2023 Kentucky Elk hunt

[will12brown]

I drew a tag for Kentucky Cow elk 1st rifle season. I got placed in unit 4 and I am having trouble E-Scouting and seeing anything that stands out on public land. Any information would be much appreciated.

 

[elkguide]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Amos Moses]

Welcome to Rokslide. There are lots of great threads on e scouting and general elk behavior. Search around and ask some specific questions and I’m sure you’ll get plenty of responses.

 

[fwafwow]

Congratulations and good luck!

 

[Bearcat39]

I hunted that unit 2 years ago. It was very tough public land hunting. Most of the elk are pushed off into private lands. I hunted for 3 days and saw 1 small bull. I ended up hunting the wells and van buren area and saw the bull on the norther wells area. It’s been two years but it looks like there is less public in that unit than before. If you talk to the locals, you might get access to a cow. I had a few that would call me if one was spotted but no luck. If you have the funds, I would pay a guide for either a tip or a hunt. It’s a tough public only hunt nowadays in Kentucky. Hope this helps. Good luck

 

[SloppyJ]

Congrats! We have a very small draw only hunt in AR that I've been trying to get for 4yrs now. Maybe one day. Same thing on them moving to private. Hopefully we get a report when you're done.

 

[kycon4t]

I drew a tag for Kentucky Cow elk 1st rifle season. I got placed in unit 4 and I am having trouble E-Scouting and seeing anything that stands out on public land. Any information would be much appreciated.

I'm in the same boat... Unit 4, cow, week 1 rifle. I've been down there a couple of times and did a bit of scouting. No luck. Was down at Robinson Forest WMA yesterday and didn't see anything. Not much sign either.

 

[FlinGrin75]

I helped on a first week bull hunt a few years back. A friend had a tag. We found some elk but were unsuccessful. Felt better that others had success in the same places we were hunting. We were completely DIY.

Others have said the typical summer/early autumn locations are not the same as the late season locations. This makes sense, but I'm wondering if this means they move from open reclaimed sites to more cover (in the same area) or they move across the county? Perhaps a dumb question but will admit my experience is limited...