Hello everyone. I hope you all are doing well.
My buddies and I are going on our 4th annual elk hunt this November. We’ll be going to the same place we have gone the first three years, diy public land. The first year we went with a very inexpensive guide and the last two we have gone DIY. Each of the last two years I have killed a bull, younger ones. The first was a 3x3 and last year was a nicer, but not huge 5x5. Each hunt has been a thrill and we were all happy to have elk meat, but now I’m thinking about the next step in my elk hunting career.
The two bulls I have killed were with herds and they were the only legal bulls in their herd. Each time, I found heavy and fresh elk sign coming into meadows, where I would wait to ambush the elk. This is a good tactic, I think, for connecting with a bull and I am sure we will employ this method this fall.
How should I go about finding mature bulls? It seems like at this time of year, the herds are moving to their winter grounds and the bulls we find around the herds are immature. Are the big guys nearby, but just more solitary? Or are they in a totally different area altogether? The elk I have killed in the fields have both been at dusk on top of hills/mountain with canyons bisecting the hill tops. The canyons/drainages are heavily wooded with conifers and there is lots of deadfall. I’m inclined to think the big boys are in there, but just keeping to themselves and generally laying low during the day, just like a post rut whitetail buck. Would still hunting these drainages during the day be a good tactic? If so, am I more likely to find elk down in the creek bottom, or somewhere between the bottom and the top of the hill?
Thanks for sticking around this long. Looking forward to listening to the collective wisdom of the fire.
Happy hunting!
-Jeff
