Finding Elk Cover, Forage, and Water on a Map

[StartMyHunt]

Sounds pretty simple, but you would be surprised how often these three essentials to elk survival are overlooked by hunters in the field. These are the three things elk need to survive during a hunting season. The trick is finding areas within your GMU where all three of these features are located within close proximity to one another. Another thing to keep in mind is that while you may be hunting for elk, what you should actually be "hunting" for is quality elk habitat. Find quality elk habitat, and you are guaranteed to find more elk. The easiest way that I have found to locate these features before you start hiking around the hills is to begin studying maps and imagery of your GMU and finding places where there is above average forage, nearby dense cover for escape routes and bedding areas, and a nearby water source.
Let’s start with locating cover areas on a map or satellite image. These areas are easy to locate on standard USGS maps and typically are shown in a light/dark green color. However, not all of these light/dark green areas are created equal. In order to determine the density of the cover, you need to also study the satellite imagery of each of these areas in order to get a sense of the canopy closure. The less bare ground you see, the more likely elk will consider bedding down in the area. Another factor to consider when determining whether an area qualifies as suitable elk cover is the proximity to roads. Initially, elk may bed down as close as a half mile from active roads, but once the season starts and the hunting pressure picks up, they will retreat further and further into the forest to escape the increased vehicle noise and pressure from hunters.
This is when it becomes useful to have a USFS Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) for your GMU. Roads depicted on standard USGS maps may or may not exist any longer, may be closed, or may be restricted to foot traffic only. A current U.S. Forest Service MVUM map can help show you roads that may have recently been closed but still open to foot traffic, the types of traffic that can legally access each road, the road condition, and most importantly the areas to avoid to escape vehicle noise and the majority of hunters. By getting away from the roads, you will be following the elk. The last step is to simply circle or mark these areas on your maps and identify them as elk cover areas.

If there is enough interest in my post, I will continue on with locating the forage areas and water locations on a map within a few days.

[Indian Summer]

FYI you need to make 3 posts on here before you can send or receive PMs.

I read your other thread. Sounds like your specialty is habitat. Might sound like a stupid question but have you done much elk hunting?

[StartMyHunt]

My apologies for not sounding more credible. I have actually been elk hunting for close to 35 years. I also have a degree in wildlife biology. After reading through the Forum Rules, I realized that my first post was not allowed because I posted my website. Do you not agree that if you find quality elk habitat that you will find more elk. All I am trying to do is give fellow elk hunters some tips on how to locate suitable areas to hunt before they even step foot on the ground. By the way, what are PMs?

Thanks for your reply,
Mike

[StartMyHunt]

A continuation from my initial post…
Finding high quality elk forage areas on a map can be more difficult because on standard USGS maps, there is not a symbol that represents grass/forb lands. Also, locating meadows on maps is fairly easy, but to find high quality elk forage areas, you need to know the condition, the type, and the percentage of the ground that is covered by vegetation. If you have never hunted a particular GMU before, this can be very difficult to figure out from a map. However, if you have previously hunted within a GMU, you should be able to locate the areas you are familiar with on satellite imagery. Once you orient yourself on the imagery, try to remember the condition of the vegetation in the open meadows and develop a ranking system to rate the forage in each meadow from poor to excellent. Next, study the way the imagery looks in the meadows marked as excellent. Now, try to find open meadows on the imagery within the areas you determined to be elk cover areas from my previous post that look the same on the imagery as those areas you marked as excellent forage areas. Now you are on to something. You have combined two of the three essentials that elk need to survive.
Finding water sources on USGS maps is fairly easy, so there is not a need to explain this concept. However, what you are looking for are the hidden water sources that do not show up on USGS maps and that are close to the quality forage areas and elk cover areas that you previously identified. You can often find these places on satellite imagery with the aid of a USGS topographic map. What you need to look at first are the contours on a USGS map and locate the subtle valleys and troughs where water may flow (remember that contours pointing uphill were likely made by running water). Then, find these same areas on the imagery. Is the vegetation more pronounced in these valleys or troughs? If so, there is likely a water source nearby. If not, continue this process until you find a few of these locations that may contain water. Once you do, you have found quality elk habitat, which ultimately means more elk.

