Why 5% of Public Land Hunters Kill 95% of The Elk - Elk Hunting Tips and Strategies 

I have shot dozen elk on public land. For me is this 1. Get up very early to get out in the woods early, I really mean very early. 2. Stay out all day, take two lunches, hunt all day, never ever let up. 3. Plan to hunt until dark so you better plan on getting back in the dark. 4, Seeing lots of hunters go to somewhere else , after a day or two the elk will head to the dark thick timber, it will be slow slow, close shooting. 5. Never ever stop until the seasons closes...........

I am not a expert hunter by any means, but I have hunted in the west coast of Oregon for over twenty years, and I can tell any new hunter that watches this video that this man hit every single important point perfectly. I know many local hunters from my town that kill bull elk every single year, and it's always the same people. The absolute most important thing is to first know one area like the back of your hand. every trail, every road, every nook you can find. Then remember where you see the animals and where they run to. I recommend new hunters watch this video multiple times and really listen to what this gentleman is saying. I know guys who are 20 years younger than me and are twice the hunter I am, for all the reasons stated in the video. I am not a bad hunter either. If I would have done the things talked about in this video I would have doubled my successes over the years. Last thing is don't be like me and when all your hard work finally pays off, get too jacked up and blow a easy kill! Try to be calm and just get it done.

I was one of those 5% bowhunters in CO from 1990-1998. I moved to AK and went on a hunt for elk in my old unit in 2015 and never heard a bull bugle, only saw 2 cows, and a bull moose. I think drought and over hunting and maybe some bad winters came into play. This year 2022, western states are handing out less tags due to draught. The succes I had was from backpacking in 2-3 miles and hunt up high at timberline. Down draft early AM, and up drafts as sun comes up.

Ive hunted 10 years in the same spot. I harvest every year. Positive attitude is one of the absolute most important things. Its easy to give up an want to do something else. It took every bit of 5 years to learn where these animals constantly hang out an their routines i ran 18 cameras in about 100 acre space. Now i dont run any cameras i just hunt. Ive obtained all the information i need to know where they will be.

Such an incredible distillation of information! Couple things I might add - physical fitness and ‘year-round hunting mentality.’ Staying in shape has kept me on the mountain longer and kept me pushing harder than most of the 95%. Having a hunting mindset year-round ‘tunes’ those systems that make you successful in the fall. Watching big game animals local to you, shed hunting, scouting, etc. all contribute to effectiveness in the field. Great content!

This is one of the best discussions I've ever seen on elk hunting.

Observation and being able to interpret your observations and using them to create useful strategies are key in my hunting endeavours , one must be aware and very keenly switched on and have a very good memory of as many factors as possible to become in tune with the area you set out to hunt in. Dont forget what you do right and neither forget what you do wrong. Does not take the fittest trailblaser to get into back country and come home with results , mostly it will be the observant , patient fella that has a plan ahead of time.

Exactly! You basically described my elk hunting buddy. He's been hunting one drainage for over 30 years, and I've been going with him since '14. He will glass for the first 2+ days without even going after a group of elk, but will watch their movements and plan from that, and has killed an elk on all but one trip, and we live 2500 miles away. He/we never run around bugling from one mountain to the next, but are extremely patient and cow call when in position. He killed a bull due to a group of guys constant bugling every morning on the same mountain at the same group of elk, we noticed the same bull slip out the same way to get away from the screaming bugles, set up and he killed him on the forth morning. We would laugh every morning from watching those guys from a 1000 yards away, knowing what was about to happen! 😁

I agree with everything and especially the last one..I have it in my mind I will succeed every single time I go out-from daylight to dark until time is out.

If there was just ONE video out there that every public land hunter needs to watch, it's this one. Thanks, Cliff.

Just found your channel. Really appreciate you sharing your knowledge. I’m on my way to the 5% club.

I hunt most always on public land in general draw areas. I know the areas that I hunt very well. My favorite way to increase my odds of success and get away from crowds is to flashlight into my spots and be in position before first light. I carry my Glock 10mm with a good light on it and also have my pepper sprayer way accessible. Hunt a lot by myself and easily get away from the crowds.

