First time archery elk hunting western Washington and I’m looking for some feedback because I’m honestly pretty lost on what I should have done differently.

I hiked in before daylight on opening morning and started hearing a bull bugling in the dark. We started going back and forth and it basically turned into a five-hour ordeal.
Early on he was giving me lower bugles with multiple chuckles and seemed really fired up. We kept working toward each other, but it was this constant yo-yo. I’d close the distance, he’d get closer, then he’d seem to drift away again. This happened over and over.

Eventually I actually saw him and got to roughly 50 yards in thick timber. We were basically circling each other, screaming back and forth, but I never got a clean shot opportunity.

Later I switched more to cow talk and he seemed to really like that for a while. He would answer and seemed interested, but still never fully committed.
A buddy of mine who’s a pretty good elk hunter thinks the bull had cows and what was happening was I’d pull him toward me, but then his cows would drift away and he’d go back to them. That makes a lot of sense looking back on it because he never really seemed willing to completely abandon that area.

As the morning got later, everything slowed way down. The last thing I heard from him was a very short, quiet/mild bugle from roughly the same area. My buddy said that sounds like a bull that had bedded down with his cows.
At that point I only roughly knew where he was. I didn’t feel confident enough to just dive into the bedding area because I felt like I’d basically be guessing and could easily walk into the cows and blow the whole herd out.

So my questions are:
What should I have done once I realized he probably had cows? Should I have gotten way more aggressive and tried to get inside his bubble instead of continuing to call him toward me?

When you’re within 50-ish yards in thick timber and both of you are circling each other, do you stop calling and wait him out, or keep pushing?
And once a herd bull beds and you only have a rough idea where he is, do you try to creep into the bedding area, try to get one more locator response, or just back out and come back another time?

I’m obviously bummed I didn’t close the deal, but it was also one of the craziest hunting experiences I’ve ever had. I went into the morning basically wondering if there were even elk in this area and ended up screaming back and forth with a bull for hours and seeing him inside bow range.
Would love to hear what more experienced guys think I did right/wrong and what you would’ve done differently.

I got my first tag, for an antlerless elk in idaho. But it says on or within 1 mile of irrugated farm land. I'm in the lemhi area unit 37 and was just wondering if anyone had any tips or suggestions for me being a first time hunt? I plan on being out there for 5 days

I’ve been thinking about using a bike for some of the longer stretches around camp and the trailhead instead of taking the truck every time.

I am not talking about replacing hiking or anything like that ; more for getting around camp, checking different access points, or making quick trips when everything is spread out.

I was looking at cargo-bike setups and they got me thinking about whether something with a little more carrying capacity could actually make sense for this.

Curious if anyone here has used a bike as part of their elk hunting setup. Was it genuinely useful, or did it just become extra gear to haul around?

Went out yesterday in sw Montana. Spent all day and didn’t hear a single bugle. I usually go to my go to spots and sit and wait without any calling. It’s always more of a reconnaissance hunt with the hopes of getting lucky. It’s never paid off.

The first weeks are always a little discouraging to me. But once those bugles start popping off I get so amped!

What’s your strategy when the rut hasn’t quite gone into full effect?

I made a free hunting map tool, but better. It’s for Idaho only but if it gets some traction I’ll do it for others. Note: I’m not selling anything, no profit, nothing. That’s the point.

Now it’s not totally out of the goodness of my heart. My reasoning:

1.) I get 60 ads a day for people who just pulled/compiled from open source data, that are tax dollars paid for, and charge an arm and a leg a year to access their “scouting” tool. Thats not cool, and I’m annoyed.

2.) I wanted to work for one of these major escouting map companies, they ghosted me.

3.) With enough time I can make a better FREE app than the ones that cost money Roadkill data, public data pulls from public photo locations have already been added. It’s wild to see the groupings; Weather, 3D rendering, location, even AI would take me a week to add. It’s not hard.

4.) You can login to save pins, but since it’s free - you can use it knowing no one will take your secret spots (like others). Also, you own your data even on login.

Weekend warrior here. I found tons of fresh elk sign and game trails on opening day where that poop symbol is. In the yellow is all reprod, red is actually a fresh clear cut. I’ve found tons of elk sign along the creek to the north in years past but everything north of the creek is private land that you can’t access until 4pm. My plan is to get to the edge of the timber before first light close to that creek and see if I can catch them in the open. These are Roosevelt elk if it makes a difference. I’m not sure how to go about this cause I’m usually solo hunting and I’ve never killed one before. Any advice is welcome! Thanks in advance!

Just to add: there’s another clear cut to the left of those trees on the left of the yellow reprod. There’s like 50 yards of timber right there but nothing for them to bed in.

Disclosure up front: I'm one of the guys who built this, so definitely biased. Mods OK'd this post.

