Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Getting away from the orange. A hard truth.

Started elk hunting 2 years ago. DIY, public land. Followed all the advice on getting away from the orange...

- Choose places without ATV access
- Find where the paved road ends. Keep driving
- Avoid marked/cleared trails
- Go deeper than the road hunter, but not as far as the guide/drop camps
- One road in, one road out. Fewer road the better.

Even went so far as to map all the roads in the unit and circle the areas that were miles from the nearest access point. Meaning - there is no way I'll see another hunter unless they drive the same nasty miles, then walk the same nasty walk. No way they can drop in off another road from any direction/drainage/ridge line.

All that said and done, I still couldn't get away from the orange.

It shocked me on multiple occasions to realize I wasn't alone in the woods I chose to hunt. Not to say the areas I was hunting was crawling with hunters, far from it. But on a handful of occasions, I would cross a set of fresh tracks, or see an orange hat sitting near a remote meadow I was glassing. With that, I've come to 2 realizations that I think are important for any DIY, walk-in hunter:

1) If OTC tags can be had for the unit you are hunting, you will be in the presence of other hunters. Plain and simple.

2) If you are willing to make the walk, slug the miles up/over/around, someone else is willing to do it too.

I've seen the advice given many times over about avoiding roads, walking the extra miles, getting into the thick stuff. And from my experience, that advice doesn't jive with avoiding the orange. Does it help avoid the crowds? Yes. But will it put you alone in the woods, being the only noise/scent/human pressure for those elk? No, no it won't.

Just my experience. And it was a bummer. All those miles in, and to cut someones tracks really made your heart sink. So to those planning a hunt in remote areas - go in expecting to see others. Maybe not the road crowds, but you won't be alone. If you have planned it and physically made it, so has someone else. Out wit the elk with your hunting knowledge, because outwitting the elk and elk hunters by going further and deeper is tough to do.

I have always recommended that hunters work on what happens to the elk from other hunting pressure. Don't worry about what they do outside hunting season. Two or 5-6 hunters in the same area does not hurt much. In fact 1-2 is a lot better than trying to hunt one on one for elk .Except if those others don't know squat about elk hunting and are not ethical enough to give you space. Of course only hunting elk two years, you might not now enough yet either.. No offense intended there

If you hunt NM or CO, there are no big tracks of wilderness as there are further north. GO in 8-10 miles and you will meet hunters coming in from the other side.

IT's a fact of life now. Colorado is the dumping grounds for all hunters that did not draw in other states.

Two options. Hunt other seasons. If you hunt the 1st rifle in CO that is where most NR hunt. There are still quite a few in 2nd season. Look to the 3rd and 4th season or apply for muzzle loader tags. Still hunters, but they are spread out more.

You already noticed that any OTC unit has most of the hunters. Build PP and look to other areas.

I didn't see where you mentioned which state.
No need to. Everyone knows.

Exactly why I'd never recommend an OTC CO hunt to anyone. My friend went on one "once" and said it was the most beautiful camping trip he ever went on, but that was it....he never saw an elk, no matter how far he hiked in. It just never happened for him.

What unit were you in? Yes, 2nd or 3rd season rifle are notoriously "crowded" in CO. Most of the out of staters will hunt the first 3-4 days and give up/or will be too tired to go back out again. I would skip that opening weekend if you have to go back again 2nd/3rd season and focus on during the week. Forget about the elk being out in the open during the morning or evening and get into the trees and stalk/track, especially good if there is new snow.

The problem most hunters make during rifle seasons is that they sit in one place and glass and don't see a thing. The elk will only feed at night in the open.

I've hunted one of the most crowded units during 3rd season and had multiple days where I was totally alone and didn't see anybody until I got back to the trailhead. There are ways to avoid people and it usually involves going in at access points that most people don't even know that are there. One of my go-to spots that has elk every year is only 2 miles off a 2 lane paved highway.

Other options
1. go during archery season and hunt week days, you have a full month.
2. 1st season rifle
3. buy some acreage in the mountains, it's a nice investment!

I dont worry too much about other people in the area..Most are clueless. If the elk are there, they're there, they are big critters and leave a lot of sign.

Last year I hunted a unit group that is supposedly a "dumping" ground for Denverites, and it was indeed packed with people..still seen elk, and some good bulls several days..Never bought a tag.

