General Season Elk Rules Guaranteed To Improve Your Hunt

Alone on a winding trail through a grove of aspens one minute... and a moment later a herd of elk silently appeared amongst the pale trunks and yellowing leaves of fall. I froze to survey the situation. Generous aspen trunks, a favorable wind and grazing heads gave me confidence to tiptoe toward the herd’s edge as I scanned for antlers.

Answering my wishes, a bull appeared at the far end of the herd nosing a cow for any hint of estrus. My rookie status stood out as I bugled to the bull in hopes of drawing it in for a shot. Instead, pandemonium broke out and in seconds I was again alone in the Colorado backcountry.

My first DIY, public-land elk hunt ended the way it started: elkless. Despite the flop ending, that hunt and a succession of other general unit adventures began my education on how to land success in general elk units. Sometimes past experiences aid in success while other times it takes an Elon Musk approach to push past the curse of general unit hunting. Regardless, general units may be the only game in town as you wait years for premium tags. Live by these rules, create your own, and embrace the challenge of general unit elk.

THE HARD TRUTH

Success rates vary in general units, but hold back on purchasing that second chest freezer just yet. Overall, elk hunters rarely achieve even 20% success with all units combined. Again, that varies depending on elk density and the number of licenses issued, but 15% success is a solid number for expectations. When you remove units that require a draw and look at general unit statistics alone, expect that success rate to hover closer to 10%. That is the hard truth. Two general units I frequent, one in Wyoming and another in Montana, average 11% success. With odds like that you may be inclined to purchase inflation-based beef and watch elk hunting on YouTube, but the elk woods beckon.

That is why it is imperative to research. You know the routine, but in addition to flying through the online universe, take time to talk to friends. Several of my best general unit locations came about from querying others who have been there, done that. A young hunter I mentored shared with me a lead on a Montana location one year. Summer scouting revealed he was on the elk money, but when season arrived, elk disappeared. Assuming the troupes of hunters and camps lining every forest service road had something to do with it, I forged to another location he pointed out on a map with less enthusiasm. Bingo! The steep canyon only had one forest road down it and the extreme steepness, including cliffs, discouraged the 70% of the hunting crowd that falls into the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fitness category.

Another tip I picked up at an auto repair shop. The owner had some elk hunting memorabilia hanging on the shop wall, so I sparked up a conversation about elk hunting. His best bull in the photos intrigued me and with a simple question pointing to it, he spilled the beans on not only when and how he tagged the bull, but the exact canyon where the hunt took place.

I take great care in trying to hunt in the exact location someone reveals to me, but the area held several similar canyons, so my scouting focused on those that were even more remote. When unable to draw lottery unit tags, that general unit has given up two decent bulls and a backpack full of great encounters. Online and forum help should not be ignored, but firsthand support offers a general unit jumpstart.

BYPASS THE CONCERT EVENT

One summer my teenage daughter wanted to attend a concert at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre along Colorado’s front range. Of course, dad was not invited to the concert, but requested as a chauffeur to and from the crowded venue. Waiting in line, dealing with concert-going crowds and the associated traffic reminded me of several of the general unit elk areas I have frequented. A sound rule regarding crowds, concert goers or general unit elk hunters: avoid them at all costs.

First, if elk can leave a unit due to hunting pressure, they will. If they cannot physically leave, maybe because of environmental features such as being surrounded by a desert, they will navigate to the remotest and ruggedest area of the unit. Elk in less pressured general units also move, but that typically occurs to locate better food or escape snow. Two feet of consistent snow over a landscape moves most elk out as determined by researchers.

As the private land hunting opportunities disappear behind billionaire locked gates and leased hunting rights, the elk discover a bonanza of unpressured living on these properties. In turn, gated properties force more average hunters onto the public. One fall my Colorado over-the-counter hunt fell apart and I reached out to a friend who had already tagged out a week earlier. On the way to the hunting location, I noted camp after camp of hunters, not counting the throngs that already left after the opener. Three days later the hunting resembled the location I just left with “bleak” leading the description. Others in camp claimed the elk were just being “quiet.” I debated otherwise and suggested hunting pressure drove the elk elsewhere.

