Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Advice on Our Elk Hunting Plans

I feel guilty for hijacking the other thread. So, I thought I would start a new one specific to my particular circumstances.

Thanks to all for the comments in the other thread. Thanks Smokepole for the offline snow report. Thanks Elkslayer for the offline comments, which were very helpful and gave me some ideas to consider.

How about something like this (if other hunters aren’t already there when we get there). The pictured lake is at about 11,600ft; the surrounding pinned hunt locations are 150 ft to 200 ft higher. There is that small stream on the lower left too.



The top of the map is north. The wind is supposed to be coming from the WSW. There are miles of forest to the south and east. But there doesn’t appear to be any other water for miles. For scale Hunt B1b is 200 yds from Hunt B1a.

There may or may not be any snow. If there is, if the forecast holds, it won’t be much. From a webcam not too far away, there looks to be about an inch of snow on the ground right now at 11,700 ft; the area is supposed to get a few inches more tomorrow; but then the high is going to be in the forties and sunny and lows around 30 for the next ten days. Too early to know what the winds will be like, but the forecast has the winds around 5 mph to 10 mph.



Would the two of us sitting in two of those three pinned locations (or thereabouts) and watching the tree lines and the water be a good idea?

How far away would you camp at minimum? We would camp east of the hunt site for wind purposes. I was looking at a good place to camp about 0.6 miles to the east. Is that too close? There are other areas to hunt if we end up deciding that that place is futile.

Many thanks in advance for any answers or comments.

Just my 2 cents. There's plenty of dudes that have killed more elk than I have.

From my perspective, I hunted a new unit this year and I didn't see elk for the first 10 days of hunting (pre, trans, and post rut, early Sep to early Oct, bow and rifle). General tag unit, good amount of pressure. Once we found them we started seeing them every day. Essentially my first 10 days I was eliminating areas that I thought would hold elk and didn't.

So yes, I would definitely sit downwind and see what there is to see for an evening. I would walk the area mid day (not push into the timber) and see what kind of sign there is around. Maybe the elk are there and use the area, maybe they aren't. I go to plenty of spots that I think are going to be sure things...and there's absolutely no elk sign.

And I cover a lot of ground when I'm not seeing elk, maybe even too much. I would camp further away than half a mile. Without seeing the rest of the terrain it's tough to tell, but it doesn't look like it's hard to get there. Only the elevation, but no big timber blocks or anything that you can't work around.

Thanks JoelD. We're going to pick the spot or one of the others I have in mind first, and move around and on if it doesn't seem promising.

My biggest concern about hunting way down below is that I think there will be increasing numbers of hunters down lower.

The other two camping options would be either: (i) to camp further (south) down the valley, and hike up; or (2) to camp about 1.2 miles further north over and down a fairly high ridge to a place that I have camped many times. I've seen large herds of elk in the area nearby during the summers at times, but I know that means little to nothing for this trip. Also, at least the night before the first day, perhaps we would load the truck with the camping gear and everything else we need, but stay on my land about one hour away or at a hotel about 30 minutes away; just get up earlier; and drive to maybe a mile from the spot, which I think I can do, and hike from there. That way, we won't be making noise or smells the night before.

I appreciate you taking the time to give me your thoughts.

Best of luck to you.

Perfect. You'll be looking down, and slightly elevated above ground level (lake elev) for scent purposes when the wind changes periodically for a short period.


Perfect. You're on the only water around. (HUGE advantage) They have to drink, and your 300 yard shots to the water or surrounding area is a gravy shot. Remember, take your time, and don't rush.

Forties and sunny will melt those few inches, but it'll still be in the surrounding cover where you can see their tracks where they travel, and come out to to feed/water.


If you want to punch your tag, I would highly advise it.


I'll comment on your other post on camping. Having other areas to hunt, and using your knowledge you've shown here is good.

No one can answer your question with any credibility without being there on the opener.

Get high and GLASS...

Just remember, they can move into an area overnight, and you have water they need.



