A First time elk hunt in unit 22
08-11-2014, 12:45 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 1
A First time elk hunt in unit 22
First off Hello everyone. This is my first time hunting... Ever. I am prior military (Army 11b) 6 yrs active 2 IR. I'll be using a .35 whelen imp. I moved to Colorado 2 years ago and my wife is stained at Buckley so we live in Aurora. Being I don't know many people I'll be going alone and rentinga truck. I gotta gps for on ground as well as sur Udall great for emergency and I'll be wearing all wool with wool base. Outside of being in shape (I continue to train, got a bit out of shape not much though) what should I know? I am unfamiliar with most of this sport. I have been researching. Being I work 65 hrs a week 6 daysa weeki don't have time to drive the 4 1/2hrs to recon the area. Is anyone familiar with that area? That's a lot of questions I apologize any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Jax
08-25-2014, 08:34 AM
#2
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location:
Posts: 6,357
You didn't say what season you were hunting or if you are gong on a guided hunt or a do-it-yourself (DIY) hunt. Please provide information on these two questions. Make sure you have all the proper papers: hunter safety card, elk hunting permit, habitat stamp, and anything else that may be needed. It is not unusual to be checked by a game officer, and they will write you a ticket if your papers are not in order. Read the big game hunting regulations carefully and follow the rules. Learn how to identify a bull elk and a cow elk before you shoot at something. Bulls are pretty obvious. A cow elk may not be so obvious if you haven't actually looked closely at pictures and worked at distinguishing them from other animals that may be out there -- such as a doe mule deer. No doubt a cow elk side-by-side with a doe mule deer is much different -- the elk is much bigger. But they WON'T be side-by-side, and scale is difficult to determine for newbies. Learn to distinguish based on the shape of the neck, the fur coloration of neck/body, and head configuration.
I assume you will be rifle shooting. You will want to shoot a cartridge that is suitable for elk hunting: .270, .30-06, 7 mm mag, .300 win mag, .338 win mag I think are popular elk hunting cartridges. Things like a .243, .30-30 probably not good idea for elk hunting. You will want to be familiar with your rifle -- know how to operate it. You will want to have your rifle sighted in properly. OK. Now I reread your post, and I see you are using a .35 Whelen. I've read that the .35 Whelen is a suitable elk hunting cartridge. Know its limitations and trajectory. Don't try to shoot beyond the range limitations that a .35 Whelen may impose.
In the early seasons, elk are up high on the mountains -- around tree line. When heavy snows come in mid-October or late-October/early-November, elk are driven lower down the mountains and often onto private land. So, early seasons think high mountain, public land; late seasons think low elevation, private land. Most owners of private land charge a lot of money to hunt elk on their property.
You will want to have a good knife -- check that -- two good knives and a knife sharpener. You will want to know how to gut an elk. You should gut (also referred to as "field dressing") your elk as soon as possible after you have killed it. This helps to begin the cooling process. You will also want skin your elk relatively promptly -- but not so promptly as gutting -- and cut the elk into large pieces. You can quarter your elk or you can cut it up in a different way. I like to cut off each rear leg in a piece (a big ham), cut off each shoulder in a piece, cut off the two backstraps, each in a single piece, cut off the rib meat from the rib cage, cut off the neck meat. Others saw or ax the whole beast into roughly 4 quarters. You can research these things on line to learn how to do this. It is unlawful to waste elk meat -- "wanton waste" it is called. So, take care of your meat and don't leave it in the woods.
You will want to have a plan for getting your elk out. They are very big. You are not going to drag it out. You could hire a packer, but be mindful that during elk hunting season packers may be very busy. Also, be mindful of the prices they charge -- they don't pack for free. Be thinking in the $300 or more price range.
Have good heavy boots. Wear clothes in layers -- light wicking inner layer (merino wool is good or synthetic material), wool pants and wool shirt middle layer, heavy wool vest, heavy breathable but water resistant jacket or parka. Have warm gloves and a warm hat. Be mindful of the hunting regulations about wearing hunter orange. Take sunglasses.
If you can't get out to scout your hunting area, get there several days before the season starts and spend a day or two scouting on days before the season opens. The alternative to that is to instead scout/hunt during the season. It will generally take you at least a day maybe two days to figure out where you ought to hunt. If you are giving those days up during the season itself, you reduce your effective hunting days. The choice is yours.
