fargoflyfish
Member
My dad and I will be arriving in the Gravelly mountains tomorrow around the Ennis area. Anybody have any last minute advice or tips? A couple of elk hunting newbies would surely appreciate it. Thanks!
First Elk Hunt in T-minus 12 hours
- Thread starter fargoflyfish
- Start date
Bambistew
Well-known member
That's great advice, 'cept the roads at the top of the mountains, and all hunting is down from there.
Pray for snow, and if it gets deep get off the top, or you'll be up there until spring.
Good luck.
belly-deep
Active member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 2009
- Messages
- 3,459
For a deer hunter, finding elk can seem nearly impossible at times. (That's not a jab at people who have only hunted deer, its just that they don't disperse like deer do).
1) Get away from roads. Unlike doe deer, even the cow elk don't like to hang around roads.
2) If you don't find fresh sign, keep moving. Unlike deer, which often don't move very far in 24 hours, elk move a LOT at night. If you cover a good percentage of a drainage and don't see fresh sign, move to another drainage.
3) First and last light are critical for spotting elk. Remember, their rut is over now.
4) They like steep hillsides, even the cows.
5) as Bambistew said, pray for snow, and once you get it, use it wisely (tracking elk into their beds and killing them)
1) Get away from roads. Unlike doe deer, even the cow elk don't like to hang around roads.
2) If you don't find fresh sign, keep moving. Unlike deer, which often don't move very far in 24 hours, elk move a LOT at night. If you cover a good percentage of a drainage and don't see fresh sign, move to another drainage.
3) First and last light are critical for spotting elk. Remember, their rut is over now.
4) They like steep hillsides, even the cows.
5) as Bambistew said, pray for snow, and once you get it, use it wisely (tracking elk into their beds and killing them)
D
Deleted member 20812
Guest
Couldn't have summed it up better. There are some very good places in the Gravellies to get away from the roads. Just look for the big chunks on your map that don't have lines through them.
the nikster
Well-known member
This may sound dumb and a little bit repititious, but: Elk tend to leave tracks in the snow. If you don't see tracks then there were no elk there since it snowed. If the tracks look 3 days old the elk may be 3 days' walk away. If you do not see any tracks for as far as the eye can see, move further than you can see!!
My brother and I once walked up the bottom of a draw for 4 miles in fresh snow and cut zero tracks. We changed course and moved back down the drainage by following a game trail into the timber. Elk blew up all around us. That timber was absolutely infested with elk. Next year, different drainage, same result-I love it when I hunt in fresh snow with no sign of elk!!
My brother and I once walked up the bottom of a draw for 4 miles in fresh snow and cut zero tracks. We changed course and moved back down the drainage by following a game trail into the timber. Elk blew up all around us. That timber was absolutely infested with elk. Next year, different drainage, same result-I love it when I hunt in fresh snow with no sign of elk!!
Duck-Slayer
Well-known member
I hunt elk here in Idaho now with a friend that hunted around Ennis area, he has shot 2 pretty good bulls out of that area, but he waited for deep snow and used a snowmobile too pull the elk out after he shot them,
Matt
Matt
Magicman
Member
I'm probably too late for you to see this, but I wish you the best during this, your first hunt.
thecrittergitter
Well-known member
If it was last week, I would bring a bullet proof vest too
You won't be alone there. You should be able though this week to get away from most of the folks that took the first week off to hunt.
Good luck, look forward to your results!
You won't be alone there. You should be able though this week to get away from most of the folks that took the first week off to hunt.Good luck, look forward to your results!
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Don't eat anywhere that has a big sign saying 'Texas Bar B Que'.
fargoflyfish
Member
Strike 1
Today, we only saw one mule deer buck and no elk whatsoever. We did see a lot of elk droppings and some tracks though. We are going to hit it hard tomorrow.
Today, we only saw one mule deer buck and no elk whatsoever. We did see a lot of elk droppings and some tracks though. We are going to hit it hard tomorrow.
In this warm weather, and with a full moon, they will be stuck in the thick nasty stuff on north-facing slopes. You can find many of those areas in the mid-section of the range.
Not to sound flippant, but make sure you are hunting where elk are at this time. If you saw that small amount of elk sign, odds are you need to keep looking for a different part of the range before you "hit it hard." Might be best to spend one or two days just covering as much ground as you can, from high to low, and try to locate where they are hanging. Once you have some areas with more and fresher sign, it would be a good time to reconsider the area(s) to focus your greatest efforts.
That range has a lot of elk, which is why it has a lot of hunters. But, it is a big range and elk can seemingly disappear in warm late season weather and during a full moon they can spend more time in the night hours. Even with that, they will be up feeding and watering at sometimes during the daylight.
I hope you find them and hang your tag on one.
Not to sound flippant, but make sure you are hunting where elk are at this time. If you saw that small amount of elk sign, odds are you need to keep looking for a different part of the range before you "hit it hard." Might be best to spend one or two days just covering as much ground as you can, from high to low, and try to locate where they are hanging. Once you have some areas with more and fresher sign, it would be a good time to reconsider the area(s) to focus your greatest efforts.
