Approaching/Stalking Elk Herd in Brushy Terrain

[bcnorth]

I am wondering what experienced hunters do when facing a situation where a small to medium sized herd of elk is either milling around and feeding or slowly moving away and feeding in brushy terrain? Lets assume its 6:00pm and have 1.5hrs to darkness.

I hunt northern bc rocky mountains/foothills for elk and continually run into this scenario. The brush is scrub birch, willow and spruce/pine mix up in sub - alpine terrain. There are trails everywhere but the scrub birch brushes against legs, torso, boots and pack. We try our best to still - hunt toward them (downwind of course) but usually stop and try to come up with a back up plan due to 'swishing' noise. Most times they move off feeding and we don't have a viable option to getting around and cutting them off due to wind and steep terrain.

Is there a pant/coverall that will excel? Should we do the best we can and move toward with a caller 50m to 100m behind and make minimal noise possible? Work on calling and try best to call them in? (I am currently taking the course and plan to be a much better caller, I would guess I have moderate skill in calling). Do those occasional 'swishing' against pants etc. alert them to much even if we stop and wait for 30 seconds or more?

I plan to try pulling oversized wool socks over hiking boots in 2018 as a start.

Main hunting pant: KUIU attack pant
Shirt: KUIU merino wool long sleeve

I would love to hear any strategies that work or not.

 

[sweetroll]

It?s sounds like we?re in a similar boat in terms of learning how to call etc. and I won?t pretend to be an expert. But, it seems like a good calling setup overcomes a lot of other noise you make trying to get close. I keep hearing people say that elk don?t react to noise as bad as other game when they believe other elk are in the area. I think it?s a much bigger deal to play the wind and try and have the shooter intersect the animals path when it is trying to come in down wind of the caller.
Having said that, having the socks or moccasins in the pack will probably come in handy in some scenarios like if the elk are bedded or not coming to the call.


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[cohunter14]

Welcome to the site bcnorth!  :welcome:


I've haven't had the situation come up during archery hunting elk (yet), so I won't comment on what I would do, but certainly having quiet pants that avoid the 'swishing' noise you refer to would help in stalking closer. However, with a herd of elk, you are typically never going to be able to stalk close enough to get a shot without them seeing you.


As you continue on through the University of Elk Hunting Course I think you'll find some good ideas on setups and getting the bulls attention when he already has a harem with him.

 

[bcnorth]

Does anyone have experience with the FirstLite obsidian pant? Is it quiet through brush?

 

[ribo451]

I wear clothes that are silent just for this reason. Either wool or fleece. Cotton if it's early season and I'm not worried about weather. My favorite hunting method besides calling is still hunting and quite clothes make a huge difference. An elk herd is generally making enough noise of there own that as long as your noise isn't out if place (like swishing) you can get away with it as long as they cant see you or obviously smell you. 

 

[Kdkehoe]

I can?t speak to that scenario I hunt in thick timber and steep drainages usually. .  But my hunting partner has been talking stalking moccasins for a couple years.  I recently noticed a product for just that. Rimrock Stalkers. They look like they?d get the job done and be decent on the feet.  He always takes his boots off if he?s creeping in for the final yardage gap.

Any stall with an hour and a half would be tough in those conditions though I imagine