Scouting question

[Rubbin_Is_Racin]

I'm still learning a ton about elk hunting. I've gone the last 2 years to a spot that I found through online maps and talking with some local buddies. I have been fortunate enough to take an elk one of those years and my buddy got one the other year. Turns out it's pretty crowded and I've been eyeing a few other spots to try. Knowing more about everything now I'm thinking boots on the ground would help me out alot on a new spot rather than just searching maps. What has been everyone's experience with scouting in the spring or summer, specifically, if you see elk then does it have any bearing on their location in September? I am assuming you get quite a bit of movement throughout the year but I just wanted to see what yall thought. I would have to make a big trip out of this, as I'm on the east coast, so I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons.

 

[Wapiti1]

Any boots on the ground time is worthwhile regardless of time of year. Animal sightings are great, but don't tell you much unless you are near the season you are hunting. i.e. August scouting helps for a Sept 1 opener, but after Sept 1, all bets are off. That said, sign can tell you something, but you need to be able to decipher when and why that sign is in that place. In one area I hunt, the elk use the same spots until the snow flies. In another, they stay high all summer, and drop down mid-August because the good grass up high burns off.

What you need to consider is not where do you see elk in May, June, or July, but what do the elk you want to hunt need in Sept, Oct, and Nov. Preferred food, timing of the rut, length of the rut, best food because cows care about food and bulls care about cows, then the post rut needs take over until pure survival is the game in winter.

Now, just knowing popular trailheads, the quality of roads, and what a place looks like is important. That google maps spot might be inaccessible from where you thought. That knowledge will save you two or three days of the season, IMO.

Just a few thoughts. Good luck.

Jeremy

 

[Rubbin_Is_Racin]

Man that's awesome advice, I appreciate it. I hear people say often that elk stay up high in the summer and drop down in the winter. Where I have hunted for the last 2 years I've seen elk cross the top of mountains and be down lower in valleys. When someone makes this statement does that mean that they literally are near the tops of mountains in a particular area all summer but in the winter may be in the same area but lower elevation or is it more of a migration from areas of generally higher terrain to areas of generally lower terrain?

 

[Indian Summer]

Just remember that spring in the mountains, especially at higher elevations is much later than anywhere else. Let the sow melt, the streams come down, and the elk disperse before you head west. As a matter of fact go as late as you can. Nothing wrong with July or even August.

The other thing worth mentioning is don’t walk away from elk to find elk. You guys have killed elk two years in a row. Not too shabby! My advice would be keep learning the lay of the land, the elk, and your competition in the same area. Good luck!

 

[Rubbin_Is_Racin]

We are more than likely heading back to the same area this year. The first year that we were there I got really discouraged with the number of people. I always envisioned coming out west and there being plenty of room to get away from folks... turns out that during hunting season this may not quite be the case. That said I have learned that you can find elk within this frenzy of elk hunters and it's not worth getting discouraged, you just have to out hunt them. I killed my elk 7 miles from the road and my buddy killed his elk 1 mile from the road and there were people throughout all of it.

I want to start the process of finding a new spot just to get more experience and learn more elk behavior in different locations. But you may be right, I need to learn what I can from this spot before I move on.

 

[Researcher]

I would just move your summer scouting trip and fold those days into your hunt. Since youre from far away spending as much time in the area during the season will be the best. If you tag out early spend the rest of your days scouting for more animals and watching how other hunters use the area. Dont go home.

I like hunting and seeing new areas so I have moved around a bit and you’ll find places that look awesome but season hits and there are people all over them and no game. Knowing what and where other people are is almost more important than where the game is.

 

[terp91]

I see people mention how busy it is hunting out west, how many people they see, but in comparison to what? I haven't seen much in the way of people per square mile of public land or anything like that.

My reference is mostly hunting on MD's eastern shore. On public land it isn't unusual to see someone every quarter to half mile. Leased land might have a stand for every twenty to fifty acres of woods or corn/soy/bean fields.

Any insight you can give compared to what you're used to seeing hunting whitetails in NC?

 

[Rubbin_Is_Racin]

In NC, it can get pretty bad in the middle of the state but the mountains (other than dog hunters during bear season) can be fairly free of other hunters. Per square mile, NC can be much like what you described in the MD. Out west, I can only comment on the 2 years I have spent out there so I'm not sure that, that qualifies as reliable information. That said both years, it would have been hard for me to walk a mile, near a trail, without finding someone or their camp. When I got of the trail and bushwhacked, I wouldn't run into quite as many but I would still find people while glassing.

 

[Wapiti1]

I would agree with the comment to add the time directly to your hunting trip if you can. Scouting is great, but you want to know what the elk do during the season. They only do that stuff during the season. And never leave elk to find elk. Unless they are the wrong elk.

Also keep a journal. Record water conditions, where the elk were found, what kind of habitat were they in, was is steep, or a bench, were they using a certain meadow, or clearcut. Where were other people parking. Could you park in a seam between them and hunt in between the pressure? Any detail that relates to elk biology and ecology, and any detail that relates to hunter behavior in your area.

