Does It Really Matter What Elk Are Eating?

[ElkNut1]

Many times I see this question come up during ones archery elk hunts.(not rifle hunts) Why is it hunters wonder this? Does it really matter? It's not like there's only one or two buffets out there! (grin) I've not to date ever cared what elk were eating. It's more important to us to find the elk through sound or the fresh sign they leave behind, if it means it's coming from a feeding area, fine but it's not a big deal. Let's here some thoughts from you folks!

ElkNut1

[Gselkhunter]

I think it does Paul. Since elk are preparing for winter's down slide they are drawn to the best forage available to prepare for winter. I watch elk change location all through the seasons to get the best forage. I understand they don't do it as a thinking process as us going to the store but still show up in the places to eat forage that is prime. The areas I find them in rut coincide with with prime forage until pressure from foes or hunters drive them out.

[otcWill]

The areas I hunt have such an abundance of good graze that I don't think it matters at all where they go, they will always have plenty of quality grass to eat. I've had friends come to hunt from WY and say, "My God, there's grass everywhere"! So, no, in my CO spots, it doesn't matter one bit.

[CurlyTail]

I suppose that if you could determine that Elk have a "favorite" food, then all you would have to do is find the food - and you could assume the Elk will be there eventually.

I do not know what their favorite food is. Perhaps lush grass - the areas I hunt that hold elk tend to have lush grass around the creeks, which seems to be their favored feeding area. I have also noted that Elk favor burned areas, maybe for the increased grass and forbs in these areas.

I have always hunted arid areas, but I imagine it would be much more difficult to locate Elk in areas where everything is moist and green all the time (Oregon perhaps, or maybe very high altitude early season).

In some areas, you can clearly pattern the Elk as they travel to and from Agricultural Fields - but this is not typical in public DIY situations, more common on private.

[foxvalley]

We also have food, water everywhere, so even though we mark good feeding ereas, fresh sighn is always #1,and will hunt fresh sighn first.

[Elkduds]

When elk aren't doing what they always do, then you should know what motivates them to act differently. Gregg is like an elk whisperer, I think he reads their minds. When he talks about elk behavior, I take notes

[njdoxie]

Where I hunt in CO there is more then enough grass, so no I don't key on food, I key on sign and sightings

[easeup]

well.....there are places where it must matter. September is hay cutting time and the aroma from the fresh cut must be overwhelming to them and the elk sail down to the Tifton meadows on private land and stay there in mass. Also in the more arid regions, the irrigated hay fields all have their resident population which head back to some shady areas nearby.

[ElkNut1]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the comments! All in all when hunting elk in Sept the bulls are most concerned with the cows, they are not thinking about building body fats for the up coming winter. They will do this after rutting times. However they will lose quite a bit of weight during this rutting time because food is not the foremost thing on their minds! Food supplies can vary widely & elk do not have cafeterias where they must eat, they can be anywhere at anytime especially if harassed. Out of all the years we've elk hunted we've not concentrated on what they are eating. We are more concerned the type of lower terrains they seek out at night & move up the mountain for the most part in most elk country. The # 1 way for us is through calling to find out where they are. We are not trying to call them to us we call to locate! Responses before 9 am generally alerts us we are near their nighttime feeding/watering areas, after that they move off towards bedding areas so finding them at these different times pretty much tells us what they are doing & where they are going.

As shown in the 1st photo elk country can be huge and daunting, where they feed at night is anyone's guess at times. But by calling as shown in the 2nd photo this produces results in locating them. This is the fastest way we have found & seems to work very well for us.

ElkNut1

[Indian Summer]

"Since elk are preparing for winter's down slide they are drawn to the best forage available"

Yes and no. Cow's by nature are drawn to the best forage because their sole purpose is to provide for calves. BUT... that also means security so feeding out in the open in grassy meadows during daylight hours is not always the way to go. But I am certain there is another reason for that. For years I hunted an area with big meadows full of grass. Elk were never far. BUT... they never fed in those meadows. Never. Instead they would browse in the timber or feed in smaller openings. I truly believe that the reason was that the big feed areas were like reserves for when they really needed it. Once the snow piled up they could go out there and no matter where they pawed their way through the snow they were guaranteed to get a reward for their efforts. If they had grazed those areas down earlier in the year it would take 3 or 4 times the time and effort to get their daily feed requirement.

