Bird Hunting in the Elk Woods

[theddguide]

I don't see any problem with it unless you knew they were near by. In that case I see it as unsportsmanlike.

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[BoomerMillie13]

Sounds like you were pushing elk toward them. If you went in past their camp that might be different but sounds like you didn’t even reach it? Only one direction in?

Only one direction in and never saw their camp. There were no cars at the trailhead when I got there at 5 AM - so figured I was good to go. They must have heard shooting and went to the ridge top to see what it was about.


I did go 2/3 on the flush so if they were watching they got to see some good shooting at least.

 

[Blowdowner]

Only one direction in and never saw their camp. There were no cars at the trailhead when I got there at 5 AM - so figured I was good to go. They must have heard shooting and went to the ridge top to see what it was about.


I did go 2/3 on the flush so if they were watching they got to see some good shooting at least.

Ya you’re good to go. They probably shouldn’t have fired up the atv but honestly they probably just didn’t want you continuing past a certain point and got a little more jumpy than intended when I came time to actually talk.

 

[streetdoctor]

You could have stopped at "Driven half way across the country" and "4 wheeler". I don't care if you were dead wrong you did a good thing. Maybe they won't come back LOL>

 

[Loo.wii]

Its Public land bro.

 

[taskswap]

Did you ask them why they were archery hunting so near to where you were trying to take sharptail? It seems really rude of them to not have checked in with you first...

 

[parshal]

I used to blue grouse hunt in an area that had lots of deer/elk hunters. If I saw them I'd go the other way. The buddy that showed me that spot hunted big game a lot and I'd asked him about hunting around the other hunters. His response was that we had as much chance of pushing the animals to the hunters as away from them.

 

[fmyth]

A few years ago I was helping my 77 year old friend on his archery cow elk hunt. I shot 2 blue grouse with my .22 while sitting a water hole with him and 45 min later he shot a cow elk.

 

[Jon_G]

You mean to tell me you trespassed on their public land?

 

[The Guide]

Not weighting in on hunting etiquette but more so as a potential solution—next time leave the shotgun and take the bow

When/where I hunt elk the season overlaps as well so I always pack a judo point or two in my quiver specifically for grouse. Last year on one of my trips out I came up empty on elk but ended with four fat sage hen breasts to soften the blow.

Have you ever hunted sharptail grouse? They aren't dumbassed mountain grouse. They are more like a large Hungarian partridge or a Chuckar than a mountain grouse. Not really bow friendly unless you're Tim Wells.

Jay

 

[2ski]

Not weighting in on hunting etiquette but more so as a potential solution—next time leave the shotgun and take the bow

When/where I hunt elk the season overlaps as well so I always pack a judo point or two in my quiver specifically for grouse. Last year on one of my trips out I came up empty on elk but ended with four fat sage hen breasts to soften the blow.

Yeah not bow hunting with my dog running around. How's he retrieving a bird with an arrow in it? Plus he points, I want it to flush.

OP you're entitled to the woods as much as anyone else is. I was out hunting with a buddy in what I now know is a popular recreation area even late fall(fairy lake). This was 15 years ago around bozeman so not what it is today. People walking, whistling for their dogs. No orange in rifle season. They were entitled to be there as much as I was. I moved areas. No worries on my part. And had a good conversation on my way out with a Colorado couple who told their son he needed a knife like mine for protection if he was going to follow the griz tracks that crossed the road. Coloradans.....lol

 

[Fowl Play]

Not in the wrong. I would give them space if I knew they were there, but there's only so much you can do in some areas.

For the 2nd round of questions, Yes you very well could be buggering up your elk hunting. But just your human scent and presence could be arguably worse then gunfire. I'd be smart about it. I would not be trudging through nice North facing slopes with dark timber, water, and food -- everything a good elk bedding area would have -- if my intent was to come back the next week and hunt elk.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Eh… don’t think you scared the elk or deer or anything, as an archer primarily I don’t love things that go boom during sept, but have been around a FS road where guys were target shooting for hours… and then magically bulls were bugling within ear shot of the the target shooting…

 

[The Guide]

For the 2nd round of questions, Yes you very well could be buggering up your elk hunting. But just your human scent and presence could be arguably worse then gunfire. I'd be smart about it. I would not be trudging through nice North facing slopes with dark timber, water, and food -- everything a good elk bedding area would have -- if my intent was to come back the next week and hunt elk.

I know dozens of people who kill elk from the camp while everyone else is out hunting. Next to a main road, after camping there for a week+, and having drunken campfires every night. The state of Montana has done extensive research on elk behavior and they have a ~12 day cycle where they travel a loop that covers their "core" area. That core area is around 10² miles. You aren't going to scare elk out of the country by doing a little bird hunting while scouting. If you bumped them off their cycle, they might move over a little bit but not leave the country. What really shuts elk down are people calling excessively and before the season.

Jay

 

[taskswap]

I used to blue grouse hunt in an area that had lots of deer/elk hunters. If I saw them I'd go the other way. The buddy that showed me that spot hunted big game a lot and I'd asked him about hunting around the other hunters. His response was that we had as much chance of pushing the animals to the hunters as away from them.

This is totally true. I regularly hunt a 0-point draw zone that gets a ton of pressure and I've come to prefer it. Instead of acting entitled about other people being in the same woods as you, if you pay attention to where other people are, it can be a huge advantage. It almost feels unfair because it actually makes it easier, not harder.

When I hike into areas in the dark I make a mental note of every headlamp I see - you can pick them out a mile away at 4am - and during the day, every hunter or hunt camp. If you visualize circles around those spots like a Venn diagram, you can concentrate your own efforts on the blank spots between them. Move slow, don't make noise, and pay attention, and half the time you'll find game being driven into you with a lot less work than stomping down into every overgrown gully to try to find your mark...

To me, finding another hunter in the field is almost as good as glassing. That old "walk with your eyes" bit. Every one I see becomes a quarter-mile circle I don't have to hike myself to find what I'm looking for...

 

[2ski]

Nope, just like at the bar, I only go for the dumb ones.


well, obviously you wouldn't be taking the dog either. If you're bird hunting then bird hunt but the OP is talking about trying to kill two birds with one stone (pun intended). Call me unenlightened, but unless you are just looking for sign then I don't know how you expect to find elk with a shotgun and dogs in tote.

Read it again. He's asking about bird hunting while everyone else is bow hunting. My comment was in response to someone saying to go with a bow instead of a shotgun so he wouldn't scare elk away with gunshots.

 

[LongWayAround]

@K1United I read his post as grouse hunting now and later hunting OTC rifle (I assumed rifle, don't believe he mentioned bow hunting himself). Presumably, his intentions are to scout access and terrain rather than certain animals.

That season would begin in over a month. Elk in Colorado get pushed a considerable amount over the seasons. I don't think he would hurt anything. The elk in that place in September probably are not the same as in November.

 

[amassi]

I never saw them on the hike in - their camp must have been on the other side of the draw I was hunting. BUT - it was far enough away where the fata*** had to get on his 4wheel and met me on the trail back to the car. I had plenty of names in my head to call him but figured it was easiest to say sorry and keep walking.

A “public land owner” buzzing around on a quad afraid of a few loud bangs?
Dude was 100% in the wrong


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[TaperPin]

I can’t imagine shooting anything around a trailhead during archery season and not getting people telling you off. There are plenty of guys that hunt close for a number of physical reasons and it may not hurt your hunting area, but it definitely does theirs. It’s also not illegal to blast a stereo at a trailhead, but every person there will think you’re an ahole.