If your hunts keep failing WATCH YOUR WIND. Something I've learned to be much more mindful of. We all know it but its important to remember these animals can wind us way before we get to the spot we want if the winds not in our favor

Awesome video! I find that hard work, going to difficult places, and learning about the area are the most important things for success.

Very good points and all of them true. For 6 years I hunted a certain area of Wyoming usually hunting 14 days. The first week was often spending time scouting for the changes in a particular area where elk often habited. The first year I wasn’t successful but every year after that I was because I spent time that first year learning the ‘lay of the land’. I’ve now been hunting in a certain area of Idaho for the last 6 years and I’ve done the same thing there. I have 2 elk tags and a mulie tag in my pocket and plan to spend a month and a half because one tag is for a unit I’ve never hunted but I do know the ‘lay of the land’ and where elk and deer tend to habit in that unit because it is adjacent to a unit I usually hunt. Backcountry backpack hunts at 61 years old are what I live for!

This is by far the best summary I’ve ever heard. Not even realizing I do all of this until you mentioned it. You basically describe my annual Archery Elk season. You’re also spot on because I’m consistently successful and on years I’m not it’s because I choose not to shoot a smaller animal at some point while other hunters around us struggle to even see Elk during a month long season. I’m never not in the game several times per season. I have a drainage I’ve been hunting all my life and I hit that drainage from different angles depending on hunting pressure, wind direction, weather, other bulls pressuring the area and the list goes one. This is great advice!

Great information. I think you are spot on!

Great Video Cliff. And all good points. Postive mind set is a Must, love the Grind! I have been unsuccessful hunting public land for Elk for the past 8 seasons. One big trip a year. I always forget the lessons learned. Hasn't worked. Thos year I took a job and moved to a mountain town, to put more time in the field. I love the pursuit. This year who Knows.🤞

Great tips! All of these are so true. #3 is what really helped me. I put a ton of time into planning, strategy, knowledge and practice so that I can make the very best of my time in the woods. I’ve got 6 bulls in a row now and want to keep the streak going. If I could add one thing it would be to not freeze up when the big moment comes. It took me a couple of kills to get there, but I see so many people that just freeze up and can’t make it happen when the time comes. Looking forward to seeing more of your content now.

Spot on Cliff. 100 percent . My boys and hunting buddies live this all the way. We have been blessed with a lifetime of great elk hunting! Live to hunt the wapiti, and not a day goes by I don't watch an elk video. I'm pretty sure I've seen them all. Im almost afraid to share this video as it may wake up a lot of average hunters into the 5percent!!!

My great uncle always had one on the first day of the season. He had been a topper (in the logging industry, climbing and limbing trees before cutting the top off), then flight engineer in B-29s in the CBI (China Burma India theatre, 444th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy Special), then felling trees, and finally bucking. He knew where to be on opening day.

Always like your videos, great content. I agree with all your talking points. You touched on it but putting in a lot of days pre and during season with that positive attitude to just grind it out till the end leave nothing behind is receipt for success. Has worked for me over two decades. Thanks again for your videos!!

Really appreciate the vids! When I moved to the PNW at about 20 I could never find someone to show me the ropes. Local friends were just too busy and very protective of their honey holes. Was like pulling teeth for just basic info. Over a decade, I spent so much year around time working and playing in the woods that I learned a fair bit about Roosevelt Elk. Your vids clear up a lot of my questions, thank you!

Great tips and strategies. I am looking forward to a fun year of hunting. Good luck everyone. Thank you for posting this video, I really appreciate it.

I must say I appreciate that you actually have something to say that hasn’t been said 5 billion times! You earned yourself a sub.

by far my favourite you tube channel, keep killin’ it man

OK Cliff, I listened again! You are on the money. We hunted the same over the counter tag unit from 1984 to 2020. We knew the elk and the location like you say. It was so big and rough that we never really knew the whole area but we knew where to get the elk. TRails are important. We found ancient trails and made them ours so we could move faster. WE hunted steep rough country but we knew the places to get high and glass to find the animals even if we hunted them the next day. You have to find the spots that you can shoot where the elk will come too sooner or later. In the time I mentioned we climbed the mountain two hours before daylight hundreds of times to be there on the shooting lane at first light. I know that is what you are trying to tell people. Age can take you out of that kind of tough terrain but if you love it you work out and fight it as long as you can. Most elk hunters know you have to be a rifleman and that requires paying the dues of practice and precision. You climb that mountain in bad weather , you must care for the equipment that has to function when you get there too. You are telling it like it is Cliff. Some will listen and learn to be successful. That is worth the video work.

