Sure there's lots of elk hunters out there . My last elk hunt was in 2003, where I took a nice bull in Colo. with my .340 Weatherby at around 350 yards. The 210 gr. Nosler partition gave complete penetration, holding just under the skin on the far side, after passing thru both lungs. And I found a way to drive the 4x4 right up to him for loading . Some days everything goes just right !

Lets hear about your elk hunts.

I am really beginning to hate those stupid elk.

Here in Utah we have them coming out of our ears but damned if I can shoot one with antlers. Even Spike only hunts I am always in the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm doing pretty good on cows though, got my 4th in 4 years... including one I took with a muzzleloader.

Most of Utah is "spike only" for over the counter tags with "trophy" tags issued in those areas by public drawing only. We have some over the counter "Open Bull" tags for a few specific areas but it requires use of horses to get into. One of these years I might concider it.

ATVs are sure the easy way to bring out an elk... but you are hard pressed to beat this method of extraction:

www.huntingnut.com/mod...ackhoe.jpg




-DallanC

I don't much like travelin' down a trail with the bucket at full height. Much better he should put the cow in the bucket and lower it.

I'm from Saskatchewan, and here residents can hunt with an over-the-counter liscence (in selected zones). Last season, 2004, I only managed 7 hours in the field, but in 2003 I got my first elk, a 6x6 bull. I may bore you with the details later, but in short I was VERY impressed with the toughness of these animals. Still, I was able to follow this bull and eventually I put him down for keeps. As I was tagging him I heard a motor - I looked up and saw a truck driving slowly by less than 50 yards away. I was only 20 yards from the edge of a meadow! Getting this animal out of the bush was not nearly as tough as I feared! Like an earlier statement said, sometimes things just go right!

And he was yummy, too.

My buddy and I had a streak of good luck in the last few years - 7 elk in 5 years and passed on 3 more. Got skunked last year, though, to end the streak. Guess that would be 7 elk in 6 years now. Been hunting the same general area for over 20 years and finally figured out where the elk were.

One place they are is on private land. There is a herd that congregates every migration - about 1500 or so. We can see them from the road but can't get near them.

I'll tell you about Elk hunting. I've tried 3 times, used a week of holidays each time, and shot nothing. I've seen nothing. On the bright side I do hear the runing away, and I'am getting realy close. Someday.

That's the thing you love about elk hunting are the days that everything goes just right. Unfortunately you don't remember them as well as the times that it takes you three days just to get the elk to where you can get a four wheeler or a pickup to it.

Over the years I have learned the easiest ways possible to get a animal out of the mountains, sometimes it is easy and sometimes it's not so easy. Knowing the area and the easiest access points is a definate benefit.

It never fails that when you spend three or four months getting in shape for the hunt, that's when you shoot one right off the road. Then the years that you haven't done anything physicaly is when you shoot one way back in god's country.

I guess that's just part of hunting. But, I do love the days when everything turns out just right.

My first elk was a 348 class bull that I boned out and packed 2 miles or so on an old ALICE pack frame. I shot him at 0730 in the moring and got the last load(the head and antlers) back to the truck by the light of my head lamp at about 2130 that night.

My last elk, 2004, I shot after it ran across a logging road in front of me. It went about 40 yards uphill and collapsed. After gutting it, I drove my truck to the spot, backed up and dropped the tailgate into a snowdrift. Pulled her 40 yards downhill right into the back of the truck.

I will take the last hunt over the first any day of the week.

MY LAST ELK HUNT WAS AN ARCHERY ONLY HUNT SIMILAR TO MIKEKUZARA'S FIRST ELK HUNT. I SHOT THIS BULL AT 10:00AM AND FINALY MADE IT TO THE TRUCK WITH THE LAST LOAD BY 5:00PM. I DID HAVE SOME HELP GETTING HIM OUT. THAT BULL ENDED UP GROSS SCORING RIGHT AT 372. I DONT KNOW IF I WILL EVER GET ANOTHER CHANCE AT A BULL LIKE THAT BUT IF I DO I WONT WORRY ABOUT HOW FAR I HAVE TO PACK HIM.

My last hunt was in 1996. Six of us used to have a lease outside of Toponas, Colorado. We had that lease for 11 years but lost it to an outfitter in '97. Anyway, on the '96 hunt we ended up with five mule deer and five elk. Only one of the guys got skunked.
I filled both my tags, one with a 6x5 bull and the other with a 5x5 mulie. The unfortunate part of that was that I shot both of them on opening day. The season we hunted then was 14 days so that gave me plenty of time to study the metalic structure of a Miller Lite can!!
I sure wish we still had that lease...

I harvested a cow elk here in Michigan(for the meat), last time I was drawn was 1999. I hink it was also the last time I applied.

I have two of the largest herds in Colorado running all around me, however, picking the right GMU and hoping the weather will bring them down is always a gamble. The later seasons on the flats seem to prove well for meat hunters chasing cows, but if you are chasing horns in Colorado, getting into a ranching for wildlife (I believe residents only can apply) is a great opportunity to get on some private land without paying. Near Craig, CO they have a Big Gulch ranch which is comprised of several ranches and some good elk habitat, the land owners get several tags to use for guide service which they can and do sell to out of state folks for a typical guided type fee, but if you are selected for a ranching for wildlife program you meet with the land owner and they will put you in a certain area of their land known for animals. The season runs a little longer but usually is directed by the land owner as to when you can hunt (downside is they use the good times for their money making tags). This usually takes a couple preference points and in this state ranching for wildlife can also be used for deer, antelope, bighorn sheep and moose.
Or you can fight the crowds on public land like I do, I like to go where you can't take any vehicles, but my back hasn't been talking to me since this past seasons elk I packed out almost 3 miles. Good luck!