CO 1st Rifle

[Poser]

Newbie question in regards to pressure and meeting other hunters. What do you guys do if you are back in a spot and other hunters come through? Do you stay in the area? Move to a new one? How do you use pressure in the area to your advantage? Will elk clear out completely or circle around like a white tail?

They tend to bolt like a herd of wild horses from experience.

 

[JG358]

Newbie question in regards to pressure and meeting other hunters. What do you guys do if you are back in a spot and other hunters come through? Do you stay in the area? Move to a new one? How do you use pressure in the area to your advantage? Will elk clear out completely or circle around like a white tail?

Depends on the amount of traffic they're used to. Lots of elk in areas that see year round use. Elk in more remote areas will act different than elk in highly used areas. We always see other hunters in our normal area. Figure out where the other hunters are likely to push the elk and set up to cut them off.

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[brsnow]

Many just bed in areas most people are not comfortable hunting.

 

[Newt]

Depends on the amount of traffic they're used to. Lots of elk in areas that see year round use. Elk in more remote areas will act different than elk in highly used areas. We always see other hunters in our normal area. Figure out where the other hunters are likely to push the elk and set up to cut them off.

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I found this to be true. I think that the elk where we hunt are used to people. Lots of private land, lots of traffic, and lots of trails in the area. Several times guys would say they would walk by a thick area, stop for a min, and then an elk would bolt out from where they just walked by. A lot of times I think the elk just sit there and wait for people to walk by and only run when the person actually stops.

This was only my second time hunting the area. I now have a really good idea of the area and when I go back I am going to be sitting opening morning in one of those areas that elk will run to when pushed. The first time I went I bumped a group of elk out of their beds on opening day, I wasn't more than 30 yards from them, they ran 100 yards and stopped to see what I was(the wind was in my favor), and a bull gave me the opportunity I needed. I had no clue about where they bedded and fed the first time but after all my hiking this time I have a pretty good idea of things.

 

[AaronMColeman]

Depends on the amount of traffic they're used to. Lots of elk in areas that see year round use. Elk in more remote areas will act different than elk in highly used areas. We always see other hunters in our normal area. Figure out where the other hunters are likely to push the elk and set up to cut them off.

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very true. During the hunting season the elk are up higher in my area, and they will bolt if they hear/see/smell or get any sort of bad feeling. Same elk will herd up and the smaller bulls will move with the cows down to in front of my house, and they will keep a consistent 100 yards "personal space" that time of year.

In general, if one hunter spooks one elk, any other elk that happen to be near will start running. Just because they see one spooked cow, they all start to think something is up. In fact, I try not to spook deer. Antything runnign through the trees will get other things running. That said, you often can't avoid pressure. I don't have a great way to use it to my advantage, it just is what it is. If you can find a saddle the elk use to get into heavy timber, that's usually the best way to let other hunters push them to you.

 

[1GIG]

Great info guys, thanks for taking the time to answer.
This year was my first and from all the reading I've done over the past year, I found out quick, I have lots to learn.

 

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To cold and snowy for my normal area to be very good lucked into 1 bull out of 8 tags.

 

[AaronMColeman]

Great info guys, thanks for taking the time to answer.
This year was my first and from all the reading I've done over the past year, I found out quick, I have lots to learn.

Last year was my first elk hunting season. I knew nothing. This year I felt a lot more prepared, but even at that, I feel head and shoulders above where I was 5 weeks ago. Learning in the off-season is invaluable, being on the mountain is even more invaluable. You'll get it and start feeling much more comfortable.

 

[success]

Were y'all seeing any cows? We're going 3rd season for the first time in Colorado. We picked up 2 cow and 1 bull tag. We're hoping to learn a ton and bring some meat home. If we luck into a bulk then even better.

 

[1GIG]

Last year was my first elk hunting season. I knew nothing. This year I felt a lot more prepared, but even at that, I feel head and shoulders above where I was 5 weeks ago. Learning in the off-season is invaluable, being on the mountain is even more invaluable. You'll get it and start feeling much more comfortable.

Yeah, it will come. Even without getting into elk, still an awesome trip/experience. Looking forward to the years to come where I, hopefully, have more knowledge and the kids are old enough to come with.

 

[tbowers]

15 the first night in our area. 30's after that. Saw as high as 70 during the day. I was hot walking around. Saw other hunters in shorts. I'm deficient in experience so I am basing this off what I have been told by others. Talked to several guys who claimed to hunt the area for 20+ years and got elk nearly every year. Talked to ranch hands from private and they also said elk were lacking this year.

I gave it hell and learned a lot. Didn't expect a free ride, but hoped to at least see elk. I couldn't find much sign in my area other than mulies.

