Hunting Saddles

[Swede]

Hunting saddles and around major breaks or obstacles like ponds or rock outcrops can be productive. They also are a challenge. Saddles can be wide so that setting a stand up at any one location will mean elk can go by out of your shooting range. The elk will not necessarily follow close to the edge of a rock wall or clear-cut line. Scouting can give you some idea where your best tree stand location will be. It will put the odds in your favor, but what do you hunters look for?

[Lefty]

Moo cow trails are often good indicators for most animal travelways. Preditor or prey

In the area I hunt often the high ridge is also a place elk travel

[Swede]

Hunting in a ridge saddle or anywhere else should be based on-the-ground evidence. If the evidence suggests elk or deer are using a saddle, then hang a stand there. If a spot looks good then check to see if you had a large number of elk go there once or if it is frequent and recurring. There are several indicators. Different ages of tracks and feces can be all you need to see. Rubs along a trail can be another sign. Bulls don't stop and rub every sapling. They hit one then move on. If a bull is going along a trail frequently, he may hit several saplings but on different days. Of coarse a trail camera can pin things down if you want even more information. Next to water holes, I like saddles well.

[Elkhunttoo]

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about using saddles more this year…i really like sitting water on a traveling trail but I might switch it up some this year

[Swede]

I have always preferred water holes where I have hunted, but in some places with abundant water, saddles may prove to be better.

[7mmfan]

I've always preferred saddles, especially moderately timbered saddles, when hunting pressured ground. Animals move through them frequently when pushed and feel relatively comfortable if there is a little cover. One saddle here in WA where we used to mule deer hunt was good for a couple bucks a year.

[Lefty]

True or not?,,, elk seem to water after dark

[Swede]

Based on trail camera observations and my own experience I would say they water somewhat more in the daylight hours. The best time to be at water is late afternoon and evening, but don't count out the morning and early afternoon. I go to camp around noon for lunch and to prepare for the evening hunt. Based on Murphy's law, that is when the trophy bull will stop by my stand.

[Elkhunttoo]

From my trail camera studies over the years I would say I have more pictures in the daytime then in the dark…also this depends on the location…a wallow in a meadow area I get more pictures at night…in the trees and traveling routes I get more in the mornings and evenings with some in the middle of the day. I definitely get some in the dark in these areas but usually they are within and hour of sun up or sun down as the elk are moving at those times

[Lefty]

Well maybe I need to clarify a bit. Dry areas elk tend to water more in the dark.

[Tuffcrk14]

Nowadays you can evaluate a saddle just with Google Earth and have a pretty good idea of whether or not it would be worth checking out or not.


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[Swede]

Tuffcrk14: I actually agree with you but want you to clarify what you look for. There are a lot of saddles in elk country. They are along most every long ridge. Somewhere there is a low place for animals to cross. So, what do you look for on GE to help you identify the better ones to hang a stand in?

Lefty: I spent many years hunting elk in semidesert areas. I had cameras out at my stand locations. Mayb you are onto something that elk water more at night. It has just not been my observation. What I have observed is elk stay all night in an area and do not travel far. In that area they feed and bed. In in morning the move out of their feeding area to a daytime bedding ground. They may wallow or drink on the way to their bedding place. The best time I have observed to be at a water hole is in the late afternoon and early to mid-evening. I suspect that if you are finding elk watering more at night in your area there is something causing it.

[Tuffcrk14]

Swede, for a saddle to really peak my interest it has to check several boxes for me.

- Several benches on upper third of the mountain just below the saddle

- A drainage that leads up to the saddle and acts like a bottle neck. Animals feel more secure walking in the low point (not always) of the drainage because they are less exposed and can see each side better for potential danger. This tends to apply to the less covered side of the saddle.

- Thick timber cover/thermal protection leading up to the saddle from the shaded side (north, north-west, north-east slopes)

- Slope angle of varying degrees from 15-30 degrees (bedding areas have a tendency to be 20 degrees or less, but not always)

-Zones of pressure from other hunters
-Where are the other access points to this area?

- Good feed with scattered parks on the south, southwest, or westerly face.

Saddles are one of my favorite ways to find elk because if elk are around, they’re likely utilizing it for easy travel when transitioning from feeding to bedding and vice versa. The more boxes you’re able to check when evaluating a saddle, the better it will be. Sometimes a saddle can many of these features and still not have elk around. When you are able to stack these features on top of each other it just multiplies your chances so much more that it will be a good saddle/area to look into. One last thing I’ve found is that bulls like to rub on trees in or near a well used saddle. My best guess is it’s like their calling card that lets other elk know they’re around. I’ve seen that over and over in or near saddles.


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[Swede]

You have obviously thought this out well. I have hunted saddles and killed elk there, but to be totally honest I have just looked at the sign on the ground to determine if it was a good place to hang my stand. I have put in time checking GE and my contour maps. I appreciate your thoughts on this. I am going to PM you the coordinates to a spot I am considering for this season's hunt. Please let me know what you think.

[Tuffcrk14]

Sounds good, Swede. I’ll give it a look and get back with you.

I want to be clear with a lot of this information that I’ve shared is not stuff that I came up with and or developed. I’ve listened to so many podcasts and read so many articles on the subject that I can almost spit it out verbatim and it’s only things that I’ve applied and been successful in using. My personal time is limited out in the woods and I needed to make my time I spend out there mean something. Coupled with less available time and a lack of elk around, learning more about elk behavior and tendencies has been a must to find the proverbial haystack that may have the needle in it. I love it and when my e-scouting comes through, it’s like winning it big in Vegas to me. One big takeaway that I can say that isn’t something to overlook is applying the slope angle to your hunt area. I have overlayed it where I’ve marked elk, chased elk, and found their sign. It’s nearly spot on with what I’ve mentioned. Like everything with elk, there’s a lot of “it depends” because some areas like north Idaho where it’s steep could be totally upside down of where you hunt in Washington or Oregon. I’ve noticed bulls prefer a steeper slope angle where I’m at when they’re in the post rut. Take notes and ask yourself “why do these elk do x-y-z here.” Identifying those key things and writing them in an elk journal will boost your understanding and help you apply it to other areas too.


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[Swede]

For me it has always boiled down to what the evidence on the ground shows. I e-scout and pour over maps, but I look for some things you do, and I look for some other things also.

I look at benches and springs a lot. I try to see game trails through openings. Saddles are good, but steepness has not been a major factor for me. You don't get a saddle on flat ground so I can't say slope is a nonfactor, but any slope steep enough to make me work seems to be enough. One of the things I look for are springs close to bedding areas. Good bedding areas are not just any timbered area or brush patch. They are often benches above feeding grounds. These feeding and bedding areas may be several miles apart. They may be very close. That is where knowing your hunting area is very valuable. That is probably the main reason I did not succeed last year.
I find a lot of duds when it comes to checking places I looked at on a map or on GE. I also stumble onto good spots I did not see on my computer. The hardest area for me to e-scout is where there is a lot of forage and water available.

I would rather hunt one bull in a drainage where I can pattern him than ten bulls where I have no idea when or if they will be near my stand.

[Elkhunttoo]

Our group is going to put some time into traveling routes and saddles this year. I have a few cameras in places already and a few more to go.