Successful early season Elk Hunters...

[dryflyelk]

Well, it finally happened and I drew a Wasatch archery elk tag this year with 7 points. To say I'm exited is an understatement. I'm ready to do the work and put in the time to maximize my chances and bringing a nice bull home.

To you successful archery elk hunters out there- what techniques did you use for the crappy early season dates? Did you find the bigger bulls were with cows early on, or were they still on their own? Any luck with calling, or did you find that sitting over water or on travel routes was the best bet early on?

I'm hoping the elk are vocal by the last week or so but I'm not counting on it. Let's hear how you guys did it.

 

[Silentstalker]

If you have the patience, water is the way to go. Find a very remote wallow/waterhole. Spot and stalk works great too. Just hunt hard and don't over call. It is a very fun hunt. Scout them out early and kill them quick before their pattern changes. Lots of strategies work well, just hunt hard and more importantly, enjoy the hunt. Take lots of pictures and Good luck!

 

[one_dryboot]

I hunted elk last year on a general tag but on good hunting ground. Early on I sat at water holes only to have young bulls and cows come in. Around the first part of september the bulls started talking and moving more. I was too busy to hunt after sept 2 until the day before the hunt ended. On sept. 11 we got up to the top of the mountain before light and bulls were going crazy! I zoned in on one bull bugling and snuck in while he was tearing up a tree. when the bull gave me a shot I made it count and ended up with a nice bull.

My advise is hunt hard even when things are not in full swing. As said before find remote water holes early in the hunt where the bulls are coming in. As the bulls start to talk a cow call can work great. I have had good luck with cow calls and bad luck bugling. It seems if a bull has cows he will take them the other way if he hears an agressive bull. Good luck Im sure you will have a few chances! just make them count.

 

[GSH]

The best advice I could give you is ADAPT! Don't get stuck in a rut using the same game plan or technique. Hunt ALL day long!

 

[bragabit]

leave your calls in your pocket. Find the best vantage point and glass,glass,glass, and glass some more. When you have a bull in a spot you can move in do it quick and quiet. A group of four or five bulls make a ton of noise. As long as they don't smell you, you have a chance. I believe they really don't feel threatened early on in the hunt and it can be great hunting. Treat it like a deer hunt. A group of bulls are way easier to sneak on than a group of bucks.

 

[1highpeak]

I know alot of people might say im full of it, but you have a much better chance of killing a Giant bull when he has no cows,and even better yet, is onry enough not to put up with much company from other bulls, he is racking trees and starting to Patrol, I think the biggest bulls know the smaller more agressive bulls will herd up the cows and the largest bulls will wait until right before the first cows come into estrus and kick some satilite bull A#% and swoop up the cows for himself right as the cows come in. The trick is to get into the Bulls comfort zone and either trick him in with cow and calf sounds, possible even a spike squeel, DO NOT King KONG BUGLE in his comfort zone (within 100 yards) in fact dont call at him until your so close that it will spark his intrest. Be very careful using your calls early on, the biggest bulls have seen hunters bugle from there truck and are pretty wise to whats up, you can always call in satilites but if your looking for something special, you may want to stalk more than call, Remember its not September 15th-25th when the elk are in such a frenzy they would answer any idiot with a Gazoo and a Hoochie Mama!

 

[dryflyelk]

>dryfly,
>
>I was going to rip on
>you, but I am not,
>hopefully this is more productive?
>
>
>I think you are beat already
>and May just started. You
>are worried about the dates
>of your hunt and you
>applied knowing full well what
>they are.

Beat already? Really? I can guarantee one thing, ktc. I will give 110% effort this spring, summer and fall and bull or not, I will be proud of my effort, and I will hunt as hard as my body and schedule allow. Of course I knew the dates when I put in. I would hunt elk in February if that's when the season was. It's well known that Utah's archery dates are some of the worst in the country. I've hunted the rut, and I've hunted in the August heat. I prefer the rut. Don't you? So I'm simply asking how others have been successful in the pre rut period.

Thank you to those who have chimed in with useful tips.

 

[bobcatbess]

AS YOU KNOW I'M ALWAYS UN-SUCCESSFUL IN PULLING A PERMIT!!!

I'LL GUARANDAMNTEE YOU ANOTHER THING!!!

ALOT OF STICK FLICKERS PISSING & MOANING ABOUT THE TIME OF THEIR HUNT!!!

I'VE SEEN IT MANY TIMES ON LE ARCHERY HUNTS WHERE THE LAST 4-5 DAYS WERE AS GOOD AS IT GETS!!!

BUT THE STICK FLIPPERS DON'T SEEM TO WANNA SHARE THE RUT!!!

THEY SEEM TO WANT IT ALL!!!

