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.

[Swede]

I have no idea which spot is best, but don't overthink the matter. Pick the spot you think looks the best and wait there. The road and the bunglers, I mean buglers, are only a minor nuisance. I make a call only two or at the most three times a day. All I am trying to do is Piche their curiosity. They may or may not come, but over-calling just tells them you are a problem. The elk hear a vehicle then here comes the calls, or they hear the calls then come in to see a hunter. They soon figure it all out. They are stupid animals, but not that stupid. Pick your best location and every few days go and check the other spots you were considering, but remember fresh sign only tells you that the elk were there.
Just as important as selecting the right area is having the right setup. I like my stand where I am least likely to be seen while at the same time I have the best shooting lanes. Often that is difficult to get just right, so do the best you can and be patient. Patience and perseverance will kill more elk than calling and running around every season.

[drbgonzal]

I finally found good spot I will sit here the rest of the season. Elk bugling around me...almost walked right into a bull at night. He bugled at me and I backed off, didn't want to spook him.
Came back the next night and setup my saddle right where he was. Ended up break off a branch to clear my shooting lane (should have bought pruners instead of a saw). Heard an elk run off. An hour and a half later right before sunset. He sneaks up to me within 20 feet behind me in thick timber. Shaking, I freeze in place. He was breathing heavily, snorted then ran off. Closest I've ever been but holy shit that was an incredible experience.

Today they're still bugling around me. Haven't bugled at all. In fact my reed blew out on the first day so it's probably kept me from spooking them. If I don't cow call or bugle I'm worried he'll just sneak up behind me again where there's high ground.

[drbgonzal]

Sadly no elk after 3-4 years of elk hunting, I feel like I have now been successful at scouting and locating which has been a huge challenge. Now its onto figuring out how to shoot one which Swede's comment on finding where there is cover while also being able to shoot which has stumped me.

Hunted a total of 15 days this season and learned a ton. I still consider it a success with a bull elk coming into 60 yards but with the entire herd and my stand being exposed, they caught wind with a cold front coming in and air swirling and were bumped hard 3rd week of the season. I did not want to take a shot past my effective range but am really kicking myself. Getting a better bow stabilizer and practicing on extending my range this year. However that was the closest I have gotten to harvesting an elk in my life. Got to see a ton of critters, bobcat, porcupine, coyotes, and elk!

The area that I was at is heavily pressured since it was close to closed gated area, had 2 hunters walk by. What I found is that the elk were almost completely nocturnal in this heavily pressured area and not at all interested in returning to where they got bumped hard. Through sitting I had them coming in chuckling, snorting, cow elk mewing all within 100-200 yards but never dared come out into the opening. I couldnt setup my saddle in the timber where they were bedding because it would have bumped them even harder especially clearing shooting lanes in the the thick of it. So I was forced into a suboptimal spot overlooking a forest road and exposed yet close enough.

Next year, I plan on adding a ton of trail cameras around the area finding their travel routes. Then setting up a couple of saddle locations. The private land is where its at and will bike in miles from the gate to setup more saddle spots where I know there's elk. It amazes me that these elk even when heavily pressured still to their pockets but know where I am at enough to chuckle right next to me.

[drbgonzal]

Here's my last saddle spot, would love to get some feedback on how I could do better

[Swede]

drbgonzal let me try to explain what I meant by, "I like my stand where I am least likely to be seen while at the same time I have the best shooting lanes."

This season I had a bull coming down the hill opposite me. He was above me at first and proceeded down to a spot directly in front. I was totally exposed. I had to wait perfectly still and motionless until he was directly in front and I was outside of his peripheral vision. With some good cover around me or behind I could have moved sooner and been ready to shoot by the time he was broadside in front of me. Instead, he came down and walked away from 20 yards to 40 yards before I had my bow in hand and could shoot. Sometimes elk pass by from behind or to the side and I can carefully move to get my bow and shoot as soon as they are in a shooting lane.
I usually have no problem entering a bedding early in the morning or leaving in the evening, near dark. The elk are out feeding then. You can get busted but move carefully out of the area and take your chances. There are no guarantees at anything hunting. I just try to give myself the best chance. Usually, one stupid elk slips up and comes close enough to get shot. All of the other elk live to fool me another day.
I hope this helps.

[Swede]

drbgonzal. There ae a lot of things written on elk hunting forums like this one that is taken too far are misleading. I see you are concerned about spooking elk and pushing them away from your area. Not a bad idea per se, but where do the elk go if you just bump them? They get spooked all of the time. If you don't pursue them, they soon settle back down and go about their routine. Often, they stop within a couple of hundred yards. If I spook them when I am going to my stand, they are usually gone for the day. I will go somewhere else if I can. Other elk may be in the area and they have no idea what just happened. There is no place where you hunt that elk don't have human encounters. Where can they go?
When accessing your stand, figure a way to get there that is quiet and minimizes the spread of your scent. Get into your stand quickly and quietly. Tre stand hunting is really very simple. Even Lefty could manage it.
Here are some things to remember. 1. Be patient. Doing something to improve your situation is dangerous. It is not easy, but it is usually better to wait. 2. Persevere, stay at it as long as it takes. 3. Prevent Don't make mistakes that will rob you of a shot opportunity. Until a hunter learns not to violate one or more of these simple guidelines, they will be depending too much on luck and end up eating tag soup the following winter.