Elk hunting advice needed

[luger]

Hey all.

This year was my first real elk season and I wanted to let you know how it went so I can get some help and advice.

Im located in the northern okanagan

Fall 2021 I found a large well used game trail on the side of a cut block that led to a lower shelf in the thick bush. The main game trail forked off into a bunch of other trails. None of them seem to lead any where specific.

I put up a game cam that fall where the trails forked and found a large elk population was in there in the spring of this year.
I then put out a large salt lick.
Through out the spring and summer I was rewarded with tons of elk pictures. Along with multiple good bulls and cows.
But after the second week of august all the elk seems to move out.
I had a tree stand set up and hunted the area.
I left estrus soaked towels in front of my game cams.
But nothing came around at all during September, not even after dark when I wasn’t there.

Do elk have fall breeding areas? What can I do to keep the elk in my area? My elevation is around 1000m. There is good water near my area. Any advice will be appreciated.

[TheObserver]

Also interested, my area was higher than yours. I had Bulls and Cows still there come Sept and Oct, but the best Bulls I had coming through in Spring and Summer left and I was not able to locate them this year, and I did a LOT of hiking and searching and moving of cams, I mean a lot of hiking. Hoping next year I will locate where these bigger Bulls rutted.

[Husky7mm]

Hey all.

This year was my first real elk season and I wanted to let you know how it went so I can get some help and advice.

Im located in the northern okanagan

Fall 2021 I found a large well used game trail on the side of a cut block that led to a lower shelf in the thick bush. The main game trail forked off into a bunch of other trails. None of them seem to lead any where specific.

I put up a game cam that fall where the trails forked and found a large elk population was in there in the spring of this year.
I then put out a large salt lick.
Through out the spring and summer I was rewarded with tons of elk pictures. Along with multiple good bulls and cows.
But after the second week of august all the elk seems to move out.
I had a tree stand set up and hunted the area.
I left estrus soaked towels in front of my game cams.
But nothing came around at all during September, not even after dark when I wasn’t there.

Do elk have fall breeding areas? What can I do to keep the elk in my area? My elevation is around 1000m. There is good water near my area. Any advice will be appreciated.

They do have annual rutting areas, but as logging changes the landscape the elk have to change too. You want to find where the rubs are but also know that elk rub all winter on the winter range as thats just what they do. Their testosterone keeps them at it till their horns fall off. You need to “hunt” elk year round. Have a spot A,B,C,D,E, F ,G …. You need multiple cams to figure this out. Right before and during hunting season you want to have lots of cows and calves on cam. The bulls will come from where they spent the summer, this maybe a different area than the cows. When I lived in BC it was an up and down the mountain event everyday. Evening they came down after the thermals switched and at or before day light they were headed up. This could mean they picked their way through over grown or hidden parts of cut-blocks and natural meadows for an hour or two so plan accordingly. The cut blocks, parts of slide chutes that no one wants to hike up and over to see whats on the hidden side can be gold. Contrary to what is said elk are great browsers so don’t focus on just grassy areas.

Elk hunting is work load forward, the more effort you put in to figure out the elk the easier it gets in the end.

Think long and hard where you put a lick, they use them for years after you stop stocking them and if they are too close together you compete with yourself for pictures. Sometimes a lick can change what the cows are doing during hunting season but it can take a few years, and there needs to be the right feed in the area.

[JoeSixPack]

Tree stands and piss rags are terrible elk tactics. Cover the ground. They could be 500m away, or 10km away and everywhere in between. Location can vary on the day, and the year. You've got a good starting point now broaden your search. Thick mature timber within 2km of a water source is a good bet.

[RackStar]

Husky has a great post. Stay mobile , have many spots and many ways into your spots pending wind direction. I would only tree stand hunt for them in post rut but BC does not have a November season. Good luck

[j270wsm]

A couple of friends had the same experience a few yrs back. They got big into cams and had thousands of cow/calf/small bull elk pics every spring/summer then the pics would dry up early-mid august. You’ve found their spring - summer range and now need to find their fall - early winter range. Like mentioned above…….they could be anywhere from a few hundred yds to kilometres away. Depending on the terrain you could either put your optics to work or lace up the boots and start looking for fresh sign while using locator bugles to help locate them. Elk are habitual so once you find a good area, you can hunt it for many yrs unless something major happens to push the elk out.

