Are We Living in the Greatest Era to Be an Elk Hunter?

I started guiding elk hunters in western Montana shortly after high school and have continued every season since. That was more than 20 years ago. Back then I did not have a GPS, cell phones did not work in that part of the country and I did not own a rangefinder. To know what it looked like over the next ridge you had no other option but to lace up the boots and go for a hike. A far shot on elk was 350 yards, and it seemed like very few nonresidents hunted elk without an outfitter.

From when my grandpa guided hunts in the Bitterroot-Selway in the 1970s to when I started hunting the same areas 20 years later, not that much had changed. I just had slightly better binoculars. The same cannot be said for the past 20 years. The tools made available to hunters in the past two decades have made big advancements and forever altered the way we hunt elk. While all that technology and the advantages new gear delivers aid in success, my old school ways allow me to better utilize the tools that are currently available.

Topo and Go

Long before digital maps and GPS devices, I would pick up printed topo maps from the nearest Forest Service or BLM field office and study them. I plotted places I expected to find elk based on the topography, then started hiking. When hunting these new areas, I felt like a pioneer. By diving into the maps and doing the leg work, I learned where the elk like to be.

Now, I have the onX Hunt app on my phone, showing me topography, 3D images of the mountain and most importantly, a satellite image. Before my boots ever hit the ground, I can find glassing vantage points, travel corridors, roadless areas, burns, meadows and timber cuts. What would have taken me weeks of field exploring I can now do in two hours of e-scouting from the comforts of home.

Despite that, a topo map still helps me find elk. The topography tells the story of the landscape beneath the cover. It shows the contours of the land, and those contours pinpoint preferred habitat. Elk in the West often live in steep country. In these areas, I focus on locating prominent bedding areas that provide all-day shade, can accommodate a large herd comfortably while allowing them to look in all directions and provide multiple options for a fast escape.

Good bedding locations are often found in heavily timbered areas or north facing slopes. It is also not uncommon for elk to seek out ridges and benches that flatten out and provide a more level surface to take their mid-day siestas and protect them from the elements.

One of the best topographic features I regularly find elk bedding on is what I refer to as a finger ridge. This is a secondary ridgeline that ascends off from a main ridge. If there is a spot that slightly benches out on one of these fingers, that is a prime location for elk to bed. This also provides elk an escape route down either side of the finger ridge or up and over the main ridge. If you find a spot where the wind is regularly blowing down the mountain with these characteristics, you have the recipe for locating an elk’s master bedroom.

In the past, feeding areas took a lot of hiking to find. The paper topo would show approximate vegetation, but was generally unreliable. They also did not show logging cuts or new burns. With elk being grazers, when you find good grass in timber country, you also find elk.

Today, anyone from anywhere can open up a mapping app, turn on satellite imagery, click a few layers, including burns or logging activity, and have a good indication of areas elk forage will be. This makes e-scouting a practical way to plan a hunt.

Ditch The Crowds

When I first started elk hunting, a successful strategy was to get away from the crowds. This meant loading up a packstring with a wall tent and essentials and heading deep into the wilderness. The allure of a warm fire inside the wall tent deep in the backcountry necessitated the use of livestock, primarily horses, and discouraged most backpack hunters.

At the time, hunting clothing was mediocre and most backpacks and necessary gear were extremely heavy. As hunting apparel got better, hunting packs, tents, sleeping bags and other gear got lighter. Trails leading deep into the backcountry became much more accessible on foot.

Today, the same mindset of getting away from the pressure applies. A sure spot to keep most hunters out includes steep mountains with no trail, deadfall and anywhere the pack out is uphill. To hunt these places, an elevated level of physical fitness is required.

My grandpa was tough and in good shape. In his younger years he was a professional boxer, but I know for a fact he did not train for elk hunting. He also never hunted many of the nasty holes I find myself carrying elk out of on my back.

When I started guiding, I traded my heavy wool gear for top-of-the-line mountaineering clothing. I carried a light frame pack as my day hunting backpack, covered a lot of country on foot and killed a lot of elk. The outfitter I worked for eventually pulled most of his backcountry horse camps due to a lack of elk success and an increase in wolf activity. We resorted to a more mobile bushwhack-style of hunting. I will admit, most of my clients thought they were going to die on the mountain because I walked them so hard, but we got into some great country and found success.

