Colorado Dark Timber Wind Challenges

[trophyhill]

You guys who "back out", where do you go? My mindset is I can't kill them from camp. In pressured units I can't trust that other hunters haven't heard those same elk, or won't be hunting thru a given area. I'm hunting them and gonna try and find a way to make a kill.

 

[cnelk]

You kill em your way, I'll kill em my way

 

[trophyhill]

You kill em your way, I'll kill em my way

Best advice i've seen in a very long time right there. Too many are quick to judge others or bash other hunters and their methods that they don't use themselves or have tried and may not work for them. Point being, there's more than 1 way to skin an elk

 

[jog]

Nobody is judging anybody on how they choose to hunt on this thread. He asked for our thoughts on hunting under those conditions. But maybe learning isn't what we are here to do., maybe Its hand holding.

To answer the question about what do yo do you can't hunt from camp etc: When you back out you go back in under better conditions, whatever that means. (And I agree the other hunters factor is a pretty big pressure point and can make a hard choice even harder.)
Even if it means you have an hour window to get on them.
Backing out does not mean leaving the country. I hunted a herd bull for three days under bad wind and backed out several times. It killed me to do it. I was sure I was walking away from the challenge, the chance or giving the chance to someone else and sometimes thats the chance you take. But it was the best thing to do for me. I am not a great caller. After several back outs the shot was finally there and I am sure if I had insisted on "getting it done" when the wind would have ruined the hunt I never would have had that shot. You just cannot pretend that the elk won't bust out of there when the wind carries them your scent. You have to find another way to get on them or bring them to you. I have even gone in an area at 3AM just to beat the thermals to have a 30 minute window to get a shot before the wind protects the elk from any approach.

So play the longer game, however you want to do that, and better your chances.

 

[jjwaldman21]

I guess we could have pulled out and waited for the one day where the wind was completely quiet and the woods were dead, but then nothing was talking...and we would have wasted two days.

It just seems that some guys are consistently killing elk, so they have to beat the wind somehow.

 

[jjwaldman21]

I hunt whitetails in TN, and it is rare to have complete inconsistency. I usually get a thermal or a prevailing that is relatively consistent. When I was up high in CO, the wind would be swirling before the sun came out and after the sun went down, except for the two (out of 10) days when the wind was non existent. Those two days nothing happened and the woods were completely quiet...

 

[jog]

I would not wait for the wind to be calm in the mountains. Just back out and find a way or a time that better favors a shot. Go back in and if its not right, back out again, rinse and repeat. At some point a time will be there when it will work. Yes keep hunting. Just don't give them your scent and that kinda makes you feel like you are jumping through hoops for no good reason but thats what it can take. It sounds like you guys are persistant and thats a good thing.

 

[jmez]

I've hunted elk in the mountains for many years and it is rare to not have complete inconsistency in the winds/thermals. I can't count the number of times I have the wind in my face and watch grass within 50 yards of me leaning the other three directions all at the same time.

I've found it relatively easy to get and stay within 100 yards of elk. The last 50 is nearly impossible. Everything has to be perfect and it has to be fast. The window is going to be small to get within shooting range with a bow. Once within that shooting range you need to make it happen almost immediately. If you don't you are going to get winded.

IMO the wind is "The" challenge of elk hunting.

 

[jjwaldman21]

I wonder if this is why the guys that just run and gun consistently shoot elk. They just keeping plowing through until they get a situation that works, which is what we did, except we running up the learning curve mountain.

 

[trophyhill]

Nobody is judging anybody on how they choose to hunt on this thread. Thats a pretty bold statement. He asked for our thoughts on hunting under those conditions. But maybe learning isn't what we are here to do., maybe Its hand holding.

To answer the question about what do yo do you can't hunt from camp etc: When you back out you go back in under better conditions, whatever that means. (And I agree the other hunters factor is a pretty big pressure point and can make a hard choice even harder.)
Even if it means you have an hour window to get on them.
Backing out does not mean leaving the country. I hunted a herd bull for three days under bad wind and backed out several times. It killed me to do it. I was sure I was walking away from the challenge, the chance or giving the chance to someone else and sometimes thats the chance you take. But it was the best thing to do for me. I am not a great caller. After several back outs the shot was finally there and I am sure if I had insisted on "getting it done" when the wind would have ruined the hunt I never would have had that shot. You just cannot pretend that the elk won't bust out of there when the wind carries them your scent. You have to find another way to get on them or bring them to you. I have even gone in an area at 3AM just to beat the thermals to have a 30 minute window to get a shot before the wind protects the elk from any approach.

So play the longer game, however you want to do that, and better your chances.

Bold statement?

Nobody is judging anybody on how they choose to hunt on this thread. He asked for our thoughts on hunting under those conditions. But maybe learning isn't what we are here to do., maybe Its hand holding.

To answer the question about what do yo do you can't hunt from camp etc: When you back out you go back in under better conditions, whatever that means. (And I agree the other hunters factor is a pretty big pressure point and can make a hard choice even harder.)
Even if it means you have an hour window to get on them.
Backing out does not mean leaving the country. I hunted a herd bull for three days under bad wind and backed out several times. It killed me to do it. I was sure I was walking away from the challenge, the chance or giving the chance to someone else and sometimes thats the chance you take. But it was the best thing to do for me. I am not a great caller. After several back outs the shot was finally there and I am sure if I had insisted on "getting it done" when the wind would have ruined the hunt I never would have had that shot. You just cannot pretend that the elk won't bust out of there when the wind carries them your scent. You have to find another way to get on them or bring them to you. I have even gone in an area at 3AM just to beat the thermals to have a 30 minute window to get a shot before the wind protects the elk from any approach.

