Packing it in for ELK

[padarinsmith]

This year will be my first year for Elk.  My buddy and I normally go for the high altitude buck season and then drop in hunts for general deer.  I am trying to educate myself on Elk and what I have read says to try and get as far away from the roads as you can.  This sounds alot like our high hunts.  Any advice on areas and tactics for backpacking for ELK?

[Sliverslinger]

Ummm... not to be a dick, but my advice would have been to start quite a bit earlier than less than a week before the first season starts, even if you're hunting modern rifle which I'm assuming. It will be difficult to get much specific information with your 1st post being a general question the day before deer season opens with elk opening in less than a week. Anyway, I would agree with what you heard about hunting away from the roads, my general advice regarding backpacking in... hunt where the elk are and you'll have better luck.

[William B.]

 

[dreamunelk]

Depends on if you are hunting Rosies or Rockies and where.  Here on the O.P. some of the best hunting can be less than a mile for a road.

[Recurve-Elk]

I don't normally recommend watching DVD's on hunting, but in your case you NEED to get a couple of beginning elk hunting movies and watch them.  There is a lot of basic knowledge that you need to cover that won't be learned on this forum unless your hear for a few months.  So get a few Elk hunting DVD's watch and take notes.  ELKNUT has some very good videos on calling and general elk hunting. 

Elk is generally similar to deer hunting, but yet vastly different and you need to know the differences.

GOOD LUCK!  Elk hunting has become my favorite pass time.

[saudog]

You also need to be careful regarding packing in for an elk hunt.  It's very easy to get in over your head, very quickly.  An elk can be 4 times the size of a deer so the recovery of the animal is a whole new ballgame.  You can't just cut one up and put all of the meat in one pack, or just drag it down the hill.  If you don't have a group of guys that can come in with you to get the animal out in one trip, or horses, do you want to hike the 5, 10, 15 miles in to where you shot the animal 4 or 5 times in order to recover the meat?  Even with a two man system, it's 2 to 3 trips, boned out.  What about all of your camping gear?  That's another trip right there.

On top of this, weather is always a factor in the high country during rifle season, so we are always juggling if and how far up do we put a spike camp if the snow level is near us or if the rain is dumping.  The last three years we haven't even considered a spike camp because the snow line was right at or below our base camp.  2 or 3 days into the season there is a foot of snow where you are hunting, and you don't want to be in a pup tent in that weather in November.

Not trying to scare you out of your plans, but be careful!  We see many "eager beaver" types in our area heading up with 70 pounds of gear to spike camp for the opening weekend of elk season.  When we see them up in there, huddled around a cold wet pathetic attempt of a fire pit, or dragging their asses off of the hill past our base camp, all they say is they are in pure hell and will never try that again.

My advice would be unless the weather is unseasonably clear or you have horses, packing in very far for elk is a risky endeavor.

[Recurve-Elk]

^ very true, packing is for early archery and rifle seasons are a completely different ball game.  Also like said,  an elk isn't the same weight as a deer.  Not even close.  For a lot of people, the hide alone can be one trip.  The head another. 

[saudog]

I don't pack hide, and if I was spike camping I wouldn't pack the head either, but we are on the same page in general.  There's a lot too it and every situation is different.

[padarinsmith]

Thanks for the advice.  I realize that I am starting way late, unfortunately my buddy is moving to Az last minute and had to prepare through our normal deer hunting times.  We wanted to go out one last season before he moves.  I don't really expect to take an Elk on my first season with little preperation, however, hunting in my opinion has more to do with the experiance than the harvest.  Meat is just a great perk.  I really wanted to just get into an area were I would have some chance of seeing or hearing something to help keep the excitment alive. 

Most people who start a sentence with "I don't want to be a dick" really do.

[ghosthunter]

Most people who start a sentence with "I don't want to be a dick" really do.


Now thats funny right there I tell ya.

Foregive me lord
 
devil made me say it.

[halflife65]

Thanks for the advice.  I realize that I am starting way late, unfortunately my buddy is moving to Az last minute and had to prepare through our normal deer hunting times.  We wanted to go out one last season before he moves.  I don't really expect to take an Elk on my first season with little preperation, however, hunting in my opinion has more to do with the experiance than the harvest.  Meat is just a great perk.  I really wanted to just get into an area were I would have some chance of seeing or hearing something to help keep the excitment alive. 

Most people who start a sentence with "I don't want to be a dick" really do.

That's actually a pretty hilarious observation. 

Well, the GOOD news about a friend in AZ is the OTC Coues deer archery hunts.  You DEFINITELY want to look into that - it's super fun and you can do it for relatively few $$, especially with a friend there with a vehicle.  Look into airfare now for a January hunt, arrange to have your buddy pick you up at the airport and just go buy your license/tag at the department of wildlife (yeah, you buy it there directly, it's kind of cool.  People there were cool - even the game warden standing in the lobby area was just standing around bs'ing about hunting, there was literature about getting kids into hunting and a nice Coues mount.  A different experience when the state agency is actually friendly towards hunters.) 

Also, they weigh 100lbs on the hoof so packing one out isn't a big deal. 

[GoldTip]

"Most people who start a sentence with "I don't want to be a dick" really do."

That is quite possibly the funniest thing I have read on this site this year.  Goldang that made me spit coffee!

[deerslyr]

he does have a point though lol Its kinda like saying 'with all do respect' and then saying something disrespectful 

[saudog]

Thanks for the advice.  I realize that I am starting way late, unfortunately my buddy is moving to Az last minute and had to prepare through our normal deer hunting times.  We wanted to go out one last season before he moves.  I don't really expect to take an Elk on my first season with little preperation, however, hunting in my opinion has more to do with the experiance than the harvest.  Meat is just a great perk.  I really wanted to just get into an area were I would have some chance of seeing or hearing something to help keep the excitment alive. 

Most people who start a sentence with "I don't want to be a dick" really do.

If you want to be pointed in the right direction, maybe identify where you live or where you would like to focus on.  People may tell you what road to head up or PM you with more specific information.  Or they may not, but you never know.  In this day and age general hunting areas are crowded no matter what, and most people wont tell you where they will be going now or in the future, but they may tell you of an area that knowingly has elk and that you will have a chance to at least see some and chase some.  Get out there and find some animals, then on opening day, go get em!

[colockumelk]

If you want to avoid the crowd find a wilderness area and go there. Find a north facing slope with water and a bench with some.feed and you'll find elk.