Just wanted to add, most of those elk were glassed up in the open (small ones,close to cover), from the start of the hunt to the end, 3rd season general elk tag..

Very much agree with saddlesore on his points. When I hunted Colorado, I definitely felt that I was meeting myself coming from the other side. Truly disappointing after putting in a hard effort to get there.

Also very true that a few hunters can help you, especially depending on conditions.

Regardless, too many hunters in an area spoils the whole experience for me. Best way is to hunt somewhere else where licenses are limited and where truly big tracts of land are available.

If a remote spot has hunters, it may simply be too obvious. Remember that elk rapidly move away from pressure, and try to figure how where they might go. Heavily timbered and rough areas have been very productive for me in Wyoming.

In truth, there are simply too many hunters wanting to hunt elk at the same time in the same place. Can't blame them, as I am one of them.

But I would rather find another place to hunt where the experience is more to my liking. Horses can help with this too.

WyoM70

I hate to be the one to say this, but this is the reason you were surprised by other people hunting where you were. That there were others willing to walk to the same places you were is pretty much a given unless you're super-human.

Do it enough though, in the right places (it might take more than 2 years to find those) and you'll get lucky and have some places, some years, to yourself. Or nearly so. Which is still better than hunting hear the road.

I don't have a ton of experience in CO, but there was an OTC elk hunt going on in the area I hunted deer.

I would have to check my hunting journal to be sure, but I believe I could have shot legal bull elk 4 of the days.

Hint: hunt closer to the roads. Your mentality is wrong, having been polluted by traditional wisdom of getting way back in.

All animals go where they do to avoid pressure. They don't care if it is a house's backyard, or the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

Instead of thinking in terms of how many miles away you are, think of where the least pressure is. That is often much closer in than you're thinking.

getting away from "ORANGE" is really not that difficult in my experience,it DOES require a bit of careful research. but hunting the areas that the vast majority of that "ORANGE" avoids like the PLAGUE may be, difficult for someone whose not familiar with it.keep in mind the areas lightly hunted are AVOIDED for a good reason and 90% plus of the time its been due in my opinion a big reluctance to hunt areas that WILL BE RATHER difficult to get to without getting wet, or working on steep terrain, damn few guys want to back pack elk meat out of some steep canyon, or wade belt deep in ice water.

the green dots indicate areas Ive hunted, the key if finding a topo map , getting out a few fairly recent satellite photos and getting the land ownership, BLM, and forest service boundry maps and looking for steep well wooded areas that will REQUIRE you to WADE ACROSS A STREAM or CLIMB DOWN OR UP OVER A STEEP SLOPE FOR ACCESS,larger areas virtually surrounded by private land, and requiring you to wade a creek or climb for access are usually lightly hunted, especially if theres no decent areas near by to park a truck, which virtually mandates you are forced to be dropped off and picked up.

http://www.mytopo.com/maps/index.cfm
https://www.google.com/earth/
THIS IS A PICTURE OF ONE OF SEVERAL OF THE AREA,S I HUNT FREQUENTLY FOR ELK

ELK tend to cluster where the hunting pressure is lower and where the timber provides cover and theres access to water, so look for those factors and in most cases DISTANCE from roads MAY NOT be a huge factor, but no place to park a truck and a darn hard climb will.AREAS THAT LOOK LIKE THIS generally don,t have a great deal of foot traffic

why would I tell everyone the SECRET??
well Ive taken a few dozen guys along on elk hunt back-pack trips and theres been few members of my elk hunt club that have a masochistic streak like I do, so very few do this as it takes EFFORT there for I,m not all that worried I'll be flooded with competition, in fact many years Ive had guys give up and walk back to hunt near the truck after just looking over the destination up close! I'm 67 years old , I'm not in top physical condition, but I plod along and I don,t get discouraged if I have to lean against a tree to catch my breath at 7000-11000 feet altitude every 50 feet I travel,or it takes me 3 hours to get 1.5 miles into steep canyons.
yeah! set in my ways but Ive been successful most years

Sometimes orange doesn't hike. 3 years ago I took a cow out of a herd of about 80 on an open hillside within a horizontal mile of the road and in plain sight of it...but 2000' higher. It took me 3 hrs to climb up there but I had a nice selection of cows to choose from. There was plenty of orange on the road with binocs but only me on the hill.

