Feeling discouraged.

MetalSpineGuy · Oct 22, 2018

As the title says, after a few months of research and picking brains, I am getting discouraged. Spent the last 3 days getting close but just not seeing any elk. Hell I haven’t even seen a deer for that matter. Been high, been low and everywhere in between. I know the area I am hunting has elk as I have found more elk sign than I ever have before some of it so fresh it felt like pudding. Lol.

Am I doing something wrong? I just can’t seem to catch up to them. I know it’s still super early in the season here in Montana and that the weather hasn’t been a big help but I feel like I should have at least seen at least one elk by now even if it was 85838 miles away on another ridge or hell, I would settle for at least seeing them on private property at least I would know hey exist.

Any suggestions?

The first morning I found fresh elk sign at first light, decided to camp and glass the area from atop the ridge. Sat there for 6 hours and didn’t see or hear anything except for other hunters on other ridges shooting.

kmf · Oct 23, 2018

Many, many, many people of gone elk hunting and never see an elk. Patience and keep after it. Enjoy the hunt and it will eventually happen. What state? National forest?

pabearhunter · Oct 23, 2018

First of all if you have to kill something to have a good hunt you are there for the WRONG reason. A good hunt is what YOU make it. Killing the animal is frosting on the cake. Have a great hunt.

Straight Arrow · Oct 23, 2018

Similarly I have been out there morning and evening, with no sightings in spots where elk usually are seen. The warm and dry Montana landscape makes elk hunting a little more difficult right now. Hopefully a bit cooler weather with change things somewhat, so now I'll fulfill grandpa duties for a few days to wait for better conditions.

BTW, during early years elk hunting I thought they were nonexistent mystical creatures made up by the hunting equipment manufacturers as a marketing ploy, with fake elk sign placed everywhere, much like the Sasquatch hoax! Once I took one and put it in the freezer, then things began to change as the learning curve began to flatten some.

el unit · Oct 23, 2018

No fresh sign or elk spotted here either since the opener.

mgiuliani · Oct 23, 2018

I think it's safe to say the majority of hunters did not see an elk on rifle opener weekend in Montana. I was at 8,000 ft and spooked a couple cows on the north face of ridge. That was it for me after covering over 20 miles. You are not doing anything wrong, we need the weather to change. Keep after it and do a snow dance or at least a rain dance to quiet things down in the woods.

Cav1 · Oct 23, 2018

Keep up the glassing morning and evening. The wife and I only hunted one day of opener. Saw plenty of sign, some of it very fresh, but no wapiti, and I only recall hearing maybe one or two shots in the distance all day. The weather is just too disgustingly nice...it's harder for elk to keep cool when it's hot than to stay warm when it's cold...and with the bright moon they can feed all night long if they want to right now. I suspect many are way up at high elevations or tucked down in the really thick dark timber on north-facing slopes. At least we're seeing the mythical creatures with the spotting scope from our porch...at the very top of the ridge over on private ground that we can't hunt.

noisy · Oct 23, 2018

It's hard when the season is open not to get out there, but I've learned in the past that if I hunt too hard too early, I start burning out and by the time the hunting gets better later in the season, I've lost my enthusiasm, which is pretty much the opposite of how it should be done. Weather looks like it will start turning this weekend so I am still holding off.

LuketheDog · Oct 23, 2018

3 days? It took me 9 days of hunting to kill my bull this year, hang in there!

kansasdad · Oct 23, 2018

Effort without "results" can weaken the resolve. It's nice that the season in Montana is soooooo looooong for anyone hunting there. Keep at it!

Just a reminder to keep checking the wind. Just because it is westerly on the ridge, than doesn't mean that it is the same at mid ridge and in the base of the hill. Keep checking, keep checking, and check it again. Cory Jacobson needs to refill his wind checker way more often than most 10 elk hunters combined.

MetalSpineGuy · Oct 23, 2018

pabearhunter said:
First of all if you have to kill something to have a good hunt you are there for the WRONG reason. A good hunt is what YOU make it. Killing the animal is frosting on the cake. Have a great hunt.

I definitely do not have to kill something to have a great time. It is possible to have a good weekend but still be discouraged.