Most of the time, the water is down low, but you've found it up high which will benefit you with 40* weather. Hopefully the grass in the area is good to graze. Look for sign.

And you being up high, they'll push them "up" to you, or they'll just stay high due to 40* temps, and you'll be right on them. Also, they travel the tops of ridges. So you might catch a big bull traveling the ridge during the day.


Camp at the 1.2 miles away location. You know the spot, and you'll be able to glass the area on that side of the ridge (opposite the lake) when you leave out in the morning to hunt. Remember, you might get a shot 500 yards from camp walking "to" the lake. Also, you'll already be there (not driving in) to hear the bugling before sunrise to know where any are, and adjust accordingly.


It means there is good food /water in the area or they would not be there.


Camp at 1.2 mile location. You need to hear where they are before sunrise, and can't do that when you'd be traveling. You'll get more sleep, and won't have to worry about the truck getting stolen at the hotel with your gear in it.


You'll be alright 1.2 miles away. Just don't start singing Rocky Mountain High too loud.

You have put the odds way in your favor now.

You've done good grasshopper.

Good Luck

Leave some for the rest of us!

Thanks Elkslayer. Will do rosco.

I could not recall previously laying my eyes on that lake, but I was wrong. I scoured my old pictures and found it.

Among many other times, 16 years ago, a bunch of us camped at the place 1.2 miles to the north.

Here it is:






We hiked about 1.5 miles southwest over and past the lake and took this shot (pretty much NW-to-SE; i.e., from a little left of the left edge of the aerial pic above):



Here is another pic from roughly the same place toward the valley below to the southwest (showing the stream in the SW portion of the aerial pic above):



I don’t know if there are elk in the area, but if there are, we will do our best.

Looking at those pics, I’m kind of glad I have a flat shooter that I shoot really well (buddy does too).

Hope no one else has occupied this place when we get there.

Listen to Brad on this. There are 100 different ridges you can sit on in your region that will not have elk on them. Elk are not like deer, they are not dispersed randomly. Elk are either there or not. If you choose to randomly sit on hills and watch a pond you would do better to each sit on a different ridge in a location with good visibility and spread out because you would have a better chance at finding elk. In my humble opinion you would do better to find elk first and hunt where they are. You can find them by finding good glassing spots and looking at the right times of the day--mid day will rarely be useful--and hunt where you see elk. You can also bend some boot leather and look for sign. You are in the right area when it has glossy poo, freshly turned up ground, and stinks. If those factors are not there you are not where elk live and you will not reliably kill elk at that location.

To be clear, I'm not saying you cannot all three kill big bulls from those spots you picked. I'm saying that without knowledge that elk live there it would be randomly lucky to do so. If you want any sort of reliability you must hunt where you know elk to be and not just where you hope they could be.

Thanks for the comments. Good points.

I’m 11,000 miles away right now on a work trip. Can’t be helped. I’m lucky even to get to go on this trip. I leave on a plane in about 30 hours; land in Virginia Tuesday evening; we plan to begin the truck-based journey on Wednesday morning and end up in the area by Friday at around noon. That’s what I have to work with.

I had to pick a starting spot from afar, and I have seen many elk in the past on the ridges right next to this spot. It doesn’t mean they will be around there now, but it’s a starting point.

There are only two of us.

We will look for sign on Friday and adapt to whatever we see or don’t. We have backup locations in the same area and beyond. If nothing else, we will hunt bear on my 120 acre parcel 20 miles away, where we have bear, but not elk, tags.

Looking at the photos, the area looks very promising, but as Brad said, having never been there it is difficult to answer. The question is, how far away is this spot from the nearest traveled road? If over at least a mile, the further the better, then it appears to have real potential having key features post-rut bulls look for/ need - sanctuary with nearby water and food - and what cows need - cover with nearby food and water. If less than a mile I might consider going elsewhere especially if you're after a larger bull. That heavily treed north facing slope (if I understood your picture captions correctly) in the last pic looks very promising as sanctuary for the bulls. IMO I would split up, one set-up to glass the pond and one to glass in to that heavily treed slope and stream in that last pic. If you don't see anything moving at first light, consider linking back up with your buddy to scout both locations sometime mid-day. One can glass the area to look for any movement while the other sneaks down to look for any sign. Finish one area, then move to the other and repeat. Set back up at last light to glass for any movement at both spots or whichever spot you saw fresh sign if you scouted mid-day. Definitely have a plan B location if you don't see anything or other hunters invade the area. Good luck.

