New discoveries

[Lefty]

Maybe you have hunted the same canyons for 15 years, or camped at the same trail head.
Did you discover anything "new" to you this year in your elk grounds. Maybe a wallow, a pinch point, an in deep bedding area
Well what did you find? or even a neat piece of junk

I m planning to hunt a different area next year. A place Ive been to dozens of times. I had a location picked out for a campsite I hadnt camped at the site but it would give me close access to where I will be hunting. The first time I saw the 2 track I walked in, I didnt think it was a road, then checked a map at camp and it showed a road, almost totally unused, it was secluded, a legit numbered road. I thought it stopped at a geological site and that was the reason for the road. Last night I made a pleasant discovery. I zoomed in on google earth and noticed a few trails. then more trails, deer elk and cow and water.
I checked the topo maps it doesn't show the water.
I was so excited I couldn't sleep last night

Well what did you find unique this year? On maps on satellite or on foot

[Mikeha33]

I've only hunted my area once, so I plan on making tons of new discoveries this year, but I made one last week that I couldn't be happier about. I figured out how to turn Google Earth into a 3D topo map. It has already helped me find some new landmarks and places that I'll be focusing on this fall.

[Swede]

I discovered that a spring, I had known about for several years, is really a good place to ambush a buck. I don't spend much time hunting deer, but since this spring also has elk, I may pay more attention to it.

[Swamp Buck]

New discoveries are hard to come by in an old hunting spot. I think mainly because you are always looking to revisit the spots you have already found. You spend all off-season thinking about these spots and how you need to get back and check that wallow or creek bottom with all the beds and rubs... Seems to me that the time for new discoveries is when you are checking into new spots or if you are like me and are always wandering deeper and deeper just to see what is over that next ridge.

[Gutpile]

Similar to Swede's post here. I hear a small spring when i walk into a spot i've been hunting for a few years now - but i'm going by in the dark to spots much further away so never checked it out. On the way back, i hear that same spring, but again, it's dark so i paid it no mind. On a hike this year i looped back through an area simply trying to cut off some distance back to the main trail out and found the beginning of this stream. Wouldn't ya know it, a fairly fresh cow elk carcass was laying right at the head of it. Maybe i shouldn't be walking by such a spot....

[elkmtngear]

I do not know how I missed this spot...must have walked around it a dozen times over the years.

I was following a herd of elk in the evening...they lead me right to it.

The little dark line in the middle of the park is a muddied up wallow

[Washington Wapiti]

I discovered that where I got my bull this year is the 2nd bench in a series of 3 benches (moving from valley floor to uphill) within a 2-2.5 mile stretch as the crow flies. And just a 1/4 mile above the third bench is a natural funnel . . . a saddle actually, where the two peaks are in the middle of clear-cuts and the saddle is forested. A creek bed runs through the middle and it looks like the lower half-mile of it is either dry or ephemeral. The upper portion looks to have water year-round or is perhaps seasonal as well. Looks like they buffered a stream bed from a previous logging operation. One for the environment, and one for another place to tag an elk . . . now THERE'S a win-win! LOL Another place to do some recon in and set-up a camera for sure. Just when you think you know an area so well . . .
I also discovered that there are knee-deep marshy areas interspersed all throughout the forest in this whole area in general. Definitely no shortage of water. Yet, in the 5 years I've hunted it, I have yet find an active wallow. Or any kind of wallow activity for that matter. Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough.

[JohnFitzgerald]

I found a nice open honey hole surrounded on all sides with about 300 yards of dense thick timber. Inside, about a 200 x 200 yard opening filled with too many beds to count. Here's one.

Also discovered that Brian got really bloody field dressing his bull. LOL!

[cohunter14]

I think no matter where you hunt, unless you are taking an elk every year, you should always be trying to learn something new about your spot. I always try to check out different areas on my hunt, simply for the same reason I am on here...there is always something more to learn!

[cnelk]

This year marks the 25th year I have hunted my elk areas.
I make it a point to learn more about an existing area or scout an entirely new area each year.
Its fun and exciting. I enjoy looking for wallows, tree stand locations, trails and bedding areas.
While I scout, I time my hikes so I know how long it takes to get in/out of an area.
A major factor when you want to be somewhere before daylight, or how long of a hike in the dark it will be.