How long did it take for your first elk?

[Addicting]

4 days and I shot a bull that was stupid enough to still hang out with cows.

Next year and year after I shot a cow the first day.

Most days I’ve spent is 5 before I filled my tag.

A lot of what I’ve learned is that homework ahead of time really can save you a ton of time and effort. Networking on the phone months before season opens doors that most complain are closed.

 

[GearJunky]

I think it took 4-5 years before I killed my first elk (a cow with a rifle). Then I killed an archery bull after 11-12 years of trying. It was a giant 368” public land bull, so I have always felt like the wait was worth it. Screwed up many many encounters over the years.

 

[huntin24/7]

3 years bowhunting. Shot a cow. Took 5 years before my first archery bull. I’ve gotten pretty decent getting within bow range over the years probably getting within 50 yards over half my stalks on bulls, but either the wind shifts or I screw something up at the end to be unsuccessful.

 

[FREAK]

Now here's a competition I'm sure to win.
14 years! I hunted over 50% of the entire season every year, many years the entire season. In those 14, I saw one legal bull and missed (year 12).

Washington?

 

[Bambistew]

I started hunting in the late 80s for elk in MT when they were thick, I also had great mentors ... I think I went 10 years in a row before I didn't kill one.

 

[c0d95]

Great thread to read through and set/reset expectations of harvesting elk!

Yes! It has been great to read stories of firsts and be re-assured in my efforts.

 

[Sask hunter]

I hunted two years of OTC. First year was in them good heard Bugles heard cow chirps but couldn’t call them in to see them. Second year I couldn’t find them. Year three I drew an elk tag. Was only 10 or 15 either sex tags in the whole area. Talk about completely different experience! My first elk was a 300” bull. The OTC elk make a guy a real good elk hunter for when they do draw a tag. Makes draw elk seem easy

 

[JLDemo]

It took me 3 years before I was able to make it happen, I was determined to stick with archery. I had a very steep learning curve coming from a family that didn't hunt big game in Kansas and Oklahoma, but was religious about upland/migratory birds.

I went on my first elk hunt not knowing a dang thing, didn't have a mentor except another friend who had the same experience. Screwed up a lot of hunts, learned a lot too. I was on my third year when a group camping near me invited me over for a beer and chat. They were Wyo natives and consistently hanging up elk. They ended up giving me tips and tricks that helped me get-r-done.

 

[shrapnel]

Here are some feel good odds for those that haven’t been too successful shooting elk. In Montana they claim that about 17% of hunters get an elk each fall. Out of that 17% I would bet about 80% of those are guys that get elk every year. That leaves 20% of 17%, or 3.4% success rate for elk if you aren’t a regular elk killer.

Too many people think elk hunting is easier than it really is.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

I grew up in an elk hunting family. Backcountry wall tent rifle elk camps were a tradition with max school days missed each fall. With that, I arrowed my first bull at age 15 or the first fall that I had a drivers license. My woods-man-ship and the love for wild places came from my family. My archery elk hunting education was all self taught from trial and error, pre information age.

 

[THINKIN6X6]

I was fortunate draw my first ever tag in New Mexico in 2006. I was able to tag a very nice bull my first time out on the last afternoon of a 8 day hunt. I had no idea where I was going other than some Topo Map scouting and a few Terra Server paper maps in my pack. There was no No Go Hunt, Top Rut or On X back then. I had no idea what I was doing but worked hard, hiked miles each day, got into elk most days and learned alot and figured things out enough that week to get that nice bull. I have been hooked ever since.

 

[recon6036]

Saw my first ever Elk 20 minutes into my first Elk hunt….a spike bull. Shot my first Elk after 8 days of hunting.

 

[belshawelk]

I got lucky and first day shot a cow. Got instantly hooked.

 

[Irrelevant]

Washington?

Bingo!

 

[R.K.]

Moved to MT in 2018, started elk hunting 2019.

First shot was in 2020. miss.

First elk was 2022. Small bull. So 4 years of actually trying.

Multiple botched opportunities in those 4 years, both archery and rifle. Have been finding elk every ~3 days spent hunting (on average), but never really have enough time to capitalize on it. Took 2023 off, hope to get after it in ‘24.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Too many people think elk hunting is easier than it really is.

That's for sure. As a Montana raised boy, I killed many nice mule deer bucks, then decided to become mostly an elk hunter. It took me several years to figure it out. For many years I thought that elk were mystical creatures dreamt up by the Butt-Out and other hunting gear manufacturers to get you to buy stuff to help elk hunting.

 

[RyGuy]

It took my dad many years to even lay eyes on an elk when he first started hunting them. Took him 10 years to kill his first cow. I shot my first elk (cow) on my first trip elk hunting when I was 13.
Elk hunting is hard, but it’s easier when you have experienced mentors.

 

[atlas]

On my first year and first day of the rifle season, I didn't take an offhand shot at a bull within the range of 60-80 yards because I was surprised and not thinking straight. In my second year, I reached full draw on a cow, but due to nervousness and her staring at me, I decided not to take the shot. During my third year, I was at full draw on a nice bull in archery, but a single bush on a logging road blocked my shooting lane. Later in the rifle season, I cleanly missed a bull and had a few other close encounters.

Finally, in my fourth year, I shot a small cow with my bow in the first week of archery season and another small cow during the rifle season. On my fifth year, I shot a bull during the rifle season. Fast forward to the most recent season, my sixth year of hunting elk, I shot a nice bull with my bow in early October.

It took me four years to start figuring things out, with many close calls along the way.

 

[huntandfly]

8 years averaging 5 days a year pounding the rainforest of southwest Washington (hiking all day 6-9 miles in dark timber). In this 8 years, I saw 1 cow elk in the woods before I finally killed my first bull in 2014.

 

[Westelker - W. Colorado]

About 5 minutes on my son's Nintendo Switch game. Real life, I've yet to have the chance to try.

Better be careful putting this info out, @Westelker - W. Colorado might scold you for hiking too far, wasting energy and making it too difficult.

I can't believe how thin skinned some of you "people" are. I guess you all like being cruel, disrespectful and demeaning!!