The catch? I had my llamas in camp to get it out the next day. My knees are too old to backpack an elk down a steep hill like that. I've played that game too many times in the past.

Here's the view from about 400 yds below the kill site. Behind me where the elk were it got seriously steep. I was able to roll her this far before she got hung up in brush.

Now, here is a guy who has been paying attention.

Pressure causes a reaction from elk, and for hunters averse to company. If you see a guy - or gal - out in the remote with you, tip your hat to a person willing to put in the effort. Then try to have a whispered palaver with them so you each know the other's general trajectory. That way you can continue to hunt without stepping on them and vice versa. You might even hatch a cooperative plan.

Where my heart sinks is when I got to a good place by foot and find ATV tracks there - very illegally - before me. If I find the bootprints of another hunter who put in dues to get there, well, must be a kindred spirit. I did once find a guy whose tracks indicated he hunted exactly like I did - same movements, same strategy, same waiting pattern. It was peculiar and interesting to find a phantom whose shadow I was following several days distant in time.

Speaking of shadowing others, you can do worse in a new area to see what other hunters have done, what their approach may have been. Not only can you learn from a guy like the phantom, you will know where someone already blew the elk out.

I hate sharing my chosen area with orange, but it is a short season and limited resource. Especially with those mini-seasons in CO. I so much prefer Wyoming's seasons. Now I no longer have to live a whole year waiting for a mere 7-10 day hunt.

One other comment, 2 years is a pretty short time to accumulate knowledge of elk hunting. Put in more time and you will come to know how to see fewer hunters and more elk. But in CO, there is always a lot of pressure from limited jumping off points.

I applaud 340mag for hunting that hard. I don't, but I am older. The stupid elk don't frequent those nasty areas and they taste just as good as the smart elk.

I ride my mules to within 1 mile or so where I hunt, never into the area I am going to hunt and try not to screw up someone else's hunt. Go shoot an elk ,go back and get the mules. Ride back and process the carcass. Pack it back to camp.

Got my little pack mule within about 10 ft of that 5 point dink bull I posted above,last year.



I had left the mules way down in the trees below this meadow and worked the timber above it the meadow below the rocks. Have to confess though, I could only ride back up to within about 30 yards of the kill site.

Some good info here, especially from Dakota Deer. Two years experience poises you to learn faster or quit. When I have moved to a new state/area, it usually takes me several years to find and filter out a good place to hunt, and learn how to hunt it.

I have not hunted Colorado, but in other places I look for short backpack or day hunt pockets that other hunters are likely to ignore because they are too small, not visible from any road or trail, in an area with low numbers of animals and because sometimes they seem too close to a road to hunt. Maybe no such place exists in CO, but I'd look for it.

One is a kind of buttonhook place, less than a mile from a highway but appears horribly hard to get to unless you hike in seven miles uphill on a trail to nowhere and then leave the trail and go cross country back down toward where you parked. The miniscule numbers of hunters who get that far hunt up into the open alpine, once, and never come back. Its meadows and benches cannot be seen from highway nor trail and it appears to be the same heavily timbered cliffs as the rest of the mountain. We've killed at least nine bucks there of which 6 are wall hangers.

My son found this patch by tracking a deer going what seemed like an odd direction, to find out where the deer were.

Along that line, my best moose spot I found by backtracking a moose that seemed way out of his habitat and coming from an odd direction. Found a pocket of moose paradise surrounded by miles of country no self respecting moose hunter would bother with. Five bulls in six years, two of them very big. 4 1/2 miles from my house.

My son has hunted one elk area for over ten years now, and the first two were unsuccessful but spent intimately learning the terrain, where elk went when bothered by hunters, as well as learning hunter patterns in the area. In one of the lowest success areas in N. America he has consistently killed branched antler bulls for many years now.

You are off to a good start, have discovered the obvious, and are in position to learn even faster if you keep at it. The higher the dues, the fewer who pay them.

OTOH two friends of mine, excellent hunters, virtually ignore other hunters and go right after the biggest herds and highest elk concentrations, though they pack in well away from roads.

