Elk Info/Facts

C

Cannon

Guest
All this talk about 400" bulls has been fun!
It is very exciting to have a tag in any LE unit!
So, my questions have to do with Elk habits in general.
You guy's that know Elk, What do big bulls do?

How much water do they need and how often?
When do they breakup the boys club?
How far will they travel for food and water
What habits change between now and the rut?
When they hard horn where will they go!
When do they drop down and start to herd cows?
How do you know a good breeding area when all the trees are beat to h3ll from 10K down to 5K?
How do you know where to look come Sept?

CANNON
 
One thing predictable about elk is they are unpredictable, all it takes is one hunter and they exit the country and relocate.

They do need water once a day but will more often get it at night.

They strip their horns and move into the furthest canyon away from people.

Pick a canyon on a map that you would hate to go into and you should find elk

What tag do you have? This says a lot about what you should expect by looking at the odds.
If you have an archery tag good luck! You can expect about a 10+ day hunt and aren't guaranteed an elk.
If you have a rifle tag you should get an elk in less than 3 days if you didn't you didn't hunt hard enough or passed up bulls!


Archery is a year round commitment!!
 
swbuckmaster
I agree with what your saying, Elk are like gold where ever you find them. plenty of Elk feed in hay fields at night.

So, how far will they go?

When you have found these bulls in june/july how far will they go in sept/oct? all the talk of Elk switching units etc.
I can see migrating for winter but what about the rut?
Everybody knows the bulls will be with the cows.
Do the bulls rut in the same drainage as they live all summer or do they run around looking for "free" cows miles and miles away?


CANNON
 
All your questions are, for the most part, up to the Elk.

They don't make plans or think ahead.

They react to whatever the situation demands, whether it is food, water, sex, or predators.

A spookey field mouse will run them off a water source they have used for days.

As a hunter, you have to be ready to adapt to what you see is going on at the time.

The guys that are successful, usually stay ready for plan "B".......and pray for some luck!
 
here are a few examples of elk and the rut

I have heard roomers that spidey was killed ten miles away from his summer range. That's a long was away!

I had a 370 bull on my trail camera in the bookcliffs and it was killed about ten miles away also.

so if it were me and I had an archery tag I would be looking right now for elk. If I had a rifle or late muzzy tag I wouldn't waste my gas looking to early. More then likely the elk will be several miles away. Some elk do rut in certain canyons and if you know where the canyon that bull prefers you might have an edge on that bull. Good luck!

If I had a rifle tag I would scout three to five days before the hunt and try and kill a bull I located at the first hint of light on opening morning.

I personally have only archery hunted for elk on any bull units. I haven't been able to close the deal so take my advise with a grain of salt.

Elk are tuff to figure out!
 
The big Bulls are where you find them.
Alot bulls like to rut in the same area year after year.
anywhere from the 1st week in Sept to the Last Week in Sept will be a good time to have a tag. sometimes the rut happens early other time it's late, Cold weather will help.
I have seen elk move 7-8 miles from where they feeded the night before up the mountain and around the bend.

Catching them in the fields is hard they come into the fields in the dark and leave the fields in the dark during hunting seasons so plan to be somewhere up the mountain to catch them coming and going a few miles back in.

Elk is like any other big animal they need water at least every other day if it hot every day and they have a need to cool off and claim territory so a roll in the mud and water help them do that.

I have a nephew who put in his own water source useing a plastic wading pool about a 1/4 mile from a waterhole that had 6-7 treestand around it, he put the pool in the ground put a 55 gal barrel of water in it and killed a nice bull the first day in the evening,from his treestand that he put up that morning. The bull was coming into his water instead of heading up the trail to the other water just because he could smell the water and it was in a thick bunch of trees and he felt safe.
So if everything as fails try something new.
GOOD LUCK

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
 
Gator hit it right on the head. Bulls like to rut in the same general area year after year as long as they feel safe. This is where your yearly scouting pays off. Too many people wait to get that magical tag in hand before they start scouting. I have seen particular bulls show up in the same 50x50 meadow 4 straight years before. Some of those bulls travel miles and miles from the spring feed through the summer range and then into the rutting zone. I would dare say that a lot of the summer range is pretty close to where they will rut. The difference being that the bulls will spread out and get away from the bachelor groups to breed forcing inferior bulls out into other draws and canyons. I have also had A LOT of success hunting during the middle of the day. The bulls will generally rut during the night time hours or early morning hours. They will, and do water all day long, especially if temperatures are warm (high 60's low 70's). When everybody goes back to camp to stuff their faces I like to stay out and hunt the water holes in the timber.

It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com
 
Lots of great answers
Thats kind of how I see it also, I have been scouting but know the Elk will move by Sept. I've just never hunted the rut.

I have been hunting the same place for years and have had good luck, seems the better you know the country the better chance of tagging out. We know if they are not here go to spot "B" etc.

So what size of a harem do you guy's think a bull can keep?
Do the cows breakup into smaller groups for the rut?
This weekend I saw a group of close to 80 cows and calves
another group of 70 cows and calves also 30 cows and calves.
of course in different parts of the mountain.

If there is lots of Elk do they all meet in the meadow and have an orgy?
Do you think the lead cow controls the herd movements or the bull?

So, We all know bulls travel long distances for the basic needs (food, water, safety, comfort and sex)

Cow Elk can stay in the same area all year if there is (food, Water, and safety) They seem to move to higher elevations for "better" food and water or cooler temps.

Some never leave the low ground if they have the basics.

Seems to me it is better to keep track of the cows than trying to follow some bull all summer? Again I've never hunted the rut.

In Oct the elk are usually in smaller groups and then bunch back up in Nov/Dec.

So, do you guy's follow the cows or just know the best rut areas? I know they use the same areas year after year, so what makes a good rut area? flat? water? feed? sure is not safety!

CANNON
 
You would be surprised at what the "lead cow" will do. I have seen them control the bulls and I have seen them take a heard of 400 and run them out of the country. The size of the harem usually depends on the bull to cow ratio. Common sense would say that the biggest bulls will have the most cows but that's not always the case. The badder the bull the more cows he will have. If you are hunting in an area that has a high concentration of bulls you will probably see herd sizes of 10-15 or less. If there are a lot of elk and fewer bulls the herd sizes will be a lot bigger. I have seen bulls with 40 or 50 cows and I have seen huge bulls with 4 or 5 cows.

It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com
 

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