Thanks for sharing! Great tips my friend

Best info I've seen in a while. Thank you

This is good advice for work (recruiting) as well.

Thank you, appreciate the information.

that was a great idea to take a year and get as many hunts in as possible. Being able to learn and immediately apply lessons the next outing versus waiting another year, when tons of different conditions have all changed, is truly night and day. As for the last tip, I find that the key is gratitude. Even in the shittiest situations you can find something to be thankful for, and every time i stop to reflect on that I'm able to dig down and find a new reserve of strength to keep pushing on. This is applicable to just about any hard thing you can do.

You are exactly right and don’t forget there’s the quick and there’s the without

I was hooked as soon as you said it wasn’t going to be flashy trendy shit. What a fantastic wealth of information you are!

I’ll be honest, I don’t hunt elk.. or really anything for that matter.. but with that said, the advice in this video is top notch for many disciplines. I try to apply very similar tactics for fishing and found this all very insightful! While I don’t hunt, I do try to educate myself on all things outdoors, and I really appreciate insight from those who excel at their pursuits! You got a new follower, good stuff dude 👌🏻👊🏻

1: I don't comment too often on videos, but this seemed excellent so I wanted to thank you for this great advice. 2: I went on my first hunt (of any kind) last year. Along with what you've said, f you have the opportunity to hunt with a great hunter (and I was fortunate in this regard), you will pick up a great deal, I believe faster than I would have on my own. I discovered your channel yesterday, and it's top notch stuff; thank you for your work!

Good advice for life, not just hunting. Thanks.

Awesome video, glad I found your channel. Solid content

Great information! Awesome content, everyone can learn something from this.

Well said! Couldn’t agree more!

Thank u. Very IMPORTANT INFO!! ON POINT 100%

That is the best comment I have heard for a long time. I have been hunting elk since 2005 and the area I am currently hunting is a hard go. in 2017, I decided to start hunting the area and wasn’t even sure that there were elk in there. I got pretty lucky, that year I called in a nice 7x6 to 20 yards. The next year we went, my hopes were high and I thought “hey, it was easy last year.” That September we ended up with 50mm of rain in one day and the next day it snowed 15 cm. We were stuck in the wall tent for 3 days straight. We hunted hard for the seven other days and never saw a thing. Frustrated and defeated, I went home that September and hung up my elk grunt tube and rifle and decided to try again next year. The next year, I went on opening day for 3 days and ran into a raghorn the first day. We saw sign and did our homework that year. We planned a 7 day hunt and if that wasn’t good then we would pup-tent it for a few overnighters. I ended up calling in a beautiful 6x6 for my dad on September 17. For over 45 minutes the bull and I called back and forth through the thick deadfall timber caused by a windstorm that summer. It ended with a shot. The next year we got skunked again on our main hunt but were successful on one of our 3 day overnight trips. I don’t plan one big trip anymore, I am blessed to be a half hour drive from elk country and a half hour walk into our camp. Last year I saw more elk on our day trips than I did on our long hunt. My favourite thing to say to my hunting partners is "You just never know what you will see on a walk in the elk woods...." They probably get sick of hearing it = ) Thanks for the post Cliff, makes sense

Awesome video, thanks for the great info

Keep the great content coming!

This was a great video. Also slightly disheartening because I unfortunately am in a stage in life where 1 hunt a year is all i can do. But hey i never regret the time i get with my little kiddos :)

The best content out there for sure.

Great Advice! To succeed at anything!

