Map Study

[atfrith]

This is a very small area thats become somewhat of a honey hole over the years for me. I had a difficult time figuring out how to copy and paste maps into here so hopefully these come out ok, but as you can see by the maps, it\'s very close to a relatively high traveled road. There is an access point just south of the map to a heavily traveled national forest area so most hunters fly right by this area. The black circle towards the bottom of the topo map is the only feasible access point, and where we park the truck. It is then a very steap hike roughly following the gray line towards the top of the ridge, we hunt the \"back side\" where all the dark timber is. The \"front\" is seen by tons of hunters/people each day so the elk generally avoid that south facing side but do feed over into the bowls occasionally. What say you guys about how you would approach this smallish area? I\'m curious if you guys would approach it the same way i have over the past few years and if you think you\'d concentrate/see elk where I have seen them. I have NOT been successful in harvesting an archery elk back there, but would like to change that this year.

I think you can see on the aerial imagery the service roads on the back side, there is NO public access to those and actually just north of that beaver pond is largery private property. We have yet to run into another hunter on that back side, though have seen a couple skirt the top of the ridge and decide it was too steep for them and bug out shortly after. I put a game camera up for the first time this year in a small meadow i\'ve ran into deer before, but discoverd the learning curve with trail cameras last week when I went up to pull the card, only to discover thousands of the exact same picture due to wind causing something to move and taking pictures over and over and over again. :clap:

 

[atfrith]

Ahh, those pictures came out kinda small, if anybody has tips on how to input better maps onto here that\'d be great, or which sites work the best as far as turning them into a pain file. I usually use Caltopo but I couldn\'t figure out how to transfer those images into pain :crazy:

 

[Swede]

Unless you are water hole hunting the area it looks like you can cover it pretty well in a couple of days. I don\'t know where the elk come from or where they go, if and when they leave, but either way I would hunt it a couple of days, then go somewhere else, then go over it after a short break. It is likely that the elk feed in the openings to the north or south during the night and bed in the heavy cover well up on the north slope during the day. Stay down wind and work your calls. As you said it is a small area, so don\'t get in a hurry. You have the area to yourself, so don\'t push the elk out. Be patient and wait where you call for up to an hour. Personally I prefer niches like you have there.

 

[Olympushunt]

Nice lookin hiddy hole. What about that road on the east side of the map? Is it open and usable? If I was still hunting/calling, I would prefer to be at the bottom of those drainages to the north before light, and work my way up slowly as the thermals are coming down in my face. Once the wind has clearly started going back up I would cross a ridge and come back down.....nice and slow as they are likely to be bedded then. My bull last year was bedded and came to check things out to cow calls in the mid afternoon. His last mistake. I also like the idea of spike camping on the ridge above those draws you have there with the ability to listen through the night at any potential bull in a particular drainage and then ease down a drainage to the side and pop over into his drainage below him in the early morning. AND THEN....... :mg:

 

[cohunter14]

Nice lookin hiddy hole. What about that road on the east side of the map? Is it open and usable? If I was still hunting/calling, I would prefer to be at the bottom of those drainages to the north before light, and work my way up slowly as the thermals are coming down in my face. Once the wind has clearly started going back up I would cross a ridge and come back down.....nice and slow as they are likely to be bedded then. My bull last year was bedded and came to check things out to cow calls in the mid afternoon. His last mistake. I also like the idea of spike camping on the ridge above those draws you have there with the ability to listen through the night at any potential bull in a particular drainage and then ease down a drainage to the side and pop over into his drainage below him in the early morning. AND THEN....... :mg:

This was my thought as well. Instead of hiking up and over in the morning, you are already at the top and can try to get below them early. Plus it would save some walking. Either way, this is a great example of how you don\'t have to travel miles off the beaten path to get away from other hunters and into a honey hole. Nice find!

