I ask this because, for many years, our annual elk hunt was THE hunting event of the year, and in many ways, it still is. For the most part, we haven't hunted trophies, just any legal bull, because we knew all too well that the first bull you see that's shootable might just be the ONLY bull you'd see that season.

But time's change, and as much as I've enjoyed hunting in the same manner for all these many years, I'm now more interested in horns than meat. So I have my regular elk hunt set for this season, as well as a trophy hunt in New Mexico. Next year, I'm seriously considering hunting elk in three states if I can assemble the right hunts and make it work by the calendar.

So what do you guys try to get out of your elk hunts these days, trophies, meat, or just a good time up in the mountains?

AD

I am leaving next Friday morning, the 9th for a ten day backpack hunt in the area of your late buddy, Bob Fontana's main camp. My partner is about 21 years younger than I and has hunted in Africa, Asia, Europe and across Canada; we scouted the area a bit last June. That was the first time I had been there since I lived up there while working for the Forest Service in '67 and I am looking forward to this immensely.

I hunt Elk as I do everything, for spiritual, cultural and subsistence reasons and seldom kill anything anymore as my wife doesn't like venison and we have no family to eat it all. BUT, very few trips go by where I do not get up on a legal animal that I could kill if I desired to do so; for me, it is about maintaining and increasing such meager bush skills as I possess and the raw interaction with Ma Nature as she really is, not as summer hikers in manicured parks want everyone to think she is.

I don't really care about trophies, never have and I have had opportunities while backpacking to take some monsters....it's about what the outstanding hiking writer, Colin Fletcher, once called, ....the emulsion of memory..., eg. the pictures in one's mind after the hunt.

I hope to get on a 7x7, but, even a successful stalk on a legal bull that I decide not to kill is enough for me and going home to the Kootenays is a huge part of it all. I also hope to see a few Grizzlies as there was a fair size guy just down the powerline from Fontana's place last June, a fair shot from the trail.

We might try a couple of spots down in the Flathead as well, I haven't been there in about 25 years and that is too long.

After a long-but-species-limited hunting career (moose, caribou, Wood Bison, black and grizzly bear) of about fifty years, and never having had to travel very far to do it because I always lived in wonderful game country (northern Canada), my very first elk hunt will come next month in Alberta.

Two of my good friends from Nevada and California are going with me, and we'll hunt on land around the home of one of my brothers in northern Alberta.

What do I expect? I expect to spend two weeks in the company of some of my favorite people. I expect to see a LOT of big white-tails for which I'll also have a tag, and the high probability of a chance at a good elk. I expect to have a fine old time, and whatever animals I happen to bag will be considered a great bonus to a wonderful excursion. I'll shoot the BIGGEST trophies that come available, but that's really inconsequential in my thoughts.

Some of the best hunts I've had never harmed a hair on any critter, and the hunts were not in the least diminished by the lack of blood on my hands. Hunting is about hunting, I now find, and the killing is incidental to the hunt.

However, I believe there is no comparison between being in the bush with a rifle, and being in the bush with a camera. With a rifle, I'm a participant in Nature, and with a camera I'd just be a spectator... it's not at all the same, and I WON'T be found out there without a rifle.

I reckon that what I expect from my hunt is "quality time" doing something I truly enjoy, with folks I like being with. This means I also expect some great memories to reminisce upon in my rapidly-approaching days when I can no longer get out there.

Good question Allen, I really hadn't thought it that deeply until you asked, so here goes. ----- I strarted off hunting whitetail deer with a 30-30 when I couldn't afford it, moved on to a .308, then for my first Elk hunt went to a .300 Winny. However before I hunted Elk, after that first hunt was postponed I got the opportunity to go to Alaska on a Brown Bear-Caribou hunt and got my first taste of real Big Game hunting. After that I started hunting Elk in a serious way. After hunting New Mexico then Colorado off and on I started hunting one area of private-BLM combo ground in 1992, and have hunted it yearly ever since. My hunting group includes my son and grandsons, my best hunting buddy and his son, and brother-in-law and his sons and other hunting buddies, the group growing to 15 this year. Along the way my reloading and shooting went from doing it to save money to an obsession of different bullets, loads, rifles, chamberings, etc. My shooting went from occasional sessional to three times a week and thousands of rounds per year. I was then trying to decide if I hunted to reload or reloaded to hunt, or shot to do both, and still am if you get my drift. Then I met you "Idiots at AR" and became interested in Africa, and wham got infected with that bug and after a trip to the Selous and enjoying every minute of it here I am trying to answer a question of why I Elk hunt. ----- In a nut shell it provides me that outlet to proof my loads, rifles, ideas, and still provides me that opportunity to get out there in the field on a one on one basis with a worthy game animal, and be with my buddies and loved one, who enjoy the same thing. The Elk hunt is a given each year along with my local deer hunting, other hunts will come and go as the other stuff interests me. Bottom line, the Alaska, Canada, Africa hunts will provide additional opportunities, but the Elk hunting will always be there as that basis of it all as far as I am concerned. Thanks for the question, it took that to get me to express it to myself, and I got to share it. Good shooting.

