Share any Elk Hunting Tip 2015

[WapitiTalk1]

Calling, stalking, scouting, equipment, base/bivy/spike camps, packing list gotta haves/don't forget, survival, navigation, field dressing, packing, etc.  Please share a tip that has worked for you in the elk woods. Big or small, let's hear them.

[Nice Racks]

I pack some "chem lites" now.  Two years ago my friend shot a cow right before dark, and she fell only about 60 yards from the tree stand.  After we quartered her out we took the first two quarters to the logging road not 20 yards away and went back for the other two.  We soon found out we couldn't find the other two in the dark, and boy was it ever dark.  Hanging a chem lite in the tree above the elk would have saved us probably 15 minutes.  I would also hang one in the stand too.

[WapitiTalk1]

Here's a few: 

Carry a small squirt bottle (2-3 ounces) of hydrogen peroxide in your hunting pack. For those that don't know, spraying a small mist of HP on blood makes it turn white and foam. It can be a game changer when tracking conditions get really tough.

If you can swing it, do a "dry run" with all your hunting gear, even if it's in the back yard. Make sure everything you're taking to base or a backcountry hunt works.

Rake trees, kick brush, stomp feet as a form of non-verbal elk language.  Sometimes this is all that is needed to create curiosity/excitement with a target bull. 

Work the wind/thermals.... always.  It's very easy to become complacent about the direction of the wind/thermals when closing on a bull.

[Shawn Ryan]

Get comfortable with walking in the dark, whether early in the morning from camp or late in the evening back to camp. Spend those first and last 30 minutes right where you think the elk should be, even if its miles from camp.

[buglebrush]

Get comfortable with walking in the dark, whether early in the morning from camp or late in the evening back to camp. Spend those first and last 30 minutes right where you think the elk should be, even if its miles from camp.

Also, start down in the draws.  I don't know how many people head straight for the ridges in the morning, but the thermals are still going down for a couple hours.  I want to be right in the bottom of the bowl/drainage I plan to hunt when it first starts getting light.  follow the elk up, and make sure you stay to the side before the wind starts to swirl.  You can't be scared of elevation gain.   

[WALLEYEGUY]

I love still hunting   Still hunting means walking slow, when you think you are going slow enough cut it in half twice more.  If the wind is hitting you anywhere but in the face change direction no matter how much you wanted to go that way because an elk can hear you, see you, but will never tolerate smelling you.

[hogslayer]

A game changer for me a few years ago was the black pepper trick on a downed animal.  The early season can have a ton of bugs and black pepper seems to keep them off for enough time to get the meat in game bags. Another tip that is usually learned, is buy the best gear you can.  I went cheap on a pack last year 300$ range and got a 5x5 bull down solo 10 miles from the truck and 2 miles from camp.  I was misserable carryin that thing back to camp in a pack thay was fitted for me.  First thing I did when I got home was ordered a kifaru.  Don't wait tell August to get your gear list pieced together and think you will be able to wing it in the back country.  And don't wait tell August to start shooting your bow and practice calling.  Every year I see lots of people do this and it greatly lowers your chance and being successful. 

[vandeman17]

If you have an area that you have consistently seen elk or had pictures of elk and don't see them for a few days, don't assume they are gone. Often times they will make big loops and be back to that spot as long as they weren't blown out. I learned this the hard way last year by giving up on my stand that I sat in for a few days, only to return to pull my camera the last morning and see that the herd moved back through the day I wasn't there. 

[Bullkllr]

Don't use your dad's old Trapper Nelson packboard.
Ever.
All you will learn is that he must have been a lot tougher than you are.

[Crunchy]

Dont worry about the wind.  If its in your favor and you're into elk the wind will change.

[coachcw]

When moving through the woods sound like a elk , they will hear you.  I,ve walked right up on them or had cows chrip at me as I walked along cow meowing

[4fletch]

Hunt 60 miles on your boots and at the end of the season shoot one just off the road!

[Todd_ID]

If you're in an area with elk and are calling, then you MUST assume one is coming in.  Just because you don't hear an answer doesn't mean you won't call one in. The bulls are much less vocal now than 20 years ago when many of the elk calling theories were set in stone. The hunters who don't adapt become vegetarians. One hunter who's messed with an elk is enough to consider that elk pressured now days, and in areas with real pressure every elk is pressured before archery season even starts. Plan your hunt as if you're always hunting that hard pursued animal, and your success will go way up.

[BABackcountryBwhntr]

Do not go bugle crazy early in the season.. cow calls are your friend, so is patience.

[Jonathan_S]

Get lucky