GREAT INSIGHT! As a older experienced big game hunter who has lived and worked around big game for half my life, I might add some simple insight for the novice elk hunter: 1; Do your pre-scouting homework well and get to know your intended hunting unit. 2; Finding elk is half the battle. Elk will be in one of three areas when pressure by public hunters; in warmer weather, they will be high up where they can easily escape hunters. Weather and hunting pressure will force them down to the foothills and flat grazing fields. Weather and hunting pressure will drive them over to private property where they can escape public hunting pressure and there is good grazing. Plan on spending one day scouting each possibility until you find the elk and what they are doing. Yes, that means driving and lots of walking and glassing. Once located, adjust your hunting tactics accordingly. Religiously hunting the same public area each season can be a wrong decision because yearly changing weather, moisture conditions and hunting pressure can change things up drastically. So, before settling in on a area to hunt, give the three basic elk behavior tendencies for areas a "look-see!" Good luck and happy hunting.

4 200+ inch deer myself 17 over 190 with my brothers and I and without knowing this it’s exactly what we do. All public land.

Thank you for the plethora of info! I noticed the boots you were wearing in a couple of your videos and am curious as to what brand they are? The tread looks very aggressive and would have great traction in snow.

Good stuff!

Awesome advice bro!!

Definitely valuable information and tips on how to be more successful out west or even close to home in the eastern woods around me. My brother tried to get the same unit that he shot a 3x3 mule deer 🦌 in back in 2019 for this upcoming fall, but with the horrible new system he was 21,000 in line and had to pick a neighboring unit with far less public land.

Hunted Montana for elk in 2018 with some local guys who told me to just sit near the roads in certain spots and they assured me that I would see elk being new to elk hunting I listed to them... I did not kill an elk. two years later I went to Wyoming for deer and pronghorn, ignored what everyone else was doing hiked several miles away from the road and I was tagged out in three days.

Truth!!! Great video and information!!!

Hunted the same mountain side 5 years in a row before I finally killed one on the 6th.. and the 7th.. but got a limited draw this year so I gotta start over!

Great video and excellent knowledge 👍

I'm about to take a class in hunting and I supsecting there is something like this went on. Thank you for your information, but I'm not suprised at all that it boils down to adaptability and understanding nuances.

Spot on! I have killed 18 bulls in the past 22 years but with that said, I killed 0 bulls the first 15 years I started hunting. The only other thing I would add is that the harder I hunt, the ‘luckier’ I’ve been. You can’t just get out of bed at 3am on day one or two, it has to be on days 3-10! I have killed the majority of my bulls on days 4-8 when everybody else sleeps in, goes in early, and gets disheartened because they haven’t seen anything. Great perspective

I would have to agree with most of your points but 1. The statement about if you go for a week hunt once a year... well I go on trios from 7-14 days. Doesnt matter if I go for white tail, black tail, mule deer, elk, moose, axis, caribou, pigs or bison(blessed with this draw tag this year in Delta Alaska.) I get my intended target animal(s) within the 7-14 day trip period. Of ~ 30 hunts, I've ate tag soup 2 times. Now I live for hunting, fishing and trapping so maybe it's because i dedicate more than time into my general hunting tactics. I enjoy being out there.

Thanks for the video! You mean if they get out of their truck?! Driving a forest road hoping to spot game!

This is very well said. I would add, pre-scout to know your micro-part of the unit. Hunt sheds. Prepare well with shooting skills and gear. Always take backup gear and rifles. Perseverance & and never give up. My last elk hunt, went they a sand storm, dropped a rifle on the scope. On the last evening killed a 6X6 that went over 300. It would have been easy to pack up and head for the house

I'm a old man my whole family (boys and girls) have hunted elk forever we know where we hunt like home. If I told you how many elk we've taken you wouldn't belive me. This guy knows what he's talkin about..

