My wife and I both drew cow elk tags for the oct 20-28 2012 hunt at Fort Hunter Ligget>>>WOW!!

[meatwad]

What are the odds.. well we are both excited, initially I drew a tag then a few days later my wife was called saying that she too was a tag holder. I am heading down this Friday to pay for the tags and scout out the area a bit. I have been hog hunting down at Ligget twice and have seen a few of the elk herds but never in the zones I was hunting. My goal is to get my wife her elk first then try for mine. This is my first time hunting elk so any information or tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated. I have hunted all over the east coast and have bagged many a deer in my day, but western hunting is a wee bit different. I am currently living in Monterey and attending the Naval Post Grad School, so if there are any locals in the area who want to talk shop or go to the Leguna Seca range some time let me know. Also I am an avid fisherman and we hit the bay all the time on Kayaks for Lings, Rock, Salmon and White Sea Bass.. if you want to go bag some fish some time just let me know, I am always looking for an excuse to hit the water.

 

[bobby7321]

That's great! I think there is something up with the drawing system. Last year three in my family drew the same deer tags. None had max points and the odds were slim for even one of us to draw. It's the first thing I thought of when reading your post. Congrats on the tags!!

 

[Live2hunt]

Post your question again when the hunt season gets closer. Two-three weeks before the open and I may have some up to date info for ya.

 

[DuckFever]

^^L2H knows what he's talking about. Elk are highly migratory and the chances of them being where you saw them in July, come October are very slim. No harm in scouting now, but the serious scouting should come closer to the season.

 

[TonyS]

Try 29, north entrance. There is a cow that likes to sleep there. Go at 0'dark30. She sleeps on the left side as you walk in. Wish I drew a tag.

 

[lewdogg21]

Shoot them either above a road or on a road. You will thank me for this later especially if you and your wife dump cows out of the same herd at the same time.

 

[meatwad]

thanks for all the info so far. Well as for the drawing I started with 18 pts due to being active duty and my wife had quite a few as a dependent..but my wife did not initially draw in the first round, her name was picked on round 2 when someone did not want to pay the $404 elk tag cost but that made my bill $808 for two tags California really has to make it difficult to hunt here, lol. I plan on hunting a few times for hogs this summer and then really scout hard before season. I have quite a few deer and hog spots marked on my GPS but I have not come across any elk in the zones I hunted ( 9,25,27). I have found sign and marked that too but usually i just see elk while driving up and down Jolon rd. Also went to hunter ligget to pay today and on the way there stopped at J&D guns and ammo at that gas station on Jolon rd, he is going out of business due to health reasons and all Remington stuff is 45% off and everything else is 40% off including ammo, so I bought 4 boxes of Barnes vortex 7mm...Just FYI if your in the area.

 

[meatwad]

So I am going down to Fort Hunter Ligget this weekend for a little deer action and elk scouting. 25 is one of my favorite zones so I might start out there if it is open. I will post back with results.

 

[LongCaribine]

Congrats to you and your wife. I drew that tag for the same hunt a few years ago. Awesome time. Don't sweat the scouting because the biologist will be at the indoc on the Friday night before your hunt and he will let you know what zones the elk are in. They open zones just for elk hunters. Bring every weapon you have, bow, smoke pole, rifle because some of the areas are restricted. I shot my cow in area 22 and they made that a muzzleloader only zone.

 

[meatwad]

So the deer hunting was pretty bad, temps over 100 and I got stuck with zone 14 (5500 acres of mountains and brush). I did see a lot of deer but I lent my muzzleloader to a buddy who only had a shotgun so I went in with my bow. I saw about 20 or so deer 3 of them were bucks but only spikes. I did make it to a hill top and saw elk in the next zone over, but of course it was 12 a zone that will never be open, lol. Had a good time but that was my first time dealing with that many hunters and the draw when you get there to see if you get to hunt. But depending on how the fishing report looks this week I may go back to FHL or fish for some white sea bass. Thanks again for all the info :archer green:

 

[feelinducky]

I started with 18 pts due to being active duty and my wife had quite a few as a dependent..

I've never heard of someone in Cal having 18 pts. Maybe I'm reading this incorrectly but how does someone accumulate extra points? Are we talking about preference points from the drawings or something else?

 

[outbrakeridah]

FHL has a different point system from the Ca lottery system. Active Duty gets 18pts.

 

[PhrogDriver]

They do two different draws for each hunt. There is a military draw where active duty get 18 points, reserves/retired 17 (I think) and so on. This is totally separate from the CDFG draw. The other half of the tags are general population. I saw some stats that showed the general draw had over 1400 applicants but the military draw only had about 50, and less than 20 were active dutly. Active duty personnel really have a huge advantage. I drew a tag my first time applying and know a coasty that drew 2 tags in 4 years! Lucky SOB.
If you don't have a muzzloader, you should get one (with a scope if possible). As long as it is a rifle hunt you can use a scope on you muzzleloader. you'll be glad because the elk really like to hang out in those muzzleloader areas. Start out in area 22 if it is open. Good luck!

 

[meatwad]

Yeah I have my Ruger m77 7mm rem mag, TC encore muzzleloader and my Hoyt Trykon all ready to go. Also my wife has her Ruger Gunsite Scout .308, TC encore muzzleloader and her Hoyt Trykon all ready too. I think we have all of our bases covered when it comes to weapons. I have been seeing a lot of elk around the base I just hope that holds true come October. I have taken leave for the entire hunt but my wife is not able to hunt everyday. So my goal is to help her get hers on that opening weekend and then send her back to Monterey while I hunt the rest of the week. I hope that plan works out.

 

[PhrogDriver]

I think you have a pretty good chance of taking two. Everybody tagged out in the period 3 hunt last year. My command screwed me out of 5 days of hunting after they had granted me leave for the whole time. I ended up only hunting for 6 of the days, but I was able to put a stalk on one every day and ended up with a nice one. Good Luck!