Year over year, review that data and you'll see the pattern you need to exploit.

Jeremy

 

[Poser]

I don’t archery hunt anymore so I do all of my scouting in September which allows me to observe pressure effects and any anomalies in elk behaviors. The changes in elk behavior between mid august and the end of archery is profound. Some of these effects are predictable but others seem to offer almost no explanation.

 

[Indian Summer]

Speaking of scouting as close to season as possible.... if you kill an elk it’s easy to kick back and celebrate etc. Some hunters pack up and go home early. But as a guy who thinks elk literally 365 days a year (366 this year!) I can tell you that you should stay there and keep hitting the hills. Days afield during hunting season are worth 10 days of scouting pre season. As a matter of fact I think lots of people will agree that scouting AFTER the season would be better than before. Just something that crossed my mind while reading over this thread so I thought I’d mention that.... before I go eat some elk chili!

 

[HondoArcher]

I need to learn what I can from this spot before I move on.

Learning new places isn't a waste it just takes time. If you don't explore new areas you don't know what you are missing. My suggestion is to hang some trail cameras in the new area during your scouting trip then pick them up after your hunt. This last year I had a couple of cameras up all year. I was surprised at what I captured.
Use cable locks and set them about 10 feet off the ground so they don't get bothered. You will have to point them down a bit for them to trigger.

Here is one of my scouting videos with the year-long camera series.

 

[Rubbin_Is_Racin]

I'd love to hang a bunch of trail cams up even in the area I hunt currently and leave them throughout the year. We hung some the first year for just a week and got all kinds if stuff on them, from bears, wolves, moose, elk, and other hunters.

 

[Beendare]

RIR, in my experience...GE is great for learning topography and knowing what is on the other side of the Mtn. I fly areas a lot with GE....but it doesn't tell you where the elk are hanging...or where the pressure is pushing them in to.

I typically have to lace up my boots for that.....

.....

 

[ElkArcher918]

I'm still learning a ton about elk hunting. I've gone the last 2 years to a spot that I found through online maps and talking with some local buddies. I have been fortunate enough to take an elk one of those years and my buddy got one the other year. Turns out it's pretty crowded and I've been eyeing a few other spots to try. Knowing more about everything now I'm thinking boots on the ground would help me out alot on a new spot rather than just searching maps. What has been everyone's experience with scouting in the spring or summer, specifically, if you see elk then does it have any bearing on their location in September? I am assuming you get quite a bit of movement throughout the year but I just wanted to see what yall thought. I would have to make a big trip out of this, as I'm on the east coast, so I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons.

Sounds like the unit you and partner are hunting has heavy pressure (typical of most CO OTC units) but you guys have killed 2 in 2 years, pretty good success rate. Obviously, you guys are doing alot of things right. The old saying goes, "Don't leave fish to find fish." Scouting other areas within the same unit is okay and you can always fall back on your honey hole. If you have only one week to scout pre-season, I 'd make the trip as late in August as possible. Better yet, can you get to the unit a couple days before the opener?

 

[Rubbin_Is_Racin]

I have a few spots in the same unit to check out in case it gets too crazy in the spot we have been going. I probably wont be able to take any more days at the time I do my hunt, between my family and my job it gets tough to stay gone for longer than 10 days at a time. What would be super ideal, is to tag out with a few days to spare and go check those other spots out!

 

[Rubbin_Is_Racin]

The "new areas and burns with jim carr" rokcast podcast seems fairly relevant to this thread. I haven't finished it but I wish he would have expanded a little more on the early season scouting tactics.

 

[ckrhtr]

I think that if I were in the same position as you, I would trade a couple of my hunting days for scouting days prior to the opener, with a couple of guys you can cover a whole lot of country in that couple of days. I am not sure what the terrain looks like where you are hunting but spend the time covering the ground with glass and not your feet, knowing where the elk are in the unit the day or a couple days before season is invaluable. Use some good maps and looks for islands or pockets of roadless area with the right cover/feed/water where people have to put in some effort to get there. I cant tell you how many times I have seen, when hunting wilderness areas, that the elk are just beyond that distance that people are willing to walk.

 

[Rubbin_Is_Racin]

I like that idea but unfortunately we are looking at going from either the 10th to the 19th or the 17th to the 26th and work and family schedules aren't giving me too much wiggle room... both options are a few weeks past the opener. Which by the way is my second dilemma this year. The earlier date is the more crowded week but I like the way the elk act that week better and the last week is less crowded but the elk have been dogged hard all season by that point and are more bunched up it seems like.

If I can get a free long weekend between now and then I may just go down there to lay eyes on some spots that I've wanted to check out and see how hard they are to access.

 

[personscott]

Try trail cams as well. I have found that about Aug 22 they tend to move to rutting location s and are not as prevalent in their summer grounds. Pressure from hikers , dirt bikers , hunters ECT. Can impact their movements as well as finding water.