Your Single Most Deadliest Elk Tactic!!

[Elknut1]

  OK guys, it's mostly the off season here, yet, there are many here like myself that live, eat & sleep elk everyday! It seems I'm thinking about past encounters or sounds I've heard & try to analyze things to be a better & smarter hunter this up coming elk season.  I thought it would be great for all for those inclined to share what they feel is one of their ""deadliest" elk methods that works for them. This doesn't mean you would use it for any & all  encounters but when one fits it it's your GOTO method & one of your favorites that you just can't wait to use!

  I have one as well that I'll share, but I'd like to hear from some of you first! Thanks & don't be greedy, be willing to share & help others out!!

  ElkNut1

[Crunchy]

I found a great game trail the elk use when pressed.  I get in and sit.  Let other hunters push them to me.  Got two elk the last two years from the SAME spot.

[Elknut1]

 Wow! 112 hits & only 1 comment! It's a good one too. Crunchy I like your style, a guy has to do anything it takes to be successful! (grin)

  My Favorite method without a doubt is what I call "The Threat"  here's what another hunter said about it's effectiveness just this last elk season!

 
  Hi Paul,,

Was just killing some time on the hunting sites, and read a bunch of your stuff on wallowing. Great stuff.

I am an AVID elk hunter in MT. And about 2 yrs ago,, I bought your set of CDs. OMG. it has completely COMPLETELY changed my elk hunting. THANKS for all the research and everything in those CDs.. I will prob be buying a new set soon, as I think mine are wearing out.

Last fall, Sept 21, we were hunting an OTC area in SW MT. I was calling, as I had already killed a bull. We had been hunting this area for several days and knew a few of the bulls by name. We came into the meadow and heard the Monster bugling. I sent both of my buddies out in front,, and backed off and started with the threat. From there on, it was like a fairy tail in the Elk woods. We took 2 6 points within 5 mins and 30 yds apart,, and passed on 7 or 8 other bulls that offered us 30 yd shots, as we were waiting for the time to expire on the 2 dead ones!! THEY WENT CRAZY over the threat!!

THANK YOU for helping with the single greatest morning of elk hunting I could ever imagine!!

  As I said, it's a great method when used right, it will not let you down! (grin)

  ElkNut1
 

[Coasthunterjay]

I found a great game trail the elk use when pressed.  I get in and sit.  Let other hunters push them to me.  Got two elk the last two years from the SAME spot.

this goes good for deer hunting to...set up on certain draws and when you know people are going to push stuff out. wait for them to push it to you....

[boneaddict]

I'm not much of a sitter.  I have found so many folks perched out there waiting, but nothing moving.  I feel obligated to go after them.  My biggest secret is find the worst hell hole where no one in the planet would think about venturing, and head for the middle of it.  Most don't bother because you can only see 10 yards at best.  Then get in the middle of them. 

[Elknut1]

  Does this mean from your answers that most here do little calling? Or do you have a scenario you go through once you're there or setup?

  ElkNut1

[Crunchy]

I hunt with 11 other friends.  I found this spot opening morning two years ago when I stopped to eat.  A small herd came running to me.  I was going to shoot the 5 pt bull, that was going to walk right by a 10 yds on a game trail.  My pack mule friend, thought I was going to shoot the lead cow, and softly told me to wait for the bull.  Of course the elk heard him and took off.  We moved about 100 yards and could heard more elk coming.  this time a lone cow.  I was gonna shoot her at 17 yards, went to draw back, and the arrow fell to the ground.  I then thought "good spot I got here".  Every morning for the next three days I would start off in this exact spot.  on the 3rd day I could hear the elk coming.  Four cows walked right by at 5-7 yards.  I shot the lead cow.
This last season opening morning went to that exact spot.  About 40 minutes in shooting  light I could hear them coming.  Shot the lead cow at 25 yards.  Guess what next year I will be there waiting.  

[mossback91]

Your Single Most Deadliest Elk Tactic!!  my  deadliest tactic is pulling the trigger when the crosshairs are on vitals!! always have deadly results.

[tmike]

Hunt em where they live? Someone I know gave me that advice. Kind of makes sense. Knowing an area well and learning their tendancies. Which saddles they use, where they travel from feeding to bedding, where they go when pressured, BUT, the most important tactic I have found is if you don't have the WIND in your face you might as well forget it.

[coonhound]

From a calling stand point, in the early archery season, I use the trusty cow call the most but it sure seems like the chuckle often gets em worked up when nothing else works.

Coon

[M_ray]

I'm with tmike and bone ... hunt em where they live and go where no man wants to go! I'm no expert but the last two years this is what has worked for me. If it weren't for a missfire I would have a spike to go along with last years Bull, and the thing I noticed is even though there was pressure (especially for the spike) there wasn't any body else where I was! Except thekid#10 and look what he got out of the deal! 

