It was the third afternoon of my first-ever elk hunt. Young and full of piss and vinegar, there was no mountain too steep or terrain too rough. I had no clue what I was doing. All I knew was I had a rifle in my hand, it was sighted-in (sort of), and ...
Elk
How to Read Wind and Thermals to Get on Big Deer and Elk
There are hundreds of gadgets, gizmos, and products available on the market designed to help you to stay “undetectable” and beat an animal’s nose. While some of these products can help you reduce your scent, they are far from a magic-bullet solution ...
How To Speak Elk, Lesson 2: Understanding Every Funky Sound
It only takes a few go-to vocalizations to get bulls bowhunting close. But of course, elk make more than three or four sounds. Those interested in upping their elk game should learn the language elk use to communicate with each other. Here’s another ...
Breaking the Curse: A Decade-Long Elk Hunt
The first year I hunted elk, I drove from New York to Colorado in my beat-up Tacoma and camped high on a forest service road. I wanted to kill my first one solo and with my bow. I hiked in by myself on the second day of the season. A few miles deep, ...
455-Inch Bull Set to Crush the Pennsylvania State Elk Record
A monster bull elk tentatively tallying 455 inches could be the largest to ever come from the Keystone State. When the elk, shot last October, is officially scored next July, it will likely rank sixth overall in the Boone and Crockett record books ...
Speak Elk: The 3 Elk Calls You Need to Hunt and Kill Big Bulls
Elk are big, regal, and majestic. They taste incredible, their antlers are remarkable, and they live in storied country: dark timber patches, unsullied alpine meadows, aspen-sprinkled hillsides. They are magical, mythical animals to observe and to ...
Tule Elk Hemmed in by High Fence Are Languishing in California Drought
A string of nearly 100 volunteers hiked 350 gallons of water more than three miles on Saturday, Aug. 28, in an attempt to save a suffering herd of tule elk. The water was brought to a dying pond within California's Point Reyes National Seashore, an ...
Bowhunting Elk: 7 Last-Minute Efforts That Can Improve Your Chances
The bugling was nearly constant as my guide made cow calls, and I cracked sticks to impersonate live elk. It took at least 10 minutes, but our ploy was more than the satellite bull could stand. With the wind blowing in our faces, the bull cruised ...
Elk Hunting on Public Land: How To Build a 3-Year Strategy for a New Area
Public-land elk hunting is hard. The average success rate is below 10%, yet more and more hunters head West to give it a shot every year. Some find success in year one, but most don’t. That's why I like to utilize a three-year strategy when ...
Add Core Training to Your Rucking Routine for Elk Hunting Prep
September is so close you can almost hear the bugling of a bull elk in the distance. If all goes to plan, you’ll be hiking that big boy out of the mountains in quarters. You’ve been rucking to prepare, but adding some simple core training will have ...
Elk Hunting Returns to Virginia for First Time Since the Mid-1800s
Local landowners, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) volunteers, and the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources have worked for decades to bring elk back to the Old Dominion State. That work has paid off. For the first time in at least 166 ...
Get Dialed In on OTC Tags While Waiting for That Dream Draw Tag
The bugling just didn’t stop. I’m not exactly sure how many bulls there were altogether, but there were a bunch, all competing for volume. Throughout the morning I saw two bulls and almost had as many shot opportunities. I chased bugles until noon ...
A Beginner’s Guide to Shed Antler Hunting
Spring is my second favorite season. The winter weather is finally loosening its grip. The rivers are breaking up, the grass is starting to poke through the snow patches on south-facing slopes, and bears are crawling out of their dens. Yet my ...
Check Out Evan Hafer’s Awesome Father-Son Elk Hunt
Earlier this year, Black Rifle Coffee Company founder and CEO Evan Hafer took his dad, Ed, on an epic elk hunt in northeast Utah. The pair haven’t hunted together in 30 years, and hilarity ensues when old school meets new school on the ...
Photo Essay: Elk Hunting Sucks, or The Life of an OTC Archery Hunter
For the last four years, I have been archery hunting Colorado’s over-the-counter, or OTC, units for bull elk — with mixed results. OTC means the elk tags are sold to the general public literally over the counter, anywhere you can buy a Colorado ...
The Everyman’s Approach to DIY Archery Elk Hunting
I’m a self-taught bow hunter with a passion for elk hunting. The first time I heard the bugle of a bull elk echo out of my computer speakers, I knew I had to go and experience it in person. So that’s exactly what I did. In 2017, my first season, I ...
The Fitness Regimen That Will Prepare You for Elk Hunting
There’s no doubt that hunting elk in the Rocky Mountain West is a physical activity. If you don’t live in a state like Colorado, where the average elevation is 6,800 feet above sea level, then you are already going into the season at a disadvantage. ...
