Contributors to this thread:
ok guys.......archery elk......what week/2weeks have you had the most success?
Of 15 archery bulls, 12 were killed the first two weeks and 3 were killed the last two weeks. But as a school teacher/principal I always timed my personal days around Labor Day...
gil wy, Where do you teach?
I've seen this question asked a lot and I pay close attention to the response. Two answers sho up most is go early and get there a few days before season and try and locate some really unoressured elk. The other answer is what city and junior sais. I hunted in between last year and it was really slow.
If I had to pick 10 days it would be the 15th to the 25th.
I guess if I was hunting Colorado, which I don't, I might take the muzzy season into consideration and make sure I hunted before that stuff hit the fan.
It really varies as you can see. There are many variables. Weather, pressure, drought, moon. I have taken Bulls the first week and last week. I usually get two full weeks in. I wouldn't miss the opener but only 6 hours from Colorado makes the trips easier. If I were driving from KY I would catch the second weekend and hunt up to the muzzleloader. Get 8-10 days in. All the best!
Depends on where you are. Some spots are great early, bad as the season progresses. Others may have few elk early and be great toward the end. I know spots that fit both. If you're at either during the wrong time it can suck. At the right time it can be like Yellowstone.
These areas may only be a few miles apart, and often depend on hunting pressure.
thanks guys you have been a huge help....im aware of the elk migrating patterns in accordance with elevation. and I know you cant control the weather. so it sounds like the first 2 weeks gets you in there first to the unpressured elk in their summer pattern persay. and the last 2 weeks gets you closer to the rut action and elk on the move? am I catching on?
If I were limited to only 2 wks, I'd do like MP and make sure I was there for the 15-25th. That said, each week has its pros and cons and can, and normally does, change from year to year. I've had bulls going nuts on the 1st of Sep, and I've seen a bachelor herd of 3 6pts hanging together like best buds on the 9th.
Since you never know what each Sept will bring, best advice I can give is to be flexible regardless of when you go. Many different tactics can be used to kill elk. What works today may or may not work tomorrow.
Most areas are nothing like the area i hunt as far as i can tell, iv killed elk in my honey hole from opening day of archery all thé way into 4th rifle season. Of all thé kills every one has been warm and sunny days if its warm or even hot it seems i am in elk all day long if its cool cold or stormy i cant find em best elk hunt iv ever had in my life it was 80 to 85 degree highs and 50s at night the whole trip and we killed 5 in 3 days within a Mile of eachother in thé same drainage.
Last year the weekend of the 12th the bulls were in a frenzy unit wide where I hunted. They killed 5 bulls 350+ that weekend. My partner was 15 yards from a monster twice and couldn't get an arrow off. They calmed down some after that but I had been in bugling bulls since Labor Day.
Well of course I want to be in bugling builds, it seems like they would be easier to find if they are vocal.... Which for me being I will be brand new to what ever area I choose seems like that would be my best bet......
Like others have said, depends on where and what the hunting conditions are.
Well OK let's go this route..... What makes you guys decide what weeks to elk hunt, providing you have to plan your trip months in advance and live 20 hrs away
In CO, the migration has less to do with elevation and moving to winter range, and more to do with what happens after the last Saturday in August. That's the day the major migrations begin.
ky, to your last question, if you were to hunt CO and coming in cold without being turned-on to some good spots beforehand, unless you know a place where the elk are when the season opens, I'd recommend hunting the second week. They'll likely be bugling more, and will have been pushed into the places they go after the pressure starts.
Get here by Saturday of the second weekend. That way you can see where the camps are and hopefully sort of figure out where others are hunting. Hunt from a base camp and be very mobile. Have some spots picked out from GE/Bing, DIY Hunting Maps and topos that are at least an honest 1.5 miles from the nearest road, ATV trail, or trailhead. DIY Hunting Maps will show you what roads are open and what are closed. You can be scouting right now. I am.
You can also get a vehicle use map from the USFS for your area, but it doesn't show all the unofficial "spur" trails that DIY maps shows. Have print outs of the aerials with you. I laminate mine and carry the one for each day in my pack.
Start hitting your spots. Get in there before first light and sit and listen for a bit. You'll need a good headlamp. If the elk are there, hunt them. If not, leave and check elsewhere. If you saw recent sign but the elk aren't there, check back in a few days. Elk cycle around on their own naturally, with no pressure, especially during the rut.
Look for trails leading into feeding meadows, and trails leading into heavy timber on north facing slopes (bedding areas). Check the trails around the perimeter, but don't go in. If you blow them out, you're moving to a new area anyway because those elk are gone, gone.
Don't buy into the old "hunt high early" Old Wive's Tale. There are as many elk down in the sagebrush country as above timberline in most areas, and everywhere in-between. They are where you find them.
Last season I hunted a new area and hunted from 11,000 down to 7,800', hitting 14 different places. I found elk in almost all the spots by using the methods I described above. I covered a lot of ground, often 7-9 miles a day. When I found elk, I hunted them. Almost every day I found some sort of elk if I covered enough real estate.
Thanks jaquomo... That is a ton of info and should be very helpful. See around here it is the total opposite. Deer like to stay on the south facing slopes..... Great info thank you sir
One thing I didn't mention is that elk often move a mile or more from their night feeding area to their daytime bedding area. That's why it's important to get in there really early and sit and listen. Be patient.
It's not unusual for newbies to find a lot of tracks and fresh sign and start hunting there, when they are hunting an evening spot in the morning, and vice versa.
Last season I came upon three ML hunters lined up along an evening feeding meadow with some wallows and waterholes, looking up a very steep mountainside. Like "stiff neck" looking up. Pretty obvious to me that the elk come down to that low bench at night, feed, water, do their thing, then by first light they are on the way back up the steep timbered slope to a bedding bench several hundred feet above.
