Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting What is it about elk.....

What is it about elk that makes people stupid? Do elk release some type of pheromone that erases any bit of intelligence? Seriously people, they are elk. Really big deer. Not some sort of mythical, manhood enhancing aphrodisiac. What is it about elk that make people drive over/through fences, cut the same fences, trespass, become combative and belligerent when told no (if they bother to ask) , they can't shoot the one cow elk standing in the middle of a group of several cattle between two houses. What is it about elk that makes people buy 10's of thousands of dollar's worth of vehicles, gear, and equipment so they can then spend days driving up and down anything that resembles a road or trail hoping that they can shoot an elk crossing the road with their new 87 mega magnum with the Hubble telescope mounted on top. I have hunted elk for the last +/-40 years, after what I saw this last general season, it is likely I won't again.

I grew up in CO long before it was invaded by morons from CA and to us elk was a food supply. We never considered them anything really special and definitely not something worth breaking the law or getting stupid over. Living year round in elk country we knew we would eventually get a shot and could afford to be patient. But then we hunted cows mostly and didn't care about big elk racks and we didn't come from a place that didn't have elk. I guess the mentality is different if you lived in CO, WY, MT, ID UT etc... than if you came from some place like NY, VT, MO etc...

People are dumb. Some more than others.

Always had a percentage of locals, typically 20 somethings out with their buddies & a case of cheap beer doing something stupid - that was to be expected. Generally, out of state hunters were decent & usually displayed some manners. Not so much anymore. Adult locals acting stupid, Minnesota and Washington plates acting stupid, neighbor told me of a phone call from an individual in New Jersey, must have found him on a cadastral site - when politely told no, there would be only a limited number of people allowed on his property to hunt each season & the dates were all filled - became an instant tough guy, trying to bully his way on from 2000 + miles away. All for a damn elk.

When I was a kid we had a large Elk herd on the ranch,they were some where around all year around, they were hell on hay stacks in the winter we kept Elk fences around our stacks and they would come down to cattle feed grounds and eat with our cattle, my Granddad said we feed them year around they are ours, when we needed meat we would shoot a young dry cow, only time we ate beef was having a hamburger in town.

These Elk Threads always amaze me, What Gun, what Chambering, what Bullet,How far, That's not enough gun, this bullets no good , this bullets the best,makes it sound like Elk are Bullet Proof, What a bunch of B.S. they are just big deer nothing more. your pecker does not grow if you shoot one or more. Rio7

Killing them isn't hard, finding takes a little more doing. All the gun gack in the world won't help you doing that.

Mine did, but only after my second 5x5.




P

I think there's always been a rowdy bunch in the woods. Doesn't matter if it's elk or deer. Some dudes just get so hooked that laws don't matter. Around here it's overcrowding that's the issue. Seems like at least half the hunters in CO now are from out of state. Camps with 20 rigs in them is common. Gun seasons are done in two days now. It's an all out egg hunt with swarms of hunters opening weekend. It's almost a full-on whitetail style drive hunt with 1000's of hunters. If you don't see an elk by the end of the second day, best just to go home. They have moved onto private land by then.

Had a young guy from Pennsylvania move into the area a few years ago. Nice young guy, shot his first elk, a raghorn of some sort, & was very proud of it. Showed me photos & I asked him what he shot it with. He proceeded tell me that he used some Remington Ultra mag (I forget which one), because you can't kill elk with anything less than a 180 grain bullet & some arbitrary velocity. Seriously. He said that. Just smiled & nodded, as I said earlier, he is a nice young guy. Where he came up with that bit of nonsense I couldn't say.

The hardest part of all is usually getting the tag.

Finding them?? Gawdam, half the season, the bulls are screaming at you to come shoot them, the other half they stand out like a big yellow school bus and the cows are in big bunches are in the wide open! And all the time they are as big as a billboard to shoot! Hahaha

In all fairness I think they are special. Yes they are just big deer. And living with them and fixing fences and having to having to deal with them gets old. Working one over, even the small ones is never just a piece of cake. But there is something majestic about a big bull that never gets old.

I can't answer this question because I always hunt on public land. But the reason I like to hunt elk more than other big game is where they live during the early seasons when they're in the rut.

I'd rather spend a week or more camping up where elk live and go home with my tag in my pocket than shoot one in a hayfield.

I can accept fixing fence the elk tear out, is part of the price we pay for being where we are. It is the torn out fence purposely caused by hunters I have a problem with.

Yes sir that will piss you off. I’m curious though, how much deeded land you you own, is it in a checkerboard area? Have you caught and prosecuted. Again I’m just curious not wanting to fight.I feel for you if you have to deal with ahole trash. That gives hunters a black eye and you’re in a hunting forum so I assume you hunt yourself.

I finally figured out this last season how to have an elk herd all to yourself.

Hunt in 0 degrees temperatures. Hunters scatter faster than bulls after the rut.

Deer make people stupid too. I live on a large lake - I literally have idiots asking me if they can "hunt my yard" for these semi-tame suburban deer. I'm like you know I hunt so if I wanted them shot, I'd be doing it myself now "F" off.

[quote=RIO7]When I was a kid we had a large Elk herd on the ranch,they were some where around all year around, they were hell on hay stacks in the winter we kept Elk fences around our stacks and they would come down to cattle feed grounds and eat with our cattle, my Granddad said we feed them year around they are ours, when we needed meat we would shoot a young dry cow, only time we ate beef was having a hamburger in town.

That's pretty dang cool right there.

The 87 mega mag and hubble telescope is pretty freaking funny.

People will do some dumb stuff for antlers.

NMPistolereo - have a fairly small deeded place, lease some other private pasture. No federal or state leases. Trouble is the deeded ground is bisected by two different county roads. Haven't caught & charged, all I've been able to find is gut piles, drag marks, pickup/SXS tracks, and cut fences.

I missed a nice 6x6 this year, and mine shrunk a bit. sad day.

I hate to hear it. Maybe some discreetly placed trail cams could help? At least in helping in prosecution. Although if your G&F is anything like ours a case would have to jump up and hit them in the face. We had a Landowner get threatened and have pics on his phone of trespassers with a business name and number on the side of the pickup and they wouldn’t investigate. People are the worst.