Badger_55
Active member
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2016
- Messages
- 310
Being from MN I know what you are looking for in this post. It is tough to get out there and see it first hand. E scouting is the next best option but man as I am sure you found out, it doesn't paint the whole picture when you get your feet on the ground out there. Just keep at it, be a sponge. Especially with the locals, most of them are not trying to lead you astray. Really good people out there. Whether it makes sense at the time or not, put it in your back pocket as there will be a time where it will click. I was fortunate enough to harvest a cow my first year and watch my dad at 62 shoot his first elk (bull). This came from a unit where a lot of info I received was poor numbers, lots of predators, and the ones that are there move down and onto private right away. That first year we didn't see much for numbers, and we became mobile and that allowed us to change things up, clear the mind, get back to instincts which allowed us to come out with a cow and mule deer buck that day. Besides the early am arrival back to the truck it seemed to refresh us, we went back to our camp and found a bull. Year after year you learn so much about an area. If you liked the area, you liked what the biologist has to say, etc... stick with it for a few years while having that plan b ground within a reasonable distance so your not wasting your mountain time on tar. Elk tag cut or not it is always a blessing and such a privilege to get to go out an walk that land. I wish you the best of luck next year!
