Modern elk timing

[ljsommer]

Rookie question here: I have heard that for deer season, most deer are taken on the first day of modern. Is there any sort of trend when it comes to elk and timing of the modern season? Obviously the more time I spend in the woods the better, but is there any more to it than that for elk modern in WA?

[Magnum_Willys]

I prefer Halloween for deer.  Yes opening day may see 1/2 the season harvest for elk but Ive had good luck around 6 days into the season when the woods quiet down.

[NOCK NOCK]

   let all the early folks head home,  most seem to be weekenders,

[WSU]

I haven't done it much, but it seemed the elk get shot up opening morning and then stay pretty well hidden for a few days.  They start to get more visiblle again later in the week as the pressure dies down.

[JimmyHoffa]

I haven't done it much, but it seemed the elk get shot up opening morning and then stay pretty well hidden for a few days.  They start to get more visiblle again later in the week as the pressure dies down.

And it seems a large percentage of the opening morning kills are from loggers/locals that have been watching/patterning the elk for months.

[WSU]

I haven't done it much, but it seemed the elk get shot up opening morning and then stay pretty well hidden for a few days.  They start to get more visiblle again later in the week as the pressure dies down.

And it seems a large percentage of the opening morning kills are from loggers/locals that have been watching/patterning the elk for months.

Scouting is definitely huge!

[ljsommer]

I haven't done it much, but it seemed the elk get shot up opening morning and then stay pretty well hidden for a few days.  They start to get more visiblle again later in the week as the pressure dies down.

And it seems a large percentage of the opening morning kills are from loggers/locals that have been watching/patterning the elk for months.

Scouting is definitely huge!

Good point - I am going to go check my cams tomorrow and see if they give me any insight as to strategy/location within the unit. Thanks for the tip. It sounds like there's some consensus that a good idea would be to go to opener and then wait for it t cool off a few days and go back on a weekday.

[WSU]

Where are you hunting?

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I have heard that 40% of the annual deer harvest is during late buck, not general season.

[Humptulips]

Hunt every day, all day.

[bkaech]

Hunt every day, all day.

Yep, no getting around it. If you want to be successful during the modern season of Elk you need to stay in the woods every minute that you can. The key to elk hunting is being in the right place and the right time. The problem is you never know when the right time is until it happens.

[pashok23]

Hunt every day, all day.

Yep, no getting around it. If you want to be successful during the modern season of Elk you need to stay in the woods every minute that you can. The key to elk hunting is being in the right place and the right time. The problem is you never know when the right time is until it happens.

Its not just about elk, its about any game

[ljsommer]

Ok guys just to clarify: I think we all know that living in the woods 24x7 during hunting season is the "best time" to hunt. What I was asking about specifically was if elk harvests, like deer harvests, have a very frontloaded metric on the opening day.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

Its been years since I hunted modern, but it used to be the first big snow.
Pattern/scout for the opener, but pray for snow...
They changed and shortened the season since then.

[bobcat]

I would say for sure you want to be hunting the very first day of elk season. After that your chances of finding a bull in the open is much less. Probably isn't as critical if you like to hunt timber. But for an "easy" elk in a clearcut you better plan on killing it within the first half hour of the first day.