Best of luck on this trip,keep us posted..

Thanks Rong.

Thanks Driftboater.

The area is a little less than a mile from the nearest road, but it’s a dead end in the valley. So, no through traffic.

If the place is occupied when we get there on Friday, we will move on to plans B, C …. There aren’t too may places in the area that are more than a mile from some type of logging road. We could have backpacked up into one of the wilderness areas, but we decided against that on this trip. Again, our worst-case scenario is to exclusively hunt my private land 20 miles away for bear. Our collective mindset, I think, is to work hard; be disciplined; have fun; enjoy the hiking camping, eating Virginia venison; etc …, and if we get something nice, that's icing on the cake.

If you look at the group photo above, there are two small ridges protruding from the left border of the pic. The furthest one is that whiteish ridge at the top-right of the aerial map (NE of the lake). The other is NNW of the lake (it's also the same ridge you can see at the very left of the pic of the meadow). It's halfway between the center and left pinned locations, and likely is better than the left one, on further review. Parts of the latter has views of both the lake and the meadow with the stream. Winds are predicted to be from the WSW. So, if we move further west (to the left of the aerial pic), we might increase our odds of seeing something further down the valley, but we may begin increasing the odds of casting our scent toward the lake/meadow. We will experiment/move as we feel is necessary, but that is one consideration.

Best regards and good luck to you all.

Marinehawk, a couple of observations. It bears repeating that elk are where you find them, so keep moving until you do and don't be tied to one spot just because it looks good on a map. Most of the good spots I've found are not spots that I'd have picked off a map or air photo. As far as the pond in the photo being the only water for miles around, I'd be willing to bet that it's not. Seeps and springs are common in alpine areas and they can't all be found on maps or air photos but the animals will know where they are. I've found small creeks that were big eough to fish in that weren't on a map or visible on photos so don't assume that the elk will have to come to your spot to get water.

I drove through central CO yesterday and everywhere that I could see above timberline was white. In south park there was 3-4 inches on the ground and it's less than 10K. Maybe it'll melt off, maybe not. 11,600 is up there.

Thanks Smokepole, We are just looking for an initial plan, and will go from there. There is a lot of water 2-1/2 miles to the NE, but it's next to a 4x4 loud ATV through-road, where I never have seen any game there other than ground squirrels and beaver.

The next four days will be sunny and warm.

Last night, Fairplay (10,000 ft) had a bunch of snow; now it has very little: http://www.fairplaycam.com/

It's supposed to be high-forties even up high where we are going for most of the next four days. If not, we will adapt.

I will keep an eye on the web cams at around 1,600 ft, which currently show about 1.5: of snow, but with nothing more for a weeks and sunny 40s highs. We will be in the area Friday morning.

It's supposed to be high-forties even up high where we are going for most of the next four days. If not, we will adapt.

Good luck with your hunts.

Don't forget the whiskey and eggnog.

It's not an Elk camp unless you have some.

Thanks again to all for your helpful comments above last year.

I just wanted to ask some follow-up questions based on our experiences last fall. I really would appreciate any advice.

We had a good hunt last year, but we did not get an elk on the planned trip described above.

We picked up a lot of valuable information for this year and had a great time though.

During the week preceding the 2nd Rifle Season, the area got a few inches of unseasonably-early snow. I tried on the Friday before the season opener to get my truck up to the desired camping spot 1.2 miles north of, and over high ridge from, the desired hunting spot. I could only get within about two miles of the spot, when I temporarily got stuck. We could have backpacked and camped up there if we had brought gear for that, but we did not.

So, we decided to camp as far up as we could get in the valley below to the south. This ended up making for a fun trip, but it also ended up as a scouting trip for this year’s hunt.