340Mag, wish I had a hunting partner like you. My partners are a little on the "I'm not going up there". So am getting in better shape this year and they can go there way and I'll go mine, usually up and over. I waited all my life to hunt elk and now at 58 don't want to be held back by anybody or anything. Killed my first elk last year and can't wait to get back into the mountains this fall.

ATTITUDE AND PERSISTENCE TEND TO PAY OFF.
getting in better shape is damn near mandatory,I try, but at 67 its not easy, like it used to be from 18 years-50 years old or so, but like I stated I must have a bit of a masochistic streak, because I almost always spend the first day in the hunt area with a my-grain headache induced by both altitude and my marginal high blood pressure. yet I refuse to let that get me down, Ive learned to lie around while my body compensates and acclimates, to the altitude change, drink lots of warm tea, gator-aid and take a few aspirin every 4-5 hours , checking into a motel, a few thousand feet lower altitude, or just setting up camp and sleeping after getting into camp a couple days prior to opening day helps.
learning to read a topo map and anticipate elk movement away from easy access helps
keep in mind while hunting your on your own time schedule, making it too some intended remote canyon on your topo map,may take you 1-3 hours, just take the trip into and especially out if you have a heavy pack, at your own steady pace.
you might be amazed at how often youll find you see game while your doing the slow, stop and scan 360 degrees, while your resting while covering ground.(btw try too lean on a tree and stay in the shade while you can, and carry enough water..)

Excellent post/thread. Exactly right!! The elk around here will be here today and be gone tomorrow. Success all depends on finding them. Hunters push them around, weather pushes them around and so does food/shelter. You can read all the bs in books, but it doesn't do much good when everyone else is reading the same books. Your best education is out in the woods. Go elk hunting every year, learn the herds and their migration patterns and you are more likely to shoot a bull or cow every year than the guy who's reading books and planning on being 50 miles from the beaten path only to find out there's many other guys that read that book and he's not alone... Just sayin

High altitudes have always been my friend.
Few seem to want to climb high.



















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Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing. Looks like some stuff above tree line. I never ventured that high. Made it around 11,000.

There's some truth in that but I still say for a beginning elk hunter, the advice to get away from the road is solid advice. Yes, you may see other people back in there, but you'll see fewer, and the guys you do see will generally be more dedicated hunters who know how to hunt and not push the animals into the next county.

At one of my favorite spots there are always a few tents at the trailhead because it's a good area to camp. The guys who camp there generally hunt within a mile or two of the road, and invariably will tell me (mid September) that it's too warm, the rut hasn't started, etc. etc. and no bulls are bugling.

Then I walk in 3-4 miles to set up camp, and get serenaded all night. And see more elk than they do.

Thought I'd bump this thread for anyone grabbing tags for OTC units this fall. Keep your expectations in check, hunt smart, and don't let other orange/tracks disappoint you. Just find a way to get higher, deeper, or more creative. It helps to know the area and the elk. If its your first trip into a unit - get in the woods early, stay quiet, and do a lot of observing. Just my two cents.

Another observation is, have more than one spot picked out, and don't hesitate to pick up and move if your chosen area has too many hunters in it. I have a few spots that are empty (of hunters) some years, and chock full other years. You never know what you'll find from year to year but it pays to have a few options.

Great advice from Smoke. 2 years ago we had a great spot picked out. Showed up and it was FULL of people. Had a plan B, made the move, and that resulted in putting a public land bull on the ground.

I don't care for people that much.

I'd never consider a rifle hunt in CO.

We went MZ, think our area took the 1 point for cow tags. Can't eat the antlers so were always after cows. Though we always saw legal bulls.

We only hunted a few years before talking the wife into hunting AK and we've never looked back after that.

That being said, we picked MZ, we walked into wilderness, and we never saw another single hunter ever except at were we parked our truck and 'base camp' was located.

We finally ran into a park ranger one year. But that was on a known trail trying to get out before a snowstorm came in. I wanted to hunt the snow, wife wanted out before we were stuck in there for a week or more...

LOL, I think I was in that same spot!!

If you ran into a park ranger, it's probably best that you weren't hunting at the time....

In a state with the largest elk population in the country? Maybe he was just camping. 😀

There aren't very many places in the country that you won't see another hunter on public property. If I see a few hunters a day, it isn't a big deal and it helps move the elk around.