Pulling up a map on my HuntStand app, I pointed toward several low elevation holdings with hayfields interspersed. That evening we visited one and the elk bugled louder than a Red Rocks concert. Despite hunting fence lines for another few days, none of the bulls wandered and the lesson to hunting that area was to be there on opening morning and hunt until pressure moved the elk to private digs. That rule has worked for me in Montana and Wyoming. Hunt the opener. Once the concert-goers begin partying and change the calm dynamics of the serene mountains, elk pack a duffle bag and look for a quieter neighborhood.

SET ASIDE ENOUGH TIME

“There are never enough hours in the day or enough days in a week.” You have heard that said over and over as you navigate career, family, and me time. General unit elk hunting requires you to set aside those hours and days. Be selfish. It is a rule to live by.

My first successful public-land, DIY bull took a few hours. I followed a bugling bull in the pre-dawn darkness and an hour after shooting light tipped it over as it crossed a small meadow behind a cow and calf. An unscrupulous hunter stole it while I hiked back to retrieve my truck and after a brief, unsuccessful investigation, the game warden gave me a thumbs up to continue the hunt. Two weeks of hunting later left my freezer empty. My next successful DIY elk hunt ran exactly 11 days to tag out in the rut and succeeding hunts thereafter followed a similar pattern. My average DIY, public-land elk hunt requires approximately 8-12 days of hunting to end in success. A few drag on more. One archery season I hopscotched between Wyoming and Montana locations. The hunt lasted nearly 20 days before one tag was filled. Last season I lived the worst and best of all worlds. Archery elk hunting ate up 13 days of my September to tag on a general unit bull that I was grateful to have as freezer fodder. Fast-forward a month and I tagged out opening day in Wyoming during rifle season, which is the first time that happened since the elk-stealing incident decades prior.

NOTEWORTHY PREREQUISITES FOR AN ELK RIFLE

Elk country is no country for old men. It's also no place for a clunky, unreliable rifle. With shot opportunities seldom, you need a rifle that is lightweight, accurate, and rugged enough to keep up with you as you try to keep up with the elk. Enter the Savage 110 KLYM, a nimble-handling, easy-to-shoulder rifle destined to be a staple in elk camps.

With a Proof Research Barrel and FBT carbon-fiber stock, the new 110 KLYM is the perfect option for a hunter who is keen on lightweight gear. Coming in at a lean 6.2 pounds, the KLYM is made to accompany you into the most demanding terrain and combat the harshest of elements. The comb is adjustable with the push of a button to enhance the rifle’s handling and ensure a proper cheek weld, even with a large-objective or otherwise higher-mounted scopes. Of course, the 110 KLYM comes with the company’s proven Accutrigger, which is user-adjustable from 1.5 to 4 lbs. MSRP: $2,700; savagearms.com

DON'T JUST HAVE TIME, MANAGE IT WELL

Although five- and six-day hunts seem to be the norm, plan for a longer visit to elk country. You may tag out early, but likely not. If you do succeed early, what’s to lose? You can go home early or help your campmates. Despite the randomness of success on a general unit elk hunt, expect the worst and remember the odds in the opening of this article.

Having time aids in multiplying encounters so one, particularly with archery tackle, ends up successful. With years of elk hunting experience behind me, a rule I preach is to take the first legal bull you encounter in a general unit. That likely will be your only opportunity. Others I hunt with know I follow that rule like a sacred commandment with an occasional relapse, but not very often.

Another reason to pad time into a hunt is to be able to follow the elk. They will move. Knowing the terrain and behavior of elk in a unit helps, but their savvy character and willingness to abandon country compels you to follow the breadcrumbs. And, finally, you need time to restore your body’s battery. General unit elk hunting already requires you to be in above average physical fitness, but long days, lengthy hikes, and tackling extreme terrain wears a guy out. Taking an afternoon or morning off robs hours, but recharges your physique to take you to the mountain again for another day.

