New elk strategies for a changing hunting culture

[Praxeus]

With the plethora of NR resident hunters pouring into places like Idaho, I have begun to give deeper considerations to changing tactics for elk hunting. The most obvious for me, is going deeper. Instead of having a base camp where the trucks are parked, looking more and more at a remote spike camp set up to access drainages and draws that cannot be reached without hiking...lots of it. Im getting a little older but can see no other options.

Im anxious to hear from some of the capable and experienced elk hunters on this site.

 

[S.Clancy]

I was part of 3 elk kills this year. Pack out distances (by walking, not straight line) were just under 2 miles, 3 miles, and just under 7 miles. Based on my small sample size of this year, they weren't all "deep". In my experience, there is almost always elk 1-2 miles from a road and since "steep and deep" is in vogue now. Just my opinion tho

 

[Gerbdog]

Some of the conventional wisdom on the forums here for new hunters, especially NR, is to stay mobile, and hunt near your truck. I think the idea is that unless your pretty confident the spot your hiking 7 miles back into has elk, your better off staying mobile and trying new locations until a hunt-able elk shows up. The time spent hiking in and out of a 7 mile or more deep location has the risk of holding no elk and then your left using valuable hunting time to hike back out and find a new location, or worse, sit in that spot hoping elk will suddenly appear (mmmmm tag soup). I personally agree with this wisdom and even here in CO, in OTC, got into elk above a parking location with i kid you not 30+ vehicles, the parking area was over full and they were parking up and down the dirt road for space.

 

[go_deep]

I think being in a saddle, draw, a point that they'll wheel through going back to bed or an escape route well before light and right till dark thirty is the key on heavily hunted ground.

 

[trophyhill]

I think being in a saddle, draw, a point that they'll wheel through going back to bed or an escape route well before light and right till dark thirty is the key on heavily hunted ground.

Those are the exact tactics I use when I hunt in LE units.

 

[strugglesticks]

Some of the conventional wisdom on the forums here for new hunters, especially NR, is to stay mobile, and hunt near your truck. I think the idea is that unless your pretty confident the spot your hiking 7 miles back into has elk, your better off staying mobile and trying new locations until a hunt-able elk shows up. The time spent hiking in and out of a 7 mile or more deep location has the risk of holding no elk and then your left using valuable hunting time to hike back out and find a new location, or worse, sit in that spot hoping elk will suddenly appear (mmmmm tag soup). I personally agree with this wisdom and even here in CO, in OTC, got into elk above a parking location with i kid you not 30+ vehicles, the parking area was over full and they were parking up and down the dirt road for space.

I like this approach. I have wasted days hiking way back in, just to compete with outfitters or diy horseback hunters. Then as stated, you burn another entire day hiking out and moving.

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[Wapiti1]

You could go that route. I think it depends on the units you hunt, how many wolves are there, and what trends you see there from other hunters.

Backpacking in only to have wolves move through would be tough. Can you get to the next basin, or gulch?

Backcountry hunting is popular right now. If it is in the unit you hunt, you're just joining the crowd farther in.

Not saying you shouldn't, just throwing out some questions that I would need to answer. I'm an advocate for learning the animals as well as the hunters. Where do you never see a vehicle? Why, and is it worth checking that area out?

Jeremy

 

[IdahoElk]

I was part of 3 elk kills this year. Pack out distances (by walking, not straight line) were just under 2 miles, 3 miles, and just under 7 miles. Based on my small sample size of this year, they weren't all "deep". In my experience, there is almost always elk 1-2 miles from a road and since "steep and deep" is in vogue now. Just my opinion tho

I agree to a certain point but I've found the Elk 1-2 miles in are a lot more educated then the ones 7 miles in meaning your odds go down.
Where I live in central Idaho boot tracks are now what you see 1-2 miles in, it's crazy here.

 

[S.Clancy]

I agree to a certain point but I've found the Elk 1-2 miles in are a lot more educated then the ones 7 miles in meaning your odds go down.
Where I live in central Idaho boot tracks are now what you see 1-2 miles in, it's crazy here.

I would say its definitely unit dependent. Sometimes you gotta really give er!!!

 

[Ross]

take the wolf notation to heart more so than ever recommend mobility as a key you go way back and find an active pack or that numbers are not as expected you want the ability to pack up and move to another drainage. Good luck

 

[Sled]

All miles are not created equally. 7 miles on a trail is cake compared to 1 mile in the steep/deep. Add in downed timber and you've got a real party. Now pack out solo and wish you had a trail.


Hunting has changed and success requires both working hard and being smart. Luck is the other 80%.

 

[Praxeus]

Interesting comments about the wolves. Someone on another thread made the statement that the elk are more afraid of the wolves than they are of people and thus, elk were moving closer to town. Dont know how true that is throughout the year but, it does make some sense. At the end of the day....scouting and area knowledge has to play into this. My original comments were based on hunter numbers that have gone up exponentially the last year or two. My thoughts are to go deep, but maybe there is balance in all of this.

 

[strugglesticks]

I guess I'm glad I hunt WY and MT where the general tag numbers to non-residents are all limited. We still see a god's plenty of folks way back in there, mostly residents actually, but I'm sure it has to be better than OTC areas.

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[Wapiti1]

Interesting comments about the wolves. Someone on another thread made the statement that the elk are more afraid of the wolves than they are of people and thus, elk were moving closer to town. Dont know how true that is throughout the year but, it does make some sense. At the end of the day....scouting and area knowledge has to play into this. My original comments were based on hunter numbers that have gone up exponentially the last year or two. My thoughts are to go deep, but maybe there is balance in all of this.

