Where do you find elk?

[cohunter14]

This thread is based off of an answer to one of Dana\'s recent threads regarding newbie mistakes. I feel that figuring out what areas to look for elk can be the most difficult thing to learn for a newbie. But you can take an experienced hunter, put them in any unit in any state that holds elk, and most of them will find a way to be successful. So let\'s hear all of your thoughts and advice on the matter. Here is a scenario for those of you experienced folks: if someone put you into a brand new area this year that you had never hunted before and you had no time to actually get boots on the ground prior to your hunting season (similar to many out of state hunters), what would your strategies be? What would you be looking for on a map or google earth? Where would you hope to spend your time opening morning? Mid afternoon? Evening? How about strategies for following days? Let\'s give newbies a head start on their learning curve!

 

[cnelk]

First I would take a little drive around the area and see what I see for camps.
How many trucks per camp?
Two trucks = 3 guys minimum
I see 3 camps, two have 2 trucks, one has one truck
Im thinking 7 guys
That equates to hunting pressure.

But I will have done my homework and determined where traveled roads are and where closed roads are.
I know that if I get away AT LEAST 1/2 mile from the traveled roads, I could see elk.
I know that if I get AT LEAST 1/4 mile off hiking trails, I could see elk.

A good way to do this is to use a highlighter on a map.
Mark all the access trails.
Then scale out from those accordingly.

A mile is when most hunters are done and tend to turn and lap back to camp.
Mark out a circle from camps, trailheads

You will find some real good honey holes within a mile from your camp by doing this

 

[david.denham.39]

Lets say you scouted an area in August. Would the roads that are open then be open lets say in October? Or do they close some of the roads closer to late season? I\'m thinking of driving up in August and scouting an area in Colorado. I would hate to scout an area only to have the roads closed when I went on my hunt. Can you get a map showing closed roads at certain times of the year?

 

[cnelk]

Yes
<!-- m --><a class=\"postlink\" href=\"http://ndismaps.nrel.colostate.edu/huntingatlas/\">http://ndismaps.nrel.colostate.edu/huntingatlas/</a><!-- m -->

In the upper right corner you will see FS-MVUM
[Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map]

Select that option and it will show you where roads/trails start and end.

 

[Deertick]

For the whitetail hunter, it can be confusing.

If I'm looking at new whitetail territory, it's fairly "easy" to figure where deer will be ... funnels.

Find two portions of "likely habitat" connected by a funnel and you're done.

But elk country is way different. Find some "likely habitat" areas and you may have found ... nothing at all. Even the best habitat may go unused by elk for a year, even in a "good" unit.

I think one key is to hunt downhill of access roads. Hunters don't like to start out going downhill ... they hate the climb back to their pickups/ATVs. Elk, I think, figure that out.

 

[david.denham.39]

Yes
<!-- m --><a class=\"postlink\" href=\"http://ndismaps.nrel.colostate.edu/huntingatlas/\">http://ndismaps.nrel.colostate.edu/huntingatlas/</a><!-- m -->

In the upper right corner you will see FS-MVUM
[Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map]

Select that option and it will show you where roads/trails start and end.

Thanks Brad, just what I needed!

 

[Bob Frapples]

............hunt downhill of access roads. Hunters don't like to start out going downhill ... they hate the climb back to their pickups/ATVs.........

While I'm a noob, my gut tells me that's a gold nugget of info right there.

 

[Deertick]

Keep in mind, I\'m not a grey-beard, myself!

It just seems to me that many roads parallel some steep stuff, and if hunters get out on that road to start hunting, they rarely go downhill.

I may not know elk well, but I\'m pretty good at understanding humans!

 

[Bullnuts]

Food, water, cover. Elk country is full of those three essentials, so it becomes an exercise of narrowing down your choices to find preferred areas. A couple things to think about: I see more elk and more elk sign in secluded meadows, close to thick timber, than in wide open fields that are accessible to everyone. This isn\'t a hard, fast rule, but one you will want to consider when you start looking for places to hunt. Water is the most important thing. Elk will drink out of rivers and lakes, but they really like those little streams and springs that wind along the edges of parks and through the timber. If they can stay in the cover to drink, they will. Cover is everywhere. Make sure it\'s thick, cool, and expansive, and that it\'s near food and water. Find those things in combination in an area where elk should be, and you\'ll have a good place to start looking.

