Well within 100 yards of the herd as shooting light arrived, I still couldn’t see any elk, but their noisy movement, along with the occasional grunt, provided an exact waypoint of their location. Then the unexpected — but expected — occurred. A bugle below the herd brought a sudden quietness to the situation. That bugle followed by a chorus of cow chirping and another bugle meant one thing: other public land hunters were attempting to lure the herd bull back down the mountain.

Moments later an explosion of elk bolted past me in the timber, and I was nearly run over by a cow and calf in the chaos. The elk were heading to their high hideout now with me in tow as the other hunters, hundreds of feet below, kept up their concert performance for a nonexistent audience.

General unit elk hunting on public lands with a DIY approach continues to be one of the most challenging hunting activities. Archery elk success on public lands in general units rarely exceeds 20 percent. Most of the units I hunt post success rates barely above 10 percent. I was in just such a unit when the marching band arrived in the previous recap. Fortunately, I had three previous hunts to direct me toward elk in this corner of Montana elk country. My three earlier hunts each ended with success, but by differing strategies.

Consider these tactics as you plan for your next DIY elk hunt with general unit success rates overshadowing your outcome.

 

2016: Follow Their Lead

A 2-day downpour offered me a brief break in my 2016 Montana archery elk hunt. My two hunting partners had already given up, but I returned with confidence when the skies cleared as I had been in elk nearly every day, a situation not common in many general units. Elk consistently used the steep face of a basin I discovered for daytime bedding, and that’s where I started my second week of hunting.

My 1,500-foot morning, dark ascent put me in ideal position as the elk rallied below for their own ascent toward me. The elk sounded off below, but something rang differently this morning. They were staging lower. The herd slowly made their way toward me, but suddenly shifted direction and not only dropped in elevation, but climbed onto the next mountain. Visual sightings and auditory clues gave me the movement game play. With my mountain quiet, I obviously needed to follow the lead of the elk to stay in the hunt.

A long ATV ride and 3 hours of hiking put me in an afternoon position to possibly ambush the herd when afternoon elk restlessness kicked off. I set up near them and a forest spring in case they craved a drink. Bugles above me signaled the group was on their feet, and I moved swiftly to intercept.

That is when the elk pulled a “Crazy Ivan” and changed course. Instead of a direction toward me, they reversed and charged back up to where I waited the previous morning for no apparent reason. With not enough daylight to follow, I sulked on the slope and ripped a bugle to see how far away the herd was now. A distant, disheartening bugle echoed back, but a second later, a roaring bugle within a hundred yards shattered my nerves.

I immediately cut off that bugle and started a flanking move to keep the wind in my favor. In minutes the form of a bull materialized in the thick pines, and I found a hole smaller than a laundry basket for a shot. The bull marched into the zone and caught my draw movement, but still thinking elk were in the jungle, did not bolt as my arrow plunked into its side. I watched in delight as the bull crumpled 60 yards away.

Knowledge gained: Public land elk move to find feed, find greener pastures and more often than not, escape hunting pressure. Whenever possible, follow the herd. They might eventually evade you, but their general direction of travel could lead you into another flurry of action.

           

2018: Let Elk Be Elk

After another unlucky permit draw, I again found myself holding a general elk tag in Montana and returned to where I experienced consistent elk encounters 2 years earlier. My buddies couldn’t make the opener work, so I forged ahead solo, and the scouting before the opener looked promising. In fact, I snapped a picture of a mature 6-point the night before season as I scouted the basin that had been elk dependable the hunt before.

For the next 7 days I rose nearly 3 hours before shooting light, readied my gear and pulled off 1,500 feet of vertical scramble ascent on a rocky slope in complete darkness. Except for two mornings, my bugles ignited responses at daybreak of elk climbing in my direction from the opposite side of the mountain. Some mornings we would meet while other mornings they would slip by and go silent somewhere in the vast cover of the craterous slope.

Sparking elk conversation after their climb was slim. The elk were subject to public land pressure at the lower elevations, and learned that quiet time was best once they ascended to their safe place. Some afternoons I was able to get in the way of the descending herd, but dropping off the mountain in the afternoon met climbing back to descend to the side where I was able to find the easiest access.

On day No. 8 a change could be heard in the herd. The elk were calling more, bugling with more demand and rushing up the mountain. A cow had to be in estrus. Twice they changed direction in their ascent, causing me to race back and forth above them to formulate an intercept without them catching my descending scent on the thermal. The sheer, rocky slope tripped me up once, gashing my knee and ripping my new hunting pants, but I gritted my teeth and jogged toward the bugles.

