Calving areas

[Bmarcks31]

Coming from the east coast (with no ability to get boots on the ground scouting before September), e-scouting is important for my archery elk hunt planning. Among the many pieces of data I look at are of course the summer and winter ranges and migration routes but also came across calving areas in this specific unit- anyone have success hunting these areas before? Although primary use is obviously in the spring, would think that they would offer the type of sanctuary that elk look for once they start getting shot at in the September....

 

[Jaquomo]

I don't know about your unit, but where I hunted for more than 40 years, the areas shown on the interactive map as "calving areas - summer range" had the big cow concentrations when archery season started, and the bulls came to them for the rut. The problem was that too many hunters figured that out, and the whole program was blown up by about day 4 of the season. The elk then fled to big ranches and stay there for the rest of the season, sometimes in huge herds. That is rhe "sanctuary".

Thr internet has been both a blessing and a curse for elk hunting.

 

[ElkNut1]

Jaq couldn't be more spot on! Plus calving areas in most areas are not remote hard to get to places. They follow the snowline in many areas come June but most those areas are very accessible.

Cover ground & use your Glass in open country & your bugle in timbered country. It's not rocket science. Elk hunting is fun but challenging & the rewards can be awesome! The new hunter who is extremely persistent with little back-up will do best! Have fun & enjoy the ride sir!

ElkNut

 

[hobbes]

The major calving areas that I've known anything about in Colorado and Montana have all been on really nice private land to begin with. I'm sure there are some areas on public but it seems the biggest calving concentrations that I've seen are on the best ground on private land. Yes, there ends up being a big herd bull or two in these areas with satellite bulls. Fun to watch, but no public access.