Getting in shape to go elk hunting is standard advice. Elk typically live in tough country and often at high altitudes. This means tough hunting in thin air that many people are not used to. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) affects some people who are accustomed to low elevations when they ascend too high, too rapidly. The symptoms are dizziness, headache, nausea, shortness of breath and difficulty sleeping. Untreated AMS can progress to the serious and potentially fatal conditions of High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) or High-Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE). Altitudes as low as 5,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level may affect particularly sensitive people. However, elevations above 8,000 feet broaden the category of potential risk. This ailment is related to an individual's response to altitude, not physical condition. Being in great shape won't necessarily protect you. To avoid high-altitude sickness, acclimate yourself to altitude by spending a couple of nights at a mid-range elevation between that of your home area and the elevations where you expect to hunt.

Elk hunting has become much like whitetail deer hunting. Both animals possess great natural defense systems, including wonderful noses for trouble and the ability to ghost away when a hunter's scent drifts by. Elk are smart and wary. They have responded to increasing hunting pressure in many of the same ways as whitetails. Both like heavy cover and use it to hide from hordes of hunters. Going nocturnal is no problem for either whitetails or wapiti. Night feeding and night movement are common survival characteristics for today's elk. The greatest difference between modern elk hunting and deer hunting is in the extent and nature of elk habitat. Deer are homebodies and hang out in small areas, despite heavy hunting pressure. Elk are semi-migratory anyway and have no reservations about putting large chunks of rugged real estate between themselves and hunter harassment. When you spook a big buck, you've put him on his guard. When you spook a big bull, you may have put him over the next mountain.

Elk calling has reached epidemic proportions. It is the most dramatic way to hunt elk. It has all the appeal of turkey calling with the added adrenaline rush of calling a massively-antlered, brush-ripping trophy bull right up to you. The bugle is the loudest and most dramatic elk call. The high-pitched, keening whistle of a mature bull has real ear appeal, whether it is made by you or, even better, by a big bull in the black timber, answering you. However, bugling can be overdone and often is. Many hunters bugle all the time and the bulls get both tired and wary of it. Also, it can drive sub-dominant bulls away and cause harem bosses to take their cows and leave. Cow calling is far more subtle and subdued. The mews and chirps made by cow elk (bulls make these same sounds but less frequently) are "confidence calls" that assure all is well. Most elk, including bulls, will investigate cow calls. even after the bugling season is over.

When you bowhunt for elk, you are magnifying your archery challenge. Obviously elk are bigger and tougher than deer. Unlike gun hunters, bowhunters can't simply step up to a more powerful magnum weapon. In order to maximize trajectory, range and penetration, most archers are already shooting as much bow as they can handle for deer. That's fine. Arrows kill by hemorrhage, not by shock. If your bow can put a razor-sharp broadhead deep into an elk's heart/lung area, it will bag the bull. The point is the point. Elk hunting broadheads should be strong, tough and top quality. The edges must be razor sharp. The point should be designed for maximum penetration. Two-blade broadheads penetrate efficiently but three-blade designs do almost as well and offer more total cutting surface. Wide heads offer even more width of cut but sacrifice considerable penetration. With good, sharp, high-penetration broadheads, you will be able to shoot through a broadside elk with a reasonably powerful "deer-class" bow.

The "perfect elk cartridge" may be the most often-wrote gun-writer topic next to the "perfect whitetail rifle." Oddly, many of the cartridges mentioned in both articles may be the same. When you consider most whitetails weigh less than 200 pounds and many elk go considerably over 500, you would think that far more powerful guns would be necessary for elk. More power for these bigger animals is often preferable but not always necessary. Most elk outfitters and guides want their clients to bring the most powerful guns they can shoot comfortably and well. If you can handle the weight and the recoil, big cartridges like the .338 and .300 Winchester magnums add options, range and assurance to your elk hunting. On the other hand, deer-class cartridges, such as the .308, .270 and ..30-06, will certainly bag a big bull when used for reasonable shots at reasonable range. If you shoot your "deer" rifle well and a magnum poorly, you're better off with less gun.