First elk hunt

Blackdirt Cowboy

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Jan 14, 2019
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183
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Texas
I’m planning my first elk hunt this fall. I am applying to draw tags in several different states, but don’t expect to draw as I have no points yet. So in the likely event I don’t draw, I will probably do an otc hunt in Colorado. I plan to backpack in a few miles off the trail and camp for a week and pack back out. That being said, when I start studying the maps of the different units, what am I looking for? How do I translate the areas on the maps that may hold elk? I hope to get up there this summer to do some scouting, but I feel like I need a plan before I even do that. Is there a resource y’all would reccomend to help me learn a little bit before throwing myself into the fire? I kind of understand whitetail deer movement, but in Texas we just put up a corn feeder and make the deer come to us. Spotting and stalking in the mountains is completely foreign to me. Anyway, I’d appreciate an help y’all could give me to put me on the right path in my research.
 
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Blackdirt Cowboy

Blackdirt Cowboy

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 14, 2019
Messages
183
Location
Texas
Thanks elkhuntr. I’ll check it out. As a rookie, I’ve seen the threads asking for specific info in states and units, and the bickering that devolves into. I don’t want specific info. I want to learn how to interpret the info I’m presented on my own. I thought I’d get more responses by asking for help researching.

Like I said, I have a feeling that elk movement is very similar to whitetail movement, but that’s just not an important aspect to study where I hunt whitetail in the flat central Texas woods. I’m just asking for help picking these features out on a topography map. I’m willing to have a private conversation with someone if hey are willing to help me learn. Again, I am not asking or your secret spots, just help reading a map.

I know there’s no substitute for boots on the ground, but with my job, I’m lucky to get away once to go hunting. I’m going to try my darndest to scout some this summer, but my first hunting trip may well just turn into a scouting trip. I don’t fully expect to be successful. If I do get a chance to scout some over the summer, how many days should I plan on taking to look around? Thank in advance for any help y’all can provide.
 
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Bowhuntone

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Sep 25, 2018
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NH
Check out Randy Newberg's E-scouting series on U-tube will give you a general idea of what elk are doing in the different periods of the hunting season and where to look for them. You will have to adapt some of the concepts if you are hunting different terrain than he does E.I. if you are going to be in thick timber vs more open country.
 

pchrisla

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Jun 25, 2018
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Philadelphia, PA
Where in Texas are you? I'm pretty new to Elk myself but have the exact same plan as you. Submitted my Wyoming request yesterday and hope to wrap montana, Arizona, and new mexico up soon. If all else fails, I'll be in Colorado. I'm hoping to do a summer scouting trip as well.
 

Okhotnik

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Dec 8, 2018
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N ID
Texas is not very far from Colorado
Pick a unit and take a week this summer and scout, hike and observe elk.

I spent 25 years chasing whitetail ( I be take close to 100 with bow rifle shotgun and muzzle loader) before I starting chasing elk And shot my first elk . Very different animals imo

Took me about 5 years and a lot of time in elk woods to start really understanding them. I’m fortunate to have elk on or near my property the past 15 years and scout year round.
 

Jqualls

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Apr 16, 2018
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Colorado
Honestly 90% of elk hunts are them scouting around trying to find elk. Some get lucky and find a good spot quickly some take years to find. If time is constrained I would rather take the maximum days off during the hunt and be hunting then taking an extra week off to scout. It is only a 10ish% success rate and most of that are the same people every year who know good areas, scout regularly, and have a few spots to try when one or two of their spots are a bust.
 

bozeman

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Dec 5, 2016
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. If time is constrained I would rather take the maximum days off during the hunt and be hunting then taking an extra week off to scout. It .

Isn't that like 'practicing while playing in a game'? I've burned multiple vac days to travel out west to scout and look at trails and gage distances on foot......just thinking out loud here.
 

rackcity24

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Oct 29, 2017
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north dakota
Honestly 90% of elk hunts are them scouting around trying to find elk. Some get lucky and find a good spot quickly some take years to find. If time is constrained I would rather take the maximum days off during the hunt and be hunting then taking an extra week off to scout. It is only a 10ish% success rate and most of that are the same people every year who know good areas, scout regularly, and have a few spots to try when one or two of their spots are a bust.
What he said. The hardest part is finding elk IMO.
 

Jqualls

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Isn't that like 'practicing while playing in a game'? I've burned multiple vac days to travel out west to scout and look at trails and gage distances on foot......just thinking out loud here.

You can look at it that way but isn't every game also practice especially with something new. If time and money is limited I would not make a special trip out scouting that cost probably 1k or more plus time off. I would rather take those extra days off and use them actually hunting. One can probably gain the same knowledge in 2 days of hunting as taking several days off work to make a scouting trip. Then factor in that what you see during the summer likely is not what you will see in the fall and now your scouting trip may have been worthless. Dont get me wrong scouting is great and can be very beneficial but even though I scout quite a bit I still usually learn the most while actually hunting.

Really I was trying to make the point that dont worry about your first season or few seasons being more like scouting. That is what 90% of the people are doing.
 

Bowhuntone

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NH
Don't forget the importance of in game adjustments. :) Can be the difference between a win or loss
 

cnelk

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So many times Ive seen NonRes arrive 2-3 days before season starts and tromp around the elk woods 'scouting'.

After season starts they complain " I saw a bunch of elk a couple days ago, now there is nothing"


DUH!
 

fatlander

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Feb 11, 2016
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No skin in the game from me as this will be my first year as well. I’ve tried to learn as much as I possibly can and I’ve come to this conclusion I need to cover as much country as I can and learn what and where to actually look for.

I don’t think packing in a few miles is the best idea. If you get in there set up and look around for a day or so to realize there is no elk, you’ve wasted 3 days by the time you get back to the truck. If you truck camp you wasted a day or half and can move somewhere else.

Flock shoot comes to mind with my preparation. I’m picking a bunch of spots that I think will have security and cows. You’ve gotta get lucky with one. But hoping the first spot you pick is going to have elk is not the best odds.


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Some good advice here. Newbergs free content online for elk behavior and scouting is a good start.

People made good points on summer scouting vs hunting longer, i could argue either side. Not everyone can take all of their time off in the fall or take extended absences but it might not be as difficult to slip a 4 day weekend in during the summer.

If the OP hasn't spent much time hiking in elk country I think there is added value in a long weekend backpacking/scouting trip. E-scouting all summer without having a better context of what the planned areas are like in person could result in a very frustrating fall trip. Putting some miles with just camp on his back and thinking about what it would take with a hind quarter added to that pack could really change how he goes about making realistic plans e-scouting and help dial in his gear list.

I hunted two new areas this past fall, one in WY and one in MT. I spent two long weekends backpacking in WY to learn the areas. Planned area A didn't have a viable water source to work as I planned and access to plan B was much more difficult than I interpreted. I eliminated a lot of ground and didn't even make it into Area C (adjacent to area B) until the hunt. It worked though and I was into elk immediately in Plan C where I was able to get away from people and have a great camp setup. Ended up with a good bull.

I never set foot in the area I hunted in MT prior to getting there the eve of opening day. I moved camp (truck) twice and didn't see elk until day 4, a legal bull until day 5, and shot a good bull on day 6. So it worked out but barely and I only had 6 days to hunt.

I also agree that starting out truck camping makes a lot of sense over planning to backpack in. You can cover a lot of miles from a truck camp.
 
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