The Elk Thread

[Wits_End]

I'm all caught up from the very first post. Figured I better read it all before I start asking questions. I took notes all the way through and really appreciate all the contributions, definitely a information overload.

I've never hunted Elk before, but will be headed up to hunt nearly a week in Colorado Unit 15, OTC elk. This will be the week after muzzleloader and from everything I have read here, it should be right on or a day after the peak of the rut. Looks like an area I picked has general elevation of 8000 to 10,500.

When looking at topo maps and aerial photos, what are you looking for? Open meadows surrounded by timber? Darker timber? More elevation related?

When you guys talk about seeing fresh sign, what are you looking for? Thrashed trees, fresh prints near water/wallows, poop? As your hiking in, what makes you slow down and start hunting more than hiking?

[Chew]

Chew, if you come through Abilene at meal time, give me a holler. Maybe I won't be dove hunting this time.

Will do. We haven't nailed down our itinerary yet. Me and Caddenhead are going to a different location than last year...but I think we're going through Abilene.

[westtexducks]

I'm all caught up from the very first post. Figured I better read it all before I start asking questions. I took notes all the way through and really appreciate all the contributions, definitely a information overload.

I've never hunted Elk before, but will be headed up to hunt nearly a week in Colorado Unit 15, OTC elk. This will be the week after muzzleloader and from everything I have read here, it should be right on or a day after the peak of the rut. Looks like an area I picked has general elevation of 8000 to 10,500.

When looking at topo maps and aerial photos, what are you looking for? Open meadows surrounded by timber? Darker timber? More elevation related?

When you guys talk about seeing fresh sign, what are you looking for? Thrashed trees, fresh prints near water/wallows, poop? As your hiking in, what makes you slow down and start hunting more than hiking?

This is what I did to find my spot/spots where I will be hunting opening weekend.

I first look at accessibility to an area. The harder it is to get to the better. For example one of my spots you have to drop down into a bowl that is 800 feet of elevation gain that is essentially straight up and down. It is only a mile and a half from the closest road but that drop down into the bowl deters a lot of hunters from getting in. Or to come up to it from the main trailed head is close to 3 miles. So this forms a pocket with little to no human presence for the elk to feel safe in and gets me away from other hunters.

2nd I started to look for water, mostly standing water as I will be hunting southern colorado early season when they will be hitting wallows and water heavily. To find these you really have to rely on aerial photos. I was able to find several that showed to hold water, also you have to be looking for feed as well. In my case there are some great meadows above and at timberline within a half mile of the water sources.

So now I have 3 of the things needed to hold elk. Last thing I looked for was some nice thick dark timber to provide cover and give them a place to hide. The area I am in is pure dark timber with scattered waterholes hidden in it. So they have every thing they need, food, cover, water, and secluded from humans.

As far as what sign I was looking for while getting boots on the ground intel of the spots I found from above. I look for poop, tracks, and if I can pull it off elk. My current spot I have seen or heard elk every time I have been in their scouting and hunting. This past weekend jumped one group of 4 cows, 1 bull, and then snuck up on 5 cows all on water.

Look up Randy Newberg on youtube and check out his videos on elk hunting and how he scouts and what he looks for at certain times year.

Will also add I found close to 20 or 30 spots on google earth that I then marked on my gps to check out, out of that initial group of spots I narrowed it down to 3 spots after looking at them from the ground.

As far as when to start hunting vs hiking, I have found that you should really be hunting soon as you leave the truck. Never know what or when your going to run into something. But you will also learn your area more as you hunt it and will figure out what areas will hold elk and where you can just blow through.

Good luck and hope this helped.

[Wits_End]

This is what I did to find my spot/spots where I will be hunting opening weekend.

I first look at accessibility to an area. The harder it is to get to the better. For example one of my spots you have to drop down into a bowl that is 800 feet of elevation gain that is essentially straight up and down. It is only a mile and a half from the closest road but that drop down into the bowl deters a lot of hunters from getting in. Or to come up to it from the main trailed head is close to 3 miles. So this forms a pocket with little to no human presence for the elk to feel safe in and gets me away from other hunters.