[Swamp Buck]

For those of us not familiar with what elk forage looks like do you have a picture examples of what poor, good, great, and excellent forage looks like? I have been hunting a number of times but am not knowledgeable on what elk eat. Thanks for this post.

[StartMyHunt]

I will see what I can pull together concerning examples of forage.

[Indian Summer]

Yes quality habitat is a must. I noticed on your site that the maps are mainly in Colorado. Do you offer ones of other states?Regardless of where though the habits of elk can vary greatly. For example one place I hunt is very open. Yes the elk find cover to bed but they spend lots of time in the open and will bed in the smallest patches of timber. Remember they were once critters of open prairies. Open means sunlight and sunlight means food. There's also an exception to that rule: During summer and in September there is plenty of good browse in the timber. One other spot I hunt has plenty of meadows. But there the elk seem to keep it as a reserve and rarely feed there until the other food sources have come and gone.

Still other areas I have stomped have plenty of great habitat including forage and for whatever reason the elk there are few and far between. I think the bottom line is that being there... or experience is the best teacher. But no doubt I do TONS of hunting on maps and that is THE place to begin.

Welcome to our humble home ElkMapDude. Have you considered becoming a sponsor here? Any luck yet this season?

[StartMyHunt]

Yes quality habitat is a must. I noticed on your site that the maps are mainly in Colorado. Do you offer ones of other states?Regardless of where though the habits of elk can vary greatly. For example one place I hunt is very open. Yes the elk find cover to bed but they spend lots of time in the open and will bed in the smallest patches of timber. Remember they were once critters of open prairies. Open means sunlight and sunlight means food. There's also an exception to that rule: During summer and in September there is plenty of good browse in the timber. One other spot I hunt has plenty of meadows. But there the elk seem to keep it as a reserve and rarely feed there until the other food sources have come and gone.

Still other areas I have stomped have plenty of great habitat including forage and for whatever reason the elk there are few and far between. I think the bottom line is that being there... or experience is the best teacher. But no doubt I do TONS of hunting on maps and that is THE place to begin.

Welcome to our humble home ElkMapDude. Have you considered becoming a sponsor here? Any luck yet this season?

Hello Indian Summer. Allow me to go through your comments and questions one at a time if I may.
1. For now, due to lack of available time since I have a day job, I have concentrated on Colorado. I plan on expanding into other states once I get snowed in for the winter.
2. I could not agree more that the habits of elk vary greatly from year to year. That is what keeps it fun. In fact, I just talked to a friend who took up one of my maps that showed excellent habitat (which he confirmed), but no elk, not even elk sign. As I am sure you are aware, a lot has to do with the previous hunting pressure in the area you are hunting.
3. I am impressed that you knew that elk once inhabited the plains and were not mountain animals. Not very many people know this little fact.
4. I totally agree that there is good browse in the timber towards the end of summer and early fall (if there is enough precipitation).
5. I have primarily hunted the same four areas in Colorado, and I agree that there are years where everything looks right, but the elk are not there. Not sure why yet, but when I figure it out, I will let you know.
6. I may consider becoming a sponsor at some time in the near future, but I just started about 8 months ago, so I do not have a lot of revenue yet to expand.
7. Going third rifle season this year because my Dad is getting old and cannot get around like he used to.

Thanks for the welcome.
ElkMapGuy

[StartMyHunt]

Hello Indian Summer,

I forgot to add one thing in my previous post. Not every one is as experienced in the woods as you or me (or as middle aged as we are), so what I am trying to do is to educate the younger generation to in order to keep this tradition alive. I think a lot of what keeps the younger generation from hunting is the lack of knowledge about what to do once you are in the woods. They may try it once or twice, but after awhile it becomes very cost prohibitive if they do not get an animal. As you say in your forum rules, hunting is coming under attack from the far left groups, and I am not going to sit back and let this happen.

