Exo Journal — Elk Hunting

Elk, especially mature bulls, are incredibly large and tough creatures. As a point of comparison, it’s not unusual for a big bull to weigh 3-4x as much as a big-bodied whitetail or mule deer. Stories also abound of poorly hit elk running into the next zip code with no signs of slowing down. For this reason, hunters going afield after elk with a rifle should be adequately armed. With all that in mind, my goal with this article is to provide you with a couple of good recommendations on selecting the right caliber for hunting elk.

You have yourself an out-of-state elk tag and you cannot put boots on the ground until the hunt starts. What do you do? Here is the process I use to scout for out-of-state elk hunts...

I drew for a New Mexico archery elk tag in March 2015. It was my first elk tag. I worked my tail off in the gym, at the range, and in my garage bow shop, determined to hike into the mountains a predator. It took over 5 months of preparation and a full workweek of high-country hiking, with several tough lessons learned on the job to accomplish the goal...

I have spent six years hunting elk on public land. I have learned new lessons on every trip, brought home new experiences each time, and thankfully, I also tagged-out 4 of those years. I am far from an expert, but as a regular do-it-yourself guy, I’d like to share some of what I’ve learned that could benefit other folks, like you, that are learning to hunt elk on public land.