E-scouting for public land bull elk

[Randy Newberg]

People often laugh at my seminars when my first statement is, "To kill an elk you have to find an elk." Pretty simple, but not knowing how to consistently find elk was the biggest hurdle I faced in my elk hunting travels. Everything I do from the time I draw the tag until I am at the trailhead in the morning darkness is predicate on where I think I will find elk at whatever period of the elk calendar my tag is good for.

The greatest number of questions we get pertain to elk hunting. Most revolve around finding elk. Finding mature bull elk on public land is not easy, especially in the post-rut and late season periods.

In my experience, most of the question that arise when trying to find public land bull elk can be answered by explaining how we put together our plan for hunting when we get to the unit, or the process we call E-scouting.

We released the first video this morning that is an overview of what the series will be like. It is about putting together a plan to consistently find bull elk on public land for whatever calendar period you will be hunting them.

[video=youtube_share;jmIciCbU6Co]https://youtu.be/jmIciCbU6Co[/video]

We have filmed most of the content for this series and it looks like we will end up somewhere between 10-12 videos to fully explain how we build our plan by E-scouting. Hope you find it worthwhile.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

Thanks for the content, Randy

 

[ShortMountain91]

Looking forward to this

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[darcytribe]

Hey Randy! Great to see you over here on Rokslide!!!
Loving your Wednesday evening elk hunting vids. I’ve picked up many tips on those that I’ll be implementing this fall. Really looking forward to this series as well. Your really knocking it out of the park for us DIY elk hunters!!!

 

[Gerard Marcaurele]

Thank you for all of the information that you provide folks like me that don’t have the means to spend time in the elk woods every year. It is an extremely valuable resource, and it is refreshing to see guys that have put in the work so willing to share what they know.

 

[CX5Ranch]

I just figured out that I can watch your TV series on amazon TV lol. I'm so proud of my wife for being an Amazon prime member and for myself for hunting that smart tv down during black Friday sales. Anyhow you should let me pack you in to a deep holler sometime. Love the DIY vids and love for the game.

 

[Tick]

Thanks for the info.

 

[KEVINSENC]

Give that man some DAIRY QUEEN, thanks for the info Randy, love your videos...

 

[maninthemaze]

Thanks for doing this. Hopefully you'll explain how to use the roadless areas function on OnX. It highlights "roadless" areas, but doesn't exclude ORV trails. Some of the best looking places in SW Montana have ORV trails through them.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[Grunt-N-Gobble]

Nice! Ill be watching.

 

[geebee]

THIS!!!! Very good stuff Randy!! Thank you for this and sharing your methodologies.

 

[Rs3003]

Thank you very much for this.

 

[Gobbler36]

Good content
But when everyone and their brother knows how to find the used to be roadless less pressured elk well then they aren’t less pressured anymore. I know you get paid to create content for everyone but I feel people should learn this on their on like you did instead of having someone tell them years worth of hard earned knowledge, just to get into to places that have guys hunting that have put in the work

 

[plumber1969]

Good content
But when everyone and their brother knows how to find the used to be roadless less pressured elk well then they aren’t less pressured anymore. I know you get paid to create content for everyone but I feel people should learn this on their on like you did instead of having someone tell them years worth of hard earned knowledge, just to get into to places that have guys hunting that have put in the work

Adam you can show a lot of people a spot on a map and that doesn't mean they will get there. I'm sure that as you already know, a lot of people don't have the intestinal fortitude to go in to those deep dark holes. On my first elk hunt last year in Colorado, we had 500,000 acres to figure out in a little more than a week. This process started almost a year in advance, and yes I listened to anyone and everyone that I thought could help us out. I paid for elk101 and watched countless hours on youtube and in the end, boot leather and common sense go a long way. At the end of the day, we found closed roads, they weren't listed as closed anywhere else before we got there. Heck the locals were pitching fits because they had stands back there that they couldn't get to without their 4 wheelers. We did not kill an elk or another animal and still had a great time. I for one appreciate what people like Randy Newberg does and others just like him. He was sharing general information and no gps coordinates were given.

 

[K_pem]

Adam you can show a lot of people a spot on a map and that doesn't mean they will get there. I'm sure that as you already know, a lot of people don't have the intestinal fortitude to go in to those deep dark holes. On my first elk hunt last year in Colorado, we had 500,000 acres to figure out in a little more than a week. This process started almost a year in advance, and yes I listened to anyone and everyone that I thought could help us out. I paid for elk101 and watched countless hours on youtube and in the end, boot leather and common sense go a long way. At the end of the day, we found closed roads, they weren't listed as closed anywhere else before we got there. Heck the locals were pitching fits because they had stands back there that they couldn't get to without their 4 wheelers. We did not kill an elk or another animal and still had a great time. I for one appreciate what people like Randy Newberg does and others just like him. He was sharing general information and no gps coordinates were given.