Honey holes in general units are not gone, but they are only accessible by those who dedicate themselves to being physically able to get in there and get elk out. I train year-round to stay in shape to be able to hunt those places. In today’s information age there are companies like MTNTough with apps and fitness programs designed for training hunters. They have an actual fitness lab that studies ways to make hunters perform better on the mountain. A new school way of preparing for that old school way of hunting—get away from the pressure and find the elk no one else is chasing.

Better Shooting

As an outfitter and guide, I have seen the proficiency of shots on game and the average hunter’s effective range increase. When I started hunting, we eyeballed the distance of the elk, most guns shot abysmal groups at 100 yards, and for farther shots people simply held high. I can’t recall how many hunters would show up in my elk camp and consider hitting a pie plate at 250 yards good shooting, but it was a lot.

During that time, a fair number of elk got missed from bad range estimation, bad holdover and bad rifle setups. The advancements in our rifles, scopes and rangefinders make taking a 400-yard shot today easier and generally more accurate than a 250-yard shot with the average rifle setup 30 years ago. In my years of guiding, the percentage of missed bulls from clients has decreased and wounded or lost bulls is nearly gone. This is all thanks to better shooting systems.

This advancement leads to one of my most effective rifle elk hunting tactics. I like to glass far off feeding areas in the morning, then watch the elk till they go off into the timber to bed. I then hike up during the heat of the day to where they were feeding and wait with a good view and adequate shooting position for the elk to feed back out in the evening. Setting up 350-400 yards away, in my opinion, provides the best view with a high percentage of success when the bulls emerge.

Today, scopes can be dialed to the exact range; the guesswork is taken out of it and with the right shooter and rifle, these far shots of 20 years ago are now easy chip shots.

When I first started bow hunting, my new compound bow was not that much better than a traditional bow. I shot feather fletched aluminum arrows, had a three-pin fixed sight and a tab on the shelf to hold the arrow. I know for a fact I can shoot my new Mathews Lift at 100 yards better than I could shoot that first bow at 35 yards. I am not saying that I hunt with a modern bow at that range, but the equipment today is lightyears ahead of what it used to be.

Adapting Archery Tactics

My strategy guiding elk bowhunters starting out was to hunt thick cover where I had the best chance of calling elk into 20 yards or less. This is where I knew we had a chance for a decent shot. With this tactic, I learned to call in bulls and it became my preferred style of elk hunting. However, with modern archery equipment, a good shooter, and a hunt where the elk do not care about the calling, I have another tactic that works well: shadowing the herd.

With this tactic, I locate a group of elk either by spotting them or calling in hopes a bull responds. This works best in  more open country. I then sneak into just out of their comfort zone and play a patient stalking game. As the elk move, I move, staying just far enough away to not get busted, but close enough to take advantage of the right situation. This is normally around 100-120 yards in timber or 200-300 yards in the open. As the elk bed, feed and push cows around, I am waiting for the right opportunity. This opportunity could be a bull moving toward me, elk popping over a close rise presenting a good stalk or the herd bull slipping up and pushing a cow my way.

As the herd moves, I keep shadowing the best I can, waiting for a shot opportunity. With the right situation, a 50-yard shot is doable for the well-practiced and competent archer. Back in the day, I would have called that an unethical distance for the equipment. This tactic allows you to take advantage of the speed, accuracy and power of a modern archery set up, and can be a successful strategy in your bag of elk hunting tricks.

The New Good-Old Days

I think back to elk hunting when I was growing up and the time I put into scouting and learning an area. I could pick up tags over the counter right before the hunt and not see another hunter. It is easy to romanticize that time. I would not trade it for anything. It made me a better outdoorsman and allowed me to really understand elk.

Whether it is our ability to hunt, scout and harvest elk more efficiently or the thriving elk herds themselves, a few of the biggest bulls on record have been taken in recent years. Overall, elk hunting success rates are up in many states. The amount of information for any hunter to access elk hunting is at an all-time high. With a little old-school mindset and tactics combined with the new-school tools, this could likely be one of the best eras to be an elk hunter.

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