I don't want to screw up my bull elk hunt

Thermals head up in the morning and down in the evening. Find a good vantage spot early and glass below you to find the bulls moving from feeding to bedding areas.

I've located a peak that shouldn't be too difficult to get to, that will allow me to look across a few miles of ideal habitat from the top.

I see south side habitat as more open mixed forest with more grass and aspen leaves on the ground that provide food for elk. North side is colder, dense spruce-fir forest that provides cover during the day. In the evening shortly before dark the elk move into the open, south side areas to feed and bed through the night. In early morning they move back into the cover of dark timber. So I generally hunt the edge, just inside the timber both early morning and at dusk. I often sit from a vantage point for the first hour or two, then stalk through the dark timber along the edge and deeper. Sometimes I'll make a longer trek to farther patches of dark timber and make my way across or down through them.

A key is to hunt all day from dark to dark. No going back to camp for lunch or drinking afternoon beer with the buds. I hunt solo for this very reason. You only have so much time in the limited season. Your older friends will understand. Be available if they need your help but go get your elk.

I've taken 30 elk, about a dozen bulls, but I'm not a skilled bull hunter and have used calls with limited success in the later 2nd season. Many of my elk have been taken mid day in the timber. Most shots are well under 70 yards. Go slow in the dense woods but definitely be prepared to cover a lot of ground. When younger I might hunt 6-15 miles in a day. Now it's more like 4-6 miles with one or two longer, killer treks in a season.

Do explore new areas to look for hidee holes where elk go to get away from hunters. The better you know an area and how elk use it, the better you'll be able to plan a daily hunt route based on conditions.

Don't get discouraged. It takes time and experience to learn an area and the habits of the elk that live there. Most successful hunters have hunted the same area for years and years. With those years came knowledge that leads to success. As has been mentioned, leave camp with everything you need to stay out from dark to dark and take advantage of every second of shooting light. We always leave camp in the dark and come back in the dark. It makes for long days BUT usually ends with success. By the end of elk camp I'm ready to catch up on sleep and rest. It'll wear a good man out.