What's the right move - hunters hunting the same basin

[Kyle C]

I would just flat out move basins. If I know the area well I may sit back and wait for a escape route or if I'm super familiar with the area head to another basin I know the elk will be in after they ditch the current one.

I've killed more elk from throwing a audible at a bad situation and going in blind then I have hunting an area I'm super familiar with, and honestly I enjoy seeing new country more then hunting the same old stuff.

Other people suck, but at the same time hunters in the woods is what keeps the lights on. Theirs plenty of room for all of us and I'd rather be the one moving then the one staying if things get crowded.

 

[spike camp]

Don’t fret about your inexperience! Ol Spike Camp is dialed! 25 years and counting, DIY with slingshot! He has next level medals from Obama, if you believe it!

I’m very fortunate to have lived amongst wintering elk for the last 20 years….. and archery hunt the fall ranges ~20 miles from our home.

I’ve spent the last 25 years following bulls, and the cat.
It’s an obsession of mine.
Apologies if I’ve come off as conceited.

But, what I could show you, would make you tinkle.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Here in WA, you get on your phone, call all your buddies and flood the basin in orange. That'll teach those heathens from invading YOUR basin.

I would just move.

 

[spike camp]

I would just flat out move basins. If I know the area well I may sit back and wait for a escape route or if I'm super familiar with the area head to another basin I know the elk will be in after they ditch the current one.

I've killed more elk from throwing a audible at a bad situation and going in blind then I have hunting an area I'm super familiar with, and honestly I enjoy seeing new country more then hunting the same old stuff.

Other people suck, but at the same time hunters in the woods is what keeps the lights on. Theirs plenty of room for all of us and I'd rather be the one moving then the one staying if things get crowded.

Along the lines of my experiences.

If you’re dialed, you might get a shot on one of a hand full of escape saddles or heavy trails.
Hell yeah, if you’re able to make that happen!

I honestly think terrain has more to do with being dialed..or maybe/probably a good mixture of both.

 

[ReaptheHeat]

I'm helpless here gents. I have only seen 6 people in the last 60 years and they were typically on the road back to the truck.

Hey your wife walking back to truck in your driveway doesn't count.

 

[rayporter]

Learn to let them pressure the animals to you. Be smart with wind and thermals. I’ve learned to love having other hunters in my general area. Makes for easier kills most of the time.

my go to plan!

 

[Fetty Wapiti]

Are they on foot or horseback? Who got there first. If I was in there first and they are on horseback I would be a bit biffed. On foot, then maybe share the area and find a new spot in the am.

 

[rayporter]

From a lot personal experience, I don’t think that applies well to elk.
At least not in a ‘basin’ scenario.

especially applies to the basins i hunted.

 

[spike camp]

especially applies to the basins i hunted.

I’d like to hear how you’re able to get in front of pressured elk in a basin scenario.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Had it work both ways, this previous November had a hunter come into a basin I was glassing and shoot a mule deer right below me, I ended up taging out about 30 min later on a buck 900ish yards from where he shot…. Also had guys empty a drainage of elk with how they were hunting… best friend arrowed a raghorn a couple years ago in OTC, there were no joke 40ish guys in a basin that is about 580 acres, well that bull was bumped by three other hunters after the shot, one tried to run the bull down, wasn’t my buddies best shooting but needless to say he never found that bull.

 

[KHNC]

Find another trailhead, dummy! - JR

 

[Hnthrdr]

Find another trailhead, dummy! - JR

Duh! Why didn’t I think of this…

 

[rayporter]

I’d like to hear how you’re able to get in front of pressured elk in a basin scenario.

get up early and beat it to the basin. any elk entering the basin had to go through it. any pressure for a mile below the headwaters of the xxxx of the xxxx river forced elk up toward the basin. it was a bowl with vertical sides. i killed four there and buddy killed 2.

if there was no one in the drainage [frequently] we would each start up one side toward the basin and meet in the bowl. this produced a couple elk, too.

a near by basin had a lake in it at the top. many people killed there but i killed 2 and my pard killed 2 on the way to that bowl. LOTS of pressure pushed elk up that way but they did not have to go through it. they just liked to. our spot had a vertical rock with a path below it. even in the 80"s we could see a bunch of orange down below.

 

[spike camp]

get up early and beat it to the basin. any elk entering the basin had to go through it. any pressure for a mile below the headwaters of the xxxx of the xxxx river forced elk up toward the basin. it was a bowl with vertical sides. i killed four there and buddy killed 2.

if there was no one in the drainage [frequently] we would each start up one side toward the basin and meet in the bowl. this produced a couple elk, too.

a near by basin had a lake in it at the top. many people killed there but i killed 2 and my pard killed 2 on the way to that bowl. LOTS of pressure pushed elk up that way but they did not have to go through it. they just liked to. our spot had a vertical rock with a path below it. even in the 80"s we could see a bunch of orange down below.

So….a box canyon and rifle hunting.
I could see how that would be productive.

 

[bergie]

Find another trailhead, dummy! - JR

Damnit you beat me to it

 

[SteveBurton]

Learn to let them pressure the animals to you. Be smart with wind and thermals. I’ve learned to love having other hunters in my general area. Makes for easier kills most of the time.

It took me many years to figure this out. I used to get really pi$$ed when other hunters would setup around me. Now I watch them and use them as deer/elk drivers.

 

[jphares44]

It took me many years to figure this out. I used to get really pi$$ed when other hunters would setup around me. Now I watch them and use them as deer/elk drivers.

Yep, about the same here. I'm only 4 years into my elk hunting career, all OTC hunts in CO, and accepting the fact there are a ton of people in the woods with you and learning to use the pressure to your advantage is huge. It took me a couple seasons to figure that out. As a matter of fact, during last year's hunt, my wife and I were in an area where we were the only ones around. I literally turned to her and said, "we actually need some more people out here pushing these animals around", lol

As for the OP, if someone else beat me to the spot, I'm moving on. If I was there first and another hunter enters the basin and appears to be staying, I'm going to try to figure out how to use that to my advantage and likely move to what I hope is a more favorable spot.

Public land can be a summbitch.