Smelling Elk - What do you do?

[cohunter14]

I was up briefly scouting last weekend when I hit that unmistakable scent of elk. It got me to thinking: what do you do when you smell elk? I have gotten that scent so many times while hunting, but very few times has it actually led me to finding elk. I know this can vary based on the time of year you are hunting (rut versus before or after) and I know sometimes scent can linger a while, but what do you do when this happens? Has it lead to you actually finding the elk? In your experience, how long does scent last in an area? Can you tell if it is fresh scent or older scent?

 

[Zpd307]

the only time i have smelled elk is when we first scouted our area in Colorado 2 years ago. we had set up camp for the night and were hanging out when all of a sudden, we could smell that cattle smell. it hung around for a bit and then was gone. never have smelled them during the hunt.

 

[WW]

As soon as that smell hits my nose, I freeze right where I\'m at and take an extra good look around the area. Sometimes you may catch a glimps of or hear elk moving around. But in my experience, by the time you smell them, they are already gone.

I\'ve found that when you jump bedded elk, they will often urinate just before vacating the area. It has been said that they do this to leave a strong elky odor in the area to confuse predators into making them think the elk are close by just long enough for them to make their get away.

 

[Swede]

My thought are the same as WW\'s on this. Sometimes it makes a difference where I smell elk. Scent around a water hole is different than scent floating through the breeze. That barnyard scent is different than the lesser scent of a nearby elk or the place elk just passed through. The bottom line to me is, be still and look carefully before you proceed any farther if you don\'t know better. I can not say that elk scent ever was a factor in me killing an elk, except that I have stayed with a tree stand where there was frequent fresh scent. That is always exciting and has resulted in many elk being killed.

 

[cnelk]

I agree with everyone.
Fresh elk scent to me means that there has been more than one elk in the vicinity and they stayed there for some time.
They were obviously comfortable, and I will remember that spot.

 

[Deertick]

I have a rotten nose ... I can barely smell skunk, and it\'s not all that bothersome.

Wife can smell elk and often stops and says \"There -- do you smell that?\" ... she says it\'s a \"barnyard\"-type odor, similar to sheep.

Anyway, since I can\'t really smell it, it\'s not a huge issue for me.

 

[cohunter14]

Interesting thoughts guys. So, this brings up a couple of other questions...first of all, what do you do if you are smelling elk in a transition area or on a game trail? We heard what you would do if it was in a bedding area or at a water hole, but what about in that situation? Also, what would you do if you were walking in the woods heading to a pre-determined location (a stand, a spotting location, a calling location, etc) and you come across this smell? Outside of doing the \'stop, look, and listen\' method, how do you proceed, assuming that you didn\'t see anything after the first few minutes? Do you change your plans and try to use your nose to determine where you are smelling them from? Do you circle the area looking for some fresh sign and something that will give you an idea on where they are at or where they are heading? Or do you continue on to your \'location\' assuming that you must have bumped them from the area?

 

[elkmtngear]

Interesting thoughts guys. So, this brings up a couple of other questions...first of all, what do you do if you are smelling elk in a transition area or on a game trail? We heard what you would do if it was in a bedding area or at a water hole, but what about in that situation? Also, what would you do if you were walking in the woods heading to a pre-determined location (a stand, a spotting location, a calling location, etc) and you come across this smell? Outside of doing the \'stop, look, and listen\' method, how do you proceed, assuming that you didn\'t see anything after the first few minutes? Do you change your plans and try to use your nose to determine where you are smelling them from? Do you circle the area looking for some fresh sign and something that will give you an idea on where they are at or where they are heading? Or do you continue on to your \'location\' assuming that you must have bumped them from the area?

In that situation, I usually slow down, and I\'m moving more carefully, on high alert (but continuing toward my original destination). It could just mean they have been feeding there the night before, or it could mean that they are just ahead of me (or very close by).

Can\'t count the number of times I\'ve smelled elk right before I\'ve seen them. Usually, I\'m working into the wind, so if it\'s a continuous thing...I\'m ready to react at any time.

 

[razorback]

This thread has raised some questions for me. I have no elk experience so I am just relating everything to what I know in whitetail and turkey hunting. Smelling deer is possible, generally a hot scrape in the pre-rut stage and no relation to this thread but...bumping elk. Whitetail will sometimes hold really tight and let you walk right by them and you will never know you did. I have even witnessed them slipping out of their beds well ahead of other hunters when they get their scent so the hunters had no idea they were bumping deer. What do elk do? Hold tight or slip out at the first scent of a human? A lot of times when deer slip out of their beds they will circle right back behind a hunter, do elk do the same thing?

