Too steep for elk?

[Jon Boy]

As noted never too steep for elk they are safer in those areas if some feed and water can pretend to be mountain goats if one can live here they can live anywhere this guy was hold up late November in cliffs and I shot cliff to cliff let’s just say took awhile for all things elk on this remote canyon He is a speck in the 2nd photo piled upView attachment 109537View attachment 109538

I've had very similar experiences. I once glassed two great bulls in the head of a basin in a rugged central Montana mtn range. The next morning i gathered a few good friends and we rode in. The whole time I told them these bulls literally have no where to go and we would have 2 330 bulls on the ground by noon. We get to the ridge above the bulls and the wind switched. Next thing we know these bulls are hopping up vertical ribbon cliffs, cliff to cliff. Up and over they went with easy and with out slipping a hoof. To this day it still amazes me thinking about it, and one reason why I love chasing bulls in November with a rifle. Almost more than with a bow in September. Such an amazing animal.

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[RockinU]

I passed on one of the better bulls I've seen because I didn't think there was any I'd ever get to him without running climbing protection, and sure didn't see a way to get him out...they are amazing animals.

 

[jmez]

No such thing as too steep for elk. I watched a herd come over a mountain 2 days in a row in CO one year. Same spot, all bedded in open above timberline.

3 different times I tried to get up there and turned back because I was bear crawling and still 1000 get below them. Had I got there it would have been too steep to even shoot.

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[GrumpyHiker]

I once stalked a group of elk up into a couloir. I took it super-slow...3 plus hours at a pace of something like 1/4mile per hour knowing I had them dead-to-rights once that couloir sheered up. I even convinced myself that I may be faced with a charge from cornered animals. Finally got to that point and there was nothing living to be found...

Found their tracks a bit after leading to what I considered a cliff-wall; they went up and over no problem, probably in the first 30 minutes of my stalk. I wouldn't have attempted that without climbing gear.

Make no assumptions regarding their ability to climb.

 

[BK Ammenwerth]

And if this is your first elk hunt you will soon find OnX and google maps don’t give you an idea how nasty the terrain really is. Best laid E scouting plans can really go to crap quick when boots are really on the ground. It’s always farther, steeper, nastier than you think. What you think will be 5 hrs in is 10. You’ll see real quick. Give yourself more like 5-10 spots to check not 100. Honestly the best waypoints are the ones you find when on elk.

 

[Poser]

And if this is your first elk hunt you will soon find OnX and google maps don’t give you an idea how nasty the terrain really is. Best laid E scouting plans can really go to crap quick when boots are really on the ground. It’s always farther, steeper, nastier than you think. What you think will be 5 hrs in is 10. You’ll see real quick. Give yourself more like 5-10 spots to check not 100. Honestly the best waypoints are the ones you find when on elk.

I’ll testify to the truth of this. You can spend 4 or 5 hours going a mile and a half in difficult terrain and many of your estimations of travel time will be doubled. If you think it will take 4 hours, expect it to take 8 and don’t be surprised if it takes 10 hours. If travel is consistently taking more than 2.5 times what you have estimated, then you have bitten off more than you can chew and you need to revaluate your plans.

 

[jaymcclanahan]

We found elk last year on a timbered slope that you had to use hands and feet to climb.

 

[crankbait321]

I've seen elk in places that I wouldn't want to walk. They are amazing.