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Scouting Questions

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Scouting Questions

Postby Tigger » 08 24, 2021 •  [Post 1]

My daughter, her boyfriend, and I did a quick scouting trip to our spot in MT where we will be gun hunting in late October. Accomplished a lot by getting to know the land. This is the first time I have ever been able to scout. For the 2.5 days we were there, we seen over 100 elk. However, 4 were on their own and the rest were in one big herd. Found 2 fairly easy places to hunt from a physical standpoint (which worries me as other hunters will know this too). Found one great looking spot that held no elk but is pretty hard to get to (steep). Found a great saddle....just like they draw it up on the map.....that should be fantastic....but there was little elk sign in it. So my first question is: why wouldn't there be any fresh elk sign on a perfect saddle? Maybe because all of the elk were herded up about 2 miles south? It is just a cool place. timber on both sides, ridge with grass in front. 75 yards wide and perfectly flat in the saddle with grass and open. Cannot be seen from anywhere. I am thinking this is a spot when elk get pushed due to hunting pressure. But the lack of sign.....

Next question. Different area. Hanging valley lush with grass and wet. Some fresh elk sign, but not a ton. About 10-12 bushes absolutely destroyed within the last few days. But no rubs on trees. What are the rubbing habits of moose? Could this be a place where a bull moose is hanging out? Do they prefer to destroy bushes over trees? And why not more elk sign? This is hard to get to (steep and lots of blowdowns and huge boulders) and has security, water, and food. It is fairly high on the mountain, but below tree line (for reference, the big herd is above tree line). Why isnt this place loaded with elk sign?
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Re: Scouting Questions

Postby 7mmfan » 08 24, 2021 •  [Post 2]

I think you've answered most of your questions about why there's no sign in various areas. The animals are all herded up still. The places you are describing sound like areas where bachelor groups of bulls might be during this time of year, but are likely still higher. As hunting pressure begins, they'll begin to break up and these harder to access, more secure areas will begin to see animals in them again. That's my 2 cents anyway.
I hunt therefore I am. I fish therefore I lie.
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Re: Scouting Questions

Postby Indian Summer » 08 24, 2021 •  [Post 3]

As far as saddles go they are part of travel routes. Elk are almost always on the move there so I don’t expect to see much if any sign. A herd that big at this time of year makes me think wolves have bunched them up. That’s unusual right now.
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Re: Scouting Questions

Postby Lefty » 08 24, 2021 •  [Post 4]

Our area weve seen the past week,, bulls are still alone or in small groups. A few cows and calves are together, however overall everything is spread out.
Our best news, very few cows and so far no sheep in the pastures National forest area we're hunting.
In our area we expect the bigger bulls to stay on their own for another two weeks, the cows will group up. Typically we don't see heard elk of 20 or more till 10th -12th
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Re: Scouting Questions

Postby Tigger » 08 24, 2021 •  [Post 5]

I was surprised too, but we counted 85 in the group. All well above treeline. You couldnt get within 1000 yards of them sometimes.

So we should stake out that saddle? Man, it has it all. Hard to get to unfortunately, or I would have my dad perched there.
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Re: Scouting Questions

Postby Indian Summer » 08 25, 2021 •  [Post 6]

If you look closely at your topo map most likely you’ll see that saddles are where benches meet the ridge. In other words if you roll around the hill one way or the other, or both, you’ll be on a natural travel route. A bench that ends up being 3/4 or halfway down the slope and at some point will widen or lead to some other type of area, possibly crossing water, to a bedding area. So instead of staking out the saddle put Swede there in a tree and go look for the places where elk spend more time than they do when they roll through the saddle. That might only happen in the dark there anyway.
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