Young man on his first Archery Elk hunt! alone

[bcolglazier03]

Hey there!
I'm a Washington resident for all of my 19 years, holding my first set of archery tags. Deer season opens Sep 1, Elk on Sep 4th. Im ecstatic, but ther's a problem. I have to leave Sep 5th by 3 AM for Montana as im going to Guide and Packer school :hump: One day after elk in Western Washington, in early fall still, just doesn't seem promising. I have been scouting on the side of my full time job as often as possible. Should I go after the lowland elk ive been around for 3 years, OR take my trip to the high country for 4 days with one day to let the arrow fly? Any other suggestions are welcome and appreciated!!

 

[MontanaElkFanatic]

That for sure is crunch time lol, you better hunt right next to the truck and in an easy area for that elk because 0300 on 5 Sept will come pretty dang fast if you kill an elk mid day or even early afternoon on the fourth. Good luck in pack school.

 

[mlbuck84]

^ What he said - Good luck at pack school. Post stuff and let us know what it's like.

 

[devon deer]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is a guide and pack school?
Best of luck with your hunt matey.
Cheers
Richard

 

[Selkirk]

That's a tight time frame. I say go for it, enjoy yourself and use your own good judgement.

 

[bcolglazier03]

Thanks for the well wishes! Devon, the Guide and packer school i will be attending is a 30 day class where i will learn all the neccessities, as well as recieve priceless hands on experience in the world of outfitting and backcountry mule packing, to be placed in an employmenty opportunity directly following school. I will need all the luck I can get, if i don't get into any elk by early afternoon, Im trying to convince myself to walk away from that evening hunt (not likely). Elk and next to the truck usually don't go in the same sentence when we are talking about public land archery. I will probably be looking at 1 mile uphill, and 3 miles flat all on bicycle. to get to where i've been seeing 6, 5 point bulls in a swamp. I'm excited to have joined the HuntTalk society!!

 

[MontanaElkFanatic]

Of course most elk hunts dont go hand and hand with hunting by the truck on public land, but most elk hunts aren't limited to six hours to find, kill, debone, pack out, be responsible with the meat, sleep for pack school, and so on.....but good luck, I have done plenty of one day elk hunts but never when I had not a single chance of returning the next day if needed.

 

[JohnCushman]

Best of luck in school