Elk Rut

[Downwindtracker2]

When is the elk rut in the Kootneys ?

[leadpillproductions]

I would think it should be the same as here mid sept

[hunter1947]

Bull elk will start rutting in the EK as for all other places in BC at the end of Aug ,mid Sept the elk are well into the rut....

[muzzy]

When a certian amount of light hits the retna of cow elk as days get shorter and they come into estrus.. Specific dates are available for a huge price.:twisted:

[GoatGuy]

The rut is on whenever there's a cow in estrus. That can go from late Aug all the way to the end of October. September seems to be the most popular month to go afield. First and second week, then usually towards the end of the month you'll catch the second estrus.

[bozzdrywall]

(Dec 31) till (Sept 1) full on Rut bulls are going crazy right now. They tend to stay quiet till the end of the year then they get crazy and mate as much as possable befor the next season.

[GoatGuy]

(Dec 31) till (Sept 1) full on Rut bulls are going crazy right now. They tend to stay quiet till the end of the year then they get crazy and mate as much as possable befor the next season.

Must be the ghey bulls that live near Cranbrook.

I won't say anything about the locals being like the elk.

[todbartell]

(Dec 31) till (Sept 1) full on Rut bulls are going crazy right now. They tend to stay quiet till the end of the year then they get crazy and mate as much as possable befor the next season.

so you're saying elk are in the rut right now? :confused: and will be until Sept 1?

please consult my sig line picture

[J_T]

The West Kootenay and East Kootenay are different and homesteader elk and backcountry elk are different. The best bugle action is in the front country, right after the migration early to mid November.

I wouldn't call it rutting, but it sounds great.

Depending on the pocket you hunt you will definitely find the rut of the first estrus in the last week of August through to the second week of Sept. The rule of thumb for most is the peak of the rut in most areas is Sept 23 - 25th.

[hunter1947]

I just looked at all my canceled tags for bull elk that I have kept over the last 30 years and 80% of the elk I got have been shot in the last week of Sept..

[bforce750]

Must be the ghey bulls that live near Cranbrook.

I won't say anything about the locals being like the elk.

I sense somone is bitter:cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry ::cry::cry::-D

[muzzy]

So Boz is selling his drywall tools to become an elk bio.. COOL!!! And some long range shooting tips for those of us that keep it short I hope!!..

[hunter1947]

Two years ago I was scouting for deer up in the Black Creek area here on Vancover Island late Aug ,I saw 7 Roosevelt bull elk all together.
I had my reed dieafram with me knowing that I might see elk and I did so I gave a few calls 4 out of the 7 bulls started to split from the bunch two of the bulls came running my way a short distance one of the bulls stopped and started rubbing a tree with his antlers as for the other one keep coming my way ,he stopped out at about 200 yards and started to bugle his face off at me ,was a http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon6.gif episode to see I did put the pic up on this site at that time but they were to far out to get a good look at ,the bulls where small in size in the pictures...

[bozzdrywall]

Thats ok guys iam just joking. I have never known when the elk rut is i just have a lucky streak at being in the right place at the right time. I would love to be a bio on elk i bet i could do better than some of the others out there. And ya any tips on long range bombers let me know i will show you how to put meat in the frezzer. Mine is full of 2 kinds of deer, elk, goat. Guess i might just be lucky right guys.LOLOLOLOL

[Bugle M In]

Question Hunter '47

Do you generally hunt from Sept 10th on and for how many weeks.??

I would say mostly all of my elk (90%)are taken Oct.1...BUT...
I generally only hunt for 1 week and that is usually the last week of Sept, which quite often runs a few days into Oct.

So for that reason, I could never give anyone a true scope of the elk rut
and timing.

The reason I go later is in hopes that the temps are lower by then.
Doesn't always work out that way.

During this time I usually can get the bulls to bugle, HOWEVER, I don't
tend to run into them bugling on their own.:-?

Oh, and I'm referring to hunting the elk in the northern E.K's

[Cole]

Its kinda weird out here. Rut seems to hit full swing starting October 21st.:razz::razz::razz::razz::razz::razz::razz::ra zz::razz:

[hunter1947]

Question Hunter '47

Do you generally hunt from Sept 10th on and for how many weeks.??

I would say mostly all of my elk (90%)are taken Oct.1...BUT...
I generally only hunt for 1 week and that is usually the last week of Sept, which quite often runs a few days into Oct.

So for that reason, I could never give anyone a true scope of the elk rut
and timing.

The reason I go later is in hopes that the temps are lower by then.
Doesn't always work out that way.

During this time I usually can get the bulls to bugle, HOWEVER, I don't
tend to run into them bugling on their own.:-?

