Elk help please

[rides bike to work]

For the past four years I have been hoj g to the kootneys hunting elk in the Creston area. We go the first week of October hunt the week then get together with family for thanksgiving. Every other year week find elk. Fresh sign ,bugling and last year got my first bull. So with our hopes up we headed to our area on Friday an have been hunting hard sinse without a peep from the elk. All the sign we have found is a couple weeks old. We have covered lots of ground looking for sign and calling in the evening and early mornings but have not heard a single bugle or bumped an elk we have focused on one mountain but are thinking of relocating to a new area but am torn because we have always been able to find them on this mountain and will have to start from scratch in a new area. I have 4 days left.

why aren't they being vocal
if there is a second rut will they speak up
should I move?
Help an elkaholic out
thanks for any tips

[doubled]

Lots I have talked to have said it has been a slow year for the elk. Not surprised to hear this.

[Bugle M In]

Just came back from a 9 day hunt, and have to say it was a strange one.
Bear and moose everywhere, few deer and little elk.
Not a single bugle.
However, Wolf sign everywhere...Fresh that is.
Only elk was a 4 pt coming in to cow calls....Silently.
The other Elk spotted showed their face last Thurs. when the temps dropped.
Strange thing was they where on trail I haven't seen them use is 30 years.
Way up from the river bottoms on the hillsides.
Not sure if lack or no bugling and seeing them up higher has to do with all the Wolf in the area??
Not saying the Elk aren't there, but man!, what a slow strange year for sure, haven't experienced that type of
Elk hunting in many years,....but it does happen!
Sadly, even one with good elk hunting knowledge can not make up for the fact of timing and luck!

[mike-juliet]

I think the hot September really screwed with the Elk season, very few people seem to be having much luck this year, Just because they aren't calling doesn't mean they aren't around. The lack of sign however makes me think that you should try elsewhere.

[ellenbill]

Beg to differ.but it was the coolest September in the east kootenays in years. They are not bugling like they used to in the area I hunt like years ago. I attribute this to wolves (why give yourself away).As well they getting wise to all the phony bugling and cow calling.

When I first hunted elk in the 60s they would come running in with just a simple old Herters whistle. LOL.Maybe I should start using it again.

[Everett]

The heat has been a major problem this year at least since I got home. Its currently 21 degrees at my house, just hope you get a cold wet day before you have to pack up.

[mike-juliet]

Beg to differ.but it was the coolest September in the east kootenays in years.

I spent 10 days in Fernie in my boxers all afternoon because it was 30 degrees outside, other than the cold snap around opening day it was hot as hell!

[elknut]

I found it was also very slow in the Peace this year...An area that produced for 3 years was dead..Lots of wolf sign..I called in about 10...No shots..An awful lot of the elk trails weren't black..Talked to some ranchers and they said that 25 wolves were killed in 15km of road..25 wolves eat lots of elk..and there still was lots of them around..Only elk that we had some contact with were in deep ...heavy ...and thick ..spruce swamps..Very hard to approach them..It was still too noisy..Hope for a better year next year..

[Bugle M In]

Beg to differ.but it was the coolest September in the east kootenays in years. They are not bugling like they used to in the area I hunt like years ago. I attribute this to wolves (why give yourself away).As well they getting wise to all the phony bugling and cow calling.

When I first hunted elk in the 60s they would come running in with just a simple old Herters whistle. LOL.Maybe I should start using it again.

Maybe it was cooler??? I do not wish to argue that as I don't live there.
But what was evident was lack of snow in the high country...there was none! ...at least not where I hunted.
Maybe Elk aren't down where they are normally this time around is one thought I had.
As for Bugling???, possible in many areas, but where I hunt, there is very little pressure, other than myself and one other group that I know of...and they live close by.
So, I can't say it is from bugling too much???
But agree, they did come in easier in the past...and bugling hard!
But t the time, there seemed to be low #'s of cows, which seem to leave the bulls desperate....just my opinion?
But Wolves...now that may explain more to me where I hunted.
Fresh wolf sign and older sign tells me they have hunted this valley hard.
Lack of white tails with fawns etc was also concerning.
Bears and Moose where the only things I saw on a regular basis.
What was really strange was seeing Prime clear cuts, in road closure areas WITH NO WHITIES ALL DAY!
That is something I have never seen before...usually 5 or 6 in a block! in all the years I hunted...30+
Elk were there, but higher up, and less than normal.
And when you did see one...they seemed VERY EASILY SPOOKED!
Just took off running....usually they look for a few seconds.
This time all u saw was elbows and ***holes going in a hurry!
What I also noticed was how much more game we saw riding out on our bikes an hour past dark trying to get back to camp.
Wonder if Wolves tend to hunt most of the Daytime hours and less so At night?????
Maybe someone else may know the answer to this question????

