most constrained resource theory - shanes hypothesis

[Billy Goat]

it is generally agreed that elk wont be found without the following:

• 
  food
  water
  cover
  general sense of security
  [/list:u:2baivle4]
  
  it is my specific theory that elk will tend to congregate most around whichever of the above is found in least abundance.
  
  ie: if there is ample food, cover, security, but limited water..... then you ought to hunt near water.
  if there is food, water, security, but limited cover, then you ought to hunt near cover.
  
  and so on....
  
  does this make sense?
  
  for example, the unit I bow hunt has:
  
  • water all over the place. tons of year round, spring fed creeks
    generally poor access via road (so lots of \"security\")
    TONS of cover (mostly thick with spruce, which the pine bark beetles haven\'t yet found.
    but not a whole lot of open fields
  I should note that there\'s tons of aspen too.... so still a significant food source, just not alot of fields.
  
  after ~7 trips to this unit, we noticed that we tend to see more critters NEAR, but not necessarily IN the few fields that are present.
  
  ergo, the most constrained resource in that area is open grassland. So, in the future, I plan to primarily focus on areas that are within ~1/4 to 1/2 mile of a field (+/- 200 vertical feet of a field edge)
  
  do yall agree with that theory?

 

[bnsafe]

sounds like a good theory to me