Originally Posted by stonehunter
Hello to all, Happy 2020. This is my first time posting on the forum. Please feel free to help me out with tips and advice. I've enjoyed reading through your elk hunting stuff. Interesting to hear different guys' take on things, especially what some guys see as "most important", thinking of what to tell new elk hunters that they should focus on. Interestingly, calling and long distance shooting come up regularly as essentials. Or scouting. Or keeping an archive of past years' sightings. That's cool. Good advice, I guess. What's surprising to me is that I have never called an elk in, I have no long-distance shooting skills or equipment, i have never kept record of past seasons' elk sightings, other than mental track.... and I have killed bull elk in non-draw zones in general seasons 30 times in 35 years. I have been very fortunate and have had a TON of fun with my dad, my brothers, and now my own children, including my daughter. This season we took three bulls, two decent 6x6's and a 4x4. If i could say what I would consider the MOST important ingredient is, I would say this: Out-think and out-work other hunters. Get out of your truck and away from the road and get out your binoculars and learn where to look. By far most of the bulls I have taken, I saw through my glasses first, often bedded, often in dark timber, often in view of where they would feed early or late. Sometimes I followed tracks that I KNEW were fresh. Old tracks, as in previous day or older, mean very little except that elk HAVE been there. I love looking for tracks right after snow stops falling. That's the absolute best time, I've found. With so much private land where I hunt, I've had to learn to simply not waste time looking for or looking AT elk that I can't hunt anyway. Focus on where you CAN hunt. It's surprising how that year after year, elk will likely be found in the same places.
On a completely different topic....this year my youngest son drew a tag for Suffield. We have never hunted elk there and I have absolutely no idea where to start. Is there anyone here who could give us some advice? His tag is for February 3-5, 2020. Thanks in advance.
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