Re: Elk hunting advice needed
Originally Posted by
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.
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.
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