jack
09-20-2011, 06:28 PM
I was out last weekend scouting an area for mule deer and elk. I don't have much experience with either and this will be my first season putting in some real effort here in the WK. Normally I hunt whitetail. After going up the side of the mountain for a while I found a meadow about the size of a baseball diamond with 2 big wallows. You could see where the animals had pushed up mud all around the edges. Lots of sign including elk and deer. At 6000 ft I'm assuming they're mulies. The ground looked like a herd of cattle had gone through.
It's been really warm this fall. Are these animals using the wallow to cool off? Are they acting like dogs and have just found a particularly smelly place to roll around? It's obviously a popular spot, will that popularity decline as the season progresses or do they use wallows throughout the spring summer and fall until they get pushed down for the winter. Are they more/less significant during the rut? Any insight would be appreciated.
It's been really warm this fall. Are these animals using the wallow to cool off? Are they acting like dogs and have just found a particularly smelly place to roll around? It's obviously a popular spot, will that popularity decline as the season progresses or do they use wallows throughout the spring summer and fall until they get pushed down for the winter. Are they more/less significant during the rut? Any insight would be appreciated.