Elk Habits - East Coast lessons

[pbcarch]

Please excuse the "stupidness" of my questions but trying to learn as much as I can before the inaugural Idaho 2018 ( t - 10 months) ;-) Some of these may seem quite basic in nature but i want to hear from the actual guys out there with real life situations and examples.

Some basic questions on Elk and they way they live in the woods.
1) Are elk quiet in the woods when they move and how wary are they while moving? Frame of reference : in a deer stand here if you are looking the other way or if there is tons of cover obstructing your view whitetail can really sneak up on you. Squirrels on the other hand are the loudest creatures in the woods and a great source of entertainment for long sits. Deer move one step at a time , very gingerly, constantly looking and smelling. their radar is 100% working all the time.

2) can you sneak up or move slowly on a elk if they "see you" again my frame of reference is in deerstand or perhaps walking to a deerstand. In the stand as the deer come in , if you are fully camouflaged, are downwind and are pretty much motionless for the bulk of the time deer will come in. Now when they are walking in and you need to grab your bow or shift your position to shoot , you can move but have to be very careful and take baby step / slow moves to get there. Sometimes it could take 5 -10min to simply get into position all while the deer keeps looking at you on and off. You can stalk up to a deer while they kind of see you but you have to be fully camo'd, walk slowly and in a non-aggressive manner to them and be going sort of away from them (perhaps here they are more use to seeing humans) Can you do this with elk?

3) how habitual are elk ? again whitetail here develop patterns of where they always bed, when they wake, when they move, where they feed in the morning, where they go if spooked, etc........then of course the whole routine in the evening again. Are elk the same type of creatures of habit?

Again i read some of this stuff online, in books etc... but i want to hear what you experienced guys have to say.
Paul

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

1) They can be silent or sound like a stampede through the woods. The bow guys would know more but most often I think you'll hear some movement but not always.

2) I'll let the bow guys answer.

3) Resident elk will sometimes be a bit habitual but in general elk move around, esp. the herds. Nothing like deer habitual behavior (IE don't sit on a spot for a week expecting them to come back if they've moved off).

 

[huntabsarokee]

1. Elk can come in silent as a mouse same as NJ deer. If there are a few you can sometimes hear them. A small herd running makes a lot of noise.

2. Yes you can sneak up on them. My last 2 bulls have been killed with just me sneaking and this is with a bow. No calling required.

3. They are not like in a deer in that if a deer gets bumped or pushed it will probably be back in the same general area the next day. Not so much for elk. They do have habits like watering mid afternoon in the heat but the range they cover is far greater than a deer.

Biggest change from hunting deer is you have to cover way more ground. During PA deer season I may never go more than 1 mile from my truck but elk hunting we can cover 10 miles per day.

 

[idahohikker]

Elk are loud when they're normally walking around but are amazing in how silent they come in to bow hunting calling setups.

Elk take off immediately if they smell you. They're pretty wary with sound and sight but in general they're going to head out pretty quick when they sense something is off.

They're nomadic. You can find spots that consistently hold elk but they graze around an area in herds during the rut. You can usually put them to bed at night and come back in the morning. You don't want to stay in one area after seeing nothing fun for a few days. Later on solo bulls are more patternable.

 

[elkstabber]

I'm an elk hunting addict but still hunt whitetails a lot at home. My experiences are all with bowhunting.

1. Elk are typically louder than squirrels in the east. Elk tend to strut through the woods while a whitetails acts scared of everything. Of course, there are times that elk approach quietly, but those times are unusual. A small bull will tend to come in quietly, especially if he thinks there's a bigger bull around. He doesn't want to get his butt whipped.

2. Elk are generally less wary than whitetails because elk don't have as many predators. If an elk or a whitetail sees you move that's usually about all there is to it, neither animal will be coming any closer. If an elk just casually looks at you and you are still then they will calm down quicker than a whitetail would. However, it seems like whitetails are on a tighter schedule. What I mean is that if a whitetail is watching you they are more likely to watch you and move along, whereas if an elk is watching you it will absolutely keep watching you like they have nothing better to do all day long.

