We have been hunting elk in the same Unit in New Mexico since the 80’s. It took us a good four to five years to figure things out, the country, the weather, the timing and finally we figured out where the elk funnel in the mornings. Now getting elk is the easy part, getting them out is the hard part. If you’re on foot walking the woods hunting pressure may consist of one to two days out of a five day hunt. The vast majority of people just aren’t tough enough to hump the mountains from sun up to sun down for five days straight. Elk aren’t going to run into camp and surrender, you have to be out there to get them.
Good stuff Cliff. I’ve hunted public lands in Co. for a long time, this year will be 49 years. I’m an old dog but always open to new tricks and ideas, and I’ve picked up some good stuff from your videos. I’ve found that success is directly proportional to how hard you hunt. You have to get your rear out of the sleeping bag and in to position at prime time.
Cliff, Great info, agree all 3 points. Expanding your comment on Ranch Hunts, I think many public land elk hunters look at $7k-$10k as too expensive, but spend $2,500+ each year they go out of state public land elk. Going on a Ranch Hunt (archery) with a good outfitter taught me so much about elk hunting tactics, glassing, calling, thermals, etc. Valued by what I learned, it was probably the best hunt money I ever spent. On your glassing comments, your are right. I’d say a really skilled glasser (has quality glass, knows where to look, knows how to look) will find 10X the number of elk compared to the average hunter with just binoculars.
This Fall will be my 1st elk hunt. I've watched so many videos and the information can be overwhelming. Thanks for keeping it simple and to the point. Your advice has given me a different perspective on hunting elk. At the end of the day I'll do my best, thank the Lord for the opportunity and hopefully learn something out there. 👍👍✌
Same here. Moved away from the big city and excited to pick up hunting as I always wanted but have received nothing by negative feedback. Great advice 👍🏻
Elk hunting is frustrating, trust me, but it can be rewarding beyond what you have experienced harvesting a buck or doe. The body is so much bigger, I packed one out myself 4 day's ago. My biggest advice? Push the negative thoughts out of your mind, and have the attitude that you're gonna be successful
Im from Wisconsin going to Colorado 551 2nd gun season. First time elk hunting. Be nice to see the country and some wild life. Been hunting for 35 years.just love walking in the woods enjoying nature and all its beauty. Taking a big game animal is a bonus. Really looking forward to it. Only 2nd time hunting out of Wisconsin.
good luck Nate! always had a lot of clients from your part of the woods. Always liked Wisconsin folks - dealing with cold and hardship must be a part of the hunting culture there because they were all tough!
Hey Cliff, I just found your channel today and I dig it. I live in North Idaho and have hunted elk for the last 29years of my 39 year long life. I really appreciate all the new hunters wanting to get out there (*cough, I blame Joe Rogan,cough*), but I'd love to see someone do a video on general etiquette! You know, right of way on the road, hunting too close to another, jumping a spot that youve seen a truck at two days in a row but got up early to make sure you get it the next day..., weapon safety around others, etc.
I'm 7B myself, I know what you mean, it's gotten pretty bad in the last 4-5 years especially. It's also very frustrating to start hiking 2-3 hours before daylight, make it 5 miles from the pickup, and 10 minutes till shooting light, some guy on a side by side flys by..
I hunt Colorado around the I-70 corridor. I find that 90+% of hunters just cruise the trails with their ATVs and Trucks all day long in areas that have some roads. I find if i just step into the forest 50 yards or so I'm all alone back there. LOL. I love guys with their ATVs they don't hunt the drive around.
Absolutely, my first trip 2 years ago, I spotted 13 elk in 3 groups, with 3 shooters the evening before opening morning. Problem was, I was on knoll within 400yds from the road. But I felt I had to hunt what I spotted. Next morning at daylight, the driving started and didn't stop until we left at 11. 1 cow sighting that day and over 40 vehicles.
I also hunt 1-70 in CO. Lots of hunter who don’t have the woodsmen skills or grit to get it done. Only issue I have is time. More time means more chances. The calls and the setup have messed me up for years. Some many missed chances because our calls were dumb or our setup was blown out by wind and noise shooter placement.
Great points and I agree on them all. I focus my hunts in the same elk management area which encompasses the units in that area. I usually use the same glassing spots and oddly enough I’ve never found anyone on my glassing spots. No hunting pressure doesn’t necessarily mean no elk, it just means no one is willing to backpack into those areas…that’s where I go. There are very few hunters who are willing to backpack more than a mile from a road…that’s where I go and most times even deeper. 4 to 6 miles in is where I like to go.