2nd I started to look for water, mostly standing water as I will be hunting southern colorado early season when they will be hitting wallows and water heavily. To find these you really have to rely on aerial photos. I was able to find several that showed to hold water, also you have to be looking for feed as well. In my case there are some great meadows above and at timberline within a half mile of the water sources.

So now I have 3 of the things needed to hold elk. Last thing I looked for was some nice thick dark timber to provide cover and give them a place to hide. The area I am in is pure dark timber with scattered waterholes hidden in it. So they have every thing they need, food, cover, water, and secluded from humans.

As far as what sign I was looking for while getting boots on the ground intel of the spots I found from above. I look for poop, tracks, and if I can pull it off elk. My current spot I have seen or heard elk every time I have been in their scouting and hunting. This past weekend jumped one group of 4 cows, 1 bull, and then snuck up on 5 cows all on water.

Look up Randy Newberg on youtube and check out his videos on elk hunting and how he scouts and what he looks for at certain times year.

Will also add I found close to 20 or 30 spots on google earth that I then marked on my gps to check out, out of that initial group of spots I narrowed it down to 3 spots after looking at them from the ground.

As far as when to start hunting vs hiking, I have found that you should really be hunting soon as you leave the truck. Never know what or when your going to run into something. But you will also learn your area more as you hunt it and will figure out what areas will hold elk and where you can just blow through.

Good luck and hope this helped.

Thanks for the great input. Im trying to soak it all up, but without boots on the ground the confidence is not so high.

Debating making this an in debt learning experience this year. Pass on buying a tag and spend that money on better gear. Then br more prepared next year with a few scouting trips under my belt. I just know the second I see an elk im going to regret not getting a tag.

[westtexducks]

If you can swing it maybe think about taking 2 less days to hunt and instead burn them this month to scout. I would rather get extra scout time if it helps me to kill an elk during season

[TWP]

I suggest you don't! Don't worry about the gear, the guys who kill elk every year know how to hunt elk. Meaning, you have to know what to do and when to do it. The only way you can do that is time in the field. It isn't the years, it is the miles kind of thing. Got boots? Got a weapon? Got backpack? Got any kind of tent? You are ready to go elk hunting!!!! Don't worry about the hows and whys, get out there and fail forward. You got this.

Thanks for the great input. Im trying to soak it all up, but without boots on the ground the confidence is not so high.

Debating making this an in debt learning experience this year. Pass on buying a tag and spend that money on better gear. Then br more prepared next year with a few scouting trips under my belt. I just know the second I see an elk im going to regret not getting a tag.

[Wits_End]

I suggest you don't! Don't worry about the gear, the guys who kill elk every year know how to hunt elk. Meaning, you have to know what to do and when to do it. The only way you can do that is time in the field. It isn't the years, it is the miles kind of thing. Got boots? Got a weapon? Got backpack? Got any kind of tent? You are ready to go elk hunting!!!! Don't worry about the hows and whys, get out there and fail forward. You got this.

Convinced!!!
Got a tuned bow, heavy arrows, borrowing 5600 hiking pack, borrowing 2 person tent, borrowing lightweight sleeping pad, sharing water filtration and cooking gear

Things to buy:
Hiking boots - looking at Salomon 2 4D GTX
GPS - looking at Garmin 64s (I have awesome map/terrain skills, but more for SHTF)
General gear for 4-5 days of camping deep in there
Better/Smaller sleeping bag




Ive been scouting a single area so hard I think I know every tree in that area. Trying to narrow down an attack plan. Do Elk travel over a ridge(thru saddle) to get to the southern face of the ridge to feed or do they feed in the north facing meadows the majority of the time?

[Texans42]

Thanks for the great input. Im trying to soak it all up, but without boots on the ground the confidence is not so high.

Debating making this an in debt learning experience this year. Pass on buying a tag and spend that money on better gear. Then br more prepared next year with a few scouting trips under my belt. I just know the second I see an elk im going to regret not getting a tag.

Tag.

We eraticated sub species of elk before 1920.

Gear doesn't kill elk may make the process more comfortable but it won't kill an elk for you.

