FHL Draw Results Up

[JTA6498]

Long carbine,
Your damn straight I'm happy! This is actually the third year and i was starting to sweat it out. MY hunt is in December and the XO is the one who drew the November muzzle loader hunt. He is stoked too since he tried last year. By the way the hunt we did together last year (cow hunt) was one of the best times I have had. I will never ever again give you a hard time about those fast little piggies, I chumped out on two of them over memorial day weekend. I sure miss having you around!

Congrats and all I can say is bring you Muzzle loader. We did the hunt last year and the combination of the season pressure on all of the bulls and the fact that you only have two days to hunt prior to Christmas Eve ( we had to be home for Christmas) makes it a much harder hunt than expected. They opened up a couple areas that were ML/Archery only. We ended up with a nice 5x5 on Christmas eve morning, but the 2 of the 3 biggest bulls were taken out of ML/archery only zones. And when we left on Christmas eve, I think only 6 of the 14 tag holders had taken bulls and the rest had left to go home for Christmas.

 

[Navy SWO]

Just received my notification letter and was pleasantly suprised to find out that elk hunters will be able to take any pigs they encounter while hunting elk provided they have tags.

 

[ltdann]

Just received my notification letter and was pleasantly suprised to find out that elk hunters will be able to take any pigs they encounter while hunting elk provided they have tags.

If you are prepared to stay for the ENTIRE hunt, you will be successful. Cows are NOT as easy as folks think. They tend to stay in groups and thats lots of eyes looking around.

The trick to hunting FHL elk is to figure out where they are going and be there before they arrive. Let 'em come to you, because a tail chase is always a losing proposition. A running man cannot beat a walking elk. And move slow.

Leave the hogs until after the elk is down, the elk season is awful short.

The last two cows tags I drew I hunted sunup to sundown and felt I was running out of time.

 

[Navy SWO]

If you are prepared to stay for the ENTIRE hunt, you will be successful. Cows are NOT as easy as folks think. They tend to stay in groups and thats lots of eyes looking around.

The trick to hunting FHL elk is to figure out where they are going and be there before they arrive. Let 'em come to you, because a tail chase is always a losing proposition. A running man cannot beat a walking elk. And move slow.

Leave the hogs until after the elk is down, the elk season is awful short.

The last two cows tags I drew I hunted sunup to sundown and felt I was running out of time.

ltdan,

Thanks for the tips. I was able to hunt FHL quite a bit during the late 90s when I was stationed in Monterey. I was fortunate enough to draw a spike bull tag during the second season they held elk hunts at FHL. I hunted most of the hunt with a quick break for Christmas and finally took my spike on the next to last day of the season out of a herd of over 100 elk out on the flats. I know what you mean about lots of eyes watching. I can't tell you how many nice bulls I had to just stare at as I tried to find one little ol' spike in the various bachelor and cow herds. It was a fun hunt and I'm looking forward to going back again to see how things have changed over the past 13 years.

As for the pigs, well I like eating elk steak more than any other meat including beef, so unless a gene pool improvement pig just begging to be shot happens to walk out in front of me during the middle of the day, elk is the primary quarry. I get to elk hunt so little (I think 3 times in the last 10 years) I'm not going to waste this opportunity.

 

[ltdann]

Well then, Welcome Back! I'd be interested in your before and after impressions IRT to procedures, facilities, rules and the hunt in general. Seems like everytime I go up there, there's been an overhaul in the way they do things.

 

[Superduty65]

Well guys. I'm feeling pretty lucky from my results after reading this. I'm active duty and my wife and I both drew an Archery Cow Tag in our first year applying this year. I look forward to hunting these Elk as I look forward to hunting Elk every year but these will be special. I am hopefull that you all can offer some good tips for us. I understand how these cows can be a challenge to hunt and we are fully prepared to hunt as many hours as it takes. From what I read on here so far, we should stick to the archery/muzzleloader only areas for better chances. Does that sound right from your experiences?

 

[DAWG]

Whining about $60 for an excellent chance at a tule elk tag? Seriously?? WTF??? Really???? Congratulations to those who drew!

 

[Navy SWO]

Well guys. I'm feeling pretty lucky from my results after reading this. I'm active duty and my wife and I both drew an Archery Cow Tag in our first year applying this year. I look forward to hunting these Elk as I look forward to hunting Elk every year but these will be special. I am hopefull that you all can offer some good tips for us. I understand how these cows can be a challenge to hunt and we are fully prepared to hunt as many hours as it takes. From what I read on here so far, we should stick to the archery/muzzleloader only areas for better chances. Does that sound right from your experiences?

One of the nice things about the elk hunt is that you are not limited to a single area. At the orientation brief you will be told which areas have been set aside for elk hunting and you pretty much have the run of them without having to go back and check out of one area and into another. The elk are where the elk are. Sometimes it will be in general weapons areas, sometimes in the archery/muzzleloader only areas and sometime in off limits areas like the cantonment or impact areas. They will move as they are pressured by hunters. The trick, as ltdann suggested above, is to initially locate them, figure out where they are trying to go and then get in front of them. Elk behaviour may have changed since I last hunted FHL, but you will likely see one or two fairly large herds out in the big flats where it will be hard to get close enough for an archery shot (or even a rifle shot.) These groups were really spooky and moved quickly with very little provocation. There will also be smaller groups spread out around the elk areas where you can set up an ambush or have cover to support a stalk. The trick is finding these smaller groups. You may be able to glass some from your truck, but many of the little draws, folds and areas they like to go are not visible from the road.

I think the recommendations earlier in the thread were for rifle hunters to also bring along a weapon they could use in the limited weapons areas so they would have options if the elk are concentrated there. I plan on bringing my muzzle loader along just in case on my rifle hunt. I still haven't decided which rifle yet.

Good luck. I look forward to reading what you see during the archery hunt to help me figure out my initial plan for my rifle hunt in Oct.

 

[ltdann]

Whining about $60 for an excellent chance at a tule elk tag? Seriously?? WTF??? Really???? Congratulations to those who drew!

The military has a love/hate relationship with the Morale Welfare and Recreation(MWR) folks. One the one hand, they accomplish great things for the troops at little or no cost to the recipents. On the other hand, that money's gotta come from somewhere, usually a small surcharge on purchases on the bases. $60 surcharge to EVEN apply is not a minor thing, especially if you won't avail yourself of the service.

Put the shoe on the other foot. Would you pay $60 to DFG to apply for an elk tag, with no reasonable expectation of drawing? Currently DFG charges around an $8 processing fee.

The part that peeves most of us is that the FHL military elk program is designed as an recreational opportunity for military folks, and we're the ones that get stuck with the high fees, not the civilians.

If your a civilian and apply at FHL, you don't pay the fee unless you DRAW.