Hunting wallows

[Chaser96]

How many of you all spend time hunting over or near wallows? Is it a good plan as a place to start until you hear elk? A mid day when nothing else is going on? Any other strategies to use? I’m a very new elk hunter just looking to learn as much as possible


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[Billy Goat]

Being an eastern hunter, I killed my first elk at a wallow, from a treestand.


Haven't sat in a stand for them since. I'll check some wallows, see if they are getting used, that's about it unless maybe I'm looking to rest a bit, might find a spot to sit for 1/2 hr. The problem is you will saturate the area with scent.


When I go elk hunting, I'm pretty active. To me, that's just what elk hunting is. I don't care to wait for them, I go find them. Not to say waiting can't be effective, I know guys who kill them that way, just not much on it.

 

[Raghornkiller]

It depends on the area.In places where the mountain is covered in wallows it can take years of chasing elk to find out which ones might be worth sitting.I have hung trail cameras in places like that where I've found wallows I could kill one every year by sitting a week but that's just not very fun.Every time I've tried sitting water I ended up chasing a bugle and never coming back.My wife killed one on a wallow in a limited entry unit that was pretty dry.It was a pretty cool experience watching elk come in and play in the mud but It wasn't something I'd like to do every year.

 

[Banded_spooney]

Don’t ever sit water. Elk can’t swim

 

[Banded_spooney]

All kidding aside, if you have a productive wallow, keep it a secret and you’ll be successful year after year but you have to be patient and willingly to risk the benefits of being aggressive.

A few years ago we had three guys in our group all kill 6pts on the same wallow in the same day.

Another year my uncle and I killed two six points on back to back nights on the same wallow. Bonus, they both died 60 yards from the wallow and we could drive a pickup to it.

Drew a late rifle tag in arizona in a dry year and had local knowledge of a few hot wallows. Wasted 3 days of a 5 day hunt before we had to switch to timber pounding. Gotta commit, which can be risky.

 

[Next Ridge]

Where I hunt there are a lot of wallows and water sources. So I check them out for activity but rarely sit on them as a strategy. If it seems not much else is working I’ll sit on an active one

 

[rclouse79]

I found a wallow that was so hot one year I had multiple close calls including a missed shot. I set up a treestand the next year. I hear elk barking at me before sunrise on opening day. I still ended up having elk come in at 10 the first morning with no shot opportunity. I think I stunk the whole place out. The sit over the next three days was boring enough that I have never set up a treestand for elk again.

 

[Chaser96]

I think from listening to your alls stories I’m going to use it as a starting point and chase bugles if I can hear any. I found a wallow last year that seemed to be getting lots of action and ended up calling in and shooting a bull there but never recovered him. We were able to hear bulls from there both days we hunted it. Hopefully it will be as productive this year


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[Hnthrdr]

Good to pay attention to them, but they don’t guarantee anything, they can give you clues for sure. Midwesterns sure do love coming all the way out west to sit in a tree, cracks me up

 

[Ross]

As noted sitting on wallows can be productive but also superrrr boring. If in an area with limited wallows @or limited water sources or very dry areas they can be more effective. I’ve never had the patience to sit long on one and prefer to chase bugles. If you find an active one put a cam on it. This bull came in 3 hrs before I sat on it for two hrs and then again 3 hrs after I left

 

[Hnthrdr]

As noted sitting on wallows can be productive but also superrrr boring. If in an area with limited wallows @or limited water sources or very dry areas they can be more effective. I’ve never had the patience to sit long on one and prefer to chase bugles. If you find an active one put a cam on it. This bull came in 3 hrs before I sat on it for two hrs and then again 3 hrs after I left

Cool bull! Love the devil point on him, seems to be my experience, the times I have committed to sit, are the times the bulls decide they don’t want to wallow

 

[Chaser96]

I’m not planning to sit there all week. Or even all day even. I like to elk hunt how I turkey hunt. Find a good spot to try and hear one and then chase them around and try to kill them. I was more or less just asking if it’s worth planning it as a spot to listen from or possibly hang out some during the day when I’m not hearing anything else. Definitely won’t be packing a tree stand in there. It’s a couple miles in and the last mile is bad deadfall


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[Hnthrdr]

I’m not planning to sit there all week. Or even all day even. I like to elk hunt how I turkey hunt. Find a good spot to try and hear one and then chase them around and try to kill them. I was more or less just asking if it’s worth planning it as a spot to listen from or possibly hang out some during the day when I’m not hearing anything else. Definitely won’t be packing a tree stand in there. It’s a couple miles in and the last mile is bad deadfall