I saw some of the prettiest country I have yet here in Montana. Saturday I didn’t see another person for almost 9 hours and I loved it. Just discouraged that I thought I should at least be seeing animals whether I can shoot them or not.

marshman · Oct 23, 2018

My elk hunting experience goes back about 35 years, and I have killed 5 of 'em. 4 Bulls and 1 cow. I am not the greatest hunter, and have not had the blessing to hunt good areas a lot but those Elk can be a tough one. About every 5 to 7 years is about the best I've been able to accomplish.

joelweb · Oct 23, 2018

What time in the day are you getting to the top of that ridge? If it's after first shooting light you are too late. Elk go to bed before most people get to their feeding areas. As a result, they find elk sign, but no elk. Also, can you go higher on the mountain? Elk like to bed in the highest points of timber, even if they look rocky and nasty.

oleefish2 · Oct 23, 2018

After killing and helping with 80+ elk, they all are a wonderful part of my life. I have killed them within the first 5 minutes of the first day and hunted 30+ days to get a cow. Sometimes you do not have enough time to think and then wonder how can it be over so soon. Another season I did not see and elk until I had hunter for 25 days and the bull season had ended. What was my first elk of the year but 5 bulls of different sizes walking by me as the snow blew by them in swirling patterns. Some we backed the ruck up to and others we drug or packed for more than 2 days. Some of them made us shed tears of joy and relief, while others made us make rude comments related to our level of stupidity. They all give us stories to share and memories that last a life time. I ask a friend once what was the last time he worked this hard to get and elk out and he stopped looked me in the eye and said when I was with you. Enjoy it all, share it and remember it forever. Olefish

BuzzH · Oct 23, 2018

Welcome to the new world of elk hunting in Montana...it wasn't always like this.

With public land largely shot out in a large portion of Western Montana, elk being forced to live in river bottoms, and seasons that put pressure on elk for 6 months...you better get used to lots of elk-less days on public land.

Long seasons don't mean jack chit when you're only taking your rifle for a walk.

This year, I considered my yearly elk hunt pretty tough in Wyoming, saw 17 bulls in 4 days and 1 morning, probably about 100-120 total elk. Could have killed a bull within the first 5 minutes of the season, passed on 5 bulls that all I had to do was press the trigger. Probably could have shot another 2-3 if I would have pursued them. Saw 3 6 points in the 270-280 class that were too far away each time I saw them with not enough time to cover ground to get at them. The weather was not cooperative at all either.

That's pretty tough by Wyoming standards, probably a fantasy on public land in Montana to have that kind of elk hunting.

On the plus side, you start killing elk consistently in Montana, most other states are an elk hunters piece of cake in comparison.

For the record, I haven't purchased an elk tag in Montana since 2015, even though I can buy one as a NR for an additional $200ish tacked on to the deer NR Native combo license. I held elk tags in Montana every year between 1980-2015, but I flat refuse to support a department/legislature/State that has done nothing but wage war on elk, in particular elk found on public land. Its a tragedy and unacceptable.

noharleyyet · Oct 23, 2018

oleefish2 said:
After killing and helping with 80+ elk, they all are a wonderful part of my life. I have killed them within the first 5 minutes of the first day and hunted 30+ days to get a cow. Sometimes you do not have enough time to think and then wonder how can it be over so soon. Another season I did not see and elk until I had hunter for 25 days and the bull season had ended. What was my first elk of the year but 5 bulls of different sizes walking by me as the snow blew by them in swirling patterns. Some we backed the ruck up to and others we drug or packed for more than 2 days. Some of them made us shed tears of joy and relief, while others made us make rude comments related to our level of stupidity. They all give us stories to share and memories that last a life time. I ask a friend once what was the last time he worked this hard to get and elk out and he stopped looked me in the eye and said when I was with you. Enjoy it all, share it and remember it forever. Olefish

Damn fine post....

AvidIndoorsman · Oct 23, 2018

BuzzH said:
On the plus side, you start killing elk consistently in Montana, most other states are an elk hunters piece of cake in comparison.

Neither of you should hunt CO, Montana is a cake walk... try a state that issues unlimited elk tags in most of it's units. There are less hunters in the Bridgers during opening day than there are 8 miles from the trailhead in any wilderness area in CO any day of season.

Madman · Oct 23, 2018

Sometimes the ONLY reason I fill my tag is I never give up....Sun up to sundown I'm in the field.....I've taken elk on the last day of season with two hours of daylight left.....never give in to the bad thoughts when it gets tough, I know I have them too so keep at it!

BuzzH · Oct 23, 2018

wllm1313 said:
Neither of you should hunt CO, Montana is a cake walk... try a state that issues unlimited elk tags in most of it's units. There are less hunters in the Bridgers during opening day than there are 8 miles from the trailhead in any wilderness area in CO any day of season.

Sorry, don't buy it.

I hunted deer in an OTC elk area in CO and the elk season was going...could have shot a legal bull elk all but one day.

One of the places I used to kill a lot of elk in Montana...I hunted a full week for deer, and cut ONE fresh elk track in pretty ideal conditions. Another area I used to bowhunt a lot, the 2017 flights conducted by the FWP, they saw 8 elk...none of them bulls.

You haven't convinced me, at all, that Montana is better for elk than Colorado.

AvidIndoorsman · Oct 23, 2018

BuzzH said:
Sorry, don't buy it.

I hunted deer in an OTC elk area in CO and the elk season was going.

Buzz, come on we all know that you see tons of elk, until you have an elk tag in your pocket and then they disappear.

Feeling discouraged.

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