3. Keep in mind that whitetails are virtually the only NA big game animal that has a regular daily pattern. Elk will wander constantly if they are in the mood. I have hunted individual elk or very small groups that will have a daily pattern for a couple of days in a row, especially in the early season. But, if you find a bigger herd they will never do the same thing every day. Two years ago I was having trouble finding elk in CO and then a huge herd with 80-100 head came my way. There were too many eyes, ears, and noses and I couldn't get in a good position. Then the entire herd crossed the continental divide at 12,000'+ and left the hunt unit. They never came back and I couldn't find any more.

 

[5MilesBack]

Of course, there are times that elk approach quietly, but those times are unusual.

Not unusual at all. For a 750+ pound animal it is unreal how silent they can be when they want to. With pine cones and pine needles everywhere I hear every step I take even on my boot toes. But those bulls are silent........until you bust them, then they sound like an entire herd busting through the forest. I've had big bulls sneak in behind me to 10 yards and I never knew they were there until I moved or they caught my wind. The squirrels on the other hand.......I spent 45 minutes once with what I thought was a bull stomping around, breaking limbs, and making a huge commotion. Finally got within sight and it was two squirrels.

 

[welch01]

1) As the other posters have stated, they can be as quiet as a church mouse or as loud as a herd of elephants. It is really one of the more amazing things about these animals.

2) They are definitely less jumpy to things they see than a whitetail. That being said, if they are getting hunting pressure they will be more likely to take off on you if they see you.

As it relates to items 1) and 2) I read/heard a good analysis of this one time (can't remember where). You can usually get away with them hearing you OR them seeing you but if they can hear you AND see you then it's probably game over. As others have stated, smell is a whole other story and something you should be more cautious of.

3) As it relates to an archery hunter, elk will be more habitual in the early part of an archery season. In late August and early September, it is possible to pattern their routines. Once they start getting rutty though all bets are off. They can move a few miles away from where the summer to where they rut.

Good Luck!

 

[PF_JM]

Yes and No to all questions. Based on pressure and time of year all of these questions have different answers. They are less weary than whitetail generally but at those times they are surrounded by cows who are very weary. I think the big difference is that an elk will not go completely nocturnal like a whitetail. Pressure will push them into areas that most people wont go and they can be out of range in a flash if you screw up. Like whitetail, the best way to learn how to hunt them is to get in the woods amongst them.

 

[pbcarch]

WOW...guys thank you so much for the info so far. Its great to hear all the different points of view, and ending up with reoccurring themes !

BTW when do you guys feel/see the most hunting pressure either in Idaho or out west in general? Seems like a lot of people are bow hunting these days but not sure if has really eclipsed rifle , yet??

License and tags bought this AM! Idaho here we come

 

[Rthur]

I heard Elk described this way once.
They'll see you 3 times.
They'll hear you twice.
They'll only smell you once.

R

 

[jmez]

My thoughts and experiences. Most all of my experience is with a bow.

1) Both. If elk are just moving through undisturbed you are going to hear them. They are big and don't seem to mind making a ton of noise as they move about. So much so, if you have never experienced it, you will be wondering what the hell is coming toward you. They can also just appear out of nowhere without a sound. The only time I have seen this is when cold calling. Some will come in silent and just show up. Just randomly moving though the woods, they make a lot of noise.

2) Can you sneak up on them. Absolutely if you keep the wind in your favor. You can not and will not ever beat their nose, don't even try. If you get into them this will be, by far, the most frustrating thing you encounter. Have a windpuffer and use it often. Biggest mistake I've made elk hunting is trying to treat them like whitetails when I see them. If I see them, I get the wind right and go after them. If they haven't had a lot of pressure they are far less wary than a whitetail. If they are not on their feet they are much harder to sneak up on, you have to be fairly careful here. If they are up and moving, get the wind and go kill one. Moving too slow and "sneaking" has cost me more opportunities than aggressively going after them when they are moving.

3) The areas I have hunted elk are very habitual until they get pressure. They will bed, move through, and feed in the same general area until they run out of feed or someone pushes them from an area. The big differences here from deer, sometimes when pressured they don't just leave the area, they leave the county, and don't come back. Their core area may encompass a few miles, rather than 100 acres. The biggest issue with this is other hunters in the area.