[Bugle M In]

Also, only started to see elk on the day ( Thursday ) when weather became cooler, so who knows, maybe late season elk hunters will have
better results and will say elk were everywhere!!!
But it was hot!!!, and was the reason we didn't go opening date this time around and went back to this, our traditional week hunt.
The past openings where also really hot!!!
Only difference was there was a short cold snap on the 10th?? that may have produced better results for some hunters???

[bassplayer]

My wife works in a butchers here in Penticton and they have only had one elk brought to them since the season started. She says it's been their slowest year yet for getting elk in. That's not to say that elk haven't been taken and butchered at home.

[kodiak18]

I live in Creston. Its been a very odd year for most people here! The only answers we got from our "go to" places where wolves howling!

[bigben]

Go to the river bottoms they are singing there

[rides bike to work]

Well we tried up yahk today never been in there before so we cruised the roads looking for sign we didn't see much for elk sign a few whiteys and then this big guy if anyone has leh for these guys pm me ill let you know where he was.
http://i59.tinypic.com/2435a2x.jpg

with a few days left we are going back to our original spot and hitting it hard.
Full moon
warm sunny
more pressure then past years
is working against us but we will adapt and enjoy we are having a blast and hopefully will have a full story and more pics to follow

[rides bike to work]

http://i59.tinypic.com/33ccjme.jpg

[Everett]

Holy crap that's a real bruiser for this part of the world.

[HarryToolips]

That moose is wicked...

[Bugle M In]

http://i59.tinypic.com/33ccjme.jpg
Hey, have some video that I will post as well...moose, moose everywhere!!!!
No problem finding moose this past trip.
Sounds like your hunt went like ours!!

[Bugle M In]

Go to the river bottoms they are singing there

Maybe u could pm me those river bottoms??? :mrgreen:
We hunt the river bottom a lot as we have had lots of success over the years.
We also hunt at higher altitude, as well with success as well.
Just not happening this past couple of years in the river shed we have hunted for many many years.
Things change, maybe due to feed, maybe due to all the wind fall from a couple years ago.
Maybe due to fires in the back country where it is just too far for us to hunt and pack out.
Or a combination of all the above where I hunt.
Might have to reconsider the area:cry:, but it has been a tradition to hunt there ever since I was a kid.
But it does sound like others are finding similar situations this year.
The elk we saw where higher up, but in areas that would be hard to get at close and even harder to pack out.
Hard to decide whether there is a lack of elk #'s in the area, due to the fact they would be hard to spot.
Which makes me think that wolves may have been the reason for there odd and rarely used trails that I haven't seen them on in years.
But I only post what my situation was like, and others may be in the next water shed next to me and may of had a totally different experience:confused:
I'm not saying the Elk are all gone, just hard to locate and not vocal at all where I was, and I consider my calling skills above average.
Also, some days I just use cow calls, and never bugle until I have checked out cutblocks, just in case a bull is there with a harem.
There is always next!!......Hopefully???!!!
But it is always interesting what others had for an experience as well.
Cheers

[toad]

I haven't found it to be slow or quiet in the east koots....from sept 9-15 myself and my 2 hunting partners seen 14 bulls and 2 cows...they stayed in about a week longer and seen 7 more bulls. We took 2. passed on a few smaller 6x5s and 6x6s....was also out with my brother last week and were still talking them in....

[Bugle M In]

I haven't found it to be slow or quiet in the east koots....from sept 9-15 myself and my 2 hunting partners seen 14 bulls and 2 cows...they stayed in about a week longer and seen 7 more bulls. We took 2. passed on a few smaller 6x5s and 6x6s....was also out with my brother last week and were still talking them in....

lots of fresh wolf sign where you were???
EK is a BIG AREA, ( tons of water sheds ) and I believe you, when you say where you were it was all good, some areas may be going strong.
Getting the feelin' that my honey hole is hittin' the bottom of the jar!!
Outfitter is in the same predicament as well, so it wasn't just us where we were.
Another party that knows the area well also said it was really slow, no talking or sightings??
But hey, it's hunting...based on timing , some skill, and lots of luck!

[rides bike to work]

Heard our first bugle this morning in the dark. Close the distance and tried some calling put it just went dead quiet.
Did see wolf tracks though .

[ellenbill]

Wolves and phony elk calls. They are getting wiser!

[toad]

There is some wolf sign but seems like they are just passing thru

[Bugle M In]

I hunt the northern more parts of the EK's.
The wolves have been there for years...on and off.
But, I would say the past 3 years they have been around all year from all the sign I see.
Seems to coincide with the lack of elk being seen and their lack of being vocal.
The area is very little hunted, as most don't want to go and walk in the road closure for 6-7 km's uphill.
They were always vocal, given timing was right, even if others would say they were not.
Don't think it is a case of them getting wiser, as say Princeton.
Although, some tell me in the Beaverfoot that they tend to be quiet????
I'm not saying my lack of success means there is no elk etc.
Just lack of sightings, and not being vocal is extremely unusual given all the years I have hunted there??
Even 5 pts were a common thing.
Might have to try more south next year!