best week to take off work to elk hunt?
Contributors to this thread:Elk
From: ryanrc
23-Aug-14
First timer here. What is the best week in September to hunt? I can take a week off in September to hunt colorado elk but i don't know if one week is better than another. I was looking at the week of the 22nd, but is that too late in the season?
Thanks
From: Elkhuntr
23-Aug-14
my preference is to hunt them before herd dominance is established. I like the week of labor day, and over the years killed and had the most close encounters this week up until about the 10th of September.
there is typically more bugling later in the month.
since you are a first timer and might be going later in the month, hunt aggressively.
mike lapinski has some great strategies that you can read about in his books.
best of luck.
From: Surfbow
23-Aug-14
ANY week taken off of work to go hunting is a GOOD week :)
From: ryanrc
23-Aug-14
Agreed, but some can be more productive than others.
From: wyobullshooter
23-Aug-14
"Agreed but some can be more productive than others."
That's true, but it can change from year to year and even drainage to drainage. Every week has it's potential benefits as well as its potential downsides.
I agree that being a first-timer, you would benefit from elk being more vocal, but again that's hard to predict when you're locked into only one week.
Weather and hunting pressure will be the biggest influences either way.
From: oldgoat
23-Aug-14
All of them!
From: Sage of the Sage2
23-Aug-14
Kinda depends on the spot. I have a good place in the Pioneers that the elk are hardly even active until about mid-Sept. In the Pintlars, they're bugling and going crazy the first week. My good spots are also known by a handful of other hunters, so the earlier the better. I'm hitting my spots in the Pintlars the first weekend, then packing into the Pioneers the third week of Sept.
From: Ermine
23-Aug-14
It varys. It all can be good. Early on before bulls have cows and they are gathering or later on when they are more vocal and easy to locate but have cows.
From: ryanrc
23-Aug-14
Thanks. I don't know if this changes the advice or not, i am just looking for a legal animal, bull cow or calf make no difference to me. Is the advice above for bulls only or for all types?
Thanks
From: BULELK1
23-Aug-14
I have been ask this for years-n-years...
There is just so much involved that I truly believe it doesn't matter which week---elk are elk no matter the calendar week---weather is so much more important than the week...
Hot and dry vs cool and kinda wet----predict that week my friend??
Go and hunt and enjoy as simple as that sounds.
Good luck, Robb
From: cervuselaphus
23-Aug-14
Any week you can get off is a good week to hunt elk! I favor the second week in Colorado but have had good luck the first and last week as well. if you have a week to go at it and eliminate where the elk aren't you are way ahead of the game so take your week and have at it!
From: ryanrc
23-Aug-14
So would i be smarter to take 6 days off of work and do 3 4-day weekends than one long hunt? I could do a Thursday friday Saturday Sunday the second, 3rd and 4th weekends of the season. Would that hedge against the weather issue and be better off?
From: oldgoat
23-Aug-14
Maybe, maybe not! Done it both ways and had good and bad luck both ways. But if you split it up at least you can hit it hard because your rested up in between and hit it hard for three days instead of a whole week, also probably better chance of catching the rut at some point. Also less chance of whole trip getting hammered by a persistent weather pattern
From: wyobullshooter
23-Aug-14
Hard to say. Bowhunting elk isn't an exact science. Other than the obvious, like keeping the wind in your favor, there isn't much that will fail all the time nor work all the time. I've killed elk on opening day, and I've killed them on the next to last day of the season, after hunting hard for 4 wks. All you can do is hunt hard the time you are there and accept the results. As long as you can look in the mirror and say "I gave it all I had", then you can't have many regrets.
From: HDE
23-Aug-14
Sometime between the 10th and 20th isn't a bad hit. Open public ground is different than draw controlled areas in that elk can be pressured more early on and it can take them a few days to really get cranked up. 6 of one 1/2 dozen of the other any way you do it.
If work isn't really too constraining, just choose one and go.
From: sbschindler
24-Aug-14
Keep an eye on the weather, if possible go when the high temps are mid to lower 60's
From: Medicinemann
24-Aug-14
wyobullshooter X 2
From: Sage of the Sage2
24-Aug-14
Ryanrc, I would say that all else being equal, the earlier the better. There are enough bowhunters in the mountains these days to completely run a herd out of a draw an make the elk call shy. If you're looking for any legal elk (the way I generally hunt) the important thing will be getting into position as early each morning as possible. Concentrate on little green belts of trickles coming down the mountainside in the morning. Often I've caught small groups of cows and calves following those up the slope toward their bedding areas. Bulls will be with them sometimes, but are generally still a little more one their own early in the month.
From: Wildcountry
24-Aug-14
In CO, muzzle loader is the third week including weekends. I hit it harder before and after.
From: idacurt
24-Aug-14
In my part of Idaho the bulls are actively gathering up cows starting from around the 10th-18th and come in aggressively to calling,after the 18th bulls tend to be in herds and are much harder to pull away from cows. It seems the first half of the season I'm calling more and then the second half I locate call and sneak in. It's all fun!
From: Mule Power
24-Aug-14
Pig Doc just made a really good point. I was thinking the exact same thing.
Also... I'd take one longer hunt and stay on them instead of breaking it up and starting over every time.
From: ryanrc
24-Aug-14
Thanks for the advice.
From: oldgoat
24-Aug-14
Since the smoke poles went to all draw, I've only seen one out away from the road and he was packing meat. Also with the limited numbers of them, I don't feel they pose that big of problem unless your in an area with large private property holdings nearby. But before they went limited, holy crap they screwed up my honey hole!
