Carcass from last week in my favorite spot!

[coloradorider]

Hey there new to the Elk forum, and glad to be here.
So I packed camp into a favorite spot of mine and bivy'd way up on a rockslide overlooking a heavily used meadow. I say heavily used because it is essentially a terrain trap where forests and cliffs lead and nearly any animal traversing this mountain's terrain would be forced to cross. Unfortunately a carcass/gutpile from last weekend's successful opening rifle season lies near the middle of it. On top of that, the two nights i spent high on the cliffs, I watched two large bears enter the area to feed on the carcass at dusk into the night. (The larger bear charged the smaller off the pile the first night, and I only saw one of them the second night.) Unnerving, sleeping so close, but super cool nonetheless. In the mornings there were active deer sightings, they didn't seem to mind the carcass, but no elk. Most elk sign seemed to be nearly a week old as well.

So my question is how does a carcass from a previous season's hunt affect elk traveling through the area, do they even care or are they not coming back period...? And what if the carcass was a month old instead of a week, do you think it matters?
Also, there is obviously a heavy bear population around the vicinity. Do you think that affects elk traveling or using the area?

Thanks I'm lookin forward to shooting the scat with all of ya

[WapitiTalk1]

First off, welcome to the forum....glad to have you on board. There were elk within a hundred yards of where we boned out my bull this year only a few days after the kill, and, up until we left the mountain. I don't believe a kill site will keep elk away from a general area, but, consistent large predator activity just may; I hope not for the sake of your hunt. Good luck!

[ElkNut1]

Yes sir, welcome aboard! I agree with Phantom, we too have taken many elk & even taken elk the next morning very close to the 1st crime scene! Elk experience death all the time in their world, they do not let it bother them, they just go back & do things that elk do! Good luck to you!

ElkNut1

[elkstalker]

I have returned the morning after killing an elk in the evening to finish packing out meat to find the herd bedding down within 100 yards of the kill site. I do agree that predator activity may deter/affect the elk use in the area.

[dotman]

I used to worry about it but after time and having hunted whitetail on a small property have come to realize something. Predators hone in on it but the elk, deer, squirrels etc can careless, the smell does not seem to trigger an alert in their minds. I have seen elk bed within 80 yards of a bear with zero signs of worry on the elk.

Truthfully a fully fed bear is less likely to bother with an elk or deer. Plus I don't think bear are a big threat to elk or deer this time of the year, as bear are now mainly eating berries and acorns which take very little effort and put on the fat they need quick. I believe elk and deer are more spooked of bear in the spring when the young are not able to get away quickly.

So just my experience from spending time in the woods, don't let a dead animal scare you off a spot unless there are a pack of wolves feeding there or a pack of mountain lions