Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting E-Scouting for public land elk

People often laugh, when my first statement is, "To kill an elk you have to find an elk." Pretty simple, but not knowing how to consistently find elk was the biggest hurdle I faced in my elk hunting travels. Everything I do from the time I draw the tag until I am at the trailhead in the morning darkness is predicate on where I think I will find elk at whatever period of the elk calendar my tag is good for.

The greatest number of questions we get pertain to elk hunting. Most revolve around finding elk. Finding mature bull elk on public land is not easy, especially in the post-rut and late season periods.

In my experience, most of the question that arise when trying to find public land bull elk can be answered by explaining how we put together our plan for hunting when we get to the unit, or the process we call E-scouting. We usually have five days, often in a unit we've lever seen or hunted, and in those five days we must find and take a bull elk on camera. We need a plan for all five days we are there.

We released the first video this morning that is an overview of what the series will be like. It is about putting together a plan to consistently find bull elk on public land for whatever calendar period you will be hunting them.



We have filmed most of the content for this series and it looks like we will end up somewhere between 10-12 videos to fully explain how we build our plan by E-scouting. Hope you find it worthwhile.

NICE! Really looking forward to this. I'm hoping it calls out all the mistakes I've made in the past, and highlights some things I can do different and places I've overlooked. Or maybe even help me realize that I need to start hunting a new unit!

The problem I have is most Elk are a long drive away so when I scout on the ground it is limited and only reveals summertime patterns. It also doesn't account for the blaze orange army. Some behavior is predictable but others not too easily.

I did a freebie look. Looks pretty neat but a little too high tech for someone with limited computer skills. Good luck, though.

If you can post here, you can use OnX.

I have the OnX app on my phone... it is INVALUABLE to find property lines, look up Land Owners (think permission), find directions and mark locations. I have used it in Montana sheep hunting, in the Dakotas duck hunting, and here at home in SC to look up property.

You can play with it FREE for one week. If you like it, sign up. Well worth the price. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Thanks Randy. I recall some of your other videos on e-scouting. I do very similar things and have had success.

Yvon Chouinard is weeping right now...

Randy,

Just remember when you go to one of my “honey holes” that you don’t show the trailhead on camera...

Well, why on earth would he agree to that..🤔🤔

Another great video, thanks Randy!

I downloaded OnX when I got stationed in NC and it has been a huge help in hunting the public land around here. I’m about to upgrade and get the version that comes with maps for every state, so I can find more places to hunt back home in WV outside of our farm and to start preparing for my first western hunt.

Part 2 - Edges and Canopy Disruptions. Live now at the link below.

Part 3 - Probably more discussion on burns than you care to listen to. Burns, burns, and more burns.

Part 4 - Sanctuaries video is now live. Main focus of my plan for post-rut and late season.

Part 5 - Hunting Pressure, is now live on our YouTube channel. If you hunt public land in areas with large amounts of hunters, being able to predict hunting pressure, where it will come from and how elk will respond, is a big part of putting together your game plan.

When desktop scouting for pronghorn, I could see about 75 animals in the Google Earth images I brought up. That pretty well confirmed some prior on the ground looks we did before the season.

Ive E-Killed like 4 or 5 400" bulls....no joke.

#DQ #howahandjob