Hunt On

[Indian Summer]

In regards to #2: yes, the two things we can't see on a map are predators and other hunters. They also happen to be two of the biggest factors.

Best of luck hunting and I hope your dad is able to get out and have some luck. I'm always rooting for the younger hunters and the old timers.

[BrentLaBere]

Almost all of what I know about map reading for elk comes from this site. Narrowing it down even further.....Joe eliminated things on a map for me without even setting a boot on the ground. I think that speaks volumes for a greenhorn. Predators....one of the most unpredictable things in the mountains besides the weather during the month of September. People are much more predictable if you look at the maps of your hunting area.
Two guys discussing maps and learned lessons over the years....I think there could be a lot to learn here.

[Indian Summer]

Obviously forage is a must. But I think elk can carve out a living just about anywhere and big bulls will take up residence where life is a little rougher and food a little more scarce than the rest of the herd. Cows on the other hand go where life is best for their calves. Of course come the rut those nursery herds become a hunters bait.

Since it is nothing for an elk to stroll 3 or 4 plus miles from bed to feed I feel like there is always a food source in reach. So I look at things... like Brent mentioned, to try to predict what other hunters will do. I also gravitate to states/areas where there just aren't that many hunters. Beyond that I look at terrain. I grill the topos looking for benches in otherwise steep stuff. Also openings in areas adjacent to vast stands of timber. Once I see what I like I go to Google Earth to check out the cover/openings. Overall I've been pretty lucky pinpointing where I can expect to see elk.

I LOVE map hunting.

I'm also lucky to have friends who live & guide in elk country to give me tips. That's huge. Those tips often lead to hours and hours of map work.... and dead bulls.

[StartMyHunt]

For those of us not familiar with what elk forage looks like do you have a picture examples of what poor, good, great, and excellent forage looks like? I have been hunting a number of times but am not knowledgeable on what elk eat. Thanks for this post.

I have many pictures, but they are too big to upload at the time. I will need to resize them and post later. If you want to look up pictures of what elk consider some of their "ice cream plants", look up the following--

rough fescue
elk sedge
arrowleaf groundsel
needle and thread grass
elkweed
lupine
sweetvetch
beargrass
new aspen shoots and leaves

Most of these plants (or varieties of the same species) are commonly found throughout the Rockies.

As far as the breakdown from poor to excellent, it all depends on the percentage of ground that is covered by these plants. If I had to break it down, I would say that if 0-20 percent of the ground was covered, I would classify as poor. After that, you would need to use your own judgment to make classifications. It fluctuates from year to year, so if you find an area where the ground cover consists of 50% of these species but no elk sign, then that means it has been hunted out (as Indian Summer said earlier).

[StartMyHunt]

A little bit about myself so that I may seem somewhat credible--

I was born and raised in Colorado and I have been elk hunting in the state for nearly 35 years. I attended Colorado State University where I attained a degree in Natural Resource Management. This degree introduced me to courses in geographic information systems, botany, dendrology (study of trees), and most importantly, wildlife biology. After graduating, I began working as an environmental consultant. My role has involved calculating the impacts that activities such as oil and gas development, mining, and renewable energy projects have on the natural environment. In order to do this, I had to work closely with agencies such as the BLM, USFS, and the state game management agencies to learn their processes. As a result of this, I became very familiar with the approaches and the methods these agencies used to determine where animals were likely to be found at certain times of the year and the forces that cause animals to move to particular locations and habitat types as a result of pressure from human activities.

A few years ago, I was working with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and the USFS on a proposed oil and gas project located in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The project area had a large concentration of elk and we were discussing the potential impacts to the elk seasonal ranges if development were to occur. One of the USFS biologists was concerned about the impact to what he called “elk security habitat” and how the loss of this habitat could have a detrimental effect on the elk herds in the area. In order to determine the potential effect, we had to identify where the security habitat was located. It was at this time that I was introduced to all the parameters the agencies used to identify different habitat types and why elk would use a particular habitat type as a result of human activity. It was also at this time that I realized the value of this information and how it could be applied to finding the most likely locations where elk would be located during the hunting seasons.

