Hypothetical, what would you do?

[7mmfan]

In 2022, the last year I elk hunted, on the 3rd day of the hunt I found the herd below me in a densely forested bench. I knew there was at least one bull in the group, and history told me there were probably multiple bulls and a couple dozen cows. The wind was bad, so I circled the bench and came in from downwind, with the sun at my back. I took a couple hours to painstakingly sneak into this bench. From my point of view at that moment, the furthest I could see was about 60 yards, but that was in one narrow gap, otherwise I was limited to 20-30 yards. Once you got about 30 yards further than where I was standing, the timber opened up a little bit. and you could uniformly see 50-60 yards, sometimes further. The wind was in my face the whole time. I was on a good clear trail that I could move quickly and quietly on if need be.

At this point I had a dozen cows within 20 yards of me that all fed off, or so I thought. One lone cow was behind a sapling that I couldn't see. When I began slowly sneaking forward on my trail again, she pegged me. She never blew out, in fact for a couple minutes she was very curious of me, coming in to about 15-20 feet trying to figure me out. She never smelled me, but finally decided she'd had enough and stomped her feet and trotted off about 15 - 20 yards. She never barked. However, this was enough to get many of the elk on this bench on their feet. I herd a sudden increase in cow talk, I could hear and see elk moving through the timber in front me. A few were trotting, most were walking.

At this point I had a decision to make, do I sit and watch my one gap and hope I get a shot at an animal passing through it, or do I try to take advantage of the density of the timber and quickly move forward another 15-20+ yards and try to not only gain lines of sight, but also get closer to the herd hoping for better shot opportunities? While the animals are on alert, they are not spooked, and animals are moving. Would me staying low and moving forward quickly for 10 seconds while animals are maybe a little confused be a likely possibility? Is this something that anyone has done?

[Tigger]

If doing what you did didnt work I would do what you didnt. Helpful?

I would likely move forward. How many elk would likely see me moving? If more than a couple, I might wait them out. If 0, then I would sneak ahead.

[7mmfan]

Based on the info I had at the time, 1 for sure was likely to see me. Unknown if others would have.

[Swede]

First decide where you could move to, to get a better shot opportunity. Since the cow was just nervous and did not know what you were, I would pick up a limb or something similar and rake a bush or tree. Then move to your selected spot and see if you get a bull to look in on you. Otherwise wait for them to settle down. You have not really spooked them. Once they settle down, you could try another stalk.