How do you hunt elk?

ranchhand · Nov 11, 2003

I know this is a simple question to most of you, but I just returned from my first elk hunt in Colorado. I came back empty handed and curious to know everyone's approach. We went with someone who has only one way to hunt and we did not deviate from his methods.......... Here is what we did: 3rd Season Hunt. Each morning we would get up around 2:30 - 3:00 and get ready. We camped out at the base of the mountain and by 3:30 we were hiking up the mountain. After about 1.5 - 2hr hike we would get "above the elk" and find a good spot. After the journey, no matter what the temperature, we would change our undergarmets because they were dripping wet with sweat. Once we were dry we would then sit down and wait for the sun to come up. We would remain there until 10:00 or so and then get up a move around. We would glass here and there finally giving up around noon. We would go back to camp and then end up going to bed around 7-8 because of the early mornings.........We did this every day all 7 days and I am the only one who caught a glimpse of a cow from a distance through some Aspens. This year, apparently, was unseasonably warm and we didn't get snow until the last several days........Now back to my question "How do you hunt elk?" The above maybe a common method but I sure didn't see anybody else hunting this way! Let me know what you think and how you hunt. Thanks!

KNOPHISH · Nov 11, 2003

The 1st thing that jumps out to me is you said you quit at noon. You still have lots of time to hunt. Stay up there till it's dark. Sounds like you hiked up in the dark so you could probably make it back down in the dark. I'm not too fond of hiking that far in the dark, but if it was a good trail I would. I always have a flash lite. For me if I find a good looking meadow I watch it for a little while & get bored & start into the timber. I'm not into hunting from a stand but it works in the right spot. I like to still hunt very slowly & have my binocs out often scanning into the thick stuff at anything that even looks like an animal. Seems like I'm always the last one back to camp too.

azhunter79 · Nov 11, 2003

my method is a little unorthadox, but heres how i do it.
i get up real early in the morning and start drinking. only the hard stuff though, i try and make sure im good and numb by about first light, then i hop on my yamazuki grizzly EX 9500 quad and take to the woods. i always make sure my rifle is fully loaded with the safty off and laying across my lap for easy access. i try not to stay on the roads or trails on account of all the loser road hunters on them. and of course my philosophy is, the faster i go, the more ground i can cover and the more elk i can see. by about noon, i try and lay down under a tree and take a nap....till about 630-700ish. after that i get back on my quad and head back to camp....then i remember my rifle and turn around to go back and get it. once back at camp i start drinking again...sometimes ill shoot my rifle into the air to "signal" the elk, sometimes this works, sometimes it doesnt. so far in 5 years of elk hunting ive been successfull once, a huge bull (2x3) that i hit with my quad. like i said, its a bit unorthadox, but i think the results (a nice 2x3) speak for themselvs, obviously this is a great method for elk hunting! good luck, and happy hunting!
az79

Bobbby · Nov 11, 2003

Well thats pretty much exactly the way I hunt elk with the exception of getting up that early although 90% of my 1hr. hike is done in the dark. I would also suggest staying up there all day even though your chance of seeing an elk after say 10:00am is lower than the early morning there's still a chance and I have seen elk wonder through distant meadows at 12:00 and even later in the day, so even though it does get boring stick it out, it has paid off for me several times. This years elk hunt ended up the same way yours did, I spent 5 days in a meadow that I have taken cows and bulls in and only ended up seeing one small bull that was two far for a shot. The moral of the story is that some years there are a ton of elk in a certain area and the next there might be very few. You could go back next year to the same spot and see elk in that area every day. Your on the right track you just need some luck now.

oneshotonekill · Nov 11, 2003

LAST EDITED ON Nov-11-03 AT 11:01AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Nov-11-03 AT 11:00?AM (MST)

Well they method you guys used is a very common one, and has probably taken more elk than any other, other than bugling them in. Where I hunt here in Idaho, we have a very forgiving Unit. It isn't too steep, but there is some ruff country. Not a ton, but plenty of heavy pines, and good aspen patches. The one thing that is forgiving, is there is a main road clear to the top of the mountains, where we can park, and hike about an hour, mostly down hill, and we are on top of the best canyons, and pockets of timber. So maybe 6-8 guys will go to the top like that, then the rest will come half way up the bottom, at first light, and sit down. We all glass the country till about 10:00. If we haven't spotted elk out on the ridges feeding, or moving from pocket to pocket. Then the guys on the top, will start down through the timber, on the edges first, .22 or pistol popping the patch they are working. About 95% of the time, that produces elk running out the bottom, or the sides, presenting shots to the guys in the bottom. We have killed alot of elk this way, it have been very productive for us. But that is because our unit, allows us to get to the top, with out busting our ass too bad hiking up hill. But my suggestion, is get in a saddle or a ridge, where you have a good over view of good dark timber, and good open ridges. Also use other hunters to your advantage, if they are coming from the bottom up, watch the timber lines in front of them. Elk will hear them coming up, long before they will ever know whats going on. Good luck