Thanks Richard. I think you can find little honey holes to yourself, particularly if you work at it like yourself. I just hate for folks to get caught up and feel defeated when there is a little pressure around.
Your glassing tips really helped us this season. We just added BTX-65 to our kit and it takes us 5 minutes to find elk 6 miles away. We have used them 15-20 times and always found elk. Look forward to using them this season but our hunting area is normally less than 1 mile glassing range so not sure how much they will improve over our nl 12s
I went on a hunt in an over-the-counter unit in Colorado last year because I Didn’t draw tags anywhere else. So many people online wrote that the unit was horrible, and the Hunting pressure was ridiculously high. Even the guys I spoke with in person said it was not a good unit. Well it turned out to be one of the best hunts of my life. We didn’t end up harvesting anything, but we were on elk every day (not just one herd) and never seen even one other hunter. The truth of the matter is most guys just don’t wanna walk very far from the road. I totally agree, worrying about other hunters is definitely a massive mistake.
No...repeat after me. You didnt see anything. Just stick close to the road. Theres no elk far or close to the road...but a especially far from the road. Wolves killed all the elk Thats what you meant to comment lol
Easy. Hire a crew of 20 people to go all over and scout for you, just like all the big time channels that just happen to locate the biggest bull year after year "by themselves" 🤫
1. Be a Colorado mountain ninja expert. 2. Be a Glassing expert. 3. Be humble and accept the fact that I am hunting a Colorado mountain ninja expert with four legs. 4. Lastly, don’t be a B word, or negative Nancy lol As always, thank you for the mentorship. -Love and best wishes from Colorado Springs:)
Just found your videos. Great stuff. I enjoy your very common sense approach. I’m an eastern whitetail hunter primarily and what you say has much the same application here. Thank you, dc
One thing I've learned is that every season builds onto the next, in many different ways. Most notably, but not limited to, terrain knowledge. The more years you spend in an area, the better you can read it. As for worrying about other hunters, it's hard not to. After 2020, it's become so bad, I think the title of mountain maggots has shifted from sheep to hunter.
@@CliffGray I have been hunting in Colorado since I was 12. The woods have become very crowded in the last 5 years, each year being worse than the previous. It used to be you could go in 8 miles from the nearest road and not see another soul. Not anymore. It sucks when you are working a bull and 5 other hunters show up when the bugling starts. Hard not to get defeated over that. Love your content, I recommend your stuff to anyone who asks me how to get into hunting. Will miss seeing you in the Flattops!
like, subscribed and watching a bunch of videos. great stuff. I was up north of Steamboat Lake last year. was hoping to get back but not sure with gas prices
I'm a new hunter and have chose a unit I can get a cow tags every year for 0 points and is close enough to home to scout all year. Problem is that it is heavy timber scattered with open parks and is not conducive to long range glassing. Any tips to be more effective in locating game?
Great rapid fire info. Nothing new for me all great reminders. when it’s “ off season” I have to remind myself of everything or I actually forget important stuff. Yes I am afield 5 months a year, 3.5 scouting, tracking, cataloging bulls and getting my butt in shape, then maybe hunting/ guiding 1.5 months. Really easy to forget EVERYTHING! Survival basics, health basics in field, wind, real hunting, wind…. On and on. If ya don’t use it ya lose it. I am a rooky all over every year, even though I get at least a bull a year…..
3 years ago I went on my first archery elk hunt. 15 minutes in I called in a bull with the worst call you’ve ever heard and shot him in the shoulder. I thought man, this isn’t that hard. I haven’t shot at one since 😂
Haha! It’s wild, but that seems to be many folks story. Like a gambler that one big his first trip to Vegas! You spear fish? I think I see that in your pic.
Hey Cliff I was wondering if you can talk about hunting with horses. Planning on use them in 2 yrs. Just wondering if you can talk about basics about using horses in the backcountry. Thanks again.
Do you have any videos for complete newbies? I mean, basic stuff for out of towners hunting elk on public land for the first time? I'm in Texas. I know ZERO about elk.
There is a reason there are 40 trucks on a road in my area. It’s because that’s where the elk are every year. I avoided that road for 4 years. Finally hunted that road last year…. Bugling elk everywhere but I still couldn’t get in on them.
