Getting close to Elk

[bob@helleknife.com]

A few things...

95% of the country WON'T hold elk, keep moving until you find them.  If you hunt too slow you simply run out of time; so move quickly until you find them.  You can certainly hear them and smell them.  Then slow down.

When you do find them try and figure out why they are there.  Feed? Cover? Cool? Elevation? North facing? Roadless?  Then try and duplicate those conditions in another area.

Calls now days seem to work best if you are very far or very close to them.  All I use are cow calls and "spike" bugles.

If you kick them out of their bedding area you may spend several days re-locating them.  It's often best to skirt around the edges, some time you can catch one coming in or leaving.

The more you hunt the same area year after year you learn the areas they favor and the country to avoid...mostly you have to pay your dues.

Good luck!

Bob

[trad_bowhunter1965]

Make sure you have good Topo-maps of the area you are going to hunt, early in the season Elk tend to stay on the north east side of the Mountain knowing this might save some boot leather. Just my 2 cents

[fnshtr]

I can't add anything to what has been presented here by much more experienced elk hunters than myself... but wanted to thank you for starting the thread and thank all who have responded.

Hurry up August!

[jhg]

Take a good small camera and record the adventure, including everything that you see that makes you go "wow". Your family and friends will appreciate it when you share the wonder you erxperienced with them. Enjoy the journey.

Elk hunting can be very difficult already. Often takes a great deal of effort and perseverence. Try not to make it into work too. Its already hard enough.

Smell the flowers..

Joshua

[bearsfeet]

great tips so far!
Ill add somethings that I learned.

Here in oregon there is a lot of hunting pressure. A lot of those hunters just walk around a call non stop. I was in great glassing spot watching a bull on an opposite ridge. I saw 2 hunters come around the ridge where the bull is and just start calling bugles and cow calls without even looking around. I watched the bull silently slip off in to the timber. The hunters never even noticed a nice 6x6 less then 100 yards away. When they first called the bull looked interested and took a few steps there way. I thought I was going to watch someone shoot this bull I had been watching for the last 4 hours. But when they got no vocal response they called 5-6 more times in the nest 30 seconds. It didn't take the bull long to head the other direction.  Since watching that I limit my calling, and I always look around even at close distance when you think you should be able to see with your naked eye. I have walked up on a lot of elk within 100 yards that I could just see ears or legs with my binos due to the shadows and timber I was unable to pick them up with just my eyes. I can only imagine the amount of animals I spooked without knowing in the past.

It sounds like you have a good start if you have ground hunting deer with success. I have personally had a lot easier time sneaking in on elk then blacktails.

[Jethro21]

For me, elk hunting in AZ has a lot to do with where the water is. I stay away from waterholes by roads and try to find water or trick tanks away from people. I then get to know the area around these holes, noting bedding spots and terrain that elk are usually close to that give them advantage i.e. feeding areas with several escape routes down mountain with rapid elevation changes (steps).

It is hit or miss when it comes to the rut during archery elk here (depending on yoru area), so I spend less time using calls except cow calls which I use to cover noise mostly. Scouting is important, but more important to me is finding hunting locations off the beaten path, road hunters and weekend bikers routinely ruin hunting areas in my experience.

I have had bulls so close I could literally reach out and touch them. I haven't gotten cows that close though, they are always wary. Hunting elk has got to be the most enjoyment I have ever had hunting, and if I don't get drawn, I typically go out and spend some time chasing them around anyway.

Good luck,
Jethro

[Ragnarok Forge]

Whip nailed it down for you.  

Move fast until you find fresh sign.  Slow down and locate the elk.  Get downwind and work in slow.  Leave the calling for peak rut times.  All other times just put the sneak on them.  


I like to hunt in either sex units and shoot the first legal elk.  Cow or bull.  Can't eat a rack and elk are tasty.  Make no mistake, if a big bull is there I will go after him.  If a tasty cow happens to wander to close.  I make meat!

Does 20 feet count as getting close enough?  I put the wife 20 feet from a huge 6 X 6 this year.  Only problem it was two days before elk season and we were hunting deer.  I am not sure who was more scared when that bull bolted out of his bed.  Him or the wife.  We were working our way downwing to get around a small herd of cows towards a swamp that holds deer.

Don't be afraid to make noise when you close in on a bull that is talking.  I scrape trees with branches, kick over small logs, roll rocks and generally kick up a stink on a hot bull.  I want him to think I am a challenger for his cows.  A lot of times that bull will come in hot looking to kick some a**.  I throw in moderate amounts of calls that simulate a young bull to keep them coming in.  

If the elk are not talking, neither am I.  Way to many hunters calling before and after the rut, who have no clue what they are doing.  This can turn the bulls off and run them into the next county.  It can also shut up what little talk a herd is making.

As for finding pressured elk, that is easy.  Hike until you find fresh sign, find the deepest, darkest, nastiest hole in the area and start hunting it from the downwind side.  Elk always hide where you don't wan't to go.  They know it and that is why they are there.

[Sgebrshsam]

Don't forget to rack and kick stuff to make them think you are elk I have done this and got elk in.

[twitchstick]

Old whip nailed it pretty good for a flatlander lol. Cover ground until you find sign keep the wind in your face. I have called in elk but most years our hunt is too early for the rut here or it pushes them off with calls. I like to ambush elk if they are not being pushed around. Once I find a herd I don't push them and I look for ambush spots to set up on them. If I can't pattern them I then do alot of still hunting for them once I find sign. Look for remote nasty country or overlook country. My two favorite elk spots are real close to a public picnic spot and a main hiking trail. Scent dosen't seem to matter as much and is only 10 mins from home. They never get good until everyone pushes the private(90% of the unit) and the main elk spots. It is remote because it is overlooked. It is alittle wierd listening to tourist singing campfire songs with elk walking by your shooting lane. Good luck it is habit forming.