ELKampMaster

I' m kind of surprised at the drop off in topics and postings here on our big game hunting forum at this time of year; at least for those that venture beyond the local deer patch for their big game hunting. Now is a key time to be getting one' s act together! Three factors come to play: " compression" of both time and money, and scouting.

For anyone who has ever tried putting together an organized " 10 days out of the nearest town and without intent of going back early" elk camp/hunt starting just 2 weeks prior to the season, they know what I mean. Lack of planning and preparation almost guarantee minor (and sometimes not so minor) emergencies, inconveniences, and disappointments come hunting time.

In the weeks prior to departure, there is already the tendency to work more hours than normal before leaving because you are going to be gone so many days and you want things to go well in your absence thus your available prep time per day is even shorter. There are plenty of things that can be done well in advance in terms of preparation: repairs to or acquisition of shelter and heat, new equipment, rifles set ups, ammo acquisition, sight ins, menus, grocery lists, maps, clothing, horse rentals, packing school, and all the things you said you needed extra or different the year before.

You' ll find that each item you check off your elk camp/hunt list either took time or cost you money or both. The more you save for the month of departure the more it is going to hit you in the pocket book -- all at once. The time to pull all this stuff together is now and on thru the summer -- spread out the purchases and it won' t be such a burden later.

Now is also the time to start planning the hunt and the scouting. We plan on doing two scouting trips this year to check out new areas we haven' t been into yet and to orient old and new hunters alike to the routes and the old standby spots so we don' t have to " hold their hands" in the dark of the opening morning at 330am in order to get them to their ambush spots. We even had out of state folks join us for these scouting trips BUT the key is talking to them about it NOW (is already a little late) before folks summer schedules fill up. (I' ve found the non-resident hunters in our camp to be more prepared, serious, and committed than most of our resident hunters.)

Thus I' m a little surprised folks aren' t posting about the issues involved with getting ready for a measured, successful, enjoyable hunt. I guess folks are either hiring outfitters to take care of " the details" for them, are blissfully ignorant, are all organized and ready to go, or they are " bolt away hunters" .

Bolt away hunters are those that " bolt away" from their job at 300PM Friday, drive like a bat out of hell Friday night and into Saturday morning (opening day), can' t get out of bed to be on their stand by sunrise, never get far from the road, hunt half a day Sunday, do some target practice in " camp" Sunday afternoon so they can say they " shot" something and then " bolt away" back to town to be on their jobs on Monday. A sorry way of doing things and usually because they didn' t get their act together earlier. On the other hand " bolt away" hunters can be useful -- as if you position yourself correctly (and early) they inadvertantly can drive the elk right to you!

Oh well, I guess it takes all kinds to make a world..... Good luck on your hunt this coming fall -- it' s just around the corner and will be upon us in no time. I can' t wait!

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM

bigbulls

You' re right, the better you plan and get organized now the easier it will be come time to make good. Unfortunately and fortunately I am about to begin gunsmith school and do not have the money to buy all of the things I said I wanted to get this year. I am going to have to rely on the stuff I used last year mostly. One thing I am going to buy is a new sleeping bag for the rifle season.

As for getting up and scouting I can' t even get there yet. Camp is a little over 10,000 feet so there is still a good bit of snow up there. Gonna be getting up there here before too long though.

I have to do the bolt away hunt for bow season since it spans five weekends so I can have a week off for the rifle season. You can bet though that I am up well before the elk start moving up from their nightly feeding spots. I am also camped above the elk at night so they have to come to me instead of the other way around. I always get a good laugh when I see the rare hunter sweating his arse off hiking up the mountain after the elk when they have gone past a couple of hours before hand. I' ll admit that I used to be one of them but I learned real quick that you have to be where the elk are if you want to bag one on a regular basis.

Hey EKM you' ll like this, I think I' m going to use my .444 Marlin this year instead of my .270 just for a change of pace.

Good luck to all this year.

ELKampMaster

bigbulls,
I know you are a big boy and can choose your own sleeping bag. Just wanted to share a little negative experience that caught us off guard. Part of my wife going along to be the camp chef it that she doesn' t have to sleep cold. So we have propane heat in the sleeping area which is fine; however, we always want to be bagged up so if something happens to the heat in the middle of the night that its no big deal and we work on it the next day, so.......

We bought her a Cabelas 3-D 30 below bag. Very warm, very nice but.... they put the zipper in the " corner" of the 3-D construction and the zipper right in the 90 degree part and it catches easily on the " little flaps" that run parallel to the zipper. It works great if someone on the outside zips it shut for her, but doing it herself from the inside (which always puts things a little bit on an angle bind) it catches regularly.

Our older " plain" supposedly inferior bags that simply have the zipper midway down the side (thus located in a 180 degree side not a corner). These bags are advertised for large people or in my wifes case people that want to have some " roll around" room inside the bag -- not so claustrophobic. We thought we were getting the best thing since sliced bread, thank goodness we only bought one of them. FYI.

Never Go Undergunned,
EKM

bigbulls

I' m the same way your wife is. I can not stand sleeping in a mummy bag. I feel like someone has me tied to the cot.

Thanks for the tip on the bag. I have a warm bag now but it' s so dang heavy and bulky. It' s not made for packing. For the archery season I usually pack all my clothes and such up on by back and make a couple of trips. I just leave everything up there until after the rifle season. Then the horses take care of all the big stuff that we take up there for that.

