I want everyone to Answer these questions, but be honest. This is for those who are still new to the game and are having trouble to consistently locate and shoot bulls. Are you willing to spend 10 days before the season scouting? Are you willing to put in 50-60 miles in before the season? Are you willing to hunt from 6am-10pm and hike 5-10 miles a day? If you say Yes, then you will succeed. If your answer is "NO" then even if I give you my secret spots you will still NOT kill a bull! It's not a game of what you want but what are you willing to do to get the results! Are you willing to do what 90% of hunters don't do? Obviously there's more to it... like LEARNING - How to Bugle - How to find Elk Rutting Areas - How to Play the wind - Set up for the shot I wish I could go back in time and pay someone a few thousand dollars to teach me everything there is so I could have been more successful in my earlier years and avoid all the mistakes that I have done. I've spent 10 years struggling as a young hunter who did not have anyone to show me, take me with them, or teach me even the basics like E-scouting and making a plan for hunting season. I spent 10 hard years and have not shot a single elk. And when you start asking questions to guys who have shot 10-20 bulls most of the time they don't really share anything that helps much. This year can be your Successful Year, or you can end up with the remaining 90% of public land hunters who have no idea what they did wrong. So tell me, will you do the hard work this season? Will you prep and plan to practice and scout and learn????? See you guys on Monday at 7PM for the Zoom Session, link for zoom is in the "calendar" tab.

Hello everyone, if you are new to the group, I would like to extend a warm welcome and express my hope that you will find as much enjoyment in this group as I do. Additionally, I would like to sincerely encourage you to attend the Zoom meetings, which are held on Mondays at 7 PM PST, if your schedule is open. These meetings offer a wonderful opportunity to engage with the community and pose any questions you have. @Eugene Sivyy is awesome at taking the time to answer everyone's questions, and the community is super respectful and fun to hang out with.

Hello, Newish hunter from Arizona, I have family in Oregon, Going to do my first Oregon hunt, this general season in November! looking forward to learning alot with this community!

I'm working on routes for my plan, and using thermals to my advantage is a big part of it. I think having a timeline for moving and arriving at checkpoints to avoid getting messed up by wind shifts might help with my success. Got any tips or ideas on using thermals? @Eugene Sivyy

The majority of elk are killed by a small percentage of the same hunters. These are the guys who know exactly where to go, what to do, and how not to waste time. They know how to quickly eliminate terrain they will not hunt. Most importantly, they know how to stack the odds in their favor. These hunters don’t drive all over the unit hoping for luck. They don’t get a different tag every year thinking the next spot will magically be better. Instead, they hunt the same unit—or a few of the same units—year after year. They plan spring bear hunts and scouting trips in the same areas. They hike and camp in or near the places they plan to hunt. They don’t just e-scout from the couch. They understand the value of putting boots on the ground year-round, or as much as possible. They thoroughly scout and hunt the same areas until they understand what is actually happening in the forest. Some years, they even have a target bull. They hunt that one bull, and if they don’t kill him, they return the next year to try again. There is a story of an Oregon hunter who hunted the same monster bull for seven years until he finally put an arrow through him. That is the real way to stack the odds in your favor. When you have a target moving through the mountains and you keep chasing that bull, you understand him better every season. Even if you don’t kill him, your knowledge expands. This is how I now plan my year around the same unit or two: Winter: Driving roads looking for cougar tracks Spring: Bear hunting and shed hunting Summer: Scouting, camping, and hiking in the unit August: Archery season scouting September: Elk season October: Early October elk are still bugling, and I’m also deer hunting November: Rifle elk hunting for family and friends December: Picking up trail cameras from the year That is how you build knowledge. And then there are hunters who drop a few pins on a map and think elk will walk through camp on day one. If you are still trying to kill your first bull on public land, you are probably making many of the same mistakes I made for years.