As far as what the elk are eating... I couldn't care less. In September bow season food is literally everywhere other than maybe an extremely thick north facing slope. Anywhere a bit of sunlight penetrates there will be food. The shadier areas have greener forage because it's not burned up by the sun but they will have less of it. Later in the season when they have depleted those areas they'll be in places that got more sunlight and grew more food. But the kind of food doesn't matter one bit. I simply look at it as two categories: Browse, and grass. Browse early, grass later.

[Trophyhill]

I think it matters. it's all about the cows in essence. as Indian Summer states the cows are fattening their calves up. where is this happening? my hunch is not far from the calving grounds shortly after birth and depending on where you are, following the snow line up as it melts. once we know where the cows are, the bulls will be there at some point in the rut. since it is the bulls that go to the cows to display their elkhood, I want to know where those cows are feeding. this is my opinion and what I've seen. once the pressure starts however all bets are off and elk can be anywhere as we all know. there is a reason elk tend to rut in the same areas year after year. maybe instinctually the cows know where the best places to fatten their calves up are? maybe the bulls remember these places from their calf rearing years? kinda like a salmon goes to the same streams to breed and die? knowing what plants hold the nutrients needed I think can be advantageous too. for instance here in NM we have a wide variety of vegetation. in some areas maybe the grasses are more nutritious whereas in other areas elk eat pinons and leave the grass for later in the year. I heard that elk will not eat themselves out of house and home too. so migrating in other areas for feed could be important as far as knowing these habits. of course as most of you know.......I've been wrong before

[Swede]

I have read this thread with interest, and observe we often are hunting totally different areas and habitats. It my area forage makes a big difference. It is not the sole factor in where elk move to, but it is a major contributor. In the Summer, before the cattle are turned out, there is plenty of forage all over. I can pick up elk on my trail cameras frequently. By early September the elk are mostly gone. What changed? What caused them to leave? The cover and bedding areas are still all there. Well, the forage has been stripped down to where only the least palatable/nutritious species are left. The elk have moved over to the ranch where irrigated meadows provide abundant quality forage. That is where the cows go to, and the bulls soon follow.
Indian Summer, it would take a lot of time over soda pop to convince me that the elk are thinking ahead to winter, and conserving grass for later. They are just not that deep of thinkers. Elk forage is all about nutrients. From the time the grasses start growing, and the rut starts in the northern regions of elk country, and other high elevation habitats, there is only 3 1/2 to 4 months to grow, (including antlers) and get ready. They don't know that. It is just in their biological makeup. After the rut the bulls have a very short time to prepare for Winter. They utilize the best quality forage available to them.
Where Paul and others are hunting, quality forage is abundant, and trying to focus on that is a waste of time. Where some of us hunt, it may be more important. I pay attention to the cattle grazing schedule for my hunting area. The problem is that the ranchers use the schedule as a guideline, and move their cattle around as soon as the cows have used the available forage. I have sat many times in my stands and heard cows and cowboys coming in.

[timberland]

BIG Lesson learned last year that will shorten my learning curve when I go back to hunt my area. Two years ago we found 80% of the elk on "our" mountain four miles cross country and 10 miles by road from the campsite. To get to camp there were a couple gates to open and close because there were a few leftover cattle in the area. We wised up and last year we moved camp closer to where we found the elk the year before. There were elk there, but not nearly the numbers we expected. On the forth day some of ventured back to the old campsite to find open gates, 2' grass, and elk EVERYWHERE.

The killer is that we basically have to drive by the first campsite to get to the second. Now, all I have to do is a quick recon at the original campsite to cut my original search area in half. If the gates are up we move on to the second.

[Trophyhill]

So after reading this thread and another thread regarding a comment someone made on pre rut, it peaked my curiosities and I decided to do a little more reading up on the subject and how it ties into the rut and this is what I found. According to a source who will remain anonymous for the moment, he says this and it addresses timing of the rut and touches briefly on nutrition. In about the middle of August, the bull elks testosterone shoots way up coinciding with the onset of photoperiodism. (I'll skip a couple weeks here) about 2 weeks before the fall equinox, (which is September 23 this year) maximum reproductive activity starts and slowly tapers off thru the end of October. (A good reason to be in the woods on the 8th) then it goes on to say that the cows nutrition directly affects the start of maximum reproductive activity. In areas where nutrition is lacking, the cows won't reach this state for 1 to 2 more weeks which is close to the equinox.

This helps confirm my thoughts on the importance of what and where elk are eating. There is a whole lot more on the subject but it will probably bore most.