How far will a herd go when they get spooked

[nphunter]

How are you finding them in the thick cover? Looking for prints on the ground or calling or what?

Fresh sign, smelling them, listening for them, calling. We’ve been sitting close enough to a Huge herd bull the last few days we can hear him scent checking his cows and glunking for hours. They are sticking to the cover until pretty much dark before feeding out. We’ve been in bow range several times and even at full draw once but no clean shot.

 

[BigNate]

My son and his buddies had excited two bulls calling and the two bulls actually got into a sparing match. Clown road his quad up a "closed" road above them and bugled like crap. The fight stopped, the bulls split and ran out of the basin.
They learn quickly, and if they didn't leave after a bust far enough, and busted again, that second run will be a long ways.

 

[Elkhntr08]

As far as they need to, to feel safe.
Almost an impossible question to answer, every situation is different.

 

[01lowbird]

they are gone

 

[ElkArcher918]

I came upon a herd of elk but got winded when I was making a play on the bull. They scattered and went over two ridges. How far do you guys think they might have gone?

At least 2+ ridges over to nearest cover. You might be able to get away with some noise and a little movement here and there but man when they wind you the gig is over. I'd give them a break for at least a day and go find other elk.

 

[LaFever]

Elk are weird they're stubborn, hard headed, once they find an area where they l8ke to forage they'll return to that area after the get spooked " the first time" if they keep getting bumped like 3 times in 2 days they'll move the bedding area which probably isn't too far way less than 2 miles I believe they go on "emergency rations" and go without eating for a couple of days but then they're hungry

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Man this really depends on terrain, the area you are hunting, cover, size of the herd, their access into "sanctuary" (private land or preserves) etc.

In general, the best advice would be to not try and "catch back up" to a spooked herd, but that's not always the case. I generally use other hunter pressure to my advantage and predict where the elk are "going to be" not "where they are".

 

[Pony Soldier]

You have to learn the range, then learn their patterns and their habits. In some country you have to learn their elevation boundaries by the time of the year.

I got my hands on a research project that showed elk range by the month. The bull range was 1-2 miles. The cow range was 19 miles. It certainly caused me to expand my search radius and focused me on targets. If the dominant bull got killed, then the game severely changed until a new herd bull was established and his range then controls the new patterns.