How far do you really need to go?

Joined
Jan 24, 2018
Messages
95
Location
Virginia
The internet being what it is, I get the overwhelming assumption you need to hike in/pack in as far as possible to have a reasonable chance at elk. My experience last year says otherwise. (First trip out west as well) my question: are most people passing up all the territory up front on these trailheads to go deep leaving great hunting just a couple miles from the trailhead? Or was last year a fluke?
 

Randle

WKR
Joined
Dec 30, 2012
Messages
2,176
Location
Nope
Some spots we leave the truck around 20 minutes before legal light and hunt from there. Others we leave 1 or 2 hours earlier and hike in the dark to get where the hunting gets good. We are hunting any legal elk and 2 of my hunting partners have yet to shoot an elk so we don't pass on a cow or spike when they are there and legal.
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
15,527
Location
Colorado Springs
I've had many elk pass through my truck camp at night in the past, and even passed up a shot on a small 5x5 65 yards from my tent. Had a 300+ bull raking a tree 30 yards behind my tent one year and I got busted by a cow trying to get an angle. I've shot a couple 6x6's less than a 1/3 mile from the truck, and my daughter shot her 330 class bull just over 1/2 mile from the truck. But those are usually the exception.....not the rule. I like exploring, so most of mine come from further back.
 

cnelk

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Joined
Mar 1, 2012
Messages
6,798
Location
Colorado
It was a fluke.
All the elk are a minimum 3 miles from trailheads.
Thats from Page 1 of the Rokslide bible.


Seriously tho, in the past 10 years we've killed 17 elk no more than 3/4 mi from a vehicle.

If you want to go for a hike, have at it.
Elk are where you find em.
 

Wapiti1

WKR
Joined
Sep 18, 2017
Messages
3,569
Location
Indiana
Four years ago, I had a horrible nights sleep because 4 bulls kept bugling behind my camping trailer. The next morning, I killed one of them and had a 300 yard pack to the trailer. One of the best ruts I've ever hunted and there was no one else there. The elk moved in after opening week, and the "hunters" thought the area was bare.

My mother has shot several deer and elk while she waited for us in the truck. If she didn't feel like hiking that day, she would sit in the truck and read a book while we were hunting for the morning or evening. They would cross the road, she would sneak on them, and then we would get back and pack it out. She is also hell on grouse.

Other areas I hunt require a trek across poor habitat to the good habitat. My take is simple. For the rut, know where the best food is, and hunt there regardless of distance from a road. For late season, hunt as high as the snow will let the bulls feed. That might be at the top, or it might be much lower. If you want cows, or any legal elk, hunt the food.

Jeremy
 
Joined
Apr 18, 2019
Messages
1,623
I was reading a journal the other day about exploring the furthest place from a road in all 50 states. In Colorado, the furthest place from a road was 8.8 miles (as the crow flies I believe). Now, there are cases where private land would or a river or something blocks access from “the other” direction or it is a highway where parking is not allowed, but 8.8 miles was the farthest. That tells me most spots are much closer than that. So, I’d say it’s not the distance that matters as much as what’s there and how difficult it was to access.
 

kiddogy

WKR
Joined
Jul 14, 2019
Messages
595
Location
idaho
The internet being what it is, I get the overwhelming assumption you need to hike in/pack in as far as possible to have a reasonable chance at elk. My experience last year says otherwise. (First trip out west as well) my question: are most people passing up all the territory up front on these trailheads to go deep leaving great hunting just a couple miles from the trailhead? Or was last year a fluke?

elk are wherever elk want to be . that could be anywhere from standing on the road to 10 miles back.

they are also creatures of habit , same as the rest of us. if you find a spot where there are elk one year it is fairly likely they will be there again the next. don't over think it . elk are just another dumb herd animal, about as intelligent as cattle.

where they are and what they do can change with the weather or from early season to late.


here in Idaho their habits have certainly changed since the wolves were reintroduced.. I am seeing them down on the desert much ,much earlier then we used to years ago. but that doesn't mean you still won't find em up high also.
 

HookUp

WKR
Joined
Nov 4, 2015
Messages
957
elk are where they are. I have found them close to the road all the way further than where I can hike. Make a plan and figure it out. Units and states can be different. Elk are crafty hiders, just because you dont see or hear them doesnt mean they arent there even during the rut.
 
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