 White Oak Exotic Hunting Preserve offers to the serious Elk hunter the chance to hunt Rocky Mountain Elk – without the low hunting success rates and lengthy time constraints usually associated with the western hunts. We offer Elk hunts with Bow, Handgun, Muzzleloader & Rifle. You must be very proficient with your Hunting method.
We are having a great summer for growing antlers. I feel the Bulls will live up to their potential. Last year the biggest Bull that shed his antlers was a 7x9. We have many 6x6’s & 7x7’s. All these Bulls are in the field NOW!
Look at the pictures. These pictures were taken on July 10th, 2006. We will certainly see more growth, and as you can see some are already HUGE!
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There is no misleading promises or com-on’s, or booking this years hunts based on last years animal population. Our Elk are here now, and you can see them now. Most of the bulls have been on our property for years. As you can see by the photo’s, we have a wide range of antler configuration. Some have super brow and big tines. Some are super massive in thickness. Some have bifurcated points & non-typical stickers. Some are high, others very wide. If you are a Elk Hunter, you just found the “DREAM HERD.”
When Elk Hunting with firearms here at White Oak, we usually spot & stock in the low country around the lakes and swamps. The bulls will usually have wallows and be bugling. This ground is tough for Bow Hunters to move without getting detected. For the Bow Hunters, we usually hunt timbered ridges and benches. We look for funnel areas and place ladder stands in those areas.
Current weather and Elk activity usually dictate the best hunting method each day. All Hunters need good camo and be scent free. A Rut Hunt (Sept-Oct) can produce some RANK, aggressive bulls. We must use EXTREME CAUTION when stalking on the ground at that time. Sometimes we will not even bugle. We have brought in bulls that way before, and it got way too dangerous. They usually come in muddy and wet from wallowing. Blood shot eyes, stiff legged and ready to kill that intruder in there area. And if that isn’t bad enough, when 2 or 3 bulls arrive at the same time, you find yourself in the middle of a spectacular fight that will scare the daylights out of you if you do not have a good exit plan available.
Bugling is good out west with low animal population – here at White Oak, bugling can be dangerous. I remember one early morning in November. We were Whitetail hunting. My client and I got hidden in a brush pile and I started rattling. Immediately, the bucks appeared. Within 2 minutes, we saw 7 bucks. My client was going crazy because I wouldn’t let him shoot 2 different 10 pointers that were in our lap. We held out and in another minute or two, a big heavy non-typical came sneaking through to see who was in his area. My client dropped him in his tracks.
To try to summarize, or as they say “the moral of the story is”; when you hunt areas that have a high percentage of big, dominate animals, it is not always a good idea to pretend to be a trespasser. Adversely, many of those bucks and bulls come in like a fire breathing dragon!
Elk Hunting Prices (while they last)
Trophy Bulls (6x6): $4,500
Heavy Mature Bulls (6x6 & Larger): $6,500
| Some Elk pictures - on the property NOW! |
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Why does most Elk hunting out west have such a low kill percentage or is so hot or cold from year to year?
Some things that people do not realize about the hunting out west…
Often you are hunting herds that are in one area in the winter, and another in the summer. Seldom do you have resident animals in a huntable area for the whole year which you can pattern and know what is really there.
Here are but a few of the problems with western hunts:
Drought. All animals are forced to leave the area. This usually happens after hunts & licensees have already been purchased.
Winter Kill. A long, hard winter will kill old run-down trophies (run-down from the rut), and the young “Buttons” (body weight is too low for extreme cold). When hunting out west myself, I have seen entire age classes missing from the Deer or Elk populations. Being an animal Herd Manager, I wasn’t in awe of just seeing antlers. When quizzing the guides, I found the missing class were killed off as youngsters by a severe winter.
Predators. A high predator population such as Coyotes & Black Bear will devastate the fawn crop, and big cats will work them hard in the winter. Not just the fawns, the big trophies as well!
Weather. You book your hunt months in advance and thanks to good ol’ Mother Nature, you are looking for a bull when it’s 80 degrees, when it should have been 40 degrees. That bull Elk and his buddies are still above the timber line. You can’t get there, he won’t come down. How many times has unusually HOT or COLD weather patterns ruined a hunt. Sherri & I once hunted Bear in Montana, the last week of Bear Season. It was still so cold that the snow had not melted off the mountains and the Bears had not came out of hibernation yet. My guide worked hard and did all he could do, but we did not even see a shootable Bear in a week. His clients shot some huge Bears the year before we were there, and the year after we were there, go figure. We did get some nice photo’s.
Many (most) animals out west are migratory. They summer in one place and winter in low country. Many outfitters hunt them as they migrate through there hunting area. If they are not migrating when you’re there, then you have few or no animals to hunt. Your hunting trip is dependent upon Mother Nature dumping snow on the mountain the week before you get there? If I was a betting man, I sure wouldn’t be betting on the predictability of the weather in the the mountains. Especially months or years in advance!
The preceding experiences & viewpoints are not intended to malign western guides and outfitters in any way. Most are hard working people, doing a tough job. But the facts are still the same, there are so many negative variables that the odds are against you. (The old saying “that’s why they call it hunting” doesn’t cut it here.)
If having a good hunt and being successful (especially considering the monetary investment) is important to you, be sure to weigh all the facts when comparing a quality western Elk hunt vs. a quality eastern Elk hunt.
When you emphasize the word “quality” in a Elk hunt, be it east or west, you will be surprised to find how similar the hunts are conducted and how similar the results. And when all the costs are added (hunting license, transportation, lost wages, etc…) you might be surprised to find out which hunt is really more economical.
Why go out west and gamble with low hunting success ratio’s when you can have a great hunt in the Ohio Hill Country and not pay for a hunt that yields no game!
Please call for more Elk hunting information at White Oak Exotic Hunting Preserve. Our friendly and extremely knowledgeable staff will be more then happy to answer any Elk hunting questions you may have!
Cathy and her Monster Bull Elk
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A big 6x6 Bull, covered in mud. They are in rut now and spend their time wallowing, bugling, fighting and patroling their established territories.
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A Super Bull! - 9-18-06 - We have several more on the property of this quality. Compare White Oak's quality price
and selection. I took this picture while he was bugling.
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"Support Equipment" 100 horsepower, 4 wheel drive with loader and winch. Wherever Big Bull Elk or Buffalo go down, we can retrieve it. Sometimes we use chainsaws to cut roads to the animal.
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Some of the White Oak Hunting rigs with custom White Oak camo finish. We offer so much hunting area that we must
use trucks to get you to the general area before we strike out on foot.
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White Oak Video Clip:
