Bedding Areas

[flystrait]

Who here is in favor or against hunting elk in their bedding areas and why?

[WapitiTalk1]

An "aye" from me. A good majority of the vocal elk I encounter are heading to, in, or leaving their bedrooms. If a hunter limits his hunts to non bedding areas, I think a person would find they're only hunting the crack of dawn and the last 1/2 hour before nightfall as they are leaving or arriving to feed areas. Certainly one has to be carefull with the approach they use in said bedding areas. If a hunter can't work the wind 100% in their favor, or, it appears that there is not gonna be any type of shot opportunity (calling bullwinkle away from his harem or arrowing a lusty cow if the tag permits), back out and avoid sending the group over the ridge. Just my thoughts.

[ElkNut1]

I'm a huge proponent of hunting & killing elk in their bedding areas. Some of the keys to success for us is understanding how to read the situation or time frame of the rut so we work them accordingly. Phase of the rut is important as a bulls attitude is what we play on when knowing how to work these elk as individuals. Cows in heat equals dead bulls with aggressive action. Cows not in heat but cows are with a herd bull means we have to play a "curiosity" card over aggressive calling sequences.

The reason the bedding area can be effective is elk are at their destination so they have no reason to leave. We do not allow them to see or smell us so working them at these areas is advantage hunter! I would say out of the last 20 bulls between my son & I (we hunt together) 15 were taken in the bedding area. It's my absolute favorite spot to employ our tactics! If you do not have the confidence & understanding of how to hunt bedding areas you are best suited to stay away from them as you will most likely blow them out of there & nothing to show for it. (grin) Again, we read the situation & proceed accordingly!

ElkNut1

[BrentLaBere]

Hunting bedding areas has produced some close encounters for me. I have also bumped elk out, but I feel its part of a learning curve. Hunting the early part of September, the elk would be near or in their bedroom areas when shooting light arrived, so like RJ mentioned you would be afield for a very short time to only hunt them outside of the bedding areas. If I had an area all to myself and time to understand the elk movement for that year, I would be more patient. That's just not the case for me hunting public lands and pressure from so many other factors. Having an elk pinpointed to his bedding area gives you an advantage and a time to close the gap on him. I also think they are more susceptible to calling.

[flystrait]

Is there any one against it.

[Glacier Country]

I will admit that most of the elk I have killed were not in a bedding area...I had gotten pretty good at shooting them pretty early in the morning just off of their feeding area, Or I had always hunted the edge of their suspected bedding area, and when the wind started to become fickle I would back out. Now I am starting to change my mind about hunting bedding areas. I have some friends who have been telling me the rewards out way the risks,and their success seems to be positive proof. So I am beginning to think that hunting elk in a bedding area is a sound strategy to take a bull, if done properly. I would also think that you really would want to make the best of your opportunity the first time the bull comes in.
Troy

[twinkieman]

My thoughts on this are, if I'm not 100 % sure of the situation, I'll leave them be, so I can hunt them again the next day. I've gotten far better at reading the situations, in recent seasons, but still have a long way to go. My partners would all tell you, I am very anal about the wind, and they would also tell you I am very adept at reading the air currents, the wind is not what stops me, it is being crystal clear on what is happening, I've killed elk clos to their beds, but not in them......Deer are another thing entirely, the past 20 years, most bucks I've arrowed have been rising from their siesta sight

[ElkNut1]

Craig, yes I'm dead against going into the bedding areas when the elk aren't ripe for the picking.(rutting) When this is the case we stay on the outskirts to try & pull them away therefore not blowing them out of there, timing is key for us! If they haven't come to the calling there's no harm done they are still there!

Of course we kill plenty of elk outside the bedding areas as well, we just like the bedding area bulls when the time is right!

ElkNut1

[Rizzy]

I hunted nothing but bedding areas this past season and I really liked it. It really seemed the Elk would bed and feed in about the same area anyways. After they spook, that's it though. The area was dead the next day. I didn't mind because I have half a dozen other areas to hunt anyways, so I would just move on to the next herd

[Rangerz]

Hunting bedding areas, yes. Scouting them up close no. I like to glass from afar and see in general where they are bedding and then go in there at game time.

[msd1228]

Just wanted to chime in and say that this has been a really interesting thread - I hope more bedding area hunters put their 2 cents in and maybe add a touch of detail as to how they approach things. I've always taken an approach similar to what Troy mentioned above, for the most part at least, but this thread has got me thinking about trying some new tactics this year.

