Elk Habbits

[manny15]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-31-06 AT 06:02PM (MST)[p]

First off I gotta come clean, I've spent the last 30 years hunting Blacktails and muley bucks, I've not paid much attention to the bulls I've seen while out hunting deer, when-where-time of day feeding habits ect:

Would some one give me a few pointers or perhaps a refresher course cause I have hunted elk a time or two just never seen anything more than rag horns, this is a November hunt, leaving this week end?

Thanks in Advance Manny

yes I noticed I put one to many B's in Habits thanks for pointing that out to me...LOL...

 

[manny15]

I get it, buy a book right...

 

[fatrooster]

Manny, last year I went on my first elk hunt ever. It was in November in Nevada. I went to the Jarbidge wilderness and scouted in October and found one lone bull which was a 300 class bull which looked huge to me. I asked a lot of questions of people who know the area and have hunted elk there and learned that the elk migrate to that area in November. I tried to find reading material about hunting elk in November but could only find stuff about hunting bulls in the rut. So I decided to hunt them "spot and stalk" like mule deer. Well it worked great. I saw bulls every day with several in the 300" class everyday. I found that the elk followed a daily routine of watering in the dark and then moving up at daylight and bedding out in the open for about an hour to catch the morning sun and then heading into the timber for the rest of the day until late evening. Morning was the magic time of the day but only for the first two hours of daylight and sometimes barely an hour. Be hunting at the crack of dawn. Usually the rest of the day was unproductive with a few exceptions. It turned out to be one of the best hunts of my life and I got a 315" bull. Nevada is populated with patches of trees so glassing worked good but I've been told that glassing does not work as well in places that have lots of trees. Nevertheless I wish you luck. fatrooster.

 

[manny15]

hey Drew' thanks I got something to go on now, i ain't totally dumb but like i said bucks have been my thing for far too long.. Manny

 

[AWHOLELOTTABULL]

Manny,
If you are hunting late season elk you will want to focus on draws where bulls don't have to go far for food and water. These big old stinky guys have been screwing and fighting everything in sight for the past 6 weeks and are tired and hungry. They will get into some thick nasty stuff to recover and build up some fat stores fot the winter. The bigger bulls will usually go solitary for a month or two then hook up with other bulls. You will probably find smaller bulls in bachelor herds. Normally they won't be very vocal but you may hear one or two on occasion. If you get some weather look for draws with food sources on South facing slopes and cover not far away. They may even bed where they eat. I have seen late season bulls not move more than 200 yards in a week. I hope this helps. If you have any specific questions email me. I will do what I can to help out. Good luck. [email protected]

It's always an adventure!!!

 

[manny15]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-01-06 AT 06:18AM (MST)[p]thanks guys i really will apply some this, no all of this...LOL

 

[HerbD]

Manny, you've gotten some good advice. The only thing I have to add is that the last hour of daylight can also be very productive.

Good luck on your hunt and report back afterwards.

 

[Roy]

Manny - some elk have some pretty bad habits - like smoking and drinking - you may want to stay away from those.

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)

 

[manny15]

don't know why the post was removed but thanks lots a reading there...

 

[usa]

Manny, don't forget to carry a cow or calf call and use it every so often when you are still hunting , its amazing how it calms them down long enough for you to get a look, if the wind is wrong you can play the blues on your cowcall and it won't help, the bulls don't take any chances !

 

[usa]

Almost forgot , last year in Colorado mid- November the bulls were still trying to mount the cows so the cow estrous call may work.

 

[manny15]

>Almost forgot , last year in
>Colorado mid- November the bulls
>were still trying to mount
>the cows so the cow
>estrous call may work.


i got the hoochy moma...

 

[usa]

Hoochy Mamma, thats what I'm talking about, if you find that the elk are responding to call's use all 3 calls on the HM one after another, it sounds like a small herd trying to hook up with other elk. We used this technique to take 3 bull's this year.

 

[manny15]

>Hoochy Mamma, thats what I'm talking
>about, if you find that
>the elk are responding to
>call's use all 3 calls
>on the HM one after
>another, it sounds like a
>small herd trying to hook
>up with other elk. We
>used this technique to take
>3 bull's this year.


gotcha.......