I have never hunted elk before...
- Thread starter BEETLEGUY
- Start date
Gamehog
Member
Hey Beetleguy I'm in the same boat. Never been on an elk hunt and hunted myself. Last season I had the chance to go and film a couple of guys who were lucky enough to draw a northern California Roosevelt tag. We kill two bulls one being a 364 B&C bull. I'm hooked big time and can't wait for the day I get to go on my own hunt.
ElkNut1
New Member
Yes, the 4-Pack will aid you quite a bit! Vol-4 Worse Than Wolves will highlight much of what I shared in the first posts as to the sounds to use. Take nothing for granted in your sound choice, do lots of practicing before hitting the elkwoods as you would do in your bodily training, it appears you are on the right track bud!!! At nearly 56 I train year around to stay in what I call "elk shape" it's that important of a goal that I stick too so I don't get old & fat! (grin) Keep up the good work!!!
As far as your costs go, if money is a serious issue hunt from your rig, use your area of camp choices as your mobile base camp. You do not have to bivy in order to hunt & kill elk. As an example my Son & I hunt much of this way as does the other 3 members of the ElkNut Crew. My Son took his 18th archery bull this year, I've had the privilege to call in everyone & he too as called in many for me. All those bulls were taken OTC public land hunts & all were hunted from our base-camp. This means we did not bivy in for any of those elk. Keep in mind though that we hit it hard, we have no issues going in 3-6 miles one way on foot as we hunt & call for location for elk. Once there we will use very similar techniques as I suggested for you. Point is you can effectively hunt elk without bivy style hunting, this will cut down on your costs of buying special lightweight equipment that you can start saving up for as your monies become more available in future hunts, purchase things a little at a time & you will see it won't take long but in the mean time you are still elk hunting! Hope this helps out!
Here's a list that I take with us on all our style of hunts. If we bivy then we add the tent, sleeping bag, food & cooking stuff etc. but the things on this list go with us no matter the hunt!
Here is the list of essentials that I highly recommend! I have not adjusted the weight & items for a few years now; it appears to be perfect for our hunting style!
Water Bladder, min 60oz 100oz is Better--
4 Elk Bags-
Wyoming Pack Saw-
Orange flagging tape-
Food for all day-
Back up energy bars 5-
Space Blanket-A Good One!
Large plastic garbage bag- can be used for many things including a shelter or work surface!
1 25' & 2 50' 1/4" nylon rope-
Water Purifier Carbon Straw
Roll of Athletic tape-Emergency Use
Celox, Stops Severe Bleeding
Ziplock bag of matches,lighter,fish hooks,flies,20' fishing line,small packet magnesium flakes-
2-knives & carbide sharpener-
small leatherman-
mini mag & petzel headlamp flashlights-
4-extra AA batteries, fits all my units-
Garmin GPS 130-
Compass & maps-
small notebook & pen in ziplock bag-
6-rounds .357 spare bullets-
Extra longbow string-
Eye glasses-
Baggie with aspirin, benadryl for bee stings, vicadin for bad muscle/leg pulls-
Disposable camera,36photos-
All this goes into my Eberlestock X2 for all day hunts or 2200 Pack for 2-4 day bivy hunts! Both have outside the pack meat carrying capabilities! It weighs 14#-15#
ElkNut1
As far as your costs go, if money is a serious issue hunt from your rig, use your area of camp choices as your mobile base camp. You do not have to bivy in order to hunt & kill elk. As an example my Son & I hunt much of this way as does the other 3 members of the ElkNut Crew. My Son took his 18th archery bull this year, I've had the privilege to call in everyone & he too as called in many for me. All those bulls were taken OTC public land hunts & all were hunted from our base-camp. This means we did not bivy in for any of those elk. Keep in mind though that we hit it hard, we have no issues going in 3-6 miles one way on foot as we hunt & call for location for elk. Once there we will use very similar techniques as I suggested for you. Point is you can effectively hunt elk without bivy style hunting, this will cut down on your costs of buying special lightweight equipment that you can start saving up for as your monies become more available in future hunts, purchase things a little at a time & you will see it won't take long but in the mean time you are still elk hunting! Hope this helps out!