[Elknut1]

  Man, I sure agree with getting off the beaten trail! The more we penetrate the better the results for sure! This doesn't mean we don't hunt/call from near roads though. There's times we find areas where guys drive by year after year to get to more hidden areas, this leaves some great looking elk country un-touched that's very close by. At these types of areas we call at night to see if there's elk in them, we find elk in them 50% of the time 2 of the 3 bulls were killed this way last year that you've seen on our website. I mean the trad ones.
  We located at night & took care of business in the morning. But we do take quite a few in the 3-5 mile range everyear. This is about the longest I don't mind packing them out on our backs!

  Boneaddict--Ernie (hornseeker) is putting a double carbon T/D longbow together for me!  I hope he leaves a little of his mojo on it so I can have some of the success you have with yours! (grin)

  ElkNut1

[boneaddict]

Thats awesome.  You'll love it.  Not only are they awesome looking, they are fast and deadly.

[jimkirk]

not exactly a tatic during the hunt, but I like to spike camp in the very woods I hunt, so I can hear the animals in the area at night from the comfort of my sleeping bag.  If alls quiet, i move on to other woods the next day. amazingly not usually more than 3-4 miles from roads.  additionally, and I've heard others say this is hunting the same areas year after year so you know the terrain and use habits.

[sasquatch]

Hunt where they live has been said already. I think knowing an area well is important too. You learn where they head when pressured, corners that get missed by most, etc. My most successful tactic other than dumb luck has been tracking them down. Don't think I am saying that I am a good tracker either, I am not. Need snow, know that they are "there", or to have bumped them. Then be patient, persistent and stay on the tracks but that is easier said than done.

I will say this method has been very successful for me but has meant raghorns and smaller bulls, not the big boys. And that is because I am not a good tracker. Unless I have snow it is difficult if not impossible to track lone animals. However, I can track a herd under normal conditions and that is why this method has meant smaller bulls. They tend to run with the the cows and calves the areas I hunt here on the westside.

[high country]

I have killed 7 elk within 300 yds of the same tree. I can see no reason to change a thing.......I hope they don't log my area for a good while.

[MooseStock]

Scouting....you just can't do enough even if you have known the area your hunting for years. Elk are very "cyclical" animals and your need to keep track of what part of their cycle they are in........Les

[runningboard]

to quote gunnery SGT. Highway of heartbreak ridge, "we move quick, we move silent, we move deadly."
When I was talking with my buddies about my success in three consecutive years, I told them along with a lot of luck I don't bugle, cow call or otherwise announce my presense. I tease them and say, "you guys tell them you're there, no one knows I'm there until someone falls over."
Sure there are many folks who can bugle, cow call, and coax them in but I'm not one of them, so I just try to be as stealthy as possible and let others chase 'em to me.

[popeshawnpaul]

Rocks! 

Whenever I start to call the elk in, I put 3 to 4 baseball to softball sized rocks at my feat.  When the elk get relatively close but hang up, I throw the rock the opposite way the elk is coming or in a direction that will take him right by me.  Last season, my bull hung up so I threw a couple big rocks down in front of me.  The elk thought it was the cow leaving so he followed the sound.  Walked right into my shooting lane.

I then bugled to calm him down and let him die.  As I was bugling another bull came in .  He hung up 50 yards below me.  I took the remaining rocks and threw them way up behind me.  He walked right into my shooting lane.  Too bad they don't give out 2nd tags...

This tactic works great because often I'm calling alone.  It also takes the focus of the elk off the cow that's calling and they begin looking for the source of the rocks.  I'm sure it sounds like a herd when i throw them.

Shawn

Shawn

[Slider]

Persistence!!! Pope were do you purchase the Elk Rocks?.............lol

[Elknut1]

  Lots of ambushers here, nothing wrong with that!! I've done it a time or 2 myself!! I guess I do mostly calling though because of the sheer excitement for sure! If elk hunting were like deer hunting for the most part in locating & killing I probably wouldn't have near the passion for it. I'm not there to just fill a tag, I look at it as the ultimate calling challenge, I love beating them at their own game. Calling bulls to bowrange is the ultimate adrenalin rush! It's what I live for! So when I personally think of "Tactics" I think of calling scenarios that are what it takes to seal the deal. Even if I started out my hunt with stalking/ambushing it seems calling comes into play more often than not because of the elk throwing a "wrench" into things! Anyway you look at it you gotta love it!!!

  Shawn, your "rock rolling" was the best one yet!! (grin)

  ElkNut1

[high country]

Persistence!!! Pope were do you purchase the Elk Rocks?.............lol

you can get them just up past the goat rocks.

[BLUEBULLS]

i guess i don't really have a deadliest tactic. I just do what I think I have to at that particular time. A lot of times I'll try an ambush and end up leaving to go find them, I guess you'd call me the aggressive type. I'm a little impatient.

[Fish4Fun]

Best advice I was ever given was get on a natural elk crossing be still, quiet and wait them out. Seems to work well for my brother and I, we have taken 30 elk between the 2 of us sitting on the same log staring at the same trail. Get there an hour or so before daylight and let the other hunters bring em on in. We are generally done shooting within an hour of daylight. Never fails to see some wild eyed guy show up after the shooting is done. Usually they say the same thing, jumped a herd about a mile back and never could catch up to them.

