How long does it take to the seal the deal archery elk

[OverlordBear]

Hello Hunttalkers

I am left with two more days in the archery elk season that I can actually hunt and I am a bit discouraged. I have been archery elk hunting for six years and I have never killed or hit an elk. The first two years only saw elk from accidentally stumbling into them. Years three and four I saw no elk and could not find them. Last year I had my first bugling encounter but he hung up at 81 yards. I had a total of four encounters that season. This year I have had 7 out of 10 days where I have gotten elk to talk and have been able to get in within 100 yards but I have not been able to close the last 50 yards due to brush and only finding the elk in alder and willow hell holes. None of the elk in my area do the classic come in charging and bugling their face off like in all the YouTube videos and internet elk tutorials. My question is how long did it take for you guys to figure out how to actually kill your first elk with a bow? What skills and techniques have you used to close to get that final 50 yards with a bow? I am almost to the point of trying to sit water the rest of the season. But my area has a ton of water so which one the elk will actually go to is a bit of a crap shoot. Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MNElkNut]

Here is one little tip: You might not be being aggressive enough. Elk make and put up with a lot of noise. If you are cow calling, the bull expects there to be small twigs snapping, hoof beats, etc that the cow would normally make. If you are trying to be too passive and not closing the deal that may be something that will help you. You will never fool an elks nose. You might fool his eyes. You can certainly fool his ears some of the time.

Secondly, you might need to evaluate where you are setting up. An elk will hang up when he thinks he should be able to see the fake bull/cow. If he cannot see it, he gets awful nervous. You need to be able to shoot him when he gets to that point. It sounds cool to set up where you can see 100 yards (or 81 in your encounter), but that bull will hang up there and not get any closer if he can see the calling location. find something thicker or be on the other end of the opening.

Hope that gives you some ideas.

 

[SAJ-99]

This year I have had 7 out of 10 days where I have gotten elk to talk and have been able to get in within 100 yards but I have not been able to close the last 50 yards due to brush

You are having success. On my hunts I have to deal with silence or watching elk on private ground. I would switch places with you in a second.

 

[MTelkHuntress]

I 100% agree with all of what MNElkNut just said. This is my 8th year I believe and in previous years I always beat myself up for not being aggressive enough. This year I've been more aggressive and have been the closest I've ever been to bulls. Granted I changed up my hunting area to one with more than one bull in the whole dang forest, but it's been incredibly helpful to not overthink every little movement and detail.

 

[Cheesehead]

Having hunted archery elk but not yet sealed the deal, this advice is worth what you paid for it. That said,
1) If no elk in the area, move. If you're hearing elk in 7/10 days, that's awesome! Don't be afraid to just sneak in on them and never call.
2) What MNElkNut said. Use the 'doorway principle'. And be aggressive.
3) Use raking/brush breaking vs just calling
4) Use your nose to find active wallows if there is a lot of water. Will likely be near feed. Be on it the last 15 min of legal shooting light. Also (this cost me a bull this season), realize that if a bull is coming in, it'll be at last light, so get closer. Being 30 yards rather than 50 yards with 5 min of legal light would have made a big difference to me this year.
Good luck

 

[Werty]

You learn more during hard times. Keep moving forward.

 

[COEngineer]

Success rates in CO are about 11% for archery (that includes guided hunts, private land, etc) so realistically, the avg Joe hunting on public land is successful significantly less than 1 in 10 years. You are on course. Enjoy the hunt, if you get an elk in range, count it as gravy on top.

 

[Redside]

I got my first archery elk 2 years in. Every 2ish years since then. I rifle hunted before bow so had some experience. Things that have worked for me.

• I've killed all my archery elk with a hunting partner. I've only gotten close going solo. Not all partners are equal, so keep that in mind. You'll want to find one that likes to hunt like you do. I like to call and am somewhat experienced. It usually doesn't work as well when I hunt with my friends that don't like calling or are inexperienced. I started hunting with one guy in 2017, since then we've hunted together about 5 days total for elk during archery, we've killed 3 bulls. We just work well together.
• Find a good area and learn it well. For many years I was always jumping around to new spots. Now I pretty much hunt the same spot year after year and am typically into them each time I go.
• I'll put on about 8-10 miles/day. Hunt all day, you'll never know when you'll hear that early afternoon bugle.
• Try to combo more days in a row. Doing the weekend warrior thing for me didn't work out as well as going on a multi day hunt.

It sounds like you're getting closer each year, it took me 3 or 4 years to even connect on a bull in MT from when I moved here. It just takes time, keep after em, you'll get one!

 

[buffybr]

I started hunting elk with archery equipment many yeas ago when I lived in Colorado. I shot my first (and only) elk with an arrow at noon on the opening day of archery season on the third year that I had been using archery equipment. A couple of years later I moved to Montana and I continued to hunt archery for maybe another 10 years. All of my elk hunting has been DIY, and mostly on public land. I was not a hard core archery elk hunter, and I mostly went out just to spend more time in the woods and as scouting trips for the rifle season.