Oh, and I'm referring to hunting the elk in the northern E.K's

I have hunted elk with a bow starting Sept first and have hunted them from then right on through till Oct 17th all my hunting for elk take place in the south EK all years hunting them.

I saw two good bulls last year one was much bigger then the other one ,the bigger one had 6 cows with him on Aug 27.

The smaller 6x6 was trailing behind this big herd bull that was a big 6x6 ,this 6x6 was bugling his head off and staying close to his cows.

After a sort time this big bull put the run on this smaller bull they both disappeared into the heavy timber about 5 min latter this big herd bull came out of the heavy timber and galloped back up to his cows ,I saw him rub his antlers on a few big trees over a span of 20 min.

Man was I pissed I had no camera or camcorder with me that day:twisted:..

All years hunting elk I myself have found out that the best time I have had the most success is the last week of Sept and into the first week of Oct.

My thoughts on when the first estrus starts is the first week of Sept ,then there is a 21 day period till the second estrus starts and that would be the last week of Sept..

I am a firm believer that the odd cow will come into estrus in between this time frame and that starts getting the bulls active around the area when this odd cow goes into estrus.

You can get lots of bugling when the cows are not in estrus most the bugling you do get at this time is elk talk in the rut ,might be a herd bull telling others to keep away from him because he is the dominate bull.

Others bugle because they get aroused because its that time of the year thats just there harmons working on them ,some bugle because he hears another bugle a sort distance away.

Elk are hard to figure out I will never figure them out when you think you do they do the opposite thing :-?.

Last year was the first time I spent that long in the bush hunting RME ,I was there Aug 27 till Oct 14..

[J_T]

Elk are hard to figure out I will never figure them out when you think you do they do the opposite thing :-?.

Amen to that.

[bozzdrywall]

I feel like i owe you some real info. Sorry about last night just trying to be funny. Hunter 1947 has some good points. I have also seen bulls with cows as early as aug 15 now that does not mean they are in rut they just there. I have shot all my bulls from the start to the very last day of elk season. So peak rut iam not sure i think it changes with the weather and the moon. Hear are the things i know for sure.
1- Elk can be patterned if you STAY away from there beds and dont spook them when you are scouting. This means watch from as far away as you can and treat spotting like hunting stay hidden quiet and scent free.
2- Bulls will not talk all the time but they will talk. Certin things like presssure from other hunters wolves and other things will make the bulls be quiet. They might still talk but they wont be as vocal as they would other times. Remember elk have so many different sounds they can make cows and bulls alike. Some are soft and some are loud.
3- Elk are not always were you think they are and they can break the rules any time. So this is not the go to by the bozz its just from my time in the bush and what i have seen over the years.

If your ever in the kimberly area i would be glad to show you some spots talk to you a little and point you in the right direction ( For a small fee ) lol
Just joking come on down the elk are every were you just need to put the time in the bush to put one on the ground.

[Islandeer]

Great post Bozzy!!

[bozzdrywall]

Great post Bozzy!!
Thanks not too offten some one agrees with me or i get a jeers from people on this site iam not a but head all the time LOL:mrgreen:

[Downwindtracker2]

THX,I have to put my holiday request in soon.

Ray

[gamehunter6o]

Downwindtracker2, might I suggest you become an Upwindtracker to greatly improve your chances of success.:idea:

[hunter1947]

Thanks not too offten some one agrees with me or i get a jeers from people on this site iam not a but head all the time LOL:mrgreen:


bozzdrywall I don't let anything at most times bother me ,I just brush it under the table ,but if we where competing for a 350+ bull elk well thats a different story ,LOL :mrgreen:

[leadpillproductions]

For me the last two seasons i was done on the 6th and 10th day of september before that sept 1 and oct 3 i would like to hunt the 3rd week of sept mostly around here

[Bugle M In]

Definetly agree with the posts.

Moon phase...hasn't made a difference...one time, new moon, bull passes past our camper with his cows at 11pm:shock:, infact the moon even went down at the same time the sun did!!

Weather, can make it harder though, but not impossible, you just have
to adjust where you spend your time, AND, a hell of a lot more patience!

This year, we went early (Sept 11th), for 2 reasons.
First one, to see if I could find the bulls (6's) before they had their
harem.
Basically for the last 6-7 years (last week of Sept), I have no diffficulties
bringing in 3 to 5 bulls in a week ( all different bulls, and all within 100yrds ), unforunately, all have been 5 pts.:icon_frow
What was happening to me, is now that the cow #'s (since 2001)
are back up, the big bulls have their harems togther.
You can bugle, and they will bugle back, but then after 20mins or so, you begin to realize they are headed ther other way!!To the timber and over the ridge.
Unfortunately, where I hunt, once they have slipped over the ridge, you cant persue, as I'm not packing him out of that miserable area.

