TO SCOUT OR NOT

[Firehole Hunter]

This is why I am leary about doing scouting prior to the season beginning, and I should have mentioned I am hunting 1st rifle.

Well 2 years ago, me and my fellow hunter arrive 4 days early and after taking a day and half to set up 2 Wall tents and otherwise make a camp ready for a huge crew of hunters (I was trying out everything for the following years on a promise I made to myself to hunt for the next 10 years straight the Lord willing). Well we decided to do some scouting about a couple days before the season starts. We started up a trail was leading to a big meadow where some outdoor photographers that came by camp and said that they had seen elk there earlier and there was a bull or two in the group. As we started up the trail we began jumping some deer and I just had a feeling that we needed to stop and not go any further up the trail. So we went back to camp and waited 2 more days for the season to begin.

Opening morning we get to the meadow before daylight and within half an hour we hear elk coming through the woods towards us. Well that morning we are practically run over by elk. We seek 4-5 different groups of elk, 2 shooter bulls in various groups and over 25 elk all totaled. All this before 8:30 a.m. that morning. Needless to say I got a bull and my buddy got his cow tag filled. Last year I put a couple of other hunters in that same spot and they saw a group of elk come through the area, a couple of bulls and several cows. Even though they had 2 cow tags they didn't harvest anything, but that is a different story. No scouting in the area was done this year either.

The honey hole, as I have come to call it, has produced elk moving through the area 2 years running on opening morning without any serious scouting in the area. The honey hole is about a mile from my base camp. That's why I am very leery about scouting the area near there for fear of running the elk out of there like the deer the year before. So is this same philosophy transferable to other areas. The area has a higher density of elk but lower quality. So what are your thoughts guys?

 

[trophyhill]

If I was going in blind, I'd scout. If I know the area, chances are I know the elk therefore no scouting necessary.

 

[5MilesBack]

Telling a guy halfway across the country to come out in July, and that you know what elk look like isn't very helpful.

You don't have to come out in July. If you're familiar at all with elk, you know where to find them already regardless whether it's a new unit or an old one. And obviously if you've never even seen an elk, then there's going to be a learning curve and any time you can spend out there will help with that. But I'd still prefer to do that with a weapon in hand and a legal tag in my pocket.

The last few years I've gone into units I've never hunted before, and I went in blind. I now like it that way.........go in blind and do my exploring during the season.

 

[MallardSX2]

Personally, I dont like the idea of sneaking around in the timber. IF you could glass from a distance thats ok. Other than that, your just pushing animals out of the area on onto the private ground for the rich people to kill....

 

[Pro953]

Not to hard to book a cheap flight and take a three day weekend in many parts of the country with a rental car. Not super intense scouting but a couple nice day hikes to explore trails and glassing points is very helpful. I know I should, but I have a hard time going out a couple days before season in high pressure areas as it seems like everything changes come opening day!


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[Newtosavage]

You don't have to come out in July. If you're familiar at all with elk, you know where to find them already regardless whether it's a new unit or an old one. And obviously if you've never even seen an elk, then there's going to be a learning curve and any time you can spend out there will help with that. But I'd still prefer to do that with a weapon in hand and a legal tag in my pocket.

The last few years I've gone into units I've never hunted before, and I went in blind. I now like it that way.........go in blind and do my exploring during the season.

I agree with this.

 

[Newtosavage]

You don't have to come out in July. If you're familiar at all with elk, you know where to find them already regardless whether it's a new unit or an old one. And obviously if you've never even seen an elk, then there's going to be a learning curve and any time you can spend out there will help with that. But I'd still prefer to do that with a weapon in hand and a legal tag in my pocket.

The last few years I've gone into units I've never hunted before, and I went in blind. I now like it that way.........go in blind and do my exploring during the season.

Great advice. And I'm feeling the same way these days about going in blind. In a new unit, I like to arrive a week ahead of the opener if I can, but even if I could only get there 1 or 2 days before to acclimate and do a little glassing, that's still fine. One of the great things about hunting the West is the abundance of choices. That appeals to me. Hunting new ground appeals to me. I can hunt the same ground every year back East - and often I have to. That's not what I want from my Western hunts. Learning what's over the next ridge is something I find energizing.

 

[Swede]

To me scouting is not about seeing elk. Locating fresh sign is enough. If you know they are in the area and you can come back, rifle in hand, on opening day and try to find them. Each area I hunt is a little different than the other. Where I hunt now, if I see fresh sign all around, it just says the elk were here, but they have moved on. They move in a pattern, and I have to get ahead of them somewhere along their circuit. Other places if there is no sign they are not around and likely won't be anytime soon. To be effective with your scouting, you need to know your area some.