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Not a bad idea especially if water is limited or really warm, but as far as listening, I think you are better off on a ridge line or up high where you can hear into several drainages, most wallows I find are kind of down in drainages

 

[Falro]

I agree that wallows can be really good especially In areas where water isn’t plentiful like Arizona, NM ect. My experience in hunting Colorado is that there’s so many wallows that trying to find one that gets used regularly is tough unless you run cameras or have alot of time to just sit day after day. That being said a lot of times mid day if I know there’s a wallow near by I’ll take my break and sit close enough that if one comes in I can get a shot. I’ve had quite a few come in like that. It’s pretty easy to see if a wallow is being used, if it looks like it’s been hit in the last day and you know there’s bulls close by it’s never a bad idea to just sit and blind call.

 

[LostArra]

I've located a wallow that is a great place to put a camera but a very tough place to hunt. Most of the day the wind is swirly so there is not a right place to sit. About an hour before sunset if I glass elk on a certain ridge I'll hustle to the wallow area because they are usually getting ready to drop down to the wallow and on to a grassy meadow to feed in the evening as the wind is dying. I've decided that the more the wind favors the elk, the more they will frequent the wallow.

One year I decided to hang a treestand. I'm there about 10 am and standing on my third stick with bow and pack on the ground as a young 6x6 walks in and after pawing the water he plops down in the wallow. Just lays there while I stand there 25 yards away, weaponless. Fortunately a spike came by and the bull left to run him off. Not having a tow rope tied to me and the bow is near the top of my 100 Elk Hunting Mistakes. Now I don't take a nap, stop for a snack or even take a leak without my bow within arm's reach and an arrow nocked.

 

[Jaquomo]

I know about 50 wallows in CO and WY and only one or two are situated where they won't smell me before they come in in the afternoons, even in a treestand. The most reliable wallows I know don't have suitable trees in range. Wallows are hit and miss. If I'm taking an evening off to recuperate, I would rather sit downwind of a trail leading to a wallow, or sit a small pond waterhole they visit more often than a wandering bull wallows.

 

[Still Hunter]

I have about 10 wallows I check each year as soon as I get camp set up. Let's me know if they are in the general areas around the corresponding wallows. This helps me focus in certain areas first. Or I move on the the next area and start over. Exceptionally wet years this is a waste of time. However, most of these wallows are in bowls where the wind is constantly swirling and changing directions and trying to actual sit and hunt one is extremely challenging. Nothing is more discouraging than finding fresh boot prints in your "secret" wallow. LOL!

 

[Marble]

It's tough to hunt wallows. I've found a lot of them are in locations that present a difficult approach for keeping all scent out. I've only really been successful when I take the most out of the way route. Walking up a drainage next to it, or the ridge above and dropping down only when the wind is just right.

Some guys swear elk won't smell where you've been.. and I think that can be true. But I've also seen elk smell the ground where I or another hunter recently walked, only to turn and bolt.

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[TradLife406]

This next year we're going all in on wallows.
We've been hunting this area for several years. We'd hunt hard all day then sit the wallows in the afternoons.

Well we're not the smartest guys around and it took us this long to figure out that if we have big mature bulls hitting the cameras at the wallows every evening at 1845 we shouldn't be crashing through the timber all day trying to call him in.

Last year I bought a LWCG 1.0 treestand and four compact sticks. My Dryad harness just came in last week, to hang n bang the wallows. We still have a spot without wallows to do some more traditional style elk hunting on the other mountain that's dryer. But we're definitely going smarter not harder.

I did shoot my last bull year before last on a wallow. As much fun as calling is it was pretty awesome to hear this dude bugle just before coming into the wallow. And at 25 yards he laid in the wallow. He stands and bugles before I recurved him.


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[ElkNut1]

One of my favorite tactics on OTC hunts is to stay back from the Wallow/Waterhole. I prefer to be 100-250 yards away & Advertise/Display in their domain! Doing this allows me a great setup spot where I have predictable wind.

The 1st 10 days of elk season is my favorite times to use this. Elk fall for it every year! Some will bugle randomly as they close the distance, most come in silent but that's fine with me as long as they come! (grin)

I prefer this as I'm generally done within 30 minutes of setting up as opposed to sitting days at a time because I'm leery of calling & running elk off. Too, as Jaq mentions the wind is your enemy if it swirls even a single time & reaches any elk! If this happens the elk will leave the area & you may not have a clue they did; thus wasting extra days still awaiting their appearance!

Advertising in their territory is a game changer, try it!

ElkNut