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I made some rookie mistakes that cost me opportunities at filling my tag. Hopefully my blunders will help other first-time elk hunters avoid making the same errors I did.
I still remember my first elk hunt like it was yesterday. After years of watching hunting shows, listening to stories from my grandparents, and dreaming about bugling in a monster bull, I finally drew a coveted tag in a premium unit.
I felt ready after countless hours of preparation and planning. Well, despite my best efforts, things didn't exactly go as expected. I made some rookie mistakes that cost me opportunities at filling my tag.
Hopefully my blunders will help other first-time elk hunters avoid making the same errors I did.
I'm in decent shape (or at least I thought I was) and consider myself an experienced backpacker, so I figured I could handle hiking into elk country no problem. I was wrong.
I knew the altitude and steep terrain would be demanding, but I grossly underestimated just how challenging it would be.
On my first scouting trip, I set out to climb a peak that would give me a view of a large basin. An hour in I was sucking wind and questioning my life choices.
Two hours later when I finally crested the top, I dropped my pack and collapsed on a log, gasping for air. As I scanned the basin 800 feet below through my spotting scope, I couldn't help but laugh at myself. There was no way I'd be packing out an elk from the bottom of that valley!
The guide I was with was pretty sure he was going to have to call in a life flight to get me out of the woods.
I learned that you need to be in the best shape of your life to hunt elk successfully. It's critical to prepare by hiking for months while wearing hunting boots and a loaded pack.
I had to adjust my strategy and hunt lower elevations I could reasonably access. Next time, I'll train harder so I can hunt wherever the elk wants to hang out!
With work and family obligations, I was only able to get out to my hunting area about a week before the opener. I hiked a few drainages, glassed some likely spots, and felt that in the limited time I had, I gained some decent intel on elk movement and located a few bulls.
Well, a lot can change in a week! When I went back to those places on opening morning I didn't see a single elk. It was crickets.
Somehow in a matter of days the area had been vacated. And to make matters worse, there was now a herd of hunters camped where I had glassed those bulls. Rookie mistake to assume elk patterns won't change or that other hunters won't move in.
I learned that you need to spend serious boot time scouting over the course of an entire season to understand how elk use terrain and react to changing conditions.
My brief scouting trip gave me only a fleeting snapshot of what was happening. From now on, I'll be scouting as much as possible, starting months before the season opens. No substitute for putting in the work!
After watching elk calling videos on YouTube, I felt ready with an arsenal of loud, aggressive bugles and excited cow calls. I'd locate a herd, let out some screams, and then expect a giant bull to come tearing in to fight. Yeah...that didn't happen at all.
What I didn't realize is that cow calling and less aggressive locator bugles are way more effective for pulling in curious bulls most of the time.
I was calling too aggressively and probably just pushing elk away or educating them. By the time I figured that out, it was too late in the season and the remaining bulls wanted nothing to do with my calls.
I learned that finesse and accuracy with calling is just as important as volume. Now I know an entire range of subtle calls to try first before ever needing to aggressively bugle. I also learned to never call near roads or trails since those areas get over-called. Next time I'll have way more tricks up my sleeve to use calling to my advantage.
During my hunt, I had several chances at spike bulls and smaller 4x4s under 300 inches. But I had tunnel vision for a giant 6x6 so I opted to pass them up.
Well, as the season progressed, the big boys proved to be elusive phantoms. By the end, I would have been ecstatic with a small rag horn, but couldn't even find one of those!
I learned the hard way that when presented with an ethical shot opportunity on a mature bull elk, you take it! There are absolutely no guarantees you'll encounter that monster bull you have stuck in your head later on. I let unrealistic expectations get in the way.
An elk in the freezer is an elk in the freezer. Next time, the first good bull that gives me an ethical shot is getting an arrow sent his way!
On the very last day, just before dark, I finally had a nice 5x5 come in to about 40 yards after a long chess match. My heart was racing as I came to full draw.
Buck fever got the best of me and I made a poor double lung shot that was too far back. The bull hunched up and bolted off, leaving almost no blood trail in the fading light.
Over the next few agonizing days, I grid searched the entire area but couldn't recover him. I was devastated that my poor shot placement cost me my hard earned bull.
You could have the perfect elk caliber and the right shot lined up but if the stress gets to you, it can easily throw off your shot angle and penetration point.
It was a painful lesson in staying calm and double checking my shot angle and penetration point instead of rushing under pressure. I also learned to be patient and not settle for a sketchy shot in low light.
Rather than filling my tag, my elk instead went to waste and I went home with a memory that will haunt me forever.
So those were five huge rookie mistakes that I made on my first elk hunt. While I didn't get an elk, I did gain invaluable experience that will make me a better hunter.
About Author:
Sam Jacobs is a writer, and chief historian, at Ammo. As a self-proclaimed outdoorsman, it’s his responsibility to use his knowledge and experience to educate others about ammunition, the outdoors, and conservation.