One shot

7mmgilbert · Nov 11, 2003

If hunting by myself. I like to get up on a ridge and glass meadows and saddles for the first couple of hours of daylight. Then I start still hunting slowly through the thickest patches of timber.
If your in a group pushing timber pockets with shooters on the ridges and bottom is very productive any time of day.
my $.02

dakotakid · Nov 11, 2003

So far youve got some pretty good tips here, except for AZ79, I dont know where he is comming from except to be funny I guess. One thing not mentioned so far is that to shoot an elk you HAVE to know where they are and the only way to do that (other than dumb luck) is by scouting and being familiar with the area. That can be difficult when you are a non-resident. Best advice if you cant make a trip early on in the summer to find elk "hangouts" is to at least show up two or three days before season opens and just poke around the woods and see if you can find sign. If you cant do that then maybe contact locals or the G&F to see if they can point you in the right direction. I think by the 3rd or 4th day of doing the same thing with no results I would have went my own direction and let your buddy get up at 3 am and make the hike to the top by himself, I would have looked for water/meadows and likely bedding areas then put on the good old slow still hunt into thier living room. Hope this helped and better luck next trip.

Mike

stanley · Nov 11, 2003

I agree with Dakota's last point. If you have tried one method for several days with no success, then I would have tried something else. Maybe a slightly different area. It doesn't sound like there were too many elk in the specific area you were in.

S.

c3 · Nov 11, 2003

I would never waste my time in an area unless I knew there were some good numbers of elk there. I spend about 90% of my time high tailing it around the mountains finding where the elk have been in the last few days.

I get to hunt this late every year on our extended archery season. As the elk get more an more defensive this time of year, they will stick to tight cover and stay out of view most of the day. You need to get on your horse (figuratively) and bust around the mountains to find where they have been feeding at night.

Next, is to try to figure a way to get between where they feed and where they bed in the day without winding them. Being uphill in most cases will get you winded every time and you'll never see an elk around that area after one or two windings. We call this sterilizing the area. It can be weeks before they will come back.

There are no two ridgelines or bowls or timber patches or ...... that are the same and can be hunted the same way. Each one takes a different approach and a different tact to work properly.

I can't tell how well drives work. That's not a tactic that gets you very far with the range of a bow

Split up, find the elk first, then formulate a plan together with your buddies to work them when they are on the move at first light and at sunset.

Just my $0.02

Cheers,
Pete

TheKnack · Nov 11, 2003

Most of the elk I have shot were between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00p.m.!
The reason is most hunters return to camp and unknowingly push the elk around again from their beds.
Find a good escape route used often by elk and stay there all day.
How many times do you leave an area and come back later and see fresh tracks right where you were? Took me a lot of years to learn to stay put and glass and I see at least 10 times the amount of animals and as a bonus you get better shots.
Just my opinion.
Best,
Jerry

cmiddleton · Nov 11, 2003

hunt deer because if you don't have the tag they try to run you over never got my buck but i could have killed a bull several times i even found a guy with a tag just so i could call for him it turns out he's a real nice guy and we had some heart stopping encounters with bulls he never got a shot i tryed to get pictures and every shot i took the bull put his head in a tree and i got good pictures of his body but none of his head so i guess we struck out with to wepons.
oh well we had a blast maybe we'll get him this weekend and I'll get a picture.
its the last weekend for bulls coming up i hope allen scores this time.

dutch · Nov 12, 2003

LAST EDITED ON Nov-12-03 AT 01:01PM (MST)[p]Knack hit it on the head, I see more elk between 10 and 2 than any other time. I shot my first cow at 10 am, my first 6x6 at 4 pm and my bull this last year at noon.
Heres the next crucial thing, as you said it was warm and dry till last day or two. Elk will not be out in the middle of meadows grazing as most think. Especially after archery, muzzleloader and 2 rifle seasons. Sorry they just are not going to come out when the sun is up. You might get lucky and catch one or two right at dawn.
I don't take off hiking until I can see, only time I hike in the dark is at night (with a big spotlight, lol).
When it is warm though, hit ridges and dark timber. Where we hunt, there are numerous springs and creeks in the dark timber with enough feed that the elk don't have to come out in the meadows and parks to feed.
Don't hike the top or the bottom of the ridge either. I have jumped and seen many elk coming off the top of a ridge about halfway down.
When there is snow and it is cold, definitely a different game plan but for where you were, that is how I would of hunted.

