How do You Scout For Late Season Bulls?

[Trumkin the Dwarf]

Alright, so it's mid summer, it's hotter than hades down south, but you just managed to sweet talk your way into a week of free time in Montana. Oh hey! You're planning to hunt Montana in November! You should do some scouting! You grab your pack and boots and spotter (and all the gadgets which you know deep down aren't going to be any use, but they fit in the pack so they're coming anyways ). Then you head for the maps to plot out your epic scouting trip. This is the year that you're gonna really get crafty and outwit all those lazy locals who never scout and still kill elk somehow .

This is it! Time to find a honey hole. The gold mine. The place where bulls warm their hooves over the geothermal vents when there's two feet of snow on the ground. And then it hits you... July is not November. Those elk are not going to be in the same place come rifle season. So what's your plan to make that trip useful and productive? How do you make gold out of straw as it were? How are you going to build a game plan at the exact wrong time of the year?

[Swede]

Late season is a totally different proposition tan September hunting. Scouting for them is more of a matter of experience. You need to know where they go when hunting pressure and weather force them out of their Summer range. The way I hunt depends a whole lot on where I hunt. If there are a lot of roads, I like to drive around until I find fresh tracks; then got on them. If there is just a general access road available, know with certainty, the elk are far back in a literally inaccessible, awful hole. Go find them scout.

[Indian Summer]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there’s really no way to predict where they’ll be. It’s a piece of knowledge gained over the years by being there. My best late season spot is less than 3/4 of a mile from the trailhead.

[Trumkin the Dwarf]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there’s really no way to predict where they’ll be. It’s a piece of knowledge gained over the years by being there. My best late season spot is less than 3/4 of a mile from the trailhead.

Words of wisdom! But there are some things that you can scout out in the summer. Access points is one. Glassing spots is another! I generally want to know about the spots with bad access. And glassing spots into those areas.

[Swede]

[/quote] But there are some things that you can scout out in the summer. Access points is one. Glassing spots is another![/quote] Access points for what? Where elk hung out two months earlier? Glassing points for what? Where they were in September? What I.S. is saying, the elk are miles away. They did not go into the next canyon or the adjacent hillside.
Knowing where the elk go and when is a matter of experience with the area you want to hunt. After years of hunting I know some places to hunt where there are going to be elk. I just choose not to go there anymore or it in on some ranch where they have "no trespassing" signs. You can go for days in the area we bow hunted and not cut a fresh track. They are gone. It is interesting that there are still plenty of hunters looking where they were.

[Trumkin the Dwarf]

But there are some things that you can scout out in the summer. Access points is one. Glassing spots is another![/quote] Access points for what? Where elk hung out two months earlier? Glassing points for what? Where they were in September? What I.S. is saying, the elk are miles away. They did not go into the next canyon or the adjacent hillside.
Knowing where the elk go and when is a matter of experience with the area you want to hunt. After years of hunting I know some places to hunt where there are going to be elk. I just choose not to go there anymore or it in on some ranch where they have "no trespassing" signs. You can go for days in the area we bow hunted and not cut a fresh track. They are gone. It is interesting that there are still plenty of hunters looking where they were.[/quote]

What I mean is, I can get the lay of the roads, and which ones are gated or rough. And I can see if certain knobs actually let me see that nasty canyon well, where I suspect the bulls will be come November. I don't care at all about finding elk, but about knowing where I will be at first light at the time of year the elk might be there. That's valuable time I don't have to spend prioritizing spots come hunting season. Less guesswork, and more plan makes a confident hunter. And a confident hunter hunts harder and longer.

[Swede]

Trumpkin, there is logic to what you are planning. It is good to get a head start on scouting as it takes quite a while to figure things out. Good thinking.

[Pop-r]

Although what you acquire animal wise will be limited you can learn the land and that is a big plus in hunting an area and having the confidence to hunt it effectively. It also helps get you in mountain shape a little which is always an ongoing struggle unless you live in the mountains.

[Indian Summer]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there’s really no way to predict where they’ll be. It’s a piece of knowledge gained over the years by being there. My best late season spot is less than 3/4 of a mile from the trailhead.

Words of wisdom! But there are some things that you can scout out in the summer. Access points is one. Glassing spots is another! I generally want to know about the spots with bad access. And glassing spots into those areas.

Getting to know the area is priceless of course. But per the subject that isn’t really geared specifically toward late season elk. In reality late season elk are usually more accessible assuming the weather has turned. My best piece of advice is when the snow pushes the hunters down lower be that guy who pushes just beyond where anyone else goes. There are other determined hunters out there so this means going where the snow is to your knees which to an elk means safety but still with the ability to get to the feed. Also.... since you don’t know where the feed is that’s important. My migration route spot has nice high grassy slopes so when they expend the energy to dig there will be feed. Elk aren’t going to stack up late season in heavy timber with no abundance of feed fairly close by.