I'm still too young to be a "trophy hunter," so I hunt elk for the experience of the grand outdoors. Our annual elk hunt has become one for cows with muzzleloaders. Though we didn't draw tags this year (drat), I've really come to appreciate a week spent in pursuit of those big ol' cows in the dead of winter. The solitude of a day's hunt, then nights around the campfire, the tales that arise over the end-of-day cold beer, and the companionship shared wtih my father are what makes our elk hunt a special event for me. We're usually blessed with good hunting, and the coolers are typically filled with venison before week's end. That's an important aspect as well, but not the defining criteria of the hunt. If we were after meat only, we'd spend the gas money on beef and call it good. No, it's more than horns or meat. It's the spirit of Mother Nature, knowing that at times you are at her mercy, and the satisfaction that comes from facing her and your quarry on their terms and coming out better for it. That's what elk hunting is for me.

My first priority is antler/trophy. I'd be lying if I said otherwise. Meat is a bonus depending on how you look at it. The fact is, I've never brought any meat home from Colorado or Wyoming. I donate it. I do not hunt specifically for meat and never have. I enjoy the anticipation of the hunt, loading ammo, shooting, or using my bow. I spend thousands of dollars for hunts in time, fuel, tags, planning, etc.

My dreams and visions are of huge trophy deer/elk/antelope and always will be. I've hunted plenty of times and came home with nothing because I've passed on game in hopes that no one else kills it so it can grow.

I may think differently if I lived in the west but I do not. If I lived only minutes or hours away from where I'd be elk hunting and could scout year round, I'm sure I'd have a different view.

I put in for tags in other states for two reasons, 1) to kill a trophy animal, 2) to enjoy the hunt, where ever I may be. Meat? I can buy that at the grocery store, plus, I never seem to have a venison problem here in Ohio.

I prioritize ALL of my hunting in this fashion:
1) A good time.
2) To be a participant in wildlife management rather than a bloviating sideliner.
3) Meat
4) Trophy- if a trophy bull, buck etc. and I cross paths I will certainly do my best to remove it from the gene pool.

When varmint/predator hunting I (of course) remove rule #3. But I guess with enough marinade, I suppose you could eat anything......

IV

P.S. Isn't elk season already over???????

quote:

I reckon that what I expect from my hunt is "quality time" doing something I truly enjoy, with folks I like being with.

Bingo!!!!!

Jeff

Always a good question, and one I used to ask each group of clients when I was in the elk hunting biz. For me is is always a successful experience just being out there and having the opportunity to hunt. It may sound silly to some, but my soul is fed. When I am "out there" my life makes sense to me. I have two more years of high school with my youngest daughter, then I will be a single man with no wife and no financial obligations. I plan to go back into the hunting biz as a guide or assistant of some sort for someone, either running a pack string here in the lower 48 if necessary, or hopefully I will find something in Alaska. To address the question more directly, I generally shoot the first legal animal that presents itself. I archery hunt each September and like to wait to try for a "trophy" first, but a trophy may mean a cow stalked in the dark timber and shot in her bed. That's a rare experience and the hunt itself becomes the trophy. I have been drawing rifle season cow tags each year for several years now, so that's a meat hunt for sure. I've only shot two really big bulls, out of 39 elk so far, and that because I saw them first.

It's not the meat. It's not the antlers. It's being out in the backcountry with my home boys, even if it really isn't "backcountry" at all, just a run up Strawberry Creek in an old pickup a couple of hours before dawn.

There is a bond that people share on the hunt that isn't easy to duplicate anywhere else. Shooting something is really important when you're young, but the bond becomes more important as you age. After awhile, the bond is the most important thing.

RXM

I always try to get home for an elk hunt, but may not make it this year due to Navy business. I always try to take the following away from elk camp:

Memories of still being able to hunt with my father. You never know when his last hunting season will be.

Memories of hunting with my 3 young nephews. And hoping they have a half century of hunting ahead of them.

Memories of seeing my beloved Colorado again. The Navy keeps me far from home a lot these days.