Hearing thrashing ahead, I stalked in slowly and discovered a decent 6x6 assaulting a pine. Every time the bull trashed the tree with eyes closed, I moved closer. Just within striking distance of 30 yards, he lifted his head and saw my out-of-place form. He bolted without giving me a shot. Hearing more commotion to my right, including antler clashing, I slipped in that direction. Rounding a steep corner, I had the shock of my life as a massive bull walked past me at less than 10 yards. As he twisted his head through the stunted pines, the glaring white of his eyes saw danger. He bolted too, but this time I was ready and mewed to him while simultaneously drawing my bow. He skidded to look back with an arrow already on its way. The big bull sprinted at the hit, but I was front row to his crashing form less than 75 yards away.

Knowledge gained: When elk get into a frenzy, especially from the scent of that first cow in heat, let elk be elk. Use your calls as locators, but if the elk are vocal, follow along and use stealth to ease in for a shot over calling enthusiastically. If a shot doesn’t present itself, then use a bugle to sound like an invading satellite or a yearning mew to mimic a cow straying from the herd.

 

2020: Abandon Ship

Two years passed again with the license Gods leaving me with only a Montana general tag. Feeling confident, I returned to the canyon where my two previous hunts had proven successful. While scouting immediately before the opener, consistent elk bugles from an adjacent mountainside drew me there. For the first 2 days of the season, a massive blowup of elk engulfed me. Even so, I zigged every time I should have zagged, so I didn’t get an elk. After that, the area went dead.

Another area approximately 8 miles away blew up for a couple of days, but it to soon sang a chorus of “Silent Night.” A tip from a buddy in the neighborhood who just wrapped an unsuccessful elk hunt suggested I try some public land near where he hunted. It was a short drive away, again in a general unit. I pulled camp, reset my base camp operations and scouted a route in to the checkerboard parcel. The public lands were narrow and limited, but they connected to a series of private land hayfields attracting elk.

My first morning foray into the new lands placed me 3 miles in at daybreak. Silence greeted me again, but an hour later, in the second bite of an energy bar, a distant bugle sounded off. I responded with my Little Big Mouth Bugle, and over the next 45 minutes the bull drew closer. Cow mews confirmed a herd, and I worked toward the conversation that appeared to have halted on a near-vertical, timbered slope.

Still-hunting into the cover, I eased above several cows and calves. The bull, now within 100 yards, but out of sight, was conversing with a satellite bringing up the rear. I remained quiet and crept closer. Luckily, the herd bull edged my way to set up a roadblock for the satellite and stopped just above me to degrade a hapless pine.

Using the trunks of other pines to block my form, I eased closer every time the bull raked the boughs. At 40 yards the bull turned to leave, giving me a quartering-away shot, and I drove the arrow home. The hit was a bit farther back than I hoped, but after a long tracking job I found the monarch dead on an opposite slope. He turned out to be my second-best DIY, public land bull to date.

Knowledge gained: You need to be ultra-flexible in your elk hunting strategy. Be ready to move to a new area in minutes if the hunting goes sour. It’s common for elk herds to move quickly through public lands. They often move to dodge hunters with sights set on more rugged terrain. Just as common is a false migration to find refuge on lower elevation private lands. After they land there, don’t expect them to leave. Some younger bulls might stray the boundaries looking for love. In my case, the elk left the private land for public because the hayfields didn’t offer daytime thermal cover that was available next door on public lands.

 

2022: Go Back to Your Roots

With nothing in my hand but another Montana general tag, I went back to the unit basin where I had tagged two bulls prior. A buddy joined me for the first 5 days, and we pursued a massive bull that we both felt would score in the 350 range. Unluckily, hunting pressure spiked in the area and the bull left with his cows. My buddy had to return to work soon after, leaving me solo again. Just enough elk activity kept me in the area because I follow a rule: Never leave elk to find elk. I did take two morning breaks to check the area where I killed my second-best bull, but from all evidence, the elk were not using that public parcel. Waterholes didn’t have fresh tracks, nor could I find fresh droppings.

No worries as I still had limited elk sightings or audio clues every day in my old stomping grounds. What intrigued me the most was a series of trails spiraling straight up a mountain to a layer of benches with connecting private lands above. Several encounters during my hunt led to me one location that appeared to have a whitetail-like trail pattern. Nearly 2 weeks into the hunt, I posted up in a deadfall for a midmorning to midafternoon break. On my second sit, my butt ache paid off by noon.

