3 tips for archery elk hunters

Soccerdude

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I enjoyed the thread about guided archery elk hunts but didn't want to hijack it. Give me 3 tips for archery hunting elk. 2 good ones and 1 sarcastic. This should be good.
 
1. Be more aggressive than you think you should be if you get into a rut frenzy.

2. Be in a position to shoot when a bull is coming in, don't be hiding behind a tree or bush. Take first good shot you get. Of course play the wind right. Used a fixed broadhead.

3. Drink a bottle of cow elk urine so when you have to pee or fart it smells like elk. Eat a fresh pile of their shiz twice a day, that will mean you are hot on their trail.
 
1. Call far less and move in on vocal elk silently with the wind in your favor (never give your setup location away by calling to elk that are in sight or moving your way).

2. Draw your bow early enough, or when the elk is passing behind trees/brush, so it doesn’t see your movement and spook.

3. Take plenty of toilet paper so you don’t have to use your socks or shirt sleeves (especially if you are wearing Sitka or Kuiu-gets expensive?)
 
I’m all about number 2. I missed a great opportunity when I ducked down so a bull wouldn’t see me. Problem was I could see him either and he walked 10 yards from me
 
1. If you really want to kill a big bull, forget calling. You'll call satellite bulls but the biggest herd bulls are somewhere between impossible and really tough to call. Sneaky is best.
2. Be patient. You'll screw up more chances by charging in than you can imagine. Wait for the right wind and right situation, then go whack one.
3. Be sure to put some elk urine in your wife's body wash before you leave. That way, she will have a reminder of where you went and she can always think of you.
 
This kind of plays off wiffy. First if they're really hot banging heads with each or raking I'm running right at them. 2nd don't call if your in their bedroom. Third get a horse nine times out of 10 you go out on a horse you come back with an animal. I actually had a friend back in the day buy a horse because he was told that.
 
Also never walk through the middle of a meadow I've been busted before because I was too lazy to skirt the outside
 
1. Less is more when it comes to calling. Especially with herd bulls. Sometimes being aggressive works but more times than not a silent but deadly approach with some soft cow talk and a locate bugle here and there are the way to go. Especially with educated/pressured elk. Let them do the talking and give up their location before you do yours.

2. Mental toughness/perseverance; if you are not mentally able to handle those tough days in the woods and still be able to get up and do it over again day after day, archery elk hunting isn’t probably going to be your game. There are a lot more slow/tough days then there are magical ones.

3. Practice with your diaphragms with a mouth full of Copenhagen, Skoal or grizzly. There is something magical that happens when tobacco and latex meet. You get absolutely dynamic life like sounds.
 
Stay out of their bedroom.
Always be ready.

Call a lot, don’t practice weird shots and one sharp knife will work / leave the sharpener at home.
 
1. Enjoy your rangefinder while you can this year. That’ll be a thing of the past next year
2. Enjoy your slider sight on your bow while you can this year. That’ll be a thing of the past next year.
3. Enjoy your OTC general elk tag this year. That’ll be a thing if the past next year.
 
1.Put A LOT of thought about where to setup. I've screwed up more quality encounters this way.
2. If you have a caller, setup downwind of the caller not straight towards the bull. They will almost always hook downwind.
3. Bring your wife to elk camp. It's good luck.
 
#1 cover lots of ground with glass and shoe leather.
#2 don’t kill an animal farther than you are capable of retrieving it to your truck.
#3 most importantly if you locate a herd drive your atv/utv as close to them as possible. They don’t mind the noise.
 
1.If calling an elk from across a meadow.. get to his side, often he will hold up on that edge

2. Sometimes it’s better to be more aggressive than you think, have missed a couple opportunities trying to be too sneaky or worrying about bugling and played the shoulda coulda woulda game

3. Always walk with the wind at your back, that way you can smell the elk that sneak up behind you
 
If you get In tight on a bull, and he spooks as you draw...DON'T LET DOWN!


Stay on him, he'll stop broadside around 40yds plus, or minus, and and look at you for a second.



If you eff with them in their bedding areas you'll blow them out of that basin/mountain range.
 
Some good hunting experience shared already, fun to read opinions.
1. I'm in the hunt them in stealth mode camp with rare exceptions. If I call it is a cow call 90% of the time , often to mask a blunder I've made while trying to be incognito.
2. You must always play the wind , if they smell you it's game over. You can often fool their ears, sometimes their eyes , Never their nose.
3. Buy the Best Acme Electronic Big Bull calling machine, sit on an exposed ridge with panoramic views....let er rip.
 
1. Like some have said call less.

2. Pay very good attention to wind.

3. Make sure when trying to locate bulls stop your atv, turn it off and immediately start bugling.
 
#1 - If the wind is wrong, you have close to a 0% chance of killing an elk with your bow.

#2 - It is much easier to call in a bull if you are in a place the elk are already interested in going. If you know the travel route of an elk and set up in front of them, they can be much easier to call. They are less interested in back tracking several hundred yards to an area they were already leaving. It is a waste of time trying to call a bull to a place it isn't interested in traveling to. For example, most herd bulls are not interested in traveling any significant distance from their cows to respond to calls.

3# - If you can hike to a spot, you can pack an elk out from that spot.
 
1# patient and aggressive tactics go hand in hand. Analyze when to use each.

2# find an area where your strengths shine. Continue to hunt that area.

3# you can’t kill archery elk in open country.
 
1. Less is more when it comes to calling. Especially with herd bulls. Sometimes being aggressive works but more times than not a silent but deadly approach with some soft cow talk and a locate bugle here and there are the way to go. Especially with educated/pressured elk. Let them do the talking and give up their location before you do yours.