 

[Poser]

I don’t venture into the specific drainage etc that I’m hunting. I venture through other people’s hopes and dreams (that are already blown out even though they don’t know it yet because they don’t scout) to glass at pretty good distances.

 

[Jim Carr]

Always scout if you can you are far more likely to find a bull that you want to go after on the opener than blow the elk out. Chances are everything is going to be moving around once the shooting starts so the key is to be on a target bull at first light not just starting to look for where they are. Now if you already have a honey hole that you know well id scout some secondary areas and if I didnt find anything id go back to that spot.

 

[Firehole Hunter]

Thanks for all the comments. I'll probably check it (the new area) out a little bit unless I get a weird feeling like before, keeping in mind the wind and thermals as well as terrain. I've hunted enough that and have good enough instincts about animal behavior, I just need to learn to trust my instincts of when to stop and when to go.

 

[Roughwater]

Definitely Scout if you can arrive a couple days ahead of the opener. Be up high where you can glass if possible at least one morning before daylight. Glass, listen and maybe call some if you don't hear any bugling from up high. The most ideal place would be where you can glass several potential high meadows.

The only time I might not scout is during bow season as it normally is so long and mid month is generally near the start of the hotter part of the rut. So it don't often pay to show up to scout on 28 August unless you enjoy watching the bees and yellow jackets.

 

[trophyhill]

Thanks for all the comments. I'll probably check it (the new area) out a little bit unless I get a weird feeling like before, keeping in mind the wind and thermals as well as terrain. I've hunted enough that and have good enough instincts about animal behavior, I just need to learn to trust my instincts of when to stop and when to go.

And if you have that, you'll be fine. It lessens the need to put boots on the ground until your tag is valid and your weapon in hand as 5MB said. Finding elk isn't as difficult as some make it out to be

 

[5MilesBack]

I don’t venture into the specific drainage etc that I’m hunting. I venture through other people’s hopes and dreams

This checks out........new people show up to areas and they run around scouting, screwing up everyone else's areas that have always provided opening morning elk kills. And then everyone is in the same boat and on an even keel........newby's and old timers that know the area really well. Then everyone has to work to find the elk again. I guess that's just one of the liberal's ways of making everything equal for everyone........regardless how much work you've put into it in the past.

 

[cnelk]

^^^^ I dont have to worry about that when I scout in July.

This past fall I scouted a unit 1.5 days in July. I had never been there before.
Came back on Sept 4th, set up camp and killed my bull the morning of the Sept 6th.

 

[Pigdog]

Worst case is you bump the elk out of a drainage and you know where not to hunt for the first day or two.

 

[Poser]

This checks out........new people show up to areas and they run around scouting, screwing up everyone else's areas that have always provided opening morning elk kills. And then everyone is in the same boat and on an even keel........newby's and old timers that know the area really well. Then everyone has to work to find the elk again. I guess that's just one of the liberal's ways of making everything equal for everyone........regardless how much work you've put into it in the past.

It’s more like this: I hunt an area that few people are willing to venture into, however, the best way to scout it is from a high point that requires travel over some prime Google Earth habitat. So, every swinging dick from the state of TX that is going to hunt this region puts their finger on the map of this location because it’s a textbook spot. So, every weekend of archery season, I catch dirty looks from for walking across the tundra even though they have exactly a 0 percent chance of seeing an elk whether I’m there or not, but they have no way of knowing that. In their minds, I am crushing their aspirations. My from perspective, they are just another kid getting off the bus in Nashville with a guitar case and a notebook.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

If you had a day or two before rifle season begins, would you go out and search for elk rest and acclimate to the elevation gain since coming from the east by vehicle over two days. I worry about spooking the elk or alerting them to our presence. This is assuming that you have a general idea of where your at and where you'll be going. Secondly, would you try to hunt a specific area or go to a glassing spot opening morning if you haven't scouted very thoroughly beforehand. Maybe you can tell which way I am thinking but wanted to hear from of you that hunts a new area from time to time.

I did that last year, had a cow tag and located a nice big herd of cows feeding on a ridge, watched them for half hour and backed out. Came back before light opening morning and trucks driving all over where I'd have hiked into. Apparently there was a road under the 1-2 feet of snow I didn't know about and about 15 people chose option B to just show up on opening morning. LOL

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Yes scout. Glass glass and then glass some more. Keep wind and thermals in check. You’ll be fine.