Ground scent?

[Salted life]

Are elk as bad to cut your trail as whitetails? I've been busted more than several times by whitetails smelling my trail into a stand even after spraying down, rubber boots, etc. Does your approach to a waterhole or wallow matter as much as how you access your deerstand?

 

[cnelk]

A couple years ago I walked to my tree stand I had on the edge of a small meadow.
I cut right thru the center, went directly to my stand

About an hour later I called in 2 bulls - one 4x5 and a 6x6.
The 4x5 came across the clearing, not noticing my boot trail.
When the 6x6 came to my boot trail, he put his head down and smelled - then turned around and walked away.

When the 6x6 turned, the 4x5 stopped and turned around also.

First time that has happened

 

[tjihrig]

They can smell your trail. However hunting elk is more dynamic and your moving constantly to get on them. So if they’re smelling where you just were, they’re likely downwind and they going to wind you anyways. That’s my experience. They will definitely stop dead when they get to your trail, but when I’ve seen them do that is when one is circling down wind to smell “the cow” they hear.


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[Roksliding]

I have a friend I hunt with that lives in Utah that thinks I’m crazy when I talk about this. I don’t think he believes me when I tell a whitetail will bounce if the cut your track.. he just smiles and shakes his head..... that leads me to believe elk aren't doing that as much... at least I haven’t seen it.

Maybe drier environment, scent doesn’t linger as long.?.?.

maybe the scenario, whitetail your usually waiting, er I mean “hunting” in a stand stationary, where elk hunting your usually taking the fight to them.

 

[fatlander]

I called a nice 6 point bull in last year that came in silent from an angle and general direction that we weren’t expecting. He was coming for everything he was worth until he hit our boot trail at 35 yards. He locked up the brakes,smelled the ground, and couldn’t leave fast enough.

There’s no possible way he actually winded us when he locked up and his last track was actually in one of our boot tracks. Where he came from, it is possible that he could have been able to smell us on the way in, so maybe that’s why he did what he did.


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[Salted life]

Thanks for the responses, I've only hunted elk a couple of times. I had a chance to scout the unit i drew and found 2 different wallows that we may set up on if things are slow. I am trying to figure out the best approach on one of them as an elk could possibly come in from any direction.

 

[FlyGuy]

This will be my 5th year hunting elk, but I’ve never been one to sit wallows. Having said that, it can be a deadly tactic that I should probably consider adding to my arsenal.

I know that if I did sit on a wallow, I would need to be positioned so that my scent isn’t being pushed towards the wallow. But, What confuses me is that (I have always assumed) an elk will circle around to approach a wallow from the downwind side? If so, then he would wind me anyway before getting there. Am I wrong about this? Do elk not worry about their approach to wallows as much as I am figuring?




You can’t cheat the mountain

 

[trophyhill]

it may happen occasionally. however I've had elk moving on the same elk trails I've been on the very same day and not appear to be spooked. a guys scent from boots and pants is so miniscule. having dogs or cats at the house could be a trigger if the scent is on your clothes i suppose.

 

[Spike elk]

I have hunted a tree stand for elk in the early season for the past five or so years. The spot that I hunt is where a couple trails come together as elk make their way to bedding areas. I access the tree stand from a direction that generally leaves my scent off those main trails. One year I killed a cow almost directly under my tree stand. It was in the afternoon and she came from the same direction and on the same trail that I use to access the stand. It had been about 10 hours since I climbed in the tree, but I also whiz right off the stand, plus you have my scent going up the tree. I guess your mileage varies.

Not arguing that the wind doesn't matter, above all else it does, even from a tree stand. Just my experience with an elk coming in on my scent trail from the morning.