[Trumkin the Dwarf]

since you don’t know where the feed is that’s important. My migration route spot has nice high grassy slopes so when they expend the energy to dig there will be feed. Elk aren’t going to stack up late season in heavy timber with no abundance of feed fairly close by.

Sooo... you're saying I should look for good grass sources near thick timber in the middle of summer?

[Indian Summer]

Well... sorta. Here’s a scenario. Find some of the highest elevations in a given area. Look for the major... not secondary but main ridges that taper down toward some lower country. Look there at about 7500-8000 feet which is still fairly high if a big snowstorm moves in. But it’s a good place to stage and be ready to make a move if necessary. Then at that elevation look for spots where they might hop over from that ridge to any other major ridges that are long but eventually lead right to the valley. That describes my late season honey hole to a T.

[saddlesore]

Drive CO Road13 between Craig and Meeker Colorado to scout when the season is open.When you see a herd of 400-500elk on BLM land,park get out, cross the fence, and shoot a bull.That is the common way in that country

[>>>---WW---->]

Very true Saddlesore. However, it all depends upon the weather as well as the amount of hunting pressure from the other 3-4-? seasons prior to November. I presume you are referring to anywhere from Isles Grove to the Golden Triangle. LOL!

[saddlesore]

Very true Saddlesore. However, it all depends upon the weather as well as the amount of hunting pressure from the other 3-4-? seasons prior to November. I presume you are referring to anywhere from Isles Grove to the Golden Triangle. LOL!

Yep,You been there too. Weather is everything. I don't do it because I am too much of a pansy butt to suffer that cold anymore.

[Trumkin the Dwarf]

Well... sorta. Here’s a scenario. Find some of the highest elevations in a given area. Look for the major... not secondary but main ridges that taper down toward some lower country. Look there at about 7500-8000 feet which is still fairly high if a big snowstorm moves in. But it’s a good place to stage and be ready to make a move if necessary. Then at that elevation look for spots where they might hop over from that ridge to any other major ridges that are long but eventually lead right to the valley. That describes my late season honey hole to a T.

I knew there were some nuggets to pry out of this crew! I think I'd better stop egging you on Joe, or next you'll be telling guys where to go, with maps and everyth... oh, wait. You already do that!

As for Vince's advice, I've heard it works about the same at Decker flats outside Gardiner. Except you just need a tag, a knife, and tennis shoes there...

[Tigger]

Very true Saddlesore. However, it all depends upon the weather as well as the amount of hunting pressure from the other 3-4-? seasons prior to November. I presume you are referring to anywhere from Isles Grove to the Golden Triangle. LOL!

Yep,You been there too. Weather is everything. I don't do it because I am too much of a pansy butt to suffer that cold anymore.

After a little contemplation, I realized that pansy butt and Saddlesore are not exactly synonymous in my mind!

[Lefty]

Some good bits and tid-bits. Elk need to eat, and are really herding up
As Joe mentioned late season becomes more of the history of the area at the beginning of the migration to winter range. For that information from locals. Nothing better than the ranchers that dont hunt and have poorly fenced haystacks.

Learn the history of the migration. Find the bulls in a foot or two more snow than the cows, calve spike herd At or Above the big shed drop areas in the spring
Elk seem more willing to bed in the more open and smaller areas of cover as long as people arent bugging them

[Lefty]

,,,,, Gardiner. Except you just need a tag, a knife, and tennis shoes there...

https://www.livingstonenterprise.com/content/fire-rages-gardiner

[Trumkin the Dwarf]

,,,,, Gardiner. Except you just need a tag, a knife, and tennis shoes there...

https://www.livingstonenterprise.com/content/fire-rages-gardiner

Woah. Totally missed this news. That's no good.

[Swede]

What I have observed in the late season are elk gone from their summer range. Sometimes they were pressured and sometimes the remnants were heading down due to heavy snow. After a storm I could see fresh tracks crossing a road. Once they crossed they were all gone. The problem with following them was the private land boundary or the canyon they went into. You could go down and hunt the deep canyons, but it would be an awful pack out in good times, but with two feet of snow higher up, it is too much.
If I had a late season tag I would find a place where elk don't have an easy escape place to go to, but find cover in more accessible locations. I like it where I can drive roads and when I cross tracks, go in and carefully search for them. That is not easy, but it won't kill you either.
I am sure other hunters in other places have different things to deal with, but I have seen this situation in several parts of Oregon.

[Lefty]

,,,,, Gardiner. Except you just need a tag, a knife, and tennis shoes there...

https://www.livingstonenterprise.com/content/fire-rages-gardiner

Woah. Totally missed this news. That's no good.

Only caught that because we wanted to hit up Yellowstone this weekend,.. evidently it is crazy busy so that's out