Elk Country--Gotta Love It!!

[ElkNut1]

I guess I'll be the 1st one to post here & break the ice! It should end up being a popular one in due time! I hope all feel comfortable about posting here!

Bnsafe got me going in this direction with his questions about the basic part of camping spots & hunting spots! We will use this Forum to help out where we can & hope others also share their thoughts so we can help folks feel as prepared as possible on what to expect & how to handle any situation as they arise! Hopefully those with unanswered questions in their minds will feel free to ask them?

Here's the road that will lead us all to challenge our dreams!

ElkNut1

[ElkNut1]

Elk country can be exciting & intimidating at the same time! You must trust your honed instincts & your gear to get you through especially when you are miles from your camp or rig!

ElkNut1

[bnsafe]

Thanks Paul. This is going to be a great forum. I will look forward to visiting it daily an pick up whatever advice I can get. The pics are awesome. Thanks again for being willing to share your knowledge with the rest of us.

[Buckriser]

Here are some areas that holds some good elk.

[Buckriser]

Gotta get down into the deep canyons.

[HurricaneHuge]

Buckriser, those are obviously areas you have scouted out and located elk on. My question is how do you determine how to hunt those areas for the first time? Obviously scouting online is helpful in locating those areas, but where do you go from there? Let's say in the first picture with the water and opening, that you either just stumbled upon it while out hunting, or you found it online and it's the first time you visited it. It's mid-day, you haven't seen elk around it necessarily, and the elk aren't talking. Is that a place that by looks alone you set-up on for the day hoping to either see or hear elk you think might be using it, or do you keep hauling until you end up in a spot where you see or hear elk? I'll only be able to online scout this year, and when I get to Colorado, it'll be an ease in period to adjust to altitude, with some scouting/hunting. I won't have patterns down or where the elk are, besides online and whatever I can find out from local biologists/wardens, so I'm curious as to if you were to go into an area half blind and find a spot similar to what you have pictured, do you sit and wait to see what happens, or do you look and listen for 20 minutes and move on if there's nothing happening right then and there?

[POk3s]

Panoramic view of "hell". Saw over 100 elk in 3 days in this area last year.





and then it led to this.....


Bull was taken about 15 minutes after I took the scenery pics. I turned around and headed down the ridge which you can't see and there they were.

[Buckriser]

Hurricane - Im always looking for areas with dark pine/timber with aspens mixed in. For some reason these just stand out to me as Elk country. Although this is not always the case. I'm also looking for deep canyons that have the potential of holding water. The only way to really know is to get in there (i would say at least a mile from the nearest road)and start looking for sign such as droppings, rubs, wallows and the determining whether they are fresh or old. If your not seeing any... Keep going. The pic with the water is an area we were hunting for mule deer and was something we stumbled upon. This particular area is at least 2 1/2 miles in and is completely surrounded by dark timber/pines/aspens and hold water and a good amount of feed. We marked the area (on gps) and make sure it's an area we always check in on to see if the elk are still hitting the area. Anytime I'm hunting and see an elk or fresh rubs, I make sure to mark it on the gps. Now if I came upon this area and had not seen any sign of elk whatsoever, I would keep on moving. I have and continue to go onto google earth an check out that spot and look at other areas I have not stepped into. Google earth at least allows me to see what's on the other side of a ridge or mountain without actually hiking there. For example, I'd hate to hike over a ridge and find a road. I will sometimes even print off a colored image from google earth an have it handy to check along with my topo maps of the areas. Like your doing, keep doing as much research as possible, but if you can't actually physically scout out the area, you will still feel like your going in half blind. But that's okay, it's an adventure and we can just hope to be lucky. This is a great site with some good info, and there are others that know a whole lot more than I do, and they can give you their experiences as well.

[mattstanton]

Hurricane,

The answer is "keep moving". When elk are not talking either get high and glass or wear out the boots looking for elk and fresh sign. Make notes on your maps of possible benches for bedding or natural crossings and check all of them. Keep moving until you find elk, sign or hear a response to your locator bugle or cow calls. When all you have are maps and google earth, put them to good use. Locate elky areas on GE and then reference those on your maps. Mark enough spots to fill up your trip if needed so you are not trying to guess where a good spot may be. Designate a path between these spots to expidite the travel time between them so you are able to get there as quick as possible. The more prepared you are the more ground you will cover and the better your chances of finding elk.

[Broken arrow]

I've only made one trip to the mountains but I found what I was looking for

[Broken arrow]

couple more

[Goat Boy]

I saw this and just the sound of it pumped me up so I thought i would share some photos of one of my hunts from last year.
I will post some more later.

[Buckriser]

Here are some flowers I came across while elk hunting.

Indian paintbrush

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1341606170.550561.jpg (89.76 KiB) Viewed 8129 times

Larkspur

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1341606721.778699.jpg (87.75 KiB) Viewed 8129 times

[elkaholic]

Are you sure you heard one in there?

[foxvalley]

Nice wallow

compressed.jpg (51.95 KiB) Viewed 8115 times

midday break

compressed3.jpg (52.71 KiB) Viewed 8115 times

A few pics of our little slice of heaven.