Pre-season to In-season Scouting Questions

[twilliams212]

This year will be my group's first time elk hunting. We will be out for Colorado's 1st Rifle season mid-Oct, but plan to arrive a couple days early for acclimation and some scouting. I have several hunt areas detailed into hunt plans as backup options, and within each area I have already e-scouted habitat POIs, glassing locations, travel routes, etc.. I realize that the approach to archery season is likely different than that of rifle, but how would you approach scouting those two days ahead of the rifle season? Would you hit as many glassing spots as possible in your top hunt area? Are you night bugling in October for locating purposes? If you don't locate any elk or sign in those two scouting days (fingers crossed we pick up on some glimmer of hope), would you move to another e-scouted glassing location opening morning that you weren't able to hit pre-season? I'm a detail orientated person, so I am trying to go into this hunt with as detailed of plans as possible so that we can keep focused no matter the amount of obstacles that get thrown our way while hunting on public land in CO.

Thanks in advance for any feedback on this!

 

[cohunter14]

It sounds like you have a great plan in place already, so well done! If it were me, I would spend those scouting dates glassing from my top spots, both early and late in the day when the elk will be most active. If I don't turn anything up during those scouting dates, I'd move on to the next spot for the opening day. I wouldn't waste more than one morning and evening in a spot before moving on.

Simply put, when I'm trying to locate elk, I don't stay in the same spot hoping they show up. I am going through my spots and, if they aren't there, I look at it like I'm figuring out where they aren't, which hopefully gets me closer to figuring out where they are.

 

[Ilelkhntr]

Spend time morning and evening glassing. Depending on where you’re at, bugling may not help much.
Last year, the unit I was hunting, the bulls were still going at it 1st rifle.

 

[ribo451]

Agreed. Definitely lots of glassing. Especially preseason and early season. Once the hunting pressure increases I rely on glassing less to find elk. If I'm not finding elk I start covering ground looking for sign. If they are pressured they might not come out in the daytime but they still leave hoofprints everywhere they go. Like others have said if the elk aren't there don't wait around hoping they show up. If it's a good area they will probably show up at some point but it might be weeks before they do. And I also believe in not leaving elk to find more elk. I will hunt the same herd until I kill one or run them off.