That range has a lot of elk, which is why it has a lot of hunters. But, it is a big range and elk can seemingly disappear in warm late season weather and during a full moon they can spend more time in the night hours. Even with that, they will be up feeding and watering at sometimes during the daylight.
I hope you find them and hang your tag on one.
nidahunter
Well-known member
Sounds like a good start, keep at it and good luck! If there is sign they are there somewhere.
Dinkshooter
Well-known member
Tip #1
Don't be a baby and give up.
Don't be a baby and give up.
ihuntelk
Member
My dad's favorite advice while elk hunting - "If you see brown, shoot!" Any elk is a trophy. No need to be a hero and pass up an opportunity to shoot any legal elk - especially your first.
Good luck.
-Cade
www.HuntForeverWest.com
Good luck.
-Cade
www.HuntForeverWest.com
fargoflyfish
Member
Day 2: We didn't see any elk today. We did see a lot of droppings, but no foot prints. We found 3 fresh beds with droppings in them and decided to follow the trail. At the end of the footprints we found a moose! We are having a really good time so far, but are pretty sore and tired (thats what happens when two North Dakota guys head to the mountains). We walked about 8-10 miles today around 7000-9000 ft of elevation. We started walking the edges of the trees and finished the day walking in the thick trees. We saw lots of droppings all over, but they seemed to be fresher in the trees.
BigFin: Thanks for the advice. The area that we hunted today didn't have any north facing heavily wooded slopes. We just talked our game plan for tomorrow and we are dedicating our whole day to the nastiest north facing slopes we can find.
Thanks for the advice everyone.
BigFin: Thanks for the advice. The area that we hunted today didn't have any north facing heavily wooded slopes. We just talked our game plan for tomorrow and we are dedicating our whole day to the nastiest north facing slopes we can find.
Thanks for the advice everyone.
putm2sleep
New member
note = Do not take advice, 'if its brown its down' when there are moose present.
>Be sure to properly identify the game, then be sure of your shot and shot placement.
Agree with any legal elk is a trophy though, and good luck today!
>Be sure to properly identify the game, then be sure of your shot and shot placement.
Agree with any legal elk is a trophy though, and good luck today!
fargoflyfish
Member
Day 3:
We didn't see any elk again today. However, we found a lot of very fresh elk tracks and droppings. We were following the tracks until the walking tracks turned into running tracks. We noticed some fresh boot prints nearby and assumed that the other hunters by us flushed the elk out of their bedding area. I think we are going to head to the same area tomorrow and give it another chance based on all of the elk sign that we found.
Learned a valuable lesson today: a shorter route doesn't always mean an easier or quicker route. We decided to take a shorter route because my dad didn't want to climb another snowy hill. We started by descending down a fairly steep hill, crossing over tons of downed trees, leaped across a few rocks to cross a river, then we got to the really nasty part. At this point it was too late to turn back so we headed into the thick brush which was loaded with even more downed trees, swampy mud and lots of snow. My dad's biggest fear for this trip was running into a grizzly bear. Once we entered the really thick stuff, I couldn't get it out of my head that this looks like where a bear would live and I really hope we don't see any tracks. About 10 seconds later, I noticed some fresh bear tracks crossing the path we were on. Not wanting to throw my dad into panic mode, I decided to carry on some loud conversation so that we hopefully didn't surprise the bear. Luckily, me talking distracted my dad long enough to not notice the tracks and we never did see the bear. 2 more river crossings and 4 miles of walking in the sage brush we arrived back at our truck. Also, to make matters worse, a group of guys on horses and atvs decided to give us some crap about walking so far and not having an atv.
One more day left. I really hope my dad sees an elk since this is most likely his once in a lifetime trip...
We didn't see any elk again today. However, we found a lot of very fresh elk tracks and droppings. We were following the tracks until the walking tracks turned into running tracks. We noticed some fresh boot prints nearby and assumed that the other hunters by us flushed the elk out of their bedding area. I think we are going to head to the same area tomorrow and give it another chance based on all of the elk sign that we found.
Learned a valuable lesson today: a shorter route doesn't always mean an easier or quicker route. We decided to take a shorter route because my dad didn't want to climb another snowy hill. We started by descending down a fairly steep hill, crossing over tons of downed trees, leaped across a few rocks to cross a river, then we got to the really nasty part. At this point it was too late to turn back so we headed into the thick brush which was loaded with even more downed trees, swampy mud and lots of snow. My dad's biggest fear for this trip was running into a grizzly bear. Once we entered the really thick stuff, I couldn't get it out of my head that this looks like where a bear would live and I really hope we don't see any tracks. About 10 seconds later, I noticed some fresh bear tracks crossing the path we were on. Not wanting to throw my dad into panic mode, I decided to carry on some loud conversation so that we hopefully didn't surprise the bear. Luckily, me talking distracted my dad long enough to not notice the tracks and we never did see the bear. 2 more river crossings and 4 miles of walking in the sage brush we arrived back at our truck. Also, to make matters worse, a group of guys on horses and atvs decided to give us some crap about walking so far and not having an atv.
One more day left. I really hope my dad sees an elk since this is most likely his once in a lifetime trip...
