Early season elk tactics

[mandrroofing]

This year I will be hunting Colorado\'s opening archery I have 3 weeks to get it done I have never hunted this early before and kind of wanted to see what tactics I should be using. I hear that the elk not as vocal but it is possible to use light calling to bring in silent elk. Late August, would this be a good time to sit wallow and watering holes but at the same time I\'ve heard that Colorado has had a lot of rain. Any tips or advice early season archery for elk? Thanks!

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[cnelk]

Matt
Gotta be mobile, mobile, mobile.
Hunt areas soft, penetrate them and do light calling and move on to the next one if no elk contact.
Dont get hung up on one or two spots.

If I have an elk encounter in a morning, I wont go back to that spot until a day later, probably in the evening.
I dont want the elk to pattern me!

When \'cold calling\', Watch for the movement of elk legs as they come in silent.
Its a great time to call in cows and bulls

 

[Swede]

Early season and wet would find me hunting to get in close, then cow calling and making short small bull calls. It may be my bias, but I am more patient than many, and prefer to peek their curiosity, move a few yards and wait. Have a good spot to call from and am ambush place close by. Call and wait. Call and wait. After 45 minutes to an hour, move on. You can do this all day, but I would spend the mid afternoon and evening in a good tree stand. If there is water everywhere, then set up over a trail junction or in a passage way.

 

[mandrroofing]

If a tree stand is not an optio.n is there any way to sit on the ground without being detected?

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[Swede]

A good ground blind is always a possibility. In some spots, I would have two blinds. One would be for the midday and one for in the early and late hours of the day, then the thermals are going downhill. Another possibility would be one of the portable blinds that are out. I don\'t care for them too much, but they can be good cover and are warm.

 

[mandrroofing]

The only thing I really want to carry in is the essentials impossibly creating natural ground blind sounds like it might be an option

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[AndyJ]

It\'s all about the year. My best and worst days have been on the first few days of the season. Some years it is hot or pouring and the elk seem to be in a lazy mood and are just not all that fun to hunt. Other years they are bugling their heads off and coming in hot to calls. About four years ago on opening morning, I called five bulls into shooting range in the first two hours. One of which was an absolute giant 5x5. I still run through that scenario daily to figure out what I should have done differently to get a shot.

Last year, however, was the exact opposite. The wind was non stop and the elk weren\'t moving much or making a sound.

My best advice: be ready for anything.

 

[AndyJ]

I forgot to mention. Depending on where you\'re hunting in CO keep in mind a lot of CO has been unusually wet. Waterholes and wallows can look amazing without actually getting a ton of traffic. If you aren\'t certain elk are frequently using a waterhole or wallow I would recommend not sitting over it for too long.

 

[mtnmutt]

My comments are based on my current OTC area and may not be applicable to other areas.

My area has a lot of hunting pressure opening weekend. Mid-week hunting (Tues-Thurs) is great. The elk in my area are more willing to respond to my calls mid-week when the woods have less hunters. Watch how the elk behave between day 2 (Sunday) and 3 days later.

As a solo hunter, single cow and calf chirps have worked better for me than multiple calls. The veteran elk hunters in my area use the same tactic. My biggest issue is finding a natural barrier (Talus, deadfall) on my downwind side to discourage elk from circling downwind.

Setting up on frequently used travel routes from feed to bedding has provided me the most encounters. In most cases, I prefer closer to bedding than feed for both morning and evening hunts. I never sit water holes in wet or dry years. This season, I am trying ambush for opening week rather than relying on cold calling. I am only doing this because I know some well used game trails. Find the ones that are good on day 3. Some of the heavily used trails on opening day may dry up after hunting pressure begins.

Opening weekend hunting pressure pushes the elk away from their higher August locations towards the cows, therefore, I switched to trying to find the cows in August. The young bulls move towards the cows opening week. Muzzleloader pushes the elk even more and it becomes more difficult for me to find the elk. Locate the cows within 3 days if you wish to find bulls for the rest of your hunting days.

Perhaps in the second week, contact bugles may help locate the bulls. My area has bulls bugling as early as opening week, however, it is extremely limited. Because of my hearing loss, I have never bugled to find the bulls. I now have the luxury of a local hunter providing me with almost daily updates throughout September. Last season, the bugling got under way a bit more starting Sunday evening, September 7th which surprised me. It varies each year.

In most cases, I make a natural ground blind if I need to block a particular direction for approaching elk. New for this year, I purchased a Slip System with the Dark Timber cover to avoid having to make a ground blind.

There are bachelor groups in early September. If I see one elk, I watch to see if other elk are nearby. I encounter solo cows, small groups of cows and calfs and also single cows with a young bull. More eyes & ears, more chance of being busted. They are not in the herds like in mid to late September.