I agree other hunters can increase u odds sometimes there noise wind positions push trophy’s away from them and right to me absolutely other hunters mistakes have been my opportunity
The biggest thing is to be able to adapt to ever changing situations on the fly for one the wind is your enemy, no matter what critter your after.... When the wind charges you "have to" charge your game plan that might be backing up 300+ feet of elevation to get better thermals, or waiting until the thermals become more consistent. whichever can mean hours but if you just think you will be fine and keep going you could blow out the critter your after into the next unit. As a whitetail hunter from Michigan I can tell ya it's not like sitting in a tree stand and knowing what the wind is doing at 50 yards.... It's about knowing that your sent in the wind isn't only going this way, it's going that way, then this way when your in an area with topography. Understanding this and hunting pressure are a huge advantage for your self by using this and knowing an area you can see where the hunting pressure is coming from, and then you will know where you will need to be mostly a spike camp situation 2-4 miles past the trail head for an opportunity this is why I love hunting with other hunters that unknowingly do a fantastic job at filling my tag because they have pushed the critters into a" known to me" location other wise the critters would have been dispersed and then I need to spend hours glassing. I love playing the wind almost as much as hunting.
Thanks Cliff for another video! I appreciate your content and you sharing your vast knowledge and experience!!! Any chance you would be willing to do a video on your thoughts on best ammo/caliber for elk hunts? Just got a new Tikka 308 and was thinking of Nosler E-TIP 168 grain but would appreciate your thoughts
The Nosler E-tips do a fantastic job that's all I run in my set up custom MAUSER 98 chambered in 30-06 and a 308 is very well suited for elk out to 400 yards with that projectile, deer on the other hand doesn't seem to expand that much under 150 yards but it sure does hit the "off button" hard .... I'm sure some would say farther but I wouldn't unless I put some serious time shooting that exact set up on various types of rest configurations.
@@CliffGray Thanks Cliff! I appreciate the content you share and one of my favorites was your video on stalking elk! And I have to ask, after a career of guiding and getting others game, did you get much of a chance to fill your own freezer? And did the experience burn you out to go out on your own hunts?
Hey brother I follow you here in TH-cam big fan and I have got a lot of information from you. But what you'll recommend to a person that doesn't have any experience elk hunting or in the West in the mountains. Brother I'm from the state of Florida I hunt in South Florida in the swamps and for the past 3 years I've been applying for Arizona Colorado Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Stacking up points. You as experienced hunter in the West what you will recommend me to do. I have been studying a lot the terrains the mountains I have been training with my backpack people look at me crazy now I do not have the money to hire a guide and I am going to be backpacking hunting in the country?
My biggest piece of advice is to just plan a trip out west and go hunting. If you want to start with a backpack hunt, go for it. But if you haven't spent much time up in the mountains you might want to start with a Wyoming antelope hunt or a mule deer hunts where onw can stay in a hotel or easy road camp. That will give you a feel for how these hunts go, dealing with the logistics, mountains, etc... Go for it! good luck
“It’s about learning an art; it’s not about signing up for a vacation…” Man, how the entire face of American life would change if this incredibly simple, incredibly insightful, incredibly honest statement was taken to heart not just about hunting, What would that life look like if we ceased - or at least curbed - our insatiable desire for The Next Shiny Thing? (A desire , by the way, encouraged at every turn by the hunting industry, no matter its effect on the animal, the wider environment, or, ironically, the hunter him or herself.) Or to garner experience by wielding a wallet rather than doing the needful to earn it? Or to be seen - and admired - as Someone we haven’t done the boots-on-the-ground work to become, whatever the endeavor? In the industry, in life altogether: what a game changer!!!
@@CliffGray Funny, ain’t it, Cliff: when even a simple thought catches something just…. true…. when you let it breathe a little, you can suddenly see it applies across the board. I love the honesty of your vids, and your desire just to see guys and gals deepen their experience Out There. If we don’t learn to love it, we’ll never care enough to fight for it when the Bosses come to suck out the last dollar. Keep it up, brother.
I am pretty new to the hunting world and had a question about when you talk about glassing. I have hunted the last 3 years in 18/28/181 units and the timber seems so thick it seems like it would be impossible to actually spot elk in the dense cover? Is it still worth trying to glass in heavily forested area? I understand that I can get high up and cover more "ground" with glassing but it seems almost impossible to find something in those trees.
Honestly it depends on your personality. It’s boring as can be, but I’ve spent a lot of time glassing timber 800-450 yards away… to finally see something after a hour or two. Not uncommon. Thick Aspen, before it defoliates is the same. Granted, it’s not as effective as when you can see a ton of country.
