What would you do?

[MTY]

I know I am going to purchase a deer tag, I but have not figured out whether or not to also get an elk tag. I am not going to leave my yard. Seasons run from August to December, and there is a good chance an elk will walk past while I am deer hunting. It is not really hunting, I will sit in the old orchard, and something will walk by.

I could get excited about an antelope or Arizona peccary hunt, but time and gas pretty much rule those out. The truck gets 8 mpg, so a trip to AZ and back would be about a grand in petrol.

Deer and elk are ho hum, an elk would fill the freezer, but cutting and wrapping an elk is an all day project. Last year deer walked by but it was always too nice of a day to ruin it by making work.

I am trying to see how well I can support myself off this place. Given a chance I will take a deer. The garden should do well, the chickens too.

The question then is elk tag, yes or no?

 

[toytruck]

I would if it was me and elk were in the neighborhood!

 

[Hatchet Jack]

Elk steak over deer meat anytime. It is worth the extra time.

 

[Jitterbug]

In a world of $4/lb. hamburger from factory farms… you’d better believe I’d spend a day cutting up an elk that I harvested from my own place!

 

[deermanok]

How much is a elk tag?

 

[Hurricane]

"The question then is elk tag, yes or no?"

HA !!! Ask yourself this question again that first September morning when a light frost kisses the grass in the meadow, the morning sun just begins to show the Fall colors on the tree tops and there's bugling from way up the valley.

 

[MTY]

I paid $5.98 for a pound of burger two days ago. That would be the reason for plugging an elk.

The only hard part of elk killing is the physical. They are not as wily as a whitetail, so the thrill of hunting them for me has always been the camping, setting up the wall tent, the buddies, sitting around the fire, etc.. One year, already having killed a bull, I was sitting in a tree stand waiting for a buck and a herd of elk wandered over and munched on the tree for about 15 minutes. Out of the group I hunted with for 30 years, I am the only one left.

I'd be chomping at the bit to hunt out of a wall tent camp again, but I am talking about shooting one that wanders through the yard. There is a difference between that and walking the high country with a bugle and bow.

The old man price for a tag is $16.50 so I will buy one and make the decision if a tender one walks past.

 

[deerlessbob]

Do you know anyone that would help you butcher an elk for a share of the meat?

 

[rusticbob]

Like you, I am getting older and some hunting buddies have either died or moved away. I still hunt deer, but I almost always hunt uphill now,(pretty easy here in Vermont), that way the drag is downhill. No elk, but we do have moose, I have killed three of them, but I don’t even put in for the permit anymore. Too much work.
What I have started to do again is small game hunt, we are loaded with squirrels and cottontails. Shooting them with the flintlock Fowler and sharing these hunts with my grandsons has filled the void.
I say go for the permit, if you don’t you will probably regret it!

 

[MTY]

If I solicited help, the helper would most likely slow the process down. I had not thought about this, but the best option might be to keep half and give the other half to the food bank. There is a meat cutter who processes for the food bank.

 

[deermanok]

That's a tough decision. Like many of us older guys, I still love my deer hunting. I don't go as far as I used to and I have to plan ahead. Do I take the shot? Once the animal is down, the work begins. Just getting a deer out of the woods is a big job. I can just imagine an elk.
Good luck to you regardless if you get one or not. The thrill is just being there.

 

[MTY]

With a couple 4 wheel drives, a tractor, and a mini-ex I don't worry about getting one to the house, I just dread meat cutting. The most likely spot for me to shoot one would be just above the old hay field. There is a farm road up going up there. This is the old orchard area where the cow elk chewed on my game camera last year.

The good thing about posting this is that the responses help in getting my brain to think on different ways of handling the situation. I am so used to doing things myself that I become locked into certain ways of thinking. Thanks for the brain prods!

 

[THBailey]

Unless that $16.50 is needed elsewhere, I think you have made the right call:

"The old man price for a tag is $16.50 so I will buy one and make the decision if a tender one walks past."

 

[rangerod]

 

[Ninering62]

I know I am going to purchase a deer tag, I but have not figured out whether or not to also get an elk tag. I am not going to leave my yard. Seasons run from August to December, and there is a good chance an elk will walk past while I am deer hunting. It is not really hunting, I will sit in the old orchard, and something will walk by.

I could get excited about an antelope or Arizona peccary hunt, but time and gas pretty much rule those out. The truck gets 8 mpg, so a trip to AZ and back would be about a grand in petrol.

Deer and elk are ho hum, an elk would fill the freezer, but cutting and wrapping an elk is an all day project. Last year deer walked by but it was always too nice of a day to ruin it by making work.

I am trying to see how well I can support myself off this place. Given a chance I will take a deer. The garden should do well, the chickens too.

The question then is elk tag, yes or no?

I've always been an " opportunistic " hunter. I innately love the hunt, but I'm always out FILL THE FREEZER. So, whatever that presents itself the op to bag, I put a round thru it. I'd put an Elk first, then the deer back up. Choose BOTH if you can.

 

[toytruck]

On a side note...I have tried Elk burger vs Bison burger vs Deer (venison) burger. My favorite is Bison burger, at least the last I ate. I have had some Bison burger that tasted like where the tail begins...Elk didn't impress me, Deer is OK if mixed in with Beef burger. Just my opinion and taste buds!
Never had Elk steak or Bison steak. I do like Deer steak an of course tenderloin!

 

[ingramjets]

go for it, im from wisconsin that would be a dream hunt for me

 

[sheriffjohn]

Get the tag. Don't know about where you are, but licenses support our conservation commission and therefore, preserving hunting. Also - numbers of whatever outdoor activity are the focus of decisions on where the dollars go and depend on the number of folks engaged.

Hunter numbers are dwindling in some places while fishing, hiking, mountain biking, etc. are going up. As a landowner, my tags are free. Regardless of whether I hunt deer or turkey, I think it's important to get all the tags to add to the data. Besides, if you have the tag, decide to harvest one at the last minute, it's good to go.

Like you, I can shoot a deer while sitting on my porch drinking coffee and smoking a Kool - fill all three tags easy. Turkeys require walking down to the levee and waiting 'til they come out to eat corn. Same critters, same time of day, every day. Buy a tag.

 

[snapbang]

YES YES YES YES YES

 

[FredB]

This is not a question. Yes, both, absolutely. Not sure what could be ho-hum about it. I understand it's more rewarding to strike out into the great unknown wilderness to hunt, but I'm not above tagging something from the back porch, if need be. I figure I've trekked the mountains enough miles that I've earned the adventure already. If I can back the truck up to it now, I'm okay with that.