Open country elk

[Whitey375]

So I have what is likely a dumb idea. There's a place in the SE corner of Oregon where I know elk live. The country is similar to that open sage/juniper area that the Hushin and BRO guys hunt in Idaho. I didn't draw rifle so I'm considering bowhunting it in mid September. There is not a lot of roads in there so travel by vehicle is pretty limited. My thought was to hang out above the alfalfa fields and maybe find some hidden water hole(s), and try to use a ground blind like antelope. There's only a very few pockets of what could be considered thick stuff, and they're mostly on the one real tall mountain that's nearby. Just looking for suggestions on what to do here, anything helps as I'm a terrible elk hunter.

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[Seth]

You could be on a good plan. If they don’t get much pressure, and if you can glass from a distance to understand their patterns it can be effective. My wife took her first bull with a muzzleloader last year in a large grass flat after watching them hit an isolated water hole from 1.5 miles away over the summer.

 

[11boo]

Heck why not? I sometimes hunt a unit here that has it all. Tight timber/close shots to high prairie/long shots.

The thing with my unit is the elk get pushed around between the private and public during rifle season, and you never know where they will be pushed to.

i think your plan is good, and with a little calling you could score. I called this spike into 40 yards while laying down in the scrub oak. I had a cow tag of course.

the cows were 400+ out, and no rest for a rifle=no shot.

 

[nphunter]

I would personally skip the blind, I've tried blinds for elk and if you're not set up exactly in the right spot you will be SOL. Just stay mobile and cut them off, move behind terrain features so they can't see you or crawl. Elk have poor vision and won't see you unless you are moving, move slow. I have found that you can move straight toward them and they normally don't notice you moving much at all, it's when your moving sideways they see the movement. I walked right up on the bull I killed last fall, cleared about 50 yards across wide-open country in order to get close enough for a shot. You just have to move super slow, have your wind right and move only when their heads are down or facing the other direction.

Another thing about elk is that once they set their mind to something they are going to do it. When we use to hunt a friend's ranch we would have a spotter see which direction the elk were leaving the field and then we would move to where they would cross. We could actually control the elk's path out of the property by which gates we would leave open. The elk always go one of about three ways on that property, we set up people on each escape route and typically kill elk every time they are in the fields.

I have had poor luck actually archery hunting elk when they are leaving a field, once they decide to leave they are on the move and normally on a pretty good clip until they reach where they are going. If they are leaving onto public ground I would personally wait until they are back in there bedding area or close and stalk in instead of trying to catch them moving. It really is terrain dependent, if they have a dependable pattern where you can sit it may work, the problem is elk are nomadic and only have to move 50 yards in either direction and then you don't have a shot. I quit archery hunting elk down on our friend's ranch over 10 years ago, I didn't like that after the first 30 min of daylight the hunt was over until 30 min before dark, I would rather hunt somewhere I can hunt all day long. I still love hunting elk in open country only now I hunt the places on public ground where they end up after leaving the private.

If you can find their water source you will be in good shape, elk have to water a couple of times a day. I would imagine there it's going to be upper 90's in early Sept. hopefully there is some water on public ground. I know a lot of the elk around us never leave the private unless pushed.

 

[ElkNut1]

Locate them in the open, kill them in the cover, bedding area is the best spot outside of their water sources!

ElkNut

 

[Whitey375]

So at what point will they switch from their summer to fall patterns? Or is that a geographically specific deal? Trying to figure out when to start scouting them. During early November rifle season we pretty much have their movements dialed, they'll do 1 of 3 things. To the point that you can likely be within 200 yards of where they're going and in one case within 50.
Water is fairly isolated, so it sounds like find the thickest cover, nearest to a water source, with some elevation away from the very few roads? Good place to start?

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[nphunter]

So at what point will they switch from their summer to fall patterns? Or is that a geographically specific deal? Trying to figure out when to start scouting them. During early November rifle season we pretty much have their movements dialed, they'll do 1 of 3 things. To the point that you can likely be within 200 yards of where they're going and in one case within 50.
Water is fairly isolated, so it sounds like find the thickest cover, nearest to a water source, with some elevation away from the very few roads? Good place to start?

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Normally early August cows migrate toward fields and really start gathering in larger herds. Bulls strip velvet and start searching for cow about the 3rd week of August out here. Normally there are several large groups of elk with big bulls with them by opening weekend down low. The rut always starts earlier in the open country around NE OR due to the large amount of elk and the chance one of those cows will come into early estrus.

I have way more success getting open county bulls bugling early than timber bulls because of the amount of elk. The biggest thing about calling them in is finding a spot where they think you could be calling from and not see them or them see you. Behind a small knob they have to walk over to see from, in a draw or a thicket.

Elk won’t tolerate constantly being bothered by people, they don’t mind constant traffic but rigs stopping bother them. I’ve seen them lay out in the wide open next to a pond. Depending on the area they will go up to several miles or just stay at the closest water hole. We’ve followed elk up to 5 miles from a field to bedding areas. Most of the elk that are unpressured won’t go that far though. I would look for the closest water away form constant human interaction and start there.
The below pics are from Aug 17th. Pretty consistent out here.

 

[Whitey375]

Normally early August cows migrate toward fields and really start gathering in larger herds. Bulls strip velvet and start searching for cow about the 3rd week of August out here. Normally there are several large groups of elk with big bulls with them by opening weekend down low. The rut always starts earlier in the open country around NE OR due to the large amount of elk and the chance one of those cows will come into early estrus.

I have way more success getting open county bulls bugling early than timber bulls because of the amount of elk. The biggest thing about calling them in is finding a spot where they think you could be calling from and not see them or them see you. Behind a small knob they have to walk over to see from, in a draw or a thicket.

The below pics are from Aug 17th. Pretty consistent out here.
View attachment 191573

View attachment 191574

Those pictures kinda look like the area I'm going. Both in the sage and the amount of different types of elk in a big bunch.

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[nphunter]

Those pictures kinda look like the area I'm going. Both in the sage and the amount of different types of elk in a big bunch.

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I added some details to my last post. I have seen elk lay out in full sunlight all day long as long as they can get a drink now and then. If there is a draw anywhere with water and brush that would be where I would start. By the looks of it you shouldn’t have troubles finding them. Personally I would plan to stay a night just watching them as well as the following morning. Watch the feeding grounds until dark and you should be able to see where they are coming from, also watch early morning and see where they are going. If there is a good moon you can actually watch them all night.

 

[Whitey375]

I added some details to my last post. I have seen elk lay out in full sunlight all day long as long as they can get a drink now and then. If there is a draw anywhere with water and brush that would be where I would start. By the looks of it you shouldn’t have troubles finding them. Personally I would plan to stay a night just watching them as well as the following morning. Watch the feeding grounds until dark and you should be able to see where they are coming from, also watch early morning and see where they are going. If there is a good moon you can actually watch them all night.

I know a couple of spots just like that in that area. Thanks.

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