I'M SURE YOU'LL DO FINE dry!!!

GOOD LUCK!!!

"I'M NOT COMPLAINING,I'M TELLING IT THE WAY IT IS,SOME OF YOU MAY NOT LIKE IT,THATS O.K.,SOMETIMES THE TRUTH HURTS & YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT IT,OR YOU FIND OUT WHAT THE FACTS ARE,STAND UP & VOICE YOUR OWN OPINION,THIS IS STILL AMERICA THE LAST TIME I CHECKED"!!!

REMEMBER!!!

THERE'S ONLY ONE bobcat!!!

 

[ktc]

dryfly,

Alright that was harsh. Seriously, good luck. Just dont let the dates be a big deal. It will work out.

 

[woodruffhunter]

I do not bow hunt anymore. However, my friend does and hunts spikes every year on a LE unit. He sits at water holes in the
evening. Every year without fail, he has nice bulls come in
to water. This is a unit that probably has 20-30% success rate
for the archery LE hunters. I think most just walk around and call. Of course walking around and calling can work, but I wouldn't use this method exclusively.

I would plan on the elk not being in the rut and sit on a water hole. Pre-scout several water holes that are at least a mile from any roads. It wont be hard to tell which ones are being used. Good luck...

 

[ktc]

dryfly,

Check your pm. I never meant to rip on you.

woody is right. The experience I had during the any weapon, and the experience of the bow guys I was working with as far as info goes, the bulls are not very receptive to a call. Seems it can be a locating tool, but use it only as a last resort. Any time I called to to try and bring them in they would shut up fast. I can promise one thing, during the any weapon the bulls were not rutting hard like people think. Utah bulls seem very call savvy.

 

[elkhunterUT]

I would definitely second the advice to leave your calls at camp. We have hunted the Wasatch for several years in a row now on the archery and muzzy hunts and have watched many bulls gather cows up and head the opposite direction quickly the moment another hunter calls (we can all thank the friggin hoochie mama idiots for this ). I would let the elk talk and move in on them as quickly and quietly as you can-don't call to them.

Best of luck on your hunt-spend as many days in the field as you possibly can and scout your butt off to find some good remote waterholes/wallows you can sit on.

I will be hunting the Any Weapon hunt, so save a good bull for me!!

Good luck,

Cory

 

[alchemyinvest]

I drew the LE archery tag last year and killed a nice bull on the first day of the last week. Definitely plan on taking that week off. The only thing I would add to the good advice you have been given is when you find a well used waterhole or wallow, follow the spring feeding the wallow/waterhole as long as you can. Sometimes if it goes back into thick timber you will find some additional wallows that stay more cool temperature wise than the bigger more open wallows. I found that a lone mature bull was more likely to be there early in the hunt...in the areas I hunted. Have fun.

 

[osborn99]

These guys have given you some great advice... On my Utah archery hunt versatility was the key. Spot and stalk was my most successful tactic. Late in the hunt some of the wallows became very active. The only mistake I made was once I found a huge bull, I couldn't leave him. Good Luck

 

[Dikndirt]

Too many of you guys are talking real negative about using calls! I have archery hunted elk for many years and you still can call in big bulls early on in the rut. My favorite tactic is to leave camp way before daylight and bugle into the deeper and darker holes..just trying to locate bulls. if you get a big older bull to respond [you can usually tell] move in as close as you dare without any more calling look for rubs and wallows and softly give him a cow mew or two, don't overdo it. be patient and more times than not that bull will come to investigate.[usually silent]Hey calling and fooling a mature bull is much more fun than simply sitting a waterhole or wallow..Just my 2 cents worth Oh yeah one more thing ya gotta be able to call..practice and practice some more it will make the difference. .

 

[Dikndirt]

Oh by the way dry fly. There are very few secret waterholes on the wasatch unit. a couple years ago I was helping a friend archery hunt we located a very promising waterhole and watched elk from a distance using it regularly. Never did see anybody else around but come a few days before the hunt we dropped down in there to hang a couple tree stands and found a ground blind and a tree stand already there..notes asking for privacy and all that stuff. That is when being able to control the situation with calling bulls into bow range comes in really handy.

 

[scopenstalk]

I had the best luck last year with just locating a bull and stalking. I didn't try sitting water for enough time for it to have been effective. calling sure wasn't effective until the last two days of the hunt. Many of the bulls had cows with them but they just weren't bugling much last year during the archery hunt it seemed.

 

[bragabit]

Every encounter with a bull will be differant. If I knew where the bull was and he didn't know I was around I wouldn't call and get him looking for me. There will be time when yo will need to call when you can't get any closer, run out of cover or need to stop him. I shot my bull last year at 25 yards on the 27th of August. Six bull running together, tanking up on food, making a ton of noise.