Disappointing first year for archery elk

[JBR]

I feel a little better that my lack of success this year seems to be the "rule" this year for many of us, rather than the "exception", but it sure doesn't make it suck any less.  This was my first year archery hunting period and my first year elk hunting, to boot.  Sounds like from many of you that this year was quite unusual as far as the weather and lack of animals.  No kidding!

I hunted the Nile Unit for the early hunt and the Taneum Unit for the late hunt.  NEVER SAW ONE ELK!!     Not one.  Not a bull, not a spike, not a cow.  Ever.

That just plain sucks.  Like everyone else has already said, the weather was just plain wrong for elk hunting, during both hunts.  Anyway, not a great way to start off.  I didn't expect that I'd kill an elk my first year, but I DID expect to at least SEE one.  Saw a ton of deer during the late hunt, but not one during the early. 

Anyway, I hope things change for next year, but when I look outside and realize that it's Dec 8th, I still can't believe it.  Alright, I'm done venting.  For now.

[270Shooter]

Sorry to hear that.

Did you see much sign of elk??? If you weren't seeing much you were either too high or too low is my guess. Sometimes you just have to bust some brush and hit the thick stuff if they aren't moving .

[AKBowman]

Like you I just finished my first year ever Elk hunting. Having been a bow hunter for 10+ yrs all I can say is...wait until you get into some animals it's the most exciting thing you can do, takes you back 300yrs!! Sucks you never saw an elk,

How far off the road did you walk?

We're you walking the whole time or did you sit for a few hours at a time?

See much fresh sign? If you saw fresh time there probably was some elk around even if you didnt see them. In the warm weather they were timbered up most of the time except real late and early. I waited in good classing spots with the wind in my face for at least 3-4 hours at a time. Saw a good amount of elk in some really obscure spots even had three stalks one day, wind got me and I was too impatient and loud.

[Fullabull]

It's ok, the first few years are all learning. You will get the hang of it as you go along so don't be discouraged. Get Elknuts CD's and you will get ahead of the game for next year. Remember hunting deer and hunting elk are nothing alike. I see a lot of elk hunters hunting like they are after deer which usually means they don't see many elk. Elk are noisy social animals, learn to sound like and elk in the woods and your luck will greatly improve!

Good luck!!!

Fulla

[JBR]

I agree I have a lot to learn about hunting elk vs deer, as there are clearly differences in both the animals and how you hunt them.  I plan on getting Elknuts CDs as I have heard lots of good things about them and I can use all the help I can get. 

First off, I was hunting totally new hunting areas, that I was unfamiliar with.  I have never hunted in the Nile unit or Taneum unit before and only had time for a quick scout trip during Labor Day weekend that I spent mostly in Rimrock, with only a drive through the Nile on the road, but never stepped foot on any ground.  I know that I already had screwed myself by trying to hunt an area that I had never scouted and never located animals in, but I had a huge backyard renovation that had to be finished before hunting season, so unfortunately I had no time to scout. Big mistake #1.

For the early hunt, we didn't start on opening day.  We hunted Sept 12-17, after hearing that the rut activity can be better in the latter part of the early hunt, however I heard both sides of that argument, so I really didn't know either way.

Most days we hunted 2-3 miles from the roads, looked for FRESH sign which we never found (all old), looked for water sources and wallows, but didn't find many.  The few we did find, we would set up on for 1-3 hrs while the mosquitoes ate us for lunch.  We cow called occasionally, but not a ton.  We never got any responses.  I'm no pro caller either.

I would bugle only once or twice as a locator call, early in the morning and later in the evening.  Once or twice we heard a bugle back, but we were almost positive that they were other hunters.  Maybe we were wrong, but I felt a bit confused on knowing if bugles were real or fake.  We would set up and try cow calling a bit, but everything would go quiet and nothing happened.  Hmmm...

We hiked high up to ridges and went through thick timber during the day to try to locate fresh sign or bedding areas.  We hunted for open meadows and clearcuts and would glass those while looking for new sign.  It just seemed that everywhere my hunting partner and I went, all the sign was old and dusty and it was very quiet.

We were at a loss for where the elk were.  If we could have located some fresh sign, heard some elk bugling or bumped into some elk, it would have been very encouraging, but each day with the same results no matter what we did, whether we went high or low, became more and more discouraging.  We felt that either we were in the wrong area for the elk (elk are where you find them right?), the weather and the full moon where screwing up the hunt, or we were just plain doing something wrong.  Probably a combo. 