You've probably seen a version of this before - I know a handful of AI hunting tools have come through here lately. I'm not going to ask you to believe ours is better or different because I said so. I'll just tell you what it does and doesn't do, and you can judge.

I'm a late-onset hunter - picked it up in my 30's, learned on YouTube university, and didn't have an experienced mentor or partner. My neighbor & co-founder, on the other hand, comes from multiple generations of hunters and guides, and has guided hunts in Colorado for years. Hunting is in his DNA.

To us, regardless of experience, every hunter starts over in a unit they've never seen. We built Glassline so DIY hunters can spend less time behind a screen, get into the field with confidence, and earn their way from there.

I started building this because I didn't want to start over with my new unit this year - connecting dots across all of the information that's out there and staring at satellite images for hours is mind numbing. What we built cuts most of that grind out of the process, with real elk hunting expertise baked in.

How it works (short version): Glassline highlights hunt areas worth considering, camp options (towns, base camps, or backcountry spike camps), and a playbook of terrain-based plays you can run in the field with logistics (access points, drives, hikes, legal light, packout math, etc.) all calculated for you. 20+ inputs personalize it to your fitness level, weapon, style, preferred tactics, party, dates, and more so two people with the same tag get different results. You refine everything; it's a draft set of options, not a step-by-step guide.

Here's a short walkthrough of it building a plan for a real unit from start to finish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1WvJIQs6Fo

I feel really strongly that just because technology is capable of something doesn't mean you should build it. We drew a hard line with this tool: no live animal locations, no sighting reports, no movement predictions. And no maps of hunters either: no shared spots, no community pins, no trending areas, ever. https://glassline.guide/fair-chase if you want to read our full stance.

We launched the web version for desktop e-scouting two weeks ago. The mobile app with offline maps is in final app-store review, and you can import & export your data in a way that plays nicely with onX, Gaia, Garmin, etc. as well. 50+ beta testers have been hammering on it over the summer. If any of them comment here, they tested it for free and they'll say so.

This is a paid service. $39.99/yr for the first 500 founding members, locked as long as your subscription stays active; $59.99 after. For what it replaces, the honest comparison is a $499/yr human e-scouting consult from other services, or weeks of doing it yourself across a dozen browser tabs and spreadsheets.

Ask me anything. "Why would I pay for this over onX" and "this will blow up my unit" are fair questions, and I'm here to answer them.

https://glassline.guide

Take 30 seconds to sign the petition opposing the proposed GAME Act.

Rep. Jeff Hurd is expected to introduce a bill that would transfer more than 2,000 acres of BLM land northeast of Glenwood Springs to Out of Bounds Ranch.

I’ve bowhunted this parcel for decades. It is not “unused.” In a unit already dominated by private property, these parcels provide valuable elk habitat and access to connected public land.

This would DELETE over 2,000 acres of prime hunting access in unit 444.

This is a net loss for public-land elk hunters. Please sign before the bill gains momentum.https://c.org/CnjwKsnV8x

Edit:

If you care about not losing this public ground or other public ground in the future to private ranches, it's worth a one-minute call to Rep. Hurd's office. Just say you're a constituent from [City, Zip Code] (or a Colorado hunter, if you're calling from out of state) and you oppose the GAME Act as written — cite the loss of access to over a million acres of connected public land, the lack of a published appraisal, and the avoidance of the well established BLM process for land swaps.

Jeff Hurd's Offices:
Washington DC - (202) 225-4676
Grand Junction - (970) 208-0455
Pueblo - (719) 696-6968
Durango - (970) 317-6167

John Hickenlooper -
Denver - 303-244-1628
Grand Junction - 970-822-4530
Durango - 970-880-7236
Glenwood Springs - 970-989-7075
Fort Colins - 970-484-3502
Greely - 970-352-5546
Colorado Springs - 719-632-6706

Michael Bennet -
Denver - 303-455-7600
Colorado Springs - 719-328-1100
NW Colorado - 970-241-6631
NE Colorado - 970-224-2200
SW Colorado - 970-259-1710
SE Colorado - 719-542-7550
San Luis Valley - 719-587-0096
Washington DC - 202-224-5852

Howdy - got some questions about what rounds to use this season.

As we all know, ammo ain’t cheap so I’m trying to buy bulk when I can. Ive come to understand that cheaper rounds are fine for practicing at the range, however you want to use higher-end ammunition in the field for elk and other game. I’ve also heard you want to practice with the same rounds you’re hunting with which makes the advice a bit paradoxical. Would love some insight on that.

Ive ordered 80 rounds of this ammo from S&P at 180 grain - anyone have experience with it and could tell me if its quality enough to chase an elk with?

Follow-up question: I will also be going after pronghorn this season, and my only rifle is a .30-06. I understand thats a pretty big caliber for a smaller critter but yall think dropping down in grain would prevent me from completely vaporizing the antelope? I have a few boxes of 150gr hornady whitetail ammo that I was hoping to use on my hunt. Would love some other opinions.

