No elk Larry

Im new to this so bare with me .I have been hunting in Colorado since 1988 and have never had a successful hunt . The first year I hunted Deer I filled my tag. but since then I only hunt Elk.I have hunted 2 diff. areas and never have laid eyes on an elk.If it wasnt for the whole hunting atmosphere I would have giving up years ago. I just took my son for his first time,I was hoping he would bring us good luck.but that didnt come true.so Iam wondering if anybody could give me a sign of hope.Do I just not know how to hunt elk.amI in the wrong area and wasting my time,would anybody be able to suggest to me a well known area.Thanks a very unhappy elk hunter.

Elkcrazy8

No elk Larry, sure sounds like your spots aren't very good to me. I would look for a new spot. When I am going into a new area I will try to place a call to the biologist for that area and get some information. I don't live in your state so I can't give you any pointers there. If you are a rifle hunter, a good suggestion would be to get into the back country in september and listen for some bugling. This could tip you off to where the elk are or may be come rifle season. I would suggest getting a couple of elknut' videos to find out what to do when you find some elk. He has alot of good information on the video's, both for the newbie and the seasoned hunter. You sure are dedicated to still be going at it after all this time. Preseason scouting is very important here. Your chances at harvesting an elk will increase with every moment that you are in the woods before the season. You get out of it what you put into it. Successful elk hunting is hard work but can and will pay off. I myself hike in 5 miles each time I go scouting and go that far or more when I hunt. I am not saying that everyone needs to go to this extreme to kill elk, but it has proven well for me year after year after year. Elk will move out of the area if pushed too hard or if they have too many human encounters. They tend to be more of a reclusive type animal. Meaning that you should find them in out of the way spots with minimal human contact. My questions to you would be:
-Do you do any preseason scouting?
-How much sign is in your area?
-How heavily hunted is your area?
-How often do you hunt during the season and how much ground do you cover?

Successful elk hunting starts long before the season. I am already starting to get ready for next year.

elknut, any help here? let's help this guy out.

AlaskaMagnum

My hunch bet says Larry is road hunting.

Larry, are you getting more than 1/2 a mile or so off of the road?

elknut1

Elkcrazy8 makes some very good points!!
AlasksaMagnum---That's the first thing that came to my mind when I read his post.

No Elk Larry---Do you mind filling in the blanks a little. Such as what's your style of hunting? Do you get off the road and penetrate the woods trying to get away from hunting pressure? Do you make sure you hunt the wind relgiously? Are you hunting more than one weekend in an entire hunting season? Are you a rifle hunter or bowhunter or do you do both? I ask so we can do our best to readjust your tactics and maybe even your thinking. By doing these things it'll enable us to focus on the things you need to mostly work on so you can share the same success many of us experience.

How serious of a hunter are you? Are you handicapped? I mean no offense, just want to know if it's a physical thing or maybe a lack of know-how. -- Thanks-ElkNut1

gselkhunter

No elk Larry, I have been bow hunting Colorado since 1988 and have filled all my tags but two. I scout all year long, so I have a good idea where the elk should be all year long. A lot of things change from Aug. to late Nov. From the timing of this post I am going to guess you hunt 2nd season rifle. If you are scouting and you did that in July, the elk won't be there in Nov. most of the time. They are going to the wintering grounds. 11,000ft gets a little white and cold and the elk start down for better food. I can't think of 1 GMU west of I-25 that doesn't have elk. Some have better numbers than others but they are there. You do need to out work the other guys in the field and out think them.
Gselkhunter

No elk Larry

Hopefully this is going back to the guys that replied to my post.You guys are all amazing,you havent met me but figured out my style of hunting.Since 1992 I have hunted in the same area,are hunting party consist of about 10 guys each year. they are a great bunch of guys . They have been hunting the same area for almost 30 years. The low line area where we hunt consist of a river then a very large swamp area then the elevation just heads straight up from the there. The area is very thick forest with lots of down fall. and with hardly any clearings what so ever.The guys use me mainly as a pusher, to climb these hills and push the animals up the hill from the swamp area where they are supposely feeding.Oh bye the way I do hunt 3rd. season usually around 4 days that is including one week end. The season is usually around nov.1 The base alt. at camp is about 10,000 feet.Needless to say we have hardly ever hunted with less then a ft. of snow on the ground.The other guys would sit on this jeep trail spread out hopefully to see a elk cross the road . From there the elk climb up again. This area I consider to me unsafe to hunt I have nearly killed my self in this area.I do usually see signs of animals they appear to be heading up from the swamp from over night. I have never seen any signs of them bedding down. so. I guess I do have a handicap that is the lack of knowledge on hunting I really would like to learn some new ways, so I can change this no elk larry name to I got elk! thanks

