There are two ways to hunt elk--put the sneak on them or let other hunters do your work for you. My dad taught me the latter, and the older I get the smarter my Old Man becomes.......
Currently, one of my most successful spots is simply waiting for elk to cross an open strip that is 450 yds long one direction, 250 yds the other, and about 30 yds wide. From that spot over the last 9 years, five kids between the ages of 13-17 have killed 9 elk. I've killed 3 more. The trick is finding those spots. To this day I cannot figure out why elk tend to cross this otherwise unassuming stretch of ground. I know why the elk are moving, they're being shot at on a private ranch owned by a dot.com bizillionaire, and obviously his buddies can't shoot. There is lots of territory beyond that actually provide more cover for elk moving away from the hunting pressure. But they choose to use this stretch of ground.
Or when the elk hole up in the dark timber or the hellholes a guy can go in after them. Nine lb rifles, rangefinders, hubble size scopes and dialing are useless in those situations though, and very few guys are prepared to jump shoot elk at 40 yds.
And yes, there are places where a guy can hunt relatively undisturbed elk.
Casey