BE AS FLEXIBLE AS A YOGA MASTER

Elk in general unit hunting areas have a habit of transforming, shifting, and modifying their behavior. If you ever viewed yoga in the park, be as flexible as the participants on their brightly colored yoga mats.

Some elk need to be handled as delicately as a "Gen-Z-er" fresh out of college. Other elk need to be bullied like a UFC fighter being introduced in the octagon. Listening to their messaging, responsiveness to calling, and drastic alterations in their patterns offer clues to your next chess move. Anymore, I feel public land elk require a kid glove approach. Start subdued, gentle and ramp up your calling or aggressive stalk to match the situation.

During the rut I let elk do the driving. Early in the season elk sometimes respond in a textbook hook-line-and-sinker response, but usually that fades as other concert-going hunters scream out hoping for a chart topper. Locator calls and subtle follow-up bugles to determine bull willingness typically lead me to a quiet, tag-along approach. Let elk be elk and their chaos, especially in the presence of an estrus cow, has big payoffs. Chuck Adams wrote about following vocal elk and looking for intercept points years ago. I read, remembered, and redeployed the tactic in many situations, including my best-scoring, DIY, public land bull to date.

During post-rut hunts I still put my Wapiti Whacker bugle to use locating bulls. Young bulls sometimes respond, while mature bulls generally put their band instruments away until the next rut. Hunting these elk first requires you to determine if you want your freezer stocked, or your freezer stocked along with a new hat rack. In either case, glassing takes over your life and high vantage points become daily destinations. From a high point you may spot herds of elk, bachelor groups of bulls, or scan for fresh tracks crisscrossing snowy meadows. Depending on the denseness of the timber, you may move in for a still-hunt, but generally a wait-and-see approach should be your beginning strategy.

Elk require a massive amount of nutrition per day, up to 20 pounds or more. Despite an elk’s evolutionary history of crossing the Bering Strait a minimum of 120,000 years ago (they lived in the frosty neighborhood at least 1 million years prior to present), they still require extensive feeding to generate warmth. Watching meadows, parks, and open slopes makes sense. Elk are grazers primarily, not browsers like deer and moose. After the rut, both bulls and cows consume copious amounts of forage to beef back up and battle winter’s arrival. No rule is hard and fast, but be flexible and not set in traditions as you navigate through elk season.

MENTALLY TOUGH

In closing, you need to be mentally tough to find success in a general unit. The low-success odds alone could push you to seek out an antidepressant on your return home or even before departing. Combine the failure figures with constant run-ins with other hunters, dismal elk sightings, poor weather and a failing battle with fatigue brings you to despair. It is common.

Set objectives with the goal of tagging an elk. In most general units, being choosy equals going hungry later. Through research you quickly discover if a mature bull, raghorn or cow hits the mark.

Next, hunt your way. Some of you cannot hunt without a partner. A buddy provides camp help, calling assistance, and, of course, the ever-popular aid when packing out meat after a successful encounter. Partners can also be detrimental. If they begin souring on a dismal hunt it can create an atmosphere of despair for everyone. And if you travel together, once they vote to leave, you need to leave as well. I typically hunt solo. If others do join me, I travel separately to avoid having to stop hunting if they decide to leave. Many do leave early due to burnout, family, or career, but I have the option of continuing the hunt solo.

Finally, take a break. Earlier I commented about taking a day off to recharge your body, but the same philosophy clears your mind. Leave camp. Drive to town. Eat a good lunch. Grab a shower in town. Maybe go to a movie. For some of you, the mental challenge does not even register, but I know from years of sharing camp with other hunters, no elk action results in a slow slide to hopelessness.

General unit elk hunting kicks off with success odds already at a low percentage. Accept the challenge. Let the elk rituals of yesteryear have their day, but make up your own rules when the trials of general unit elk hunting begin.

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