If you are wanting to be an elk hunter there is no better way to learn than to go elk hunting! No doubt you will make a lot of mistakes . . . but you will learn from your mistakes and do better next season and the season after the next season. If you know elk hunters where you live, ask them questions. When you go elk hunting, talk to people that you see out there. Not everything people tell you will be an effective technique . . . but if you hear the same advice from two or more people, that might be good advice. It is probably too late this year, but in the future you might learn who the elk hunters are in your local area and try to invite yourself into their hunt, if they are DIY hunters. That is the best way to learn elk hunting -- to go elk hunting with experienced elk hunters. Be a good partner. Do your share of the work in camp, clean up after yourself, don't make others do your work for you, help out where you can.
Carry toilet paper in a zip-lock plastic bag. Carry extra shells. Carry water. Carry a couple of flashlights. Speaking of flashlights, a headlamp is very handy when you are using both hands to gut your elk after the sun has gone down.
Be careful. Watch out for logs under the snow that cause your feet to slip out from under you as you step on them. Be careful climbing or descending hills, particularly if you have a load of elk meat in a pack on your back. You can damage your knees easily in these circumstances.
Generally getting away from the roads by walking into the woods or across the hills/mountains on trails is a good strategy. Many hunters don't like to get more than a mile away from their trucks. The best elk hunting times are 30 minutes before sunrise to 60 minutes after sunrise and from 60 minutes before sunset to 30 minutes after sunset. Be mindful of legal shooting hours. Elk are a prey species: they fear being eaten. They eat in low light and during the middle part of the day lay on their beds, chewing their cud and trying to avoid being attacked by predators. So, elk move between their bedding areas to their eating areas two times per day. You won't have a good chance of hunting them in their beds, you'll want to catch them eating or on their way between eating and bedding areas. Elk eat a lot. Also, elk tend to congregate in largish herds. Thus, they need a good piece of grass to get enough for all to eat. If you spot elk (binoculars can be a useful tool but not absolutely necessary) approach them from behind cover, such as a ridge or a screen of trees, to get within shooting range. Alternatively, if you see them in the morning walking from their feeding area to their bedding area, make a plan to intercept them that evening as they return -- as they probably will -- from their bedding area to their feeding area.
When an area is heavily hunted, elk will become scarce and probably won't be seen out eating. They may then only eat at night. I'm not sure what advice to give you in this circumstance. Maybe you have to go into the woods -- sometimes called "the dark timber" because the trees block out a lot of the light -- to try to kick up an elk.
Remember how you walk into the woods or hills/mountains so you can find your way back out. A GPS is a useful tool, but be prepared to use your brain to figure out how to get back to your truck even if your GPS fails (batteries used up or you fall and break the GPS device). Often this is very simple -- your truck is behind you, your truck or the road is below you. If you just walk DOWN you have to hit the road and your truck is on the road.
I assume you will be rifle shooting. You will want to shoot a cartridge that is suitable for elk hunting: .270, .30-06, 7 mm mag, .300 win mag, .338 win mag I think are popular elk hunting cartridges. Things like a .243, .30-30 probably not good idea for elk hunting. You will want to be familiar with your rifle -- know how to operate it. You will want to have your rifle sighted in properly. OK. Now I reread your post, and I see you are using a .35 Whelen. I've read that the .35 Whelen is a suitable elk hunting cartridge. Know its limitations and trajectory. Don't try to shoot beyond the range limitations that a .35 Whelen may impose.
In the early seasons, elk are up high on the mountains -- around tree line. When heavy snows come in mid-October or late-October/early-November, elk are driven lower down the mountains and often onto private land. So, early seasons think high mountain, public land; late seasons think low elevation, private land. Most owners of private land charge a lot of money to hunt elk on their property.
You will want to have a good knife -- check that -- two good knives and a knife sharpener. You will want to know how to gut an elk. You should gut (also referred to as "field dressing") your elk as soon as possible after you have killed it. This helps to begin the cooling process. You will also want skin your elk relatively promptly -- but not so promptly as gutting -- and cut the elk into large pieces. You can quarter your elk or you can cut it up in a different way. I like to cut off each rear leg in a piece (a big ham), cut off each shoulder in a piece, cut off the two backstraps, each in a single piece, cut off the rib meat from the rib cage, cut off the neck meat. Others saw or ax the whole beast into roughly 4 quarters. You can research these things on line to learn how to do this. It is unlawful to waste elk meat -- "wanton waste" it is called. So, take care of your meat and don't leave it in the woods.
You will want to have a plan for getting your elk out. They are very big. You are not going to drag it out. You could hire a packer, but be mindful that during elk hunting season packers may be very busy. Also, be mindful of the prices they charge -- they don't pack for free. Be thinking in the $300 or more price range.
