Elk Hunting Basics - Its your move #6

[cnelk]

Its early morning. 3 inches of wet snow fell over night.
You are on your way to one of your favorite spots by following a small game trail.
You smell elk and in a more few yards, you see 3 sets of elk tracks come onto the game trail from below and head in the same direction you are taking. The tracks look to be a cow, a calf and a bull

Pick your season, pick your weapon

Its your move...

[Trophyhill]

I'd perk up instantly going on high elk alert and follow those tracks using the "still hunting" method, stopping,listening and looking often until I was close enough to kill.

[Swede]

I believe elk really watch their back trail. Considering the tracks are very fresh, I am going to leave the trail on the down wind side. I am going to make a few assumptions here. !. I can move ahead quietly. There is 3 inches of fresh wet snow. 2. There is enough cover, so that by being careful and staying close to saplings and bushes, I can advance slowly with a good chance of seeing the elk before they see me. 3. The elk are feeding along and moving slowly.
I am going to advance quietly here until I see them or get busted. I will decide after I get sight of them what my next move is. Ok I am a bow hunter so this is late September. Rut time and one bull with a cow and calf. Unusual, but not too weird either.

[Still Hunter]

I wouldn't shoot a calf, so it would depend on my tag if I went for the cow, or bull.

Tracking is a big part of still hunting, so this is perfect for me. Tactic is simple. Depending on the wind I would start making large loops to the side, so they wouldn't see me following them. The goal being to get ahead of them if the wind allowed it, and ambush them. This is the most fun kind of hunting for me. I don't need the snow if the ground is moist which it normal at high altitude timber areas. Working the wind, and be quiet are the big challenges in this hunt. I'm out of sight most of the time, so movement isn't a big issue.

[easeup]

Game #6 is open ended so here is this twist;
If I smelled them in snow they ARE close, and for the purpose of the thread those elk are moving into the wind and away from me so I am behind them. good. lets keep dogging those tracks quietly. looking hard too. I have an arrow knocked also.
If after 20 min or so, if something hasn't happened, it probably means I cant catch them at this pace. since the tracks will always show me where to go lets set up and cow call. that lead cow just might move back to me. If after another 20min nothing has shown go back to plan a (thetracks)

[Still Hunter]

If you stay on the tracks you take the chance they'll see you.

[Mikeha33]

Wind in your face, elk on the move to your favorite spot, only 3 sets of tracks (that you've seen). Building off of what Swede said, it's late September, bow season, and rut is on, in my scenario also. You know which direction the 3 elk are traveling. Towards your favorite spot. That spot is your favorite for a reason, right?
I'd get off the tracks ASAP, and swing wide around them, and try and get to my favorite spot, from an upwind position, moving very slow. Chances are, (in my rookie mind) that if that is a herd bull, there are more cows in the area; or if its SAT bull, that he could be encroaching on another herd of elk, either way, that more elk could be at or near your favorite spot. I know being aggressive will kill elk, but you don't know what you're chasing yet, so I'd be cautious until I know more. If your spot is fairly open, then I'd get to where I cold see into it, staying hidden, and once I could lay eyes on an animal, then I'd decide my next move.

[Indian Summer]

I think all the right answer have already been given BUT... I hate being below the elk. They can peek down from above and it's a recipe for getting busted. Usually they hook uphill to bed watching their backtrail below. Since I know the place well... if it's far to where I think they will stop/bed, I may follow the tracks for awhile to make sure they don't throw me a curve and go elsewhere. If it's not far I'm bailing off their trail NOW. So.... if it was bow season I'd stick with many of you guys and go with downwind, which in the morning means downhill. Then once I got to where I expected them to be I'd slow waaaay down until I thought they were really close. At that point I'd be in no hurry and just sit awhile and observe and listen and play it by ear from there eventually coming up with a plan to set up and call from a prime location depending on exactly where they were.... or where I thought they were.

If it was gun I'd do it differently. I'd forget the wind. I'd plan on them being above their backtrail. Going downhill would lessen or eliminate my chances of seeing them first.... which is always my goal. So I'd move just above their trail. Since the wind is going downhill at that time of the day I don't want to get directly above them so I'm looking as far ahead as I can as I inch my way along. If I get to where I think they should have stopped and don't see them then I back off and loop downwind to have a closer look from there. Whatever the case.... I know the area and I'm in no hurry at all.

[cnelk]

Surely some of you have cut fresh tracks in wet snow.
What did you do?
What was the outcome?

[Indian Summer]

Surely some of you have cut fresh tracks in wet snow.
What did you do?
What was the outcome?

I followed them a little too far a little too fast and got busted.

[Trumkin the Dwarf]

When on fresh tracks, I follow directly until my gut tells me it is time to begin looping/hooking left or right to cut the animal looping that direction. In this situation, I'd get uphill from the tracks by 20-40 yards and start paralleling them at a really slow pace. If I can smell them I am already too close for comfort. I'd be worried they already saw me. This situation is too close to actually loop ahead of them in my opinion. I'd be keeping the tracks in sight and hoping to see the elk first.