[mike31154]

Good for you getting some on cam. I've been wandering around various locations in the North Ok for years in pursuit of ungulates & have yet to spot an elk. Don't have any cams but have seen what I've suspected to be droppings, uncertain if elk or large deer. In every case it was quite old. I know of a herd that hangs around on ranch land near Kelowna, they've been spotted near a golf course, east side of valley IIRC.

Was successful on an island LEH with 2 buddies to help, so fyi, even if I could find them closer to home, I'd be hesitant to go after one solo. Around here it will have to be a 6 point which will be a large animal. The LEH was any bull & we got a young fella, still big enough that it was a chore to get him to the road. Gutted him & used a quad to haul him out, otherwise we would have had to do much more work to carry him out in manageable chunks.

As far a tree stand goes, never a bad idea but probably more likely to be successful with deer than elk. They are highly mobile & far ranging. It took us a good week driving around our LEH zone to finally connect. The rut was over but 2 young satellite bulls were hanging near a herd of cows. No 6 points spotted at all, they were likely off on their own recuperating. This was mid-November on Van Isle. No idea how island Roosevelt Elk behaviour may differ from the mainland species.

[Bugle M In]

Elk in many areas do have areas in the fall they move into, thus leaving their summer areas.
Then again, there are areas where they don’t move at all.
Partly the area they inhabit, partly pressure and at times weather related, some or all of that.
If you find rutting rubs, old ones that go back season after season, then you are probably in an area the elk will be come hunting season.
Some elk have transition areas, like where I hunt, coming from high country to wintering areas, where they rut.
Then again, some elk stay way back there or sometimes go back up after rut for a time until snow does push them down.
Other areas, elk don’t really move down in elevation, but scramble to more private areas once season begins.
Look at your topi of the area.
If you are seeing them in higher elevations, maybe see if there are some valley or funnels that the elk my move down thru.
Set some more cams along those corridors perhaps, see what pics you get.

[HarryToolips]

A couple of friends had the same experience a few yrs back. They got big into cams and had thousands of cow/calf/small bull elk pics every spring/summer then the pics would dry up early-mid august. You’ve found their spring - summer range and now need to find their fall - early winter range. Like mentioned above…….they could be anywhere from a few hundred yds to kilometres away. Depending on the terrain you could either put your optics to work or lace up the boots and start looking for fresh sign while using locator bugles to help locate them. Elk are habitual so once you find a good area, you can hunt it for many yrs unless something major happens to push the elk out.

From my experience, this right here is very good advice...last year I shot a 6 pt bull in an area that was more open, this year we went to the same area and no elk were around: I believe the very dry weather we experienced through Aug and early Sept dried up the forage that was normally there that the elk desired.. we then put tonnes of miles on the boots and found them even though they weren't being vocal, just by finding sign...

[Bugle M In]

Some areas the game reacts and moves differently fro year to year and the time they move because of weather.
Other places, not much.
The MD hunt I was in this year, I had lots of Doe in the area, most likely due to the early snow (early now days I should say!)

I guess another question is:
when were the last photos of elk taken before they disappeared??
If only a week or so, they may not be that far away.
I would stick with the area and cams, but explore areas lower (if applicable), and set up cams there.

Sometimes it takes pounding the ground a few years to find the migrating route/trails that elk use to go from one area to the next.

Some elk head straight down from high country to the nearest watershed.
Other elk will move over a saddle, uphill and over into a completely different watershed from where they summer.

I know of an area that would be void of elk all summer and then come the first week of September and the area was suddenly full of elk.
I do believe some areas are areas where elk just like to do their breeding in and don’t move into those areas until it’s time.

Do the same thing this coming summer.
Try some hikes into areas they could move into and see what old sign is around.
You will be on them soon enough.
Just widen the circle.
But also be patient.
Elk can be right under your nose and you msy not know it for 2 weeks and then suddenly they are right there.