WHAT ELEVATION??

Flatlandr · Dec 3, 2003

My father and I are planning our first Elk hunt for next year which will probably be in Colorado. I have purchased and read all the books as suggested by many of my fellow MM members and they were all great reading, but I am confused on the issue of elevation. Everything that I read indicates that I should seek out the highest elevations. I have printed off the Colorado Statistics and have been mapping out the different game units on a large atlas to try and determine where to go and I am seeing some of the better areas, in terms of published success percentages, are not in real high elevations.

Do the Elk live in a broad range of elevations or are the reports not accurate or am I just not capable of reading and understanding the statistics?
HELP!

Thanks in advance,
Mark

dakotakid · Dec 3, 2003

Dont take this the wrong way, its not meant to be a snide comment. But elk are where you find them. I will really depend on the time of year (hot and dry,cool and wet, snow upto your knees), what type of year it has been (drought, feed and range conditions) proximity to water and one big important one is hunter pressure. You will find them from timber line clear down to areas where cedar hills meet up with farm and pasture land. I know this was of no help to you at all, best advise is to get to the area and look it over or if you are going to be travelling from out of state try to make contacts in the area you want to hunt and see if you can milk any info out of the locals. These message boards really are a great place to do that at, many of the guys here will lend you a hand. Decide what state you are shooting for and start pumping the guys from that state for help. I know you will find it here. If you decide Wyoming, let me know if I can help.

Best of luck.

Mike

DeerKing · Dec 3, 2003

They can live in the low sage and pinion areas all the way up to well above timberline, even as high as 13,000 feet through mid October. Very dependent on weather though.

bobcatbess · Dec 3, 2003

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT COLORADO BUT HERE YOU'LL FIND ELK AT ALL ELEVATIONS!!!

SOME WAY BACK IN AND NEARLY UNHUNTABLE,SOME MIDWAY,SOME LOW ENOUGH TO BE ON RESERVATION & PRIVATE!!!

DEPENDS ON SEVERAL FACTORS,WEATHER,DROUGHT,HUNTING PRESSURE ETC.!!!

I'D SAY YA,THEY LIVE IN A BROAD RANGE OF ELEVATIONS!!!

I DON'T CLAIM TO BE A PRO BUT I'VE SEEN THEM AT DIFFERENT ELEVATIONS FROM YEAR TO YEAR!!!

A LITTLE PRE SEASON SCOUTING NEVER HURTS,EVEN IF YOU DON'T SEE THE ELK YOU CAN FIND THEIR SIGHN!!!

THE ONLY bobcat WONDERING WHY THE HELL THEM ELK RUN TO THE RESERVATION EVERY YEAR???

polarbear · Dec 3, 2003

We have elk from right down to sea level (literally) on up. Some of our best Roosevelt hunting is within a few miles or even a few feet of the ocean.
Eric

Life long "vagitarian"

elknut1 · Dec 4, 2003

Here in West Central Idaho elk range from 4000-8000ft mostly. Of course elk can be found lower, but not the majority.
I can say without a doubt during the last of Aug. thru Sept. and first couple weeks of Oct. the biggest populations of elk are found between 5800-to 6800ft. This is the elevation we hunt the hardest and find most the elk. It's been this way for the 13 yrs I've bowhunted elk. Pressure or no pressure, if elk are pushed they still seek out areas that fall into this range. I find this to be the case year after year. The area you hunt may vary in elevation from Idaho, but hopefully this can give you some sort of guideline. elknut1

c3 · Dec 4, 2003

I really depends on the elevation of the area. I know a guy that shot one of the bulls on the Truth 6 video at 12,500'. The mountains in Colorado are super high and the elk are also way up there.

Here in Utah I find the elk up in the Uintas between 8500' and 11,500'. Down south they can be as low as 6000'.

I would plan on hunting at the limits of your endurance and physical ability, no matter where you end up going.

Cheers,
Pete

Cowkiller · Dec 4, 2003

I just returned from a late hunt where some bulls were feeding in sage foothills and bedding at timberline. They were climbing over 3000' vertical feet every morning. This is not as unusual as you might think. Elk use big country and sometimes they use it all. Other times you might find elk feeding and bedding in one small area. Elk have been known to live at all elevations in any month of the year. So it is impossible to generalize. Sorry, I'm not much help. You must have time and energy to solve the elk riddle each and every time you hunt them.

Flatlandr · Dec 4, 2003

To All Replies,

Man I'm really confused now??? JUST KIDDING!

Thanks for the great feedback!!

dakotakid - I would love to try Wyoming but have not studied the regulations. Please correct me if I error but, as a non-resi I have to participate in a draw process. Do you know what my odds of being successful are? Our assumption right now is that Colorado is our best choice for next year due to over the counter tags and our lack of points in any state other than Utah which we have applied twice now for L.E. hunts. What is your thoughts? Does it take alot of points to access a good unit or area?

bobcatbess - Which state would I find the ONLY bobcat that participates on this forum?

Please, keep it going guys as I really appreciate the dialog.

Mark

bobcatbess · Dec 4, 2003

THAT WOULD BE THE ONLY STATE WITH THE ONLY bobcat IN IT,UTAH!!!

THE ONLY bobcat WANTING TO STARE AT NICE 'RACKS'!!!

2_Point · Dec 4, 2003

My experience is that in Colorado if you find Aspens you have found the elk. In Utah, if you find aspens you have found the elk. In Wyoming if you find Aspens you have found the elk. In Idaho........... Mostly away from roads, of course.

It seems that no matter the weather conditions, during hunting seasons through mid-Nov there are elk around aspens.

dakotakid · Dec 4, 2003

2pt,

That is of course if the area you hunt has aspens in it, the area I hunt is aspen free and I harvest elk every year.

Mark,

Check your inbox.

Mike

Anaconda · Dec 4, 2003

Let me add that the reason you are seeing high success at lower elevations is because in the later seasons in Co. snow (usually)pushes the elk down to lower elevation because it covers up their food at higher elevation. This concentrates the elk and makes them easier to hunt.
Of course, if you go for one of the later seasons, and heavy snows don't fall, the elk will still be up high, and very hard to hunt because they will be skiddish from the first two seasons. If the snows do come, you'd better be ready to hunt in very cold snowy conditions.