Need Advice Saddle Hunting - Saddle Mountain Oregon

[drbgonzal]

Just started archery general season on 8/30 so any quick feedback would be great since time is on my side.

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Context: I've put in time scouting my two setups, cleared shooting lanes, and confirmed there has been elk activity within weeks of opener. Trying to follow the advice thinking about small pockets of habitat in such a fragmented hunting unit. I’ve been hunting for the past 5 days in the tree saddle. Sitting all day from 5-6 am to 8 pm. I know advice is typically to move around during the middle of the day or go back to camp but have been trying to get every opportunity I can (heard a bull bugle at 1pm at spot b for example).

Spot A: 1800 feet, fresh steaming piles of sign everywhere weeks before opener, feed and feeding activity, fresh prints, water, bedding but only 200 yards from the road. There is a smallest feeding spot slightly farther away from the road. Forest is fairly open so elk are easily spooked. Easy pack out though. Day 2 after opener, had an elk come screaming in as I was climbing out of my tree saddle at night, had me shaking real good. I tried calling back but nothing. The next day I found where the bull likely came crashing through the underbrush. It looks like a small river bed where elk have been fighting with many hoof prints of fresh dirt and bones. No hunters get of their trucks to come down to my spot since its hidden.

Spot B: 1000 feet, Elk are not as active, only a handful of sightings each month. Camera picked up few bulls on 8/29. Had a bull bugle on me two days ago. Tried calling back but got nothing. Earlier in august called in a bull pre scouting which was fun. Feed is a bit dry so herd has moved on. Mostly cows and calves in march. It seems as though there are a few bulls that just hang out down there. It's nasty getting down, dark, and littered with elk bones. Not far from the road to the setup. Scouted the surrounding area more to try and find exit pathes and bedding. Its practically inaccessible with devils club and sheer drops offs that were fun crawling out of.

Situation: As I expected during opening weekend heavy hunting pressure. At spot A has 2-4 trucks come by in the evening and practicing their bugles for one another. Im worried if Im onto an elk someone might spook them. I’ve setup a few cameras to keep an eye on the area. Second spot B was really promising on day 1 hearing an elk bugle but the second day there was nothing, possibly some elk moving off in the brush.

Update: Think I found a spot C with elk over on private timber land, setting up tree saddle for the weekend. Learning how to elk hunt with a tree saddle is like modified spot and stalk, find where the elk are bugling then setup your saddle where they are at.


Questions:

What should I do next? I am considering starting to break up my days by scouting more to find the herd. I also am questioning if I should just wait until mid to late september for the rut to really begin and the elk are less skittish.

Which spot sounds better A or B? I know I should have 3 - 5 locations but this is the first year I’ve hunted the unit.

Should I keep running game cameras on both spot? I go to spot B but periodically check spot A to see if they're back. If I find there are bulls moving in to one particular spot then I just sit there all day?

Cow calls do not seem to be luring them in? Maybe I am doing it too much, I was reading though that too frequent or short of a call is actually a warning. Watched a few youtube on using more locator calls and grunts instead of the full bugle. Maybe I wasn't calling properly.

[Tigger]

A lot to unpack here. Swede may have some good advice, but it being Swede, he may have you sitting in the meat section of the grocery store!

In general, you have to know your area. So anything you can learn helps you determine where and when to sit. You find elk where they are, so something hot today, may not be hot tomorrow. In this time period, things are changing fast for elk. Vegetation dies, the breeding season starts, hunting pressure, etc so elk may change their habits very quickly. One thing you can do is bugle way before daybreak or way after darkness and try and get an answer (or just be quiet and listen for a lonely bull to bugle). Now you have a location. Where area the travel corridors? Where is hunting pressure going to push them?

Good luck!

[drbgonzal]

The meat section might be where Im sitting if I get lucky and have an elk being processed in a few weeks!

Knowing where the elk are is exactly what I was thinking when I didn't have any luck on day 5. I had figured out when elk came in bugling nearby but they were skiddish since it was on public land. There is a second piece to that is knowing where the active elk are is important.

Last night I sat on top of a hill over looking a valley with private timberland (open to hunting) and heard a lonely bull bugling all night. He wouldn't stop lol. I've never heard an elk that active. So plan is tonight hiking in with the tree saddle, get in position and fingers crossed, get lucky. What's important in my mind is to use every advantage I have, yes I could have gone down there last night but I could have spooked him and it was getting late... Playing it careful but not waiting too long because I know there may be hunters pressuring it. This is only mile behind the gate but it make sense why they pushed here.