Here's a pic from my first elk hunt. It was way more work than I thought when I was first drawn for the tag, but after doing a lot of research, and literally months of training, lots of range time, and gear prep, and 2-3 weeks of scouting it went pretty well. Like most people I had no idea how different elk hunting was for deer hunting that I've been doing for a long time.
I have to thank Weda, PGS and many others for their advice as well! There are certainly much bigger bulls out there, but what I'm most proud of is not using a guide, horses, atv's etc. and hunting on public access land. We packed ourselves in and the elk out. Everyone thought we were crazy/stupid for not hiring a guide, or going out and buying ATV's etc. At times we probably agreed with them too!
This way certainly is not the easiest way to do it (I doubt there's any easy elk hunt!) but I think it's probably more rewarding this way if you have the time. That and I'm sure I was cursing the choice packing his head/rack/cape out about half way back to the truck! Packing the meat was not bad, but that head/rack/cape was way heavy and horrible to maneuver through trees/brush. The real work truly does begin after you shoot them.
I have to thank Weda, PGS and many others for their advice as well! There are certainly much bigger bulls out there, but what I'm most proud of is not using a guide, horses, atv's etc. and hunting on public access land. We packed ourselves in and the elk out. Everyone thought we were crazy/stupid for not hiring a guide, or going out and buying ATV's etc. At times we probably agreed with them too!
This way certainly is not the easiest way to do it (I doubt there's any easy elk hunt!) but I think it's probably more rewarding this way if you have the time. That and I'm sure I was cursing the choice packing his head/rack/cape out about half way back to the truck! Packing the meat was not bad, but that head/rack/cape was way heavy and horrible to maneuver through trees/brush. The real work truly does begin after you shoot them.
