Q&A with Tommy Sessions, Slayer Pro-Staff: Handling the heat of early elk season
By M.D. Johnson Tommy Sessions of Idaho Falls, Idaho, is a busy man. He’s a father of three (all between the ages of nine and 13 — a handful, to be sure!). He works full-time as a general building contractor and operates a multi-employee concrete business. A man after my own heart, Sessions is also an experienced waterfowler who’s not shy about chasing greenheads and honkers for 90-plus days of a 107-day season. Now that’s dedication! In 2012, though, Sessions discovered the wonders of elk and hasn’t turned back. This week, Slayer Calls had a chance to talk with the 36-year-old entrepreneur on the subject of hunting bulls in the heat of early elk season.
Slayer Calls (SC): Is temperature an important factor during early elk season?
Sessions: Oh, yeah … but in some aspects, it’s not as crucial as others. For instance, do I hunt when it’s 95 degrees? The answer’s yes, but I 
SC: Does an elk’s daily routine change when the temperatures rise?
Sessions: Absolutely! I think an elk’s routine changes every day, no matter what, but … and that said … it’s not truly a routine. There may be three or four canyons the elk travel to as they make their ‘circuit,’ so to speak. They’ll drop down into a canyon, spend the day there, go to the top of the mountain, spend the evening feeding and then drop over the other side into a different canyon. They’ll usually travel back and through that same circuit, UNLESS their water disappears. The creek or pool dries up. They can’t cool off. That 
SC: Does there ever come a time when it’s simply too hot to hunt?
Sessions: Yes and no, I suppose. The simple answer is no; still, I have to be hunting in an area I know so that if and when I get an animal down, I can properly take care of it — even if it’s 90 degrees out. So instead of taking a couple days to get an animal out, you’re doing it in a day.
SC: Hunt all day when it’s hot? Limit it to cooler mornings and evenings in early elk season?
Sessions: I hunt all day. A lot of people say that when it’s really hot, you can only hunt mornings and evenings, but elk are still elk, and if a bull’s coming around to find cows, and there’s a cow in estrus, hot or not, he’s going to go find her. Mid-day is a good time to be checking those bedding areas, the benches, and the mountain flats. But even when elk are bedded down, there’s still going to be a cow or two — or a bull — that gets up, walks around and feeds a little more. Lies down in the shade. Elk are still active during the middle of the day, but if you’re back at camp, you’re obviously not killing ’em. 