Here's a list that I take with us on all our style of hunts. If we bivy then we add the tent, sleeping bag, food & cooking stuff etc. but the things on this list go with us no matter the hunt!
Here is the list of essentials that I highly recommend! I have not adjusted the weight & items for a few years now; it appears to be perfect for our hunting style!
Water Bladder, min 60oz 100oz is Better--
4 Elk Bags-
Wyoming Pack Saw-
Orange flagging tape-
Food for all day-
Back up energy bars 5-
Space Blanket-A Good One!
Large plastic garbage bag- can be used for many things including a shelter or work surface!
1 25' & 2 50' 1/4" nylon rope-
Water Purifier Carbon Straw
Roll of Athletic tape-Emergency Use
Celox, Stops Severe Bleeding
Ziplock bag of matches,lighter,fish hooks,flies,20' fishing line,small packet magnesium flakes-
2-knives & carbide sharpener-
small leatherman-
mini mag & petzel headlamp flashlights-
4-extra AA batteries, fits all my units-
Garmin GPS 130-
Compass & maps-
small notebook & pen in ziplock bag-
6-rounds .357 spare bullets-
Extra longbow string-
Eye glasses-
Baggie with aspirin, benadryl for bee stings, vicadin for bad muscle/leg pulls-
Disposable camera,36photos-
All this goes into my Eberlestock X2 for all day hunts or 2200 Pack for 2-4 day bivy hunts! Both have outside the pack meat carrying capabilities! It weighs 14#-15#
ElkNut1
Thanks ElkNut1. I was looking at the Blue Widow pack. Love the feel of it. I noticed that a range finder wasn't part of your list. Do you use one?
ElkNut1
New Member
I've never used one to kill an elk, but when I'm hunting with a compound I do carry one as does my son! It's not an essential part of our pack so I didn't mention it! I just know though that one of these days it will pay off! (grin) For rifle hunts however it has come in very handy!! Most elk we kill are in the 25 yd average but never past 40 it seems so in most cases a rangefinder isn't necessary! Anyway that's how it seems to work out for us! Thanks!
ElkNut1
ElkNut1
ElkNut1
New Member
Yes, the Blue Widow is a great pack & compliment to the X2. Watch this clip here & you will see both the X2 & Blue Widow packs loaded with gear & quarters. The other pack is a Kelty frame pack because Jerry does not have a pack like ours YET! (grin)
The Blue Widow is the one to the far left in the 1st photo where the Packs are shown< you'll notice there's not a big difference between that one & the X2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxpBrHzip-w
ElkNut1
The Blue Widow is the one to the far left in the 1st photo where the Packs are shown< you'll notice there's not a big difference between that one & the X2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxpBrHzip-w
ElkNut1
Last edited:
ElkNut1
New Member
Yes, as long as you're not interested in staying out more that 3 days & 2 nights at a time? If you want to stay longer then the Blue Widow would be a better choice! For my Son & I we use the X2 95% of the time! We hauled 4 bulls off the mountain with them last year! It's a durable pack & we'll use them this year again! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSnXsJqPd5w
This is another clip with me in it & Larry who's a Crew member here!
ElkNut1
This is another clip with me in it & Larry who's a Crew member here!
ElkNut1
ElkNut1
New Member
That's why I own more than 1 pack! (grin) The X2 for up to a couple of days & the Badlands 2200 or the Blue Widow would be good for a week! You just have to minimize your items to the bare necessities, which you should do anyway! Just think what the majority of your hunting will be & make sure you are equipped in that area! For us it's all day hunts & the X2 is top pick for us!
ElkNut1
ElkNut1
So what you're telling me is; there is no pack that does it all lol Looks like I'll be spending around $800 just on packs
ElkNut1
New Member
Well, let's see! Should we hunt with a pack on for just an all day hunt that is capable of carrying items that would last us a week? Hmmm! (grin) It could be a bit big but that Blue Widow is close to doing both, check them out!
The X2 is only 139.00
ElkNut1
The X2 is only 139.00
ElkNut1