A quick scan with my Sig Sauer ZULU 10-power binocular revealed a raghorn ghosting through the timber below me. In hard-hunted general units, I typically shoot the first legal bull in bow range.

Because the local elk had been called to more than a lost neighborhood dog, I opted to make glunking sounds with the bell of my bugle tube. It worked. The young bull looked and readjusted its compass in my direction. At 120 yards the bull started to steer away, so I mewed one note softly. Again, the bull redirected in the dark timber. My eyes darted ahead, spying an opening for a shot on the quartering bull. With his head behind trunks, I ranged the opening at 40 yards and seconds later the bull stepped in. I mewed him to a stop while simultaneously launching.

The hit sounded good, but I lost sight of the bull in seconds in the dense timber. After waiting for an hour, I worked my way down to the only major trail through the mess of pines and found the bull dead, nicely resting on the best trail out for my solo packing job ahead.

Knowledge gained: I grew up in whitetail country with stump sitting and still-hunting as my go-to tag fillers. Nowadays, whenever I see a pattern emerging, I have no problem plopping down and waiting, even in elk country. The rut creates restlessness in every critter. Sometimes the best option is to find an area of activity and wait out the animals. In elk country this could be a trail as I discovered, a wallow, a saddle or some other terrain feature such as a level bench in dark timber for bedding. Go back to your roots if other tactics aren’t paying dividends.  

My fourth venture in this general unit of Montana again ended in success. I knew sooner than later my luck would give out, but for now, I was enjoying the celebration as I removed a beefy backstrap from my most recent public land, DIY achievement.

 

Sidebar: Teammates to the Rescue

Elk country is big, demanding and unforgiving. First, you need a REAL backpack. Currently, I am using the ALPS OutdoorZ customizable Elite. You can purchase the packing frame alone or customize it with either an 1,800-cubic-inch, or a 3,800-cubic-inch pack bag easily using an aluminum hook system. The 3,800-bag model and frame top out at 5 pounds, 13 ounces. I’ve packed out two bulls and the pack’s contoured lumbar design, torso adjustment, air mesh, along with construction from 500D Cordura guarantee comfort and a sturdy ride for your reward. Pack bags are hydration compatible and include a rain fly, plus a bow/rifle carrying system.

Second, odor control is a struggle in the sweat-drenched world of archery elk pursuits. Midday breaks are the perfect time to spray down your clothes and gear again with an odor-eliminating spray. If you don’t want to tote the weight of a 12-ounce spray bottle, you can pre-spray with products designed to keep protecting for up to 20 days such as Wildlife Research Center’s Scent Killer Gold. It is a permanent fixture in my elk camp.

While discussing scent, a spritz of Wildlife Research Center’s Golden Estrus Elk near a waterhole or timber opening could be ideal for stopping a bull to get a shot. I keep a bottle in my pack for quick deployment.

Finally, utilize a hunting app that can get you in and out of the backcountry. I navigate with the HuntStand hunting app. You can get it for free, but if you pay $29.99 annually, it provides you with a host of helpful hunting functions. 

HuntStand delivers with vivid satellite images that are updated to never be more than 1.5 years old. It provides access to the most comprehensive land ownership database in the country. Property information includes address, owner name, mailing address, and property area. Maps include a variety of overlays including topographical overlays or the Real 3D feature that allows you to virtually fly over your hunting area to survey terrain. Detailed forecasts are included along with the HuntZone wind graphic feature to illustrate your scent dispersion. You can make detailed notes on the app with the help of distinct map icons to mark sign, waterholes and more.

 

Sidebar: Lightweight Bows Rock in Elk Country

New for 2023, the Prime Archery REVEX 2 fits the definition of a bow ready for elk country. The REVEX 2 is a 32-inch axle-to-axle configuration bow with a center-gripped riser design as a signature mark from Prime Archery.

The new and innovative CORE Cam System includes mods for draw length adjustment starting at 26 inches and extending to 30.5 inches. Embedded in the draw cycle of the cams is Prime’s cam balancing technology that ensures strings and cables align for balanced cams at the shot.

A new carbon string stop shutters sound and vibration, and Prime’s Nano grip, with NASA materials, guarantees a warm grasp of your bow. All of this arrives in a 4.5-pound platform, ideal for a long hike. See the REVEX 2, 4 and 6, and more at www.g5prime.com.

  

In-the-field photos by Mark Kayser