Your view on elk
 

I was wondering, from those of you who hunt elk religiously, what your views are on the size of an elk. For exampleI hunt whitetails here in IN for 3 months a year and have taken several bucks in the 130-160 class. I would rather shoot a doe than an average buck and let it grow. I know you can't really compare the two (deer vs elk)and I would never chastise or fault a person for shooting a little buck, but was wondering if that was also the common view for elk hunters. As for me I would be estatic to shoot any legal bull because I'm rarely afforded the oppurtunity to do so. Just curious.

RE: Your view on elk
 

I hunt elk every year, but I still only get to hunt them for a week or two, plus elk ranges vary so much. Just like a 120 class deer is a monster in one place, it is an average buck somewhere else,elk are no different.Some areas are hunted a lotso there aren't a bunch of mature satellite bulls runningaround.For example,there is a guy that hunts in the same camp I do and he hunts the entire CO elk season every year, and his goal every year is to take a legal (4 point) bull. He is a good hunter and an excellent shot, so that pretty much tells me I better not be picky. I shoot the first legal elk I can, cow or bull unless of course I pass on a cow with a bull coming up behind her or something like that. A little legalrag horn with cows I would shoot a cow instead, but if it is him or nada, he is getting an arrow flung at him. I need meat for the freezer afterall.

RE: Your view on elk
 

It really would have depend on the area and another factor is hunting time. Some otc areas in CO you may have to settle for a 5x5 as a legitimate representation of "mature" in that area. In New Mexico where my buddy guides and hunts if it is less than a 300 6x6 they let it pass.

If you are travelling and only giving yourself 4 or 5 days to take an animal, anything legal may be a realistic goal.

In my mind, 270 inches starts to "look real good" but I'd be happy as hell with smaller onmy archery tripto CO this fall.

RE: Your view on elk
 

I also think it depends on the area and time of the year. I know that here in alberta if its during the rut settling for a small 3x3 is almost a sin because there are usually always a big bull around with some cows and that 3x3 is probably a loner. But if the rut is over and legal bull you get a chance to shot take it because by then the elk have become smart and very elusive. So once again it all depends on the time of season and where you live but for your first bull i say the first legal on you see shot.

RE: Your view on elk
 

Every person has to make that decision for themselves. We have customers who come into camp and they will say they are trophy hunting and will shoot the first bull they see. Now I have had other clients pass on 350 bulls because they were not big enough for them. Where we guide in Montana and Idaho any bull over 300 class is almost always a goner. If a bull has good mass and is a 6 by 6 or better, I start whispering "shoot, shoot, shoot.", unless the hunter has specifically stated they are looking for something really big.

Elk are not too hard to judge in the field, look for the front tines to come out past the nose and long back tines and you have a real monster on your hands. I ask all of my clients to look at alot of pictures and review thier bugle magazines to look at big bulls before they come out to go hunting.

Every animal is a trophy and an honor to hunt regardless of the size of the animal. I remember every animal I have ever taken, and each one is a memory that will last a lifetime. My favorite trophy of all that I have taken is a young 5 point whitetail that I shot with my son by my side.

RE: Your view on elk
 

The area I hunt is 6 point minimum only. I have taken bulls t.hat scored from 250 to 320. Normally I look for 300 min net

RE: Your view on elk
 

Every animal is a trophy and an honor to hunt regardless of the size of the animal. I remember every animal I have ever taken, and each one is a memory that will last a lifetime. My favorite trophy of all that I have taken is a young 5 point whitetail that I shot with my son by my side.

CTO, I could hunt with you. Well said. Larry

RE: Your view on elk
 

I'll kill what ever is legal animal God gives me. Good luck.

RE: Your view on elk
 

Any elk is a trophy in my book, sure we all want a big record book 6x6 bull but the fact of the matter is they don'tlive behind every tree. In the area I bowhunt now in eastern Idaho, a bull is lucky to reach 300 a very few if any reach 350 but there are a lot of elk and no wolves. It hasfew bowhunters because it has ageneral rifle bull season in October. Thats the reason why the bulls don't get to grow very big becase they get killed off by rifle huntes. The area I uses to hunt and sill love has huge bulls. But it now has many wolves, few rifle hunters but a lot of bowhunters. As a result the bulls are very call shy, sure the few bulls that are their can and do grow very big. But hunting this new wolfless area is like a breath of fresh air. The bulls and cows talk and bugle like normal because they aren't afraid a wolf will come running in attracted by the noise. Anyway for each and every elk taken with a bow its truly a trophy no matter how big or what sex it is. Oh and by the way all elk are big compared to deer, but the smaller ones sure do taste better!

