Finding Elk vs Killing Elk

[WildmanDan]

I've been lurking the forum for years now and am psyched to join the conversation.

I've been archery elk hunting Colorado OTC in an area with relatively low elk density. That being said, I'm in elk basically everyday.

The area is thick timber with big meadows at the bottoms all the way to alpine parks. There are also a ton of smaller wet meadows dispersed throughout the timber. I tend to bump a lone cow or two during the day between 10am-3pm-ish and will hear bulls bugling before/just after sunrise and right at dark.

Calling has generally been successful to locate and even to get bulls sub-30 yards. Typically I'll hike in slowly in the dark and listen. I'll get up 500-1,000 feet above the bottom and locate as well. I believe these are satellites and are coming in more-so to size me up vs. fight.

The challenge is that they aren't really herded up - it's like groups of 1-4 elk. This is in the thick timber.
However, I do see a herd of 25-30 elk in the alpine park. I've been glassing up on a ridge and have watched them on 4-5 different occasions basically take the exact same path through a system of meadows into the timber to bed.

One thing I have noticed is that where I see/hear in the morning/evening is where I will find them the following morning/evening.

Again, the challenge in the thick timber is if I'm not setup exactly where they are for an ambush I'm out of luck.

Some ideas:
-Try and guess where they are bedded and still hunt the area.
-Try some midday cold calling setups near bedding areas.
-If elk located in the morning, let them be and go chill somewhere or get up high and glass. Return to the area for an evening hunt.
-Find those little wet meadows on benches where they might bed and sit the meadow/water midday hoping they come to feed/water.
-Go to a new area that is more conducive to spot&stalk.

In summary - I'm into elk often, but I wouldn't say I have a ton of "killable" encounters. I'm struggling to connect all the dots and seal the deal.

Any thoughts/advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Nickofthewoods]

One thing I have noticed is that where I see/hear in the morning/evening is where I will find them the following morning/evening.

Given this observation, can you watch where they enter the timber in the morning and make a game plan to be in that area for the evening?

 

[rockymountainjk]

Can you stay even with them in elevation so you don’t wind them and follow them up to where they bed? Get as close as possible and try to sneak in vs rake vs cow call vs challenge the bull if you can get super close

 

[WildmanDan]

Given this observation, can you watch where they enter the timber in the morning and make a game plan to be in that area for the evening?

Totally. This has worked to a degree...

Last time I chased cows up essentially a ski slope in a thunderstorm. This wild, forked purple lightning bolt struck the ridge just above the elk who were unfazed... I was praying...

 

[ScreamingPotato]

This has gotta be one of the better well thought out first posts I've seen here!

 

[WildmanDan]

Can you stay even with them in elevation so you don’t wind them and follow them up to where they bed? Get as close as possible and try to sneak in vs rake vs cow call vs challenge the bull if you can get super close

I guess this is where I get uncertain.

Real example - setup an advertising sequence outside a feeding area in the morning. Heard a bugle up the mountain after a louder location bugle I put out and started to head that way. Saw a cow about 60 yards above me also moving up hill once I left my setup. I wouldn't say I busted her bad, but she trotted off uphill.

Should I keep following in this situation? The elk definitely know I'm there but they haven't winded me and don't run for their lives.

 

[Customweld]

This has gotta be one of the better well thought out first posts I've seen here!

He's been lurking for years, silently watching and learning the code of the elusive WKR!

For the OP:
Is it in a spot that you can ground blind or maybe even tree stand one of their more commonly used paths? Maybe these elk are better ambushed and not pursued.

 

[WildmanDan]

This has gotta be one of the better well thought out first posts I've seen here!

Haha thanks my man

Hoping I can be the one giving advice one of these days...

 

[svivian]

The challenge is that they aren't really herded up - it's like groups of 1-4 elk. This is in the thick timber.
However, I do see a herd of 25-30 elk in the alpine park. I've been glassing up on a ridge and have watched them on 4-5 different occasions basically take the exact same path through a system of meadows into the timber to bed.

Is there a herd bull with this group of 25-30?

If not the bulls are just hanging around waiting for rut to kick off.

If there is a herd bull I would find where the bulls are wallowing as well as bedding areas. Make sure wind is in your favor. I've had success raking and bugling in wallows bringing in herd bulls which will also bring in satellites who are trying to steal cows while the herd bull is distracted. The satellite bulls will come in quiet and not make a peep though. Sometimes the herd bull will do the same.

Good luck

 

[WildmanDan]

He's been lurking for years, silently watching and learning the code of the elusive WKR!

For the OP:
Is it in a spot that you can ground blind or maybe even tree stand one of their more commonly used paths? Maybe these elk are better ambushed and not pursued.

That sounds totally reasonable. I'm thinking of ordering a few game cams to leave so I can understand timing a bit better.

There are these huge meadows at the bottom that in my first impression you think would be full of elk but they seems to really stay at these smaller meadows and wet benches on the steep slopes.

 

[Dos Perros]

I like the idea of trying to figure out where they've bedded. It sounds like you have a general idea. I'd get on that face, above where you think they are, and sit and listen. By 10AM if you haven't heard anything maybe traverse that face and use a tube and cow call down to the bottom till you get a response. You can always traverse the whole ridge, then drop a couple hundred feet and go back the other way, and keep snaking down until you find them. You have until 4pm at least so you can take your time.

Once you find them I'd try to stalk in close, within bow range of one cow. Then try to figure out where the bull is. In my experience the bull is on the upwind side of the cows. You're hoping he'll get up and come check out the one cow you're closest to, and you can kill him. This obviously only works on a day with consistent wind.

 

[WildmanDan]

Is there a herd bull with this group of 25-30?

If not the bulls are just hanging around waiting for rut to kick off.

If there is a herd bull I would find where the bulls are wallowing as well as bedding areas. Make sure wind is in your favor. I've had success raking and bugling in wallows bringing in herd bulls which will also bring in satellites who are trying to steal cows while the herd bull is distracted. The satellite bulls will come in quiet and not make a peep though. Sometimes the herd bull will do the same.

Good luck

Opening morning I saw the herd of 25-30 with what I'd assume to be the herd bull. This was September 2nd in Colorado right at treeline in a basin. I saw on them and ended up chasing the cows up a slope that night and they magically vanished... Saw them on the same ridge the next morning and stalked into 60-70 yards and couldn't get a shot. I looked down and saw the same bull who was now alone down in the basin?

I find a ton of wallow-ish areas but they seem more like water holes vs. an area where the elk are actively wallowing if that makes sense. Or, they have been wallows but are now just a water hole. The fresh tracks and lacks of muddy water gives me this perception. However, these 'wallows' could be clearing out the muddy water by the time I get there as there is quite a bit of water in CO this year so the spring is pumping.

Thank you!

 

[svivian]

Opening morning I saw the herd of 25-30 with what I'd assume to be the herd bull. This was September 2nd in Colorado right at treeline in a basin. I saw on them and ended up chasing the cows up a slope that night and they magically vanished... Saw them on the same ridge the next morning and stalked into 60-70 yards and couldn't get a shot. I looked down and saw the same bull who was now alone down in the basin?

I find a ton of wallow-ish areas but they seem more like water holes vs. an area where the elk are actively wallowing if that makes sense. Or, they have been wallows but are now just a water hole. The fresh tracks and lacks of muddy water gives me this perception. However, these 'wallows' could be clearing out the muddy water by the time I get there as there is quite a bit of water in CO this year so the spring is pumping.

Thank you!

I would be trying to find cloudy water with trees and brush covered in recent mud. It should be obvious that its being used, That or fresh bedding areas. Those have been the best areas for me to call bulls in. just my .02

@ElkNut1 might have some tips

 

[WildmanDan]

I like the idea of trying to figure out where they've bedded. It sounds like you have a general idea. I'd get on that face, above where you think they are, and sit and listen. By 10AM if you haven't heard anything maybe traverse that face and use a tube and cow call down to the bottom till you get a response. You can always traverse the whole ridge, then drop a couple hundred feet and go back the other way, and keep snaking down until you find them. You have until 4pm at least so you can take your time.