 

[elkmtngear]

This thread has raised some questions for me. I have no elk experience so I am just relating everything to what I know in whitetail and turkey hunting. Smelling deer is possible, generally a hot scrape in the pre-rut stage and no relation to this thread but...bumping elk. Whitetail will sometimes hold really tight and let you walk right by them and you will never know you did. I have even witnessed them slipping out of their beds well ahead of other hunters when they get their scent so the hunters had no idea they were bumping deer. What do elk do? Hold tight or slip out at the first scent of a human? A lot of times when deer slip out of their beds they will circle right back behind a hunter, do elk do the same thing?

In dark timber when elk are bedded, they will hold tight...but it\'s not like they are a pheasant ready to be flushed. I think they are much more relaxed than a Whitetail when they are bedded...and used to hearing other elk and critters, so they are not really on high alert. I\'ve literally walked right into the \"bedroom\" on elk, and had elk laying down within 10 yards of me on several occasions.

Last Season, I was picking my way through some dark timber with two guys, and I smelled elk. I put up my hand to get them to stop. A couple steps later, up jumps a four point bull at 20 yards, he was bedded in some deadfall just off the trail. As soon as I could get it together, I hit him with a nervous bark. He stopped almost immediately. My buddy was at full draw (with the bull quartering away)...but unfortunately there was a spruce tree in between Kenny and the bull\'s vitals. He trotted off into the timber soon after.

The only time I\'ve seen a bull circle is when he is investigating my calls on a static setup...and he believes me to be an elk. In my experience, once you bump an elk (with sight or scent)...it will pretty much relocate.

 

[razorback]

So if I smell elk (I have no idea what they smell like) I need to think about nocking an arrow?

 

[elkmtngear]

So if I smell elk (I have no idea what they smell like) I need to think about nocking an arrow?

It\'s \"situational\". If I\'m near a suspected bedding area...I will definitely have an arrow nocked. If I\'m just cruising across a feeding area to get to a desired location...not so much.

Also there are \"degrees\" of elkyness when you smell it. A feeding herd can leave a whole lot of scent behind...but seriously fresh, isolated elk urine will sting your nostrils!

My best description of elk would be a very strong, barnyard odor.

I guess I use all my senses when I elk hunt. On several occasions, we have used the wind to locate a downed bull that had a poor blood trail. The fact that you can smell elk is a real advantage to you as a hunter...it allows you to become the consummate predator!

 

[razorback]

Gotcha, grew up helping my grandpa on a cattle and hog farm. I get the whole stinging your nostril thing. I find whitetail beds all the time, normally they are scattered and not a ton of them together. Many times it\'s a doe and her two fawns, one bed=buck. About how many elk can I expect to be together from 28 Aug-first two weeks of Sep?

 

[elkmtngear]

I\'ve seen anything from large groups, to single animals. No rhyme or reason there in my experience.

As far as the dynamic goes for that time period, the younger bulls are starting to move in with the cows/ calves and the \"herding process\" is beginning. So there are some bigger bulls that are solitary still out and about (waiting for the younger dudes to do all the work, so they can move in and take over)

Some years, the big bulls with bigger herds can be well established (and screaming) by the end of the second week...you never know. I wish I could get the \"elk newsletter\" :lol:

 

[Bob Frapples]

I\'m getting the impression that the smell comes more from them remaining in an area for an extended time, instead of just a single elk stinking. I\'m sure during the rut the bulls get rank like whitetails but that\'s my take on this so far.

 

[elkmtngear]

I\'m getting the impression that the smell comes more from them remaining in an area for an extended time, instead of just a single elk stinking. I\'m sure during the rut the bulls get rank like whitetails but that\'s my take on this so far.

Bob, like I said before, I\'ve walked right to a downed bull using the wind. In fact, two of us have done it from two different angles and ended up on the bull. Believe me, you can smell a bull...especially one that\'s been pissing all over himself in a rut frenzy!

 

[Swede]

Jeff is absolutely correct. Elk smell. A herd can stink. I would not associate their odor with pig smell. It is much more like cattle. As Jeff also mentioned, a hunter can locate elk by smell at times. I have found my downed bull by passing on the downwind side and following my nose back to him. That works best when the wind is going downhill.

 

[razorback]

So if you are upwind of elk, will you smell them before you see them or hear them?

 

[elkmtngear]

So if you are upwind of elk, will you smell them before you see them or hear them?

If you mean \"downwind\" of elk, yes, sometimes! (see my story about the four point bull I jumped earler in this thread).

If you are \"upwind\" of elk, you will not see or hear them. They will be gone! :think:

 

[razorback]

I meant down wind. Sometimes I\'m posting at work and people distract me. I think they are getting the hint though. I put my vacation days on our board \"27Aug-???\".