ridenmuley
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A close friend of mine drew a late season Utah SJ elk hunt. As non residents scouting will be tough. We would love any help, advice, recommendations people have. Thanks for the help and we hope to share the adventure!
Utah late San Juan Elk
- Thread starter ridenmuley
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txhunter58
Long Time Member
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If I ever got picked there, I would hire Black Timber outfitters. Once in a lifetime hunt
txhunter58
venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
txhunter58
venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)
roadrunner
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When is the late hunt, Nov?
ridenmuley
Member
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Nov 9th-17th
ridenmuley
Member
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I've read good things about black timber but I think we will stick to diy
roadrunner
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Been my experience on that unit is the elk stay high until absolutely necessary to be pushed down by weather. The elk can go from 10,000' to 6,500' in literally 30 min.
littlebighorn
Long Time Member
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Late elk hunts are never easy, even in great units. The bulls congregate and head to private land or hidden holes to lick their rut wounds and regain their strength. I don't know any specifics about that unit's late hunt but if it were my tag, I'd try to spend as much time as I could scouting and trying to locate those hidden bull pockets. Best of luck.
The late hunt on the San Juan can be an extremely difficult hunt to kill a big bull. To be successful you have to A) have a deep and intimate knowledge of the unit gained through years of experience, B) have access to private land or C) get really lucky. I've known several people come home more than a little disappointed from this hunt. The advice to hire BTO was spot on if your friend has lofty expectations.
AntlerAddict
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My father had this tag two years ago, he found some nice bulls but nothing over 350" until the last day. You can kill a great bull but it all depends on what your definition of great is. Like others have said the weather is what can make or break that hunt.
BLooDTRaCKeR
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I would say for this unit and many others, be willing to punish yourself to find what you are looking for!
My friend and I both drew a late Manti elk hunt for this year. I plan on hunting the steepest, nastiest canyons known to man. 1. Because that's what I like to do 2. That is most likely where the bigger bulls will be, come November.
I've recently wandered the San Juan unit and I can say without a doubt that unit will be tough to hunt during the late hunt!
Weather is the big factor with any unit. Plan on a hot dry November hunt and you will get the opposite. Therefore, you need to have a plan for heavy snows and a plan for a mild November. Both plans will put you in completely different hunting areas and cause you to most likely move camps once or twice. However, the best advice I can give you is to get to the area at least three days before the hunt begins and call that your research and scouting because November is an unpredictable month. You will know what the weather will be doing a week before the hunt as well as snow accumulations.
scouting during the rut will give you an idea of quality in the unit but scouting during the rut will not help you to know where they are in November. Some bulls travel 20 miles from summer grounds just to rut. So the best advice I can give you is to arrive plenty early for your hunt and hit it hard to figure out the areas you want to hunt as well as developing a couple of back up plans.
Best of luck to you! Keep us posted on how the hunt turns out!
My friend and I both drew a late Manti elk hunt for this year. I plan on hunting the steepest, nastiest canyons known to man. 1. Because that's what I like to do 2. That is most likely where the bigger bulls will be, come November.
I've recently wandered the San Juan unit and I can say without a doubt that unit will be tough to hunt during the late hunt!
Weather is the big factor with any unit. Plan on a hot dry November hunt and you will get the opposite. Therefore, you need to have a plan for heavy snows and a plan for a mild November. Both plans will put you in completely different hunting areas and cause you to most likely move camps once or twice. However, the best advice I can give you is to get to the area at least three days before the hunt begins and call that your research and scouting because November is an unpredictable month. You will know what the weather will be doing a week before the hunt as well as snow accumulations.
scouting during the rut will give you an idea of quality in the unit but scouting during the rut will not help you to know where they are in November. Some bulls travel 20 miles from summer grounds just to rut. So the best advice I can give you is to arrive plenty early for your hunt and hit it hard to figure out the areas you want to hunt as well as developing a couple of back up plans.
Best of luck to you! Keep us posted on how the hunt turns out!
roadrunner
Long Time Member
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Normaly on the SJ unit, you don't get big snows until mid Dec. Normally...
When snow is deep enough and temps cold enough to drive elk down, you will see 1 to 1-1/2 feet down lower around 6,500'.
A real issue is the elk commonly wait a couple days after a storm for the sun to melt off the south facing slopes and you will see them feeding on these faces by the dozen. First light, or as soon as the sun hits them, they bee-line to the trees.
Study the areas I PM'd you, be a good place to start.
When snow is deep enough and temps cold enough to drive elk down, you will see 1 to 1-1/2 feet down lower around 6,500'.
A real issue is the elk commonly wait a couple days after a storm for the sun to melt off the south facing slopes and you will see them feeding on these faces by the dozen. First light, or as soon as the sun hits them, they bee-line to the trees.
Study the areas I PM'd you, be a good place to start.
scandalousbob
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Just sent you a PM.
ridenmuley
Member
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AntlerAddict Did your dad get one the last day?