Elkcrazy8

No elk Larry, I don't know much about your area or season dates, but it sounds to me that the elk have done moved on you. I can remember the first place that I took my first elk in. It holds some memories, but it would be the last place that I would go looking now. 30 years is a long time to hunt the same spot. Feed changes, habitat changes , etc. etc. I am always looking for that secret spot. I would try looking lower and see what happens. I just took a couple of friends on a successful deer hunt last week. I called my local bioogist for some migration information. He led me in the right direction. With that and a little scouting we found one nice shooter and one that just missed boone and crocket. Different animal but I would do the same if I ever decided to pick up a rifle(fat chance) for elk. If you really want to kill an elk I think that you would have better chances with a bow. Sounds strange to most, but if you can blow on an elk call and hit a beachball size target from 20 yards in. You will have more chances to take one than you ever could imagine. Not trying to sway you in the least, but it is awesome. After this last season I am 5 for 5. I had a gap there several years ago,the only reason I failed to get one that year was because I gave all my chances to a newbie. Now he is hooked. Find yourself an area that holds elk. Walk further than the last guy did. And use the tactics from elknuts videos and you will have better chances than you do now. I also keep my clothes up in a tree away from camp. I don't like anyother smells than elk on them. I bath every night with scent free soap and change all my undergarmets. Play the wind like elknut says. I have blown more bulls by shifting wind currents. If you are going up-hill from your camp in the A.M. the morning thermals are taking your scent right into the herd. They will be in the next county before you even get to where they were.....Anyone else want to add????? This guy needs to break the ice. I forgot to mention that if 10 guys are camped below the elk, ALL of your scent is moving up the hill. Those elk are going to move right on out.

121553

No elk, first off you gotta do something about your name. Its all a frame of mind and being positive. How can you hunt elk in Colorado since 88' and not have a kill? What about cow hunting to break the ice? That might be a start. I would not keep going to the same spot time after time and expect different results if the signs aren't there. I don't get many elk but do stubble across one from time to time as I am not near as choosey as most on this board but around here we don't have real good quality around here and they require some hard homework combing the mountain slopes prior to the break of dawn. I am still tring to figure them out and its tough depending on the herd your hunting and where. Sometimes special hunts are offered where hunters can take advantage of elk that need to be thinned and its quite easy to at least bag a cow and after a year or two you should be able to get a handle on bagging a bull if your willing to put forth the work and effort, but it don't come without a price tag. The price is usually sweat accompannied with exhaustion. Good luck , Bobby

idahoelkinstructor

Larry,
Elkcrazy8 and Elknut1 have some great suggestions and they are worth following. One thing I might add going along with the same thing of what they are saying, is are you utilizing all of your time that is available to you in the field? A dedicated elk hunter wakes up very early. In my case, during bow season I get up anywhere from 2:30 to 4:30 depending on how far I have to travel to get in postion of good hunting. I hunt every minute of daylight until it is too dark to shoot. And then, and only then do I start heading back to camp. Now, that usually means that I'm not back in camp until 10:00 pm to midnight or so. Which means that sleep is a scarce commodity. But it's a small price to pay when you have a succesful hunt. One of my favorite strategies is to call and locate the elk in the dark and then I can work with the wind to close the distance to the elk. I know that you rifle hunt, but this strategy can work in that situation as well. I hope this helps and that we'll be seeing pics of a succesful hunt in the future. If ya hang around here long enough and inform us about your scouting efforts in the spring and summer we can help with other issues as well. Good luck, Idahoelkinstructor

elknut1

No Elk---As you can see many are willing to help out, and there are many suggestions as what you can do, from hunting cows in a high percentage draw area. (migration) To the possibility of taking up a bow, which isn't a bad idea even for a newbie, at least you would see & hear elk, that in itself is a step in the right direction.

A couple different added suggestions would be for you to check with the local Game Bioligist for the area you are interested in. Ask him where the Elk are in Nov. he'll steer you in the right direction, at least now you'll have a good starting point where elk are or should be hanging out. Be prepared for his advice & suggestions. Most likely it will take some leg work on your part to get to the elk. He may suggest the area but you must be willing and in shape to cover at least severtal miles a day to get away from both trails and roads, this will offer you your best chances. Once an area is given, do your best to get to the tops of the highest points or peaks so you have a good birds eye view of lots of country. Be there and ready to glass by daylight or close to it, and stay put at least 3 hrs after light. Do it again the last 2 hrs of light left before dark, yes it requires a little work, but once you establish where elk are and where they're going then you can plan ambush type setups within your killing range. Too, you may also get a good idea from your vantage point where escape routes are if other hunters are in the area pushing elk.

There are many other suggestions one could share, but no need to overwhelm you! This is a good basic starting point and should get you into elk. The rest is up to you to be able to position yourself where elk are going or coming from!

One sidenote of interest in areas as yours where snow is on the ground is to be willing to track the elk to their beds, it's possible to smell them before you ever see them, so if this happens be on full alert, they're close by!! At any rate, when finding their beds, make a note of this for the following year as this is a place elk will bed next year. By doing small things like this, it's a stepping stone to building experience and how to locate elk in the elkwoods. --- Elk normally will travel aprox. 1/2 mile to 3 miles from feeding to bedding, the average being about 1-1/2 mile, so it's not to bad to do when tracking them. REMEMBER THE WIND IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE WHEN PURSUING ELK. Don't let your guard down and think a small whiff of you will be ok. Always hunt with the wind in your face!!!!!!! ElkNut1

P.S.--If interested in some calling senarios in the above mentioned methods, just ask!!!