Elk sheds

[Hunter1212]

How high will bulls winter? Going into some backcountry next week on a shed hunt and was wondering how high bulls will winter. The valley bottom around here is around 3000 feet and the tops of the mountains are 8000-9000 feet.

 

[Back Country Hunter 2]

Welcome to Rokslide!

 

[Gznokes]

Oregon1234, I'm not a big shed hunter, but the little I've done and the way I see other do it, is a lot like regular hunting. It starts with scouting. Successful shed hunters seem to watch the herds and where they are wintering and then start hiking those areas once it is ethical to do so. Just think about the snow this past year, if the high country was covered in more than 3-4 solid feet, that is probably too high. Around here in Utah, I'd say we are looking anywhere between 5500-7500 feet. You might also check with locals or even a biologist assigned to the area. Good luck.

 

[Indian Summer]

I don’t know about Oregon because obviously it’s quite different than Montana or Wyoming. But the bulls there, the ones with sheds worth looking for are at around 6500 feet. They’ll stay as high as they can making moves up and down the ridges depending on the weather and snow depth.

 

[Researcher]

Dont get locked in by elevation either. It all about where they are. Where are they eating, drinking, and sleeping. Thats where you will find them. I would target those three things before you go by elevation.

 

[WeiserBucks]

These bulls with little velvet nubs were at 3400' last weekend.

 

[Ross]

Each state and region will be different, and wintering will be affected by snow depth, feed, cover, predators. Bulls will group up and tend to find places they can ride out Mother Nature until greenup. My areas highest peaks are at 6500 we had a solid snow year and slow melt with the bottom being at 2900. Most of our sheds were found around 3500 with the highest at 4600 in rocky areas that allowed early melt and some early green eating.

 

[Dcoryn]

Here in wyoming this year the magic number seemed to be 55-5800 ft