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how to hunt north-south running ridgelines

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how to hunt north-south running ridgelines

Postby Billy Goat » 07 27, 2020 •  [Post 1]

I'm planning my 2021 Wyoming elk hunt.

in "my" area, and many others, Wyoming has loooooooong north-south running ridgelines. So one side faces directly west, the other side faces east.

I'm curious if any of you know how elk use these ridgelines, and thus how to hunt them.

Specifically, do they hang out on west side in the am, roll over the ridge to the east in the afternoons, (to stay in the shade)?

not use them at all?

use them for expedited travel?

any idea?

thanks in advance, gents.

shane
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Re: how to hunt north-south running ridgelines

Postby >>>---WW----> » 07 27, 2020 •  [Post 2]

I love hunting north/south ridgelines. Especially if they are knife or sharp ridgelines. Elk can be on either side depending on the time of day. The main reason I like them is because of the thermal air patterns. It is possible to have an updraft on one side and a downdraft on the other. I can easily swap from one side to the other in order to keep the wind in my favor.

Understanding thermals is the key to hunting this way. Think of thermals is water flowing down hill in the morning. It flows down hill on both sides of the ridge early in the morning. As the sun starts warming up the east side the thermal starts to shift and flows upward. However, the west side can still be shadowed and cooler and the thermal will still be flowing down. Later on as the sun get higher, almost all air flow will be upward. The trend will reverse in the evening.
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Re: how to hunt north-south running ridgelines

Postby Billy Goat » 07 27, 2020 •  [Post 3]

thanks for the feedback. based on your response, I assume you expect to find elk on the shady side of the mountain?
"First teach a child to love God,
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and third, teach them to hunt and fish,
and by the time they reach their teens, no dope peddler under the sun will ever teach them anything".

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Re: how to hunt north-south running ridgelines

Postby Tigger » 07 28, 2020 •  [Post 4]

There are many factors that dictate where elk hang out. Heat is one of them, but not nearly the only one. It is more complex than just hunting the shade. Hunting pressure is a good example. If you have significant hunting pressure on the shady side, you will not likely find many elk there. Then there is feed, water, rut activity, other predators, and a host of unknown factors. Throw all of these factors into a blender..... Another thing to consider is that there are finger ridges off of the main ridge that can put some small drainages in the shade (north facing) even if they are on the sunny side of the main ridge. How thick is the canopy? Is there water? Lots of stuff to consider.

I would start out looking at some saddles to get a sense of the traffic across the top of the ridge. I think you are on the right track thinking about cool places, but just don't let that become the only reason why you hunt a particular area.
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Re: how to hunt north-south running ridgelines

Postby BrowTines » 07 29, 2020 •  [Post 5]

I have hunted north/south ridges a lot over the years. We have strong westerly winds on most days. This makes either side of the ridge huntable. On the west side, it typically has a quatering up wind while the east side has an updraft created by the vacum of the strong west wind blowing over the ridge. However, sometimes the wind can be fickle on the east side and and we have to penetrate a fair distance before we get a reliable updraft. That is the key - to know the wind. Last year we went over the top of the ridge into a dark pine region of the eastern slope and got the wind right. We tiptoed in but still got caught - the elk were probably bedded 80 yards away and caught us setting up.
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Re: how to hunt north-south running ridgelines

Postby Indian Summer » 07 30, 2020 •  [Post 6]

Simple answer: north-south ridges... as all ridges, have secondary ridges branching off of them. Those finger ridges run east-west so they have a shadier north slope. I love hunting that kind of area. Lots of feed on the west side and elk just duck up over the finger for the day.
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Re: how to hunt north-south running ridgelines

Postby Billy Goat » 07 30, 2020 •  [Post 7]

thanks all! I love this forum!
"First teach a child to love God,
teach them second to love their family
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and by the time they reach their teens, no dope peddler under the sun will ever teach them anything".

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Re: how to hunt north-south running ridgelines

Postby ElkNut1 » 07 30, 2020 •  [Post 8]

I didn't see you mention if it was a rifle or archery hunt? If Archery, I'd let my bugle do most of my leg work, it would find them where needed. I'd glass the more open terrain to locate then head on over & call them in once in their space if I couldn't slip in on them silently. Archery, the bugle is supreme. Rifle Glassing is supreme but my bugle would be by my side! I'd want all my options covered!

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Re: how to hunt north-south running ridgelines

Postby Lefty » 07 30, 2020 •  [Post 9]

We hunt a number of North South ridges, 400-500 foot deep canyons with some water . Much of that area is geologic mineral and soils dictate much of the heavy growth, even more so in some area where the SW winds piled the snow deep and melts off slow in the spring providing lush cover.We mostly hunt a range that is east west and hunt the south facing slope. 7200-9000 feet

We tend to start up high and work our way down inton the oncoming thermals and with a view of some of those limited north facing bedding slopes
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Re: how to hunt north-south running ridgelines

Postby Indian Summer » 07 30, 2020 •  [Post 10]

ElkNut1 wrote:I didn't see you mention if it was a rifle or archery hunt? If Archery, I'd let my bugle do most of my leg work, it would find them where needed. I'd glass the more open terrain to locate then head on over & call them in once in their space if I couldn't slip in on them silently. Archery, the bugle is supreme. Rifle Glassing is supreme but my bugle would be by my side! I'd want all my options covered!

ElkNut

Don’t give up on calling in gun season too. Depending on the dates where you hunt there could very well be a second rut. In the area we gun hunt they are bugling hard the first week. That’s October 15th so right when any unbred cows come back into estrus. And since there’s not as many opportunities bulls can come running. Last year I watched the bull I ended up killing chasing cows all over the hillside and running off any other bulls who got any ideas. If he thought there was a cow in heat and a smaller bull close to her he was heading that way.

As far as those fingers branching off to the east and west of a north/south ridge... I prefer that over an east/west main ridge. On a vast north slope they could be anywhere. Hard to pinpoint unless you’re calling. But in the other scenario every time you come over a finger the hotspot could be right there in the limited shade. Every time I peek over the top to glass or call I have renewed confidence that this could be the spot.
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Re: how to hunt north-south running ridgelines

Postby Coyote_Cowboy » 08 02, 2020 •  [Post 11]

Good stuff! Work the ridge with your bugle, like ElkNut said. Once you hear something or get a response, consider your wind (and consider the what the wind will be doing when it is go time), and be ready to dive down!
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Re: how to hunt north-south running ridgelines

Postby Swede » 08 04, 2020 •  [Post 12]

Hunt up the ridge when the thermals are going down so that you do not contaminate the area and alarm the elk by your scent before you ever get to them. I do not know which side of the ridge the elk will be on, or how far it is to the draw and adjacent hillside. I would cross back and forth if reasonable as I slowly and carefully made my way up the ridge. I think of it as ridge hopping, as I check into the different drainages.
Obviously when the sun is up and the thermals are rising, work you way downward doing the same basic thing in reverse.
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