Gerbdog
WKR
Hey Everyone,
First post here, been lurking for a while though. I’ll write up an introduction post soon I hope, long story short I’ve been in Colorado for about 4 years now and haven’t managed to pull my bow back on an Elk yet. Last year was my first archery kill on a mule deer (awesome experience). I have a fear of wasting my time hunting moose instead of elk. My first year in Colorado I was out near Granby and thought I was into elk sign but just kept running across moose of all sizes. I put two and two together eventually and realized I was hunting moose when I was hoping to hunt elk.
I have been scouting an area this year that has what I thought was elk sign… lots of smaller pine trees rubbed/torn in half, multiple ages of rubs from a couple of years back to last year, lots of scat, water, feed, potential bedding areas, etc. This sign is all located in a small valley (9500 ft elevation in the valley) with a north-facing canyon wall and a south-facing canyon wall, a clearing in the bottom of the valley where grass grows and a small creek that flows through it, creating some small ponds in some locations with rancid mud bottoms and then a swampy area around it with tall grass and willows growing. Yesterday I decided to make the long hike up to treeline looking for signs on the way up and see if I could locate where the elk may go when pressured and any potential bedding areas. I was discouraged to find the sign all disappeared as I moved up the mountain to the treeline (~12000 ft). Worst of all, I couldn’t locate any bedding areas in the thick timber on the north slope and the closest I found to a bedding area was just off the valley floor on the north slope just inside the thick timber, near the willows and water. I have attached some photos of the rubs and scat in the area. I considered tasting the scat as recommended on the forums here but I figured my palette wasn’t sophisticated enough to determine the animal yet … maybe someday
. Am I spinning my wheels on moose here? There aren’t supposed to be many moose in this area at all but… I can confirm I’ve seen moose in just about every corner of Colorado west of the front range… Now I question whether I’m onto old moose sign or old elk sign. Came here to see what the veterans thought.
Thanks,
Gerb
are thumbnails too small? i guess i could post the full images but... who really wants to see close-ups of cr$p.
First post here, been lurking for a while though. I’ll write up an introduction post soon I hope, long story short I’ve been in Colorado for about 4 years now and haven’t managed to pull my bow back on an Elk yet. Last year was my first archery kill on a mule deer (awesome experience). I have a fear of wasting my time hunting moose instead of elk. My first year in Colorado I was out near Granby and thought I was into elk sign but just kept running across moose of all sizes. I put two and two together eventually and realized I was hunting moose when I was hoping to hunt elk.
I have been scouting an area this year that has what I thought was elk sign… lots of smaller pine trees rubbed/torn in half, multiple ages of rubs from a couple of years back to last year, lots of scat, water, feed, potential bedding areas, etc. This sign is all located in a small valley (9500 ft elevation in the valley) with a north-facing canyon wall and a south-facing canyon wall, a clearing in the bottom of the valley where grass grows and a small creek that flows through it, creating some small ponds in some locations with rancid mud bottoms and then a swampy area around it with tall grass and willows growing. Yesterday I decided to make the long hike up to treeline looking for signs on the way up and see if I could locate where the elk may go when pressured and any potential bedding areas. I was discouraged to find the sign all disappeared as I moved up the mountain to the treeline (~12000 ft). Worst of all, I couldn’t locate any bedding areas in the thick timber on the north slope and the closest I found to a bedding area was just off the valley floor on the north slope just inside the thick timber, near the willows and water. I have attached some photos of the rubs and scat in the area. I considered tasting the scat as recommended on the forums here but I figured my palette wasn’t sophisticated enough to determine the animal yet … maybe someday
. Am I spinning my wheels on moose here? There aren’t supposed to be many moose in this area at all but… I can confirm I’ve seen moose in just about every corner of Colorado west of the front range… Now I question whether I’m onto old moose sign or old elk sign. Came here to see what the veterans thought.Thanks,
Gerb
are thumbnails too small? i guess i could post the full images but... who really wants to see close-ups of cr$p.
As they say, the elk are where you find them. Just because they were there 2 days prior does not mean they're coming back anytime soon. Elk move all over, especially during season when they're getting bumped.
