Elk hunting

[ewiebehunter]

Look!!!! Im going to be blunt on this thread. Straight up to the point, nobs aloud. I want to Elk hunt never done it before. I dont want your secret big bull spot. All Im asking for is some advice on where to to start my journey and how to have some possible good luck doing so. I would really love and enjoy some smart advice and suggestion on this topic thanks EWiebe.

[leadpillproductions]

where you located and where are you looking to hunt elk

[SteadyGirl]

Get a bugle and cow call, don't overuse them and keep one handy at all times. If you spook an elk one quick bugle or call can be the difference between you looking at ass running away and you looking at a nicely confused elk standing broadside at the treeline. Usually the bigger bulls will have the bigger herds of cows, often with one or two 'hopefuls' lurking nearby. I know people that shoot thier elk year after year in the same locations. So once you have a spot don't tell anybody. Elk are very yummy. Also very very heavy. Unless you get lucky and shoot your elk within an hour or more of daylight you will be packing him out in the dark, make it two to three hours if you will be taking a cape. Add whatever hike distance x however many trips you have to make back to the truck to that and you could be looking at an all night adventure. Being super new to hunting you should bring help. The cow calf season in region 4 would be a great intro for you. Thats all I know:D Good luck! Elk make for some fun hunting!!

[hunter1947]

If I was you I would hunt the 8-15 region ,this region just came off LEH so it will be a hot place to hunt.

Get a back roads book and steady the area.

Call up the local game department in this area and ask them if they know where bulls where shot last year ,good luck you will get elk hooked after you have head a few bulls calling.

If you need to know anything about how to hunt elk send me a private message and I will be glad to help you.

[BearSniper]

No direspect Ewbiehunter, but I'll try to offer a blunt answer.

Go out and do what I hope someday to do.;-)

Get out to the remote parts of the Flathead Valley in southeast B.C. and hike hard up in the hills beyond the roads.

Bugle like the other members here have said and hopefully you'll see Elk.

Good luck

[moosinaround]

Banff or Jasper National Parks. Go play a few rounds of golf! Moosin

[J_T]

No direspect Ewbiehunter, but I'll try to offer a blunt answer.

Go out and do what I hope someday to do.;-)

Get out to the remote parts of the Flathead Valley in southeast B.C. and hike hard up in the hills beyond the roads.

Bugle like the other members here have said and hopefully you'll see Elk.

Good luckBetter get there quick before it's a National Park and no hunting.

[Bow Walker]

Been on only one elk hunt in my 'career' (over 40 years enjoying the outdoors). It was a blast and I still think about it. It was up on the Bull River, outside of Cranbrook.

Early Nov. to catch the rut, except it was unseasonably warm that year, with night time temps only dipping to -7 F. There were two parties sharing the campsite. There was only one elk taken in the 10 day trip. And then one night a grizz came down off the mountain and grabbed a front quarter and carried it off, back across the river and into the night. Never bother him/her at all - the weight of it, that is. Woke the whole camp up though.

The next morning the guys in the other tent made the four and a half hour round trip into town to hang the rest of the elk in a cooler.

Awesome sound, hearing them bugling across the valleys. Great fun glassing in the afternoons for the next morning's stalk. Saw a lot of mulies, just one elk, and a big ole grizz tearing up a stump or log in just one afternoon's efforts.

It is addicting.

[BCrams]

Definatly the East Kootenays. MU 4-4 south of Cranbrook has pretty good elk hunting or pretty much anywhere around there.

But if you can get yourself up to the Peace Region, there's some great elk hunting to be had!

[leadpillproductions]

i find as you walk threw the timber cow calling works great when you do have one answer dont be afraid of going a little crazy with the cow call when you have him hot

[Jetboater]

Pick a valley where you find elk sign and learn it... dont run to 5 differnet valleys in one week of hunting... we have hunted the same area for 18 years now... since I was ten years old... and we alway have a hard time finding a few decent bulls...
up early and home late is the way we hunt and dont go in early for breakfast a lot of bulls are vocal at 10AM-12Noon
anywhere in the cranbrook area is good... the peace area can be amazing...
but dont expect to kill one your first year out...it took me eight yearts to kill my first bull....lots of mistake were made ...and lots more fun was had...