A lot of good points. My dad always used to say you have to hunt elk twice. You gotta hunt them to find them then hunt en to kill them. I’m guilty of the vacation thought. I use to go thinking if I saw an elk or heard a bugle that was a win. Then I thought “you dumbass, why even buy a tag then!” If I knew when I started what I know now I’d have a couple of nice bulls on the wall. Keep the videos coming
I have a question about camp setup, I know a place fairly close to my house where there are elk. The area has a road that goes through it with a mix of national forest and private. All the private is low cutting off any access and no glassing from low. The road is higher on the mountain with a small reservoiur where a lot of the elk water. The road gets a bunch of pressure with few people wanting to get out and hike down the mountain to shoot an elk and have to pack it up and out. I'm considering going in that way during archery season but I'm not sure if I should set up camp as low as possible to be able to try and glass? Or somewhere in the middle? I don't want my camp to booger up the elk?
Hard for me to give much advice without seeing the situation… biggest thing is for the camp to not be close to their bedding area and/or be up wind of the bedding area.
Hunting private land for elk is a blast! So is public, as you know, just different. I hope I made the point clearly I just view them differently… not one better than the other. I’m not sure I conveyed that in the video. Thanks for all the support and comments man!
A huge thing I would add to this list is all the locals what's going on in the area. I've been in the same area for 10 years during archery. For the first year I would think I was stalking abundant sign but it was just sheep shit. It wasn't until I saw the sheep tearing through the area I was in that I realized it was a waste of time to work that section of the area. The place is still great for deer but between the private, an increasing moose population, and the sheep, the elk just avoid the area.
Ahhhh... Vacation hunting, that's what we do down here in Texas🤠 Could possibly be the only place you can send your wife to the spa and you can kill a 400" bull and be back to eat BBQ by diner time together. Hey Cliff, when are you going to have a video about which calibers are suitable to shoot an elk so we can all argue about how the 6.5 creedmore sucks. lol
I think the single biggest mistake elk ( all big game really) hunters make is going into the field with a lousy, negative attitude. Bitching about predators, tag draws, other hunters, game laws,weather,ect. They walk into the woods with a defeatist attitude and half given up before they even start.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 86 | คู่เอก "คมเพชร vs ชาติพยัคฆ์"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/m3q_dRYDuU8/mqdefault.jpg)
We have been hunting elk in the same Unit in New Mexico since the 80’s. It took us a good four to five years to figure things out, the country, the weather, the timing and finally we figured out where the elk funnel in the mornings. Now getting elk is the easy part, getting them out is the hard part. If you’re on foot walking the woods hunting pressure may consist of one to two days out of a five day hunt. The vast majority of people just aren’t tough enough to hump the mountains from sun up to sun down for five days straight. Elk aren’t going to run into camp and surrender, you have to be out there to get them.
Good stuff Cliff. I’ve hunted public lands in Co. for a long time, this year will be 49 years. I’m an old dog but always open to new tricks and ideas, and I’ve picked up some good stuff from your videos. I’ve found that success is directly proportional to how hard you hunt. You have to get your rear out of the sleeping bag and in to position at prime time.
Thanks Jay. Appreciate the support for the videos... particularly from an elk hunter with lots of experience.
Cliff, Great info, agree all 3 points. Expanding your comment on Ranch Hunts, I think many public land elk hunters look at $7k-$10k as too expensive, but spend $2,500+ each year they go out of state public land elk. Going on a Ranch Hunt (archery) with a good outfitter taught me so much about elk hunting tactics, glassing, calling, thermals, etc. Valued by what I learned, it was probably the best hunt money I ever spent. On your glassing comments, your are right. I’d say a really skilled glasser (has quality glass, knows where to look, knows how to look) will find 10X the number of elk compared to the average hunter with just binoculars.
I agree on the private ranch hunts, sometimes a great option! Thanks for the comment.
I really appreciate your content. Straight to the point. Ur videos keep me hungry. 0 for 5 last 5 seasons. But im here to learn, not get lucky.
9 years in the field before I killed my first elk. I have hit 3 elk in the last three seasons. So just takes time and constant learning
This Fall will be my 1st elk hunt. I've watched so many videos and the information can be overwhelming. Thanks for keeping it simple and to the point. Your advice has given me a different perspective on hunting elk. At the end of the day I'll do my best, thank the Lord for the opportunity and hopefully learn something out there. 👍👍✌
Be on the mountain early and stay late. That is the best thing you can do.
Scout your unit if you can.
Same here. Moved away from the big city and excited to pick up hunting as I always wanted but have received nothing by negative feedback. Great advice 👍🏻
Good luck to you. My first elk hunt is in November
Elk hunting is frustrating, trust me, but it can be rewarding beyond what you have experienced harvesting a buck or doe. The body is so much bigger, I packed one out myself 4 day's ago.
My biggest advice? Push the negative thoughts out of your mind, and have the attitude that you're gonna be successful
You’re totally right about your first point. My first over the counter tag was an eye opener. Treated more like a vacation then a hunt.
