do you work as a team? sneak hunt? snipe?

[340mag]

I had several of my ELK hunting buddies over for a BBQ and the disscussion turned to the prefered way to hunt ELK, while we have found over the last 30 plus years that hunting in two and three man teams is very productive, far more productive on average than hunting as a single hunter,and while we all agreed that you MUST FIRST locate the herd by calling or long range glassing before any action is undertaken as ELK , unlike whitetails do not remain in one small area,we found durring the conversation that some guys prefered to station themselves close to the ELKS likely escape routes and play SNIPER while other guys in my camp PREFER to try to sneak in and shoot a bull or cow from exteemly short range, and let the other guys in the team shoot the ELK as they fled the area after the first shot or when mildly spooked by the other members of the team as the ELK tryed to avoid them.
it became obvious that some of us prefered the mental game of trying to predict the elks excape routes and relie on thier long range rifle skills while a few of us prefered the challange in trying to get within archery range before useing the rifles we normally hunt with. remember the areas I hunt are almost always canyons that limit the ELKS options and thick timbered slopes where skill in sneaking around can work very well ONCE THE HERD IS LOCATED, IT MAKES NO SENCE TO WASTE TIME SNEAKING THRU AREAS WITH FEW IF ANY ELK!

what are your thoughts?
and yeah, Im well aware that some much more open areas would make these methods almost useless. but in the heavily timbered canyons the method works fine once you can depend on your partners to be where they say they will be at the times ageeded , partners who have learned no to shoot the first elk they see! but to work as a team so that more than one elk in the herd can be dropped if everything works as planed, and partners who GLADLY continue to work as a team even after thier own tags are filled

its a simple plan! have the skill and use equipment that will effectively drop an ELK from 500 yards, like a 250 grain bullet from a 340 wby,then get into 50 yards before firing to allow for extra/ultra precise bullet placement!

 

[sdbowyer]

Hey 340mag,

This is a great topic so I thought I'd respond with my limited tactics at least. The most I hunt with is 2 guys. We have our known hangout that we each approach from opposite ends and meet (hopefully meat) in the middle. We're not chasing herds but straglers that consistently stick to the area in September.

 

[threeforks]

Howdy. This is a good topic. I prefer to sneak up on them. If I can hear a bull, I will go after him. I think I do my best when I am by myself. Most of the hunting I do is with several guys, mainly family. Last year there was 8 of us in camp. Most of us have been going up there for more than 30 years and we know the area well. We know most of the elk's travel patterns, and they will vary from day to day. And I feel the weather efects their movement alot. We normaly pair up and head out of camp in diferent directions. Every one knows where every one else is, and the general directions they are going. We have done well chasing elk back and forth between us. Some times if we know a heard is hanging out in a certain area we will all spread out and go after them, trying to cover the exits. We hunt high up in the timber looking the rocky peaks. The big thing is every one does share in the work when the shooting is done.
Even on the late cow hunts we hunt the timber. There are a lot of local people up where I hunt that get together when the elk get into the heard for the winter. They get on the phone and call every one they know with a tag, then put a game plan together. I have seen the area after they were done. lots of gut piles, it must have sounded like a war.

 

[East Sloper]

Spot and Stalk One-on-One, Oh how fun!