How did you learn to elk hunt?

[ljsommer]

Question for those who have found success (IE: harvested an elk) how did you learn to do it? Family? Friends? YouTube? Solo and just stumbled until you didn't stumble anymore?

[ghosthunter]

My dad didn’t hunt. But my buddies dad did. He was a us marine.
He would drive up to the top of clear cuts and say I will pick you up at the bottom.
1970s.

If we came across elk tracks on the road he would kick you out and tell you to follow the tracks, pick you up at dark. Hand held compass.

[Stein]

Well, I'm not sure I would say that I have fully learned how to hunt elk, but I'm getting there.  I grew up in MT but my family never hunted so I learned on my own.  I have a buddy that has helped and the rest has been on this forum, other online tools, YouTube and a bunch of mistakes in the field.

The great thing about 2019 is that there is no reason you can't learn just about anything you want with all the resources out there.

[Boss .300 winmag]

My dad didn’t hunt. But my buddies dad did. He was a us marine.
He would drive up to the top of clear cuts and say I will pick you up at the bottom.
1970s.

If we came across elk tracks on the road he would kick you out and tell you to follow the tracks, pick you up at dark. Hand held compass.

How successful were you?

[Tinmaniac]

Common sense,hunt where elk live and be where elk live as much as you can with a tag in your pocket.Look down and pay attention.

[kselkhunter]

Grew up rifle hunting elk with dad.  Spent adult life learning archery hunting with friends (who had more experience at it).  Hunt both methods now in multiple states.  As well as muzzleloader season.

Most important:  learn the areas elk hang out.  It can take years to learn where the elk hang out, when they usually come into rut for archery/muzzy, where the are for rifle season, where their escape paths are when hunting pressure picks up, if Rockies when and what paths they migrate, if Rosies where they hide in the rainforest.  Time in the field is of most importance for elk hunting, regardless of how you learn to hunt. 

[7mmfan]

All of the above in the selections except a guide service. I've hunted with my dad my whole life, and we began elk hunting together when I was about 15. We learned elk hunting together mostly through trial and error. It took several years before I got an elk, and then several more years before either of us got another one. I'm 35 now and it's only in the last five or six years that I've begun consistently killing elk. Took basically 15 years to get there.

I have learned a ton from this forum, as well as other online resources including YouTube. There is no one resource that will tell you everything you need to learn to be successful. You have to pick the bits and pieces out that are pertinent at the time and apply them, and eventually they all begin to click together.

[JBar]

Self taught mostly, learned to call through videos. Dont hunt elk as much as deer but just had one heck of a time calling elk in for my wife last week.

[JimmyHoffa]

Was walking down an abandoned road one day looking for any sign of elk, thinking they were just a myth.  Then I saw a puff of smoke down the road.  Out of the smoke came a tribal elder.  He said, "follow me and I'll show you around my forest."  Pointed out places and trails I previously couldn't see, but now so obvious.  "This is where the elk have been, are and will be."  Then we walked and talked about bear.  Next was deer.  Can't tell you how many years of learning curve got fast forwarded through.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Was walking down an abandoned road one day looking for any sign of elk, thinking they were just a myth.  Then I saw a puff of smoke down the road.  Out of the smoke came a tribal elder.  He said, "follow me and I'll show you around my forest."  Pointed out places and trails I previously couldn't see, but now so obvious.  "This is where the elk have been, are and will be."  Then we walked and talked about bear.  Next was deer.  Can't tell you how many years of learning curve got fast forwarded through.

How much peyote have you had today.🤔

[Matth]

Grew up rifle hunting elk with dad.  Spent adult life learning archery hunting with friends (who had more experience at it).  Hunt both methods now in multiple states.  As well as muzzleloader season.

Most important:  learn the areas elk hang out.  It can take years to learn where the elk hang out, when they usually come into rut for archery/muzzy, where the are for rifle season, where their escape paths are when hunting pressure picks up, if Rockies when and what paths they migrate, if Rosies where they hide in the rainforest.  Time in the field is of most importance for elk hunting, regardless of how you learn to hunt.

This is spot on. No on line resource in the world is a good substitute for lots, and lots of time in the woods.

[h2ofowlr]

Learned from my dad, but we never got an elk.  When I started getting them, that portion of sealing the deal was self taught.  I still am learning today and how to work around all the pressure in the field from other hunters and road hunters.

I still haven't cheated by using bait or trail cameras to get it done.

[Matth]

I learned to hunt from my dad in SW Washington with a rifle. When i was about 20 i started hunting with archery equipment, and was completely self taught. When i was about 27 i started hunting in Oregon as well. It was kinda off to the races at that point, but now that i'm 40 i have come to realize that other than equipment hunting is hunting and the same basic rules apply regardless of time of year. 2 years ago i returned rifle hunting in SW Washington so my youngest  who is now 11 could participate while we get him up to speed with a bow. and wouldn't ya know it, same basic rules apply. I can't speak much about Rockies, although i have killed a few, the vast majority of the elk that i have taken have been western Oregon, and Washington bulls.

The one Major take away that i have been able to put my finger on is learn elk behavior as it relates to the singular area that you are hunting. That doesn't mean you can only hunt one spot, i have tons of spots across multiple states and that's where the work comes in with lots of time watching elk to figure out why they do what they do, and take note of those things.

Also as stated in a previous post, once the hunters hit the elk woods some times all bets are off, and having many spots to fall back on is a good thing, when you start hunting pressured elk versus summer time elk.

[ljsommer]

I am definitely still learning. I think the learning I am doing right now is the "where" part. So far I've learned: "Not Washington" and also "If Washington, then X" where X is the highest percentage success rate you can get a tag for.

[ljsommer]

The one Major take away that i have been able to put my finger on is learn elk behavior as it relates to the singular area that you are hunting. That doesn't mean you can only hunt one spot, i have tons of spots across multiple states and that's where the work comes in with lots of time watching elk to figure out why they do what they do, and take note of those things.

Ok so this one has always confused me: when you say "watching elk", how do you accomplish that? I've had experiences where my eyes and my cameras tell me that elk are in one spot during one part of the season and then later in the season they just aren't there anymore. How do you know where they've gone? Talking Western WA here specifically.