Anyway, after 5 days of the same sun up to sun down BS with no animals we left 2 days early and hoped for a better hunt during the late hunt. Unfortunatley, with the late hunt, the end results were basically the same, and we hunted from Dec 4 - 7. 

All the camps had basically left when we arrived and the weather was unseasonably warm with no snow whatsoever, as you know.   We had a couple local guys cutting firewood stop by our camp to tell us about a group of elk they'd seen.  We got out the maps and they pointed out the area, only to find out that it was outside of our unit in a closed area.  They said those were the only elk in the area and they had been all over.  We hunted up to 4-5 miles from the road in the Taeum unit and again, saw deer but no elk.  We were able to find some sign finally in a certain area within the unit, but never did locate the elk.  Anyway, we chalked it up to learning and paying our dues and all that good stuff, which it definitely is. 

My plan for next year is to learn much more about elk hunting, practice my archery skills, scout, scout, scout and pray for weather.   Other than going out-of-state, that's about all I can do I guess.

[demontang]

This year was my first year elk hunt in about 10 years with a bow. I did see some animals but never got one. I learned a lot this year, #1 don't call all you will do is call in a hunter of shut the elk up, #2 walk slow and stop every few steps and look around with you binos, and  #3 when you stop listen for elk feeding/walking. After I learned the hard way with a few busted elk I was getting with in 20yd's of them. Scouting and  knowing the area helps a lot, so does knowing what the elk like and where they might be. I had a lot more luck in the 3000-4000ft range then higher or lower this year, I did see some at 6000ft but my hunting partner didn't see them and they ran away before I could draw on one. Archery hunting is one of the greatest ways to hunt because you have to think and try and out smart the animal or just be plan lucky. There's nothing like having an elk just a couple feet away feeding.

[Fullabull]

JBR,

When I started hunting elk here in WA I always wanted to make sure I was there opening day. Then I realized that every year the best hunting was starting when I left. So I started hunting from the 12th to the end of the season or at least that last week of the season and found the hunting much more fun. They become more vocal and are more likely to respond to your calling. Once you have heard a response it's then your turn to make the move. I have found that here in WA (at least on the west side), if you act like an elk you will get responses even if it takes some time. Most of the time this year it took an average of 30minutes to an hour before I would get a response from another bull. Then it was up to us to get closer and try and close the deal.

The biggest thing I have learned is that you need to take the hunt to them, do not wait for the elk to come to you or you will end up with a lot of frustration. Most of the videos out there regarding elk hunting are done on private land where elk will come running to the calls. It's normally not like that in real life (most of the time). Learn how to respond once you know where they are and your on your way to your first elk harvest.

Always check out bugles you get in response to your calls or you could be missing out on a great opportunity!

Fulla

[AKBowman]

You hunted the wrong side of the state.

Theres wayyyyyy more elk on the west side...even if you may not be able to see them, their there. I saw plenty of FRESH sign, if I was more patient I would have an elk in the freezer. Even though its thicker and can be mentally tough to hunt the west side is better for an archer who is willing to glass no further than 200 yards, discecting the woods. I also learned the hard way that listening can help too. 

[rasbo]

its not all about getting.Gather info along the way and have fun doing it.it will all come together,if everyone harvested an animal there would be real short seasons..my last elk hunt was spent packing out an elk for someone I just met.It was his first elk ever he was in his 60s.one of the best hunts of my life.have fun out there brother

[Little Fish]

I agree with Fullabull and Ak. Even though I'm a rooky elk hunter I've had bulls respond to my calls and think its worth checking out a response even if you're not sure whether its an elk or not. Some are obviously hunters, but I think the questionable responses are worth checking out.

I don't know about the east side, but I either heard, saw or pursued elk every day I hunted this year. There simply are a lot of elk around commercial tree farms on the west side.

[Dslayer]

Without going into a long story about my past hunting experience, I've had pretty good success in my first 3 years archery hunting, killing a deer each of the first two years, and a decent 6 x 6 bull last year in the Umptanum and that was only the second year I had archery hunted for elk.  I believe that was because I was hunting spots that I have scouted, hiked and hunted extensively in the past and I think that is the key to hunting success in general moreso if you're limited to being a weekend warrior as many of us are.  But time spent hunting is a big factor in elk hunting as well, the more time spent in the field increases your chances which doesn't seem like rocket science, but it includes time spend scouting maybe as much as time spent hunting.

