Summer Scouting

[elkhunter94]

Hello fellow elk hunters! I’m in my second year of elk hunting and am planning on taking a summer scouting trip this year to help increase my knowledge about where to find elk, prepare for terrain, etc. My question is if you could pick one of the summer months for a scouting trip which would it be? Also will elk generally be at the same elevation in September as they are in say June? I realize this may be a difficult question to answer but just am looking for as much as advice as you will give to make this scouting trip more effective and help prepare for my September archery hunt in 2022.


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[Gerbdog]

You CAN scout in June but... heck you can scout 5 days before the hunt even.... but the elk may not be there when you come back again. Any time scouting is better than zero time scouting

When i go out on scouting trips, any time of the year, i could go out now assuming the area im scouting isnt buried in snow.... I'm looking for areas that a bull or bulls* have been visiting frequently, year after year.

I'm looking for rubs with many different years of age , recent, medium, old. I'm looking for wallows in the area. I'm looking for well used game trails.

No matter if im looking for cow elk in september or bugling bulls im looking for that same sign. If the bulls are producing heavy rutting activity in the area i just assume that must mean the cows are hanging out in that area also.... or why the heck else would the bulls be there?

(thats a decent question really... i'm not a biologist, i just hunt elk, and i aint the best at it)

 

[Jwknutson17]

I spend very little time scouting looking for actual elk in the summer. Im looking for access, camp spots, water sources, and getting a better lay of the land for plan A, B, C, etc. Usually your pin drop of a place you think you can get to from your E scouting is 5x as hard to get to as you think. So get all of those things figured out before the hunt is key. I'm a mid to late July through Early August scouter. Let it sit a few weeks before opening day and then get after it.

 

[Mosby]

I spend very little time scouting looking for actual elk in the summer. Im looking for access, camp spots, water sources, and getting a better lay of the land for plan A, B, C, etc. Usually your pin drop of a place you think you can get to from your E scouting is 5x as hard to get to as you think. So get all of those things figured out before the hunt is key. I'm a mid to late July through Early August scouter. Let it sit a few weeks before opening day and then get after it.

This is pretty much what I do as well. If I have never hunted that area before, I also figure out where to get groceries so I know what I can buy or have to bring, find the closest hospital in the event of an emergency and stop in the local ranger station for road use maps etc.,

 

[Coveyleader]

August

 

[Dos Perros]

I spend very little time scouting looking for actual elk in the summer. Im looking for access, camp spots, water sources, and getting a better lay of the land for plan A, B, C, etc. Usually your pin drop of a place you think you can get to from your E scouting is 5x as hard to get to as you think. So get all of those things figured out before the hunt is key. I'm a mid to late July through Early August scouter. Let it sit a few weeks before opening day and then get after it.

This is a good post.

If you can only make one trip, I think that late July/early August is good. If you can make another trip, then I don't think even as early as Memorial Day is a bust, you'll still learn something.

 

[Indian Summer]

It sounds like you’re bow hunting so I’d say August or as close to your hunt as possible. If you could just go there early and scout in the couple days before you hunt that would be even better.

 

[elkhunter94]

I spend very little time scouting looking for actual elk in the summer. Im looking for access, camp spots, water sources, and getting a better lay of the land for plan A, B, C, etc. Usually your pin drop of a place you think you can get to from your E scouting is 5x as hard to get to as you think. So get all of those things figured out before the hunt is key. I'm a mid to late July through Early August scouter. Let it sit a few weeks before opening day and then get after it.

Yup I found out the pin drop comment the hard way this past year. This is the main reason for me deciding to do the scout in the first place. I had multiple areas that I escouted and when I arrived to the spots I was SHOCKED at how daunting the terrain actually was versus what it looked like on google earth/OnX.


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