Intro from a longtime lurker

[nwilt]

Hi all- I wanted to introduce myself since I figured it was time to start joining the conversation. I have enjoyed this forum immensely since I found it last year, mainly due to the amount of information and tone of the discussions here. Last year was my first elk archery season where I really put some effort into learning how to call, and I really appreciated all of the helpful info/videos/tips from Paul and the other users here. While I have rifle and muzzleloader hunted for years, actually having an elk respond and come in close while archery hunting was an amazing experience. Needless to say, I am hooked! I mainly hunt in Oregon, along our Northern coast range for Roosevelts, but have ventured over on the East side of the state for Rocky's on occasion. I feel that I have a ton to learn, so I appreciate your patience, but the general respect that I have found in discussions here make it easy for a newbie such as myself to join in. Thanks again so much for that!
Nathan

[WapitiTalk1]

Welcome to the campfire Nathan. Glad to have you on board.

[wawhitey]

You wont find a better bunch of drama free elk killers to learn from anywhere on the internet. These guys know elk and stay on topic. No political/religious/off topic crap here. Just important stuff (elk hunting)

[easeup]

more elknut welcomes to you

[Elkduds]

Nice intro, wilt. Welcome to the campfire. Kick those boots off and join in, you have found your guys.

[ElkNut1]

Hey Nathan, welcome to the Forums! Looks like you've already been bitten by the elk bug, congrats on your past endeavors & I wish you many more!

ElkNut1

[msd1228]

Welcome to the crew!

[six]

Pull up a log and grab you beverage of choice out of the cooler.

[Wapiti]

Hi Nathan !!

Can you tell us more about the Roosevelt elk as I may be going to Oregon hunt this September !!

You really have my attention and curiosity up now !!

Welcome to the great site and tons of elk info !

Trav

[nwilt]

Thanks all for the generous welcomes!

Travis - I am sure that there are quite a few out there that could tell you a lot more about Roosevelts than myself. From what I have seen however, they are not that much different in calling than Rocky's. My hunting partner and myself had several respond to us this year, with one really close encounter that just didn't work out. We ended up with taking a cow on the second to last day of the season since you can take either in the unit I hunt. Previously, I had hunted with a rifle or muzzleloader later in the year, especially in the cascades. We would glass clearcuts and try to cut tracks in the snow covering a lot of ground. It seems like hunting over in Eastern Oregon is a lot more of that - hiking and glassing focusing on water and saddles. With Roosevelts, you have some of the same, but since water is so available, it isn't as much of an area of focus. It seems like locating areas of quality food are what I have found works the best. It seems like they love to eat on the small maple tree leaves that we have often growing in clearcuts that are a few years old. There is a lot of other higher quality grazing in that kind of an area. If the fire danger is low and you can get on to private timber land, I look for that and focus on those areas that have the food they like, but also some pretty dense reprod for them to go into during the day. Areas along the coast where there is some agricultural land butting up to State or National Forest are often good too. Depending on what is in the fields, the elk like to graze in them. While there is a lot of green in the Coast range, I don't know that there is a lot of quality food in a lot of the areas. That's why I focus on that so much. Roosevelts seem a lot more like deer and have a smaller range and more set patterns. In the area that I hunt, they are often feeding and traveling within the same 2-3 square miles, but because a lot of it is so thick, you have to take a good guess at it and start covering ground. They do seem to have preferred areas to travel through and while the saddles aren't as pronounced, they definitely use them. Talk with local loggers if you can - they often see the elk feeding in the same clearcuts several times a week as they come in to work in the morning. Also, don't be scared by logging activity - I was busted one morning walking down a road - there was logging about 500 yards away, and you could hear the loggers yelling at each other and the machines running. I was just talking to my buddy and not paying attention when we were busted by a small herd of cows that were about 40 yards from us. We assumed that nothing would be close with the machinery running and with how open it was (the elk could see the equipment running) but there they were. Obviously, give the loggers some room, but I was shocked at how much the elk really didn't care about the activity.

I have read some that say that Roosevelts don't bugle as much and are call shy, and while I don't have a lot of info to compare, I don't know that I agree. The bulls that we located were pretty vocal. The thick vegetation really kills the sound, so I don't think that a bugle travels near as far. I hunt the northern coast, and I know that a lot of folks - especially out of state hunters - go down to the Suislaw National Forest. I honestly have never hunted down there, but have heard it is pretty good. I think that most of the coast range is pretty good - especially the closer you are to the ocean in general. That said, I mainly hunt on the West side of the coast range, because it is close and I know the area. For September, be ready for anything weather-wise. It is usually really nice, but the coast range is as green as it is for a reason. I am going to get some gaiters this year - it seems like my pants and boots always get beat up and wet even if it isn't pouring on us just from the water on the low laying vegitation. Also, be ready to climb through some pretty nasty stuff. I think that goes without saying for all elk hunting , but with the terrain in the coast range, you will be dealing with steep and thick, although not a lot of elevation.

I hope you have good success this September! I know that I am looking forward to it - I am going to set up some trail cameras this weekend in fact!