 

[atfrith]

That road on the east is an ATV trail that looks misleadingly large on the map. It actually starts down near where we park the truck and is usable up to about the point on the map you see it dissapear. The other end of that trail starts on private property I believe. The south slope is a BEAST of a hike to get up each morning and we\'ve debated taking an ATV to the top of the ridge and parking it but I\'m afraid of the elk hearing it and blowing out of the country, so we\'ve never done that and always hike up and take a rest on the top before venturing down the other side, but man does that start to take its toll. The idea of camping up there has crossed my mind too....but for the same reason we havn\'t done it as i dont want to blow any elk out of the small area. I like the idea of being down the bottom of the north side by day light, we\'ve always made roughly about half way down the back side (west end) and then put our faces in the wind and countoured to the east. For some reason the wind seems to always be blowing from east to west on that back side (though lightly). There are quite a few heavily used game trails countouring the side of the hill, we get on one and slowly make our way east. We can usually count on running into a small group of them making their way up one of those trails and whether its us just not moving slow enough or what, but they see us before we see them and out they go. But as mentioned earlier, thats generally rifle season, and this will be my first attempt at it during archery, I figure some cold calling setups along one of those game trails may be a good ticket.

 

[Olympushunt]

The idea of camping up there has crossed my mind too....but for the same reason we havn\'t done it as i dont want to blow any elk out of the small area. I like the idea of being down the bottom of the north side by day light, we\'ve always made roughly about half way down the back side (west end) and then put our faces in the wind and countoured to the east. For some reason the wind seems to always be blowing from east to west on that back side (though lightly). There are quite a few heavily used game trails countouring the side of the hill, we get on one and slowly make our way east. We can usually count on running into a small group of them making their way up one of those trails and whether its us just not moving slow enough or what, but they see us before we see them and out they go. But as mentioned earlier, thats generally rifle season, and this will be my first attempt at it during archery, I figure some cold calling setups along one of those game trails may be a good ticket.

Spike camp on top....seriously...you won\'t spook them being on top of that ridge. Just be reasonably quiet..no campfire and you\'ll be fine. Listen through the night and you might very well hear a bugle down in one of those draws some night. Then pull a Corey Jacobsen on his arss. Easy does it in there since you have private ground below there is increased chances too much pressure and they are on it in a heart beat. Spike if from the top and you\'ll do fine. Just easy does it. You\'ll find you are less in a rush if you are on top of that ridge before light instead of having to hike up that nasty south face.

 

[atfrith]

Guess I just needed some reassurance on that! I\'ll run the idea by my hunting buddy and spike it out up there. On a scouting trip last year during archery season, but scouting for rifle, I did hear a bugle mid morning coming roughly from the direction north and west somewhere between the ridge and that lake. AHH the season is almost here and im getting pumped :mrgreen:

 

[atfrith]

Heres another shot of the backside, looking from the north, Bing maps birdseye view. The little red circles are my ideas for spike camp locations. Green circle is the general area we seem to have the most elk sitings and the red oval above it I believe is a bedding area. There is always a lot of sign in that area between droppings, beds, and heavily used game trails. I think we\'ll set up outside of that area whever the wind is good and do some cold calling.

 

[cohunter14]

I would also think about bringing camp up on the south facing side of the slope with an ATV. Get as high as you can without cresting the hill. If you don\'t crest the hill, nothing on that north side is going to hear you or bust out of there. Just an idea to save you some extra work...

 

[JohnFitzgerald]

What time of year will you be hunting? Sorry if you already stated it.

jf

 

[atfrith]

As much as I can through bow season, I\'ll try and make it up opening weekend, then as my work schedule allows. The majority of our time will be during the muzzleloader week trying to get my buddy his first elk. So he gets the majority of opportunitys that week. I\'m on my own any other trip I can make up outside of the muzzy season

 

[JohnFitzgerald]

Early season, I would side hill it and start cold calling sequence every 100 - 200 yards while working towards their bedding.

Later season, I would get up on the top and locate bugle them to bed. If the wind allowed, I\'d side hill it to within their comfort zone and challenge the herd bull.

Your plan sounds just as good.

Just my 2-cents!

jf