Wow, a lot of truths here! I've hunted elk in the largest public land area in my state for the last 38 years. The drainage area I've hunted in year after year, is only 2x2.5 miles. In all those years, I only came up empty handed in one year. Yes, I know it like the back of my hand (much to the irritation of the Game Wardens at the checkstations when they ask me for the GPS coordinates where I harvested my elk...I haven't a clue nor, do I care). During the first 10 years, I would go into that the area several times a year, outside the hunting season, and "shoot" the elk with my camera. Yes, I've learned how those elk move in that area and it has resulted in getting an elk (or two, or three, if wife and/or son are with me). This year, my wife and I both got our elk in our first 20 minutes in the area of our first day (after the area had already been open/hunted for 3 weeks). My hunting seasons are growing fewer in number as I age, but at least I've passed this knowledge/experience to my son who also knows the area and can "read" the elk. Thanks for the video!

man it really reminds me of Ridgway Colorado where you sitting

The better you know any land the more you are able to think like the game in that particular area. So find a decent unit or two that are accessible usually and get to know them. Half of the fun is getting to know the land. ✌

Great video but for someone that lives 2000 miles away being able to as you say do 3-4 hunts in a year is both cost prohibitive and time prohibitive. In 2019 my son and I drove from the NJ shore to the Routt NF for the opener of the archery season. we left NJ at 6 am Wed and got to our base camp at 4pm mountain time 36 hours later. I only slept two hours and drove 30 hours myself. This was our first hunt and within 15 minutes we had 3 bulls bugling on the next ridge. The next day we drove and scouted our number 2-5 spot and then came back to camp to check out the drainage the elk were bugling on. We found a route to get to where they had been calling from and backed out for the opener the next day. The next morning we sent down the drainage and heard an elk bugling down the drainage instead of upstream like we planned so we followed the sound only to get cliffed out and had to turn around. When we got to where we were going to go originally we ran into a sucessful local who got a cow exactly where we planned originally. We started talking and told him our other spots and he told me I really did my home work because he had killed elk in 4 or the 6 spots. He also told us we were the first people he had ever seen in that drainage in the 10 years he hunted it. He gave us some easier access sspots to get into 2 of the 5 spots. we planned on giving the drainage a rest for a couple days since he and some friends would be packing out. The second day we saw and heard nothing. The third day we planned on taking a longer but easier access to where the local got the elk but I threw out my back putting on my pack. We ended up driving in to town and had breakfast and my back started to feel better but I was cautious and decided to check out one of our other areas and at noon had a cow come in to 80 yards while we were sitting on a watering hole we found. Unfortunately the wind swirled and she ran back over the ridge. Day four we were going to go back to where we hunted the opener but I couldn't get my son up. I was mad and almost left him and go but fortunately didn't because when I was able to wake him he had altitude sickness. We drove into town got him to drink a gallon of water plus gatorade and after 4 hours he wasn't any better. I made the decision to cut the hunt 5 days short because I was afraid he would end up in the hospital or worse. He was so upset that he ruined my hunt and I told him we won. Most people never get one their first time but we hit every goal we set except killing any elk. We heard them call, we had them call back at my, we had the local prove my e scouting was on point and then we almost got an opportunity with the cow all in what turned out to be a long weekedn. We spent more time driving than actually hunting. With more time and a little luck I am confident we can get an elk.

Excellent dissertation. Location location location… natural predators 20% success rate they don’t give up they gotta eat mindset. Yep 80% of the kills come in the last 10% of the time. After quarry mind meld. 👍🏻🙏🏻😊

This folks is 100% true , it is not the latest gadget you saw on TV and not the latest hunting app or GPS and it NOT the latest greatest caliber gun and super scope.. it is Knowing the area you hunt, knowing where game goes when pressured, (and being there, not being the pressure) it is never giving up and always thinking it will come together today any min. It is being in shape to be able to go and go in the country you hunt... Listen to this man in this video he gets it and he knows it and so do I... and I am in that 5% it is not luck .....

You just have to figure out where the fuds are going to drive the elk on opening day… Well said brother.

Very, very interesting video. I always figured on getting an elk. The only question was how much time it took. It varied from year to year. But l'm going to fill the freezer that is for sure and certain. I guess I should add that I quit hunting elk. When it becomes more of a chore than a challenge and when you blow away a nice 6 point bull at 15 yds with a muzzle loader and feel like sh*t because you're fatten up a couple steers 45 minutes away back at the ranch......Well, it's time to quit killing elk. I might be one of the 5% you speak of.

