Packing elk in deadfall timber

[camping1601]

And this is what you have to look forward to when it grows back.

 

[Beendare]

Well one thing it does....is keep the riff raff out. I know of a trail going into the Wiminuche in Colorado we've hunted in the past that the forest service stopped clearing there was so much downed timber. It was a workout for the first mile but then not so bad....and a guy could get into elk in there.

Compare that to the Turkey Creek trail into the Wiminuche that has a line of parked vehicles 1/4 mile from the TH.....so many guys going in there it was a joke.

 

[kingfisher]

I had aspen deadfall so thick this year, that the only option you had to get through it was to walk on it. You do your best to keep your balance, but inevitably you fall off repeatedly due to the deadfall moving out from under you. I will say that we hunted 3 weeks and saw very few elk, and they were not vocal. We also saw more hunters than ever before. The only time we got into the elk was in the dead fall where no one else would go. I shot my elk balancing on dead fall 3 feet off the ground. What was most impressive is that when trailing, the blood from the bottom of the elks chest in some cases was on deadfall 4 feet high. In 2 minutes that elk cleared what took me a half hour to cover. They are amazing creatures. We got lucky and the elk ran .5 miles uphill and died next to the trail. If you go into deadfall like this, try to go with someone, especially in the backcountry.

 

[timekiller13]

The deadfall is no joke. My first elk hunt was this year. Day one my dad and I were about 1 mile into wilderness, scaling deadfall every 10 feet. It was quite difficult and very tiring. Just a couple hours into our first elk hunt and we were questioning whether we could actually do this or not! There was really no way to prepare for it. A friend of mine asked me how to prepare for an elk hunt and I told him to find the steepest hill he could find here in North Carolina, place 4-8ft high obstacles every 20 feet, duct tape his mouth shut and wear an elevation mask and that would give him about 30% of the experience! The good thing about the deadfall is that it keeps most other hunters out. I never saw another sole in the areas I was in, and I so very little evidence of anyone being there. Tons of elk sign and several elk sightings. Packing one out would have been one hell of a chore. I now I have a little better idea how to prepare for such an endeavor but still can only imagine how difficult it would be to haul a couple heavy loads out of that mess. Can't wait to give it a try though.

 

[ElkNut1]

When you hunt the shit there are few if any hunters to deal with, we've hunted areas like the above photos for near 35 years & most are less than 1-1/2 mile from nearest roads with most being under 1 mile. Elk seek out this crap & we bank on it every year! 5 of us have taken over 30 bulls in the last 5 years in this stuff, OTC DIY public land. Like Cnelk mentions above a 1 mile packout can take hours before you get back to the rig one way, it's no joke! You want to hunt elk, you'd best be a good sufferer! This isn't horse packing country! (grin)

ElkNut1

 

[fngTony]

You want to hunt elk, you'd best be a good sufferer!

ElkNut1[/QUOTE]

Best advice I've heard in a while

 

[bracer40]

When you hunt the shit there are few if any hunters to deal with, we've hunted areas like the above photos for near 35 years & most are less than 1-1/2 mile from nearest roads with most being under 1 mile. Elk seek out this crap & we bank on it every year! 5 of us have taken over 30 bulls in the last 5 years in this stuff, OTC DIY public land. Like Cnelk mentions above a 1 mile packout can take hours before you get back to the rig one way, it's no joke! You want to hunt elk, you'd best be a good sufferer! This isn't horse packing country! (grin)

ElkNut1

What really stinks is when you get deep into the nastiest deadfall and learn even the elk don't want to be in it (yea, last year in one section only).

 

[BrentLaBere]

What really stinks is when you get deep into the nastiest deadfall and learn even the elk don't want to be in it (yea, last year in one section only).

This is what I have found to be true for the really nasty stuff. There are a few trails leading through it but for the most part I dont find much, if any sign. How the heck do you guys go about hunting some of this? I have a hard enough time getting though it.
Beendare and 5milesback, how do you guys approach it?

 

[BigDog00]

I know too am very familar with blow down. What I find the most difficult is "sneaking" through it. Its very difficult to stay quite especially after multiple days of hikimg yhrough it. Often I think I will work my way out of the bad sections only to find that they never really end. The pictures really don't do it justice.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[njdoxie]

A lot of good stories in this thread!

