2 things I learned when living in Colorado:
1. Pre-scouting is meaningless. Very easy to find elk out of hunting seasons and not so easy during hunting season as in I never ever saw one over the several seasons I hunted there.
2. You cannot learn the density of hunters in pre-season scouting. When you think you found a good accessible hunting area, everyone else who is upright with a pulse found it before you and is waiting for you to arrive.
hehe, pretty much spot on. Living in the elk mountains I have a pretty good idea of where a lot of the herds roam and can usually spot them 95% of the time all summer and during archery season, but as soon as rifle season comes they won't be out in the open. They'll still be in the same areas, but they'll be in the dense timber and you'll have to go in to find them. Good luck catching one out in the open during daylight hours in rifle seasons though.
