Hunting Elk In or Near Meadows

[mtnmutt]

Multiple people mentioned in this topic that elk avoided large meadows.
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In one of my areas, there is a extremely large meadow 1/2 mile from the road and 1/2 mile from the Wilderness boundary. I have observed elk in this meadow in the tips/narrow portions before 7:15 am. They stay in the portion that gets hit last by the rising sun and leave it as soon as the sun reaches that tip.

Since the elk were at the far end, it is hard to get to them without being detected. The surrounding trees are higher than the meadow, therefore, you have to traverse higher ground to get to the far end which doesn\'t work for the morning thermals. The meadow may have been an old lake.

I have also had a close encounter with a 6x6 that was traversing the near end pocket of the meadow at 6:50 am on the 3rd Saturday of the season which was opening day of muzzleloader. I have considered an ambush at this location. I am hesitant of placing a trail cam there because a path nearby gets a bit of foot traffic from people scouting.

Do any of you at least hunt the fringes of the meadows, no matter its size?

I have noticed game trails paralleling meadows about 30-50 yards into the trees for the oblong shaped meadows. I will place a trail cam on one of these game trails when I go scouting.

 

[cnelk]

I avoid hunting big meadows but look for those spots you described on the very edge, hidden from most.
The elk like to frequent it but not for long. If you find where they go from there, or hunt within a few hundred yards of that area would be my suggestion.
I would bet there is a wallow in there somewhere

Seeing elk is a good thing. Then put the other pieces together and figure out how to hunt them.

 

[getemduck]

I hunted meadows when i first started hunting elk and quickly learned elk dont cross them like a deer would. But i also dont mark them off as a place to avoid. Every year i hunted a meadow i had a game camera on my treestand tree and every year i have elk photos on the camera. ..... Just all of them at night. I found that if you find a meadow with good elk sign then find the route they take to travel around it.

 

[Tdiesel]

i definetly hunt near meadows if archery hunting meadows can be a trap though (rifle different story) sure first thing in the morning the elk might be out there but you cant get close enough to them to do any good. As stated they normally(it can happen) don\'t cross one if being called to instead they would come to the edge and peer out into it. If you can find a well used trail that they travel comming into the meadow at night then follow it up a ways and ambush them. In another thread I stated I hunt elk where they are so I don\'t cross off anything truthfully if one morning a strong wind would allow I would sneak along the edge and try to move within range of the elk sooner or later they will exit and if your close to them a shot might just happen. In certain areas I hunt there are lot of large meadows just as you described and late evening to early morning the elk will be out there. I don\'t think elk avoid large meadows they just usually start for the bedding ground before it gets real light and usually don\'t enter until they have the cover of darkness.

 

[OldMan]

I don\'t hunt the actual meadows, but use them to see where they go in and out of the timber. I\'ll go in the timber for them if it\'s possible, and if it\'s not I may ambush them going in and out. You don\'t want to blow a setup like this if it\'s not being pressured by other hunters. Be patient, because it may take a few days to set this up just right.

 

[Swede]

Mutt, I see we are all over the map so to speak on meadow hunting. I don\'t particularly hunt them as I can see everywhere in one, and so can the elk. It is not even advisable to cross them if you are chasing an elk. I have seen elk in meadows and burns that have grassed in. If you are going to set up to call elk around one, place yourself in cover, in a position where the meadow is to your back. Don\'t expect the elk to cross the meadow to get to you. The bull will hang up before he gets in shooting distance. He will know he should see you and something is wrong.

 

[Glacier Country]

I avoid hunting big meadows but look for those spots you described on the very edge, hidden from most.
The elk like to frequent it but not for long. If you find where they go from there, or hunt within a few hundred yards of that area would be my suggestion.
I would bet there is a wallow in there somewhere

Seeing elk is a good thing. Then put the other pieces together and figure out how to hunt them.

cnelk is spot on here IMO, with a bow it is too hard to control what you can do at the edge of the meadow. Now those trails that parallel it is a good place to start wind permitting. Especially the pinch points you mention at the far end,or where a couple of those trails intersect or the wallow area cnelk mentioned.

 

[JohnFitzgerald]

I\'d have to agree with everyone. The edges of a meadow can be hot if you find where the most usages is.