[Ron.C]

Some good pointers in previous posts


especially the part about staying out all day. All my elk hunting has been done from Sept 1-15 . I've shot 3 elk in the last 6 years of trying. One was at around 10am, one at 3:30 pm, one just minutes before legal shooting light was up in the evening. I have come across elk moving all hours of the day and in some locations that I wasn't expecting to see elk including very close to camp. A few years back, a hunting partner got a poke at a big boy at around noon on Sept 1st standing on a powerline less than 400 yards from camp in temps of over 25+ degrees. And he had cows with him.

Always be ready. Assume nothing!!! I've learned some lessons the hard way, made rookie mistakes and blown some good opportunities on elk because I dropped my guard figuring;

it was too hot out,
Elk can't be this close to the road,
its to late in the morning the elk have to be bedded by now,
the elk weren't calling back so there must not be any here,
the bush was too open,
the bush was too thick
I must have scared the elk away by snapping that branch,
elk must always make alot of noise going through thick bush,
that bugle couldn't be an elk cause it sounds funny,
Calling a certain way worked last year, It has to work this year,
Calling too much,
Not calling enough,
I just jumped some elk, I ruined the area,

and so on

But the fun part is getting out there and doing it and learning as you go. Elk hunting in an absoltue blast and my favourite animal to hunt by a mile. Just keep an open mind when reading/watching books and videos. There are alot of opinions out there and no absolutes. No one technique will work all the time. I agree that it is best to pick one area, learn it and hunt it. And the more season's you do, the better your odds will be, but be flexible and not affraid to try something new if what you are doing isn't working.

PM sent with info on area's to look at

[elkdom]

1, appear to look like a tree

2,when you move, move like an elk, not silent, but stopping periodically , listening, looking, when you start to move dont try be absolutely silent, elk are rarely silent when they are on the move, predators on the other hand are silent when they move , complete silence in the bush means the animals are WARY, not good when there is eerie silence while hunting elk!

3, smell like an elk !, scent "up", use cow in heat scent, scent "wafers", as much as you can handle, if your elk sent offends "YOU" then it is working!

4,carry a couple of different cow/calf calls or be able to mimic elk once you "get into them"

5, as you walk through timber, thick undergrowth occasionally shake a small evergreen, scraping the evergreen with a dry piece of stick, step on a branch or a twig once in a while, stop listen for snort sounds of elk trying to get your "scent"

6,try walk into the wind, pay special attention to WHAT YOU smell, quite often YOU will smell elk before YOU see them or hear them! you cant always walk into the wind when seeking elk,so dont worry if your scented "UP"

7,Look for creek/ springs/wallows on the north and north east facing hillsides, a 30% incline or steeper makes good elk habitat

8,look for escape routes, elk almost always go up hill when pressured,and they really like "ridge backs" for traveling to and from water and feeding areas,,,,,

9, keep you eye open for "bedding areas", pay attention to how the elk get there and how they leave, they are creatures of habit, when you find a bedding area, that is a good place to go to during mid-day, work your way in using the a cow call, once every few hundred meters, they will know your coming, be on the look out for a satellite bull coming to find YOU,

[bozzdrywall]

there is no more elk in the kootneys to many people scared them all off. but i find if you dont know were elk are drive around lots in late aug. do some scouting and if still no luck drive around during open season find a cow elk of calf maby a bull but were one is more will most likly be good luck

[brotherjack]

All I've got to say, is bring lots and lots of patience. :)

[leadpillproductions]

my first bull i was on him for three days he woulnt do any thing till 10am then hed go crazy but wouldnt come in realy thick 3rd daysame thing same place so i figured go a little crazy on the hyper estrus for like 30 seconds he came in but he came to the river and bugled but it was like he was whispering i didnt do any thing then he just started to scream at 101 yrs i could hardly keep him in my scope there is nothin better than that

[ewiebehunter]

Thanks for the post the more info the better!

