What to look for E-Scouting

[EricBender208]

When you’re looking for elk territory what exactly are you looking for? East or west facing slopes?

 

[shootnrun]

Depends on the state, topography, elevation, and vegetation.

 

[Geewhiz]

When you’re looking for elk territory what exactly are you looking for? East or west facing slopes?

East, definately

 

[Jaquomo]

I've killed bulls on every slope, on top of the Continental Divide, down in the sagebrush, near water and a long way from water. I've killed them close to roads and a ways from roads, in aspens, thick timber, deadfall jungles and big open parks. Elk are where you find them.

That said, elk need feed, water, bedding cover, and escape hideouts. But most importantly, they need refuge from hunters. You can e-scout until your eyes go blurry, but you won't know that until you arrive at your destination.

 

[Indian Summer]

I've killed bulls on every slope, on top of the Continental Divide, down in the sagebrush, near water and a long way from water. I've killed them close to roads and a ways from roads, in aspens, thick timber, deadfall jungles and big open parks. Elk are where you find them.

That said, elk need feed, water, bedding cover, and escape hideouts. But most importantly, they need refuge from hunters. You can e-scout until your eyes go blurry, but you won't know that until you arrive at your destination.

Saved me a bunch of typing. I repeat… until your eyes go blurry!

A one week trip to camp and hike in your area would teach you way WAY more. It might tell you to go e scout somewhere else.

 

[dusky]

Where I'm at, SE slopes in November are best.

 

[jamandt]

Might watch some e scouting videos from Randy Newberg (Youtube), he has some good info that covers elevation, season, etc

 

[elkocd]

Where humans won't go!

You don't need a lot of elk. You need a few elk that are not being pressured.

 

[Fullfan]

One thing Escouting will not show you, all the other hunters.

 

[Dos Perros]

Where humans won't go!

You don't need a lot of elk. You need a few elk that are not being pressured.

This! An elk that acts like an elk is way better than a bunch of elk who've been to the rodeo before.

 

[bz_711]

Where humans won't go!

You don't need a lot of elk. You need a few elk that are not being pressured.

This. E-scout for small pockets of hard to get to terrain that offer cover & water. You can zoom in to see cars/trucks...then match that up with well know trails...find the middle ground.
Also - as stated...e-scout only does so much...I primarily do it to day dream and look for new spots to check out...but none of it really matters until you have boots on the ground. It's mind blowing how often it ends up being nothing like you envisioned from your pc. A 3 day summer camping trip will do more good than 365 days of E-scouting.

Good Luck!

 

[Dave_]

One thing Escouting will not show you, all the other hunters.

If you can get lucky and find good Sept imagery you can find some places to avoid. (roads with camps/RVs every 100 yards or trailheads/ FS roads with a dozens pickups parked, etc)

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[taskswap]

This is just IMO but I don't look for the "usual" things (food/water) e-scouting. Maps and satellite images showing streams and ponds just aren't accurate seasonally - water in a creek in May is very often dried out by September. And you can't see other hunters and their tents before they arrive themselves.

What I look for in a new area is access (can I get there myself?), the ability to get away from others (I avoid areas tightly gridded with roads and trails), plenty of public land at the right elevations, and so on. I arrive a few days before the opener and do several scouting hikes to make my final plan. It's on those scouting hikes that I look for where the water and cover really are.

Personally, I believe scouting pre-season isn't as much of an advantage with elk as some folks assume. Deer can be territorial but elk aren't, not really, and they can walk 30mi a day if they want to. Finding a herd in June doesn't mean much about where they'll really be in September or October - all it takes is one guy on an ATV or sky-lining himself on a hike in archery season to move them two basins over. So don't assume just because somebody is closer to an area that gives them a huge advantage over you. Everybody who wants to be successful has to put in the work. Just make sure you get there a few days early and DO it.

There's an old joke about becoming a good archer taking 2000 arrows - every arrow you shoot makes you that tiny bit better. Well I believe that about miles and scouting. Sure there's advice about glassing and "walking with your eyes" as well. But glassing from the parking lot vs. hiking 5 miles in to a ridge to glass from are totally different things. If you scout 10 miles a day for 3 days before the opener you'll have a lot more information than a resident who visits an area every year but only gets out of his truck and walks 2 miles in Saturday and Sunday.

 

[cnelk]

Using the time slider on GE ive actually found elk out in small meadows.
I killed a bull not far from that spot

 

[Weldor]

E-scouting won't show all the trail cams, LOL.

 

[Indian Summer]

With regards to elk walking 30 miles a day… why would they? The thing that comes to my mind is the term “resident elk“. Once they are in their late summer areas they are there to stay. They make loops sometimes taking a couple weeks to make their way back around. But while some elk may have been in a spot yesterday but gone today another herd could have been elsewhere yesterday and on their way here today. Or if you know the prime areas you could go do a milk run checking 1-2 spots a day until you catch up to them. They may run an 8 mile ridge hole after hole then cross a bottom and work their way along the other main ridge until crossing back to the original side of the drainage. But resident elk will never be more than a few miles away from you or each other. Not 30 miles away. There are exceptions. Elk in sage flats and desert country can go long distances if shot at or pressured.

 

[taskswap]

With regards to elk walking 30 miles a day… why would they?

Pressure, migration instincts, weather. It doesn't matter. I wasn't saying they walk 30 miles every day. Just that that's how far they can if they want to. It could be just 1 mile - if you go the wrong way you'll still never see them.

I believe my point is still valid. Seeing a herd in June does not mean they'll be there in September. I see folks online complain a lot about not being able to pre-season scout if they aren't a resident and my belief is that I'd rather have one thorough hike 2 days before the opener vs. 5 of them months before.

 

[Jaquomo]

Randy Newberg does have some good advice that applies to the areas he knows. But as far as elevation, again, they are where you find them. In CO, elk are at 4600' and they are at 12,500, and everywhere in-between. Where I bowhunted in WY last year, most guys were hunting from 9500-11,000 because that's where the internet probably told them. They were struggling to find elk. So we dropped down to the low sage-aspen country and found herds.

Unfortunately, those elk were very visible to road glassers, and it only took a couple days for all those elk to get pushed down even lower onto the big ranches. Bad hunters hunting badly.

 

[Caseknife]

Benches on north facing slopes with timber.

 

[Slick8]

Some great info above.

I'll duplicate what others have said as it's worked for me. Do a large area e-scouting of the general area of the unit you want to hunt. Then if possible make a short trip to the unit, even if it's just a couple days to get the lay of the land. You're then money ahead and better able to target your e-scouting for the time of year you'll be hunting.

The first time I read the phrase "elk are where you find them" I laughed and thought well duh...smart arsed comment. But it's true, they don't read a script and can be anywhere. One thing is constant, they'll need food, bed, water and a lack of people.