A couple more pieces of general advice that I learned the hard way. Elk are where you find them, not where you want them to be and not where you think they should be. You can be smack in the middle of elk cornucopia habitat and have no elk. Don't stay here wishing and hoping they will show up, they likely won't. Go find them. Do not hesitate to pull up and move to a completely different area if you aren't finding elk or "FRESH" sign. Prior to arriving you should have a game plan, Spot 1 and the specific areas you are going to check within that spot. Then have a plan B, C and D ready to go. If you have a game plan with predetermined spots you can keep moving. You go with only one area in mind you will tend to stay there and keep "hoping" to find them. If we don't know an area we will try to map out 5 days hunts before we ever arrive. This will prevent you from staring at a topo map at 10pm with a headlight trying to figure out what next.

Hunt the wind. You will not beat their nose, ever. If it is marginal at all back out and wait. I never really understood wind, thermals and the effects of terrain on the wind until I started hunting elk. You have to understand all of these and use them to be successful. Wind in the mountains is totally different than the whitetail woods. It will blow from four directions at the same time. My experience has been that when you find a bedding area, the prevailing winds and the thermals will work opposite of each other. It will seem like the wind is never correct to move in on them. If the wind is blowing and you approach into it, as soon as it lays down, common in the mountains, the thermals are going to go toward the elk. They choose bedding areas wisely, they are very tough to enter without being winded.

Take a lot of wind puffers. Don't just use them when you are into elk. Use them all the time to try to get an idea of what the wind and thermals are doing in that spot. Then look around and try to figure out what is causing that particular wind pattern. Figure out at approximately what time the thermals are switching, it will be close to the same every day. Position of the sun to your position has a big bearing on this.

 

[vanish]

( This is archery season advice )

You didn't specifically ask about this, but I don't worry about making noise while moving in on elk. As mentioned, casual elk can make a lot of noise, so it isn't unusual for them to hear branches crunching or thumping. I sometimes will literally run 20-40 yards, stop in front of a tree, pause, check for visual, run again.

Set up in front of cover. Stay standing, no need to kneel. If you ignore these two pieces of advice, you're just making your shot more complicated. You'll have reduced shooting lanes and you're going to give yourself away much more easily if you're trying to lean out from behind something.

Another mistake I often see is that when elk are spotted, the first thing the hunter does is make a quick movement, like dropping to a knee or jumping behind a tree. This large movement attracts attention. You're much better off freezing in place, and then slowly moving in front of cover when the time is right.

 

[TheCougar]

They are generally noisy, but it depends on terrain and wind. Sometimes they just appear or of nowhere, but most of the time you will hear a stick break or something. They aren’t ninjas like deer. They are less spooky than whitetail. I’d out them in the same category as mule deer. Again, it depends on the hunting pressure, how smart the elk are, etc. By far, the smartest elk in the Woods is the lead cow. She is the one you have to fool. If she isn’t fooled, she will take the entire herd with her. They are somewhat habitual to water and wallows and they will frequent the same meadows until pressure pushes them out.

 

[timekiller13]

I heard Elk described this way once.
They'll see you 3 times.
They'll hear you twice.
They'll only smell you once.

R

This. I've walked up on elk and they just stared at me. Ive blundered and stumbled through blow downs, cursing the whole time and walked right up on them. But every elk that has ever smelled me has disappeared so fast it was like they were ghosts. I've found that if a whitetail smells you, they will not always run away immediately. They may stomp and blow, may trot a few yards and stomp and blow again. Not so with elk. As soon as they get a whiff they are gone.

 

[cnelk]

There are times you will want to kneel, especially if hunting thick stuff

It will extend your shooting range as you wont have as many branches to contend with when you stand.

^^^^ I have this T-shirt ^^^^


Back in 2006, I was on stealth mode slipping thru a bedding area and I shot this bull in his bed at 8 yds.
He never got up

 

[Short Track]

Elk will run for a mile.
Mule deer will run 100 yards, then stop and look back at you. Then make a decision on if you're a threat.

 

[mrgreen]

There are times you will want to kneel, especially if hunting thick stuff

It will extend your shooting range as you wont have as many branches to contend with when you stand.

^^^^ I have this T-shirt ^^^^


Back in 2006, I was on stealth mode slipping thru a bedding area and I shot this bull in his bed at 8 yds.
He never got up

Great pic, is that green clothesline cinching your bow to the pack? Looks like something I'd do. Must be a great story.