340MAG pretty much reflects my experience[and age]. Do a thorough terrain study and go to the tough places. And, most important, go slow and look around often. I don't have much choice on the speed factor these days but I have gotten quieter and more observant.

Later season hunts may offer advantages if you can travel via skis or snowshoes and it is easier to haul gear and game in a sled than on your back. I hunt Idaho's Sawtooth and Salmon zones from early October through March for Wolves and rarely see another Human in the Wilderness areas. We usually sleep in motels in Stanley or Salmon or Challis. I haven't tagged a wolf yet but see lots of other game almost daily.


mike r

I've been looking for good answers to that question since 2003 here in AZ. Best I have come up with is to rent a packer's services. Using word of mouth and friends of friends, it is not that expensive.

So far my deal is to walk behind the string and carry my own pack. Of course, the pack is light. This makes for a pretty 'easy' hunt, because water and meat are packed for you. And walking in keeps the livestock count, and price, down.

Ends up being $100 or $200 per hunter in my limited experience. Well worth it.

If it is possible for an ATV to reach the area, I don't scout it. Yeah, I'm leaving elk on the table, but with limited knowledge, it has been my best approach. Last hunt my buddy and I saw dozens of elk, and several bulls, every day. This was in a popular big bull unit in AZ.

In my experience, some National Forests enforce "No Motorized Access" areas, and some do not. I choose the ones that do.

I have not gotten to the point where I did not see another hunter, but close. Probably all I can hope for here. It's getting harder and harder to simply outwalk the competition.

That being said, I believe there are hidey holes near roads and homes that hold big bulls. If I find them, I'll hunt them.

$100-$200 to pack in your stuff and pack out your meat is an awesome deal, I'd take that in a heartbeat.

Interesting discussion, from many perspectives.

I am lucky to go on 5-8 public land elk hunts each season, covering many different states, situations, and seasonal periods of an elk's life. We have five days to show up at these new locations, figure out what the elk are doing, and with some luck, get a few encounters on camera.

I'm not an expert by any means, but in years of conducting a lot of failed public land elk hunting experiments, I have taught myself a few principles to follow.

Colorado OTC units are one of our hunts most seasons. I always hunt 3rd season, as pressure from the 2nd season has bull elk on public land concentrated into even tighter areas. I show up on Sunday and hunting Mon-Fri, as the prior weekend pressure has bulls even more concentrated in sanctuary areas.

I hunt an area where locals have asked, "Why do you hunt that unit with all those other hunters?" Yeah, there are plenty of people. But, there are plenty of elk. Same with the general public land units I hunt in Montana, or the late season units I apply for in Arizona.

I see the same "too many hunters" issue on public land hunts in all states we hunt. Only those hunts with extremely limited tag numbers will allow you to have the public lands all to yourself. Reality is, you will be lucky to draw a tag like that every 20 years.

Just because I see other hunters doesn't mean I won't see elk. If I see/smell/hear "motors," odds of me seeing elk go way down, no matter what season or state I am hunting.

The biggest reason people don't find public land elk is that they don't take the time to study what elk have as their primary need in the season they are hunting. Identify the primary need of the elk for the time you are in the woods and that will tell you where to find the elk.

In CO, 2nd and 3rd seasons are during the post-rut and late seasons. Public land bulls are in "security and survival" mode at that time. They are not looking for food. They will scrounge on what little food can be found near their sanctuaries, until such time hunting season passes. I am struck by how many people I see hunting food sources during post-rut and late season hunts on highly pressured public lands. They see cows and calves, maybe a few 1.5-2.5 year-old bulls, but no mature bulls. Mature bulls have figured out that such locations are good places to get killed. Those that did not figure it out occupy someone's wall/freezer.

I see a lot of people walking around the hills, with no real plan of where the elk will be. By the time late October and November roll around, pressure has concentrated mature bull elk in very select areas. The landscape is vast and mature bulls are using only a very small portion of the landscape in post-rut and late season. I don't have time to walk around randomly or sit in one of dozens of meadows in hopes of an elk coming by. With limited time, I need to go to the sanctuary locations these educated bull elk have been using for years and increase my odds of finding a bull and getting a shot.

