Late Season Elk Hunting Tips

[Wolfkrieg]

Hey there guys & gals,

Me and my brother are heading out for a late season elk hunt in 7-20A, and by the looks of it we are not going to be alone ( which is great and I wish everyone good else good luck ). I was hoping to pick the brains of anybody who has had good experience ( and bad ) with harvesting these awesome animals. I'm just looking for generic advise, and perhaps some contrasts to deer hunting.

Are there any big differences between hunting Elk vs hunting Deer? ( which i'm more experienced with ). Area's to focus glass on most? Hunting Styles? Hunting open fields or in the timber?

Any and all brief or long tidbits are greatly appreciated and I hope this post also assists anyone else who is up there and new to the game.

Cheers,
Matt

[walks with deer]

Snowmobile.


Aim for top of botttom third top third is no mans land

[Whonnock Boy]

Drive around, spot elk, bang on doors nearby looking for land owner, be respectful if declined, be thankful if allowed, close gates, possibly call CO, and if possible hunt extreme cold. I hear it's a tougher hunt now, but it's always worth a shot. Good luck.

[Sitkaspruce]

So far this year, the elk are scattered and not really bunched up. We had a 2 week cold spell and they started to herd up a little, but we have no snow (maybe 6-8" around FSJ) so there is no real reason for them to feed in fields all day. Another cold spell plus some snow for this weekend and into next week just might get them herded up and feeding more.

If I was to hunt around FSJ, I would do a couple days of scouting, looking for sign and asking land owners, but do not count out crown land as most of the elk in fields bed down in crown land, you just need to find them and ambush them. Chasing them could push them to another location.

Check out Farrell Creek, Upper Cache, and the Aitken Creek.

Good luck

Cheers

SS

[Wolfkrieg]

Well actually as it turns out I do have private land access near Chetwynd. Sounds like there may be some Elk kicking around based on what the landowner has mentioned. However I don't want to rely solely on word of mouth and wanted to know what people with success are doing in late season. I'm hoping that it does indeed drop a few inches or more when we get up next week and it'll be easier to see fresh tracks. Hoping for the best. I'm allowed to take a any sex/any age, hoping to see a bull but if 2 or 3 days go by with no rack i'm going to have to settle for some even more tender meat.

Thanks for the feedback so far.

[moosinaround]

I just got back from up around chetwynd last week. Too warm, and not enough snow to push elk into fields. Im going back up as soon as it snows 12 more inches, and drops really cold. We seen elk sign, but they are in the timber. Seen 6-8 which were untouchable for us, and a huge herd on the way home, just outside the 7-20a zone! We will try a couple more times, and I may just stay an extra day to see if I can entice a few land sharks with my fox pro, there is no shortage of them up there!! Moosin

[PressurePoint]

Find a high spot and glass glass glass. My hunting party and I harvest several elk every year out of that area. Time and glassing.

[Wolfkrieg]

Well actually as it turns out I do have private land access near Chetwynd. Sounds like there may be some Elk kicking around based on what the landowner has mentioned. However I don't want to rely solely on word of mouth and wanted to know what people with success are doing in late season. I'm hoping that it does indeed drop a few inches or more when we get up next week and it'll be easier to see fresh tracks. Hoping for the best. I'm allowed to take a any sex/any age, hoping to see a bull but if 2 or 3 days go by with no rack i'm going to have to settle for some even more tender meat.

Thanks for the feedback so far.

Just peaking at the forecast and it appears that it will snow over 6" between this and next week and drop below -20. Hopefully this is what it takes to push them a bit lower!

[Wolfkrieg]

Find a high spot and glass glass glass. My hunting party and I harvest several elk every year out of that area. Time and glassing.

Thanks for the tip. How far are you typically glassing? Across canyons/mountain sides with a spotting scope or lower down and along the treeline with regular binoculars? How often do you find yourself changing vantage points?

[hunter1947]

So far this year, the elk are scattered and not really bunched up. We had a 2 week cold spell and they started to herd up a little, but we have no snow (maybe 6-8" around FSJ) so there is no real reason for them to feed in fields all day. Another cold spell plus some snow for this weekend and into next week just might get them herded up and feeding more.

If I was to hunt around FSJ, I would do a couple days of scouting, looking for sign and asking land owners, but do not count out crown land as most of the elk in fields bed down in crown land, you just need to find them and ambush them. Chasing them could push them to another location.

Check out Farrell Creek, Upper Cache, and the Aitken Creek.

Good luck

Cheers

SS

What he said X2..