Elk Elevation Question

[CiK01]

What is the lowest elevation you have found elk during an archery hunt?

The last few years, my buddies and I headed out west and when we left the trailhead we hiked far and we hiked high. I look back now and I think we were hunting more for the experience than for the groceries. We had a great time and didn't put so much value on success. I know we passed elk at lower elevations along the way.

Outside of the saying "the elk are where the elk are", what is the lowest elevation you, or somebody you know, killed a bull elk during an archery hunt in September?

Tony

 

[cnelk]

We used to tell tourists that at 9000’ deer turn into elk

 

[CiK01]

We used to tell tourists that at 9000’ deer turn into elk

I like that, but it doesn't make me feel good. Haha

I am just beating around the bush. The new area we are looking at is around 7000" and it has a recent burn. It looks elky around it.....we just don't know if elk will live there in September when we are going to be there.

I really should just drive out for a long weekend and scout it out. I am already planning on hunting bow in September and rifle in October/November if I am not lucky the first go around.

 

[hobbes]

Im assuming that you are hunting in CO, because you are concerned 7000 is too low. When I lived there I hunted a lot of treeline stuff because I liked it and not because all the elk were there. We lived at 10,000 and the town I worked in was 7500, so I didnt see elk lower than that, but there were elk in the lower elevatons same as the high.

If there were no elk below 7000 Id be in trouble in MT, at least where Im located.

 

[wapitibob]

We have Elk that play in the surf on the coast.

 

[tttoadman]

We have Elk that play in the surf on the coast.

Everybody in OR loves the beach once in a while.
Elk herd in Seaside Oregon crossing the river to the ocean - YouTube

 

[CiK01]

Im assuming that you are hunting in CO, because you are concerned 7000 is too low. When I lived there I hunted a lot of treeline stuff because I liked it and not because all the elk were there. We lived at 10,000 and the town I worked in was 7500, so I didnt see elk lower than that, but there were elk in the lower elevatons same as the high.

If there were no elk below 7000 Id be in trouble in MT, at least where Im located.

Not Colorado, but we always subscribed to the higher and farther in the better.

I love the Oregon coast comments. So elk are where the elk are.....above 10,000’ and all the way down to 0’.

Tony


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[svivian]

6,000 -6500 ft I have seen elk during archery

 

[ckleeves]

That is really a state by state, unit by unit question. A guy in OR, MT or even Idaho could be into elk thick at or under 5k, if I hunted around 5k in the units by me in September my chances of success would probably be around .01 %

Elk elevation questions are really tricky for that reason. I killed a archery bull around 6000 a few years ago, that's really low for us. The day before and 30 miles away my buddy killed a bull at 11K.

"Elk are where you find them" really isn't as stupid as it sounds.

 

[chindits]

There was a herd down in the sage all summer. That's about 5-6K below our mountain tops. Years ago, I routinely ran across a resident herd in the middle of summer behind this no name little town in sage country. Another part of the county, there is a resident herd down in the oak brush all year in a box canyon with no water in the bottom, but it has 3 springs seeping out of the ridge sides. A miserable place to be in summer IMO, but they had food water and cover so that's the deal. This is a critter that can do prairie, desert canyons, and wind blown mountain tops in the winter. Elk are where they are and they don't know any better to be where you think they are. The last day of 4 th rifle season there were 70 on BLM out in an open meadow with 4 bulls sparring in the middle of the afternoon about 1000 feet up from river bottom. There is no snow to push them this year, they could of been 4000 feet higher. However, I like hunting them up high until I get too old. That should be in a year or two. By the way, you can't get any lower than 7500 around here with out going over mountain passes to get out of this basin.

 

[GeoHunter]

The place I work in northern NV has a large ranch with some big springs and plenty of grassland. Every September, just like clockwork, the elk show up for the rut at about 5,500' and stay until mid Oct. Of course, this is private property, so that may not tell you anything about public land where they are more pressured.