In all the hunts we do, we follow this principle; not because we are elk masters, rather we are busy and under some pressure, with my simple mind requiring us to simplify the process of finding public land elk as much as possible. Our planning goes like this -

To kill a mature public land bull, you have to find a mature public land bull; to find him, you have to know his needs in the season you are hunting. To increase your odds, hunt where elk can satisfy that highest priority need.

We did this video about finding elk in the late season. Since it is under seven minutes long, we had to leave out a lot of pieces, but hopefully it gives enough to help people who are new to the public land elk hunting gig.

https://youtu.be/K6Iy0lVJRMA?list=PLLdxutimd-JucEFczP4LgCS75Lt7caIMm

Great video. Thanks for sharing..

For years, we've been hunting an area in central Idaho near a resort town with lots of public land elk. It's all draw but we usually apply for cow tags. The odds of drawing are very good and we will draw about 2 out of 3 years. As the season progresses, the elk seem to go 2 way. Some will go up and back to some almost totally inaccessible areas. If you go there, you'd better have a very strong back. The other elk will go to town. They'll crowd in around homes on the outskirts where there are lots of hikers and bikers. They're mostly still on public land and the season is open. The locals have tried to run the hunters out but the IDFG has ignored them.

Sounds like Ketchum/Sun Valley. Central Idaho is beautiful...and STEEP!


mike r

Yep, exactly. Dang place is vertical for sure. At least we don't have to worry about atv's buzzing us while we're hunting. Even if they were legal in that area, which they aren't, it's too steep and rocky to use one.

If you want to leave the world behind, and sleep in a real bed Idaho is the place. If you are willing to suffer a little it is even better.


mike r

Orange isn't required in Idaho. Around Ketchum, most guys don't wear it just to stay out of sight of the liberals.

I'd wear it just to piss 'em off: "and have a nice day."

My experience in OTC and draw units both, hunt beyond the opening weekend and the crowds taper off by well over 50%.

It is nice to get Randy's viewpoint as a guy who needs elk to show up in camera range with someone filming he needs to see elk. I watched one of his shows where he rented an aircraft to leave the orange behind.....if I remember correctly even then they weren't alone on that public area.

Two years really isn't much time to make as many mistakes as most folks before they start having success.

Finding the elk is key - in a bad 2nd season I kicked up 2 bulls within 800 yards of an outfitters horse string starting out camp. They were bedded separately with a single and 2 cows in a wooded area way less than a singe square mile between a main road and accessible ATV path. They found a refuge that I stumbled on by following fresh tracks but not being quiet and sneaky enough or setting up an ambush they both escaped. Two mistakes in 20 minutes by the same idiot ....me.

It is easier said than done but hunt like you expect to find and kill a bull the minute you leave your sleeping bag. Just being ready when the elk show up will get you a lot of elk that you would normally miss.......another piece of advice I give but way too often forget.

So in July I'm strategizing how to battle the orange and my own impatience and stupidity. I took 3 years to kill my first elk and now I have 12 down in the last 12 years hunting the same areas full of orange ......and as I have shared often times despite being impatient and stupid. Every year I make several stupid mistakes when I replay the season. These days I buy a bull and cow tag so my mistakes don't cost me an empty freezer.

With all due respect to the deceased, my elk hunting mentors were good people but not very good at hunting elk. Still, they helped me get started, for which I am very grateful, and over the last 34 years I’ve learned. Slowly.

Some things I’ve discovered doing Colorado public land (mostly) and RFW (4 IIRC) hunts:

1. Hunt where the elk are. Sounds simple and natural but they move. A lot. And a long ways. We used to camp high every year and basically hunt within a few miles of camp. Some years we would see elk, other years none. Now we camp low with access to main roads and may hunt various areas up to 60 miles from camp, depending on the tags we have and conditions on the ground. If the weather is good we may hunt high, if bad we may hunt low. If there is fresh overnight snow on the ground and no tracks, we look elsewhere.

2. If you want meat in the freezer, get a cow tag.

3. Persistence pays. My hunting buddies tend to hunt the weekend and maybe Monday and they don’t hunt every year. I hunt every year, stay the week and have taken more elk than all of them put together.

4. Pay attention to the migration patterns. When the migration is on the elk will come to you if you are in the right place. Since 2010 I’ve taken 2 cows and a 6x6 bull migrating through a little patch of public sage land about a half mile deep and a quarter mile across that borders a state highway. We’ve taken more migrating elk out of other sage land. The migration can be your friend.

