Low flying scouting planes effect on elk?

[mtnmutt]

For a few years while elk hunting archery season, low flying aircraft have buzzed my hunting area in the morning hours. They do a bit of a grid pattern. There may be 4-8 passes. They may do 2 flights that morning.

In Colorado, you cannot use aircraft to direct hunters the day of the hunt or use aircraft to find wildlife the day before your hunt. The aircraft appear closer to the start of ML. One time it was the day before ML on a Friday. I would have written down the plane's number if I could. There is no guarantee the aircraft violated any regs, but I was suspicious with it being the day before ML.

How does this effect the elk? When I see footage of the CPW aircraft doing their winter counts in open terrain, the elk run.

My hunting area has some small, medium and large meadows and some large areas above treeline. Most of it is dark timber. Honestly, for this area, I have no idea why they bother. I do not think there are any outfitters in this area because the high number of DYI hunters. They could just go up on a 12K ridge and glass to a number of areas, so the expense of using aircraft seems silly.

Even though I am annoyed by the planes, if they are legal, then they are legal. I just have to live with it.

The area is a little bit on the flight path of Denver to a Colorado Mountain town, but those aircraft fly much higher.

[Bullnuts]

I've actually seen the same thing in my hunting area, but the planes don't get so low that I would think that they have an impact on the elk. Most of the time they're up around 500-1000 feet above the ground, but they do fly in a grid and seem to make a couple trips during the day. I've never thought to question the legality of the flights, but it's a good question, especially if they're scouting. Seems like the time that they are flying, though, the majority of the animals are already in the timber, so I'm probably seeing more elk than they are.

[buglmin]

It sounds like the planes are scouting, probable an outfitter, and it is perfectly legal. We used to fly every year the day before rifle season. We lost two great friends in 1997 when the plane clipped a tree and hit flipped over...a great friend burned to death. We don fly much anymore.
As far as impact, the elk dont run, and the deer dont run from the airplanes. We used to scout the Gila in NM that way.

[mtnmutt]

bulgim, Truly sorry to hear about your friends.

The CO regs are clear that you can use aircraft >1 day before your hunt, but not the day before or on the days you hunt. I think they are likely legal scouting flights. In this area, most of the local outfitters don't guide into the OTCs where I hunt because of the high number of DIY hunters. They only do the limited license areas.

I agree with bullnuts, I likely see more elk than those planes due to high percentage of timber. For my area, the elk are gone from the high areas above treeline by 8:30am and in most places they leave the meadows by 7 am.

Thanks.

[buglmin]

We used to fly at daylight, before the thermals started rising and making flying the canyons more deadly. It used to be fun.
A well known outfitter was caught in AZ several years ago as they used ultralites to guide the hunters in on bulls and monster muleys...
Another explaination is a Search and Rescue plane, flying in grids, either doing an excerise or looking for lost people. We see this all the time down around here cause of the lost hunters...

[elkaholic]

Last year during my scouting trips I got to see some pretty cool reactions on the elk's part. As soon as I could hear the plane coming most of the elk that I was watching would head for the timber and stay there while the plane flew its grid. As soon as the plane left they would come back out and resume their normal morning or evening routine. It was pretty cool to watch and I bet there was some jokes spoken in elk amongst the herd

[Trophyhill]

I've witnessed Small low flying planes flying grids during deer season on public land bordering private land. I've also witnessed military exercises at night in the same area using hovering Ospreys. I don't know about elk but there is definitely a negative effect on the deer herds where I hunt. The deer disappear for a few days.

[mtnmutt]

wow! Elkaholic that is great info. It sounds similar to what a lady who tended cattle up high in the CO mountains said about the ATV hunters.

She said: The ATV hunters would complain that there are no elk there. She observed that has soon as the ATVs passed by, the elk would cross the road behind them. The ATV hunters never saw the elk. What a hoot!

I love the elk. They give us these great laughable moments that I am not sure you get with any other big game.

Buglmin, The area I hunt, I know the SAR rescues off 14ers and searches are sometimes done by Fort Carson Chinook helicopters. The army writes them off as training. If serious injuries and not complex flying, they call in flight for life. High elevation low flying is very dangerous so they prefer to have the army do it. We lost a flight for life pilot and nurse in the 90's on a hiker's broken ankle rescue. SAR procedures may have changed after that accident.

Trophyhill, I thought that CPW was going to get the military to rethink their Southern CO low flying. It may have had more to do with the bats than game animals. White noise syndrome has caused a decline of bat populations.

[Trophyhill]

Lol, there was a push in NM to close some 2 track roads and stop drilling because of some type of lizard the activists wanted to list. The full on assault is going full bore right now