Western Elk Part 8: Planning for Future Elk Hunts

James: After someone's first elk hunting season, what should they reflect on?

Joe: "Regardless of the season that you took, if it's over-the-counter, limited entry, a turn back tag on a second list, now you actually have boots on the ground experience elk hunting, which is more valuable than anything that you or I can say on a microphone. That's what you need and that's something that you need to compound on year after year. Start planning on things that you want to do differently, whether that's like a tactic that you tried that didn't work out or an area that you tried that was overcrowded."

Elk Hunting, Out Of State HuntsTom ZandstraAugust 5, 2024Elk, e, elk hunting

Western Elk Part 7: Field Dressing and Meat Care

James: Once you've shot an elk, what's your process for field dressing?

Joe: "I don't gut any elk. I almost always do the gutless method, even if it is an overnight situation. I just open them up. Get that hide off of them as soon as you can. The first thing I would do in any situation is flip it to the opposite side whether there's snow or not. That's just a good practice if you can flip it."

Deer Processing, Elk Hunting, Out Of State HuntsTom ZandstraAugust 5, 2024Elk, elk hunting, meat care

Western Elk Part 6: Late Season Elk

James: How does late season elk hunting differ from hunting during the rut?

Joe: "Rifle, anything post rut is going to be significantly impacted by weather much more than what your rut will. Obviously, if you have nice cool mornings and the pressure is nice, the moon phase is right, like the rut is more amplified, but I've also been out on 90° days where the bulls are freaking going nuts 'cause there's a hot cow in the area. It's more determined by her than it is the weather. Late season, much more the opposite. Weather is king, it determines almost everything. Then you have pressure mixed into that, and then where they're at after the rut as far as how depleted are they."

Elk Hunting, Out Of State HuntsTom ZandstraAugust 5, 2024elk hunting

Chasing Elk Part 3: Scouting for Elk

If you're reading this blog, you likely don't live close to the elk you pursue. Busy lives, limited vacation time, and hundreds of miles separate you from boots on the ground scouting.

Welcome to the 3rd of 8 episodes on Western Elk with Joe and James from The Fair Chase.

In this episode, you will learn how to do some valuable "e-scouting" from the comfort of your own couch. Mix this with some woodsmanship and hard work and you'll probably find some elk.

Out Of State Hunts, Elk HuntingTom ZandstraJuly 19, 2024scouting for elk, elk hunting, elk

Western Elk Part 2: States, Seasons, and Tags

This is a continuation of the conversation between James and Joe from The Fair Chase Podcast, focusing on strategies for different types of elk tags.

James: So Joe, what are the different categories of elk tags?

Joe: "Basically there's a few different categories for the types of tags that you can draw and those happen in different points of the year and some cost a lot more than others, some of them cost points some of them don't.

Elk Hunting, Out Of State HuntsTom ZandstraJuly 12, 2024Elk, Elk Hunting

Western Elk Part 1: Getting Started Elk Hunting

This is a conversation recorded between James and Joe from The Fair Chase Podcast.
It’s Part 1 of an 8 Part Series on Getting Ready for Elk Season.

James: So Joe, why are talking about elk?

Joe: "We decided we'd start with elk. It's coming up soon. We’re in July now, so people are starting to transition from their spring turkey and bear activities to thinking about the fall.

We have guys that live out west and they're out elk hunting anyway. They always want more information. But we also have a lot of guys from the Midwest that will go out west once a year. We wanted to share what we’ve learned so far being those Midwest guys who have to travel out west to hunt elk.”

Out Of State Hunts, Elk HuntingTom ZandstraJuly 10, 2024Elk, Elk Hunting

Field Notes

Hunt. Learn. Share.