 

[OverlordBear]

Thanks everyone for the input and stories. I feel encouraged reading everyone’s hints and strategies. Archery Elk hunting appears to be a combo of aggression, patience, and weather conditions all coming together at the right moment to actually get a bull on the ground based off of everyone’s experience. It is also good to know the time frames other people have had to keep my perspective in check.

 

[3855WIN]

Take up spring turkey hunting, if you haven’t already. There are some similarities.

 

[Eric.MN]

I’m a newb to archery elk, this was my first year with a bow and was able to punch my tag on a bull. What I credit the success of my brother and I both getting elk was going high and glassing. We spotted where they fed and bed across the valley and put our selves in between that. With a little luck and playing the wind we got lucky.
Best of luck to you.

 

[SBAHunts]

I hate to say it but here is a balance of aggressiveness, experience will guide you...I was overly aggressive a couple weeks ago and missed a golden opportunity for an archery elk...live & learn

 

[Elkmagnet]

You described a very positive trajectory...keep going!

 

[golfer]

I went 11 years almost to the day between archery elk kills. I’m not upset with that number. Some years I got a two day weekend others I had more. Others I couldn’t make it to elk camp because of college getting in the way. Learn from your experiences, it’ll make it that much more sweet when it happens.

 

[LuketheDog]

I think it took me 5-6 seasons of archery elk hunting to kill my first bull, but not without having a bunch of great encounters...I did pass on a number of cows first though, in hindsight I should've shot a few of those. If you really want to kill elk (or anything) with a bow, you need to identify the mistakes you've made and learn from them!

 

[GrantK]

I got my first bull year two, and have got at least one bull most years since then, lots of time in the woods helps, when it comes together it's amazing how easy it feels after all of the frustration... it sounds like in your case the setups are probably the issue? if elk are hanging up at 100 and you can see them doing it then they also expect to see an elk where the calling is coming from, get in thicker cover, use a ridge or other terrain feature to block them until they are in range, or if those aren't options try a decoy? in an ideal world, the bull can't see the caller until after he has gone through a shooting lane.
I think being more aggressive would probably help, however knowing when to be aggressive is also key, aggression does kill elk, being aggressive when the situation isn't right moves elk and makes you relocate them.
for example, if have bugling mayhem with multiple satellites making a big fuss and cows going everywhere? get in there no matter the cost, the elk are not going to care and you can get on a bull pretty easily... on the other hand, if its 20 cows and a single bull in cover probably take it easy, you blow it up and you are back to square one, get as close as the wind and terrain allow and wait for an opportunity, the bull getting separated from the herd, a different bull stirring thing up, etc......

 

[Huntnut60]

Hello Hunttalkers

I am left with two more days in the archery elk season that I can actually hunt and I am a bit discouraged. I have been archery elk hunting for six years and I have never killed or hit an elk. The first two years only saw elk from accidentally stumbling into them. Years three and four I saw no elk and could not find them. Last year I had my first bugling encounter but he hung up at 81 yards. I had a total of four encounters that season. This year I have had 7 out of 10 days where I have gotten elk to talk and have been able to get in within 100 yards but I have not been able to close the last 50 yards due to brush and only finding the elk in alder and willow hell holes. None of the elk in my area do the classic come in charging and bugling their face off like in all the YouTube videos and internet elk tutorials. My question is how long did it take for you guys to figure out how to actually kill your first elk with a bow? What skills and techniques have you used to close to get that final 50 yards with a bow? I am almost to the point of trying to sit water the rest of the season. But my area has a ton of water so which one the elk will actually go to is a bit of a crap shoot. Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.

1 year. Lucked out. Saw some elk the evening before,high up on a mostly barren hillside with ft tall oak brush and scattered dead trees. Set up where we saw the elk the next evening and turns out there was a wallow 20 yds away. Shot a 6x7 bull after sitting there a few hours. Did I say a little luck was involved.

 

[jvanhoy]

I took me till my 4th trip to finally kill a elk with my bow. Since then I’ve went 5 for 6. Coming from the East there was a steep learning curve. The biggest things I’ve learned is. Don’t hunt old sign. Keep moving areas until you find fresh sign. Put in the miles and stay in the woods. You can’t kill elk back at camp. Be aggressive. Make sure the wind is right and push up as far as you can before you start calling. Like others have said break sticks rake trees. Try to be as realistic as you can. If you hear a stick pop turn and get ready. Once you get it figured out it’s a pretty simple game plan. Good luck.

 

[Irishman]

Like everything else in life, there is a lot of luck involved, being in the right place at the right time. Of course, it always helps to be in an area with lots of elk. You can have all the experience and skill in the world, but having lots of elk around helps more. I hunted in Montana close to Idaho this year, and had little luck getting elk to come in, neither did my friends whom are usually successful. Smoke, weather, wolves??? Don't know why, but it wasn't a good year where we were.