[Still Hunter]

The loops have to be wide enough to be out of sight from the trail.

[Trumkin the Dwarf]

The loops have to be wide enough to be out of sight from the trail.

I'm not sure I follow you. If you leave the trail too far away, how does one ensure you don't overshoot them and get winded? I have nowhere near your experience with this, so I'm really interested in the answer to this question.

[Still Hunter]

A couple of ways. You can do short loops, and make sure you don't pass them. You can do longer loops, and just come back enough to see the trail, but be far enough to the side to avoid being winded. Being as scent free as possible helps with this one.

It's easy enough to listen to where they are. As you know elk aren't quiet when the walk.

[Still Hunter]

I'd like to add. I would probably never be in this situation. If I was headed to a favorite area. I wouldn't be on the trail there the same time the elk are.

However, if I screwed up, and I was. I'd get off the trail, sit down and have a snack, and take a break. I'd give them time to get to the bedding area, and settle in. Then i'd go in after them.

My above answer was more what you guys could do. Any still hunter would do what I said in this post. You can't still hunt an animal on the move.

[WapitiTalk1]

Its early morning. 3 inches of wet snow fell over night.
You are on your way to one of your favorite spots by following a small game trail.
You smell elk and in a more few yards, you see 3 sets of elk tracks come onto the game trail from below and head in the same direction you are taking. The tracks look to be a cow, a calf and a bull

Pick your season, pick your weapon

Its your move...

Season-The elk rut in SEP. Weapon-Bow. Area-ID Panhandle or NW Montana. Fresh snow? Woo hoo!! I'm on my way to one of my favorite spots that I know will hold at least a bugling bull or three. It may be the same area the travelers on the trail are headed. One should never look a gift elk in the mouth, but, I'm staying on the trail and pushing through to my spot. After all, there are fresh elk tracks on the USFS and game trails in most places I hunt. I'll certainly move relatively slow and see what I see after cresting each rise, descending each dip in the trail, or making each turn, but I'm on a mission. Plan your hunt and hunt your plan Now, if said trail dwelling bull starts spouting off, that may change things a bit (vocal elk are pretty easy to find).

[elkmtngear]

Surely some of you have cut fresh tracks in wet snow.
What did you do?
What was the outcome?

I had the opportunity to follow a single set of bull tracks in this scenario this (Archery) Season.

Crack of dawn I headed down, looking to follow the first set of bull tracks I found. Followed the bull easily for around two miles, angling slightly downhill.

The bull never did run by looking at his tracks, he just walked. Seemed he had a pretty good idea where he was going. I moved very slowly, glassing ahead every 10 steps or so. There was very little wind, at the most, a slight crosswind.

Lost the tracks in a very thick patch of dark timber...timber was too thick for the snow to coat the ground, and the deadfall made it tough to foot track him at that point. Tried cold calling for about an hour...no show!

I was pretty bummed, especially since I only cut one other set of tracks that whole excursion, a cow and calf. That was the morning I decided to relocate to another area I knew of to the South about 10 miles.

[cohunter14]

My question for those of you who said to stay off of the trail is this: if you don't know where, exactly, they are heading and it happens to be in an area where multiple game trails intersect or branch off, do you still stay off the trail? I have had this happen before and if you try to get off the trail and out of sight, it makes it difficult to know exactly where the tracks are heading. If you are moving slow and continually have to loop back to the trail to make sure you are still heading in the right direction, it seems like you might never catch up to them.

To answer Brad's question, my weapon of choice is a rifle, so I'll make my assumptions based on this being one of the rifle seasons. I also noticed that he said it is early morning and you are on your way in to one of your favorite spots. To me, this would more than likely be a scenario where it is still dark. If that is the case, I would probably break off the trail a good ways and continue heading in to my spot, picking the side of the trail that would help me not get winded. If I can get to my spot and wait for shooting time to roll around, hopefully they will be in the area at that time, seeing as the game trail leads to this spot. On the other hand, if it is daylight, I would probably still break off the trail to the wind-favored side and continue towards my spot, hoping to catch a glimpse of them on the way. Knowing where that game trail heads definitely helps in this situation. This is all based on the assumption that the game trail leads to your spot and there aren't multiple branches off of it.

[Swede]

Cohunter14, the answer to your question is that it depends. The reason to stay off of the trail is because the elk will spot you before you can get a good shot at them. This is usually true for rifle hunters too. The loops you make and how far off the trail you go depends on the terrain and vegetation. If I came upon the tracks cnelk describes, I would consider just how fresh they are. How far can I see down the trail? Did the elk stay on the trail? How far off of the trail do I need to stay to not be detected. Watch the wind. If the terrain and vegetation were average for elk country, I would probably tie back into the trail every 50-75 yards. If the tracks were not still on the trail, I would hook back to see where they went. I am following the elk, but I am not dogging them.