My Clif Grey favorite quote is "you are going hunting on a mule train not a freight train"! Clif's gear videos are great.
Im from Wisconsin going to Colorado 551 2nd gun season. First time elk hunting. Be nice to see the country and some wild life. Been hunting for 35 years.just love walking in the woods enjoying nature and all its beauty. Taking a big game animal is a bonus. Really looking forward to it. Only 2nd time hunting out of Wisconsin.
good luck Nate! always had a lot of clients from your part of the woods. Always liked Wisconsin folks - dealing with cold and hardship must be a part of the hunting culture there because they were all tough!
@@CliffGray thank you. Watching a lot of your videos to some what prepare....
Hey Cliff, I just found your channel today and I dig it. I live in North Idaho and have hunted elk for the last 29years of my 39 year long life. I really appreciate all the new hunters wanting to get out there (*cough, I blame Joe Rogan,cough*), but I'd love to see someone do a video on general etiquette! You know, right of way on the road, hunting too close to another, jumping a spot that youve seen a truck at two days in a row but got up early to make sure you get it the next day..., weapon safety around others, etc.
Great topic suggestion! I'll get it on the list. thanks
I'm 7B myself, I know what you mean, it's gotten pretty bad in the last 4-5 years especially. It's also very frustrating to start hiking 2-3 hours before daylight, make it 5 miles from the pickup, and 10 minutes till shooting light, some guy on a side by side flys by..
I hunt Colorado around the I-70 corridor. I find that 90+% of hunters just cruise the trails with their ATVs and Trucks all day long in areas that have some roads. I find if i just step into the forest 50 yards or so I'm all alone back there. LOL. I love guys with their ATVs they don't hunt the drive around.
Absolutely, my first trip 2 years ago, I spotted 13 elk in 3 groups, with 3 shooters the evening before opening morning. Problem was, I was on knoll within 400yds from the road. But I felt I had to hunt what I spotted. Next morning at daylight, the driving started and didn't stop until we left at 11. 1 cow sighting that day and over 40 vehicles.
I killed my first elk 3 years ago about .4 miles from the road. Was listening to side by sides and atv's all day while I was quartering 😂
I also hunt 1-70 in CO. Lots of hunter who don’t have the woodsmen skills or grit to get it done. Only issue I have is time. More time means more chances. The calls and the setup have messed me up for years. Some many missed chances because our calls were dumb or our setup was blown out by wind and noise shooter placement.
Great to see the following growing. One of my favorite channels on TH-cam.
Thanks Kyle!
Great info , Cliff! Thanks for making straight to the point, effective videos for successful elk hunting.
for sure!
Great points and I agree on them all. I focus my hunts in the same elk management area which encompasses the units in that area. I usually use the same glassing spots and oddly enough I’ve never found anyone on my glassing spots. No hunting pressure doesn’t necessarily mean no elk, it just means no one is willing to backpack into those areas…that’s where I go. There are very few hunters who are willing to backpack more than a mile from a road…that’s where I go and most times even deeper. 4 to 6 miles in is where I like to go.
Thanks Richard. I think you can find little honey holes to yourself, particularly if you work at it like yourself. I just hate for folks to get caught up and feel defeated when there is a little pressure around.
@@CliffGray agreed @Cliff, especially for those who are new to elk hunting.
Your glassing tips really helped us this season. We just added BTX-65 to our kit and it takes us 5 minutes to find elk 6 miles away. We have used them 15-20 times and always found elk. Look forward to using them this season but our hunting area is normally less than 1 mile glassing range so not sure how much they will improve over our nl 12s
I went on a hunt in an over-the-counter unit in Colorado last year because I Didn’t draw tags anywhere else. So many people online wrote that the unit was horrible, and the Hunting pressure was ridiculously high. Even the guys I spoke with in person said it was not a good unit. Well it turned out to be one of the best hunts of my life. We didn’t end up harvesting anything, but we were on elk every day (not just one herd) and never seen even one other hunter. The truth of the matter is most guys just don’t wanna walk very far from the road. I totally agree, worrying about other hunters is definitely a massive mistake.
No...repeat after me. You didnt see anything. Just stick close to the road. Theres no elk far or close to the road...but a especially far from the road. Wolves killed all the elk
Thats what you meant to comment lol
Bwhaha!!!
Thanks for the comment. Great experience for folks to read. 👍
@@whiteyfisk9769 😂 killing me man! Best laugh I’ve had all week!
@@CliffGray 🤙🏻
Thanks bud,good stuff.Especially keeping steady with other folks around.You did say doodoo,just gonna point that out.