5. Hunting slower often yields better results. We used to put 35 or more miles on our boot soles during our elk hunt, often to no avail. Now that I’m older I might do 15 or 20 but success rates have gone way up, in part because I spend more time resting and looking and see more elk.

6. Good binos are your friend – use them. Leave the pocket-sized glasses at home.

7. Success often comes late in the season when most hunters have gone home.

8. The presence of other hunters is not necessarily a bad thing and can be an advantage. Figure out where the elk are likely to be, where the hunters are going and what the elk will do in response to the pressure. (Including staying put. We’ve found elk in small patches of woods that hunters simply bypassed.) We have a favorite spot where elk get pushed back onto public land by hunters on private land.

9. Food, water, shelter. Elk need these.

10. Know what you are going to do after you pull the trigger. A hunting buddy and I got three elk (2 cows and a bull) down on a mountaintop 3 miles from the truck. Only freezing cold weather kept up from losing any meat. It took us 3 days to pack the meat out on our backs. Never again. Hunting farther from the road may or may not bring greater success but it guarantees a longer pack out when success is the result.

Sounds great to me, I love hauling meat.

If you spook elk enough to get them running , don't bother hunting for them in the same place for a long time. They won't be there.

Most of the time. I do recall shooting a cow within a hundred yards of where I shot at her and missed the evening before (drilled a 6-inch pine tree). She sure did haul ass out of there when the bark was flyin.'

It's almost like saying you shouldn't hunt near camp because no elk will be around a camp. Most of the time.

Great advice. It took me better than 20 years to draw an excellent trophy area. It was worth the wait. As saddlesore pointed out, without getting in a limited entry unit, expect to see other hunters.

If you're able to draw a rut hunt, general season elk hunting rules won't apply. Herd bulls won't run far. They will return to their harems. My guide and I chased a huge bull for miles. He never went far from where we first spotted him. We chased him for miles over I have no clue how many ridges. He merely circled over ridges until I was finally able to kill him. He was a bull of a lifetime.

BTW, that unit produces 400+ bulls every year. But getting a tag for unit will take many years.

We heard bulls bugling right near our camp. When bulls are in rut, they have a one-track mind.

OurdoorAg,

Check out Eastman's for excellent elk hunting info.

Are you sure it was the same cow? Or maybe one that was shot at 2 miles away the day before?

he never forgets a pretty face.....

Funny you mention that, he said he was a park ranger, and was tasked to go out and help the game wardens. I was kinda a bit amazed at seeing him out there, we chatted for some time, and I finally asked if he wanted to see my license, wife was just along, and he said sure, we chatted some more and he went on his way. I never even thought to ask where he normally worked out of .....

I was still kind of amazed they'd task someone like that to go check on hunters.

I've noticed that some hunters who do actually hike don't bother to stop and glass much. They're just moving through and aren't in spots they can see a lot of country from anyhow.

I don't sweat the crowds too much. It does get annoying, but you can work around them usually.

If I wasn't sure, do you think I would've told that story?

Extensive and/or rugged terrain, binos, and spotting scopes are my friends. Roads/rigs/and ATV's are not.

I think it was Confucius that said "elk are where you find them'.

A very true statement.

Due to all the pressure, just because you have not found any fresh sign yesterday or today, does not mean elk won't move in overnight. Elk can, and will, move a long ways quickly.

I was coming home from a 2nd season deer hunt, driving S on Hwy 9 from Green Mountain Reservoir, and saw a few elk on a hillside above a public campground along the river. By the time I stopped, there were maybe 3 dozen elk up there, with more coming out of the trees. I stopped counting at 121, with many more piling out. Just above the elk sat a 'trophy' house.

So, 'elk are where you find them'.

There's a guy who used to post here by the handle of Greenhorn, who is arguably the best elk hunter on this forum, if pictures of downed elk are the measure. He's a young guy, lives in Montana and walks his ass off and kills some spectacular elk. Lots of scouting beforehand. I envy you folks that live out there in God's country and have ample opportunity to hunt in this fashion. Me, I'm condemned to live in fully Florida, don't have the time to invest, so I pay to hunt. I'm OK with that.

Close, but you're probably thinking of shrapnel.

