Another bedding area?

[Toby]

The recent topic on hunting these areas was great. Other than hearing or seeing elk in a bedding area, how can one identify likely bedding areas? Either, when you are actually hunting, or by viewing Google Earth or studying topo maps?

[Trophyhill]

That's a great question. Elk bed where they feel safe. That may not be where we think they should be. I've found them bedded in semi open aspen's, in creek bottoms where it's cool, and in the traditional dark timbered slopes and benches. Identifying these types of areas I can't scout on GE certainly has helped me but finding them while hunting is still #1 for me. I've hunted different units almost yearly too though so "knowing my area" doesn't apply for me necessarily when talking known bedding areas........knowing elk though helps me find them. Finding them is one thing. Killing them? Still got a lot to learn;)

[Swede]

I look for benchy areas, with a closed or semi-closed canopy overhead. I know they bed in the desert and they will bed at night in open meadows, but we are talking daytime hunting and forested areas. If you have a cool (shaded) location, it does not need to be on a north facing slope. Elk will bed in an area where they need to move around some to avoid being in the direct sun, as it travels from east to west.
On the ground, in bedding areas you can see multiple elk beds. Where you find these beds, several game trails that come into a small area, old and recent rubs, and elk poop on the ground, you are in a bedding area. Remember many bedding areas don't get used every day or two. They may be vacant for days in a row.
A good idea would be to find some of these places on the ground where you hunt, GPS them, then locate those areas on GE. After that find comparable areas in that general vicinity. Now you are scouting bedding areas for the place you hunt.

[Indian Summer]

[quote="Trophyhill"]That's a great question. Elk bed where they feel safe. That may not be where we think they should be. quote]

Amen to that! I know plenty of places where elk bed in the open... not in timber, during the day. In Montana they would never bed in meadows but there are a lot of old burn areas. It really interested me to see what happened after the fires were gone. I assumed they would change their habits and basically retreat to the timber. But I was totally wrong. They kept using the exact same bedding areas even though you could look across from another finger and see them. Also to my surprise it was not always a no brainer to spot them in the old burns. Sometimes it is, especially if there is snow. But if there's no snow you need to glass closely like anywhere else.

In Wyoming there is way more open country. So the elk use it more and are more comfortable there. I know a couple places where they bed right out in the open, especially on colder days where they enjoy a little sun.

Everyone likes to go sight seeing on Google earth. Especially those who aren't very good at visualizing the lay of the land when looking at topo maps. GE is useless for finding bedding areas though in my opinion. A topo is a blueprint of how and area is really put together. If you want to know how take something apart... you look at the blueprint, not a photo of it!

[elkstalker]

Like others, I tend to look for benches and north facing slopes with thick cover as I'm scouring over maps and google earth prior to scouting/hunting. More typically though, in my "digital scouting" I try to identify areas with 1) water 2) good feed and 3) cover (potential bedding areas). If you can identify where the food and water is, you can often use that information to "connect the dots" and at least make an educated guess at bedding locations. This information will give you a good starting point for either scouting trips or hunting.

Indian Summer, I do look at GE to help visualize the terrain in an area, but in this aspect I agree, a USGS quad gives more detail. However, I think an up to date areal photo like GE offers gives me a better Idea of how the pattern of the landscape sits. For example, a topo may show an area as timbered, however it gives me no idea how thick the timber is (is it an old clearcut? Are there small parks mixed in? are there rockslides or avalanche chutes?). Also, is it an aspen stand or pine? Is a spring/seep a grassy meadow, or a narrow strip of willows? I think the two tools work together hand in hand. One last thought, I used to hunt very timbered country in MT. In more heavily timbered country I don't think GE/air photos are quite as valuable, in the mixed landscape I hunt here in Idaho, the air photos are a huge help.

[Swede]

There is a difference between where an elk, or even a herd beds one time, and a bedding area. I have seen many open bedding places. The commonly used ones have elk at night while it is cool and they are there to forage. Elk spend 90% of their day foraging or bedding. I have seen elk bedded in the open during the day too, but not near as often and the place was not used consistently. Are you guys seeing open ground "bedding areas", especially ones used during the late summer?

[Charina]

The first two vids are areas I identified from GE as potential bedding areas, and confirmed to be so in the field last year. The first spot was actively being used (and quite stinky!), but I didn't spot elk in it the couple times I visited it. The second location had a bull bugling with his noisy harem mid-day in the second week of Oct. I was able to move to within 60 yards on them. The third area was a bit of a surprise find. It's less "typical" for the area, but shows how minimal cover can serve as a good bedding area as long as the terrain is suitable.

Bedding Area 1 - GE
Bedding Area 2 - GE
Bedding Area 3 - GE

[hoxitdeany]

saw the vids below,thanks for sharing it

[Toby]

Charina,

Excellent post, the videos are great.

Toby

[Charina]

GE is useless for finding bedding areas though in my opinion. A topo is a blueprint of how and area is really put together. If you want to know how take something apart... you look at the blueprint, not a photo of it!

How about combining the two to get a 3D blueprint!
GE/Topo Demo

[six]

Not sure if this has been touched on or not. Hunting Pressure.

I killed my first bull in his bedding area last year. Day 5 of the hunt last year I located some elk duds that were still green in color. This was the freshest sign I had seen in days. The next morning I was up early and planned to find the elk. About 9 a.m. I was entering the north facing slope with my face into the wind. The north facing slope was dark timber with 50 to 75 yards of visibility. I could start to make out a different sort of contour on the mountainside. It was a bowl shaped area carved out of the side of the mountain. The area we hunt is very steep and the bowl had some flat areas. It was a real mess in the bowl with blow downs as well.

As I got closer I just got the feeling this could be it. It was only a couple hundred yards from where the elk duds were yesterday. I slowed down my pace. I few more steps and I could see a patch of blonde hair behind a group of trees. The rest is history and a freezer full of elk meat.

When I got home and plugged the coordinates into my mapping software. The spot the bull was sanding was .8 miles from the top of the mountain where numerous hunters were and .8 miles from the bottom of the mountain where all the vehicle traffic was.

He was in the most remote place he could find to get away from people.

[ElkNut1]

Mark, very nice & well planned out, it's great when it all comes together with little to no calling at times! Congrats!

ElkNut1

[StartMyHunt]

Mark,

I totally agree that hunting pressure defines bedding/security areas. Generally speaking, if they are not feeling pressured, just about anyplace could be used as a bedding area. However, in my experience, once the pressure starts, they will begin retreating to areas that offer them security. My rule of thumb is that if the canopy cover is dense enough to fully conceal an elk at 100 yards, you are in their potential bedroom.

[elkstalker]

They definitely head for deeper cover once the pressure is on. One area I used to hunt in MT elk would feed on the flats/parks below the tree line in the sage and bed within a mile or so in the timber. After the season progressed they would bed further and further back, sometimes bedding up to 3 miles from where they would feed.

[Elkduds]

Mark, did you smell him b4 you saw him? In the thickest stuff I really use my nose.