So play the longer game, however you want to do that, and better your chances.

That's a very bold statement! And I stand by it 100%! I see it all the time! Like I said.....cnelk statement is the best I e seen in a very long time! Bar none

 

[5MilesBack]

I wonder if this is why the guys that just run and gun consistently shoot elk. They just keeping plowing through until they get a situation that works

This is what I do, which is why I have at least a dozen different areas picked out that I will target. Run and gun........call and spook......call and shoot........whatever works. I do have areas that I know very well that I will not pressure beyond a certain point. If I can get the wind right, great. If not, I back out and try it another day. That's all you can do if you don't want to chase all the elk out of an area.

I have areas that I'll generally only hunt in the morning and areas I'll only hunt in the afternoon just because of what the winds or thermals are normally doing in those areas. The wind has to be priority number one when chasing elk, even if it means you need to hike 2 miles out of the way to get better wind to access them. But when you've gone 2 miles to get better wind, don't be surprised when that wind reverses when you get there. That's elk hunting.

 

[jog]

... I have at least a dozen different areas picked out that I will target. ...

Thats the best statement I have seen in a very long time, bar none.
Including the bold ones!

 

[trophyhill]

Thats the best statement I have seen in a very long time, bar none.
Including the bold ones!

Well I'll be. Mike? Someone finally listened to you

Thats the best statement I have seen in a very long time, bar none.
Including the bold ones!

Well I will say that that guy can definitely cover some ground. Good luck trying to keep up with him. He didn't mention that he hits those dozen locations in half a day then starts on the next dozen after lunch.

 

[TheCougar]

What jmez said!!! I’ve started to think of wind as “macro” and “micro”. Your macro-winds are thermals and prevailing, but within the macro-winds, you can have spots of sun and shade, small rises and depressions, and terrain features that cause winds to swirl or shift directions 180 degrees. These micro shifts and swirls are localized. The prevailing wind may be uphill, but perhaps you are in a small depression or patch of cool timber pulling your scent downhill for 50 yards before it swirls and the prevailing thermal moves it back uphill. Generally these micro areas are only a factor inside of 100 yards. What jmez said is spot on. It is fairly easy to predict and play the macro level wind, but inside 100 yards it is very tough to not get winded within a couple of minutes unless the prevailing wind or thermals are pretty strong.

 

[5MilesBack]

He didn't mention that he hits those dozen locations in half a day then starts on the next dozen after lunch.

From one tree to the next....LOL.

This year, I didn't even get to all my spots before the season was over. But my left knee was giving me fits, and some of those places I intentionally avoided because of that. Would have been a tough packout with a bum knee.

 

[trophyhill]

From one tree to the next....LOL.

This year, I didn't even get to all my spots before the season was over. But my left knee was giving me fits, and some of those places I intentionally avoided because of that. Would have been a tough packout with a bum knee.

Are you looking at surgeries before next season?

 

[5MilesBack]

Are you looking at surgeries before next season?

No.......have no idea what's wrong with it. Would have to go to the doctor to find out. But it's the same knee that swelled up a few years ago after it just collapsed on me while side-hilling down a steep decline. The pain is inside from the back.

In keeping with the thread subject......some years the entire season is just bad with swirling winds, much worse than in normal years. And sometimes it's just certain weeks that are really bad. But when it's hot and dry you can bet that it's going to be windy and it's going to be swirly. In 2015 most the season was bad with swirly winds, then the last week everything calmed down and things really came together. In 2013 the last week had 40+ mph winds all week. You couldn't hear a bugle to save your life, and after all that rain earlier in the season trees were dropping left and right.

 

[CMF]

What jmez said!!! I’ve started to think of wind as “macro” and “micro”. Your macro-winds are thermals and prevailing, but within the macro-winds, you can have spots of sun and shade, small rises and depressions, and terrain features that cause winds to swirl or shift directions 180 degrees. These micro shifts and swirls are localized. The prevailing wind may be uphill, but perhaps you are in a small depression or patch of cool timber pulling your scent downhill for 50 yards before it swirls and the prevailing thermal moves it back uphill. Generally these micro areas are only a factor inside of 100 yards. What jmez said is spot on. It is fairly easy to predict and play the macro level wind, but inside 100 yards it is very tough to not get winded within a couple of minutes unless the prevailing wind or thermals are pretty strong.

I think this is pretty accurate.
Like others said to, you just keep going and trying to get more opportunities knowing most of them just won't work out, but sooner or later one will. The more opportunities, the better chance one will work.
I did my first elk hunt this year in NM and had seen so many videos of people fighting the wind. It ended up being worse than I ever imagined. I could stand still and hit the wind checker every 10 seconds, left, left, then right. We found one area of a west facing slope with consistent wind, but of course, no elk ever around!
Like mentioned by thecougar though, there seemed to be a prevailing wind/thermals with shorter spurts of swirling and switching that would allow us to get within a couple hundred yards even though the wind checker would occasionally blow towards them.

 

[jog]

I have had times when I just had to get someplace and with the wind at my back there was just no avoiding it- I just hauled ass until I got there. Its def not a perfect world in the elk woods.

 

[cnelk]

Well, if you run fast enough, the wind is always in your face