I still remember my first elk hunt like it was yesterday. After years of watching hunting shows, listening to stories from my grandparents, and dreaming about bugling in a monster bull, I finally drew a coveted tag in a premium unit.
I felt ready after countless hours of preparation and planning. Well, despite my best efforts, things didn't exactly go as expected. I made some rookie mistakes that cost me opportunities at filling my tag.
Hopefully my blunders will help other first-time elk hunters avoid making the same errors I did.
I'm in decent shape (or at least I thought I was) and consider myself an experienced backpacker, so I figured I could handle hiking into elk country no problem. I was wrong.
I knew the altitude and steep terrain would be demanding, but I grossly underestimated just how challenging it would be.
On my first scouting trip, I set out to climb a peak that would give me a view of a large basin. An hour in I was sucking wind and questioning my life choices.
Two hours later when I finally crested the top, I dropped my pack and collapsed on a log, gasping for air. As I scanned the basin 800 feet below through my spotting scope, I couldn't help but laugh at myself. There was no way I'd be packing out an elk from the bottom of that valley!
The guide I was with was pretty sure he was going to have to call in a life flight to get me out of the woods.
I learned that you need to be in the best shape of your life to hunt elk successfully. It's critical to prepare by hiking for months while wearing hunting boots and a loaded pack.
I had to adjust my strategy and hunt lower elevations I could reasonably access. Next time, I'll train harder so I can hunt wherever the elk wants to hang out!
With work and family obligations, I was only able to get out to my hunting area about a week before the opener. I hiked a few drainages, glassed some likely spots, and felt that in the limited time I had, I gained some decent intel on elk movement and located a few bulls.
Well, a lot can change in a week! When I went back to those places on opening morning I didn't see a single elk. It was crickets.
Somehow in a matter of days the area had been vacated. And to make matters worse, there was now a herd of hunters camped where I had glassed those bulls. Rookie mistake to assume elk patterns won't change or that other hunters won't move in.
I learned that you need to spend serious boot time scouting over the course of an entire season to understand how elk use terrain and react to changing conditions.
My brief scouting trip gave me only a fleeting snapshot of what was happening. From now on, I'll be scouting as much as possible, starting months before the season opens. No substitute for putting in the work!
After watching elk calling videos on YouTube, I felt ready with an arsenal of loud, aggressive bugles and excited cow calls. I'd locate a herd, let out some screams, and then expect a giant bull to come tearing in to fight. Yeah...that didn't happen at all.
What I didn't realize is that cow calling and less aggressive locator bugles are way more effective for pulling in curious bulls most of the time.
I was calling too aggressively and probably just pushing elk away or educating them. By the time I figured that out, it was too late in the season and the remaining bulls wanted nothing to do with my calls.
I learned that finesse and accuracy with calling is just as important as volume. Now I know an entire range of subtle calls to try first before ever needing to aggressively bugle. I also learned to never call near roads or trails since those areas get over-called. Next time I'll have way more tricks up my sleeve to use calling to my advantage.
During my hunt, I had several chances at spike bulls and smaller 4x4s under 300 inches. But I had tunnel vision for a giant 6x6 so I opted to pass them up.
Well, as the season progressed, the big boys proved to be elusive phantoms. By the end, I would have been ecstatic with a small rag horn, but couldn't even find one of those!
I learned the hard way that when presented with an ethical shot opportunity on a mature bull elk, you take it! There are absolutely no guarantees you'll encounter that monster bull you have stuck in your head later on. I let unrealistic expectations get in the way.
An elk in the freezer is an elk in the freezer. Next time, the first good bull that gives me an ethical shot is getting an arrow sent his way!
On the very last day, just before dark, I finally had a nice 5x5 come in to about 40 yards after a long chess match. My heart was racing as I came to full draw.
Buck fever got the best of me and I made a poor double lung shot that was too far back. The bull hunched up and bolted off, leaving almost no blood trail in the fading light.
Over the next few agonizing days, I grid searched the entire area but couldn't recover him. I was devastated that my poor shot placement cost me my hard earned bull.
You could have the perfect elk caliber and the right shot lined up but if the stress gets to you, it can easily throw off your shot angle and penetration point.
It was a painful lesson in staying calm and double checking my shot angle and penetration point instead of rushing under pressure. I also learned to be patient and not settle for a sketchy shot in low light.
Rather than filling my tag, my elk instead went to waste and I went home with a memory that will haunt me forever.
So those were five huge rookie mistakes that I made on my first elk hunt. While I didn't get an elk, I did gain invaluable experience that will make me a better hunter.
About Author:
Sam Jacobs is a writer, and chief historian, at Ammo. As a self-proclaimed outdoorsman, it’s his responsibility to use his knowledge and experience to educate others about ammunition, the outdoors, and conservation.
Over the past 40 years, Craig Boddington traveled to 56 countries to hunt about 300 species with several hundred outfitters - over 110 hunts in Africa alone. From Kyrgyzstan to Kansas, Mozambique to Montana, no other hunter is more qualified to identify a good outfitter.
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