Two more things, obviously when your in dark timber you can't see as far, move VERY slow and ALWAYS keep your eyes ahead and to your sides. You never know where they will be.
I also believe in thermals. Hunt uphill in the morning and downhill in the afternoon.

ktc · Nov 12, 2003

With a gun;-).

Seriously, trail hunting on a horse. This method is the same as road hunting except you are on a trail and on a horse.

Find an area with elk and a trail that follows the spine of a ridge. Be in position at first light then go. Keep an eye out and an ear listening for bugles.

All road hunting rules apply here. Only difference is the horse and trail.

Good hunting.

Blueoak · Nov 12, 2003

Elk are pretty basic. If you can spot them you can usually kill them. If they are in the timber, I would hunt them up into the passes and let the shooters get them. I like the pistol idea, but I am into using heavyer stuff.

stickflipper · Nov 12, 2003

Glass, Glass, then Glass some more if I haven't seen anything in about 45min to an hour I will move then repeat.

Hawkk33 · Nov 13, 2003

LAST EDITED ON Nov-13-03 AT 11:33AM (MST)[p]Ranchhand- instead of hiking all that way at 3-4 AM it might have made more sense to bivouc up there (few more hours sleep and when you wake up BAM your hunting). I don't know about sitting around until daylight then hunting until noon because it seems like a waste of time.

My rookie year (2002) I wasted alot of time wandering around in the forest looking for elk because I did not know anything about hunting them, I then asked some people who work with me for advice on locating elk and then plotted out on a map where I was gonna hunt and followed my plan and just happen to get lucky and connect with a 6 x 5 on the 3rd day.

This year I tried bowhunting for elk and that experience taught me alot more about hunting in general (ie how to be more silent in the woods, how to stalk, and how to be patient)

This year was your learning year you followed that guy around and I bet you got sick of it huh ? but know you know that each person hunts differently and while he technique worked for him (??) it may not be the way you want to hunt in the future.

You just have to stick with and and find your own rythym.

glomdawg · Nov 14, 2003

To start with it's nice if you can find a good saddle on a long ridge to start out. Animals will use these saddles to escape if they feel pressure. If it was hot and dry..... FIND WATER.. Hunt on North Facing slopes. The vegetation will be much thicker, it will be cooler and provide shade for the animals all day. Still hunt VERY slowly through the nastiest stuff you can find. When you think you are moving slowly enough, slow down even more. I like to find springs, seeps, and small creeks on these North facing slopes. I'm with most of the other guys.. If I'm in an area and the Elk sign is not there, try something different..

Tim

shedcrazy · Nov 14, 2003

More often than not, I will still hunt or spot and stalk. I dont have quite enough patience to sit over water or meadows. I have, on a handfull of occasions, sat a blind and once stuck a bull that way. I like to get up high and glass far. Once I have located an animal, I will then put a plan together. The plan seldom plays out the way I figure it should have but Thats the aspect of hunting I reckon I like the best. During the rut You almost dont have to get high and glass due to the bugling going on. I have found though that once I have boogered a herd, they seem to go silent and hole up. At that point, the huntin gets tough and I rely heavily on track. I try to remember the tracks that I located in a general area and once I find new sign I will track it out slow and steady, sometimes spending the hot part of the afternoon trying to locate. Once I have located I will then work a plan for the evening movement. I seldom move in on a bedded herd (very low odds of harvest). One thing that really pays off well, believe it or not, is to act like a complete novice hunter who is overly excited about his new found sport but dont know crap about where game will be, and talk to other hunters in the field. They ALWAYS want to be the bigshot and I have discovered that I will get so much info that way that it is almost wrong. This is part of my scouting routine. Its bad I know, because I am so tight lipped but I sure like to elicit others to talk and they will. When you see an elk hangin in camp, pull in and act stuid and ask many questions. Too fun.

Shedcrazy