Memories of the family being together and enjoying themselves in nature's masterpiece called the Rocky Mountains.

And since I almost always go for a cow tag, I sure like to take a couple hundred pounds of the best meat available home with me.

That said, it really looks unlikely that I'll get home for this season which is a bummer since I've drawn a cow tag for area 2 for the 3rd season.

Cheers

Mac

A nice, fat, dry cow! Gain 10 pounds instead of losing 20! Spend time with to old friends, cook, eat, and sip some scotch!

I hunt with my Dad. It doesn't matter what I hunt, as long as I'm afield with him. The trophy doesn't matter. The memories will last forever.

I go on one or two self guided hunts per year with friends and the priority is getting away from work and having a good time with good company.We take any legal bull that we see(3 point or better in our zone) and even apply for cow tags which one of us usually gets every year.Even though we are not trophy hunting these hunts have produced bulls in the 320 to 330 range.We also take a few mule deer,a whitetail or two and occaisionally we take a moose.The four of us usually take a half dozen or so animals(elk,deer and moose) every year and even if we didn't the hunt would be a success.

Like with any hunt I go, I'm always out to get a head on the wall. Something I learned a long time ago, you don't always get a trophy for the wall, so I try to enjoy just getting away from it all.

This year I will be hunting elk again with my dad it has been 2yrs since I last hunted elk. I have shot 7 elk my dad hasn't shot one in 25 plus years. So I really want to help him get one. So that is my #1 priority trying to help him get an elk. We were drawn for anterless elk tags So we don't have to worry about horns

My friend from Texas decided he wanted to go elk hunting. I worked my ass off for opening day, and got him a big 5 point. This last year, they (his son) came up and allowed 3 days, and I got them one big 6 point together. This year they are coming with a friend and have alloted 5 days for the 3 of them. I told him "I hope I can produce again", and he said he only comes for the sunrises anyway, and everything else is a bonus! I really like that type of attitude. being together with someone you like is a trip to be remembered.

When I was young and single, I became a fanatical mule deer hunter. I used to get permits in several states. I would hunt from August until the end of the year. If a deer was going to ruin my hunt, it had better be big. I used to see deer that would easily grace the cover of big game rags, and I would pass them up. I hunted some of the biggest deer alive. I treasure the experiences I had back then, even though I rarely filled my tags. Now days, I love Elk hunting because I will only see one or two shootable Elk a year. I no longer have the time, money, or energy to hunt them like I used to hunt deer. However, I still hope it is the latter part of the season before I get that chance.

Allen,

From elk hunting I hope to get in 100 miles of walking/backpacking, some chilly mornings, and the chance to try my hand sneaking up on a few elk. If a foot or two of snow falls while I am there to make the camping more interesting, so much the better.

When I go "hunting" way down on my list is actually getting an animal... If one presents itself and I am in the mood at that particular moment to take him, then I will...

I guess I am out there for all of the peripheral things that go with hunting.. being out in the forests... comaradery if it entails other people... meeting new people... the things I see...As 500 grains said, the chilly mornings... the sleeping out under the stars (okay, in the back of my 4Runner)

There is a "freedom" out there, that only hunters don't need explained to them.... NOT worrying about the job, the family, the kids, all the activities everyone in the world you are suppose to be involved in to be a "good citizen"....

It is our own time, in an own environment, at our own speed... It is back communing with nature... that all of these so called nature lovers really miss... but claim we hunters don't have it, but they do

It is the time to put together all of the things about nature, hunting and being in the forest that your dad, and your grandad taught you, and if luck will pass on to your children....

Yeah we would all love that Trophy bull every season.. some of us ANY Season....but with Hunting comes something that only true hunters really understand.... and those that you have to explain it too will never understand it anyway...
( you know the type, road hunters, full camo in the cab of the pickup... or the Eddie Bauer Edition Ford Expedition & the 400 Winchester Magnum that will kill anything within 10 miles of your truck!, or the other types that we all refer to as SLOB hunters)....

I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think I am happier in any time of my life each year, than I am walking thru the woods with a rifle in my hands, loaded and ready to go if needed....NO need to shoot it like some guys do....Just being there.. it gives a inner peace that one can't find anywhere near where Asphalt and Concrete exist....

cheers and a good hunting season to all...
seafire

First and foremost, the primary focus of all of my hunting is to come away with yet another great outdoor experience to reflect on. Things I have come to enjoy the most about hunting are; the intimate connection with Mother nature (which has always been paramount), the personal challenge of pitting my own wits and will against that of some truly amazing creatures, (whos own stealth and intelligibility I have come to greatly respect). Comeraderie. And the simple knowledge that I am carrying on a great tradition that dates back as far as the begining of mankind. Im not the kind of guy who gets uptight if I dont score, if I manage to fill my tag I consider it a bonus.

