Archery elk

[Avidhuntr]

hey guys I'm looking to get out for some elk hunting with my bow this year and just looking for any tips or tricks you might have for me. I've been watching lots of elk videos and practising calling. it will be a solo hunt which is not the best as I've heard it best to have someone calling behind you. any help is greatly appreciated!!

[kujoseto]

You will learn more getting out and finding elk then you will reading about finding and harvesting them. The locating is the toughest part. You'll have fun that's for sure.
Edit: I guess I could actually offer something useful too -> find the green elk poop and you're lurking with elk. Brown is old.

[Mike_W]

Solo hunting isn't impossible and is usually how I hunt however elk can pinpoint your location from a call so it is important to try and move forward from your last call and limit your calling as they near.
Some guys have great luck and have bulls come running into horrible calls and setups but in my experience minimize your calling once you have located an animal and make sure your calls are on point. much like moose its not always a science as to when to cow call or bugle but typically most bulls will be more receptive to mating vs fighting so the majority of my calls are cows that's not to say I haven't bugled bulls in close.
Also one other thing is everyone that buys a call and carries a call seems to feel the need to use it. More times than not I will try and listen for elk then move in vs trying to call them to me as I find it much harder to stalk in on elk once they are aware of a presence whether that means a bull looking to take his harem and run from a challenge or just being on edge.
Another tip that is pretty standard but even more so when calling animals solo is to use shadows of trees don't be stuck trying to ambush with the sun shining down on you.

Good luck

[Mike_W]

Originally Posted by kujoseto

You will learn more getting out and finding elk then you will reading about finding and harvesting them. The locating is the toughest part. You'll have fun that's for sure.
Edit: I guess I could actually offer something useful too -> find the green elk poop and you're lurking with elk. Brown is old.

I have seen a lot of fresh poop be brown actually I'm not sure I have seen it green ......maybe a slight hue.....the only real way to tell if its fresh is to taste it

[Avidhuntr]

thanks mike thats the kind of advice I'm looking for.
keep it coming

[kujoseto]

Originally Posted by Mike_W

I have seen a lot of fresh poop be brown actually I'm not sure I have seen it green ......maybe a slight hue.....the only real way to tell if its fresh is to taste it

Rich aroma of rose hips and alfalfa with a lingering aftertaste of brome and Timothy

[Hunter_]

With it being a warm year will that effect the timing of the rut?


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[Lefty-Canuck]

Originally Posted by Hunter_

With it being a warm year will that effect the timing of the rut?


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Not in my experience...on time all the time. The amount of time they are huntable can change with weather though...but they are always doing what they do, right on time.

LC

[kujoseto]

Originally Posted by Hunter_

With it being a warm year will that effect the timing of the rut?


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As I posted in this thread about the moose rut,
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=295970
the timing of the rut has to do with photo period (hours of daylight). You might see activity change depending on predator and hunter pressure or weather as in they are more in the shade on a hot day or more nocturnal during high pressure, but the rut timing itself has everything to do with the amount of time between sunrise and sunset. This is so calves are born at the time that has been determined as most advantageous for survival in the spring and following winter. Find the herd you're hunting and you'll know if they prefer shady spruce areas near water over open meadows and aspen, but I don't think the weather will affect all elk around the province the same way.
I prefer some cool weather just to keep the bugs down
Good luck out there.

[kujoseto]

Have you searched for other elk hunting threads? There must be 3-5 every year around this time that come up You could find a couple good ones and bring them back from the dead.
I have found that what works one day on a herd of elk might be the opposite of what works the next day on the same herd. The key for me is to find them and try to adjust to what opportunity is given. Sometimes I slink in silent and slow, other times I literally run and crash through the bush as loud (not vocal but footsteps and breaking branches) as I can. You really will learn more your first day around elk then anything we can tell you.

[Hunter_]

Very well put all. Thank you!


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[kujoseto]

Prepare to be addicted. You've been forewarned haha

[TBark]

I only bow hunt a week or so per year, early Sept for elk.
And more so to locate them for later in Sept for rifle.
This 5 pt bull (crappy cell pic) came in to my bugle Sept 5, 7:45 pm, last year but opposite side of the ravine was the closest he would come, aprx 110 yds.
He replied to every bugle I let out with chuckles but just raked trees, teasing me.
You will get more bugle action in early Sept IMO.

TBark

[Avidhuntr]

I signed up for the elk 101 University of elk hunting and it has been a great resource!