First post... Having trouble finding an answer

[rideandshoot]

First I'd like to say that from what I've read this seems like a great community. I've already gleaned quite a bit of useful info. I tried a couple searches and didn't find anything specific on this....

For the past several weekends I have been scouting. I'm concerned because I am not seeing rubs like I usually do in the area. But then when I thought about it this is about the earliest I've ever been up there looking really hard like am this year. Is it just a matter of them not being aggressive enough yet to be working the trees over? Today is only Sept 1.

What say ye!

[Kiowa1SG]

Just got back from my unit elk hunting Archery. (More like scouting for later weeks)
We found some active rubs and a semi active wadi. Nothing was talking. Most rubs we found were from them just rubbing velvet off horns and not from thrashing something out of frustration. We heard zero bugles and we saw a herd with a sizable bull on private property with some smaller bulls in the bunch too.
We saw 9 bears though all in our area. I had a pretty big bear 200# plus face to face with me at less than 5 feet..
Seems like the forest should come alive in a couple weeks?
We were at or near 10,000 the entire weekend and didn't see anything. We heard a report of some guys who claimed to have stumbled onto the mother load of elk at around 11,700. Not sure how true that is since I didn't see any elk that high but didn't get up there to that height either.

[easeup]

did you see any other elk sign?

[twinkieman]

The rubs will come, intensity will increase. Like Easeup asks, you have to be in fresh elk sign.

[rideandshoot]

did you see any other elk sign?

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I spent some time hashing it out with young man I met in the same area. He has a trail camera on 'my ' favorite secret wallow. We talked about it and the answer to your question is yes we are seeing sine but not as much in years past or at least not as well dispersed.

So here is another question. We are both seeing Mule Deer. Even nice bucks. Do mule deer tend to move into areas where the Elk concentration is lower.

BTW next weekend we are going to move over a drainage and look and I may move down.

I should mention that I'm in AZ. Hunting at about 7600 feet.