Is anyone going to be hunting elk this year? It sure has been slow around here.

hntngirl

I am! My season starts Oct 18th....five months. Crap that sounds like a long time.
Anyway, I hunt the Cascades, and to get up top where I hunt only takes me about an hour. I spend at least part of almost every weekend there, so I am scouting all the time. I' ve already seen some nice bulls the last couple weeks that are going to have some really nice racks by the time they' re done. Most of the elk are still down a little low, since there' s still quite a bit of snow up high. I' ll be going up on Sat. night and staying till Sun. night. this weekend. We' ve had some real nice days this week and I' m hoping alot more snow has melted. I love this time of year. Almost no one has been up high for so many months that the animals aren' t expecting company! I usually see alot more bear, bobcat, etc. right after it melts.

DreaminBoutElk

I was one the fortunate non-residents to draw a combo tag in Montana. I tell ya, there' s nothing I' d like better that to go up there and spend a week or so this summer and scout. Just ain' t in the cards though cuz of work. I figured the best thing I could do, being my first time to Montana, was to hire an outfitter. Talked to a bunch of ' em and decided on a guy that sounded honest and was willing to cut me a deal. I' ve never hunted off horses before and this is an 11 mile pack to camp. Just how sore is my a$$ gonna be?
I' m so damn fired up about this hunt that I' m drivin the old lady nuts. She' s more ready for it to be Nov. than I am. I' ve been shootin every weekend and I take my hunting gear out and go through about every week. I have one of those topo programs and I have the whole area we' re going to hunt dotted with waypoints and routes that I want to check out while there.
Any recommends about huntin off horses? Course the outfitter' ll be tendin' mostly but I' m curious about other pros and cons you might be able to share.

Howler

Well, I am in the process of planning a hunt in Alaska, that is not scheduled until first part of Sept. of ' 04. Is that planning far enough ahead of time for ya. Heck, that' s only 15 months and 2 weeks away WooHoo! Can' t wait! It' s hard to plan much for this coming season with that on my mind!

CalNewbie

I almost never ride a horse, but took a half-day ride up and back on some rocky trails to some mountain lakes near Bishop, California. This was about a 4 hour ride, not certain of the distance. It was not a pleasant experience! I don' t think it was my keister so much as it was the small of my back that was complaining. It took a few days to stop feeling the aches and pains. A friend who rode weekly had no problem.

I' d recommend finding a riding stable and taking some lessons, get a fair bit of riding time in. That way you can get used to riding and toughen up those muscles.

ELKampMaster

Dreamin'
Smart idea hiring the outfitter for a new area, short cuts the learning curve and gives you better odds of getting one -- beautiful country, should be great regardless. Smart again of the use of the GPS/Map set up -- after this year you should " own " enough nagivation information to hunt the area on your own in the future if you so decide.

Horses! Could write a book on that one and still leave something out and be cajoled for " missing" the obvious!

Regarding soreness, I' d say it comes in two forms (1) muscle/bone/joint pain and (2) skin pain. Maybe advil/aleve or your favorite concoction for #1. But for #2 there is an easy trick that can help a lot with skin pain, i.e. " saddle sores" the inside of your thighs and a silver dollar size patch inside each knee can drive you wild. Even an ole cowboy if he hasn' t been riding much through the winter will get saddle sores as he starts riding heavy in the spring -- the solution? Wear thick long underwear bottoms -- I don' t care if it is 85 degrees put' em on and sweat -- you' ll be ahead of the game!

Otherwise, your outfitter should be watching out for you -- I assume he will have gentle stock. Be honest with him regarding your experience level, better to be put on the gentlest and slowest horse in the string than to have a bronc on your hands and not be up to handling it. Aside from trusting the guide make sure you know the following: what and how is the proper tightness of the cinch (belt), make sure your stirrups are adjusted to where if you " stand up" on the balls of your feet that your crotch clears the saddle by 1 to 1.5 inches, make sure your stirrups fit your boots (not too loose [wide] not too tight [narrow], and explain the rules if you are using rifle scabbards on your horse.

Horses in general? You might have a wonderful horse and get along just great but watch out when you are on foot and close by other horses -- they are not gentle with each other and if you are in the way -- too bad. If someone else is having a rodeo or trouble then just get your rear out of the way and let the guide handle it -- no good deed goes unpunished! Also don' t get too casual with your horse too early until you' ve had enough time for some " things" to happen. A plum gentle horse in some cases gets real excited when a blue sage grouse " blows up" from beside the trail or if some item tied on your saddle rubs a tree in a narrow spot in the trail -- for your first day on the trail keep one hand on the saddle and be aware that each moment you are rubbing your nose or whatever so that you have no hand on the saddle that you are at risk for an easy " dump off" .

If you are walking around behind your horse (saddling up, checking your rifle, flipping a stirrup right side up -- whatever), the let him know you are moving on around him by saying something, touch him, keep your hand on his rear end and... -- WALK CLOSE (4" - 6" ) to him as you go around his butt; worst case scenario - he might kick you [not likely if you don' t surprise him], but it won' t be a full haymaker punch because you' ll be too close for him to get fully wound up. Be honest with your guide and let him know you are willing to be taught, talked to, cajoled, corrected and if need be -- scolded.

If you haven' t ridden at all, then the advice of visiting a stable isn' t a bad idea -- I don' t care how " duded up" it might feel -- there is nothing like gaining some actual experience prior to " show time" when your trip and your money are on the line. Horses have the ability to make it a wonderful trip (likely in a guided situation) and they have a dark side that can be the ruination of a trip. Think " risk management" each time you' re doing something with a horse --- or if you are a young fella, just throw caution to the wind and go for it and let the chips fall where they may (not my recommended choice) -- your call.

Go get' em and
Never Go Undergunned,
EKM