Does this interest you?

I

iccyman001

New member
Apr 30, 2014
5,489
You\'re out deep in the woods, at least 3-5 miles away from where anyone else would go.
The area is SCREAMING elk, lots of sign, bedding, good food and cover.... but.... according to the map, the closest water is 1.5 miles away.

Well, you find this.....
It\'s fairly deep, definitely can stay consistent if it rains at all, and even as it goes down you still have mud to wallow in......


Anyways.... does this spot interest you?
Would you care about this water or just walk on by?





There is a reason I am asking :D
 
A game camera will tell you all you need to know... :)

Plus, I would build up the low side of that pond to create more dam
 
\"cnelk\" said:
A game camera will tell you all you need to know... :)

Plus, I would build up the low side of that pond to create more dam
Click to expand...


There may or may not be a game camera over it as we speak ;)

I LOVE the dam idea, thanks Brad!
 
Unless that waterhole has tracks around it, I\'m not all that impressed with it. The water is crystal clear so it doesn\'t look like anything is using it. Since the nearest water is over a mile away, this could be a good source for a mid day drink. But go ahead and cam it up and see what happens. :dk: .
 
\">>>---WW---->\" said:
Unless that waterhole has tracks around it, I\'m not all that impressed with it. The water is crystal clear so it doesn\'t look like anything is using it. Since the nearest water is over a mile away, this could be a good source for a mid day drink. But go ahead and cam it up and see what happens. :dk: .
Click to expand...

Tracks were REAL good out there.
It\'s still fairly wet out there because of snow melt off, but I think this spot will be used more as the other water dries up.
BUT.... this could also dry up....so.... we will let the camera tell us a story!


I think worst case we just get some cool pictures that I can share with everyone :upthumb:
 
Yep it will be interesting to see what the cam shows.

Could be one of those honey holes if everyone else does not know about it to. ;)
 
Looks good for now but the water looks like run off or rain water. I\'d check on it through the summer and see if it\'s holding. Either way the sign around looks great. :clap:
 
I think it looks promising. If we have some rain then it could stay a small water hole. If it starts to dry up a little it could turn into a wallow. It looks shaded so the moisture should stay a little longer than most spots. I\'m sure your camera will tell you to stay or move.
 
\"cnelk\" said:
A game camera will tell you all you need to know... :)

Plus, I would build up the low side of that pond to create more dam
Click to expand...

When I antelope hunted with Bill Allard one of the first things I learned from him is to carry a shovel when you are hunting water/arid areas. We did a lot of waterhole maintenance and it was amazing how you could block off areas by damming and then watch the water dry up extremely fast. Granted....it takes a much more prominent water source for elk to drink but the practice is the same I would think.

He also told me about finding seeps of water and turning them into elk waterholes with a little manpower. This type of stuff is not new for many of you western guys but when coming from an area of the country where we have TONS of water, its importance can almost be forgotten due to its availability.
 
If you found this in May, pretty sure it will be bone dry come September. If it does hold water from rain, there will be many similar wet spots. Putting a camera will show you what happens, however, I think your August footage will be most valuable. The shovel / dam recommendations are good to see if you can \"create\" something.
 
Where I hunt in NW Colorado, a water hole like that would be considered to be just a snow melt catch pond. Unless it is spring fed, it would be bone dry by the time hunting season rolls around. But, what the heck, stick a cam on it and lets see what happens. Could be interesting so long as there is water in it.
 
I have to agree that this is probably just from snow melt and won\'t be there in August. I see some grass growing from inside the water, which tells me it isn\'t typically a water hole. But then again you never know!
 
This thread is purely for education and gee wizz info FYI.
Almost like an exercise.

I found this spot and figured it would be cool to ask what people thought and then post results as we go.



I also think it\'s just snow melt off and subject to drying up, but for educational purposes I want to see how much it gets used and if it still stays muddy enough during the season.

I think you guys may be surprised..... I may have history with this spot ;)
 
Dan, I don\'t want to hijack your thread, however, this picture made me think something similar \"does this interest you\". I have not put a camera on it yet but it does seem to get some regular activity as a dry wallow.

hmmmm - tree stand?
 

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\"Stoneman\" said:
Dan, I don\'t want to hijack your thread, however, this picture made me think something similar \"does this interest you\". I have not put a camera on it yet but it does seem to get some regular activity as a dry wallow.

hmmmm - tree stand?
Click to expand...

Post away, Dave!!
We aren\'t gonna be able to learn or have discussions without pics like that!
Post as many as you want and anyone else feel free to as well! :dance2:



Regarding your picture, I think it would be cool to see what comes in to it and a tree stand would look awesome there!
 
Dave do you think it could be a natural mineral lick?

I know of one where I used to hunt that the elk hit quite a bit.
 
\"F M\" said:
Dave do you think it could be a natural mineral lick?

I know of one where I used to hunt that the elk hit quite a bit.
Click to expand...

Francis, not sure where the minerals would come from? Might be hard to see from the pic but this was an old rotted tree that has been ground up and spread around by elk wallowing. There are no seeps or water so other then the cool rotting bark, it is basically a dry wallow. I did think about a tree stand but this is dark timber and the wind is never consistent.
 
My first thought was a bear torn the tree up looking for bugs. That\'s what our bears do here a lot.
 
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