Finding food

[Superkodiak38]

I will be hunting Colorado the first 20 or so days of September ( my first elk hunt) I am going to purchase an either sex OTC tag. I plan on being between 8500-10000' My question is what are the elk going to be feeding on ? Is there anything in particular out there I should pay attention too ? For example in the early season here the red oaks drop, then the whites start and some time in there the persimmons ( deer crack) will drop, water is everywhere and so is the cover.

I know it will be pre-rut and there might be some activity of that nature going on but I don't plan on tromping through cow calling and bugeling every five minutes. I would rather play the food, water and cover game to try and bring home some meat. I know the area contains some oak brush, is that a snack on the way to bed ? Will the primary feeding be in meadows at night before they head to bed ? What are they feeding on in the meadows ? Any particular grasses or forbes ? Do they move back to the oak brush before heading down using it as cover on the way ? I know these are generalities but what do you find to be the pattern that time of year ? ( assuming I find a pocket of elk that aren't being pressured) Is there anything that is really attractive to them ( like persimmons here ?) Thanks

 

[ramont]

Elk are primarily grazers but they will browse too. If they have a reason then they will also eat forbes and the tips of young trees and brush.

I live in Montana so I can't really tell you what the preferred foods are in Colorado but I will say that what an animal eats will have a direct impact on how they taste. Grasses produce better tasting meat so try to find elk that are predominately eating grasses.

 

[mtnrunner260]

Yellow grass is what they will be eating most.
They will use big open meadows but finding good grass within cover will nearly always produce elk habitat.
good grass is typically not found in oak due to it competitive nature but mixed low density pine with a plentiful grass understory within a mile of water and thick timbered north facing slopes would be my focus.

 

[Superkodiak38]

Yellow grass is what they will be eating most.
They will use big open meadows but finding good grass within cover will nearly always produce elk habitat.
good grass is typically not found in oak due to it competitive nature but mixed low density pine with a plentiful grass understory within a mile of water and thick timbered north facing slopes would be my focus.

You 'da man ! Thanks

 

[LongWayAround]

Aspen groves often have good stands of grass and the elk like to browse the buds off of young aspen. Dead standing pines that let lots of light hit the forest floor can also have impressive grass stands at lower elevations. As you get higher, the grasses will be predominantly around springs/seeps in the drainages or above treeline.

 

[oldgoat]

Depends on the unit as in type of vegetation available, moisture levels, hunting pressure etc.

 

[cnelk]

I have no idea what kind of low growing plant it is - like the one in the pic below - but when I find it, elk sign is there too.

 

[nettereo16]

^^Looks to me like Grouse Whortleberry. A fairly common groundcover that produces tasty berries earlier in the year.

File:Grouseberry Patch (15034625657).jpg - Wikimedia Commons
Vaccinium scoparium - Wikipedia

 

[Superkodiak38]

Thanks for all the replies and information, it's nice to know what you are looking at, and the value it holds,t while you are trying to put the pieces together and decide where you want to spend your time.

 

[Superkodiak38]

Depends on the unit as in type of vegetation available, moisture levels, hunting pressure etc.

We will be in 15, at least that's the plan for now

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

^^Looks to me like Grouse Whortleberry. A fairly common groundcover that produces tasty berries earlier in the year.

File:Grouseberry Patch (15034625657).jpg - Wikimedia Commons
Vaccinium scoparium - Wikipedia

That explains why my elk bone stock had a slight blueberry aroma.

 

[oldgoat]

We will be in 15, at least that's the plan for now

Our favorite unit is pretty high altitude, very little Aspen's etc, we've hunted it three times, first year it was really really dry and the elk were high and concentrated, it was amazing let me tell you, next two times we hunted it, there was more moisture and more forage everywhere and the elk weren't near as concentrated! Also places with lots of beetle kill has lots more forage now, almost like a recovered burn because of more sun getting to the forest floor I imagine. The elk are there, find them, if you aren't seeing fresh sign, keep going till you do, doesn't matter how good a spot looks, if the elk aren't there, they aren't there!

 

[Topo_trekker]

Food at that elevation is everywhere...for miles. It's makes them unpredictable. Learn to bugle and make cow calls. I bumped so many elk my first year because I thought I'd do the same thing. Literally a bad elk call is better than no elk call a lot of the time. Locating elk by calling is just as effective as glassing. Be a versatile elk hunter with a variety of skills.


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