Pre season elk hunting tactics. Find the bulls or find the cows?

[SMH1990]

What are your most efficient use of pre season elk scouting? Do you find the cows or the bulls, personally my experience is finding the bulls and then they move come early season. Figured try to pattern the cows in hopes the bulls will come to them.

[Ron.C]

In my experience (when I hunted region 1 and 4) when I have an opportunity to do pre-season elk scouting up to 10 days before the season opened, it was all about locating cows. I've had many bull enounters the first few days of bow season when hunting areas I knew cows were utilizing " a couple bulls I shot being the first ones I saw".

Local to where I live ( farmland elk excluded) I see a pile of Rosie's in the hills no where near agriculture throughout the early mid summer and they seem to be off on their own away from where I see the cows but by early Sept, they are not far away "shadowing" and "I think" waiting for the first sign of a cows coming into estrous.

I witnessed similar activity the couple years I was able to spend time in the East Koots in the summer and the week before the bow season opened. Early Sept the bulls never seemed to be far from the cows. Several archery east koot bulls that came in hard (often silent) to cow calling the first few days of bow season.

[savage10]

Bulls will move locations between now and the rut. Focus on finding the cows now, the bulls will be there in a couple weeks.

[HarryToolips]

From my experience, find the cows...

[SMH1990]

Seems to be a common consensus of finding the cows . Hopefully this change of focus will put the final pieces into place for me this season. Solo elk is challenging enough, the more knowledge the better prepared I can be. I was thinking my shift of focus would be the difference this year, always nice to hear other people’s experience to validate/see if it’s just coincidence or if I’m onto something. Thanks again everyone for all your input and experiences. Season approaches, good luck to all that are taking part this year .

[TheObserver]

The bulls (and Bucks, regardless of what species) will always! Go to the females

[rocksteady]

Bulls are already hanging out with cows in the lowlands of the Kootenay Trench.

[HarryToolips]

Bulls are already hanging out with cows in the lowlands of the Kootenay Trench.

Much sign of cows actually coming into estrous yet? I'm guessing we're at least a few weeks away from that yet, though it's been a weird year..

[RackStar]

Bugling up north already…. Usually it’s go time sept 1 in reg 7

[jac]

No bugles today for me but I was into them.

If I get bulls preseason on cams they are often not there in season.

[rocksteady]

Much sign of cows actually coming into estrous yet? I'm guessing we're at least a few weeks away from that yet, though it's been a weird year..

Could not tell, I was flying in a helicopter...