Pre Rut Cow elk hunt Nevada

[WestCoast86]

I drew my very first Elk tag, a Muzzleloader cow elk hunt in Nevada. I have never hunted elk before but spent a fair amount of time admiring them in the schell creek range and northern sake range doing field work in college.

I have been studding the maps and have read the biologist report. I was curious what are some strategies for hunting cow elk in this region. I am use to spot and stalk for blacktails and mule deer in arid regions of California. Is there a better method than spot and stock? calling? Blind?

I will be heading out on my first scouting trip in two weeks, and another in late July. if anyone has advice for this specific area i would greatly appreciate it.

 

[OldInNV]

The best way to hunt them is with a buddy or two to help haze them out of their mid-day bedding haunts. I'm old and a native Nevadan, and have tried about all methods. You need to SCOUT a lot before the hunt and realize that the bow hunters have them all worked up and spooked immediately before your season.

The old cows and hinds will gather into groups of 4-20 animals, usually about 10-15. They have favorite bedding places during the hot early seasons. Find those places. Get a strategic hiding place and get there very quietly, wait a while and have the buddies get above the bedding areas, then move down into the tick shade areas slowly. It will drive them down, hopefully close to you.

If successful, I want part of the liver!

 

[Braaap]

That’s a spot and stalk hunt. It will be hot and they’ll only be out early morning and late evening. Figure out where they’re at, where they bed, and be ready to set up an ambush or sneak in while they’re bedded. They will get up and feed briefly at some point midday or afternoon (not necessarily the entire herd) and then bed again until evening. That’s been my experience hunting cow elk in NV in August. PM me if you need more details.

 

[GeoHunter]

Spot and stalk is your best strategy with this hunt. This is a big area. Cows will be concentrated where there is food. You should be able to spot them from a long ways away. Knowing how to cow call can help get you within muzzle loader range as well, but I wouldn’t do it as a primary strategy.

This time of year it could also be effective to sit water.

 

[WestCoast86]

Thank you both for the feedback. Sound like I will need to scout out some good glassing spots. Thank you for the info on there daily habits. This will be a big learning experience for me.

 

[Braaap]

Send me a PM if you want some area info.

 

[velvet muley]

Sitting water is the most effective strategy in that area, find the guzzlers on the guzzler map and locate springs on ONX. It won't be long now before most/all the water will have bottles with peoples names and dates. If you choose not to do that it can be a long, hard, hot hunt.

 

[WestCoast86]

The best way to hunt them is with a buddy or two to help haze them out of their mid-day bedding haunts. I'm old and a native Nevadan, and have tried about all methods. You need to SCOUT a lot before the hunt and realize that the bow hunters have them all worked up and spooked immediately before your season.

The old cows and hinds will gather into groups of 4-20 animals, usually about 10-15. They have favorite bedding places during the hot early seasons. Find those places. Get a strategic hiding place and get there very quietly, wait a while and have the buddies get above the bedding areas, then move down into the tick shade areas slowly. It will drive them down, hopefully close to you.

If successful, I want part of the liver!

Oh man that sounds exciting! Thank you for the tips!! I am a little nervous that the archers will push them around a bit but I can’t do anything about that but look where they got pushed to. If I find a good bedding area I will give this a try. Hopefully I will be bringing you some liver!

 

[WestCoast86]

Sitting water is the most effective strategy in that area, find the guzzlers on the guzzler map and locate springs on ONX. It won't be long now before most/all the water will have bottles with peoples names and dates. If you choose not to do that it can be a long, hard, hot hunt.

Thank you for the tip! I had no idea about bottles at water holes with peoples names. That is a good thing to be aware of. I have been on onx looking where the guzzlers are in relation to good feed in August. If things are not going well hunting spot and stalk, I plan to sit water!

 

[Cvang]

Goodluck

 

[High Climber]

What up with with peoples names on bottles at the guzzlers?

 

[velvet muley]

That's how its done in that area, almost no natural water so NDOW places guzzlers that catch snow and rain for the animals. People go in early and "save" certain guzzlers with dates and their names in a bottle, there are ground blinds that have been built and have been there for a million years.

I will say that there are some very productive natural springs too, just have to find them.

 

[Gehrig Tucker]

Shoot me a PM and I'll see if I can help you out.

 

[WestCoast86]

I thought I would update you all on the hunt. It took 8 days of hard solo hunting but I was able to fill my tag. I tried everything from spot and stalk, still hunting, and sitting on water. I was seeing a lot of bulls but very few cows. Sitting water, in the evening of day 4, I almost got it done. I had 15 cows coming into water, which to my great disappointment, turned around 200 yards away with only a few min of shoot light left. There was a cow carcass on the hill side I was not aware of that turned them around. I hunted that group a few more days but only saw them for a brief second at 1000 yards moving into the thick stuff. I did some more scouting and found a lot of tracks in a new area. I decided to hunt that area on the 8th night. The new area consisted of an open meadow next to good bedding and water. That evening glassing into the thick junipers I spotted the butt of an elk at 300 yards. Eventually it turned reveling it was a cow!!!! It was headed to the open field to feed so I began my stalk. Just as I started it slowly walked back into the junipers. I waited an hour for it to come out but with only 1.5 hours of shoot light left and an hour stalk ahead of me I decided to take my chances and sneak into the junipers hoping for a shot. At 100 yards from where I last saw the elk I took my boots off and made the rest of the stalk in my wool socks. When I got to where the elk was I saw its tracks headed down the drainage in the thick junipers. I thought she had slipped out during my stalk but I heard a faint “muw” sounds the cows make towards the open meadow. I continued my stalk to within 20 yards of the meadow to the sudden alarming sound of galloping hooves. Thinking I had blown it, the cow turned off and stopped broadside at 80 yards with a clear shooting lane out of the junipers. Wasting no time I raised my muzzleloader, steadied the sites in the center of the kill zone and felt confident I could make the shot and fired. Greeted with a huge cloud of smoke the elk disappeared. As the smoke cleared I could see it running full speed over a ridge and out of site. I reload and proceed to where the elk was standing to my relief I see lots of blood and bits of lung debris. I debated for a second whether I should go retrieve my boots or follow the blood. I decided to follow the blood in case I needed to shoot again. After 100 yards of a great blood trail I find the elk. My first elk and first big game animal with a muzzleloader. I could not be happier.

I wanted to thank everyone for there advice and for the few people I chatted with who gave me some advice on the area. It is a very tough hunt with the cows being nearly nocturnal and spending most of there time in thick cover. I am very grateful to have gotten an elk but will not be applying for this tag again in the near future.

Also the name and date in water bottles at the water sources is real. Every water source I went to had one.