Agreed. In my experience (be it very limited), elk aren't that pressured by the occasional hunter or two crossing paths deep into a roadless area. What is causing that pressure is the mass amount of motors zipping around in and around where the elk have found sanctuary, which is what makes the road less, desolate areas so much better odds for finding elk. Not always, ive seen plenty of elk in the middle of a pasture on a highway if its where they feel safe, which is what i think is the more important factor anyways. Bottom line, in my opinion, if a hunter has the balls to hike down into the steep and deep that im hunting on more power to them. I promise you that those few that are able and hardened wont be a bother. On the other hand , all the yahoos roaming around on motorized stuff will continue to drive those elk further. Especially when laws and access rules are broken and they end up in wilderness and road-less trails and unfortunately up here in N Idaho, it happens A LOT!! But thats another story all together. That aside, what inspired me to change the ways that i grew up knowing of road hunting and logging road hiking, is guys like Randy showing what it truly takes to be a consistently successful elk hunter on public land, I wish i would have discovered this a long time ago, so for that we thank you Randy!

The country will sort out the weak on its own.

 

[Gobbler36]

Agreed. In my experience (be it very limited), elk aren't that pressured by the occasional hunter or two crossing paths deep into a roadless area. What is causing that pressure is the mass amount of motors zipping around in and around where the elk have found sanctuary, which is what makes the road less, desolate areas so much better odds for finding elk. Not always, ive seen plenty of elk in the middle of a pasture on a highway if its where they feel safe, which is what i think is the more important factor anyways. Bottom line, in my opinion, if a hunter has the balls to hike down into the steep and deep that im hunting on more power to them. I promise you that those few that are able and hardened wont be a bother. On the other hand , all the yahoos roaming around on motorized stuff will continue to drive those elk further. Especially when laws and access rules are broken and they end up in wilderness and road-less trails and unfortunately up here in N Idaho, it happens A LOT!! But thats another story all together. That aside, what inspired me to change the ways that i grew up knowing of road hunting and logging road hiking, is guys like Randy showing what it truly takes to be a consistently successful elk hunter on public land, I wish i would have discovered this a long time ago, so for that we thank you Randy!

The country will sort out the weak on its own.

Says the guy that just started a thread about riding his quad up a ridge ( I am assuming there wasn’t a designated trail )

 

[Gobbler36]

Adam you can show a lot of people a spot on a map and that doesn't mean they will get there. I'm sure that as you already know, a lot of people don't have the intestinal fortitude to go in to those deep dark holes. On my first elk hunt last year in Colorado, we had 500,000 acres to figure out in a little more than a week. This process started almost a year in advance, and yes I listened to anyone and everyone that I thought could help us out. I paid for elk101 and watched countless hours on youtube and in the end, boot leather and common sense go a long way. At the end of the day, we found closed roads, they weren't listed as closed anywhere else before we got there. Heck the locals were pitching fits because they had stands back there that they couldn't get to without their 4 wheelers. We did not kill an elk or another animal and still had a great time. I for one appreciate what people like Randy Newberg does and others just like him. He was sharing general information and no gps coordinates were given.

Yeah sorry not my experience, glad you feel like that after your one elk trip. I see more and more folks wanting to get “back in” because of information like this. Don’t get me wrong it’s great info but sometimes I feel it does more harm then good. As someone in “elk country” that hunts multiple different seasons, being a backcountry billy bad ass is the new fad sorta like the keto diet

 

[K_pem]

Yeah sorry not my experience, glad you feel like that after your one elk trip. I see more and more folks wanting to get “back in” because of information like this. Don’t get me wrong it’s great info but sometimes I feel it does more harm then good. As someone in “elk country” that hunts multiple different seasons, being a backcountry billy bad ass is the new fad sorta like the keto diet

I agree that its becoming the new "fad" mostly because of all the new videos and stuff i think but i still think that given the effort that it wont be a regular occurrence for most because its hard, or at least harder then hunting from a camp. However how many people are actually successful? Being "back in" is in the eyes of the beholder. Some of the areas i visit frequently aren't exactly what id call deep in, but if i have a solid time block and want to increase my chances id do whatever i could to get as far away from pressure as possible. I don't think there are that many people willing to put in the work of suffer the elements of back country hunting regularly. At least not based on my experience here in Idaho!! Lol if you don't sit on a quad and cruise roads all day you start to feel like your doing it wrong

 

[K_pem]

Also you dont have to be completely in the "back country" to get into deep areas. If im not mistaken most of Randys adventures are from a sort of camp, you just have to be willing to hike your ass off lol.

 

[big44a4]

Deleted dual post