Over the course of the next several years, I began analyzing all of the publically available data to try to pull it all together into one easy to understand source. At first, this knowledge was for my own personal use to serve as an aid to help me have more success while elk hunting. One day, a friend and I were sitting around having a few beers and we started talking about elk hunting. He had never been elk hunting before and began asking me for advice on where to go, what to look for in the field, etc. and I started to explain some of the research I had been working on and how this could probably help him if he decided to go elk hunting. He was immediately impressed and told me I should consider making this information available to other elk hunters. The idea behind the ElkTracker™ Maps was born.

By analyzing the hunter success rates, elk density per GMU, elk ranges and migration patterns, roads and land open to the public, and most importantly the characteristics of the vegetation in an area, I developed the ElkTracker™ Map series. These maps were designed with one thing in mind—to pinpoint the “elk hot spots” and make this information available on a statewide scale. While I cannot guarantee that elk will be hanging out in each of these hot spots, I can say with a high degree of confidence that each of these areas has the three things elk need to survive–Forage, Cover, and nearby Water–and knowing where these places are located is the key to successful elk hunting.

[ChrisB]

Hi Mike:

I's going to be unit 25 for me. Once I figure out my base camp I will be ordering a couple of maps.

ChrisB

[Olydog09]

Good stuff ElkMapGuy. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge here with us. Very smart way to start investigating a hunt especially for the guys who live a long ways from where they hunt and have no local knowledge of the area. They spend alot of $$$ to do an out of state hunt. Your info gives them a great place to start their search.

[StartMyHunt]

Thanks OlyDog09. I am still trying to find the time to post some pictures of the plants that I mentioned before that elk like to eat.

[kevin_t]

Hi

I looked at your maps. They look good. I generally agree, that find the right habitat/ security mix at the right time of year puts you in a good position. When I go hunt a new area, I generally do a pretty simplistic method of looking for the right habitat usually 1.5 miles from easy access points. If you understand some of the ins and outs of the surrounding land and pressure it helps a lot as well. For instance, does a big private ranch allow hunting or not ? Sometimes (like this year in my area) this happened and many Elk just holed up on private (where it used to be leased to an outfitter). I've also seen natural events change things a lot , like a landslide closing a road that people used to use for hunting. With the road closed elk seemed to shift from their standard area to the area where it was closed since there were far fewer people. Sometimes, weird things (at least for me) seem to change things. I know of a little drainage, I've always seen elk in. It's a real hell hole and I've never gotten in there without being busted, and I couldn't fathom a pack out. Yet, this year I found myself trying to explore the same place (and I saw a small bull) but the number of elk seemed far fewer and they didn't appear to exit out the same way to use nearby forage. It didn't occur to me at the time (and my current assumption may very well be wrong) but as difficult as it was for me to get out over all the dead fall (in a route the elk use to exit into nearby forage and had wallows etc) it dawned on me that perhaps the entry had now become to difficult for elk to enter and exit and still get A LOT of forage nearby thus it wasn't being used as much. Personally, I plan on clearing some of the dead fall into there, and am curious if elk usage rises again, since it will be much easier for a group to access good forage. At least that is my current assumption and plan.

Good luck with your venture and thanks for providing the information from a different (but similar) perspective.

I'd be very curious to see my normal area to see how closely it matches all the scouting I have done, and all the hell holes I've trekked into. Not asking for a freebie, just curious.
Kevin

[StartMyHunt]

Kevin,

I checked out your website. Looks like some pretty good gear you offer. I also noticed that you are based in GJ. Coincidentally, I grew up in GJ, and from your description of the area you hunt, it sounds very familiar and similar to the area that I have been hunting for many years. I won't divulge the GMU, but send me a PM if you like and I will let you know if we are talking about the same area.

[kevin_t]

Thanks Mike

I looked over a sample Mike sent me from an area I'm very familiar with. I would say it was relatively accurate on the hot spots. If you went to those areas, you would be close to Elk at least during certain times of the year.

Kevin