Core Hunting

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Carlton’s calling: Veteran call maker offers insights on shooting elk

I absolutely can't wait to go hunting.  I have 8 more sleeps and then I'll be hiking down that trail calling elk.  A few things to consider when you are doing a "do it yourself elk hunt":

1. Bear safety (Bear spray, pistol grip shotgun, pistol / revolver, and a riffle) all work great.  I have heard bear bangers are useless as tits on a bore but I wouldn't know.  I have only shot one off on the top of a mountain to see what happens.  It shoots about 25 feet and then explodes sounding like a shotgun.  I suppose if you shot it in the bears mouth it would work.  Make sure you keep you food away from tent.  Last year my Father in laws friends got malled by a Grizz while sleeping in their tent.  Not my idea of a good time.  If your cooking make sure you don't have the smell of all your food saturated in your clothes you are sleeping in.  I was thinking the other day, I wonder if a Grizz would want to get in our tent if he smelt my Dads breath?  Sometimes my Dads Breath smells like a dead animal.... Just a thought (grin). 
2. Warm clothes:  This is a big deal because where elk are usually the weather can be pretty unpredictable.  Last year it was plus 30 Degrees Celsius which is 86 F.  This year there is already snow in our area.  If you layer your clothes you should be good.  I always carry a light gortex coat with a hoody and two T-shirts underneath.  And like my Mother in law always says when we go hiking "Cotton Kills".  Which basically means when you hike you sweat and cotton stays wet for a long time so if you stop hiking or it gets cool you get cold.  So its best to get clothes that breath well and quickly dry.  
3. Food:  I like to bring things that are lite and easy to pack.  Like Oatmeal, specifically peaches and cream,  Nuts, Trail mix, Jerky from the last elk I killed, eat more chocolate bars, ect.  This year I'm packing three Fentimans Ginger Beers this stuff is fantastic it burns going down, for real.  I plan on breaking it out after we kill the first elk.  Any how you need High energy food that is lite weight.  Oh yah and you should probably bring a water filter depending on the area you are in.  
4. Shelter:  Good waterproof tent that is breathable.  We are probably going to be setting up those portable garages.  It is no fun sitting in a tent in miserable weather, you can't stand up and move around.    Outfitters always have those big wall tents.  Just make sure you put it up in spot that will collect watter.  My Sister in law and her cousins did that on the West Coast Trail and it rained real hard that night.  Needless to say they were laying in a puddle of water.  
5. Cooking:  I don't like to cook over a wood fire because it stinks and the elk can smell that.  So I just cook over my little MSR Stove.   

The Hyperfire is an excellent Trail camera!  When we got this picture it was a lot darker, you could just the the cougars eye.  On Picasa it is an easy fix though, I just changed the Highlight to see the animal.

I went through the Elknut material that I bought.  It is extremely helpful!  Me, my Dad and Brother love watching Primos videos which you can learn a lot from.  But Elknut is a different type of video / material.  It provides you with much more meaningful material if you want to know how to get an elk.  The book and the DVD's are great.    They provide excellent advise on what to do in certain situations.

This Wolf looks like a Blue Heeler

I have made a list of important things to look for when scouting for elk: