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Knowing Your Elk Hunting Area

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Knowing Your Elk Hunting Area

Postby Swede » 11 14, 2017 •  [Post 1]

Many factors need to come together for us to be able to harvest elk year after year. Luck Is nothing to depend on. Knowledge, persistence, skill, hard work, and patience can all factor in. Skilled hunters who understand elk, can compensate some for a lack of knowledge about a particular area. A good guide will also compensate. For most of us it takes map work, Google Earth and boots on the ground. How much of your ability to get elk is due to your knowledge of your hunting area? How long did it take you to get comfortable knowing you were not wasting a lot of time in your pursuit?
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Re: Knowing Your Elk Hunting Area

Postby elkstalker » 11 14, 2017 •  [Post 2]

When I hunt a new area the first place I go is a map and google earth, generally looking for areas with limited amounts of open roads, and terrain and elk habitat that suits my hunting style. The second place I go is making phone calls to the BLM, Forest Service, and Fish and Game biologists that know the area well to confirm the general areas I have outlined hold elk in the season I am going to hunt. Then I spend tons of time on google earth and topo maps, looking for feeding areas, bedding areas, ridges to glass from, game trails, water, etc. Lastly, depending on how much time I have to get on the ground, I will scout, getting on the highest points and glassing to get an idea of how the elk in the summer are utilizing the habitat. I would say that my odds are significantly better than someone who just shows up at camp or the trailhead and hunts blindly. Also, I feel much more comfortable and safe on the landscape with the amount of pre-season intel I gather. Also always have a plan b, c, d... hunting conditions can change, areas may be inaccessible, elk move due to hunting pressure. The weeks before my hunt I am constantly monitoring the weather in my hunt areas, as snow may push elk around, rain may increase the amount of water available on the landscape, etc. I love hunting, scouting allows me to "extend" my season significantly :D
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Re: Knowing Your Elk Hunting Area

Postby Roosiebull » 11 14, 2017 •  [Post 3]

to me it's a very key aspect. a big part of my strategy is learning areas that hold elk, learn them very well, and figure out how the elk use it. I can generally figure an area out enough to be somewhat effective in a couple or 3 days, but it seems like fine tuning the knowledge of the area never ends.

I don't ever think I have a spot "figured out" thinking that holds us back from learning more. if we truly knew an area, and everything about it, we would have a chance to kill an elk there every day ;) I learn more about how little I know about an area.

I don't use maps or google earth hardly at all, I learn areas with boots on the ground, and a GPS (that is an eye opening little tool)

4 years ago I lost access to all of the areas I grew up hunting, and had to learn a whole new lineup of spots, and it was all in a completely different type of habitat than I knew. I went from hunting timber company land to national forest land. that was a very tough year, and ended up being the first year in several I had to hunt the late cow season to get an elk.

I really wished I had spent more time in national forest, just slowly learning it, rather than learning it on the fly during the season. I was overwhelmed how vast that terrain was, and how broad the habitat was compared to what I was used to, the theme that whole year was 2 day old sign, and when I got on fresh sign, I didn't know how to convert it into elk encounters.

I caught some elk out and about that season, but only pulled my bow back on one bull, he was close, but I didn't like the angle, and he bolted before giving me anything better. after that season was behind me, I had a whole year to think about the season, and was getting motivated. though I had a rough year, the truth was, I learned a lot, and was prepared for the next one.

next season rolled around, I hunted with an open mind, changed up my strategy, and it started feeling natural again. I had several encounters and filled my tag at the end of week one. I think I was hunting the exact same as I always had in completely different habitat (I thought I knew how to elk hunt) as soon as I started following the clues, looking at the habitat on a larger scale, I started finding consistency again.

I don't think learning an area ever ends, there are always dots to be connected, and keeping an open mind and working hard seems like the best recipe. I will continue to expand my knowledge on the areas I hunt, and learn new areas to hunt, the more I branch out, the more I learn about elk in general....it's a pretty big mistake to think you have something figured out in my experience.

I remind myself i'm dumb, and always try to get smarter :lol:
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Re: Knowing Your Elk Hunting Area

Postby Indian Summer » 11 18, 2017 •  [Post 4]

Knowing your area can be the reason you are among the 10% of the hunters that kill 90% of the elk over the years. Period. So find a good area and stick with it. Hopping all over the place looking for greener grass prohibits you from doing that.
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