North Dakota Bull Elk Hunt

[iHunt]

The fun begins my friends!

I was blessed to draw a ND Bull Elk Tag in E3 on my first try! I know many who have been applying for decades and have not yet gotten drawn, so I will make damn sure to do this tag justice!

Six months ago a series of events took place in my life that caused to me change my entire view on fitness and nutrition. I didn't know how or why I was working so hard towards my goals, but I knew one day I would be happy I did that work ahead of time. That day was last Thursday when I found out I drew a OIL Bull Elk Tag - One of the best tags I may ever draw. Now I am feeling really happy that I am down 42 lbs from last Elk season, the lightest, leanest, and most conditioned I have been since highschool. Hard work always pays off!

I cannot get out to the badlands to do some scouting until Mid-May. In the meantime, I am upgrading the optics on my rifle of choice for this hunt, a Tikka T3 300 WSM to be paired with a Vortex PST Gen II 5-25x50. I will also be filling the next month is as much E-Scouting as possible, learning the terrain of my unit, the landmarks and roads, finding resources and people with any information possible. And ofcourse, continue training my ass off as I have been the last 6 months and following my coach's meal plan to a T.

After taking Easter weekend to step back and just enjoy the excitement of drawing this tag, I am now ready to fire up the stonewheel and let the grind begin. Stay Tuned.

 

[Gunner46]

Congrats. Maybe this will be my year for PA, or KY.

 

[brockel]

Congrats. Just remember to not put to much pressure on yourself to kill a giant and end up not enjoying the whole experience.

 

[iHunt]

Congrats. Just remember to not put to much pressure on yourself to kill a giant and end up not enjoying the whole experience.

I am not going to set a size requirement for myself, I know there are plenty of bulls out there that are big.

What I do want to force myself to do is get out there, scout the unit, find the bulls, and once I see what's out there, decide which bulls I want to go after. To me, putting in all that work at the range, in the gym, scouting, and finally hunting are what is going to make this hunt memorable.

If it all goes well, the hunting may be the shortest part of the story, but that is because the story was written in the offseason, and the hunt is the summary!

 

[NDGuy]

Congrats again iHunt. "I'd rather be lucky than good"

 

[iHunt]

Congrats again iHunt. "I'd rather be lucky than good"

Thank you! I am just excited to get out and spend some time behind the glass!

 

[iHunt]

Congrats again iHunt. "I'd rather be lucky than good"

I plan to start scouting to find the elk herds in my unit mid may, then follow them from as far away as possible with the glass all summer, and once I get a feel for which bulls I will want to target, and which landowners may affect my hunt for those bulls, I will start reaching out to them. I may be able to tell if a bull will make the hitlist right away based on his body and age, but the "hitlist" likely wont be complete until July

 

[Nick28]

Congrats! Be sure to make it a true "Once in a lifetime" type hunt! Seems like you are going to! Enjoy it!

 

[PeteTheBeat]

Congrats! I can't wait to hear about your experiences!

 

[IEATELK]

Def keep this thread alive.. goodluck man! when the rut kicks in ive seen bulls put on over 20 miles in a few days so be mobile and have a blast. Big bulls to be had.

 

[iHunt]

Def keep this thread alive.. goodluck man! when the rut kicks in ive seen bulls put on over 20 miles in a few days so be mobile and have a blast. Big bulls to be had.

Have you hunted elk in ND before?

 

[Elkhunter24]

congrats!

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Good luck man! I have had 3 friends with ND Elk tags, all did a fair amount of summer scouting with help from a half dozen buddies or so. Only one of them had the bull on the "hitlist" pegged down on opening morning, the others found bulls during the hunts.

Regardless, all shot good bulls. Its a good tag to have!

 

[IEATELK]

Have you hunted elk in ND before?

Yep, been part of many hunts... grew up out west. Alot of family and friends have had and/or get tags every few years. Scouting helps a ton. But things change when testosterone starts to flow.

 

[iHunt]

Oh I'm sure!

Do they bugle like they do out west, or are they quieter with all the oil roads and traffic from bowhunters?

For anyone following this thread I live in Fargo, so I'd be more than willing to meet up for a beer anywhere between Fargo and Medora since I will be travelling that road quite a bit this year!

 

[iHunt]

ND Elk Training Day 5:

My lifting and nutrition coach changed up my workouts over the weekend to focus on endurance and conditioning, yesterday was the first day on the new plan and my arms were dead.

Also ordered the optics that I am going with for this hunt, a Vortex Viper PST Gen II 5-25x50 FFP scope. VERY excited to get this dialed in!

 

[brineal]

Oh I'm sure!

Do they bugle like they do out west, or are they quieter with all the oil roads and traffic from bowhunters?

For anyone following this thread I live in Fargo, so I'd be more than willing to meet up for a beer anywhere between Fargo and Medora since I will be travelling that road quite a bit this year!

I worked out of Killdeer back in 2014/2015, private access will be an issue but I did see a bachelor group of dandies up in the area north of the Killdeer mountains - pretty much between there and the Little Miss. breaks. Not sure what the boundaries of your hunt are.

 

[Pucky Freak]

Previously have lived in Billings county. PM sent

 

[iHunt]

I worked out of Killdeer back in 2014/2015, private access will be an issue but I did see a bachelor group of dandies up in the area north of the Killdeer mountains - pretty much between there and the Little Miss. breaks. Not sure what the boundaries of your hunt are.

Its about 70 miles N-S and 40 Miles E-W about centered on Medora, a tich to the north.

 

[publichunter1]

Congrats! Can't wait to here the story and see the pics when it's all said and done.