RE: Your view on elk
 

i live and hunt in colorado. if the DOW is issuing alot of cow and either sex tags, they are doing it for good reason. the last two years i have drawn a either sex tag and harvested small to medium size cows. i have also drawn the same for this year. i hunt alone sence my Dad retired and moved outta state. retreiving an elk is difficult, and i have a family to feed. i won't hold out for a bull. i think its good for the herd to harvest cow's. and its also good for me.

early

RE: Your view on elk
 

Bowhunting:
I know people back home snickered at us when we came home with Satalite bulls.4x4 and 5x4 not huge but trophies in my mind.They don't understand the work involved.I think for the Time , Travel , work and money my partner and I invest, any legal bull is a trophy. Hell any Elk with a Bow is a Trophy!! Meat in the freezer is a big prioroty along with getting a close encounter;)

I told myself last year I would be picky but being on puplic land and calling a bull in 11 yards broadside....I could not resist:D

I agree with Kevin:)

RE: Your view on elk
 

Change your choice of weapon from whatever you use to a recurve or longbow - shooting instinctive - and shooting a little buck will tickle you to death.

I trad hunt elk - any legal elk is a trophy for me, DIY hunting in OTC units

RE: Your view on elk
 

WEll said big redporker, longbow here, any elk will be a trophy for me...:D

RE: Your view on elk
 

I have a "rule" when elk hunting: Never pass on an animal the first day that you would shoot on the last day. It has served me well!

RE: Your view on elk
 

"I have a "rule" when elk hunting: Never pass on an animal the first day that you would shoot on the last day."

I agree 100%. I learned that one the hard way.

RE: Your view on elk
 

words ta live by

early

RE: Your view on elk
 

A 250 class elk tastes just as good as a 450 class elk.

It's sad to see new elk hunters worry about S.C.O.R.E. rather than hunt techniques, gear, rifles, and elkology.

RE: Your view on elk
 

if you want meat any elk is good you can't eat horns for meat hunting smaller younger elk are the best eating the big bulls i have ever had the privlage to eat have been better turned into jerky not very good to eat

RE: Your view on elk
 

Depends entirely on where the tag is. I was fortunate to draw one of only 9 nonresident archery bull tags in Nevada this year. You can bet it won't be hangin on a raghorn, no matter what it tastes like. I'll be lookin 380"+.

RE: Your view on elk
 

To me any legal elk is a good elk. However with an average of 6 guys in our elk camp (one week hunt), I will not personally shoot a spike(legal in our season)when we have meat on the pole already. Our camp rules are to pool the meat with those present during the harvest so I see no need to get greedy and just fill a tag because I can. So it really depends where the opportunities lie for me, in the past 5 years I have been forunate to harvest5 elk, none where spikes but none real pure trophies either! I am just thrilled to hunt elk yearlyand let the cards fall where they may.;)

RE: Your view on elk
 

Bowhunting ,a legal bull is a trophy IMO. Rifle hunter, hold out for a nice one. It is all in what gives you satisfaction. No one knows but you. BTW, you asked my view on elk; last sept I had a nice 7X7 that I kicked out of his bed at 40 yds. This is the view he gave me leaving
HCH

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RE: Your view on elk
 

Rifle or bow makes no difference. My last four bulls have all been with a rifle and all of them were less than 30 yard shots. Two 4x4s, one 5x5, and one 6x6. I've been hunting in the same area of colorado for nine years and I've never seen a trophy bull in that areayet. If he's legal I kill him. I wish I could afford to hunt a trophy on a private ranch, but I cherish my one week a year up in Meeker, Co with all of my buddies. I don't think it will be changing so we can shoot bigger bulls.