[easeup]

you guys get the NR opinion here which is heavily influenced by nothing more than maximize opportunity while on a far away hunt.....so yes every year I dive into the steep and dark to find them and hopefully call one up to investigate. As I think about the subject and try to summarize a lifetime of mistakes doing it also, lets just first of all say that every year I actually can get into elk during the midday by use of quiet stealth and patience. The good news is that opportunity is there frequently but getting an arrow launched is not. the plan is always busted by the breeze, too much brush in the way or they bust out. One year I had managed to sneak in and had a cow bedded at about 5 yards from me with an arrow knocked while the bull raked a tree at about 40 yds with no clear path to shoot. well you can guess I never got that one ( I should have just took the cow). Most of the time what I call in to me is a cow or spike. The bad news is that I have yet to kill one on a mid-day bedding area search. but it is fun. The other bad news has already been pointed out is that when they bust out on you it can be very difficult to find them again that week and seeing any elk after that is a real possibility.

[flystrait]

Some great replies!

From what I read here or understand is that it depends on how a person hunts which dictates if hunting elk in bedding areas is a good idea or not. For me personally I will leave elk to hunt for elk in many situations. If the wind is wrong its a no go. If the cover is wrong its a no. If these two things are in my favor game on. I'm not afraid to bump elk which has rarely happen, but to push them clear out of an area I have never seen.

What is pushing them out of an area mean to the next canyon, 3 canyons over, is it based on miles how do you pushed them out of an area that makes some people not even try?

How many here only hunts one group of elk for the season is that why you don't or won't hunt the bedding areas? Isn't more the better? Some interesting thoughts.

[ElkNut1]

Craig, I firmly believe more elk are taken in the bedding area or very close to it than most hunters realize. All a hunter has to do is look back at the times of his kills. For those taking elk from 9:30 am or after all the way to 1 hour or so before dark they are hunting in or very close to an elks bedding area. If you are killing elk before 9:30 am then you are taking them in either their feeding area or in transition between feeding & bedding!

As to your question, no I do not hunt elk the whole season while focused on one draw, drainage or basin. I hunt a 50 mile stretch which encompasses various elevations & terrain.

ElkNut1

[Gselkhunter]

As a weekend warrior you hunt everything because time is so limited. However if I push into a bedding area I do it with very little calling. Glassing the timber and inching along. I will thrash a tree here and there and if I get a response then answer. The plan is to be a ghost in the timber. Even with that I don't like being in a bedding area after 11am, the wind can be very strange. So I get out and try other tactics. Then head back in around 3:30/4:00. I have found the elk get and move around in this time frame.

[Wapiti]

I personally love hunting the bedding area's. In our areas which are vast it is very rare when we catch elk in there feeding area's. These elk are moving well before daylight on there way back to bedding area's.

What most people fail to realise is elk will display bugle from the same spot for hours. These spots are usually there bedding area's ! The way I hunt them is to sneak in while the bull is bugling all on his own. Patient's is the key.

This has worked time after time for us. If we bump them then so be it ! The way I look at it, If don't go in there and try someone else will and the elk will be gone either way.

Between Shane and I we call in 40-50 elk every season using this method. Those numbers don't even count the satellite bulls that also come wandering in while we are calling to the intended bull !!

Guys take on the challenge and get in there and get it done.

Trav

[mongopino915]

I personally love hunting the bedding area's. In our areas which are vast it is very rare when we catch elk in there feeding area's. These elk are moving well before daylight on there way back to bedding area's.

What most people fail to realise is elk will display bugle from the same spot for hours. These spots are usually there bedding area's ! The way I hunt them is to sneak in while the bull is bugling all on his own. Patient's is the key.

This has worked time after time for us. If we bump them then so be it ! The way I look at it, If don't go in there and try someone else will and the elk will be gone either way.

Between Shane and I we call in 40-50 elk every season using this method. Those numbers don't even count the satellite bulls that also come wandering in while we are calling to the intended bull !!

Guys take on the challenge and get in there and get it done.

Trav

Exact tactic here.

There is no sense in not using all the day light hours to hunt them. Most of our elk are taken between 10 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon when the elk are quiet and most hunters are waiting for time to pass.