[hunter1947]

Cover lots of ground the more ground you cover you better your chances.

You find elk more so at first daylight for the first two hours of the morning then they are headed to there bedding areas.

Elk come out to feed in clearings about the last hour of daylight so get set up in a area where you think there are elk 2 hours before dark and wait.

[hunter1947]

I find that the last week of sept and the first week of Oct to be the best hunting for elk for me ,I shot mine last year on the 5th day of Oct it was out in the slash at 8am..

[RockyMountainHunter1]

Same with me, shot mine on the 10th of october.Very true about bringing patience.Saw 3 legal bulls in 10 days and by the last day i was ready to just call it quits.Then it all came together last day.So just keep working hard, cover ground and be patient it'll happen for you.good luck!

[hunter1947]

Regarding a herd bull.

Try cow calling the 10 of sept the opening day to bring in bull elk ,there looking for cows at this time of the year ,you will be surprised on how effective this works.

I do let off bugles every so often when I am working an area but in most cases its because I want any bull within the area that is interested in calling me back then if I get a return call I will make a decision on how I will work in on this bull.

There have been so many times that when I am dealing with a herd bull I end up not getting a look at him ether I get winded from him or he moves away from me..

Over the years when I have had a herd bull calling to me 90% of the time he will not come to me reason being is he does not want to leave the cows if he did he might loose a few of them or all to a satellite bull that is close by.

Many of times I have had the satellite bull come to me when I locate the herd of elk with a herd bull in it then the herd bull.

There can be up to 5 satellite bulls in a big herd of elk in the rutting season so watch for the smaller bulls to come in on you.

I have experimented many times on a herd bull by bugling to him when I can see the herd in the rutting season and 80% of the time he gathers his cows and heads out of the area.

I have tried calling a herd bull with a cow call when I can see the herd bull with his cows and he does not leave the area in-fact in some cases he starts bugling to me when I am cow calling to him ,he is telling me to come to him as he will not leave his cows at most times.

I have had a few herd bulls leave his cows to come to me when I have worked the herd bull up and that is when I am in close at around 100 yards ,the reason he left the cows is I have got into the circle where he fells he is in danger of loosing his cows as for none of his cows are in estrus at this time.

This is what I would do if I am dealing with a herd bull or even a satilite bull ,ones you have located him use a cow call for the remainder of the stalk you will have better luck getting in close to him for a shot other then maybe pushing him over the next two mountains http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif.

[Brett]

1, appear to look like a tree

2,when you move, move like an elk, not silent, but stopping periodically , listening, looking, when you start to move dont try be absolutely silent, elk are rarely silent when they are on the move, predators on the other hand are silent when they move , complete silence in the bush means the animals are WARY, not good when there is eerie silence while hunting elk!

3, smell like an elk !, scent "up", use cow in heat scent, scent "wafers", as much as you can handle, if your elk sent offends "YOU" then it is working!

4,carry a couple of different cow/calf calls or be able to mimic elk once you "get into them"

5, as you walk through timber, thick undergrowth occasionally shake a small evergreen, scraping the evergreen with a dry piece of stick, step on a branch or a twig once in a while, stop listen for snort sounds of elk trying to get your "scent"

6,try walk into the wind, pay special attention to WHAT YOU smell, quite often YOU will smell elk before YOU see them or hear them! you cant always walk into the wind when seeking elk,so dont worry if your scented "UP"

7,Look for creek/ springs/wallows on the north and north east facing hillsides, a 30% incline or steeper makes good elk habitat

8,look for escape routes, elk almost always go up hill when pressured,and they really like "ridge backs" for traveling to and from water and feeding areas,,,,,

9, keep you eye open for "bedding areas", pay attention to how the elk get there and how they leave, they are creatures of habit, when you find a bedding area, that is a good place to go to during mid-day, work your way in using the a cow call, once every few hundred meters, they will know your coming, be on the look out for a satellite bull coming to find YOU,

Thanks, very informative answer.