Here’s our fancy camp. It was about four miles south of, and about a couple thousand feet lower than, the desired hunting spot.



Because of the crunchy hard snow, on the first morning we made a fair amount of noise hiking fairly-slowly and as quiet as possible from the camp to the hunt spot.



We saw possibly thousands of elk tracks in the mid-level part of the valley, where where we drove; up the valley, where we hiked; and in the area near the lake mentioned and shown above.

Tracks:


More tracks:


More:


This is in the bottom of the bowl up high. You can see elk tracks in the center of the pic if you look closely (they were everywhere):

This is my buddy going up the bowl:



This is his hunting blind up fairly-high in the bowl:



This is a view up (northwest) from there, which is toward the direction from which I intend to come into the bowl this year by camping up high in that direction:



This is looking down from the same area toward the lake at the bottom of the bowl, where there were countless herd-made elk tracks:



After the first day, we hunted the valley below because it involved making much less noise and allowed for far more hunting time where there were many tracks.

We had a good time, hid out quietly, but didn’t see any elk.

PRINCIPLES:

A few principles to provide some context for the questions I ask further below:

1. Last year, I bought a 2nd Rifle Season tag when there usually is little or no snow in the area, and it snowed earlier than normal, about seven days before the 2nd Season opener.

2. This year, I drew a 1st Rifle Season Either-Sex Elk tag in the same area. Unless it snows early again, and given that I am hunting a week earlier, I likely can get my vehicle to the desired campsite 1.2 miles north of the hunt spot. Also, as a backup this year, I am going to bring winter backpacking/camping gear. So, I should be able to get to the desired campsite one way or the other.

3. In the entire miles-long valley to the south and above that around the hunting area, we saw no other hunters all week-long last year. Zero. During the entire week, there were two off-road vehicles that drove up part of the valley, just for fun.

4. We saw countless elk tracks in the snow in the valley below the hunt site and near the lake.

5. All of the Tracks were less than a week old, and all of the tracks were made since the snow fell about seven days before the start of the 2nd Season.

6. All of the countless elk tracks in the valley appeared to be individual elk that were travelling alone.

7. The tracks in the snow near the lake up top, appeared to be that of a herd of elk with a lot of group activity. In some places near the lake, fairly-large areas were turned to mush from all of the activity.

QUESTIONS:

1. Is it normal to see so many tracks in an area from individual elk moving with no companions during that time of year?

2. Are those tracks made by elk who are migrating out of the area on their own, not to return until another season?

I think there may well have been elk up in the bowl up top when we were there, but they heard our hours-long hike up to the bowl, and they did not come back while we were there.

Given the volume of elk tracks in the area, especially near the lake, I tentatively am planning on trying to camp over the ridge at the spot 1.2 miles to the north of the primary hunt site, and creep up to plateau above the giant bowl that partly surrounds the lake. If I see elk down in the bowl around the lake, they could be 500yds - 600 yds away, but there are ways to creep relatively quietly into the valley, assuming no snow.

3. If the wind isn’t bad, and you had the rifle and ability to make that shot, would you get into position and take it, or would you risk creeping down one of the ridges to get closer?

4. Given the volume of elk tracks in the area, especially near the lake that were made during the 1st Rifle Season last year (a week or less before we were there), what are the odds there will be elk there during 1st Season this year?

Any answers to any or all of the above questions, or any other comments, would be greatly appreciated.

As with last year, I will have backup plans.

I also drew a 2nd Rifle Season muley-buck tag for the area in which I recently bought a 120-acre plot in the mountains 20 miles away. The deer on that land apparently have not been hunted in decades. Every day at about 5:00pm to 5:30pm, a large herd of muleys, including some big bucks with big racks, would wander from the north end to the south end of my land, just below a rocky overlook along a long meadow, and they never noticed that I was watching from that big rock. So, I pretty much am planning on bagging one of those after my elk hunt, no matter how it turns out.

Many thanks in advance for any guidance.

Happy hunting to all.

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