How many miles?

I was feeling feisty yesterday. I’ll admit it.

In all seriousness every hunt and unit and weather is different. The real answer like most of these questions is everyone does it different and there really is no golden rule to killing an elk. Get out there and get after it! Hunt the hunt you want to hunt. I like the 6-10 per day range. I may never be more than a couple miles from my truck though. My pack outs this year were 10 miles, 2.5, 1.5, 1, and 50 yards
 
Man, I'm a weenie. The times I hike the most are usefully the least successful, a long day is maybe 12-14 miles, but most are only 5 ish, of squirrely meanders, sometimes less. Only a couple of times have I ever killed or been a part of an elk kill over 3 miles from the truck. Heck a lot of places just a mile in on a trail or road and you're already into elk, at least if you pick a good spot, at that point there's not need to go marching all over the mountain.

now deer... deer in a whole 'nother beast, I walk a LOT for them because I never have to worry about packing one out!
 
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now deer... deer in a who 'nother beast, I walk a LOT for them because I never have to worry about packing one out!

see i'm the opposite. i'm willing to go to depths of hell to kill a deer, but generally being a shoot the first legal one i see type of hunter on the zero point/leftover rifle tags, i've rarely, maybe only once made it more than 2 miles.
 
Average person hikes 3-4 miles an hour, so 10 miles a day is 2-3hours of walking a day. That leaves a lot of time for glassing.

BTW that 10,000 steps everyone is going for every day is 5 miles… if Janice in accounting is getting 5 miles every day walking around the cubes to find out the hot gos I can walk 9-10 for a boool
We all agree that Janice in accounting is a beast!

I average about 6-7 miles. A little more on the front end of a trip when I am looking and a little less on the back end when my plan is a little more firm. Max is probably 12-15 and I really have to be seeing and hearing nothing to move that far and fast.

I will add to your calc that I typically average less than 2mph. I guess If I'm walking a road or trail I can get to 4mph, but going up hill makes it hard, and the gear, and wanting to stop and listen and look. Going in the dark slows me down too. Nothing worse than a stick in the face.

You can certainly tell rifle hunters from bow hunters in this debate.
 
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