List of essential DIY elk hunting skills
 

I confess to being a bit restless waiting for Colorado's first rifle elk season to begin in . . . three weeks. I was thinking about what are important skills that contribute to successful do-it-yourself elk hunting in the high mountains. I include in this category not just the skills for hunting the elk but also the camping. Here are some of the skills I think are at least partly involved. Please add your own ideas. This is just to pass the time and to think about elk hunting, nothing too serious.


Shooting accurately
Seeing game
Using a knife skilfully to skin and cut up an elk
Knot tying
Finding one's way back to camp and to one's kill (navigation)
Fire building


Please add your own items to extend this list. I didn't try to be exhaustive.

Field care of game.
Knowledge of hunting area.
Physical fitness and confidence.
A good hunting buddy to help pack meat.
Positive mental attitude.

Field care of game is huge like Flags said. Killing an elk in the back country presents some significant problems especially early season. Getting them out same day is pretty important but if not possible proper preparation of the meat for leaving at the kill site is necessary to not lose it all. Luckily I always elk hunted with some pretty qualified hunters who knew how to get it done. Nothing is more fun than packing out an elk with a great group of friends.

Flags: Please elaborate on "confidence." What do you meant there? Is that different from positive mental attitude?


I agree with the positive mental attitude. Last year I had one opportunity to shoot an elk, a 5x5 or a 6x6, no trophy, just a nice honest bull. I had been day dreaming, sort of surrendered to the expectation that after three days on hunting (this was Tuesday morning, season opened Saturday) without seeing anything, I probably wouldn't see anything that morning either. But then this bull walked out. It was close to the limit of my comfort-zone on shooting distance. Because I had a defeated mind-set, I could not collect myself quickly enough to evaluate the opportunity with composure. I had about 10 seconds from when the bull first showed up and when the opportunity was past. I saw him right away -- he had walked out of a draw where I anticipated elk might emerge from as an escape route. I got my scope on him within about 2 seconds of his appearance. I passed on the shot, which was probably good. If I had been composed, however, I could have paid more attention to keeping the crosshairs steady on the shoulder of the elk and I could have more accurately assessed my ability to make the shot. I feel that if the range is not too great, I can see how well I will shoot by how much my crosshairs move. This year I plan to bear this experience in mind and be ready all the time and not defeated.

Yes there is a difference. Confidence means that you have the ability and skill to get away from other hunters and roads. You are confident that you can get 3 or 4 miles back in safely and actually hunting and not worrying about what may happen. You can live without your cell phone and having someone by your side. If you lack confidence in your ability to hunt more than a couple hundred yards away from roads or other hunters you won't kill many elk.

Positive mental attitude means actually believing you will kill an elk. Remaining focused until the last minute of the last day no matter what the weather did, no matter what other hunters are doing, no matter how bad your feet hurt you must be positive. Your elk may be behind the very next tree

I am thinking that having the skill to find areas that actually hold elk is pretty important. Just because a state sells tags in an area, does not mean it holds elk.

Those are good points and important. I give an example above of being disabled, to some extent, by a poor mental attitude. I hunt anywhere from 1.5 miles away from the terminus of a difficult 4WD road to 4 miles in. I know what you mean by the confidence factor. While I definitely hunt back in there, there is a bit of a feeling of uneasiness I experience. I ignore it, I mute it. As I have hunted this same area longer I have recognized that feeling and have learned to control or dismiss it.


As an example, I remember feeling unsure about finding my way back in the dark from a spot I was in. I had a GPS with important waypoints stored. I was pretty familiar with the trails I used. But I still was nervous. I concluded, later, that such nervousness was unfounded. I know my way around this place well enough now that while I might stray off trail, I would be able to reorient myself fairly quickly and not get into either a dangerous situation or have to spend an unpleasant night out in the bush in an impromptu bivouac. It was my brain playing mental tricks on me.


I agree that such mental issues are centrally involved.

• Stealth in movement - blowing game out for miles around doesn't help anybody,
  blowing your shot because you can't draw smoothly doesn't either

• Ability to read terrain to find game hot spots - doesn't matter if you're doing everything else right, if the game ain't there, you ain't gonna shoot it

• Positional shooting - I've never really loved any shooting position I've ever been in on a stalk or still hunt

• Comfort and confidence to exist "off grid" and navigate efficiently - including planning your locations, especially access to water

************Most Important Backpack Hunting Skill For Millennials to Learn***********

• Ability to pack smartly - less is more (except for socks). The clothes you choose,
  navigation methods/gear, camp gear & tent/tarp, water supply, binos/spotting scope, etc. If you're throwing 95lbs of crap in a sack and expecting to have a good week, you're sadly mistaken

I'll add a couple more skills to the list. Remember I included camping skills in with this list, because DIY elk hunters camp while they are hunting elk.


Using a chain saw and sharpening a chain saw


Splitting wood with maul and axe, replacing axe handle, sharpening the axe.




I thought of the later because I am in the process of replacing an axe handle. After looking at some on-line videos and talking with my son, who has replaced many axe handles, it turns out there is some skill involved in replacing an axe handle and making it ready for use. I am in the process of replacing the axe handle because I broke it, probably through mishandling, as in missing the wood and hitting the handle on the wood, more than once or twice.

Reading a map/gps. ie, knowing where you are, where you're going.