Scouting Advice

[GClyde28]

Pretty new elk hunter here. Planning to be hunt Montana this fall and our group will likely be headed up in early-mid November.

I’m considering flying up from Texas for a long weekend sometime during the summer to do some scouting. I know this would be beneficial to get a lay of the land for our target areas but I’m curious how helpful it will be regarding finding animals. Do y’all think the scouting trip would be that beneficial since elk would be in their summer patterns and not in late season areas? Would we be better off just adding a couple days to the hunting trip instead?

 

[ElkNut1]

Add days to the hunting trip, preferably 2-3 days before the Opener! Scout then! Summer scouting will net you little! Glass, glass, glass during your early Nov scouting hunt just prior to opener! Also know where elk are generally come Nov. Fish & Game can help out there!

ElkNut

 

[philos]

Good advice from ElkNut but I would add that if you want to go out in the Summer you might be better served by doing things like looking for water sources, a good camping spot or two and actually looking for places NOT to hunt. I believe an overlooked activity is determining places where you don't want to spend much time looking for animals. This allows you to concentrate on more promising areas. Of course you still have to be flexible and adapt when it comes time to hunt in case the elk change the rules in the middle of the game.

 

[Pony Soldier]

A lot depends on your target areas. Eastern Montana is not comparable to most of western montana. A couple days prior to road closures would allow you to go places and see land you may have to go a long ways to see otherwise. How many and what elk may not even be an option given the season. Check your agency travel maps to see what options are when.

 

[cnelk]

Montana is a great place to go in the summer.
I say go and get a lay of the land. Find several camping spots (look for game poles is always a good sign)

Do some fishing. Enjoy life. The elk will be there in November. Don’t worry about seeing them

 

[GClyde28]

A lot depends on your target areas. Eastern Montana is not comparable to most of western montana. A couple days prior to road closures would allow you to go places and see land you may have to go a long ways to see otherwise. How many and what elk may not even be an option given the season. Check your agency travel maps to see what options are when.

I did call and speak with the forest service to ask when they typically close the "seasonal roads". Seems we should be good to go there pending some unusually strong early winter weather system.

 

[GClyde28]

Add days to the hunting trip, preferably 2-3 days before the Opener! Scout then! Summer scouting will net you little! Glass, glass, glass during your early Nov scouting hunt just prior to opener! Also know where elk are generally come Nov. Fish & Game can help out there!

ElkNut

The season will already have been open for a month by the time we get there in November unless they change the season dates significantly. I plan to speak with fish & game/biologist to discuss the area in further detail prior to us heading up as well. Thanks for the input!

 

[GClyde28]

Good advice from ElkNut but I would add that if you want to go out in the Summer you might be better served by doing things like looking for water sources, a good camping spot or two and actually looking for places NOT to hunt. I believe an overlooked activity is determining places where you don't want to spend much time looking for animals. This allows you to concentrate on more promising areas. Of course you still have to be flexible and adapt when it comes time to hunt in case the elk change the rules in the middle of the game.

Hadn't thought about it from that perspective. It would be nice to be able to right off or move down the list some areas that we were curious about from E-scouting. Thanks for the advice.

 

[137buck]

Most of the seasonal roads are closed on October 15th, As for scouting during the summer, the elk will be in their summer patterns without the hunting pressure. By the time you show up to hunt in November, the elk have been pushed and shot at a lot and they will be pushed onto the private lands. At least that's how it is in my area, yeah you can still find some on the public, but it will be way different from the scouting done in the summer time, my opinion would be, to add a couple of days to your hunt and be very flexible, cause once the orange army season arrives, it can be very frustrating and a test of your patience.

 

[GClyde28]

Most of the seasonal roads are closed on October 15th, As for scouting during the summer, the elk will be in their summer patterns without the hunting pressure. By the time you show up to hunt in November, the elk have been pushed and shot at a lot and they will be pushed onto the private lands. At least that's how it is in my area, yeah you can still find some on the public, but it will be way different from the scouting done in the summer time, my opinion would be, to add a couple of days to your hunt and be very flexible, cause once the orange army season arrives, it can be very frustrating and a test of your patience.

The forest service rep I spoke with said Dec 1 was the typical date they see the roads close in this area so we figured we would be ok at the bedinning of November but I'll be sure to check back in with them this summer to confirm that since your date is significantly different than what I was told.

We plan on being able to be mobile and adapt to allow flexibility during the hunt based on conditions and pressure. I've been eyeing what looks like some nice parcels of public that border private since I figured a lot of the elk will be pushed down from the mountains by this time of the year.

 

[trophyhill]

If I had the time and money, I would definitely go in the summer just to get the layout of the land you will be hunting. I do this everytime I draw a Gila tag knowing full well the animals are nowhere to be seen in this particular area but just show up in September. You can find access points to different areas, find a flat camping area, find the trails elk will use, look for old sign and keep your eyes open for fresh sign etc. you can see in real time what the terrain is like, what the roads are like, what roads are closed. You can test some gear, go fishin. A lot of advantages to scouting early. I would never trust the topo’s on the OnX or any other map. The terrain is never what you think until you have laid eyes on it in person.

As an example, I was looking at some maps of an area I hunted deer in last week before I got there, and lemme tell ya, it was a helluva lot steeper than what it looked like virtually. And normally dry creek beds were raging rivers.