Checked my records but it was too late to edit and correct the post above.

My records show 5 RFW (Ranching For Wildlife) hunts, not 4. Also 28 public land hunts and one year I didn't hunt elk since I started in 1982.

Getting older helps a lot with the impatience. Or at least hiking through the woods so fast you miss the elk or spook them.

A couple years ago, we'd been hunting for days without seeing a track. Then we got 6" of snow. Driving down a back road heading to camp after dark, we found lots of elk that had just arrived from somewhere, within rock throwing distance from the road, right out in the open sagebrush. The next morning before light, we were back and the elk were still there. We sneaked in through the sagebrush and when it was light enough to shoot, bang, bang, 2 in the bag. We were even able to get the truck through the sagebrush to load them up.

I smiled when I read about driving up to them and thought, that's cheatin'.

When it comes to packing elk, sometimes cheating is sweet relief.

Yes, it can.

We've been able to drive up to two of mine. Shortest actual pack was a lasered 43 yards to the road. We do it on our backs so no complaints.

Thought I'd bump this thread. With elk season around the corner, I'm sure we have all being spending time studying maps and GE looking for that get-away spot. If you can walk there, so can someone else. Expect it. Have a plan. Good luck in 2017!

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

I have noticed in the last five years,OTC ares = many hunters.I usually draw a ML cow tag and then also hunt 2nd rifle .The last several years that has been in a 5o0 w/cap unit. Now it is OTC.I might very well sit out 2nd rifle this year I don't need the meat. I am not physically able to hunt the 3rd and 4th with a lot of snow and don't really relish putting up with the crowds anymore.

Well, it'll be easier sitting out 2nd rifle since you'll already have a fat cow in the freezer.

Or do like I did. Borrow a map from a friend, Ken, who knows/hunts the area, with an area at 11K on a steep slope circled on it and labeled "elk here".

We (his brother Robert and I) found them at 10.5, while following a fresh satellite bull trail toward them in 4" of overnight snow.. . OTC 2nd rifle season, CO.

The ridge top, with several tent camps of maybe 20 horse hunters ahead of us, was at 14K. Some had gone in the day before season or earlier, some ahead of us that morning. Our camp was a heated rental cabin with running water and shower 5 minutes drive from the trail head.

Ken was, at the time, at another place I hope to try next year or so, involving a steep 1500-2000 foot climb up a sheer canyon wall (rock chute) , several miles from any road access on the far side. On their side, they had to park their vehicle along the road in the canyon bottom a mile away from the chute they could climb. That canyon was as far as the elk could go.... He and his partner both scored at daylight opening day, several hours before I did, having climbed the day before and camped overnight on the rim. They had more than 80 elk to watch that hunting season eve. they hung their meat from ropes over the canyon rim to keep the critters off. On the other hand, it was all downhill from the kill site. As was mine.

It took me until nearly noon, the same day they scored, but we had to climb 3,000 feet, including a mile and half of trail up the canyon's bottom. But Ken told us which rock to turn off at to start climbing.

We - mostly Robert- dragged/rolled that cow downhill on a watercourse, pushing her over several dry waterfall drops, and when we finally got hung up behind a serious deadfall, we were only about 30 yards off the trail. Had her all packed out and drinking beer with a hot supper at the cabin by dark. More beer drinking after supper.

My kind of elk hunting.... . I'm 10 years older now, tho.

One tactic that has worked for me is to try and enter an area I know holds elk from a different direction than other people do (wind direction willing). Elk seem to be looking the other way waiting for a sign it is time to move. It involves more hiking up front to do the end run but it pays off for me.

That is excellent advice. I was slowly learning it the hard way and then asked an older, more experienced elk hunter about it. He said to forget them once they are spooked. I have save myself a lot of time and miles since by looking for "fresh" elk.

There are some great pointers on this thread. I have found that in my later years that knowing your hunting area and elk habits pay off more than busting it up and down the mountain. Not to say some hard walking is not required, but sitting and glassing spots where elk move year after year can be very rewarding. I have several spots that I will slip into and sit most of the day several days in a row. This tactic has paid off more often than not over the last 10 years, but it can take several seasons to figure out the honey holes. Last year I did not see elk in any of my spots, but I did kill a dandy mule deer. Happy Trails