Is Elk Hunting Is Becoming Too Trendy in Montana?

It seems like hunting elk is "TRENDY" these days. As someone who has hunted elk for essentially his whole life, I am unsure how I should feel about the fact that elk hunting is apparently popular now.

Most of my life, hunting elk was about waking up before daylight, hiking straight uphill, then downhill, then uphill again. Trudging through the darkness, freezing your ass off, and then taking hours to find out where the elk were. While I have never considered myself to be one of those guys who considers a hunt a failure if he did not harvest some huge six-point bull, a cow will put meat into the freezer too. If I get lucky and harvest a bull, that is even better. To me, a trophy bull is the ultimate goal. However, I know how hard it can be to actually achieve that.

woman carrying hunting rifle in woods

In the last few months, social media has made it seem as though every single celebrity has gotten together and they all agreed that elk hunting would be the best new fall trend!

When Did Elk Hunting Become the New Pumpkin Spice Latte?

Just this year, country music artist Jelly Roll harvested his first bull elk. Country music star Luke Combs recently put out a video detailing his search for a large six-point bull during a Utah hunt. Kristi Noem recently published pictures of her archery hunt in Wyoming when she harvested a massive bull elk. There is also Joe Rogan, who has talked about elk hunting, bowhunting, and eating elk meat on one of the largest podcast platforms in the world.

Cindy Ord, Getty Images

Great job to each of these folks. Seriously. Most of the time.

While I am admiring their trophy pictures, I am also remembering all the years I spent roaming around the mountains in Montana without ever finding anything. Call it jealousy if you want. I will admit it.

Instagram Makes Elk Hunting Look Way Too Easy

My issue isn't with celebrities hunting. Any more appreciation of hunting, wildlife, and conservation is definitely welcome. My issue is that social media tends to portray elk hunting as much easier than it really is. They do this by portraying elk hunting as simply putting on high-priced camouflage clothing and going on a short walk. After hearing an elk bugling, 20 minutes later you are able to kneel behind a bull elk that looks great on the cover of Bugle magazine.

That isn't how I have experienced elk hunting.

Jason Kempin, Getty Images

As we know, there is A huge difference in hunting private ranches or hiring an outfitter/guide for a hunt compared to the typical Montana hunter using public land. In our case, oftentimes the hardest part of elk season isn't even finding the elk. Finding a place to park at the trailhead is THE HARDEST PART.

Could We Please Find Another Trend?

What I think I really want is honesty. Post pictures of the five-mile hike where you found no animals. Post pictures of your frozen sandwiches. Post pictures of the failed stalks (you knew you blew it), the bull that ran away over the top of the ridge, and/or the six consecutive days of hunting which resulted in an empty cooler and sore legs.

That's elk hunting.

I am truly glad to see people so excited about hunting. Congratulations to Jelly Roll, Luke Combs, Kristi Noem, etc... For filling their freezers this fall.

But please keep it down.

We already have pumpkin spice lattes, corn mazes, flannel shirts, and pumpkin patches. Let's please not turn elk hunting into another trendy fall activity.

And for goodness sake, DO NOT turn it into pickleball.