heres a map. make a plan.

[wawhitey]

this is a promising location im planning on hunting first half of september.
the spot marked "mine cam" is a camera site i have minerals at, getting elk traffic. was getting elk on cam there last year with no minerals also. this area is very low pressure despite the road access. nobody hunts elk here. may be a couple guys cruising the roads hoping to jump out of their truck and shoot a bear, but thats about it.
also, although the google earth image makes it look like a pleasant walk between scattered trees, (image 2011) in all reality a lot of its a thick jungly mess of 3-10 ft tall berries and whatnot, poor visibility and hard to move quietly.
one other thing to note is that any time ive gone into that draw (mine cam,) the wind is lightly blowing my scent to the south, despite the common westerly in most of this general area. enough to override the thermals a little bit, usually.

so im curious, how would you guys go about this, and if you sucked at calling like me, and would like to try the ambush thing for the first week, saving potentially disastrous calling attempts for the second week, where would you set up, at what times of days, to play the thermals correctly? ive had elk come in from above and below my camera at all times of day, so its hard for me to try to figure out where i should expect them to be bedded. the way i see it, the north slope above my cam site, and the north slope southwestish of the wallows / rubs are the two most likely bedding areas, but this late in the game i dont want to risk blowing them out if im right, so im backing off.

i appreciate any input / advice you guys have to offer. ive yet to put an elk on the ground but i feel like im piecing enough things together nowadays to have a fighting chance.

[Drawnandpinned]

I would look for a quick out a saddle or something close by if it were me sometimes ur so close and they slip away and from what i see i would hunt above ur cam good luck hope this area Provides a nice elk for u

[Drawnandpinned]

I said above but I meant to the right a little higher on that ridge

[archery bum]

if its that thick in the area, you might want to think about a couple of stands. One by the wallow and another by your cam and ambush them. If you suck at calling and once you make it to your stand you just sit quietly and wait for them to come to you.

[Indian Summer]

A topo map would be a big help.

[Rizzy]

Is this the spot with the heavily used wallow you posted pics of? If so I would sit on that wallow. It's a collection point. Also if the area ends up getting pressure when the season opens, the elk might head for the private. That wallow is close enough to the private that they might continue to use it.

[wawhitey]

Is this the spot with the heavily used wallow you posted pics of? If so I would sit on that wallow. It's a collection point. Also if the area ends up getting pressure when the season opens, the elk might head for the private. That wallow is close enough to the private that they might continue to use it.

that is the wallow i posted pics of. however im worried that if im down in that bowl during the day my scent would ride the thermals right up to any elk approaching from above. that and that whole bowl is just ugly thick with tall brush. if there was a good tree by the wallow i could hang a stand in i might do that, but there just isnt.

[Ghost]

Its probably a little late, but if I were you, Id have been in there cutting a trail or trails into that wallow, set up a ground blind and cut shooting lanes, I know if I was deer hunting here in the east and still had 30 plus days before the season, Id be doing just that. But Im not an elk expert and dont know if that kind of activity this close to the season will blow them out of that hollow for the season. A trick I use is during spring turkey season, I spray the ground with ground clear, that way come hunting season the trail is brush free and can be walked without making a sound, but then again this is on my own property.

[wawhitey]

Its probably a little late, but if I were you, Id have been in there cutting a trail or trails into that wallow, set up a ground blind and cut shooting lanes, I know if I was deer hunting here in the east and still had 30 plus days before the season, Id be doing just that. But Im not an elk expert and dont know if that kind of activity this close to the season will blow them out of that hollow for the season. A trick I use is during spring turkey season, I spray the ground with ground clear, that way come hunting season the trail is brush free and can be walked without making a sound, but then again this is on my own property.

i do intend to clear a trail in next year, but my gut is telling me not to do that this year. lot of disturbance sounds like a bad idea

[archery bum]

find a well used trail into the wallow and find a tree on that trail . If no trees at all then I would go with a blind somewhere on that trail.

[Olydog09]

There appears to be 2 trails intersecting at the s.e. corner of the property boundary. One running south out of the property and one running west along the border. THis looks like a good spot for a treestand depending on the winds at this location.