before that date come a few days earlier to scout but scout with your bow.
My ideal set up is to have two camps,(your truck can be one camp) but set up your own little spike camp too. Scout from the truck to find a likely area then pack in even if just a mile but more is better. It allows you to hunt a little later and sleep a little longer without too much trampling through the woods in the dark. Near dawn and near dusk are the most likely times you will see and hear Elk. If you hike 5 or more miles in while hunting and scouting but head back early to be out of the woods by dark you may miss out.
One downside to having a spike camp is with it so quiet at night in the woods, you hear every darn sound. I think this is where snoring is your friend! LOL
You go through a lot of water with hunting and you can only carry so much so a filter of some kind is very helpful if not absolutely necessary especially if you pack in. Spike camp near a water source and carry in a 5 gallon collapsible water jug. Don't camp near dead trees.
Layered clothing is a must. Most often you go uphill from your camp or truck to hunt and you wear too much so it's important to start stripping down at the first sign of getting warm to avoid sweating. Last thing you want is wet cloths. But you still need extra clothing with you, just not always on your body.
One thing that surprised me while hunting Elk is that one time many years ago I bowhunted in Colorado. It was starting to get dark and I was still way back in and hadn't heard a bugle all day. I was heading back to my truck as it was just late enough to be illegal to shoot then I heard an Elk bugle. Then another and another. It seemed like they were all around me and coming out of the woodwork. They seemed to be pretty close too! So they were there and probably had been there all along, I just wasn't aware of it till then. Had I left the woods early enough to get back to my truck before dark I would never have been made so aware of their presence.
My ideal set up is to have two camps,(your truck can be one camp) but set up your own little spike camp too. Scout from the truck to find a likely area then pack in even if just a mile but more is better. It allows you to hunt a little later and sleep a little longer without too much trampling through the woods in the dark. Near dawn and near dusk are the most likely times you will see and hear Elk. If you hike 5 or more miles in while hunting and scouting but head back early to be out of the woods by dark you may miss out.
One downside to having a spike camp is with it so quiet at night in the woods, you hear every darn sound. I think this is where snoring is your friend! LOL
You go through a lot of water with hunting and you can only carry so much so a filter of some kind is very helpful if not absolutely necessary especially if you pack in. Spike camp near a water source and carry in a 5 gallon collapsible water jug. Don't camp near dead trees.
Layered clothing is a must. Most often you go uphill from your camp or truck to hunt and you wear too much so it's important to start stripping down at the first sign of getting warm to avoid sweating. Last thing you want is wet cloths. But you still need extra clothing with you, just not always on your body.
One thing that surprised me while hunting Elk is that one time many years ago I bowhunted in Colorado. It was starting to get dark and I was still way back in and hadn't heard a bugle all day. I was heading back to my truck as it was just late enough to be illegal to shoot then I heard an Elk bugle. Then another and another. It seemed like they were all around me and coming out of the woodwork. They seemed to be pretty close too! So they were there and probably had been there all along, I just wasn't aware of it till then. Had I left the woods early enough to get back to my truck before dark I would never have been made so aware of their presence.
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