Great video, I heard stories about a guy named Rick or Richard or something and he hunts the same place in the flattops every year and comes out with his elk and mule deer every year. I think FTWG would pack them out for him.

always enjoy your video

How do you become a specific area super well when you draw a tag for an area when its a 5 hour drive from your house?

Whitetail hunters advantage is the rut, be in the woods and away from people as much as possible, in our area it's the first 3 weeks on November

I’m an elk hunter and have been for 52 years. I’m from Colorado and have no desire to hunt elk in other states. Between videos like this, which really does give good information about elk hunting and modern technology has really messed up hunting in my state! Especially for local and resident hunters! Elk hunting is fun hard work, but now the work part has gotten harder! Now we are forced to walk farther and hunt harder to be successful and still see hunters in just about every drainage! One day the whole state will be draw and Colorado is not good about the treatment of local and resident hunters. We are put in the same draw pot as everybody else in the country. It took me 18 years to draw a license in a quality unit near my home! I’m not trying to be disrespectful just letting you know how resident hunters feel.

A person can learn a lot about local game by working on a ranch. I am lucky enough to have some land in southern Colorado and know my neighbors. Learning about the local wildlife is not much different than learning about the local cattle and their patterns. I don't know if I would be one of the 5% but I have been very successful over the years. Something that helps me is that I don't hunt for horns I hunt for meat.

This is fucking spot on. I started big game hunting 3 years ago. As soon as I started, I realized to only way to get be efficient at it was to HUNT, and hunt a lot. Over 75 days hunting & scouting each season. I got OTC and general tags all over the west for the last three years. Lots of back to back hunts. Both deer and elk. I've been able to kill deer and elk in CA, NM, UT, ID, MT, AZ and WY all on public land and DIY. Mostly solo. Every aspect you touched on were the key things I focused on right off the bat. Still learning a ton every season, and hunting hard as hell, daylight to dark on every hunt. It pays off immensely.

i learned long ago to work smarter not harder. there are so many 19-35 year only worrier/billy goats out there that are in shape and will go down in the hell holes that the animals (especially elk) and will bump them out of there sending them fleeing to their escape routes. find the escape routes and let someone else do the work for you. i park my atv, walk 50-75 yards to my rock, drink mt dews and eat a snacks until they send a bull up the hill to me. I haven't had to shoot past 250 yards and i can't remember the last time i didn't take my bull off the mountain in one piece.

I did lots of research, maybe thousands of hours. It took us Arkansas residents 2 days to get into elk. We call in sometimes dozens in a week, chasing elk all day sometimes. Public land. Elk come easy for me, big whitetail take patience.

Good stuff

This was my first year elk hunting. Bought otc colorado archery either sex tag. Left home on a Wednesday morning about 2am drove 1650 miles arrived at my first camp spot Thursday at dark. Hunted Friday. Killed a bull on Saturday morning! I drove back home by Monday at 6 am! You can do it! This was a solo diy otc elk hunt. Lol

Cliff, your information comes from years of experience as an old hunter I can tell. I'm 65yrs old and recently retired and moved to Southern Colorado. We elk hunt the sangre de cristo s. Tough hunt but want to be one of the 5%ers. Any advice would help. Thx. Tnt.

One thing important is to learn the habits of your target species. In the case of cervids, they need a lot of water and they prefer still to running water, as they can listen better for danger. I cannot recommend enough camping water holes, especially ones with lush low vegetation all around. All animals need water sometime. Something else to learn is where salt licks are, that's another thing all animals need eventually, and they will come.

Thank you

I look for content that has information to share not the bugling elk or bucks chasing does and best camo of the season and I think I just found another creator who wants to make people better hunters not just show hunts and all the fancy gear they have. This is a great video and will be subscribing to see more. Thanks. I been hunting for 40 years and kill my share of trophy animals but that said I still learn something on every hunt. If you are not learning you are not progressing in my opinion.

My family has been hunting the same mountain for mule deer and elk for five or six generations

Thank you that was very informative. I learned that it's a good thing that I prefer beef over wild game, because I simply am able to dedicate that much time to it. However I will still get into the woods when I can. Success or not it's always better than a 9 or 10 hour a day week.

fitness and time on the mountain.