The other reason, was to hit the area before the G/O hit the area.
For years, they never used to hunt there, but now they do.
Seemed like I was missing a crack at some 6pts the week before.

So, how did it pay off??
Well reason #2 was a success for sure:biggrin:, I have no issues standing right
beside their client/s all day.
In all fairness though, they left us alone the rest of the week.

Reason # 1, seemed to pay off as well, but that crazy 30+ temps made
it a real challenge.
After the first few days, I thought for sure it was going to be a bust!
But then, one lonely bugle response at the end of the evening changed
everthing.
When its hot like that, you have to sit by the creek beds...somewhere the
elk can find shade, lay in the mud, and use the natural effect of A/C of the creek / river.
And that's where patience can come in, you have to beleive they are
there and you have to sit tight....mostly just watching and waiting.

We took a bull the next morning..well actually at a 11:30 am in 30+
temps, from 350yrds to within 15 thru an open clearcut, he was bugling
like a banshee!!. ( he was coverd in mud )
Actually, I blew it at first lite that same morning on another 6pt bull,
right there in the same area.
Could have taken him 2 days later, the night before we were to leave,
but decided no to take him as we already had 4 bears on the first gut
pile, which was only 500 yrds away, and it would have meant an
all nighter back packing out an elk 5 clics each way X 2!...again!!

So will I do an early season again...probably, as it seemed the bulls were
still eager to check us out, looking for cows.

But they weren't bugling as much as when I go the end of Sept.
Was that due to the heat???not sure, I guess I will have to try it a few
times to make a judgement, but like what has been said, you will never
figure it all out.

My opinion is this, cool weather helps, as I always see more game, but it
doesn't translate into always more success.
Bulls, before they have cows, will always be easier to hunt.
Spotting is REALLY important for elk hunting, just because you don't hear
a bugle, doesn't mean squat!
Be patient, don't leave an area too soon, a bull may show up after you
have been sitting there for 5 hrs....seriously!
Get to know the area.
If you hunt the same area for years, you will get to know where they
like to travel and hang out, and patterns of movement etc.
You will never figure that out in one trip.
Look for elk sign, if you find some, even if their not fresh, chances are
they are just holed up in the timber nearby, and haven't moved for
several days.
As for the rut, yup , end of Aug, to end of Sept is what I would say the
main time is, BUT , a lot of hunters here this past season posted success
around the 10th of Oct .
Around the same time it really got cold up there, but, does that mean
much?? I don't know. I had success while getting sun burned!
People like hunter47, who have a passion for elk, and the time to get
out there, will have some of the best feild knowledge out there, I am
still stuck myself on trying to figure out when the best times (week) is
to go,
and maybe that is the real problem, no one will ever really know.
It's hunting, A melting pot of lots of Luck, mixed with determination,
attitude, and some skill, which is generally learned with time, always
pay attention!
If you know someone has taken a bull in the area, then you know that
it is possible and you can too :wink:

[Brett]

Nice post!

[la river]

Very good read! Grew up hunting elk and have not gone in 15+ yrs makes me wanna head home to the EK for a trip!!

[hunter1947]

I will tell you all LUCK is a real big part in getting any animal you hunt.

Last year I was seeing bulls shot all over the place and mostly from road hunters.
I said maybe I have been doing the wrong thing hunting them away from roads ????.

After spending over a month pounding the side hills trying to put 6 points on a bull elk and coming up on the short end of the stick was really starting to get to me..

I was really getting pissed after seeing the remains of 6 bulls shot in the slash over the past 7 weeks :twisted:.
As I said in my past story about getting lucky well it did happen to me after thinking that I might go home with no elk meat this year.

I went down to say good by to my old friend Arkey and a bull bugled above his camp at 430pm ,big mistake on his part but there you go to me that was luck all times I had gone down to visit him to see if he was ok this elk bugled that to me is LUCK...

Luck is lots to do with making the right decision should I go there then you decide ,then when you get there here comes Mr luck again when you decide when your in the bush on your hunt you decide to go right or should I go left or straight aged ???? this is all based on being lucky making the right call...

This was my the end results ,this bull I got was shot in the slash there you go being in the right place at the right time..
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/1342.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=18024)

[la river]

Arkey? As in arkinstall??

[.308cal]

What about in 7-B? Is it the same? Should a gut go in early Oct. or late Sept.?

[hunter1947]

What about in 7-B? Is it the same? Should a gut go in early Oct. or late Sept.?


Anywhere in BC during Sept is good elk hunting..