Would This Be A Good Treestand Area?
Elk
The photo shows the small park below, (very elky) to the right or to the North East, there are two more parks like this separated by the timber you can see here. It's about a 600' decline to get to it. The other two parks are near a 1/2 mile then another 1/4 mile from that one. In that 3/4 mile stretch from this park there is about a 50' elevation change, that's not much for that distance.
I've bugled bulls down in that area over the years but recently have thought about a treestand down in this stretch. There's lots of water in this area with a couple scattered wallows. This area is aprox 1-1/2 mile from a road & doesn't see a lot of hunting pressure.
Would you consider a treestand here or feel more comfortable about running & gunning it?
ElkNut1
Parks and meadows are great feeding areas. Often elk will bed upslope and come in late afternoon and evening and spend the night. I have had them move in during the morning. My observation is that they stay away during the day and bed above or elsewhere.
There are several problems to be mindful of if you plan to tree stand hunt there. Since they are there at night, and in the early morning, you will want to come in from below. Sometimes that is difficult, but to come in from above fills the basin with your scent before you actually arrive. If you place your stand near the upper end of the park your scent will fill the area, when the thermals are downward, faster than they leave.
Last season, my son and I had a spot very similar to what is shown. We faced the same challenges. I loved the looks of the spot. Elk sign was everywhere including beds, rubs, tracks, feces, and the area held the strong scent of elk. There was an old wood stand in a nearby snag. We had a camera there for three weeks, monitoring the wallow in the center. This was elk heaven.
Elk came in all but one day. On the one day no elk came in, a big buck did. We found a good Lodgepole pine near the middle of the park and placed a stand there. I had the stand up about 22 feet high, and we always came in from below and minimized the area we traversed in the park. It was not enough.
The evening before the season opened I watched a nice 6 point bull came in and get a drink. He seemed to get nervous and starting sniffing the air. I knew I was busted then, and he trotted off. My son and I hunted there for a couple of days, but nothing came back. While we were there several other hunting groups went through the meadow. The elk left for parts unknown. Later in the season nothing had returned.
The point is that these night feeding/night bedding areas are attractive, but they really hold in your scent. In the morning and evening I would approach them from below and place you stand where there is good airflow out of the park area. You may have to sacrifice setting over the water or trail, but if they are there to feed, you could still be well rewarded.
Yes, it is a fairly flat area for a stand, I wouldn't sit it all day if I hung one there, I would be more inclined to mainly sit it in the evenings. I'm too much of a runner & gunner on morning to noon hunts!
ElkNut1
Tree stand hunting for elk is a great idea.
only problem I see.. is on terrain like that (up and down), ya never really get above eye level
Gary, in open forests like Ponderosa pine, having elk above eye level can be a problem. I have had to make artificial branches or other camo for cover. In places like we see in the picture above, I can either get cover by placing my stand in a clump with sufficient trees around me, or just trim out enough branches so that I will only have good shooting lanes around.
Cover for elk in a treestand although nice, and recommended, isn't even a deciding factor. I'd take a bare aspen in a good spot versus a spruce in a mediocre.
Same scenario, Aspen 20 yds to a good spot vs spruce at 30, I'm taking the bare bones Aspen.
That scenario above, no way to make a call unless I know what the elk are doing. Having spots that aren't water or bait dependent are very nice to have when you have wet days.
Cazador, I must respectfully disagree. Sometimes sunlight is also a factor, but I have been busted when elk came in from the level or above, and I was just too exposed. Even though I was quiet and still, the elk stopped, looked and knew something was wrong. Since that happened and it did on a few occasions, I have learned it is a good idea to have something to breakup my outline and form.
I certainly agree; that having good tree stand locations, that are not based on the elk's need for water is a good idea. Passages, saddles and places where trails come together can be a good spot to sit on a rainy day. Usually on those rainy days I like to get out and look around. I will call to try and intercept an elk that way. Where I hunt in the high desert rainy days are not too common.
My experience is you can just about do jumping Jacks in a tree hunting elk as compared to deer.
Elk, just aren't treestand savy.
Swede, have you done much WT hunting from a tree?
Cazador, do we have to answer 3 times? ;-)
I'll agree you can get away with more movement with elk than wt's. After hunting exclusively out of a treestand in the evenings for the past dozen years or so, I've only had 2 elk look up at me. However, if they come in from anywhere above you that's downwind, that's where you'll have problems.
It's much easier to kill añ elk out of a treestand than from the ground. There just isn't anything magical about shooting elk from a treestand no matter how you try to spin it.
If it's so easy to kill an elk out of a treestand, why do so few use them? No doubt, at times it can certainly seem "easy", just like it can sometimes seem "easy" on the ground. Nothing magical about any of it. Just like real estate...location, location, location. Put your stand in a good location and your odds can be pretty good. Put in a bad location, not so much.
Because there is still a stereotype that you must run and gun for elk to be successful. In a good dry area, elk over water is right there with a good antelope waterhole. It's just a matter of time. Still, those spots that (as stated) aren't water dependent can be very good. I've seen and been around alot of elk shot from treestands. Many by a group of hunters that have never shot an elk off the ground all of which came off public heavily hunted ground from water, saddles, trails, Aspen groves etc. They just have the patience knowing they will kill one sooner or later and most times in a very controlled manner.
There is no spin to it. If you can shoot a bow, avoid doing the wrong things, and you place your stand in the right place, you can get elk. Just like with run and gun, if you mess up, you will go home empty handed. The sad part is that if you don't do it right, you may not understand what was wrong.
Yes. There is one by a guy named John Erickson I think? :)
A trail camera or two can help determine pretty quick whether a stand is a good idea or not (assuming you can use during the season).
I've found in our areas though that even on the hardest hit water holes, sitting a stand would still be a crapshoot. If you picked the right day it could be great, but those good days are usually separated by days with little action at all, or action at very sporadic and unpredictable times of day.
Having said all that, unless the elk are coming in more often than every 10 minutes, I'm going to get bored anyway and leave since I can't sit still longer than about 10 minutes. Patience is not my strong point, as is reflected by the number of animals I kill, but I've come to accept that fact for what it is.
So, to respond to your original question, it might be a great idea to set up a tree stand, but I would never be able to capitalize on it even if it were. Some people could though!
If anyone here wants the book on tree stand hunting elk, it looks like they will need to send me a PM so I can give them the web address. The original posted message and my response were removed. There is no other book of its kind. I don't have the volume of sales needed to support being an advertiser here, but hopefully this post is allowed to stay for awhile.
My last 4 elk were all shot within 2 hours of noon, when many hunters are back at camp drinking a cold one, wondering where the elk are.
