Elk hunting tactics

[tommymo]

Hello Everyone,

Planning my first archery Elk hunt out in SE Idaho this September and looking for some advice on hunting tactics. In the past year I have literally spent every available moment thinking, reading, and analyzing everything and anything about backcountry Elk hunting. I have a pretty good idea what my plan A,B,C, and D areas are and have marked numerous waypoints on various terrain and arial features I feel will potentially hold Elk, hopefully not to many hunters. I recently watched a seminar that Cory Jacobson did on YouTube where he goes into the general daily habits of Elk. In the morning, they head down into the bottom of drainages to feed and water with the thermals into there face, in the morning they head back up back into there bedding areas (North facing/Dark Timber)with the thermals in there face. This scenario poses quite a paradox for me, for the most part everything that I've read is to get back up into the elevation, away from roads/trails and other hunters. If that is the case, then does that mean you drop down early in the morning to get behind the Elk and work your way up hoping to either lure then back down the mountain into your calls or are you staying off to the sides hoping that they do not come up directly up through your wind in the hopes of cutting them off? In the afternoons/Evenings are you trying to stay on top of ridges and work down into bedded Elk in hopes of sneaking into them our near by to try and cut them off on the way down to feed?

I guess my big concern is do I need to reevaluate my camp sites to lower elevations, work up in the morning, work down in the evening back to camp and follow the thermals. For the guys/gals that hunt out of a spike camp where do you position yourself and how does your day look like? Are you hunting in the afternoons or just mornings/evenings? It seems if you camp high you would dropping and climbing up canyons/draws 2x vs up and down 1 time?

Thanks in advance. I have been a lurker for awhile, love the public lands section of this forum, really helps to spread the word.

Please PM if you like, would love to chat.

Thanks,

Tom

 

[Ohboytimmy]

Its great that you are getting out on your first elk and been meticulously planning every scenario in your head. 99% your game plans NEVER play out how you expect it. That's beauty of hunting, it's he uncertainty. No two elk behave exactly the same. Take each encounter as a vital learning experience. You can read everything there is about elk but without actual anecdotal experiences you will not be a great hunter.

Stick to the basics
1.Find the elk!
2.TAKE TIME, pattern there behaviors, (ambushing is a lot easier then trying to call one in.)
3. Keep it simple and always start the mornings above them, work the thermals.
4. Be in the moment.

You are doing a great job of studying maps to set your self in elk habitat, being mobile is important. A person can't spend enough time looking at topos!

 

[Brian in Montana]

I'll just echo what OhBoy said. There is simply no substitute for anticipating where they'll be and getting there ahead of them. Calling can close that gap to archery range, but most of the time you're really not going to bring them to you from that far away.

Something I would add is that when you find an area that's holding elk, try to go low impact. The method I find that has produced a lot of encounters over the years is what I'd call "blind calling". Most hunters do something like this: they cover lost of ground and throw out a lot of locator calls. When a bull sings out, they run that direction and frequently end up spooking the bull and other elk along with him - from what I've seen, most archery hunters move too much and over-call. What I like to do is slip quietly into an area where the elk will be, set up in some shade and cover, then use mostly herd talk (cow and calf talk with some intermittent bugles). It can be hard, but I generally stay put for A MINIMUN of one hour, and call only for about a minute or two every ten minutes. I hunt mostly in areas where there is some pressure and the elk are educated, therefore, I try to do what other hunters don't. No garuantees hunting, elk especially, but have encounters pretty consistently. The biggest drawback to the blind calling method is that you're kind of at the mercy of the direction from which the elk decides to approach. If it's from downwind, you got a problem. Much of this can be remedied with your set up, though, if you're able to distiguish likely travel corridors they might come in on and set up down wind of those.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

I think you might be over thinking the "up-down-feed-water-timber-timing" equation. While they follow patterns to some extent, it's rarely cut and dried. Once you get into them and watch them a few times you'll have a better feel. I'd focus on finding a few herds to play with, which it seems you have a good jump on.