I asked them what they were doing, and the "leader" shushed me and said, We're waiting for them to come down for a morning drink". Totally backward hunting, but they found tracks and sign, and their misguided logic steered them wrong. Thankfully they got discouraged and left so I could hunt it right.
The last two weeks hands down for me have been the best I like to hunt with no moon they just seam to stay out longer in the morning and come out earlier in evening for me where I hunt. Widow
All depends on the weather. But if I were going to gamble, I wuld sure go after Sept. 15. All but one of my bulls was killed after 9-15.
a ton of good advise .......thanks guys keep it coming...im writing this down
No need to keep writing down, just follow Juacomo's advice. Hunt them where they are, not where they were!
What Jaquomo has said is spot on.
I will add: most of the time when the elk are on the way up, guess which way the thermals are going? On the way down! Same applies vice versa.
All of a sudden its chess and not checkers.
Lots of good information here, thanks to all you guys.
I'll 2nd that.... Thanks guys.....
What Lou said. All depends on the area. Even down to a spot.
One spot in ID killed 3 bulls in 3 years. The amazing part is 2 were on the 21st, one on the 22nd. And all 3 within 3-400 yards of each other. A good spot on those dates.
well lets talk about where to start looking ? so what types of things do you guys look for in a good elk spot, maybe the type of terrain? or maybe a ridge where you can quickly get to multiple drainages. so what things stick out on a map to you guys?
If I have never been there: Talk to anyone that can give info on the unit. Fellow hunters, G&F, biologist for the area..ect Then: #1 water..I use google earth with hunting gps maps and delorme...label all water to narrow down. #2 access...find roads into the area
In CO the most important place to start looking is somewhere between 1.5 and 5 miles from any road, ATV trail, trailhead. Any further and you are likely to get into the Kuiu Warriors. Any closer and you'll get into the day hunters who don't like to work.
Other than that, elk can be anywhere there's feed, water, and bedding timber within about a square mile. Sagebrush, cedars, ponderosas, lodgepoles, aspen-spruce forests, above timberline, doesn't really matter so long as they have those three elements and no human pressure.
This is just part of a summer herd that hung around in the aspen-sage country on National Forest until halfway through day 2 of archery season. By day 3 they were many miles away. Totally blown up by overeager hunters hunting badly. The photo was taken the week before archery season started.
Over the years I've killed 4 elk from the same spot during the second week.
The spot is flat, mix of aspen and pine, about a 3 mile hike from my truck. Camp is 3 miles from the parking spot
Ive talked with many biologists over the years and they all say the peak of the rut is about the 23rd. When I used to hunt Montana, I focused on the last two weeks.
Past several years I have been going in around the 12th with 8-14 days committed. To answer your question on success, last year I shot my bull on the 18th, in 2013 shot my bull on the 19th, in 2012 shot my bull on the 14th and 2011 shot my bull on the 14th. All mature bulls that were screaming. Last year, I dropped 2500 feet in elevation and found them screaming mid-afternoon and it was like 80 degrees.
Really good advice from Jaq on how to get after them. Good luck.
For what its worth to you, I found it easier to be above the elk in the morning. You have to be very careful with the wind sucking down hill. Get off to one side a few hundred yards, drop elevation and move in on them from the side.
For me at least, it is almost impossible to chase elk up the mountain with any hope of keeping up.
Listen to Jaquomo. If the wind is bad, leave them alone or they will be gone. I've seen the same thing he has. Wind you can work with for a few hours in the morning. Horrible the rest of the day, and then good again for maybe an hour right before dark.
I look at thermals like the tide. You have a high/low tide & up/down thermal. You also have a dead tied and a dead thermal. This is when the wind direction is changing, and for a period of time, thermals stop, and you get the swirl. Some times the wind quits all together! I have seen the dead time vary, but you usually get two per day. One around 10-11, changing from down to up, then another 1-2 hours before dark, changing from up to down again. The afternoon one seems to last longer, but then again, every thermal is unique to the weather that day. Clouds will even change up a thermal. Benches, flats & water also. Understanding thermals, Is huge key to success, for any mountain hunting!
Recently I took the AZ Hunter Ed course, and in the process it forced me to review all of the material. Part of the course described the 5 Stages of Hunter Development. Jaquomo, your posts above are a great read for me and definitely shows you are in the Sportsman Stage (Stage 5) of your hunting career. Thanks for your contributions! Part of why I keep coming back to Bowsite. TODDY
Thanks, TODDY. I enjoy helping people learn because back when I started bowhunting for western big game there were no videos, TV shows, books, and the only articles were an occasional "me & Joe" in one of the Big Three magazines. The learning curve was steep.
I'd rather have good hunters in the woods hunting well than a bunch of clueless stumblebums screwing it up for everyone.
Jaquomo has some good points. He is long of tooth...and I mean that as a compliment. He is generous with his knowledge.
For me, and I am no expert..it takes time to figure it out. I hunt a CO unit that has heavy ML pressure so I like to go before or after.
Pick a time as well as several areas to hunt. Try to hit each one unless you are blessed with being covered up by elk in one spot. Look at the sign...boots, horse tracks, cattle, quads, rubs, tracks, droppings. If you are out there the last 2 weeks of the season...and you are hunting a spot that has tons of sign but no elk...chances are you found an early season spot. Likewise, if you find a spot that has lots of old sign, and you are hunting the first 2 weeks...chances are you found a place they like to be later in the season.
Hunters on foot are less of a problem than guys on horses or cattle tracks. Cattle eat all the good grass and it's hard to get away from guys on horse back.
Good luck.
great info guys.....I am very thankfull