At least they get to see what it was they were in hot pursuit of laying on the ground.   

[WAcoueshunter]

During archery season when it's cold at night and warm during the day, the air at first light is going downhill then shifts uphill as the hills warm.  As the sun rises, the air should blow up each side of a ridge and go straight up from the crest of the ridge.  The elk work their way from the meadows below up one side of the ridge towards the top where they bed for the day.  My deadliest method has been to walk well around the elk, get on the backside of the ridge (or at least the crest) and drop right back in on them from higher up on the hill.  They make a lot of noise, so rolling a rock or two shouldn't be a problem.  The warm air should keep the wind blowing uphill, so your downhill descent should be right into the wind. 

[Alchase]

"were do you purchase the Elk Rocks?

Ebay just under the October 15th Mulie Rut Hunt

Sorry could not resist

[Opportunist]

Popeshawnpaul,

Man that's a good one! I do alot of calling for myself also and I usually make my last setup and if it looks like the bull is on his way I'll shift left or right 20 yards. I'm going to use the rock trick.

Hell, if you market it right you might be able to sell 'elk rocks' through Cabelas or Sportsman's. Think of all the people that bought 'pet' rocks.

[Elknut1]

  Hey, I'll take a couple, in diet please!

  ElkNut1

[popeshawnpaul]

It was kind of funny, it wasn't anything I thought about beforehand.  I thought more people would just laugh at my new tactic.

I was sitting watching my shooting lane below me which was only 20 yards.  I was in THICK repod so I could hear this elk coming for quite a ways.  The problem was he was coming straight at me as I had been cow calling.  If he came out on the track he was on, he would be 3 yards away.  It would have been impossible to draw and get a shot from 3 yards.  I was panicking, but I knew I couldn't move.  So here he comes...  He had those cow calls locked in from a long ways off.  I thought I was going to spook him by throwing the big rocks, but I knew I wouldn't get a shot if he came out right on top of me.  Additionally, his focus was going to be on me as the source of the calls.  When he was 30 yards out (estimate based on sound), I threw the rocks 20 yards down in front of me.  It completely took the attention off my position and I immediately heard the bull change course and he popped out in my lane at 20 yards.  I drew my bow before I could see him because I could hear he was right there.  When he popped out in the only shooting lane, he noticed me out of the corner of his eye and started to look up at me...but it was all over.  The slick trick went right threw him mid body and out the other side.  He never made it far.

Like I said, while waiting for this bull to die, I had another hot one that I heard come down the opposite hillside at me.  When I heard him slosh through the creek I was telling myself, oh no.  3 minutes later he was nearing my position below me.  He was heading too far to my right so I took some boulders and threw them 20 yards to the left of me.  He changed course.  He was now heading right for me.  I had a harder time hearing this guy come in, so I threw another boulder to my left hoping to draw the bull back to my left and into my infamous 20 yard shooting lane.  He must have heard the boulders because he just popped out in my shooting lane in the exact same spot I shot the other bull about 15 minutes earlier.  Too bad, he was a nice 5 point and I knew I had only shot a 3 point on the first bull.  That's always my luck.

I truly believe this tactic works good in reprod.  When you are crawling down in the thick stuff with them, you need to be able to lead them into you a bit as it is too thick to move quietly through that stuff.  As I think back to those previous 10 days of hunting, if I had used this trick in a couple of my other setups I have no doubt I would have got shots at some bulls that hung up.  On three other bulls, they hung up or came right at me hanging up sometimes 5 yards away through the reprod.  I definitely think this is a better tactic in thick areas.  It is especially useful in reprod.

So, rocks is my key and something I plan on using when calling in the near future.  And no, they don't get spooked by it as I thought they would.

[Slider]

POPE You didn't answer my Question?

[Elknut1]

 Shawn, good stuff there! Thanks for the scenario used too! It's hard to beat the right elk sounds at the right time as well as the right natural elk sound/movements at the right time as you've demonstrated! Thank You!

  ElkNut1

[HEADSHOT]

Easy know the area, then learn how to make them come to you! This is the area were the land forms heavy high ways, in early season the hit from a hoochie mama will gettm firen! Then I love haven a ground blind, set it up weeks before the killn time! If this doesnt work, the bottoms, swamps and drainages are all ways full of elk "at least on the coast"

[popeshawnpaul]

Slider...  It can be tough to find rocks actually.  I guess I'll have to change my tactic and use a stick or log every now and then...   By the way, these weren't little girl pebbles...they were 5" round big manly rocks.   

[DeKuma]

I have been going over and over Shawn's tactic in my mind.  It is too simple to be true.  It seems too perfect of an idea, and you know what they say when something seems too good to be true............

Can't wait to try it.  Would work on just about anything you are trying to call in I would think..........

[Slider]

I also have used Rocks but not like Pope Does!!! I have rolled rocks while raking on a tree!!!Rake the tree and then roll some rocks.Then rake a diffrent tree nearby. It sound like Elk moving around. I haven't used it by myself only when Tag Teaming!!!Give it a go if an Elk hangs up!!! Good Luck