16a archery elk questions

UtahMountainMan · May 6, 2012

Hey guys - 31 year old bowhunter from Utah here. This is my FIRST season I will ever be hunting outside of Utah and I am super excited.

I drew the 2nd season 16a archery elk tag.

I have had so many emotions the last several days. Excitement, anxiety, anticipation, worry, lol.

It is about a 12 hour drive for me to get down to the unit. I have NEVER been there before.

Tomorrow I am going to our local map supply store to get every map possible. My wife is mad because I have probably been on Google Earth for 20 hours the last 4 days.

I am looking for some help from someone who is willing. I am not a trophy hunter who is going for a 380" bull or broke. My goal is a 330" bull, I would shoot that on day one if I can get to one. I know that is not a given.

I have a few questions for any of you who can help....

What is a better strategy there in general during the middle of september, sitting water or locating with calls and stalking in? (I am more of a mobile hunter usually)

What are some of the mistakes you have made in this unit in the past that you could help me avoid?

If anyone has any knowledge of specific canyons/drainages that I can start scouting I would REALLY appreciate it...

PM me if you prefer.

I can help with Utah Limited Entry deer and elk info. I have very familiar with much of utah and have extensive knowledge of 3 or 4 LE units here. I am MORE than willing to help.

I am going to head down to the unit in 3 weekends for an early season scouting trip, mostly just to get a feel for the lay of the land.

Thanks in advance guys! I am treating this as a once in a lifetime tag and am going to make the most of it...

Earl aka UtahMountainMan

SweetBull · May 8, 2012

you got my tag!

wish i could help .. from what i gather, it will come off as somewhat of a zoo. sitting waterholes is for guides and flat-landers. get past the water holes to where those bulls originate from, and out-hunt the lazy 2 day quad hunters, and by all means dont be fooled by pathetic bugles coming from those 2 track roads! again, wish i could be more help, you have a good tag

passthrough · May 9, 2012

http://www.monstermuleys.info/cgi-b..._thread&om=2638&forum=DCForumID34&archive=yes

You have my tag! JK! You have a great hunt. I don't know about the "circus" people talk about, we never encountered that. Guess we picked a good place to hunt. Every hunter we saw was nice and courteous, as were we. I wouldn't call myself a lazy hunter for sitting water holes, it was a nice break after a morning of chasing bugles, plus the elk were hammering the water, coming in as early as 3pm. A 330 type bull is really doable, but you will have to pass a few to get to that. We only encountered a couple outfitters, one guiding a hunter during our hunt and another scouting for the last hunt. Both guides seemed to be nice guys. We heard all of the horror stories about this hunt when we drew too, but never had any problems, don't get discouraged, you have a great tag. I used the map service that Tommy Moldonado offers and it is great, we had gps coordinates for most every water source in the unit, that helps. http://www.gilawildernesshunting.com, worth every penny, and i believe he offers a scouting package that would cost as much as it would cost you in gas to come and scout. Congrats again on a great tag.