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I felt the same way, i've hunted deer for almost 30 years- i get that there is NEVER any guarantees in hunting but i sure expected to at least see a elk in 4.5 days of hunting- just with dumb luck i would have thought we would bump one when out covering ground. We also talked to folks that had hunted our unit in past years and they noted they had luck but that this year was really tough. I think i said it previously but it was nuts that we didnt even talk to anyone that had seen an elk..coming from WI and being a whitetail guy all my life you would have to have your eyes shut to not see a deer in 5 days. Little higher population here though...

 

[cnelk]

I think you WT guys would do better if you forgot about WT tactics while elk hunting

 

[5MilesBack]

It's tough to see elk sometimes. During archery you can have a herd 30 yards away from you in the timber and you can't see a single one of them at times. I've had bulls 10 yards away screaming, and all I can see is an antler tip or a very small patch of tan. So "seeing" elk is sometimes a challenge.........but you still know they're there.

What's even more interesting to me is not seeing a fresh pile all season, yet saw well over 100 elk over a few weeks. That one still baffles me. That happens every year. Maybe one fresh pile or two max all season, and I'm on elk every day.

 

[AaronMColeman]

It's tough to see elk sometimes. During archery you can have a herd 30 yards away from you in the timber and you can't see a single one of them at times. I've had bulls 10 yards away screaming, and all I can see is an antler tip or a very small patch of tan. So "seeing" elk is sometimes a challenge.........but you still know they're there.

What's even more interesting to me is not seeing a fresh pile all season, yet saw well over 100 elk over a few weeks. That one still baffles me. That happens every year. Maybe one fresh pile or two max all season, and I'm on elk every day.

"seeing elk" is also an acquired skill. I hunt with a guy who sees stuff I never would have. Every time out he sees elk. I see them often, but not as much as him. I tend to think a lot of people who go to certain areas and don't "see elk" may just not have the game-eye others do. I'm sure sometimes there are no elk, but I'm also sure other times there are elk...just a lot of us less trained eyes can't see them or don't know the prime spots to look.

 

[tbowers]

I think you WT guys would do better if you forgot about WT tactics while elk hunting

There isnt any reason that some WT tactics dont carry over into the elk woods...all depends on the situation. Talked to guys that noted in previous years they setup makeshift blinds or hung portable stands on the edges of meadows and would sit dark to dark and had success.

 

[chops24]

Some good info here. It reminds me of the old adage 80% of the elk are killed by 20% of the hunters or something like that. Basically the same guys are successful year after year. Im sure guys who jump on google earth, read forums, get on youtube a month prior to season kill elk, but not nearly as regularly as the sickos like me and some buddies i have where it runs in our veins 365 days a year. i believe it is by scouting in the offseason, experience, scouting in the offseason, being familiar with their equipment, not making excuses, never going home a day early and scouting in the offseason.

 

[cnelk]

There isnt any reason that some WT tactics dont carry over into the elk woods...all depends on the situation. Talked to guys that noted in previous years they setup makeshift blinds or hung portable stands on the edges of meadows and would sit dark to dark and had success.

Yes, 'some' WT tactics work. I have several tree stands I hunt elk out of.

But - thinking your opportunities of shooting an elk compared to shooting a WT are extremely different - even the fact of SEEING elk compared to seeing WT.

 

[5MilesBack]

"seeing elk" is also an acquired skill. I hunt with a guy who sees stuff I never would have.

I have a buddy that has eagle eyes. One time he was driving down this road through the thick aspens about 30mph and slams on the breaks shouting "deer". He backs up and stops and looks through the trees and says "right there". So I'm looking and looking and can't see a thing, but I'm looking at a normal distance for what a normal person would have been able to see from a passing truck doing 30mph in those thick trees, so I'm focusing on the first maybe 20 yards. He then says "about 100 yards in". And then I see very limited parts of a couple deer mostly covered by the aspens and bushes, etc, with very few openings to even see them. Yet he sees animals like that all the time.....even when driving. It's unreal.

 

[prm]

Of course WT hunting is different, but elk hunting isn’t exactly one thing. I read of guys glassing all day then putting on a stalk. That wouldn’t work where I hunt. I tend to find them in the dark timber, but then this year I caught a couple bulls coming into a meadow mid-day for a drink and they were bugling away. I would have not guessed that would happen.

 

[tbowers]

Yes, 'some' WT tactics work. I have several tree stands I hunt elk out of.

But - thinking your opportunities of shooting an elk compared to shooting a WT are extremely different - even the fact of SEEING elk compared to seeing WT.

No doubt - i made the comparison and acknowledged that there are far more deer around then elk. My home state of WI has a estimated population of almost 2 MILLION. What are CPW estimates on elk in CO...like 300k? Its a insane difference so I guess i should not have been surprised to walk all those miles and spend 55+ hours on the mountain and not see one. Heck we kill more deer annually in WI then the total population of elk in CO.

Bottom line is there a bunch of different ways to kill an elk, just like WT. A elk guy could come to the midwest and try your 'typical' elk tactics and they may work as well depending on the situation.