Plants Elk hunters should know

[ThreeOhSeven]

Arrowleaf balsam root is a challenger for noisiest plant on the planet, and we may be referring to the same plant


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we call them elk alarms, avoid at all cost.

 

[JimTom]

Awesome thread.

 

[wytx]

They love alder leaves, find them along the creeks and seeps.
Out here they grow as shrubs.

 

[BullseyeBen17]

Great info. Thanks!

 

[jdmudge]

This is really helpful! Thank you!

 

[Hasslehoff]

I had no idea elk wouldn't eat beargrass.

 

[ELK49]

This is great! Thank you!

 

[sodaksooner]

Late to the party, but great thread. Where we hunt there are a lot of mushrooms and they eat the heck out of those, but really good info for sure.

 

[midwestbowman]

Saving this thread. Great information, thank you!

 

[bowslinger]

Thank you. I can’t believe I’ve never taken the time to research this on my own. I appreciate this greatly.

 

[yrog89]

Awesome info! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Jon Olson]

Totally get it. I actually reference this fact in the Podcast ("I could happily go on finding elk without ever knowing the names of any plant, they are not subtle creatures"), but emphasized the point of the post and the podcast is to hopefully give folks a better appreciation of the habitats they live in. I'm convinced that knowing a few more things about the landscape you're in enriches the experience and makes you appreciate it all the more.

Same here. I take a high level approach on finding ideal elk habitat and then hunting that area.

Going from newbie to experienced and successful elk hunter basically involved these steps:
- most elk are on north facing slopes (not south or west) during warm september days
- elk like sloped terrain, not flat and not too steep
- elk bed fairly close to water, and that’s near creek/stream draws (except New Mexico where my bull went to a water tank)
- elk stay out of the sun so they like good cover on north or east slopes in late afternoon

Just like golf, I always remind myself that there is still a lot to learn.