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Author Topic: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...  (Read 9416 times)

Offline luvmystang67

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Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« on: September 21, 2020, 08:23:55 AM »
I was thinking, certainly there are people on here who have 50% success rate or better on bulls.  Or know people that are.

For those people, I'm not asking what your secret to success is, but there is something special that you do, so what I want to know is what is the leading factor that, if lost, would cause you to drop below that rate?

1) Spot/location?  If I moved you would you be successful?
2) Time of year... If I made you hunt 3 weeks away from when you normally hunt, would you be as successful?
3) Weapon?  If I made you switch weapon types (and associated seasons), would it impact your success rates?
4) Calls.  If I took your calls and made you switch types (no more bugle tube or no more cow call, whichever you rely on) would you still be successful?

What do you got?  I'm kind of looking for X-Factor so I can try to find mine.  Is it a money spot? Gifted with calls? Really figured out muzzy season? Great at hunting the rut but would be horrible post-rut?  What is your X-factor?

If you're doing worse than this, you're the same as the rest of us and I don't want your x-factor.   :chuckle:

Offline Stein

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2020, 08:37:33 AM »
I'm not in that club, but hunt with a guy that is.  He is close to 100%, I'm sure there was a year he didn't get one I just can't think of it off the top of my head.

Here are the reasons I think he is successful.

1.  He hunts MT as a resident which means he has a ton of time to go out, 12 weeks or longer if you count shoulder seasons.  He hunts a bunch until he gets one.

2.  He hunts local which means he can scout and get out a ton, short hunts, frequent hunts, many days out there to get to know where they will be.

3.  He hunts the same areas every year.  He knows where they usually are at different times of the year and under what weather conditions.

4.  He has several spots so he can move if hunters blow out an area or they just aren't there for whatever reason.

5.  He is not picky, he will shoot any legal bull which is raghorn or up.

6.  He hunts hard.

Offline grundy53

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2020, 08:40:21 AM »
I think moving to a completely new area would have the most dramatic effect for me.

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Offline HUNT JR

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2020, 08:43:50 AM »
I agree, but the guys I know who do get a bull every year have hunted the same areas for 20+ years and really know what the elk are doing there.

Offline Igottanewknee

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #4 on: September 21, 2020, 08:57:27 AM »
I aslo am not one of those  successful hunters, but I have a buddy who has success every year for the last 15 to 18 years. He's only 37 I think. I believe he's had to shoot a couple cows in the late season, but pretty much 100% on bulls otherwise.
He hunts archery, he hunts really hard (not afraid to go straight up a mountain), in the woods all the time collecting sheds. He's had 1 quality tag about 5 or 6 years ago and shot a nice 360 bull. He's really good with a call. Here's a western Washington bull he shot last week.
I posted a couple bulls he shot a few years ago about 10 days apart. One in Washington and the other in Montana. Both nice 6 points. Pretty sure you throw him in the woods anywhere, he'll have it figured out.

Offline Magnum_Willys

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2020, 09:02:24 AM »
Its like steelhead fishing, keep trying different spots until you find success in a spot.   Eventually you have a number of good spots and you keep hitting those at good times. 

If you haven’t found success spots -move!

Offline luvmystang67

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #6 on: September 21, 2020, 09:30:16 AM »
So, (in my best Trump voice)

"I hunt hard, nobody hunts harder than me..."

Okay, kidding aside.  I am in pretty great physical shape every year, I chase elk around in circles and try to get them to turn and fight or f*#@ me, which they hardly ever want to seem to do.  Clearly I need to work on that strategy, but I see a theme coming here.

I don't love the spot that I hunt now, but I have started to develop a plan that looks like this:

If its hot and early season, I hunt my stand at the water hole.

If they're bugling, I chase bugles.

If there's a lot of pressure, they tend to go in this hole...

(Still haven't figured out where they go in the wind and the rain)

If its late season, the cows and raghorns like this area (still not sure where the bigger bulls go).


So, it sounds like the more successful people have hunted a place long enough to kind of fill out that table/equation with "If this... then here".  On top of hunting hard and being a great caller, is that a key part of the secret?

I'd love to see someone who has success every year, pulled from their area and put somewhere new to see how long it takes them to get their mojo back.  I don't know that I think too many hunters are "plug and play" when it comes to being successful with elk.  Maybe they are and I'm just not one of them.

Offline Quackwhacker

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #7 on: September 21, 2020, 11:57:41 AM »
I think knowing an area like the back of your hand is a huge reason for success. Time in the elk woods is also very huge. I also think that if you put a guy that is very successful into a new area, they will find the elk. It may take them a little longer, but they will look at the map and find the likely locations. Then they will use the elk to their advantage to find their location. I admire the guys that have the passion for the success every year.

