I Need Advice On Elk Hunting With A Muzzle Loader

[DAVIDO]

I realize everyone hunts different ways. I would like several individual that can tell me how they hunt?( like stand over wallow hole, or still hunting, or trailing or stalking or what)

Also how successful has this method been for you???

I hunt with a .50 cal TC Hawkin for the last 5 years with just occassional whitetail deer harvested. I would like to harvest an elk to feel the addiction

Thanks in advance
odavid
new member

 

[Vaino]

For awhile I used a .50 cal. TC Hawken w/ a 410 gr Buffalo Bullet and made some nice kills.

I move a lot and "cow call" using 3 different pitched calls. Noise doesn't disturb elk, so I crack branches, move slowly, look all around and fairly often use the cow calls. When I first started, bugling worked but then the bulls got wise and found that in our area, the bulls go in the opposite direction when they hear bugling. The cracking branches and 3 different cow calls simulate a herd on the move.

Have had poor luck on stand....elk are tightly herding animals and you either hit the "jackpot" or don't see a single animal. Moving gives better odds in seeing elk...Good luck....Fred

 

[Kentuckywindage]

370gr maxiball would be great elk medicine. 410gr hornady great plains conical as well.

 

[DAVIDO]

Thanks flehto,

That is just what I was hoping to hear. I already have several different type elk calls and will plan on sounding like a few strayed a way cows and calves.

May your powder stay dry and the wind in your face and your hunt be memorable.
ODAVID

 

[screamin]

I have found over the years that during the day the elk are high. As evening comes they tend to feed down hill as they head for water. In the morning they will be fairly low and they will water and head up hill to bed somewhere. I have killed more elk over water than anything else and I rarely if ever use a call. However, I'm usually hunting elk that have not been pressured. If they get pressured hard they will leave the area.

In one such area I hunt in Nv if they are pressured its down off one mtn that has fairly easy access, across the canyon and up the other mtn. It's about 4 miles total and on the other mtn they are pretty safe. Very few but the hardcore hunter will climb the thing to get em. So I do everything I can to keep from being detected, then I keep at it and I have always gotten a shot at some point.

Now over in Utah is a little different. The overall terrain is thicker and there are usually hunters everywhere. You have to keep moving until you find em and sometimes thats 10 miles away from where you started. Once you find em you can hunt em the same way. However, if we are in the rut at all the herd bull will try to keep his cows rounded up sometimes and not let them go anywhere. Thats when you need to be aggressive and move in on em. Don't be afraid of making noise, elk are noisy so they tend to ignore noise. But if they smell you, they are gone.

 

[oletymepreacher]

Watch the wind, but don't get obsessive about it. Hunt high but don't camp there, and keep moving until you see elk. Most of my kills are around 11AM, when the elk are active and getting their lunch. Use stout loads as elk can be hard to kill, and put those loads where they belong. Tree stands are useless, as is waiting somewhere where the elk will not come. Forget bugling for your calling, cow calls work better,I carry four, one being a calf call. Don't worry about making noise.
Sometimes you can get an inquisitive bull to come in by faking a fight.To do this, find a dry branch and beat it against a tree. If you are bull hunting and calling, but the bull hangs up just out of sight, pour your canteen on a rock. The last thing a bull does before a fight is to urinate. A receptive cow will do the same.

Learn to tell the difference between a fresh track and one that was left last June. Tracking can pay off if there are no other hunters in the area, but if there are, you just may push the bull into someone else.

 

[DAVIDO]

WOW I feel like I just shared a peace pipe with the hunting masters!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANKS TO EVERYONE IF ANYONE ELSE HAS HELPFUL EXPERIENCES OR SUGGESTIONS THEN FEEL FREE TO SHARE THEM.

I will certainly utilize all of these suggestions in my quest and will keep this forum updated hopefully with pictures of success.

THANKS AGAIN
DAVIDO

 

[Greenmtnboy]

I call em in.
kill elk every year that way.

 

[DAVIDO]

hELLO gREENMTBOY,

Can you be a little more specific???? Are you cow calling or bugling????

Your method sounds very effective.

thanks
odavid

 

[VTdeerhunter]

You need to pay attention to what "your" elk are doing. Fresh sign vs. slightly old sign means alot.

If they are coming into a water hole and don't get pushed or spooked...they will probably keep coming into that water hole, I have killed them out of a tree stand in these locations, but if the sign around the hole is not "stinky" fresh then they could have moved out and you will spend a long lonely day in the tree.

During the rut I like to bugle, listen for a response, then try to set up an ambush for the bull by getting in front of where he was heading. Sometimes you had to bugle a few times to pinpoint his direction of travel. This doesn't always work...If it is a smaller bull you could chase him off if he thinks you are a bigger bull coming towards him and he is going to get his butt kicked,

One method is to bugle, then head in the opposite direction to make the bull think you are a smaller bull. I tricked a nice 6x6 into chasing me down the valley a ways, then set up and waited for him...he walked into my set-up at 15 yards, hanging on the wall in my gun room now. My they are big at that distance :thumbsup:

Good luck with your hunt, the planning is almost as much fun as the hunt..

 

[hoochiepapa]

When I first step into the woods, I use a bugle. Only once or twice does the trick, causing a bull to give away his position. Then I move very slowly in his direction if I can(sometimes terrain forbids this)and cow call with different calls. I've learned that the reed is best to keep my hands free, but I use several.
My suggestion is to hunt the same areas year after year, and find where the elk move, then it is easier. I have what I call my "magic meadow", and the "east face", where after many years hunting the same area, I know there will be elk there.
Good luck and keep your powder dry.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

hELLO gREENMTBOY,

Can you be a little more specific???? Are you cow calling or bugling????

Your method sounds very effective.

thanks
odavid

CO is a very busy hunting state and I have found that after the first weekend of archery bugling tends to scare elk off.
I have several different cow calls to sound like many cows some in heat, some calves, some dominate.
works every time.
start slow bring up the intensity and move around a bit so you sound like you are comming from many locations.
I call in as many cows and spikes as I do bulls and if I have a cow tag chances are the bull I call in will push his cows ahead of him so it's a win win.

 

[DAVIDO]

Thanks to everyone, These are ALL great suggestions. I do appreciate the help and advice. May your memories linger for years to come.

THANKS AGAIN
ODAVID