Ha!
Interesting stuff. Agree 100%. Been there - was successful - glad I hunted the west when I did in the late 80s and early 90s.
Good decades! Thanks for the comment
I just found your channel. I appreciate all the knowledge long time hunter first time elk hunter this year.
Thanks! Good luck!
Good stuff cliff. Would definitely like to hear your view on finding big elk during late season hunts
Easy. Hire a crew of 20 people to go all over and scout for you, just like all the big time channels that just happen to locate the biggest bull year after year "by themselves" 🤫
Getting ready to do my first elk hunt and this was awesome thank you bro!! Keep killin it and wish me luck !
Good luck! 👍
How’s it go?
1. Be a Colorado mountain ninja expert.
2. Be a Glassing expert.
3. Be humble and accept the fact that I am hunting a Colorado mountain ninja expert with four legs.
4. Lastly, don’t be a B word, or negative Nancy lol
As always, thank you for the mentorship.
-Love and best wishes from Colorado Springs:)
Thanks man! And yeah, that’s pretty much it 👍
Great tips. I think good glass and glassing techniques are the most important in your list of very important items. Keep these great videos coming.
Thanks man!
@@CliffGray Absolutely
Thanks Cliff, love your videos and ability to break it down…
Just found your videos. Great stuff. I enjoy your very common sense approach. I’m an eastern whitetail hunter primarily and what you say has much the same application here. Thank you, dc
Thanks David!
Great video Cliff!
Thank you
Great information thanks for the share. New to western hunting all your videos are very helpful.
Thanks Cliff!👍
One thing I've learned is that every season builds onto the next, in many different ways. Most notably, but not limited to, terrain knowledge. The more years you spend in an area, the better you can read it. As for worrying about other hunters, it's hard not to. After 2020, it's become so bad, I think the title of mountain maggots has shifted from sheep to hunter.
Haha, yeah I hear ya. And it is a variable to keep track of. I just hate to see how defeated guys get when there is a little pressure around.
@@CliffGray I have been hunting in Colorado since I was 12. The woods have become very crowded in the last 5 years, each year being worse than the previous. It used to be you could go in 8 miles from the nearest road and not see another soul. Not anymore. It sucks when you are working a bull and 5 other hunters show up when the bugling starts. Hard not to get defeated over that. Love your content, I recommend your stuff to anyone who asks me how to get into hunting. Will miss seeing you in the Flattops!
like, subscribed and watching a bunch of videos. great stuff. I was up north of Steamboat Lake last year. was hoping to get back but not sure with gas prices
I'm a new hunter and have chose a unit I can get a cow tags every year for 0 points and is close enough to home to scout all year. Problem is that it is heavy timber scattered with open parks and is not conducive to long range glassing. Any tips to be more effective in locating game?
focus on locating fresh sign - checkout my videos on short range glassing.
Great wisdom like always
thanks!
Great rapid fire info. Nothing new for me all great reminders. when it’s “ off season” I have to remind myself of everything or I actually forget important stuff. Yes I am afield 5 months a year, 3.5 scouting, tracking, cataloging bulls and getting my butt in shape, then maybe hunting/ guiding 1.5 months. Really easy to forget EVERYTHING! Survival basics, health basics in field, wind, real hunting, wind…. On and on. If ya don’t use it ya lose it. I am a rooky all over every year, even though I get at least a bull a year…..
3 years ago I went on my first archery elk hunt. 15 minutes in I called in a bull with the worst call you’ve ever heard and shot him in the shoulder. I thought man, this isn’t that hard. I haven’t shot at one since 😂
Haha! It’s wild, but that seems to be many folks story. Like a gambler that one big his first trip to Vegas! You spear fish? I think I see that in your pic.
Hey Cliff I was wondering if you can talk about hunting with horses. Planning on use them in 2 yrs. Just wondering if you can talk about basics about using horses in the backcountry. Thanks again.
Hey Clayton, if you look at the channel… search up the older videos. I think there are 8-9 on horseback hunting. Thanks
excellent video man!
Any dos and don’ts for us hunting Roosevelt elk on the Pacific Coast?
checkout the Born and Raised guys, they hunt some Roosevelts
Do you have any videos for complete newbies? I mean, basic stuff for out of towners hunting elk on public land for the first time? I'm in Texas. I know ZERO about elk.
Checkout the videos on the channel. Some of the glassing ones and ones on the wind should be helpful 👍
There is a reason there are 40 trucks on a road in my area. It’s because that’s where the elk are every year. I avoided that road for 4 years. Finally hunted that road last year…. Bugling elk everywhere but I still couldn’t get in on them.