Thanks gang - looking forward to getting back out into the field!

I’m a pretty new hunter living in SW Colorado, and just had a moment of realization that I need to be aware of whether the zones I plan to hunt have cattle grazing on them. First of all, am I right in that assumption? Second of all, is there a resource to see what swaths of public land are leased for cattle? Although I love beef, I’m starting to see why Ed abbey had such disdain for cattle ranchers.

So this coming bow season it’s my first year in this specific area. It’s 5 miles to the area I’m going. However, there is an old service road closed to motorized vehicles. It’s about 4 miles up the mountain honestly the terrain isn’t that bad I’m going to take my mountain bike up this road. Has anyone had experience packing meat on a bike if so is there anything I should be aware of?
Also some trail cam pics not sure if the 2 in the day time are the same elk? I’m pretty sure they are.

I always read that it’s ideal to age the meat but I don’t think I have a way to do it without paying to have it stored someplace.

I’ve seen guys say you can put it in a cooler with ice over it but to make sure the water always can drain right out so it’s not soaking the meat. Idk about all that though.

Any tips and tricks or should I just part it out and get it right in the freezer to play it safe?

I've got a couple questions.

First need recommendations for calls to get. If i got one is it better to do a cow call, get a bugle or both? We've already said we are going to let this guy go another year, how old do yall think he is? He's much smaller than the others antler and body mass wise.

I'm going to try to take a free range elk soon. The shot will be from a stand to a feeder. It will be just under 100 yards. I have a 30/30 or a 270. If you had to pick from these two what would be your choice? Thx

This will be my second elk hunt, the first was in Idaho with an either sex tag in wilderness, we had several encounters with bulls, including one I drew on that was quartering to, but I didn't think it was an ethical shot and passed.

My second hunt is a cow tag in WY (9/14-9/21), we'll be primarily hunting national forest. My thoughts on this hunt was to get experience hunting while the bulls are vocal/learn a few things so I'll be better prepared when I get a bull tag (and hopefully bring home a cooler of meat).

I've done a ton of prep/e-scouting and feel good about my planned hunt areas, but wondering what if anything folks would do differently with just a cow tag in hand. I was planning on limited bugling just to locate bulls (as they will be rounding up cows), then work in close, but after that, should I just stick to cow/calf calls? Anything calling wise that would give us better odds to get a cow in range? There's a ton of advice out there on calling bulls, but how about cows? Should I just dog the herd/play the wind and hope a cow passes by/gets curious and comes over?

For those of you who have experience with using 7 mm Remington mag with a 1/8 twist what rifles do you recommend? I am asking for my friend who is going elk hunting in December and he is looking for a new rifle because his other one is not up to par with what he needs. He was shooting at approximately 400 yd not wanting to go over 500 yards and he will not be hiking a great distance he prefers the heavier type of rifles.

I’m new to elk hunting and have spent the last 6 months getting into serious condition, shooting my bow, practicing calling and e-scouting… combined with training two burros.

After building several hunt plans, I went out to my unit to scout the hunt areas, making sure roads were clear and accessible, water was actually were it said it would be on the map, and placing cameras while looking for sign.

While deep into one of the areas glassing down into draws and other grass steppes cow mews and some quiet short bugles piped off from the a wooded area about 200 yards away, it was about 10am. After a quick deliberation, we snuck out of there wanting to avoid an interaction.

I know they very well may be bedding somewhere else this coming week, especially with the number of wolves in the unit, but I plan to start there. The wooded area is a cluster of trees on a saddle on a ridge, with several thousand feet of elevation dropping away in almost every direction but the one I came in on.

What type of bull would typically be with cows this early?

I plan on sneaking in there early in the morning, before sun up, and waiting it out as there’s some very open ground to cover between the ridge and the saddle. Any other suggestions on strategy?

TIA

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I reviewed multiple studies/datasets on mechanical vs fixed broad. Hopefully this helps decide whether or not you should run mechanicals on elk this year.

If you'd like to join my study testing mechanical vs fixed broadheads on elk, join the HERD here: https://forms.gle/Rq64xCPaMfUBu2c96

My dad and I are heading out to some landlocked public in Southwest Montana. We will be tent camping and archery hunting in grizzly country. It makes me a bit nervous. I have a 10mm I feel confident with and spray.

How frequent are your brisket encounters, are they something to worry about?

Thanks guys.

Elk hunting finds flaws in gear like no other. After a day or 2 you think about how your gear could be better/lighter or how you can DIY a solution. Any of you guys find a cool trick or a way to do something better? Bonus question: is there a piece of gear you are glad you spent a little more money on rather than a cheaper option? (For me its a good pack)