 

[Gr8bawana]

That's some nasty stuff for sure.
This is some of the pinion and juniper jungles that we found my cow elk in a couple of years ago, not much better.

 

[5MilesBack]

Beendare and 5milesback, how do you guys approach it?

I am all about calling and run and gun (as best I can through this stuff). But even elk make noise in this stuff, especially when they are fired up. So I've been known to literally run through this stuff intentionally breaking as much stuff as I can while I'm screaming out a bugle. Three years ago I got in the middle of a herd by accident actually. I walked into it and suddenly stopped when I heard a cow chirp. I then realized I had cows on three sides of me and a screaming bull hidden in the timber. This was evening and just above an area full of blowdowns. I couldn't get a clear shot on that bull before dark but saw his rack. This was the biggest bull I've ever hunted........HUGE top end. I backed out and came back the next morning. I was a few hundred yards below the spot I was the night before in this quagmire of deadfall. I made the mistake of bugling without any shooting lanes around me. That bull was on top of me at less than 10 yards screaming his head off in seconds. He certainly wasn't quiet coming in. I stood there at less than 10 yards and couldn't even see him. It was just like the first pic that camping 1601 posted. I was stuck. He eventually left and I never did find a shooting lane or even close to a shooting lane. That's a problem in these spots, but still fun nonetheless.

 

[cnelk]

The beetle kill areas I hunt have actually deteriorated some of my better elk bedding areas and the elk have altered their habits.

I dont actually hunt the nasty deadfall, just very near it. Which means I have to pack THRU it.

Those pics that BigDog00 posted are gold mines where i hunt

 

[BrentLaBere]

Thanks for the response guys. cnelk, I apologize if I derailed the thread here. I could certainly start another one. The pictures and talking about it just got me thinking.
BigDog00 post is what I have had good luck hunting in, just a little harder to be quiet. But I like hunting it.
Camping1601, I have hiked through stuff like that. Havent found much elk sign in it, but im not usually as observant either with all the obstacles to go around. I have found a lot of sign on the edge of it. Thats why im always scratching my head as how the heck I could hunt it. Very difficult to still hunt in 1601 pictures. Calling is the other factor but most of the stuff I have found like this are close to the road. The elk dont seem to be very talkative until after dark.

 

[xziang]

Some people are obviously having success in it but the deadfall I've ran into, I've only seen mule deer sign. Usually I will find a deer bed just above a standing tree on a steep slope.

I just don't think I've ran across some deadfall that is still dark enough and or have greenery in it for elk to hang out it. (yet)

 

[Beendare]

This is what I have found to be true for the really nasty stuff. There are a few trails leading through it but for the most part I dont find much, if any sign. How the heck do you guys go about hunting some of this? I have a hard enough time getting though it.
Beendare and 5milesback, how do you guys approach it?

Well not all of the deadfall heavy timber areas hold elk. You don't want to go in there if you don't have to as its a huge time waster pawing through that stuff.

I think Elknut gave you a pretty good tip. I try to skirt it when possible....calling into it. I sometimes hunt elk in their beds in that stuff....but its tricky as they usually see you before you see them. I've done it.....glassing every single step...but I would much rather call them a little ways.

I know Mike 5 miles likes to sneak close and cut their throats like a friggin Apache..........I'm ok with just getting my arrows bloody.

 

[mfllood3800]

That's my honey hole !!! Seriously, it is to be expected in our area. I scout and find the "known" way out and do my best to get to it. Wind fall is miserable. I bought 2 horses 4 yrs ago to help haul elk out, sold them when I realized they couldn't walk in that crap. It's amazing to shoot an elk and watch, and listen to it fleeing thru this stuff. Gets pretty violent in there for sure.

 

[5MilesBack]

I know Mike 5 miles likes to sneak close and cut their throats like a friggin Apache..........I'm ok with just getting my arrows bloody.

Awwww, come on man......you know you're describing Elkman there. You know I'm the guy sniping them from 100 yards before they even know I'm there. Or maybe someplace in between those two extremes. I will say this......those bulls always know I'm there. I make sure of that.

 

[Deertick]

Hey, Cnelk! That place looks familiar!

(I'm the other guy in the video) ... that area is going to be a bull-producer for years. That beetle-kill really lets a lot of sunlight in, growing grass. Those elk don't need the hay fields anymore.