Water Hole Worthy

[BrentLaBere]

The topic of finding water holes on GE, Bing maps, Acme mapper or whatever computer aided scouting tool you may be using has me thinking about my spot. How do we know if they are worthy of our attention? I have been prepping for my scouting trip on the 25th of July and it is soon approaching. The area I am heading to usually has plenty of water from what I understand. I am going over my notes that I have written down in my playbook going back to where Indian Summer describes where the 'X' might be. How far to travel off of the trail head in pressured areas. The list goes on with what I have learned and written down but the time is coming when I need to put it into boot leather knowledge. So I am looking for opinions...... The picture I have attached is roughly 4.5 miles off of the trailhead and most of which is cross country. I have noticed at least 3 water holes visible on bing maps. One of them is towards the bottom of the East/West drainage close to the stream and the other two are roughly 2/3 up the side of the slope. Both on small bench areas. X is where they are on the topo.

So are these spots worth going to (to far to be worth it)? Water is available most places in the area so the ones that stick out on GE, Bing, ect....worthy? I will most likley hiking to these areas to see whats there. But let me know what you think.

[Jaquomo]

If there is a lot of water in the area, any waterholes you find may be incidental waterholes, especially if your elk cycle around. The key will be if a resident herd is using it regularly, and you really won't know that until the season starts.

The other unknown factor is wind. I can point to dozens of waterholes in the area where I hunt, most of which are used by elk on a fairly regular basis if elk are in those respective basins. But none are huntable except very early and very late when we have a hard descending thermal, when the elk aren't typically coming to water.

I also know of a number of great-looking waterholes that are well-used by elk in July, but by September 1 are often dry. If you do go in there, look for previous years' rutting sign around, especially rubs. That should give you a good idea of the viability when the season starts. Enjoy your adventure!

[cnelk]

The more secluded the water is, the better the hunting is.

Is the topo pic of the aerial pic?
Looks like 2 different spots?
Not knowing what the thermals do is difficult to determine whats best

My first impression of the aerial pic is pretty good,
I would do a 'hike by' that large pond and see what it tells me, and then slip in the surrounding timber to hunt if so desired
Looks like that pocket just to the north could hold an animal or two, where that ridge sweeps to the right
But I think the pond is too big to set-up on. Maybe a trail camera would tell your more about it.

[Swede]

Considering what Jacuoma wrote, I would add that GE scouting is only the first step. Ultimately everything depends on what you find on the ground. If the elk are routinely coming to a spot, then that is a good location. If you see evidence that they come frequently, then set up there if you can. Look for multiple trails, rubs in the vicinity and muddy water. The worse an area stinks the more it is used. I have places that don't stink, but elk pass through routinely, so don't expect everything to be perfect. Also it takes me 10 days average waiting. Even in good spots you are likely going to wait awhile before they arrive. Mostly consider the trails and rubs. I like to go high in a tree to reduce the chance of getting busted by the wind. Try to locate a route into your stand that will leave you exposed to errant winds and a noisy entrance the least.

[BrentLaBere]

The water hole in the aerial picture is the left X on the topo map. I realized I didn't have a large enough screen shot for both after posting.