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So, hypothetical scenario that happened to me a couple of times recently. It's recently snowed--say in the last 2-3 days--just before the start of the elk rifle season starts. You go way up in to the mountains in central Colorado, where you have found an area that, surprisingly, no one else hunts. There are elk tracks everywhere in the new snow--no more than 2-3 days old. Maybe they've moved/migrated through and are gone. Maybe not. Maybe others will come through. Maybe not. To get to the best areas and overlooks, you have to climb fairly far from the nearest vehicle access.

It just seems like, even long before sunrise, if you trounce through all of that crunchy icy snow, the elk are going to be spooked and you'll never see one. How do you get an elk in the crosshairs? Move less and hope they come to you? We camped about a mile or so from where we hunted. Is that a bad idea? Is it actually better to just stay in a hotel the night before rather than producing any camp sound and smell that close?

Any ideas are much appreciated.

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Just my opinion, if it’s possible and you think there are elk in the area I’d get high and glass into the area you suspect elk are at before I went into it. Once you bump elk out, they don’t usually hang around.


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Originally Posted by beretzs
Just my opinion, if it’s possible and you think there are elk in the area I’d get high and glass into the area you suspect elk are at before I went into it. Once you bump elk out, they don’t usually hang around.


Thanks Beretzs. What I mean is that getting high before glassing necessarily involves making a huge amount of noise over a long period of time slogging through the crunchy frozen snow. Won't that cause there be nothing to see when glassing because of that? Also, what about camping within a mile or so of where hunting? Bad idea?

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What I meant was to find high ground outside of the area you plan or suspect elk are in. Snow is loud but honestly elk aren’t quiet either. If they’re in the area you’re hiking, I’d turn to hunting mode rather than hiking mode myself.

If you mean cold camping near the elk, that’s fine I guess. So many different scenarios it’d be hard to say. If you can camp near where you expect to see elk so you can get on them first thing at daylight, I’d take the chance.


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Too many hunters are camping to close to prime hunting habitat now days.A mile should be fine, but keep a quiet camp.No pounding ,no spitting wood, no banging pots and pans and no loud talking, etc. Staying in a motel is not the answer.

Unles the tracks are fresh, the elk are long gone, moving thru, unless it is prime feeding grounds where forage is abundant compared to other areas that migh thave deep snow.

I have never had much luck getting high and glassing.Maybe where I hunt is too much timber though.

Last edited by saddlesore; 02/08/21.

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Thanks Beretzs. 2-1/2 years ago, my friend and I camped down valley and hiked in in the morning. It took longer than we expected to get up high.

We camped with a big tent and wood stove:

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

After that, most days we hunted down low, hoping to see something moving through.

Next year (2019), I did it solo. Managed to get my vehicle a few miles to the north on a road that was impassible the previous year. I backpacked up to here and put up a cold camp.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Elk tracks everywhere.

Camp was a mile north of the a bowl at the top of the valley pictured above. The previous year, some days, we made it up to a lake up high, but at the bottom of a huge bowl, and there were were so many tracks around the lake.

So, I would creep up, seemingly into the sky, up over some ridges to get to an overlook on the edge of that bowl where the elk likely wouldn't hear me coming.

Unfortunately, due to an ongoing divorce and work issues, I only got to try for three days, and didn't see anything.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

That latter approach seems favorable, but it's difficult, and getting one out likely would require driving 40 minutes around and approaching an expired elk from the south from the lower valley.

Note that there never are any hunters anywhere near these spots when I've been hunting there, but always tons of elk tracks.

It also could be that, in 2021, there will be less or little snow. Just don't know.

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Rather than spook the elk, some spots are just better left alone and saved for the evening hunt. If you have an idea of where the elk are holed up, you can then hike in mid afternoon when the snow is soft and get in place. Towards dark the elk will come out to feed or move towards their feeding area and if you are in the right spot it's game over. Stay aware of down drafts as the temps cool in the evening.




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If I’m crunching through snow I’ll lightly blow or squeeze a calf chirp to cover my noise. I’ve been able to get within feet of them walking on iced snow. They’ll wait for a lost calf.


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Originally Posted by AcesNeights
If I’m crunching through snow I’ll lightly blow or squeeze a calf chirp to cover my noise. I’ve been able to get within feet of them walking on iced snow. They’ll wait for a lost calf.


Yep, make some cow calls as you walk. Elk are loud too.

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Interesting. When doing that, do you walk a certain way?