 

[americanbwana]

First off, I wasn\'t planning on going Archery hunting last year. But the stars lined up and I could at least go opening weekend.

I had found this spot while map scouting. I was looking for a north facing slope, with one or two benches, along with a nearby food source, and water.

After setting up camp Friday night, I walked down to the ridge to take a look at the spot I wanted to hit the next morning. Sure enough, I immediately saw about 1/2 dozen cows down there. After a few minutes (now about 30 minutes before sunset), out comes a small herd of bulls. A few minutes later the big guy came out. All of the elk were slowly working down the hill (bottom of the picture).

Those elk were in there because of the cover, security, and nearby food/water.

Unfortunately for me, a ton of pressure came up from down below. These guys climbed over 3000\' in less than a mile to get up to where I was. Even with that, I was able to call a bull in (had a cow tag) opening morning right above where I saw the big bull the night before. The dark timber is about 1/2 mile DOWNHILL from the road.

 

[Bob Frapples]

Ok, a silver nugget then.

Dana, What is the Top left pin?

 

[americanbwana]

More pressure. Basically where I was camped.

 

[mtnmutt]

I am a newbie, however, I will offer what has started to come together for me as I am learning.

What would you be looking for on a map or google earth?

North facing slopes and North facing finger type ridges (bedding areas)
benches, saddles (travel, ambush spots)
water: creeks, springs
food: meadows any elevation. Do not get caught up in \"they all are feeding high in early September\" mentality. Yeah, they are up there, however, elk are all over the place.

How about strategies for following days?

After the masses hit the woods opening weekend look for elk sign crossing roads/trails. Your high elevation elk may have been driven down off those 12K ridges by hunting pressure.

Are you bowhunting during muzzleloader? The elk may move elsewhere once ML starts.

If a road happens to run parallel to an elevation contour, look for elk sign within 200 yards of the road. The elk may be traveling just inside the trees out of view from the road to follow this contour. I have a hunting spot like this.

Deertick had a good point on going downhill from a road. The veteran hunters in my area know to do this, esp after the hunters higher up over opening weekend pushed the elk down to cross the road. Note: the road is at 10.7K, so the elk are only going down 1-2K feet.

 

[WW]

Water , food, cover and north or northeasterly facing slopes with a good bench or two on them. Find these on your map and start wearing out some shoe leather. Some of the places will be diamonds and some of them coal. You\'ll never know for sure until you put boots on the ground! When you go out scouting, forget about the bulls. You want to find the cows. Where the cows are in late July thru August is where the bulls will be in September.

 

[cohunter14]

All great information guys! I have a couple of things to add. First, when talking about water, find water that is up high. You always hear of elk being 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up a mountain. Try to find water in this spot, not down in the valley. Elk are similar to humans in that they look for the least difficult way to live. They would much rather traverse from their bedding areas to water and food than go up and down. Also, keep an eye out for game trails. In most areas, you will again find a lot of these in that 2/3 to 3/4 area. Don\'t be hesitant to follow these game trails to see where they take you. A lot of times, these will go through or lead to those areas that don\'t show up on the topo including small benches and water.

 

[Bullnuts]

Watch for the moo cows. Cattle use the same terrain, water, and food sources as the elk and will be in the same places.

 

[sojourner65]

Everybody is saying "north face" slopes, why?

 

[Deertick]

North faces are the last to warm up, and snow collects there -- which means more water -- which means grass. Also, elk like the cool, shaded north side due to temperature.

Also, that snow leads to water that feeds more than grass. It feeds trees, which are thicker on the north slopes.

In contrast to north slopes, south-facing slopes tend to be open and dry. What water they had running tends to have dried up by August.

 

[mtnmutt]

Everybody is saying \"north face\" slopes, why?

Elk bedding areas in warm September. It is where they are coming and going from.

I do not hunt in their bedding areas. I mostly hunt their transition routes to and from their bedding areas.

 

[Swede]

The answer to your question depends a lot on just what you are looking for. If lots of elk in a general area is good, ask around. Contact the local Game Biologists and Forest Service range or timber technicians.
I am not particularly looking for lots of elk. I would be happy with a 40 square mile area that holds one elk, if I can determine right where I can place him. That takes on the ground scouting.