Too Steep for Elk?

[bowhunter04]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum and new to elk hunting. My dad and I are trying to put together a hunt and as I "virtually" scout, I was wondering what, if anything, you consider too steep for elk to utilize. Is a 40 or 50 degree slope too steep for them to travel on or can they travel on even steeper terrain?

Thanks in advance and thanks to Elknut for a great forum!

Jeremy

[>>>---WW---->]

Nope, not too steep at all for them to travel on. However, they won't hang out on these steep mountain sides unless there are some good benches on them. And in that case, a good bench half way up a 50 degree slope is a good place for them to get away from hunting pressure.

Look for cover or shelter, food, and water when doing the virtual junk. Nothing beats burning boot leather!

[Indian Summer]

WW is right on. Any extreme terrain features like really steep slopes, cliffs, rockslides etc just mean that the elk will find the path of least resistance and use that. They do well surviving in nasty country but will find and use the places that let them get around or spend time safely. There are usually one or two places to cross a rockslide. Elk will travel both above and below cliffs. And like WW stated, and it's a key thing to remember, when you look at topo maps and see the contour lines are really close together meaning steep.... look for the 2 or 3 lines on there that are a little further apart than the rest. That's a bench. Elk will travel along it. In some cases if it's wide and forgiving enough, they may bed on it as well.

Great question by the way and welcome. I think this a place you'll want to visit more often.

[jmez]

As the others have said, no such thing as too steep for elk. I have found that some of the places they haunt are too steep for me however. I'm not sure you could even stand on a 60 degree slope. I'd want ropes to do that. You start getting much over 30 and you will be bear crawling.

[Swede]

As stated before, elk will traverse some very steep slopes. My observation is that elk can handle any place that has dirt and grows significant trees or brush, but they are not Mountain goats. Yes, they have limits.

[WapitiTalk1]

Welcome to the forum bowhunter04. Glad to have you on board. Here's a spot in MT that has provided a few elk for my family back in the day (mostly rifle season for this particular spot). It's a very steep sidehill below a jagged rock outcropping. The star on the map is right below a nasty shale slide and is a consistently used travel route. I've got the map blown up quite a bit but the sidehill is very, very steep.

[bowhunter04]

Thanks everyone. That is what expected but I wanted to make sure before I started marking up maps!

[Indian Summer]

I love that spot Phantom but what are those green shrubs?

[WapitiTalk1]

I love that spot Phantom but what are those green shrubs?

I figured you might recognize the spot. The shrubbery (poor Monty Python reference) was used to cover the name of the ridge to maintain secrecy of an old family elk spot which is none other than the Great Northern Ross Gem Pillick Hungry Horse Squaw Spar Spotted Bear Yaak Ridge. I guess the cat is out of the bag now.

[Indian Summer]

I figured you might recognize the spot. The shrubbery (poor Monty Python reference) was used to cover the name of the ridge to maintain secrecy of an old family elk spot which is none other than the Great Northern Ross Gem Pillick Hungry Horse Squaw Spar Spotted Bear Yaak Ridge. I guess the cat is out of the bag now.

That's an interesting name. I know you know that I know more than half those places! Ross, Gem, Pillick, Horse, Squaw, Spar etc etc. That cracked me RIGHT up dude!!!

[WapitiTalk1]

[That's an interesting name. I know you know that I know more than half those places! Ross, Gem, Pillick, Horse, Squaw, Spar etc etc. That cracked me RIGHT up dude!!!

Thought you'd get a kick out of that

[Waygoner]

I was in GMU 55 in the Soap Creek area a few years ago. Tagging along for a 3rd season elk hunt with two friends. I had no tag so I was just goofing off. Through the binocs I spotted a small herd (15-20) coming down a ridge about a mile away. The herd came to a rock face and split. Some went right which was much easier, some went left which was near vertical. I watched for a long time as the one bunch tried to figure out how to get down. Finally one of them took a leap and went barreling straight downhill. The others eventually got up the courage and followed. I was amazed they were willing and able to get down that rock face.