The studies that I have seen have been focused on winter range. In some areas, that is true. The elk have changed their key areas to avoid wolves. Some herds have moved closer to towns, others have moved into more open country and farther out from the foothills. The elk started to seek out areas with less snow, and more visibility.

I haven't seen any studies on summer/fall patterns and since the elk are still where they were pre-wolf when I hunt them, I'd say it hasn't changed. There might just be fewer elk, or they have changed their behavior.

Jeremy

 

[Indian Summer]

It’s common for the solution to a problem to be a compromise of a couple options. Do both.

Is there a reason you can’t have a base camp and a spike site? Even with a spike you have to come out at some point to regroup so you need something at the truck.

Last year we went 2 for 2 for the second year in a row. This past hunt both bulls were killed within a mile from the truck as the raven flies. In 2019 years one bull was taken 2 hours from the truck by horse but hunted from the base camp. The other one was killed from a spike camp. That camp isn’t super far mileage wise but requires a pretty good elevation gain to get to.

Next time who knows. Last year we had a 6 point bull bugling and pushing a herd of cows across an open slope above base camp only 700 yards away. He did it twice including the night before hunting started. They were lower than I’ve ever seen them AND there were more hunters than in previous seasons.

Be diverse. If you know of some nice drainages that are nearly impossible to get to from the truck..... or so far that most guys would never stay until dark, then a spike camp is awesome. Hunt from it for a few days then go back down and hit the lower stuff while the area cools off.

One other thing about a spike camp.... I’m not getting any younger either. So investing some time and effort into setting a spike camp can mean hunting right out the door instead of doing the morning March uphill every day. That takes it’s toll. You have to get up a lot earlier too. So for those of us who are starting to feel the years it’s a very effective way of making sure we can be where we want to be early and late every day. All we have to do is get our old asses up the hill one time. My hope is that when I get to old to set that camp and get there someone will feel sorry for me and set my camp and pack me up there!

Whatever you do though only commit your time to a spike camp if you have hunted the area and know it’s worth it. NOT because it looked good on Google Earth!

 

[Huntnnw]

With the plethora of NR resident hunters pouring into places like Idaho, I have begun to give deeper considerations to changing tactics for elk hunting. The most obvious for me, is going deeper. Instead of having a base camp where the trucks are parked, looking more and more at a remote spike camp set up to access drainages and draws that cannot be reached without hiking...lots of it. Im getting a little older but can see no other options.

Im anxious to hear from some of the capable and experienced elk hunters on this site.

problem with that post is nothing in the terms of non residents hunting ID has changed in 30 years.. what has changed is thousands of residents.

Everyone has that thought further is deeper. Everyone always seems to drive to dead end roads and trail heads. Look at all the country 99% bypass to get to a trail there is very few who just pull over and dive in. I pulled up to a trailhead on a mule deer hunt in ID one year there was 26 horse trailers parked over a 1 mile area. What I learned real fast was 5+ miles in was a zoo! I hunted the first 2 mi from my camp and never saw a soul and saw dozens of bucks. Same trailhead a guy who had hunted the area for 40 years with stock told me hunt right here for elk and the first 2 miles theres nobody here they are way in. It was true. Old saying hunt smarter not harder. I have places I have arrowed elk in ID a mere 200 yards from heavily traveled roads and yet to see a bowhunter in 20 + years and dozens of rigs fly by as I wait in the dark listening to bulls bugle.

 

[wyosam]

problem with that post is nothing in the terms of non residents hunting ID has changed in 30 years.. what has changed is thousands of residents.

Everyone has that thought further is deeper. Everyone always seems to drive to dead end roads and trail heads. Look at all the country 99% bypass to get to a trail there is very few who just pull over and dive in. I pulled up to a trailhead on a mule deer hunt in ID one year there was 26 horse trailers parked over a 1 mile area. What I learned real fast was 5+ miles in was a zoo! I hunted the first 2 mi from my camp and never saw a soul and saw dozens of bucks. Same trailhead a guy who had hunted the area for 40 years with stock told me hunt right here for elk and the first 2 miles theres nobody here they are way in. It was true. Old saying hunt smarter not harder. I have places I have arrowed elk in ID a mere 200 yards from heavily traveled roads and yet to see a bowhunter in 20 + years and dozens of rigs fly by as I wait in the dark listening to bulls bugle.

Yep, look for places that don’t look like places. I have found that I’m more likely to get away from crowds if I drive my Prius (so as to not give away my “spot”. It is the perfect disguise) and hike in from the highway, than if I take the truck and bounce down some rough road for an hour. If it looks like a trailhead, I’m not going anywhere near it. The harder it is to get away from the highway on foot, the better (steep, thick, river to cross, etc.).


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[The Ri Guy]

My plan is the opposite, with all these new hunters going "deep" and wanting to be backcountry bros in the last couple years, I've been hunting right next to the trailhead parking lot for elk.

Called 5 bulls into me (two over 300") last season within 200 yards of my truck.

YMMV

 

[Huntnnw]

I know guys who mark out spots to call off roads at night and spend all night locating bulls. They are highly successful at killing bulls every year

 

[Praxeus]

This thread has already provided some helpful info especially with the conversation of "going deep".

Thankful for all of those that contributed