I think Ive reached the Trophy only stage with Deer, dont need to shoot anymore of them unless they exceed my past takes. Not quite to that point with Elk yet though, even the ones that are less than a herd bull can still be quite magnificant.

I hunt elk to fill in the time between Mule Deer hunts. Chasing an animal that screams so you can hear him, stands out a mile away because of size and color, and that you can call in with a piece of latex.....I mean how hard can it be? haha I go elk hunting to be with friends and family, to ride my horse, to enjoy Nature and all Her creations. I have shot some smoker bulls , actually 1-3 elk a year for the past 7 years. I just love being outdoors. It isn't about the kill, rather it is completely about the hunt.

Old FART- Now those were the days. I have some decent mulies under my belt, but this low-30's man would love to see the mulies you saw and hunted, rather than another stinky 6 point bull elk. I would love to have your memories on video to see what it used to be like. The days of the those mule deer are gone forever.

quote:

Originally posted by kutenay:
.it's about what the outstanding hiking writer, Colin Fletcher, once called, ....the emulsion of memory..., eg. the pictures in one's mind after the hunt.

I like that Kutenay, lots of folks place a lot of emphasis on spontinaity and "siezing the moment", which is a good policy. But not all of them take the time to figure out where (and what) they want to find themselves in the aftermath. Another essential part of having lived life to its fullest IMHO.

I hope to get out at all! Things are piling up here rapidly, and I'm not sure if I can put in some serious time this bow season. Any legal bull (which in the areas that I can reach quickly means 6-points on one side minimum) would do, since this would be my first bow hunt. But the ways things look now, I won't have more than the upcoming Friday evening and Saturday... So I'll be happy to SEE a nice bull, I have no illusion that I will get a chance to draw on one.

Frans

Anticipation.

I NEED the solitude or I'd snap!
When it comes down to it, the time I spend hunting is the times I sit and mull over the memories of. Particularily of times spent with the closest friends and relatives.
If it weren't for the peaceful "down time" I'd be apt to wind up in a clock tower overlooking some liberal hangout!

This turned out to be the sort of thread that I was hoping it would become, with good answers from everyone!

I like the whole elk hunting experience. For some reason, one of my favorite parts of the whole season is setting up camp. I love to put the tents up and the wood stoves, plus I especially love to find a nice, dry, upright snag to fall and cut up into a couple of cords of firewood, maybe because it reminds me of when I was a young man on the farm I grew up on. I always enjoy the 3 or 4 days we spend setting everything and then relaxing in camp before the season begins. That's a real special time for me.....

Elk hunting has also served as sort of my hunting rifle laboratory as well, and I've found that a truly good and versatile elk rifle/scope/cartridge/bullet combination is also good for at least 98% of the world's big game hunting. What works in a decisive manner on elk will work on just about everything else, and take in a great deal of hunting......

In fact, one of my friends from eastern Oregon, who has never hunted outside of eastern Oregon before, and only for mule deer and elk, visted at our home a while back. He told me that he wanted to go on an African plainsgame hunt and basically shoot the works, or at least as much as he could on one safari. Of course, he asked about rifles, and I told him very simply, "Take what you use for elk hunting -- it doesn't have to get any more complicated than that....."

AD

Allen-I guess I'm the odd ball.I hunt for meat and I prefer a Cow or spike over a tough old bull.Racks mean nothing to me large or small.I spend most of my time in the hills and hunting season,if you get lucky,is alot of work and as I get older,I wonder if it's worth it. Of course it is.

I just spent a week scouting an area I hunt sometimes and all we had to pack out was Trout but loved every minute of it!


Jayco

Jayco, I know what you mean. I've always wanted to shoot a B&C bull on my own, here in Oregon, but I never have, at least so far. In fact most of the time I've shot spikes and five-points, with the addition of one cow over some thirty years. And I've never turned my nose up over a spike or a raghorn, either. I've always been grateful and happy to have any bull on the ground. Some of those spikes came dear.....

Your photo reminds me Idaho's Clearfork country. We used to hunt that area in the vicinity of Pot mountain, and it was great hunting for mule deer as well as elk. In fact, there was a sow grizzly up on that mountain one season that made a kill and had it all covered with a big mound of debris. I'll never forget that episode, either!

