Heavy Timber Tactics

[Flatlander3]

So, I want to see if there are any heavy timber tactics hunters out there. I went on a MT general elk hunt and it was alot more heavily timbered than expected. I never had to get the scope off 3 power type of stuff. Out west I am used to glassing on high spots but each high spot had trees blocking the view. Even when you moved around them, the far off distance was heavily tree covered, blocking the forest floor. Plenty of guys hunting this and I saw old sign still hunting. I just felt you were guessing on where to go vs. actually knowing where they are.

How do you hunt these areas for rifle elk?

 

[Indian Summer]

My heavy timber tactic is to stay out of the heavy timber areas. I made that switch years ago. Instead of hunting an area any way I can I go find areas that fit my style of hunting. If I had to say one thing about hunting elk like that, it’s that they have to eat. They eat 20 pounds a day. Find the food.

 

[jgilber5]

Its definitely tough if you stay in the thick timber. Normally an archery guy which actually makes sense in the thick stuff, but had a rifle opportunity this year. Tried the open stuff in the unit but was covered up by other hunters so into the timber I went. Only got one because I covered so much ground and ended up soft-bumping him out of his bed, called and got him to lay back down. As Indian Summer said, the only patterns I could really find in there were the nighttime feeding locations.

 

[Crowmangler]

Hunting timber you need to constantly think about 3 things: wind, wind & wind.
Carry a wind checker & use it... a lot. You might bump them 300 yards away & never know it.

You should be using your binos constantly ... in all directions.

If you think you're moving too slow, you're not

 

[Yoteassasin]

Binos up all the time for sure . They are like
Xray vision in the trees

 

[Flatlander3]

Beyond that, your just targeting general areas next to food or water and still hunting?

 

[Pony Soldier]

Nice try guys. The biggest issue is knowledge of the land. Within the timber there are distinct pathways. There are distinct wind patterns that can change within a very short distance. The only way you really learn the heavy timber is by following the elk through it. There are very specific spots that elk like to bed and trails to get there.

Patterns are consistant until they aren't. You only get good at timber hunting by hunting elk in timber. Pussy footing for elk scares the hell out of them. Mountain lions pussy foot. There is a pace that elk follow that is about a casual stroll. I have often walked right into a herd of feeding elk and a couple of times - sleeping elk.

You have to learn the country and the patterns. Don't expect to meet anyone in there. It is a lonely place.
Here's a picture of one of my open hunting area.

 

[Ross]

Find the sweet spot and start cruising with wind in your face…slow down when you smell them, fresh sign etc, otherwise keep cruising….

 

[cnelk]

All I hunt is timber.
Rarely glass.
"Your bubble of awareness needs to be bigger than your bubble of disturbance"

 

[Pony Soldier]

A little more. Your scope doesn't need to have huge mag capabilities. 2-6 power covers it well as your target is placing a bullet through a 3"x3" hole in the limbs at 60 yds.

Pop guns don't pack it. You will need a big enough gun to shoot through a 6" tree should you have to. (I have). Granted it was quakie but stuff happens. I shoot 7 mag and my partner shoots an 06 or a 300 win mag.

You should develop shooting skills for placing a second bullet down a shooting lane - quickly.

Last if not least - in thick second growth you have to get your head around shooting a bull at the junction of the 4th branch. It gets them on the ground and will buy you enough time to get him better anchored with the next bullet.

Just a few thoughts.

 

[Athens]

Any low saddles in ridges, especially if they have a clear cut/laurel/beech thicket edge running up the saddle. Heavy trails off the edge of narrow benches around a point. Old skid trails thru thick growth areas, spend the time in the spring/summer to keep these trimmed and clear.

 

[Dave0317]

Last if not least - in thick second growth you have to get your head around shooting a bull at the junction of the 4th branch. It gets them on the ground and will buy you enough time to get him better anchored with the next bullet.

Just a few thoughts.

What’s the junction of the 4th branch? You can’t be talking about antlers right?

 

[TaperPin]

The best way to learn what kind of places elk like to lie down in is to simply get in there. If you’re learning (not hunting) it’s not wasted time to follow old or new tracks and see where they bedded down. When hunting don’t rely on old tracks. Elk have long legs and move easily through timber - it surprises guys that sometimes the feeding and bedding spots are a mile or more apart, and sometimes they hardly move at all. Elk are creatures of habit and travel routes used this year between areas are the same every year.

North facing drainages that have fingers of trees with relatively small cool, damp and heavily timbered bottoms are my go to simply because they are easy to figure out. Elk bed down low and work their way up the edges of the fingers at night. Glassing the dirt on both sides of big fingers I’ve seen elk tracks going in one side and not coming out the other - that’s a good opportunity to go in after them. Yeah, I glass dirt. lol

North facing timbered slopes with large cool benches midway up are another high probability area.

I look at some of the lightly timbered areas in Colorado with ridge after ridge of very uniform timber and no real obvious benches or cool bottoms and I’d have a hard time.

You hunt the cards you’re given not the cards you want, so if an area doesn’t make sense keep moving in the coolest areas and don’t slow down to a snails pace until steaming poop shows up. If you keep bumping elk that are out of range slow down a bit. It’s a skill to know how close you are, so use ears, nose, eyes. You may have tracks that make it obvious, or they may enter and leave from a different direction than you have to hunt.

 

[Gerbdog]

to add to this thread - watch where the "uniform timber" turns into mosaics of aspen + pine or Pine + deadfall with undergrowth or aspen + undergrowth

Its usually an animal desert where i hunt if its just pine pine pine pine pine - i look for and hunt those mosaics - could just be a tiny patch of aspens in a sea of pine .... but those elk will be bedding right there, feeding right there, whatever

Approach those areas with caution ... ive bumped more elk than i'd like to tell any good hunter

 

[Pony Soldier]

Dave0317. Yes the junction of the dagger tine( no 4 ) can be 3-4 inches wide. A bullet through it will knock them flat.

You know by now there is no interest on my part for any bragging rights. My biggest rack was taken to the dump by my father when I went to college. I don't even take pictures.

 

[TaperPin]

Here’s a little area I walked around on: north slope, fingers of trees, elk bed down towards the creek and at night work their way up. There’s not a good place to glass for moving elk early/late, easier horse access elsewhere so they are rarely seen - I’ll walk the edges of the trees and it’s pretty obvious when elk are there, then you get down wind and go in after them.

Had someone still hunted above the x’s, odds are very low unless there’s a good snow.

 

[MountainMan83]

Gerbdog offers good advice. Find where the vegetation changes. I like to sit on the edges of openings where I can maybe only see 200 yards at most. Don’t hesitate to use your binoculars, as I have bumped elk bedded less than 100 yards from me when getting up to switch spots.

As you still hunt an area keep mental tabs where you see fresh tracks or sign. I have noticed elk frequently use these spots year after year. Elk seem to travel in cycles every few days. Not uncommon for me to not see sign for 5-7 days and then they are there - these are spots I have seen elk consistently over the years. My group has killed several elk within a couple hundred yards diameter of each other every few years. Success is where persistence and luck meet - stole this quote from another Rokslider