That being said, I hunted elk early and late, in an area that I scouted extensively prior to each season, and saw elk every time I scouted without running them out of the country.  During the season, despite virtually 0 pressure, I saw 1 big bull up close which I couldn't shoot and  and 1 rcow running like crazy about 500 yards away-turned out my partner had spooked it and 2 other cows that I never saw.  The weather wasn't optimal, but the animals had been in this spot during similar weather right before we started hunting.  I suspect we were hunting a small group of animals in a fairly large area-if we committed to one or two drainages for the day, and the animals weren't in them, we just took an 0 fer for the day.  Not much bugling and no responses to our bugling didn't help the cause but they didn't evaporate, we just didn't get on them.  That's kind of the beauty of this spot-little pressure in some damn tough country-but not huge numbers of animals either.

We committed so much time to scouting and hunting elk, that we didn't really set ourselves up for good deer opportunities-we were hunting in the Nile where deer numbers have dropped, but we still saw a couple of hooter bucks that we couldn't get shots at.  Long story getting longer, I learned a lot from this season, maybe more than I've learned in years past because I spent more time hunting this year maybe than any other.  I've had many opening day or opening weekend kills in the past that got me out of my area and didn't really experience the entire season in a given area and how even subtle changes in weather, pressure, changes within the rut, effect a population of animals in a given area.  I wouldn't call it disappointing or frustrating but it sure as hell was educational and reminded that none of this is automatic or guaranteed.

[hunterofelk]

JBR, I feel really bad that you had the experience you had.  I am guessing you are young and new at archery elk hunting?  If you want to experience elk killing trying the modern rifle first.  I would recomend you switch seasons if you want to archery hunt.  Try tanuem early and nile late.  Anyway, if you want to kill the animal try the easiest method first and figure out if you want to get the meat out during the warm time or the cool time. 
Remember, archery is suppose to be hard, you are killing something with a loss of blood, not shock and tissue damage.  You have to be close and it is maybe ten times harder to score.  Enjoy the adventure or go for the kill.  Elk require a big commitment.

[JBR]

All good info guys - thanks.  It truly is a process and I'm committed to press on and continue to learn.  Success will come, but that's why I enjoy the pursuit of it.  I'm turning 40 in April and I've only been big game hunting for about 8 years.  Grew up a bird hunter and when I started having sons, realized I better learn how to hunt more than just birds, so when the boys started wanting to go, I wouldn't go, "huh?".

I've rifle hunted for deer over those last 8 years and have been successful, but not with anything worth putting on the wall.  I drew a cow tag for east side rifle about 5 yrs ago and wandered into a complete BATTLE GROUND up there.  Didn't like it at all.  I put the elk hunting on hold for a few more years, then decided to finally try archery for the different seasons, less hunters, chance at hunting the rut and the ability to take cow or spike, plus the overall added challenge. 

This was the first attempt, and what I took away from it was I need to do all lot more learning, research and scouting to start getting close to the animals.  It'll come, but man, I have to say it WAS frustrating to not see any animals this year.  When I finally do get close, I'm sure it'll be the adrenaline dump of a lifetime. 

I will look at the West side too.  I've always felt the east side was more enjoyable for the openness and dryness of the area, but I'm open to trying the west as well.  Gotta get this thing down, as two of my boys are already hunting (11 & 9 yrs old) and they each took their first deer this year in the NE!!  Lotta years to go...

[stlhdr1]

Killed my 5x5 opening day..  Got into another silent bull that came in for my cousin...  Was in an area with lots of sign.  The rifle hunters did fair this year but not stellar like the years past.  Definitely less elk around with last years winter kill...

Keith

[Charlie]

My plan for next year is to learn much more about elk hunting, practice my archery skills, scout, scout, scout and pray for weather.

Good plan JB!

[firedog]

My plan for next year is to learn much more about elk hunting, practice my archery skills, scout, scout, scout and pray for weather.

Good plan JB!

Agree with that.

This was my first year with a bow also and I had a blast even though I didn't kill anything. I was in elk 7 out of 9 days and could have killed a cow but was looking for a bull and stayed the course. Learned a lot and will be back in the same area next year.  Found a lot of fresh sign today also in another unit and have 2 days left that I will be able to hunt so hopefully with a little snow and some luck I can still get some elk meat.