AD

Allen, lots of good replies. Really, hard to say what hasn't already been said. For me elk hunting is spiritual, mental, physical and emotional. It's my passion. I'm a horn hunter, not a meat hunter and will gladly go through the season without pressing the trigger if I don't find what I'm looking for. Besides, a guy can always shoot a cow the last day or two of the season for meat.

This year will be my first Elk hunt. I'm hunting a cow only in Colo. with the idea of a bull in the future.Al my hunting is for the sheer joy of the hunt.Bonus for me is spending time with people I enjoy and finally the trophy if we get one.

This year is my first big game hunt.
It will be spike elk only for me, and just a one week season.
I have 270, 308, 30-06, and 8x57mm, but I am building a 300 Win Mag as fast as I can, as I only have 6 weeks.
I need to buy a sleeping bag, take the seats out of the mini van, and go scouting some week end.

Gidday Guys,

Gidday Guys,

Gotta say the reason I hunt is not to just take home the meat or the horns.

I certainly don't go out to observe the wild places and nature in action.

I go out there to be part of nature in all its glory. I am part of it. That is where I belong and things are real for me.

Thats why I hunt and fish.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

quote:

For some reason, one of my favorite parts of the whole season is setting up camp.

There is nothing more magical than the day before a hunt. At that moment everything is possible. Is this the year the monster bull or buck steps out? Sitting around the fire with good friends when everyone's anticipation is at it's peak. Remembering years past and shared memories. Seeing the wide eyed wonder in a youngster on his first hunt or the misty eyed memories of an old veteran nearing his last. It is difficult to explain the pure joy that exists at such a time.

Jeff

After reading all these thoughtful posts about hunting, it occurs to me that WE KNOW, when talking or writing on the subject, what impels us to go forth with bow or rifle and get close to nature.

The great tragedy is that we can fully understand what we say and write about hunting TO EACH OTHER, but it is virtually impossible to explain the emotion and enjoyment to someone who is either against hunting, or has never had the opportunity to participate in this ancient rite.

Hunting is not about killing, at least among thoughtful hunters. Ortega y Gasset (I hope I have that correct) said something to the effect that, "One does not hunt in order to kill; one kills in order to have hunted." Wise words, but it's very difficult to get the idea across to a non-hunter.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed on this thread, and to Allen for starting it. It's a wonderful thing, to find one's own attitudes so well expressed by other hunters.

quote:

trophies, meat, or just a good time up in the mountains?

I like all three, but the last is the best. Anymore it is quality time with my boys, and I prefer they fill their tags before I do, doesn't always work out that way as they are still learning their hunting skills, and I am a much better shot than either of my sons. I really am just a happy with a camera if the truth be known, if I can get a close up of a bulls mug, I know it could have been table fare.

I do get serious on vension though, my wife and daughter won't touch it but my youngest loves it. Funny my wife likes elk. Go figure.

Anyone who has hunted long enough will have a unsucessful hunt, if the only measure of your hunt is meat in the freezer then you have missed the best part of hunting. I have memories of some of my best hunts where I didn't tag out, one I buggled in a royal into around 20 yards, but couldn't get him out of the trees, toyed with him for close to an hour, trying to get a clean shot, I didn't have a chainsaw bullet so it didn't work out, but it was and is one of my best hunts ever ( I did tag a deer ). I sorely miss one of my friends fathers that was with us on that hunt, he passed away @ 78 two years later, these are memories I will never forget.

I hope to get away, good times, good fellowship, some meat for the freezer, and if lucky, some antlers for the wall.

Saw this thread earlier today and it started me thinking whilst I toiled away in the GA heat.....

Elk hunting back home in Oregon is treasured time spent with family and friends. Stories of the past are told and future dreams eluded to. Whether muzzleloader or rifle, we all hunt hard for the meat. Yes, we all hope for a chance at "Big Al", but never pass on a spike or a fat cow for that matter with the .54.

For me, it's the little things that I always hope for and always get. The crisp, cool mornings with the sun peeking over the far ridges, hearing only the wind blowing through the doug fir, the occasional raven call and pine squirrels scampering across rough bark.
It's hearing squawking jays and knowing enough
to slip in from downwind to the source. It's catching up to the herd in big timber amidst the vine maple and finally glimpsing blondie butts and horns really close. It's that magic time, just before dark when the alpenglow bathes a far ridge chock full of radiant, golden blondies as they make there way into the Umpqua drainage. "G'night, c ya tomorrow "

Oh, there are many more, but.....
I can only hope for vestiges like these in my future elk hunts.

Thanks for asking the question Allen,
Sako

All I want out of an elk hunt is time with my friends and days and days to breathe in game country. For good or ill, that's all I've ever gotten.

Maybe next year.


Okie John