[firemove]

Anyone hunted elk in Unit 2 northern New Mexico? How about you Clovis (Acook)?

[Chris Martin]

Anyone hunted elk in Unit 2 northern New Mexico? How about you Clovis (Acook)?

I hunted there in 2013 and had a ball. There were some nice bulls hanging around and I came really close to laying one down.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Colorado87]

I'm all caught up from the very first post. Figured I better read it all before I start asking questions. I took notes all the way through and really appreciate all the contributions, definitely a information overload.

I've never hunted Elk before, but will be headed up to hunt nearly a week in Colorado Unit 15, OTC elk. This will be the week after muzzleloader and from everything I have read here, it should be right on or a day after the peak of the rut. Looks like an area I picked has general elevation of 8000 to 10,500.

When looking at topo maps and aerial photos, what are you looking for? Open meadows surrounded by timber? Darker timber? More elevation related?

When you guys talk about seeing fresh sign, what are you looking for? Thrashed trees, fresh prints near water/wallows, poop? As your hiking in, what makes you slow down and start hunting more than hiking?

Here is my two cents for what its worth...First of all I have been hunting elf for 17 years in Colorado. It is by far the most challenging hunting I do. There is a reason they call elk the "ghost of the forest." As long as your expectations are not overly high and your in it as much for the experience as the kill you will love it. The state average success rate in CO for elk hunting hovers a little over 10%. Obviously it varies from area to area and season to season. I would say get the license and go for it, but just have reasonable expectations about success. Pick an area and stick with it for several years. Overtime you can learn habits of the elk in that area. A few things about elk also: when pressured they can cover 10-20 miles in a hour no problem. They could care less about bedding down in the same place every night. They may return to a bed area if they feel unpressured or they may not. If pressured you can guarantee they will not be back. You asked about which direct they feed, there is no answer to that. They will stick to trees when they can. As the snow builds they will sleep in the timber and feed along the edge in the morning and evening. If there is a big moon, they will often feed at night. If given the option they will run up hill when you bust them. The best option is to find a place that they appear to feed in and be waiting. Fresh sign for me is tracks in new snow or droppings. However sign just educates me on where they are and what they do. It is almost impossible to track or walk up on a elk following their sign. If I am going to walk ans hunt I move real slow a few steps at a time and just observe. If see something I never try to follow it. I always try to figure out where it is going or will be and beat it there. The rut changes a lot and the bulls get stupid, but the timing of the rut changes every year. Last year it was well in to 2nd rifle in many places before the rut hit. Basically there is no recipe other than time in the woods, time glassing, and sometimes just some luck. Good luck to you! Enjoy the hunt and the challenge of it!

[ELKAHOLIC]

Here is my two cents for what its worth...First of all I have been hunting elf for 17 years in Colorado. It is by far the most challenging hunting I do. There is a reason they call elk the "ghost of the forest." As long as your expectations are not overly high and your in it as much for the experience as the kill you will love it. The state average success rate in CO for elk hunting hovers a little over 10%. Obviously it varies from area to area and season to season. I would say get the license and go for it, but just have reasonable expectations about success. Pick an area and stick with it for several years. Overtime you can learn habits of the elk in that area. A few things about elk also: when pressured they can cover 10-20 miles in a hour no problem. They could care less about bedding down in the same place every night. They may return to a bed area if they feel unpressured or they may not. If pressured you can guarantee they will not be back. You asked about which direct they feed, there is no answer to that. They will stick to trees when they can. As the snow builds they will sleep in the timber and feed along the edge in the morning and evening. If there is a big moon, they will often feed at night. If given the option they will run up hill when you bust them. The best option is to find a place that they appear to feed in and be waiting. Fresh sign for me is tracks in new snow or droppings. However sign just educates me on where they are and what they do. It is almost impossible to track or walk up on a elk following their sign. If I am going to walk ans hunt I move real slow a few steps at a time and just observe. If see something I never try to follow it. I always try to figure out where it is going or will be and beat it there. The rut changes a lot and the bulls get stupid, but the timing of the rut changes every year. Last year it was well in to 2nd rifle in many places before the rut hit. Basically there is no recipe other than time in the woods, time glassing, and sometimes just some luck. Good luck to you! Enjoy the hunt and the challenge of it!