RE: Your view on elk
 

LOL - thats a good one


then why didn't you use a bow ? No differnce ........ right ?


hint - all the bulls you killed were trophy's. I'm sorry you don't get that


Well thats a little better. Your successful hunting has nothing to do with gross B&C score, its the experience.

BTW if you ever took a recurve hunting you'd know there IS a huge difference.

RE: Your view on elk
 

Big Red Porker? LOL

I don't need to explain myself to you or anyone else, but just so you'll know: I can't bow hunt anymore because of weakness and numbness in my left arm because of three bad disk in my neck, and that breaks my heart. For years I've read books, practiced calling and studied elk in the wild, I try my best to leave nothing to chance. I believe its always a learning experience everytime I'm blessed to be in Elk Country. If I kill them with a bow or a rifle it makes no difference, as long as it was fair chase, and as long as I cherish the experience!!

RE: Your view on elk
 

Big Red Porker? LOL!

I forgot to tell you how muchI appreciate you analyzing every single sentence. That was great! If you ever want to talk in person, give me a call.

Bryan

RE: Your view on elk
 

Bryan - I agree with much of your last post, however to say bowhunting is as equal to rifle hunting and that an OTC 6x6 isn't a trophy I'll disagree with to the end.

I'd rather shoot a cow with my longbow than a 350" bull with a rifle, ANYDAY.

I don't call people, and if I were you I'd edit your phone number. The world is a very, very small place and many people on these chat and message boards are absolute freaks, child molestors, crooks, thieves, murderes - you name it, you got it, right here.

RE: Your view on elk
 

Like they say, it's in the eye of the beholder. I only need an elk every other year to fulfill my meat requirements, combined with a couple deer and maybe the odd antelope. Since I don't need an elk every year to plump up my ego, I pass up lots of shots with my bow. I would rather take a cow than a raghorn bull, it's fun to bugle with the really big boys, and they don't get big if you kill them as spikes and raghorns. CO knows all about this fact, it is to elk what PA is to whitetails.

Last year, I passed a 270 class 6 pointer on the second day, and then never got an elk. I passed up five more shots at young bulls and cows trying for that elusive 350 bull. I don't regret for a minute that I passed up that early bull, even though he would probably have scored as my new personal record. Had I taken that bull, I'd never have had the heart-stopping close encounter with the 350 bull I later had. I'd never have gotten into the middle of that battle royale between two 300+ bulls, either. I didn't absolutely have to have the meat last year, although I could have used it. This season, I really need the elk meat, and I won't be quite so choosy.

For trophy standards, any 6 pointer is a trophy in virtually any over-the-counter hunt. If you draw out a premium tag, you'll want to start sweating mass, G-3 length, and things like that.

RE: Your view on elk
 

Go to Cabela's. See how big the full elk mounts are and the whitetail deer are not. COw elk run 500-600# bulls run bigger usually.

RE: Your view on elk
 

I believe the trophy is in the eye of the beholder. Some of my best trophy's didn't include rack size. My first bull elk with a bow I thought man I'm really an elk hunter now. It all boils down to how much you want to spend in time, money, and sweat in hunting trophy elk. To some people a trophy is their first elk. To some it's spending big money and choosing which bull they would like to shoot.For me and my clients its boils down to sweating for them. Like everyone else that hunts public land pick your best spot on opening day and take the candy first then for the rest of the week it's called hunting.

I also believe it really comes down to how many elk a person has killed already. Some people who have killed alot of elk will tend to be more picky than those who haven't. And for those who haven't shot alot of elk most bulls in that 270 class range are going to look mighty tasty. Any bull that reaches 300 class is a nice looking bull. Here's a reference for those who don't know what a 300 class bull looks like. 4ft tall close to 4ft wide and most points looking about 12-14inch long and the dagger(4th point)around 15-18 inches I'd say don't even think twice pull the trigger.

The bottom line is most hunters who say they won't shoot nothing but a trophy bull elk end up shooting a rag horn 4x4 on the last part of the week when they could have shot a dandy 5x5 or 5x6 bull the first part of the week.

My biggest bodied elk was a 5x6 barely with the 6th point. 900lbs plus bull I could barely reach around its neck with both arms. That was alot of meat. I'd like to seen that bull in 3 more years while i was hunting.