That’s more common than folks think… not always. Good luck on your next trip! Thanks
Awesome video!
I agree other hunters can increase u odds sometimes there noise wind positions push trophy’s away from them and right to me absolutely other hunters mistakes have been my opportunity
The biggest thing is to be able to adapt to ever changing situations on the fly for one the wind is your enemy, no matter what critter your after.... When the wind charges you "have to" charge your game plan that might be backing up 300+ feet of elevation to get better thermals, or waiting until the thermals become more consistent. whichever can mean hours but if you just think you will be fine and keep going you could blow out the critter your after into the next unit. As a whitetail hunter from Michigan I can tell ya it's not like sitting in a tree stand and knowing what the wind is doing at 50 yards.... It's about knowing that your sent in the wind isn't only going this way, it's going that way, then this way when your in an area with topography. Understanding this and hunting pressure are a huge advantage for your self by using this and knowing an area you can see where the hunting pressure is coming from, and then you will know where you will need to be mostly a spike camp situation 2-4 miles past the trail head for an opportunity this is why I love hunting with other hunters that unknowingly do a fantastic job at filling my tag because they have pushed the critters into a" known to me" location other wise the critters would have been dispersed and then I need to spend hours glassing. I love playing the wind almost as much as hunting.
Thanks for the comment. Good stuff.
Thank u for the information
Thanks Cliff for another video! I appreciate your content and you sharing your vast knowledge and experience!!! Any chance you would be willing to do a video on your thoughts on best ammo/caliber for elk hunts? Just got a new Tikka 308 and was thinking of Nosler E-TIP 168 grain but would appreciate your thoughts
The Nosler E-tips do a fantastic job that's all I run in my set up custom MAUSER 98 chambered in 30-06 and a 308 is very well suited for elk out to 400 yards with that projectile, deer on the other hand doesn't seem to expand that much under 150 yards but it sure does hit the "off button" hard .... I'm sure some would say farther but I wouldn't unless I put some serious time shooting that exact set up on various types of rest configurations.
@@normankaster917 Thanks Norman I appreciate the response!
I have this subject on my video list. Probably in next couple months. Thanks John!
@@CliffGray Thanks Cliff! I appreciate the content you share and one of my favorites was your video on stalking elk! And I have to ask, after a career of guiding and getting others game, did you get much of a chance to fill your own freezer? And did the experience burn you out to go out on your own hunts?
Whatever you are comfortable with..I shoot a 308...it will do the job. Like any other caliber, if you put that bullet in the right spot..
Thanks for the info greatly appreciated. This year will be my first solo elk hunt, 2nd time elk hunt in colorado. So excited.
Good info
Be kinda cool to hear how you got into guiding and why
I’ll do that! Thanks James.
Second,as much as you can share.And why you stopped?
@@CliffGray I'll third that. Curious about the economics and what you see the future being.
Hey brother I follow you here in TH-cam big fan and I have got a lot of information from you. But what you'll recommend to a person that doesn't have any experience elk hunting or in the West in the mountains. Brother I'm from the state of Florida I hunt in South Florida in the swamps and for the past 3 years I've been applying for Arizona Colorado Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Stacking up points. You as experienced hunter in the West what you will recommend me to do. I have been studying a lot the terrains the mountains I have been training with my backpack people look at me crazy now I do not have the money to hire a guide and I am going to be backpacking hunting in the country?
My biggest piece of advice is to just plan a trip out west and go hunting. If you want to start with a backpack hunt, go for it. But if you haven't spent much time up in the mountains you might want to start with a Wyoming antelope hunt or a mule deer hunts where onw can stay in a hotel or easy road camp. That will give you a feel for how these hunts go, dealing with the logistics, mountains, etc... Go for it! good luck
Love your videos sir!
Yep. Outsmarting the other hunters is as much of a skill as outsmarting Elk. 🧐
“It’s about learning an art; it’s not about signing up for a vacation…”
Man, how the entire face of American life would change if this incredibly simple, incredibly insightful, incredibly honest statement was taken to heart not just about hunting,
What would that life look like if we ceased - or at least curbed - our insatiable desire for The Next Shiny Thing? (A desire , by the way, encouraged at every turn by the hunting industry, no matter its effect on the animal, the wider environment, or, ironically, the hunter him or herself.)
Or to garner experience by wielding a wallet rather than doing the needful to earn it?
Or to be seen - and admired - as Someone we haven’t done the boots-on-the-ground work to become, whatever the endeavor?
In the industry, in life altogether: what a game changer!!!