[ElkNut1]

Yes, as Travis mentions a bull can display from one spot or small area for quite a period of time, this display is known as Advertising, this bull will advertise himself to other elk in the area, this means to both Cows & Bulls, he's especially interested in the cows at this time of Sept. but other bulls in the area that do not know him can come in out of curiosity. -- When bulls are in their Summer range they get to know one another by sound, smell & sight. If a new bull were to show in their area & Advertise himself in the above manner it can & does attract other bulls as they want to know who this new guy is, he can be considered competition in the days ahead as the rut picks up so they want to know where he may fall in the pecking order!

This is why the Advertising/Breeding Sequence method is such a powerful set of sounds to use, we use them yearly when elk just aren't talking/rutting much. Imitating these sequences can mean the difference in punching a tag or going home with it in your pocket! As with all calling timing & location is everything.

Yes, there are things that hunters can use to their advantage when it's hot & the bulls are not talking much at all. Staying in camp generally doesn't get it done, get out there away from other hunters & broadcast yourself as that new bull on the block, it will make a believer out of you!

ElkNut1

[Trophyhill]

For........several years back I was flamed hard on bowsite.com for merely suggesting hunting bedding areas by the so called "board experts". That year I made a concious effort to stay out of bedding areas and my encounters hit an all time low. The following 2 years I killed bulls in there bedding areas. You all have heard the phrase "elk are where you find them"? Well if I find them in their bedding areas guess where I'll be

[Trophyhill]

As a weekend warrior you hunt everything because time is so limited. However if I push into a bedding area I do it with very little calling. Glassing the timber and inching along. I will thrash a tree here and there and if I get a response then answer. The plan is to be a ghost in the timber. Even with that I don't like being in a bedding area after 11am, the wind can be very strange. So I get out and try other tactics. Then head back in around 3:30/4:00. I have found the elk get and move around in this time frame.

You sorta nailed it for me. I like to just sit and wait them out from mid day on. When that time comes and they get up im in position to make a play. after 4 suits me just fine. Of course this means field dressing and packing at night but you dont have to deal with flies and meat bee's.

[Toby]

I hunt them as well, as others have said, if you don't, your elk season is pretty short. If hunting with a partner, one of us will just say enough to keep the bull vocal. The other will try to sneak in. Do we get busted, sure, once in a while. But, then, who doesn't.
I like to hunt all day as many of you do, some days are good all day, others find us taking a nap on the mountain side until 4:00 or so when the bulls are up nada give again.

[Puttncut]

Taking this topic a bit further, as a NR with only 10-11 days to get my new son-in-law hooked on elk hunting, wouldn't it also depend on the quality of bull you're after? In all honesty, with my limited experience I feel a little more confident hunting a bedding area looking to draw out a young, horny-dumb satellite bull than challenging a herd bull. Getting Travis an encounter with a nice legal 4x4 is all I'm after...so should I rely more on cow calling, spike squeals or what? Not that I wouldn't throw out a bull-calling-cow bugle once in a while...but for me, this is where I just can't get my head around which type of calling would work best...given that "every situation will be different" and all the other confusing qualifiers. Anything would beat sitting on a trail or wallow bored to tears all day long...

[Toby]

I always start kind of subtle and read the bull or Bulls. Usually start with a sexy, but subdued cow call and see what kind of response I get. If nothing, maybe move to a little more excited, whiny, cow call. Once I get a response, then I can work him with that.

[flystrait]

This is what I was hoping for. Cover, terrain, private lands etc very area to area. I just wrote up a lengthy response after i hit submit it disappeared argh. Keeping it short now, for me I shy away from open areas. I find areas with dense cover for many reasons. Here are a few.

1) Elk can't see you until they are close
2) Less hunting pressure (people like to see too) they gravitate to more open areas
3) Cover, feed, and water are usually closer in proximity elk tend to not travel as far
4) Allows me to more pressure on them if they believe I'm another elk in their minds it's just another bull.

I have a few more but in short are a few. I am very selective on what I will kill hunting bedding areas I look for mature bulls for the area. Hunting bedding areas with cows allows me to go after "herd" bulls or bulls with cows which in general are more mature than satellite bulls for the most part. Find the cows and I find the bulls. Also they are stationary they really don't want to leave or move off which allows me to dictate what action or reaction I'm looking for. Now this is September and using calling heavily as the main tactic.

Is there any advantage from one over another pertaining to the two types of areas? What other tactics work best?

[Toby]

Fly,

Good information, can you share what type of calls you use?

Toby

[flystrait]

Fly,

Good information, can you share what type of calls you use?

Toby

Toby, below is a Pm I received asking some of the same question. See below the questions and answers.

