How to locate elk??
Contributors to this thread:Equipment
From: RutnStrut
18-Mar-08
I think I have the area(s) that I want to hunt narrowed down some but how do I go about finding elk in a particular unit? I just ordered the Elknut scouting video which is in the mail but do you have any other advise on how to actually find elk in an area? Thanks
From: Norseman
18-Mar-08
Burn up some shoe leather. Begin by looking at topos for benches, saddles, water (tanks, seeps, springs, wallows), open meadows. Investigate these areas looking for sign. You could also look for glassing vantage points to view open areas. get out and glass these early mornings and evenings.
From: jordanatwork
18-Mar-08
Look for shelter with food and water close by then follow Norseman's advice. Even then....elk are where you find them.
From: Norseman
18-Mar-08
then there is always the airplane...........8^0
From: elmer
18-Mar-08
or you can go anywhere I'm not....:)
From: billygoat
18-Mar-08
There are many here with more experience than I have, but when I'm in a new area that's pretty steep, find an out of the way spot that flattens out some. I seem to find elk in these places almost without fail.
Also, elk sign seems to last forever, but you need only pay attention to very fresh sign. You'll know it when you see it.
From: bigbull
18-Mar-08
Go look for them.
From: razor
18-Mar-08
The best way I've located bulls is to call them with a locator bugle. Be high on the ridges early and bugle down into bowls and opposite facing drainages. Do so sparingly and don't overcall, but don't be bashful either. If there's elk nearby you'll almost always find fresh sign in the North facing drainages near natural springs and water. Also, glassing open areas very early and in the evening, but this can be done with a combination of calling and glassing. Don't waste your time around week old sign. Considering that they weight around 800lbs, rip trees to shreds, crap and pee all over the place, roll around in big mud holes,and stand on a ridgeline screaming at the world it's really not too difficult knowing if your in the right area.
From: deerklr
18-Mar-08
Found more elk on the way up in dark,than on the top.although shot the last cow on top 2.3 miles from camp, tough time back. Try locating then move in without calling,every 15 min.try cow calls or little locating bugle.
From: Jaquomo_feral
18-Mar-08
Triangulate the furthest point between 4WD roads and ATV-access and look for elk in the middle. Or alongside Interstates or busy state highways where most hunters drive by. There is some excellent hunting in Colorado just off I-70 and close by state highways. You don't necessarily have to et "way back in", just somewhere that has feed, bedding cover, water where the elk aren't being bothered.
Or near busy mountain biking/hiking trailheads, except in the opposite direction of where the trails lead.
From: bear
18-Mar-08
Locate a smelly well used wallow and put a treestand up. Sit in it patiently and pick out whichever bull u feel comfortable with. GL Bear
From: HUNT MAN
18-Mar-08
find water elk have to have it. where i hunt elk move 10-12 miles every evening just for food and water.where they are today does not mean they will be here tomorrow. in a new area i find water and follow it to the sourc . elk will be there sooner or later.HUNT
From: Paul @ the Fort
18-Mar-08
billgoat, you stated, "elk sign lasts forever so only pay attention to the fresh sigh." I like fresh sign also but------
Here is some thought to consider. I have been elk hunting in Colorado for the past 15 years, and I consistently use old sign as a determination of where elk, both cows and bull, perfer to locate, bed, drink and feed and travel. Sort of a road map.
If there is good food, water and shelter, the elk seem to migrate back to these spots each year and using old sigh (and fresh) helps evaluate those areas year after year.
I am sure you would agree. Regards, and good hunting. Paul
From: Jwillman6
18-Mar-08
I start hiking in June to look for potential places to hunt. I look for mainly north facing and east facing slopes that have cover, grazing and access to at least one source of water. In late or middle August I like to use binocs and spotting scopes in areas that I have picked to see what I can spot. This gives me confidence if I see animals in the areas in the I have picked. Just remember elk are very nomadic and they are very sensitive human pressure so because they are in one are now that can change because of migration and human pressure.
From: billygoat
18-Mar-08
Paul,
I do agree with your perspective, but in looking at it like a traveling hunter, it is good to take note of all sign, but in your 7-10 day window to hunt per year, or every other year, I find it most helpful to keep moving "till you smell 'em," so to speak.
From: DonVathome
19-Mar-08
Make a lot of phone calls to anyone who is in the area. If you make enough calls by the time you are done you will know where the elk are. Use maps to find access, elky terrain and roads (so you can get away from them).
Next go there and glass as much as possible, then hike until you find elk, that may be 1 mile or 25.
Then hunt.
Trust me after you have contacted 50 people there will be no doubt where the elk are.
From: Kurve
19-Mar-08
walk until you see them, hear them or smell them. that's how you locate elk
From: trclements
20-Mar-08
My uncle started me on elk hunting when i was 14 and he has a hunting spot that he guards with his life. The way he found it was that he had a friend who brought an elk home every year and refused to tell my uncle where he was going. Finally he gave my uncle a clue. he told him the name of a small stream that ran through the area. So my uncle took a map and drew a 20 mile radius circle around the stream and went out on foot. needless to say he figured it out. Just to give you an idea at how good the area is, a few years ago on the opening morning of the rifle hunt they had 9 elk out of 12 hunters. Not to bad!!
Keep asking around and go out and find those areas.
From: Wild Bill
06-Apr-24
When I'm rifle hunting a new area, I've learned to read the area. How and where is the hunting pressure? Avoid that area! Hidden natural springs are good place to start? A folding forestry topographical map helps with this. Mountain top saddles are great escape routes for elk and deer. Private farm/ranch lands make great refuges, check the fence lines for crossing routes. Naively wondering through the woods trying to bump elk is a waste of time. All you will find are trail highways traveling from point A to B. Game calls are great in private areas on non-pressured elk and deer. On public land competing against the orange pumpkin crowd, game calls are realistically, an unproductive effort. Hunting blinds are useful only after you've covered enough ground to locate that perfect spot.
From: Glunt@work
06-Apr-24
The most important elk sign is the 4 hoof prints that are still full of elk hooves. A ton of perfect elk habitat is almost devoid of elk during some or all of bow season.
From: Aspen Ghost
06-Apr-24
Why does Wild Bill keep answering ancient threads?
From: ND String Puller
06-Apr-24
I’ll take these old thread resurrections over that trans BS all day !
From: Corax_latrans
07-Apr-24
^^^Yup. Just a bunch of people who want to tell other people how to live who don’t wanna be told how to live.
Thanks, Bill!