Have good heavy boots. Wear clothes in layers -- light wicking inner layer (merino wool is good or synthetic material), wool pants and wool shirt middle layer, heavy wool vest, heavy breathable but water resistant jacket or parka. Have warm gloves and a warm hat. Be mindful of the hunting regulations about wearing hunter orange. Take sunglasses.
If you can't get out to scout your hunting area, get there several days before the season starts and spend a day or two scouting on days before the season opens. The alternative to that is to instead scout/hunt during the season. It will generally take you at least a day maybe two days to figure out where you ought to hunt. If you are giving those days up during the season itself, you reduce your effective hunting days. The choice is yours.
If you are wanting to be an elk hunter there is no better way to learn than to go elk hunting! No doubt you will make a lot of mistakes . . . but you will learn from your mistakes and do better next season and the season after the next season. If you know elk hunters where you live, ask them questions. When you go elk hunting, talk to people that you see out there. Not everything people tell you will be an effective technique . . . but if you hear the same advice from two or more people, that might be good advice. It is probably too late this year, but in the future you might learn who the elk hunters are in your local area and try to invite yourself into their hunt, if they are DIY hunters. That is the best way to learn elk hunting -- to go elk hunting with experienced elk hunters. Be a good partner. Do your share of the work in camp, clean up after yourself, don't make others do your work for you, help out where you can.
Carry toilet paper in a zip-lock plastic bag. Carry extra shells. Carry water. Carry a couple of flashlights. Speaking of flashlights, a headlamp is very handy when you are using both hands to gut your elk after the sun has gone down.
Be careful. Watch out for logs under the snow that cause your feet to slip out from under you as you step on them. Be careful climbing or descending hills, particularly if you have a load of elk meat in a pack on your back. You can damage your knees easily in these circumstances.
Generally getting away from the roads by walking into the woods or across the hills/mountains on trails is a good strategy. Many hunters don't like to get more than a mile away from their trucks. The best elk hunting times are 30 minutes before sunrise to 60 minutes after sunrise and from 60 minutes before sunset to 30 minutes after sunset. Be mindful of legal shooting hours. Elk are a prey species: they fear being eaten. They eat in low light and during the middle part of the day lay on their beds, chewing their cud and trying to avoid being attacked by predators. So, elk move between their bedding areas to their eating areas two times per day. You won't have a good chance of hunting them in their beds, you'll want to catch them eating or on their way between eating and bedding areas. Elk eat a lot. Also, elk tend to congregate in largish herds. Thus, they need a good piece of grass to get enough for all to eat. If you spot elk (binoculars can be a useful tool but not absolutely necessary) approach them from behind cover, such as a ridge or a screen of trees, to get within shooting range. Alternatively, if you see them in the morning walking from their feeding area to their bedding area, make a plan to intercept them that evening as they return -- as they probably will -- from their bedding area to their feeding area.
When an area is heavily hunted, elk will become scarce and probably won't be seen out eating. They may then only eat at night. I'm not sure what advice to give you in this circumstance. Maybe you have to go into the woods -- sometimes called "the dark timber" because the trees block out a lot of the light -- to try to kick up an elk.
Remember how you walk into the woods or hills/mountains so you can find your way back out. A GPS is a useful tool, but be prepared to use your brain to figure out how to get back to your truck even if your GPS fails (batteries used up or you fall and break the GPS device). Often this is very simple -- your truck is behind you, your truck or the road is below you. If you just walk DOWN you have to hit the road and your truck is on the road.
Last edited by Alsatian; 08-25-2014 at 09:24 AM.
08-25-2014, 09:15 AM
#3
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Allegan, MI
Posts: 8,019
Wow! You have never hunted in your life and you picked a DIY solo elk hunt in the mountains for your first adventure! All I will offer is good luck and be safe, as I don't even know where to start, but the previous poster did his best for a quick synopisis of what you face.
08-25-2014, 10:11 AM
#4
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location:
Posts: 6,357
I just looked at GMU 22 on-line. I can't be sure, but it looks like a low elevation unit. Up until mid-October and later, elk will be up high, say above 10,000 feet elevation. If your season is an early season and your GMU is a low elevation unit, there may be zero elk there during your season. Of course, maybe you have a late season permit.
Even then, however, low elevations tend to be privately owned and rarely be public land. You would have to have a place you had permission to hunt.
So, to provide more guidance and advice provide more information. What season have you secured a permit for? Are you planning to hunt public land or private land? Do you have permission if it is private land?
Even then, however, low elevations tend to be privately owned and rarely be public land. You would have to have a place you had permission to hunt.
So, to provide more guidance and advice provide more information. What season have you secured a permit for? Are you planning to hunt public land or private land? Do you have permission if it is private land?