As a 'wild child' freely roaming the high Colorado Rockies in my youth, I had occasion to witness (unobserved) a substantial number of remote location Elk kills on, near, or sometimes in, public lands/national forests, and occasionally National Park boundaries. I have to say that a substantial number of them appeared to simply be poaching-especially just prior to the official opening seasons. These were men who knew the area, knew the habits of the herds intimately (on more than one occasion I witnessed solitary Park Rangers 'engaging'). Unfortunately, there remain a significant number of hunters who simply disregard the 'rules' as long as they believe they can 'get away with it,) and not just in Colorado, I've seen much the same thing in Utah, Idaho, Washington State, Oregon, Montana, New Mexico, and even Arkansas. Alaska set an entirely different standard, but there it was more commonly moose.

I used to know two areas intimately. But both have been blown out by increased pressure and out of staters using OnX.

Solid advise👍🏻😃 thanks!

Where can I get those new high speed titanium hunting pants?

A great elk hunter, can get his bull in late season, majority cannot. Timing in a small area is critical.

Hey! This fall is my second ever out west hurt. I did a spring bear still stalk this spring and got a nice little bear. I’ve been listening/watching your videos all day every day at work, over over over. I think you have some really good information and feel what you are doing will help me in that 5% this fall

Well shoot! I thought I was gonna learn something and move from an 80% hunter to a 100% successful hunter. EVERYTING Cliff says here is exactly what I do. I'm leaving for CO on the 28th and I've been getting everything ready and out of my mind. Trailer bearings, trailer tires, truck tires, brakes, six jugs of DEF fluid, chainsaw, camping gear - It's all gone through and replaced if there's even the slight bit of doubt. I've been hunting CO and WY for 25 years and have literally killed Elk with the bow on Basalt Mtn. from the same tree. A few years ago Basalt Mtn. burned and every square foot of CO that I knew was turned to ashes. Hunted the Uncompaghre and slaughtered Elk two years in a row then nothing. Started hunting around Gunnison a couple years ago and it's looking good. Killed a few. Getting older now and the Gunnison hunt is a pretty easy one. The Uncompaghre is an easy hunt too. I've been extremely fortunate to have a good job and great family to support my hunting "habit". A few years ago I started going out fishing for a couple weeks and I'll hang cameras where I Elk hunt. That's always been interesting to see what shows up. One other thing that has made a big difference on my success is I stopped a decade ago trying to time the rut with an over the counter public land hunt - It just doesn't work that way. Sure there's guys that get it figured out, but for a majority of us - no. Your best bet is the first day. We bow hunt so there's no being picky. I've shot more cows than bulls. I will shoot a cow on the first day in the first 10 minutes - I don't care - I'm there to fill the freezer. My hunting partner is a little picky AND he's done real good. He's killed way more than me and he's sit on water all day every day. There's a dried up tank on the East of the north fork creek off cattle creek that he's killed MANY elk on. Again from the same tree. We don't hunt that area anymore. The Billionaires kicked the Millionaires out of Aspen and the ended up in Basalt. Hiking and Mtn. Biking all over the Lower Cattle Creek Basin. Maybe up around Ruedi Reservoir its better, but I doubt it. To everyone getting out there good luck and be safe. And to all those thinking about it now is the time to go for it. Take care, Jeff

Know the signs and follow the signs in one unit you visit all the time. Go out tracking weekly or monthly. Find the high traffic areas and just watch them for a few hours around the lighting change. Move less and look and listen more. Become one with your unit. Be native.

I’ve been hunting all my life for me I had to take luck out of the equation. Especially bad luck. I’ve had more broken down trucks on hunts. The best advice is a great truck and reliable atv/UTV. I bring the UTV in with a good truck and keep the truck off the 4x4 roads. Get to my few places that way. Most of my hunting is done in a 20 square mile radius. I hit the same spots. I see the same elk year after year.

If someone was hunting me, how would I move thru that land? Time, placement, and patience. Play the long game on a few spots will pay off. I am the Hunting Public.

when I was younger I was in that 5%, mostly due to pure persistence more then anything.