What questions to ask a Biologist

Luked

WKR
Joined
Apr 3, 2014
Messages
938
So I have been trying to plan a hunt in CO for OTC Elk. I know chances are really slim I'll do any good but can't kill one sitting on the couch watching you tube of others doing it.
So I have a unit picked out but with being 15 hours from that unit it's not possible le for me to go put boots on the ground myself as I just don't have thr time off work to do so.
So I'm planning to call a biologist to try and get some info.
I havw an idea on where in that unit I want to go. Granted I know it's probably going to have quite a bit of people in it but nothing I can really do about that.

Question I have is being new to hunting elk and not knowing the areas well what type of things do you normally ask a biologist when trying to plan a hunt.
I don't want to waste their time or my own woth asking the wrong things.


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Joined
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Lenexa, KS
Not knowing where you're hunting or what kind of unit it is, I generally try to figure out how the elk are distributed in the unit, and then how they move in a daily routine, and lastly how they might respond to pressure.

So, I ask about food sources during the time of your hunt. Are the elk bedding in dark timber and feeding up above treeline to feed? Are the elk moving down to alfalfa fields? Is the timber broken up enough, or maybe some burns, can elk get by just feeding in the timber?

Also about water sources. Especially this year, in this drought condition. How far are elk moving between bedding and water? Elk that move really far are, IMO, very tough to hunt. There are spots I know of elk moving 8 miles between water and bedding.

Probably the most important thing, and this is something you can't really know until you go (unless the bio or the warden tells you), is where the pressure is going to be. What are the popular trailheads, hunting areas? Where will there be trucks parked. Then, you can use that information to predict where the elk might be once pressured.

Maybe throw in some horn kinda questions, is it like one big herd bull running 60 cows, or does every fair-to-middlin 5 or 6 point have a few cows? Really whatever questions you might want answered to know if, on the first day, you have a 260" 6 point standing in front of you, would you kill it? Some places yes, some places maybe not.
 

Gerbdog

WKR
Joined
Jun 8, 2020
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CO Springs
"Hey man, where all the big bulls at?"

I think your doing it right, have an area already picked out, specifically, and talk to the biologist about that area, and if, historically, does it hold elk, hows the water in the area this year, does he expect there to be water in the area this fall, and does it see lots of pressure?

what do the elk in the area YOUR specifically looking at seek out as a food source? As Dos mentioned above, are they moving down to farm land, going up high?

The more knowledge and research it seems like you've put in beforehand , the more likely that biologist will be willing to give you good info. If you come in with the line i started this with theyre gonna send you where they send the other 300 hunters that called them.
 

slick

WKR
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,799
Also, each bio is different. Some are very forth coming and others less so. Some may not know the answer to your particular question because its too specific. Take notes and listen. Some hunt and some dont.

Remember they manage populations through legal hunters. Not "what do the bulls is XYZ Basin do on Sept 12th under a full moon with drought conditions".

Ask broad questions- what are the major access points? How much utilization do those access points recieve? Is it guides who cover that area up? Would it be wise to have horses? Are there are terrain features in that area that may prevent recovery of meat within a reasonable time frame? What has the success rate been? How are densities of elk allocated throughout the unit during the season? Is there or has there been any animals collared in recent past that may give indices to daily travel or habitat utilization during the month or time you'll hunt? (eg: migration, rut, pressure onto private, etc.) Would they recommend the unit to hunt or would they recommend another unit? That should get your wheels spinning.

Also, take notes, so they don't have to repeat 50x that Unit X is general and neighboring unit Y is draw.
Look at a map while talking to them. Have draw odds/harvest statistics/composition ratios pulled up. Ask them about the biology of those numbers- what they mean and how they may affect your hunt.

Good luck.
 
Joined
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Some biologists, in my experience, really limit speculation. They will only assert what they can support with data. And they don’t have gobs and gobs of data.
 
Joined
Nov 27, 2013
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Here’s a tip, “contact the Biologist” was used back in the 80s, nowadays they get more calls from hunters than a 1-900 number at 2am on a Friday.

I’ve drawn some great tags, I won’t even bring myself to make that call these days. Total waste of time.
 
Joined
Sep 5, 2012
Messages
682
Location
Gypsum, CO
Just remember that biologist regardless of how special he says you are, is giving the exact same answers to every single person that calls them. So if they say I would try here, there could be the other 566 people that called him there to


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Joined
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Here’s a tip, “contact the Biologist” was used back in the 80s, nowadays they get more calls from hunters than a 1-900 number at 2am on a Friday.

I’ve drawn some great tags, I won’t even bring myself to make that call these days. Total waste of time.
I’ll have to agree with that. First of all biologists aren’t hunters. Second they are there to help the wildlife not to help hunters kill them. I’m friends with a very knowledgeable biologist in Western Wyoming and I never ask him hunting related questions. He can tell you where animals winter, how severe or mild the past few winters have been. Bull to cow ratios. Calf recruitment. Predation figures. Biological stuff!
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
Messages
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Location
Lenexa, KS
I’ll have to agree with that. First of all biologists aren’t hunters. Second they are there to help the wildlife not to help hunters kill them. I’m friends with a very knowledgeable biologist in Western Wyoming and I never ask him hunting related questions. He can tell you where animals winter, how severe or mild the past few winters have been. Bull to cow ratios. Calf recruitment. Predation figures. Biological stuff!

I had a biologist try to steer me away from a unit. Applied anyway and drew and coincidentally he checked my bull. Said he tried to draw the same tag but didn’t.
 

UTJL

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 10, 2021
Messages
186
Call the biologist well before the season starts, like January through March. At this time of year I’ve found they are willing to answer more questions.

Briefly tell them your hunting experience, where you live and your goals for the hunt. I’ve had this completely change their advice half way through the conversation.

Don’t ask where to hunt, ask questions that will help you eliminate areas.

Also ask if they seem interested in any of the areas you’re planning to hunt, ask if they’d like a report after the season. This can help you build a relationship for future years.
 
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