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Offline kentrek

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #8 on: September 21, 2020, 12:03:28 PM »
I think all of your factors would pull the rug out from under anyone's feet...but to makes you feel better ive never had a year a couldn't have filled multiple tags in multiple states...but September in Wa kicked my butt !!! I had ran 10ish cameras all spring summer..had my goals set pretty high...nothing but mature bulls for this guy  :rolleyes: now its time to go back to work and my tag is as clean as the day I bought it

Still might get out a couple afternoons but its looking slim esp with the storm coming in

Offline trophyhunt

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #9 on: September 21, 2020, 12:15:13 PM »
Area, persistence, wind, and the most important factor... Luck.   But I always tell people, you are never going to kill an elk by sitting on the couch.  I try to hunt every minute of the day when I'm hunting, I take my time, walk real slow, sometimes I'll stop in one spot for an hour or two, just depends what my conscience is telling me.  I rely a lot on just instinct, keep that wind in your face, notice everything.  I was killing elk every year in Idaho when I was going there, I started killing elk at least every other year before they made my west side unit permit only.  I truly feel it's just in some guys/gals to kill elk, a connection some how to nature or the elk, I know that may be weird but I swear I feel it.
“In common with”..... not so much!!

Offline huntnfmly

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #10 on: September 21, 2020, 12:21:26 PM »
I know this sounds real basic but you have to hunt where elk are I don't care how good you are at any of the points you made.It sounds like you will soon be one of the successful hunters because you're learning the area you hunt and already know where some will be.find the cows and you'll find the bulls during the rut of course
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Offline DOUBLELUNG

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #11 on: September 21, 2020, 12:39:38 PM »
I've killed several elk but I'm no means that guy.  I do know several guys who've killed bulls every year for 20+ years, none of them live and hunt general seasons in WA - though I've heard rumors such exist, I can't name one.  I do know serial elk slayers in ID, MT, WY and CO.  Except for one guy who is a fanatic archer who hunts WY (resident) and MT (nonresident), they nearly all hunt the same area every year and aren't picky.  All of them are fit and able in the backcountry, and all are able to carry an elk out by themselves over a couple miles of rough terrain.

I know one guy in Wyoming who has killed an elk opening morning every year for 29 years in Wyoming - he prefers cows, so kills a cow when its open for antlerless or he draws a cow tag, otherwise he kills a bull.  He will tell you he knows very little about elk hunting, he's killed every one from the same spot overlooking the same little saddle meadow by 10am, and is not done packing it out until midnight opening day.  One of the things I like about this guy (an emeritus professor in fisheries biology), is he moved from the Midwest to Wyoming having never hunted elk, but when he knew he was making the move read all the literature he could on elk behavior and habitat use, and used that data to predictively exclude areas on a national forest topo map until he located what he considered the highest probability locations to kill an elk.  His #1 spot worked out so he never visited the others.  I know he has only ever taken one other person to that location, it's a 2 hour uphill hike in in the dark.  His success depends on it being opening day and having identified an escape route to high security cover from a large area of more accessible forest land, and that after he kills his elk he will usually see multiple groups of other elk using that route while he is processing his kill.  He has yet to see another hunter there by the time he's taking his last load out, other than the one grad student he took there once.  I think this last part may be possible in some WA elk herds, probably not in the Colockum or Yakima herds.  Certainly far more challenging.

 
As long as we have the habitat, we can argue forever about who gets to kill what and when.  No habitat = no game.

Offline JimmyHoffa

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #12 on: September 21, 2020, 01:00:55 PM »
I think time in an area with repeatable conditions. The camp I used to go with had been at it in the same area since the mid 1960's. They had the elk dialed in. When spikes were allowed on the wet side until the 80's they were hunting for bulls for a week and the guys that didn't get a branched bull all shot spikes. After spikes were removed I think they went down to about 50%.  Logging changes, gates, most other variables didn't affect it much. The inclusion of early muzzy season dropped them down to about 20%. But part could be the group shrinking and taking different approaches. A few went archery, some went eastern washington, I do muzzy now, etc.

Offline Jingles

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #13 on: September 21, 2020, 01:13:45 PM »
A co worker of my son has taken one home every year the 10 years they have worked together, he hunts local and is in the woods scouting and patterning every weekend and often during the week, can almost say he knows the elk better than the elk do.
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Offline WSU

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Re: Who gets an OTC bull every 1-2 years? Any state...
« Reply #14 on: September 21, 2020, 01:19:15 PM »
I’ve got one each year the last 5 or 6 here in Washington.  One nice bull and the rest raghorns.  I think the number one key is effort.  Don’t sleep in, don’t be lazy and be persistent. Some years it’s the first or second day and some it is tenth. 

One other thing that has really helped is learning how to seal the deal when the chance comes. It’s often unexpected and you have a second or two (literally) to get a good shot off.  Sometime it’s more obviously but often it isn’t.

 


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