4 Month Season - When to Travel?

[mstei4]

My Dad and I both have cow tags this year for a fairly long season (September - December), and are trying to gameplan when we should focus our efforts. I'm close enough that I'll be able to hunt periodically throughout the season, but he has to travel and will probably be limited to right about a week, depending on how orders with work go. The area is primarily lowland ag fields and blm that they run cattle on during the summer. Here's my thoughts:

September - early October: Corresponds with the rut (for the good and bad that brings), great access since snow hasn't blocked any roads yet. Late September in through most of October there's an antelope hunt going on as well so that will increase pressure. Probably the least number of elk in the area at this point, I know they come out of the mountains as it gets later into the year.

Late November - December: Probably the highest number of elk in the area since they'll have gotten pushed out of the mountains by now. Least amount of access due to snow. Food sources will be more scarce, so if we find food we find elk? Elk should be herded up pretty good by this point. We assume this is probably the highest percentage success time frame. My wife and I are talking about traveling to visit family around Christmas for a couple weeks, so that may throw a wrench in having him come up to hunt that late.

Mid October - Mid November: Kind of a mixed bag, access will be decreasing but the areas the elk will be will be getting more concentrated.

I know the weather is the ultimate wild card here, it could be light snow with great access into December, or it could dump heavy in October and just about always be hard to get into.

What say you? Am I totally off base or am I heading in the right direction?

 

[Laramie]

I wold talk to your dad about what kind of weather he wants during his hunt. If he doesn't care, I would hunt December as that is almost always your highest percentage hunt. Elk on winter range are pretty easy to kill if you have access to them.

 

[mstei4]

I wold talk to your dad about what kind of weather he wants during his hunt. If he doesn't care, I would hunt December as that is almost always your highest percentage hunt. Elk on winter range are pretty easy to kill if you have access to them.

Thanks for that, we were thinking that would be the case. I know he doesn't have much of a preference about weather.

I forgot to include, so I'll edit my original post, but my wife and I were planning on going to go visit the rest of family for a few weeks in December, which may make hunting December hard.