I agree with all of this, except In my experience, elk when busted will use the path of least resistance which is normally down hill.
Elk are very unpredictable. Scouting is great for learning some areas to check out when you actually hunt, but just because you saw or didn't see elk there when you scouted, doesn't mean you will see them there while hunting.
On your first day of hunting, If you don't see fresh sign, go somewhere else. Don't waste another precious day there, but don't be afraid to check there again in about 5 days.
Definitely don't get caught up in the gear dilemma, GO HUNT! a week of hunting experience is worth a lot more than any overpriced, lightweight, state of the art, newest design, gear.
With that being said, good boots are the one thing you should not go without. The Solomon's you mentioned are great, I used them last year and loved them.

[Wits_End]

I definitely don't have super high expectations, but I do have big dreams, and backing that up with a strong drive to get some opportunity on this trip. Appreciate the great information.

As far as not finding Elk sign and moving to a new area. I have a good size area I have narrowed in on, several different specific areas within that, a few miles away from each other, but all within same altitude range. Lets say I hit the first area and don't see any fresh sign and no elk. Are you talking moving 2 miles, 5 miles, or 30 miles away to a new area to try to find them?

Area I am scanning looks to have an altitude from 8K to 10K, lots of streams.

[ELKAHOLIC]

I definitely don't have super high expectations, but I do have big dreams, and backing that up with a strong drive to get some opportunity on this trip. Appreciate the great information.

As far as not finding Elk sign and moving to a new area. I have a good size area I have narrowed in on, several different specific areas within that, a few miles away from each other, but all within same altitude range. Lets say I hit the first area and don't see any fresh sign and no elk. Are you talking moving 2 miles, 5 miles, or 30 miles away to a new area to try to find them?

Area I am scanning looks to have an altitude from 8K to 10K, lots of streams.

Depends on how far you hike in each day. I tend to cover a lot of ground on foot when I am hunting public land. I would say go into another area at least 5-10 miles from the spot you went in and saw no fresh sign. But 30 miles away would be good to try too.
The point is stay mobile, keep going till you find them. Don't wait for them to come to you. Each day that goes by your chances decrease by a lot, by day 3 your legs are ready to quit, by day 5 I normally get a second wind and feel better, but the mind starts to doubt. Just don't waste any energy or will power in an area with no elk. Let the wanderlust of "what's over that hill?" lead the way. Try to stay alert at all times you might hunt 4 or 5 days seeing nothing but a few mule deer, then bam all the sudden you have elk right in front of you. In the meantime take in all of Gods wonders and breath that air.
Sounds like you are going in with the right attitude and soon you will be an addict.

[Colorado87]

I agree with all of this, except In my experience, elk when busted will use the path of least resistance which is normally down hill.
Elk are very unpredictable. Scouting is great for learning some areas to check out when you actually hunt, but just because you saw or didn't see elk there when you scouted, doesn't mean you will see them there while hunting.
On your first day of hunting, If you don't see fresh sign, go somewhere else. Don't waste another precious day there, but don't be afraid to check there again in about 5 days.
Definitely don't get caught up in the gear dilemma, GO HUNT! a week of hunting experience is worth a lot more than any overpriced, lightweight, state of the art, newest design, gear.
With that being said, good boots are the one thing you should not go without. The Solomon's you mentioned are great, I used them last year and loved them.

My experience is up hill yours is down, but we all agree they are not predictable. I cant agree more on the gear. My dad hunts with a $200 Remington pump 30-06 kills them dead every time. You could probably replace most of the rest his gear for less than $1000 and he has killed over 30 elk. Make sure you have a warm place to sleep and good boots (I bring an insulated pair and an uninsulated pair). Otherwise just get up there and cover as much ground as you can. No substitute for time in the woods. Lastly get out of your truck, off your atv and away from the roads. Its crazy how many road hunters there are that cant understand why they don't see animals. Not a problem for archers in general, but definitely an issue in rifle seasons.
Oh and go ahead and set aside a week every fall from here on out, its pretty addicting once you have a taste.