Later early archery start - good or bad?

[dreamingbig]

You archery hunters aren't going to start whining about wanting an earlier season now are you?   

Nope.


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[2MANY]

Bulls screamed through archery season and are still screaming.
Been a great rut that is still cranking if you are in the elk.

[Fullabull]

I was in the Lewis River unit and they did not start responding to calls until about the 19th. After that it was easy to locate them with calling. I had more bulls talking this season than than any other season I have hunted here which was nice. Had multiple call ins but none presented a good shot so came home empty handed but still had more fun than I have had in while. I like the later dates. The bulls I was calling in did not have cows until the 23rd which seems really late.
I think the ML hunters are going to have a field day with all the new ground they are hunting. I ran into a few ML hunters scouting the area while I was hunting.

[Rainier10]

It was better for us, elk were screaming most of the season.  Shut down for two days when a low pushed in but they were back at it the next day.

Later season had them vocal from day one and we had cooler weather as the season progressed.

The rifle rut guys had a great season and for the muzzy guys they are still talking so I think it worked out well for all in our area.

[buckandbullminingco]

I initially thought the later start would mean more vocal elk, herding and cooler weather.  None of that happened in Bumping, in fact I never saw a single wallow or heard any daytime bugling / cow calls, and the weather was warm except for a couple days the first week.  They did get curious when I called, and I ended up with a nice cow who came in silently.

I think none of that really was affected by the later start, it just was a weird year.  I hope the muzzy hunters are going to have a great season!

Weird  i hunt the same unit and had bulls bugling after the first weekend, found a handfull of hard hit wallows and tons of sign.  then again im 8+ miles from any road

[pd]

I had a great 1st half of the season, lots of action and close calls, just to thick for a shot. I think the bulls were harder to call in mid to late september. Every bull we saw had cows, even getting in tight and calling they seemed to get out of there. I think early September before they have their harems headed up, and are still sizing up the competition they are easier to call in

That's an interesting perspective.

[Little Fish]

My partner and I had our best season in the last 5 years (we had some great action before the dates changed to early September). Before the season changed with the last 4-year cycle we used to hear multiple elk and always have a shot opportunity or two. When the season changed we would hear 1 or 2 elk the entire season. This year was was entirely different. We heard or saw elk every day and some days it was hard to keep track of how many talking elk we heard. In total we had 6 call-ins with 2 blown opportunities which should have resulted in 2 dead elk. The other 4 call-ins failed because we moved too soon, the brush was too thick for a shot or we got winded. Great season overall even though we came home empty handed.

[Little Dave]

It worked out well after making a few necessary adaptations.

[D-Rock425]

I still like the later date but didn't notice a change really.  We had a group of muzzy hunters make a switch to archery this year so out normal stopping grounds got pounded hard the first few days.  I normally get in the deep thick stuff and can get bull's to sound off.