John Dudley’s Best Tips for Bow Hunting Elk

Whether you've got a hunt lined up for this season or you're working on elk tags and plans for next year, put yourself in the best position possible to make the trip a success. We talked to John Dudley, HuntWise partner and the most trusted source in archery with Nock On Archery, to get his best tips for bow hunting elk.

He covers:

• His best tips for hunting elk
• Bow vs firearm for elk hunts
• His top must-haves to bring on every hunt

Q. What Are Your Best Tips for Bow Hunting Elk?

John Dudley: My best tips for hunting elk are a little bit unorthodox, I think, compared to what most people expect because.

My success in hunting elk has really come from my background as a white tail hunter.

It's very tempting to go chasing after bugle, bugling elk every single day and running and gunning and covering ground. But to be honest with you, I've always looked at elk as it's hard to get a trophy, mature herd bull when there's so much chaos going on around.

Over the years, I would try to get that lead bull, but I would end up just being tempted and jumping on an opportunity of the satellite bulls around him.

Once I started actually practicing more patience, I started to realize that I had better opportunities at the bigger bulls. With patience, I've sat and spent more time waiting, watching, and just finding sign just like you would with a whitetail. Find the sign where you know the elk are, and then tread extremely lightly so you don't blow them out and wait them out.

3 Successful Elk Hunts

Last year, I had three successful elk hunts. And every single elk hunt was captured by literally waiting for a bull to come to either a food source or a water source.

My first hunt was on opening day up in Alberta on a DIY hunt. I found a lot of fresh tracks and sign in the corner of this one field where the bulls were evidently coming out of the public land.

They were coming out of that and heading towards grain crop, and it was just very clear the amount of traffic that it was. It was fresh and it was recent, and so I sat there for about three hours the first evening, even though nothing was even bugling or talking yet.

I just sat there in the corner on that travel corridor, just doing some soft calls and being really quiet. After about two or three hours, a bull came out.

He never bugled back at us. He came out and, just over the course of about 20 or 30 minutes, slowly worked his way right over to us, like feeding and kind of foraging and milling about, and then ended up getting a shot.

Fast forward to the beginning of September, and it was extremely hot. People were not having luck calling in bulls. I decided to find a local wallow that I found that had a lot of fresh sign, and then I ended up shooting my bull at about 12:45 in the afternoon, sitting there midday waiting for him to come to water.

Then, fast forward again to the end of September (so peak rut, arguably).

The same thing happened. Chased a few, chased a few herds for a few days, and realized that I was in a bunch of open burn areas where it was really wide open. It was kind of hard to navigate and stalk in with limited cover.

I ended up finding the most up-to-date sign on a water source, built a blind, and ended up sitting two or three days. Then, I ended up shooting my biggest bull of the entire season.

So, my key is gonna be, if you're a patient whitetail hunter, then take the tools that you have in your toolbox to elk hunting, and you'll be surprised at what patience and being extremely cautious on pressure can do for you.

Q: How is Hunting Elk with a Bow Different Than Using a Firearm?

John Dudley: I've never hunted elk with a firearm, so I wouldn't know!

But what I can say is, when I've elk hunted in the past, a lot of times you're trying to find where the elk are. Elk move, and they move a lot, but they are big, so you can acquire them if you've got good optics.

So, a lot of times, by the time you find an elk and you navigate western terrain, it seems like you can get within gun range fairly easily, as long as you have first spotted them and you know their location.

With archery, you just have so many more things to factor in. And that's really where HuntWise plays a huge part because the wind is everything.

When you're talking about big herds of animals, and you're talking about thermals, and you're talking about changes in weather throughout the day, a lot of times you might spot a herd, but you have to then flank around and get into an interception point to then wait for them to be on their feet and moving again.

And if the wind is constantly changing and you don't know it, you can cover miles of navigation and then get in close enough for a bow strike and end up blowing it. So being able to look at the land, navigate the terrain, and work the wind; those are all crucial to being successful as a bow hunter.

But when you put all those pieces together, it's also why elk hunting with a bow is arguably one of the most exciting things you can do.

Q: What are Your Must-Haves for Elk Hunts?

John Dudley: Aside from the obvious bow and arrow, I'll just say you want an archery setup built for big game.

You know, a lot of people who are whitetail hunters who go elk hunting for the first time, you know, maybe they shoot lower poundage, maybe they shoot a really light arrow, maybe they shoot a really big multi-bladed broadhead.

Good Optics

Make sure you're going there with a bow and arrow combination that is made for penetrating big game. Once you have that, the next most important thing you're gonna have is your optics.

With elk, you've got to find them, and you're spending a lot of time looking through a lens. So, this past year, I actually really liked my Leupold BX-4 ranging binoculars because I was able to range with higher magnification on my optics, and I was able to have a rangefinder built right into my binoculars. That was extremely helpful.

Navigation Skills (and HuntWise)

The next thing I'm gonna say, without a doubt, is your ability to navigate.

Western hunting is complicated because elk travel long distances. You normally have to intercept the herd. You're not gonna always call an entire herd to you.

You gotta get close to them first, even if you're calling a bull in. So, learning about the undulation and terrain type is critical, as it helps you to navigate, flank, and intercept the herd effectively.

Then, just knowing what to pack in your bag each day comes from having reliable weather information. Then also, a lot of times when you're looking for elk, you're covering a lot of ground. So, you're finding new wallows that maybe aren't on a map, and you need to be able to drop a pin.

Or, you're finding a spot where you're on a brand new trailhead and you found a huge game trail that intercepts it. These are all things that you have to note as you're covering ground.

So, I would say your HuntWise hunting app is going to be high on my must-have gear list.

The Right Clothes

Next on the must-haves list is gonna be your ability to layer your clothing properly and make sure that you're able to be comfortable, not only when you're sitting and glassing, not moving, having to spend a lot of time waiting for things to develop. You have to be comfortable then, but then you also need to have gear that keeps you comfortable when you have to push on the gas pedal, start covering ground, hustling, and running to get into your locations or covering a lot of ground in and out of your camp.

Fuel and Hydration

Fuel, hydration, and meals will be right there on the list.

You need to be able to be out there all day. Like I said, last year, I killed three bull elk. One came in the morning at first light on a waterhole, and the next one came in the middle of the day on a waterhole. It was 1:00 in the afternoon at a water source in triple-digit heat.

And then the other one came in an evening sit, where it had been a very long and hot day. I think I'd covered about 10 or 12 miles and then ended up finding sign. I had to sit still, remain comfortable, and not go back to camp to get food or get water.

I was literally out for the entire day and ended up getting my bull with minutes left of daylight. So having the ability to hydrate and fuel up throughout the entire day is crucial.

Check out one of John Dudley's recent successful elk hunts in the video below!

Use HuntWise and Apply These Tips to Learn How to Bowhunt Elk (Like a Pro)

These insights from John Dudley could be the tips you need for a successful elk hunt this year! Learning how to bowhunt elk successfully takes time and patience, but maybe these unorthodox insights are just what you need to bring home a bull when you get that elk hunt draw or an over-the-counter tag.

No matter how you prefer to hunt elk, make sure you have HuntWise to help you navigate, keep up with the wind direction, and mark the elk sign you see as you track that big bull. HuntWise also helps you pinpoint the best place to lay up and wait for an elk to get into your archery range for a successful shot.

If you don't have HuntWise yet, now is the time to download it and plan your fall hunts. 
We'll give you your first week free in the app!

With a HuntWise Pro or Elite subscription, you can also save money on gear like a solid pair of binoculars from our partners, including Maven Optics and Steiner Optics.