2. Mental toughness/perseverance; if you are not mentally able to handle those tough days in the woods and still be able to get up and do it over again day after day, archery elk hunting isn’t probably going to be your game. There are a lot more slow/tough days then there are magical ones.

3. Practice with your diaphragms with a mouth full of Copenhagen, Skoal or grizzly. There is something magical that happens when tobacco and latex meet. You get absolutely dynamic life like sounds.
You guys in Colorado have herd bulls?
Latex and tobacco.huh! I should call her again!
 
1. dress up in all your navy seal gear.
2. post everything on social media.
3. pretend elk are terrorists and you're on a black op.
 
1- Don't be afraid to make noise (busting sticks) when you're imitating another bull.

2- if they're spooked and moving, you'll never catch up to them.

3- Flat brim hats and vape cartridges basically make you invisible
 
1-Don't get married to an unproductive location, elk move a lot and you need to be on the move as well until they are located

2-To secure elk antlers to the back of a horse bring four items: medium thickness bungie cords, 2' of your kids pool noodle, square yard of thick bubble wrap, orange marking tape. Cut a long slice out of pool noodle and put it around a straight 1" thick branch or treckin pole, tie stick to main beam of antlers on both sides, the pool noodle rests on the horses rump to protect horse and keep antlers up. Secure the rest of the antlers with bungies. Wrap bubble wrap around elk skull to protect horse/saddle, lots of orange tape so ya don't get shot. Pic attached--I have yet to find a better way to secure antlers and protect horse/saddle

3-Keep the wind to your back, eyes on the ground, and sun to your face
Secure Load.jpg
 
If you're trying to sneak into bow range on a big bull that has ten or more cows forget it. Those cows will bust you 99% of the time.
 
It is so much easier for me to sneak in on a big bull silently, no calling. However my biggest 7x7 bull I killed was so amped up my 10 year old called it into me. I banged brush around with a big stick and made tons of racket while my son cow called 100 feet behind me and I bugled and he was so mad he came running right to me and left his herd of around 15 cows and I arrowed him. Also another time I watched a 5x6 bed down alone. I tried cow calling him to come to me but he wouldnt budge and the ground was covered with those dang weeds that are super noisy when they get dry so there was no way to be quiet and try to put a sneak on him. There were alot of bovines in the area however so I started mooing like a cow which I am good at since I grew up with them and I didnt try to be quiet at all and took my time about like a walking cow would as they eat. I got to within around 35 yards by doing that. I could see the tips of his horns sticking up above the brush patch so I waited there for maybe 20 min and finally he stood up because he winded me as the currents started swirling and I drilled him. Point is there are many different ways to go about it.
 
Don’t wait for the perfect shot, it may never come. Take the good shots

Don’t elk hunt where there is no elk. If you don’t see or here elk or see fresh sign, MOVE!

Make sure you have two different length arrows. I like to use long arrows for my long shot and short arrows for short shots. Keep things simple that way
 
1. Less is more when it comes to calling. Especially with herd bulls. Sometimes being aggressive works but more times than not a silent but deadly approach with some soft cow talk and a locate bugle here and there are the way to go. Especially with educated/pressured elk. Let them do the talking and give up their location before you do yours.

2. Mental toughness/perseverance; if you are not mentally able to handle those tough days in the woods and still be able to get up and do it over again day after day, archery elk hunting isn’t probably going to be your game. There are a lot more slow/tough days then there are magical ones.

3. Practice with your diaphragms with a mouth full of Copenhagen, Skoal or grizzly. There is something magical that happens when tobacco and latex meet. You get absolutely dynamic life like sounds.
i agree 100 percent, especially with #3
 
1) Aim small, miss small, and pick a spot on the animal before you release. Don't look at the whole elk!
You would be amazed at how many very capable target shooters make a bad hit on an elk that is as big as a buick, and standing still at less than twenty yards! Myself included :oops:
2) If you make a marginal hit, be honest with yourself and back out for at least 4 hours before you start tracking. An elk that would have probably just laid down and died, if allowed to do so, can run a very, very long way before he goes down for good.
3) Try to have at least one of every gadget they sell in the sporting goods store! They all have their use & you just never know what your going to need next!
 
Very, very important tip; draw the bow BEFORE the bull steps into your kill zone! I learned this lesson a long time ago and have preached it to others ever since. So, what did I do last Saturday? I had the biggest bull I have ever seen, up close and closing, & I was afraid to move in fear of spooking him.
You guessed it.
I drew the bow with the bull walking broadside, in the open, at about 23-24 yards. he saw the motion and turned to leave, I rushed the shot, over guessed the range & shot right over his back! We hunted the area for two more days & never heard, or saw, him again.
Full roller coaster of emotions right now. I am elated & gratefull just to get an opportunity at a bull of that caliber, and I am absolutely disgusted with myself for blowing it! The one consolation is that I did not wound him. A clean miss is always better than a bad hit!
I doubt I will live long enough to get another opportunity like that.
Good luck to everyone still out there chasing em! :) :cry:

Elkchaser
 
1- Be where you want to hunt early and stay late. Camp life is fun but we can do that all summer. We're supposed to be hunting.

2- Always, always play the wind.

2- Make sure you drive the truck or the quad a ton since elk are easily killed while road-hunting.

Zeke
 
Thanks everyone for the advice. I shot a bull Monday morning. Here is what I learned this bow season.

1. When you get close...slow down...blew a few opportunities bc I rushed in too tight and didn't have time to choose a good set up.

2. Don't set up on the main trail. Get 20 yards downwind of that trail.

3. Bugle from the truck every spot you can pull over.
 

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