Just applied for an elk tag

[richhodg66]

I've lived here in the flint hills of Kansas most of the past 21 years and am a permanent resident now (Army brought me here and I liked it from the start). Before I got here, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks reintroduced Elk to Fort Riley and a few other places and they are huntable.

I haven't put in for this draw in quite a few years and never have hunted Elk. I really kind of hope I get drawn. I see them enough and am familiar with the area enough that I think I'll have a good shot at getting one if I can get a tag. Not sure what to use, probably the Savage 99 in .358 or a .45-70 or .35 Whelen Handi Rifle. Guess I could use an '06 or break out the J words in the 7 mag again.

No real point to this post, just kind of excited about the possibility of being able to do this. Guess I better develop a plan for how to recover it if I get drawn, might be the reason I need to get a better truck.

[TCLouis]

Good Luck on the draw and be sure to use a BOOLIT to bag one if you get the tag!

AND of course be sure to post the hunt here.

[Djones]

Good luck. I would like to read about a nice boolit hunt in a few months!

[utahtrapper]

Pulling for you.
I would guess a Kansas Elk tag would be along the lines of us out West drawing a Limited entry Elk tag.

[runfiverun]

or any tag in Utah...
it was easier for me to move here than draw there, although I do miss the duck hunting I took up in lieu of deer/elk hunting.

0-6 and some store boughts would be my choice, it would really suck to sit there and watch them stand around the edge of a clearing 200 yds away.

[quilbilly]

Any one of those calibers will do just fine. There are no degrees of dead. If there is a lot of competition, I would opt for the "big-and-slow" boolit to knock them over fast so you can get your tag on it before the guy 100 yards away tags it.

[utahtrapper]

8 years worth of points on Limited Bull Elk and 8 on Moose but on Moose I think it will be 8 more LOL Black Bear should be the next year or 2. Always do general Bull but that is not easy with every Tom and Hairy chasing. That's why I went horse back 10 miles in and still see people.

[CLAYPOOL]

Start planning NOW. Be prepared is the old boy scout motto. Talk to people and ask questions. Take a short hike or 2 to try out your stuff and foot wear.

[runfiverun]

I put in for moose for about 20 years, my buddy is going on 30 sumthin now. [in Utah]
I used to shoo them through the brush to bust out the deer hiding in the willows and scrub oak in my younger day's.
literally poking them with sticks.

[elk hunter]

Always do general Bull but that is not easy with every Tom and Hairy chasing. That's why I went horse back 10 miles in and still see people.

utahtrapper, to expand on your comment about chasing I'll offer the following:

There are four kinds of people looking for elk, the sellers and buyers meaning guides and their clients, the client is a shooter not a hunter, elk chasers meaning the average guy in the woods who chases elk every year and once in a while bumps in to and shoots one and elk hunters, the guys that consistently punch their tag. The difference between the shooters, chasers and the hunters is knowledge of elk behavior. The true elk hunters understand elk behavior and kill most of the elk. The more time you spend studying elk the better hunter you will be.

I'll quit preaching now.

[Muskyhunter1]

Good luck on your draw. That is a critter on my bucket list. Maybe once I Retire.

[Red River Rick]

I applied this year as well, hopefully I'll get drawn again.

From a previous year......

Attachment 143552

[.45Cole]

Elk are tough and extremely athletic, but in the end they are animals just like bunnies. I have seen them run straight up mountains, followed track out to points, and then stopped as the elk went down suicide tracks along the cliff face.

I hunt the San Juans. In general they will stay as high as possible. They will all move together, not as spread out as deer. They will trot for a bit, but will stop and look just like deer. The best way to find them is to map out the most rugged, high terrain with one way in (except for a hellacious back door) and that's where you will find them. If you hoof around enough you will see one. In heavy snow storms they like to try to get under large pines here, close to aspen stands. Good luck! (I use a 7mm/08 and j-words)

[utahtrapper]

I understand sir.

I learn more every year. And hopefully become an Elk hunter some day.
Drew my cow tag so during the General Bull hunt it expands my odds of bringing meat home.
I try to get back in as far and as high as i can. I still hunt and glass the travel corridors, water, and grazing areas. What I need is some one like you to mentor a flat lander, and then I could take you back to Nebraska for Whitetail Pheasants Grouse Quail Ducks and Geese we also have some real nice Mulies.
Hopefully I figure it out sooner than later Thanks

utahtrapper, to expand on your comment about chasing I'll offer the following:

There are four kinds of people looking for elk, the sellers and buyers meaning guides and their clients, the client is a shooter not a hunter, elk chasers meaning the average guy in the woods who chases elk every year and once in a while bumps in to and shoots one and elk hunters, the guys that consistently punch their tag. The difference between the shooters, chasers and the hunters is knowledge of elk behavior. The true elk hunters understand elk behavior and kill most of the elk. The more time you spend studying elk the better hunter you will be.

I'll quit preaching now.

[Dr. A]

I have applied in Kansas every year for the past 25. Never got a tag and have only known one person to do so. Obviously a once in a lifetime tag! They do have some beauties over there! Good luck! I'm going to Idaho this year.

[MT Gianni]

How to Kill an Elk:
First draw an Elk tag
Second, when you get a good shot, keep shooting until the animal is on the ground and keep it in your sights until his head is down.

Good luck to you.

[sixshot]

I've lived in Idaho almost all my life, I've taken 25 elk & over half have been with sixguns & lead slugs & I can't ever remember one of them being easy. I would have taken more but I coached high school football for 13 years & that really cuts into elk hunting. The best way to hunt elk in this country is find out where everyone else is hunting & then go somewhere else, hard to do but it is still possible.
We get so many non residents now that it makes it tough & most of them hunt harder than the locals, they pay big money & work hard in filling their tag. If its warm hunt the north facing & east facing slopes for best success, stay high & close to heavy cover, elk don't like direct sunlight. They will move a long way in a hurry to find good feed, including hay fields or good grassy meadows but they are gone before daylight & you have to cut them off to get a shot. Keep moving & use your nose, if there's elk close by many times you can smell them. For the most part bugling is a waste of time but cow calling is worth a try about anytime. Always play the wind, they do!

Dick

[TXGunNut]

Good luck, hope you get drawn. Elk, like buffalo, were nearly wiped out with lead boolits so I suspect one will serve you well. As the experienced elk hunters here have hinted the elk has evolved into a very elusive and shy critter. The ones around now are experts on hunter behavior, scouting and studying them is probably necessary to improve your odds of filling your freezer.

[dk17hmr]

How to Kill an Elk:
First draw an Elk tag
Second, when you get a good shot, keep shooting until the animal is on the ground and keep it in your sights until his head is down.

Good luck to you.

I will second that. I have shot a handful of elk three of which fell so fast I couldnt get another shot into them, I shoot until they are done moving or I am out of bullets. The cow elk I killed last year was hit twice in the chest with a 208gr bullet from my 300wsm and once in the skull with a 45acp, the one the year before took a 160gr Partition through the shoulders and and one between the eyes. They are crazy tough animals and bullets are cheap.

[utahtrapper]

We will have 5 general Bull and 2 cow tags for October 3rd this year.
44 mag marlin with 290 btb for the daughter and the 444 with the same 290 btb just faster for the wife and the 45 colt limited 280 wfn, for the bulls
My other friends will shoot jacketed bullets in 300 short mag and 30/06