Once you find them I'd try to stalk in close, within bow range of one cow. Then try to figure out where the bull is. In my experience the bull is on the upwind side of the cows. You're hoping he'll get up and come check out the one cow you're closest to, and you can kill him. This obviously only works on a day with consistent wind.

I really like that traversing and 'snaking' strategy to cover ground - thanks!

My one pushback on the cow calling to them in their beds is I've hunted for 4 years now and haven't had one response to a cow call besides a calf running into to a mew as I entered thick timber from a meadow. I feel confident I've called in areas where there are bedded elk within 100-200 yards.

I'd say my calling is solid based on my time studying the ElkNut app (thanks, Paul!), but maybe I'm using the wrong sounds?

I just saw ElkNut post about the cow bugle working for them?

 

[justinspicher]

I am in the same boat, but continue to do the same thing, which is be overtly aggressive and chase elk as if I can actually catch them. Mathematically I should have killed one by now, but due to an intense amount of impatience, that just hasn’t happened.

 

[WildmanDan]

I am in the same boat, but continue to do the same thing, which is be overtly aggressive and chase elk as if I can actually catch them. Mathematically I should have killed one by now, but due to an intense amount of impatience, that just hasn’t happened.

Haha I feel that.

What has worked for you???

 

[justinspicher]

Switching from archery to rifle helped immensely, to start with. I still am pretty aggressive, but I have quit calling so much and try to just sneak in on them. It seems like if I call when I am close it blows the gig.

 

[TaperPin]

Advice is cheap - this may or may not apply to the area you’re hunting, but consider it. . .

The most visible elk are the bright shiney sparkly cows and whatever bull or bulls are following them all across the countryside - don’t forget about all the other bulls that aren’t traveling so much and are rolling around in the mud peeing on themselves and never being seen anywhere near the cows. That bull with the cows has 20 sets of eyes looking for you. The wallows you want are a dirty mess and still stink like elk - find those and a day hunting slowly in the timber might be more productive than chasing the easy to see cows up and down the hill.

I‘m not an Olympic class archery bull killer, but the best I‘ve ever met doesn’t leave the thick timber, doesn’t chase cows, and had a pile of 6x6 elk before he was 30.

edit: As a firefighter we were flying to a small fire during the rut and a bull was spotted - in a big patch of solid timber there was a small spring fed bog and grassy marshy spot maybe 25’ to 30’ across - way into the otherwise solid forest in fairly typical rocky pine forest. The pilot said he’s seen a single 6x6 bull there many times throughout the summer and fall - well away from any cows - just enough to eat for one or two elk. I’ve never built a hunting strategy on these little bogs during the rifle season, but it was a tiny bit of elk behavior that has always stuck with me.

 

[WildmanDan]

edit: As a firefighter we were flying to a small fire during the rut and a bull was spotted - in a big patch of solid timber there was a small spring fed bog and grassy marshy spot maybe 25’ to 30’ across - way into the otherwise solid forest in fairly typical rocky pine forest. The pilot said he’s seen a single 6x6 bull there many times throughout the summer and fall - well away from any cows - just enough to eat for one or two elk. I’ve never built a hunting strategy on these little bogs during the rifle season, but it was a tiny bit of elk behavior that has always stuck with me.

Those marshy bog/meadows are exactly what I'm talking about!

Literally 2 days ago I hiked in to a spot just like that, milled around a bit and then ley out a mellow single note bugle. This was at 530pm-ish.

I immediately heard sticks breaking and sure enough a bull slides right into 30 yards. I honestly was super surprised - it happened so fast I hesitated too long and he bounced out of my life forever... I've seriously lost sleep over it the past few nights.

 

[TaperPin]

Those marshy bog/meadows are exactly what I'm talking about!

Literally 2 days ago I hiked in to a spot just like that, milled around a bit and then ley out a mellow single note bugle. This was at 530pm-ish.

I immediately heard sticks breaking and sure enough a bull slides right into 30 yards. I honestly was super surprised - it happened so fast I hesitated too long and he bounced out of my life forever... I've seriously lost sleep over it the past few nights.

Don’t feel too bad - it‘s like dating - the next one you get cozy with will take your mind off the one that got away. Lol