Strategy- Pre season scouting is impossible for me, so like most NR hunters, we have to find them sneaky buggers when we get out there.
I'll be in camp a couple days before the season, so we can do a little scouting and glassing.
First week- check oak brush on the north slopes if hot, to see if theyre in there eating acorns.
If not, then get up high, and glass and scout some north facing cooler benches, try to find some active wallows and feeding areas.
AS the weather cools, and the elk start moving a bit more, try to stay on any we have found, start doing a little calling as we still hunt benches etc. I bugle very sparingly, unless I find a bull I want to annoy, and try to get agitated enough to come in to fight. Otherwise, I just cow call a little here and there.
If we can locate a couple groups of elk, just prior to muzzleloader season we'll head in a little deeper, in hopes the ML guys will push them to us. hopefully be in a postion to cut them off.
Later season, I do more calling. By then it depends on pressure in the area, weather, and stages of the rut. Like I mentioned before, Im surely no expert, there are a lot of guys with far more experience than I. But Im flexible.
Im taking a treestand along, whether it ever comes out of the truck remains to be seen. I dont mind sitting a hot water hole in the evenings,or for a few hours mid-day.
If all else fails, I can take a day off here and there and catch some trout for the campfire.