Great comment Tim! Thanks
Lots of truth here!
@@CliffGray
Funny, ain’t it, Cliff: when even a simple thought catches something just…. true…. when you let it breathe a little, you can suddenly see it applies across the board.
I love the honesty of your vids, and your desire just to see guys and gals deepen their experience Out There.
If we don’t learn to love it, we’ll never care enough to fight for it when the Bosses come to suck out the last dollar.
Keep it up, brother.
Quit being anti-semitic dude
Good job
I am pretty new to the hunting world and had a question about when you talk about glassing. I have hunted the last 3 years in 18/28/181 units and the timber seems so thick it seems like it would be impossible to actually spot elk in the dense cover? Is it still worth trying to glass in heavily forested area? I understand that I can get high up and cover more "ground" with glassing but it seems almost impossible to find something in those trees.
Honestly it depends on your personality. It’s boring as can be, but I’ve spent a lot of time glassing timber 800-450 yards away… to finally see something after a hour or two. Not uncommon. Thick Aspen, before it defoliates is the same. Granted, it’s not as effective as when you can see a ton of country.
@@CliffGray Thanks for the response.
A lot of good points. My dad always used to say you have to hunt elk twice. You gotta hunt them to find them then hunt en to kill them. I’m guilty of the vacation thought. I use to go thinking if I saw an elk or heard a bugle that was a win. Then I thought “you dumbass, why even buy a tag then!” If I knew when I started what I know now I’d have a couple of nice bulls on the wall. Keep the videos coming
I hear ya! Thanks for the comment Ben!
I have a question about camp setup, I know a place fairly close to my house where there are elk. The area has a road that goes through it with a mix of national forest and private. All the private is low cutting off any access and no glassing from low. The road is higher on the mountain with a small reservoiur where a lot of the elk water. The road gets a bunch of pressure with few people wanting to get out and hike down the mountain to shoot an elk and have to pack it up and out. I'm considering going in that way during archery season but I'm not sure if I should set up camp as low as possible to be able to try and glass? Or somewhere in the middle? I don't want my camp to booger up the elk?
Hard for me to give much advice without seeing the situation… biggest thing is for the camp to not be close to their bedding area and/or be up wind of the bedding area.
Hey Cliff, my buddy and I got drawn for 1st rifle, gonna be hunting the area around trappers lake just north of you.... any suggestions?
Good area. Try to get past day hunters, but don’t push it too far in or you will end up in the outfitting pressure. There’s a happy medium.
@@CliffGray have you done a video on finding that sweet spot, how do I find that.
I’ve made all those mistakes before . One day I may save for a ranch hunt
Hunting private land for elk is a blast! So is public, as you know, just different. I hope I made the point clearly I just view them differently… not one better than the other. I’m not sure I conveyed that in the video. Thanks for all the support and comments man!
@@CliffGray I did the otc for years but now at 60s and sooooo many more hunters Iam thinking private pay to play 👍🏻
New sub ! Liked ☺️😆❤️😅
The top stramd of that barbed wire ran right across those two hill tops and i thought my screen was cracked
bwhahaha!
👍
A huge thing I would add to this list is all the locals what's going on in the area. I've been in the same area for 10 years during archery. For the first year I would think I was stalking abundant sign but it was just sheep shit. It wasn't until I saw the sheep tearing through the area I was in that I realized it was a waste of time to work that section of the area. The place is still great for deer but between the private, an increasing moose population, and the sheep, the elk just avoid the area.
Great tip! thanks
I figure if I'm not happy coming home empty handed I shouldn't even go...
What sweater is that my man?
Woodboss.ca Canadian company. You can look up his TH-cam also Bjarne Butler
@@CliffGray thanks!
Public hunters - the pressure from them are just as likely to push elk towards you as push them away from you.
Ahhhh... Vacation hunting, that's what we do down here in Texas🤠 Could possibly be the only place you can send your wife to the spa and you can kill a 400" bull and be back to eat BBQ by diner time together. Hey Cliff, when are you going to have a video about which calibers are suitable to shoot an elk so we can all argue about how the 6.5 creedmore sucks. lol
Ha!
he he you said dodo ...... 🙂
Who has $7-$10,000 for a canned hunt?
I didn’t mean a high fence hunt - I just meant a private land hunt. Everyone has their preferences.
I think the single biggest mistake elk ( all big game really) hunters make is going into the field with a lousy, negative attitude. Bitching about predators, tag draws, other hunters, game laws,weather,ect.
They walk into the woods with a defeatist attitude and half given up before they even start.
This is a really good point. Been guilty of some of that stuff myself. Thanks