I read once that, when still-hunting deer, it can be helpful to take two or three steps and stop, then repeat until you get to where you want, because it supposedly makes you sound more like an ungulate and less like a predator. It seems to have worked a few times for me, but that could be a coincidence. Also, I seem to have been able much more easily to get near elk when on horseback than when on foot.


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guess I've never worried about if elk hear me walking as long as they don't see or smell me. Our group often walks, in the dark, right through the area that we hunt. Then we hunt that same area all day until the sun goes down, then walk right back through the area in the dark on the way back to camp. We, as a group, kill our share of elk doing it this way.
Seems like the elk hang in the area until someone goes into the dark timber and pushes them. That seems to make them move out more then just walking through the general area that they like to feed in.


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Thanks for the interesting comments TRnCO.

One thing that percolates in my head is what happens on my land. I have a small remote cabin on my land in Park County on a ridge about 1/2 mile from the dirt road. Often on the first night I stay there, when I get out to take a leak in the morning, as soon as the first significant sound arises from my activities, I often hear some very loud pounding of hoofs down the forested hillside. It's almost certainly an elk based on the elk tracks around there. It sounds like just one animal. So, that guy takes off at the first human sound he hears. It only happens once per trip. So, I assume he beds down elsewhere for a period once he realizes that a two-leger is around. I assume he must walk up near the top of that ridge in the early morning and bed down after we have gone to sleep and doesn't realize we are there. It's also interesting that there are fresh elk tracks primarily in the forested areas of that land, but sometimes in the open areas, year-round. I assume then that they aren't migrating, but maybe it's different elk.

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The most important thing when hunting like that is to be positioned ABOVE where you think the elk are going to be at first light. You can make your move from there. But if you spot elk from below, and they're on the move to get to bed, there's damn few foot hunters who can beat them to it. And have the wind in your face. Elk aren't bothered greatly by the sight and sounds of people. But if they smell you, forget about it.

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I agree, wind is everything. They'll smell you before you see them, then all you hear is a stampede in the timber.

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I have the good fortune of living where I hunt.Therefore I can hunt when the conditions are right and the snow is quiet.

I suggest you study the tracks, see what is going on. It's not to hard to age tracks. Find the beds, find where they forage. Build your knowledge.

Bottoms line...... Hunt when the snow is quiet. Hunt fresh snow. I don't hunt in really crunchy snow. If I have to hunt crunchy snow, I don't walk much. Take a stand groundblind etc.

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I fear the noise much less than my scent drifting. Elk are noisy when they move. They pace themselves for the situation. Plan ahead, if you can't see 50 yards, you better creep if it's after a couple hours of light and elk are wandering. If it's within an hour of light and they're tracks are in a line, they're moving to feed or bed and faster than you will travel.....so boogie.

Wind is always 10x worse than noise.


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Camp where you want within reason. Second largest archery bull I’ve killed was within 100 yds of my tent. Of course when backpack hunting into my elk hunting ground I keep a low profile and stay “small” to begin with.

Crunchy snow presents big challenges for still hunting the timber. During the fall, usually mid day temps warm up enough to make the snow soft. May have to set up and glass in the mornings when the forest is like walking on potato chips, and still hunt during the day.

Elk won’t necessarily run if they hear crunchy footsteps in the snow ( or crunchy leaves, or cracking branches on the ground) but will be on high alert and zeroed in on the sound. Trying to get the jump on them in those conditions is usually a lost cause.

Elk will often get up mid day and feed.
Another strategy is to crunch your way into the forest, find a small spot with more open timber, sit down and watch the pine squirrels for a half hour or more. Move along further and repeat. It has worked for me in the past.

Snow has been sparse in most parts of the state this year, especially in the middle altitudes, the elk are probably up around your cabin for that reason this winter.


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Thanks for all the helpful comments. I'm going to try to draw on my property in Unit 50. Barring that, it will be OTC in NF lands in Unit 37.

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So, the new Colo. regs and seasons are out. I will put in for 2nd rifle in Unit 50 for both muleys and bull elk. I'm not too optimistic though with no preference points. If I don't get the elk draw tag, I'll do OTC 2nd rifle for NF land.

But I may also put in for private land only cow in my unit. It's a class-B permit. So, it doesn't preclude me from getting another bull elk tag. That lasts for four months from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31. So, I would have a lot of opportunities if I can get out there enough. Is there a good answer to when the best times might be to hunt cow elk at 10,000 ft in central Colorado from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31?

I can work remotely. So, I could just hunt every morning and evening and work some days during the day. On other days, I would hunt all day. Perhaps go out there for a week every other week until I get something.

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Good luck Marine Hawk! Especially on the OTC public land hunts, you'll need it but it can be done. 👍




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