Situations can sometimes add alot more to the trophy.

Heresa pic of my best elk to date. This is a public land bull where I hunt and there's alot bigger out there but this one is on my wall.

RE: Your view on elk
 

Isn'tit a bitodd that any hunter presumes to have enough information to be able to judge another hunter's legal choices? But putting that aside, elk are managed different here in my neck of the woods. Some areas are spike only, so it's a yearling bull or nothing.Some areas are open bull, but because they get hunted hard you need to keep your expectations within reason. Then there are limited entry hunts and some of them take many years of applying before you draw a tag. So when you finally do draw, you wantto make the most of it as atrophy class hunt because the opportunity doesn't come around often.

Funny thing about the spike hunt is that after opening morning, it can be a real challenge to find a spike.So after days of seeing nothing but mature bulls, the spike is the trophy. Just goes to show its the hunt that makes the trophy.

RE: Your view on elk
 

I used to pass up smaller rag horns and cows and end up eating tag soup at the end of the season.The first legal elk, cow or browtine bull or monster is getting the shaft.Any elk is a trophy in its own way.And any legal ethical hunt is a respectable hunt.I still pass up a few early in the season but by the middle I get serious.
Elkshed

RE: Your view on elk
 

no, this is what hunting message boards do - and its thought provoking to do so !

RE: Your view on elk
 

Big Red Dumb Ass Porker? LOL!!!

Thats what huntiningmessage boards do? You are a piece of work! I hopeI grow up and become a great bow hunter of big game justlike you! And as soon as I become a legend in my own mind, (just like you), I'm going to find a forum where I can make a total dumb ass out of myself, (just like you)!!! I tried to hold back because I know your a senior member here, but you are just to stupid to hold a conversation with. You make me so happy I have the hunting buddies that I have. I will ignore your dumb ass from here on! The next time you hear abosolutely nothing, thats me not talking to you!

RE: Your view on elk
 

as most of you all know on this site i say what i want. and COLORADO LUCKYDOG you my friend are an idiot!
what the hell makes you think you could even hit an elk with archery gear? rifle or bow makes no differance? what the hell is missing with you? i would like to see you elk hunt with a bow. most of us on these sites that bow hunt do it becuase we have got to the point where the gun hunt is to easy, not fun enough for us! we all know that there is a differance! your the dumbass! LUCKYDOG!

RE: Your view on elk
 

Hey Mangirl, you need to go back and read the whole post you moron! I bow hunted for years!

RE: Your view on elk
 

Sojust how many elkhave you personallykilled that hunting elk with a gun has become too easy.

RE: Your view on elk
 

anything i have hunted with a gun dies! so i went with a bow! at age 14 my first year hunting big game i shot, 1 antelope at 507 yards. then i shot a cow elk on opening morning she was about 25 yards away (neck shot) dropped in her tracks. then i shot a whitetail doe, and finally a 4 point whitetail buck. in the next few years i got picky, so i killed a 7x5 muley and a 8x7 muley. so yes to easy. if it is withen 500 yards it is dead. sorry but gun hunting is easy.
as a bow hunter i have shot elk, 6x6 bull at 339 6/8 and numerous whitetail bucks, 2 muleys, turkey, and my latest a corsican ram. soon to hunt antelope with my bow in sept. and ofcoarse the ol bull elk also. so sorry if i pissed in anyones cup of tea, but if anyone thinks bow hunting and gun hunting are the same, something is missing with them![8D]

RE: Your view on elk
 

easy or not manboy, you sill interpreted lucky dog's post incorrectly as did some others. Some on here sure seem to be quick on the trigger of bs.

RE: Your view on elk
 

where did he say he hunted with a bow? he said his last 4 elk was with gun, he didn't say what he hunted with before? maybe just a gun? then he says he can't draw a bow anymore, well iam sorry to here that. i know it will be a cold day in hell when i can't bow hunt anymore. but i won't come onto these sites and say gun or bow is the same! sorry but i did read the post!;)

RE: Your view on elk
 

So you have killed a total of onecow elk with a gun.Not even a single bull with a gun.That really gives credibilityto your opinion that gun hunting for elk is too easy.:D