Ran across an old post of your's that for some reason has really piqued my curiosity...about when to move in on a vocal bull...you stated that "once you learned to call correctly you've never had a bull bust out" on you...Would you mind expanding on your system of "calling correctly" ? This, to me, sounds like the holy grail of elk hunting and I'd really like your take on the subject.
As background, I've been to Colorado three times and after a VERY long wait, I'm taking my new son-in-law out next year for his very first elk hunt and I'm trying to gain as much information as I can - so I can do all I can - not to disappoint him by being stupid ! (which I HAD been on the three previous trips!!)
Thanks for any advice you might offer...it's certainly appreciated !!

Great question. What I was referring to in that statement was the quality of sounds and type can and will make a huge difference when calling especially when in close. There are a lot of details that go into this but again, the quality of sound or depth of the sound is a huge part. Once this is achieved you will be able to call elk in when others can not. The quality is achieved by practice and the tools used i.e (type of diaphragms, tubes etc) not all are created the same IMO.
To give you an example we hunted a area we have never been before. We were able to get over 70 different bulls to respond. This was in an area were the local guys that have hunted the area said that bugling will scare the bulls off. They also said that they don't ever see any bulls bigger than 300". Well we killed a 340" missed a 360" and had 2 more over 330" at 30 yards with no shot. All in an area that the elk were call shy huh.. Glad to see you are interested in learning it will benefit you for years to come with some awesome experiences.

Nice of you to respond to my obviously green-horn question...I fully understand experience (failure) is the best educator! Big Dan on the other forum (as well as MANY others here!) speak this same truth about getting in close.
My experience so far has been to use a Power Bugle as a locator call - spike squeels mostly - then cow-call my way in. During my last hunt out there I actually called in a nice bull just after daylight (seemed almost by accident that he came in so quickly!) but back THEN I didn't realize he would try to circle down-wind...which he did...and he sure was pretty...and is why I so hooked!
Should I invest in a meaner-sounding bugle tube? (I could also try the thicker reeds on my Power Bugle I suppose)
Other than telling me where that drainage is holding 70 different bulls...(!!!) I'm guessing you play the bull back on himself, stepping over HIS responses with aggression?? Do you also leave the cow call at home like Dan? Any other advice Craig?? Can't thank you enough for your insights...really shortens the learning curve....THANKS !!

I used to use a power bugle as well they do have their place. My recommendation would be to move on to diaphragms IMO they give you the most realistic sound and versatility. I do use a bigger tube it allows me to be very quite and very loud. I do use some cow sounds at different times but primarily bugle. I don't spike squeal or try to sound as small as I can. I try to sound like a mature bull. Look at it this way if you get on a heard bull with cows do you think he is going to leave what he has to go get you? Nope not in my experience. Here is another one if you get on that same bull and you are trying to sound like a smaller bull do you think he will feel a threat Nope. I always play on the aggression, put that bull in a situation you dictate to pull that challenge out of him. It all starts with sounding realistic. Sure do people call elk in with all kinds of call you bet. Do you think they are part of the 10% club i doubt it. Food for thought. I like and use only Glacier Country Calls and Tubes. I have tried most manufactures and find their calls to be excellent. I hope this helps.

[Swede]

My tree stands are either in or very near bedding areas. I pick the safest travel route in and out of my stands. Once in awhile I get busted going to a stand. When that happens, the chances of killing an elk there that day are really reduced.
When I occasionally call, it is to get into, or next to a bedding area. When I go to a bedding place, my approach is careful, and I almost always back out the way I came from. A hunter loses big if they go in and blow the elk out of their bedroom. Watch the wind, have good cover and know exactly where you want to set up. My calling is not designed to reach out a long ways, but to appeal to a bull's curiosity. I may rake, and stomp around a little, then make a short bugle. Following that, I move to a waiting spot. The place I call from, and from where I wait, is where I don't think a bull will get down wind of me or sneak in from behind. The places I like best have a rock bluff just uphill and the wind is moving upslope.

[Toby]

Fly,

Thanks, this is really great.

Toby

[Trophyhill]

Great topic Craig! There are methods to hunt bedding areas and ways not to. The one thing I think everyone can agree on is hunting them cautiously staying vigilant with the wind and keeping your head on a swivel. We all know the risk/reward factor. The risk is why we have multiple back-up plans.

[elkaholic]

Great information!! When sneaking around the bedding areas it does help me to take my boots off and work the area ina pair of heavy wool socks.