Blowdowns / Dark Timber Access

[Oakleyrossi]

Second year Bow Elk hunter here and will be mostly solo this year due to partner having knee surgery recently. I have done my E-Scouting and physical scouting and have narrowed down to few different areas of the unit, however a couple of the areas I want pursue first are 1-1.5 miles from the road however require 1/4 - 1/2 mile of going up and through steep dark timber and blowdowns or a combination of just to get to more open drainages where I have scouted and seen various types of new and old signs and luckily I am seeing no signs of human traffic in these areas as obviously getting in and out of here is the reason why. Questions for the more experienced?
1. Any tips to navigate this in the dark, either early morning or evening on the way out? It's hard to see in mid day in some of it. Has anyone ever flagged a route to help? Other ideas?
2. Obviously packing an elk out through here would be a whole other challenge. Other than just sucking it up and taking it slow any other advise? Getting to an actual trail would require at least another mile or two and crossing multiple drainages
3. I am seeing bedding signs right in the thick before it opens up and curious when coming up through their in early morning what would be the best approach to not push any elk out of there while trying to access the more open area I believe they are feeding and accessing water

Thanks in advance so much good info on this sight. My fiancé thinks I am crazy with how much time I spend reading through these forums.

 

[BBob]

It does suck, no way around it. Earlier days I created GPS way-points at key features to look at when I felt I was off track. Generally I memorized the route during scouting but occasionally got off track and fired up the GPS. I do the same on the phone apps now.

Elk are generally not in their beds when it's dark, as you say they are out feeding and watering. It might be good to avoid the area and go around if possible but...

 

[Marble]

off trail you can buy reflective thumb tacks that glow really bright when a flashlight is shined on them. It works well.

If I am going to be traveling through any area of timber I will look for an Elk trail and follow it. They tend to travel the path of least resistance.

Depends how early in the morning. If its in the dark and within sight or sound of where they are feeding, they most likely will be out feeding. If its two hours after sun up then they won't be in there.

But just consider....you will leave scent in there as soon as you walk through their area and they will know it. Keep your boots clean, don't go to the bathroom in there, and just try to avoid their area until you have to be in there.

This is the only thing I do that may be weird, but I put scent cover scent on in the bottoms of my boots. Anecdotally it seems to work. But Idk....

 

[5MilesBack]

I love the thick deadfall........so do the elk.

 

[Whiskey_Fish]

I’d just still hunt the timber all day. Why leave?


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[cnelk]

During the day or before season I put pieces of reflective tape on branches to mark where I want to make a path of least resistance.

We have a spot that has 74 blow downs to crawl over in a 1/4 mi just to get to where we start hunting. My buddy counted them last year.

 

[Oakleyrossi]

Thanks for the info. I have the best entrances and exits marked on my GPS and going back in the next week to define the best path through. I will definitely hunt through the Timber if that is what is needed. I didn't spend a bunch of time in there last scout as I was heading for the higher ground. My next trip I will spend more time in the Timber areas looking for sign but saw fresh signs of bedding on the edges for sure.

 

[Still Hunter]

I use reflective Tacks to help with trails, however I really do my best to remove them all when I am leaving an area. We have a few trails that intersect and I will leave the tacks up to identify the trail we need to follow. On a dark cloudy night they have saved me from sleeping under a pine tree more than once.

 

[TraderMike]

Orange, pink, and any other "tape" are trash just like beer cans and candy bar wrappers. They end up in my trash pouch on my pack. Tacks as well...

 

[ColoradoV]

If you dont know elk love downfall as hunting downfall is the “newest” thing..

Or hunting deadfall in 2020 is sooo popular it is like hunting new burns was in 2015....

 

[Whiskey_Fish]

If you dont know elk love downfall as hunting downfall is the “newest” thing..

Or hunting deadfall in 2020 is sooo popular it is like hunting new burns was in 2015....

Ah crap we definitely shot an elk in deadfall in 2015. I knew we were doing something wrong. Hard to keep up with which methods are trendy. Definitely need a sticky thread for that.


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[Gerbdog]

Watch for those antler tines sticking out of the deadfall... I find tons of beds out on points in what I call an elk log cabin... Those bulls know where to find safety and an outlook in all directions. Also been busted by my fair share of bulls in those locations.... tough hunting. It might seem like you can only see 20 ft in any direction but get those binos out.....

 

[Jqualls]

If you have a good spot I personally would not mark it with flags. To someone who knows the area it probably doesnt matter. For someone who does not know the area it is a road map with the easiest route to your spot. Most might crawl over a couple logs and say never mind too much work.

 

[trophyhill]

blowdowns drove me into the quakies a few years ago in an unbelievable otc area. before that experience, i was a timber rat. part of evolving as an elk hunter, taught me a thing or 2 about hunting the aspens that year. watching elk coming in from long distance compared to being in the dark up close and personal timber, was pretty awesome what i really loved about that experience, was not only hearing their reaction, but actually seeing how they react to your calls. advantage hunter!

 

[cnelk]

^^ those rotten old fallen down aspens hidden by tall grass are worse than Lodgepole deadfall!

 

[trophyhill]

^^ those rotten old fallen down aspens hidden by tall grass are worse than Lodgepole deadfall!

that aint no lie. one reason i didn't typically hunt the aspens previously, was a scare stepping on one of those logs. the first time i heard an elk step on one though, was a real eye opener for me.

it was also an eye opener one windy day when 4 80' plus aspens were uprooted not too far from me throughout the day

 

[Oakleyrossi]

If you have a good spot I personally would not mark it with flags. To someone who knows the area it probably doesnt matter. For someone who does not know the area it is a road map with the easiest route to your spot. Most might crawl over a couple logs and say never mind too much work.

Great point. Never really thought of it like this. Being an OTC unit, hunting solo and trying not to get too far from the road / truck I tried to find the nasty, brutal areas most folks wouldn't go through, originally just to get to what seem like good areas above the timber/blowdowns but I have been happy with what I have seen scouting in these three areas in particular so we will see. Being new to this still not sure but boots on the ground this summer and a trail cam is sure helping. Plus all the great insight here.

 

[Wrench]

Here's a typical view into an area as you described in my area.

What I did was hiked in and followed elk trails out. They make their way through and it will help make sense to you.