“The Elk are up high”

[Poser]

I know, I roll my eyes as well whenever I hear this statement/advice. Elk live at all elevations.

I was glassing for bear around 7,000 feet this weekend in the scrub oak. Didn’t see any bears, but sure saw lots of elk out in the scrub oak at 7,000 feet all the while a 13,000 foot peak, a few 12ers and an endless amount of alpine terrain loomed just 3 miles behind them. It was hot, too, and they were out feeding until 9:30 in the morning and up and at it again by 4:30. Not an elk hunter anywhere around.

 

[Tobe_B]

You’re lying. The elk are up high, always. If you’re at 10k and see nothing go higher. Nothing at 12k, go higher. Sitting on top of mount sneffels and seeing nothing, go higher. Don’t try and trick all the new comers in to thinking the elk can be found at lower elevations. That will just confuse them.


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[Poser]

You’re lying. The elk are up high, always. If you’re at 10k and see nothing go higher. Nothing at 12k, go higher. Sitting on top of mount sneffels and seeing nothing, go higher. Don’t try and trick all the new comers in to thinking the elk can be found at lower elevations. That will just confuse them.


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I always thought there was a metaphorical implication to the “elk are up high.” As in “they are unreachable, unattainable.”

“I would have killed an elk on my public land DIY OTC archery elk hunt, but the elk were up high.”

 

[def90]

At 7000 ft they should be mule deer, not elk.

 

[ReaptheHeat]

At 7000 ft they should be mule deer, not elk.

Yeah they transform at about 8k feet.

Lol anyway its not uncommon for the muley bucks to sit higher than the elk until later in the season near me.

 

[brant89]

Yeah they transform at about 8k feet.

Lol anyway its not uncommon for the muley bucks to sit higher than the elk until later in the season near me.

Last fall we parked the truck at 9000 feet and then dropped down to 6500 feet in search of mule deer. Below 8000 feet there were zero deer and piles of elk. Had to move back up the mountain to kill our bucks.

 

[BRTreedogs]

7k is higher then the peaks where I hunt.
So 7 would be extremely high.
The elk would have to have jet packs or wings.

 

[Poser]

7k is higher then the peaks where I hunt.
So 7 would be extremely high.
The elk would have to have jet packs or wings.

7k is considered lower elevation for around here. I believe the lowest elevations in the region are 5,000 and that’s at the AZ and NM state lines. The greatest concentration of elk hunters during the month of September are found above 10,000 feet. Popular TH at 11,000 feet will have more Hoyt and Yeti stickers than you can count on 2 hands.

 

[Dos Perros]

Tough to kill them with a bow in that lower oak brush country. Drinking water sparser. More public/private issues. Not near as pretty. I've done it both ways and generally prefer the higher stuff.

 

[sodaksooner]

Yeah, Elk are where you find them. Have had numerous occasions where we have found them at the same elevation as camp (which is high at 10K feet) but a bunch of guys were going higher and we had it easy, relatively speaking, by staying low, and were into a ton of elk, some almost literally just across the creek from our spike camp one year.

 

[Gerbdog]

Well they ARE up high where im hunting..... theyre also down lower too....

also this was the first area / season ive seen mule deer bedded with elk. I think it must be at the elevation that they transition from elk to mule deer and mule deer to elk... so there is a little of both.

 

[ckleeves]

In the San Juan’s (IMO) there is so much pressure-both hunting and non-hunting that I really believe it’s caused a fairly major change in elk behavior.

Some of the big basins that 10-15 years ago would hold massive nursery herds and bachelor groups in August now have a handful of elk and a steady line of hikers, backpackers, mountain bikers (where legal), mushroom hunters, leafers, etc. Heaven forbid there is a road thru it or else it’s a steady line of SXS’s and Jeeps.

I’m seeing it with deer too, they are much more timber oriented than they were 15 years ago. Which I don’t blame them, in many of the real scenic basins (think ice lakes) it’s a rare day that they aren’t getting jumped out of there beds by some sort of human interaction.

 

[LongWayAround]

I always thought there was a metaphorical implication to the “elk are up high.” As in “they are unreachable, unattainable.”

“I would have killed an elk on my public land DIY OTC archery elk hunt, but the elk were up high.”

You haven't heard?

All of the elk are always somehow both "up high" and/or "down on the private." Often said in conjunction with statements such as "the rut is weird this year" and "they're not talking."

 

[ROKnROAL]

You won’t find any game if you’re hunting below 12800ft.

 

[Poser]

Tough to kill them with a bow in that lower oak brush country. Drinking water sparser. More public/private issues. Not near as pretty. I've done it both ways and generally prefer the higher stuff.

That archery aspect is true and that was my first thought. However, after some consideration, I doubt scrub is any more difficult than archery hunting in the open alpine. And the lack of water in scrub oak country makes pinpointing water sources relatively simple compared to the abundance of water sources in the alpine.

 

[Gerbdog]

That archery aspect is true and that was my first thought. However, after some consideration, I doubt scrub is any more difficult than archery hunting in the open alpine. And the lack of water in scrub oak country makes pinpointing water sources relatively simple compared to the abundance of water sources in the alpine.

I gotta agree for me personally, i think after this season i definitely prefer the denser cover, those elk in the open alpine will just sit and stare at you from 120 yards away because they can.... and they seem pretty keen on it too.... finding tons of elk bedded in the open alpine where they can listen for crunching pine needles and have visuals out to a good distance on anything incoming on those crunchy pine needles.

I switched tactics yesterday to denser cover areas and will have 4-6 days to call a bull in that denser stuff to try and get this season back on track.

 

[Poser]

You haven't heard?

All of the elk are always somehow both "up high" and/or "down on the private." Often said in conjunction with statements such as "the rut is weird this year" and "they're not talking."

I’ve been hearing how the “rut is weird” my entire hunting career. I’ve always wondered about this allusive “normal rut”

 

[BRTreedogs]

I thought maybe you meant high on Marijuana

 

[5MilesBack]

High and low are all relative. If you're coming from sea level, then 7k feet is high. If you're coming from 7k feet, then 12k is high. Also, oak brush is of the Devil. Nasty stuff. I prefer the quagmire of solid blowdowns to the oak brush, even if there aren't any elk in there.......but there usually is. I've always liked that higher terrain between 10k-12k feet.

 

[sickles107]

Nah man, no water up there this year, they are all down on private