Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting What is a bench? (in reference to finding elk)

It's one of those damn things that when you are at the top glassing elk in the manzanita flats 1200 feet below... you say to yourself, do I really wanna...

Kent

The Mogollon Rim is above me in that picture and I've hunted on or below it all my life... can't believe I missed such a familiar one...

Kent

An escarpment is what your looking down from the rim.

Looking over the Rim... and I forgot promontory...

krp, laughing so hard I'm crying. How long did it take you to craft that paragraph??!

We all forgot "hole", as in hell-hole. That is a place that will always have an elk, and you will always regret you went there to find it, especially if you shoot it in there! They are deep, steep, dark, gnarly, and always on the wrong side of the mountain from truck or camp. Up is the only way you can pack the meat.

BTW, nice pics.

In my experience a bench is any area level enough for elk to bed so they fall don't roll off when they fall asleep.

If we're going to get into escarpments and promontories, might also mention pediplains, peneplains and alluvial fans....

Here in so. Idaho, we have a lot of open country with black timber on the north slopes and open sagebrush on the tops and south slopes. On those, I find the elk like to bed in the timber somewhere around 1/3 of the way down from the top. If you can find a tiny spring in the area surrounded by very dense cover, you might find a bull's hidey hole but finding him without spooking him is a job for an expert.

alluvial fans.... reminds me that we, 'arizonians' use the term 'cienega' for large open grass areas in juniper/pinion country. Meadow just doesn't descibe the country right... but cienega really means marsh or an area with springs, including alluvial fans... local legion claims a word left over from the conquistadors.

I actually use the word escarpment for one specific spot, nothing else describes it correctly and all who experience it agree. When you look over the edge there are elk all over in the manzanita/scrub oak flats and some less than 300 yds out... but 900 feet down. The rim runs a couple miles each way in a horseshoe with the flats around it... very unique spot.

Kent

It's the opposite of a bluff.

Here's a good dictionary of landscape terms for those who like to geek out on the differences between "cuesta" and "escarpment". Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape

I'm guilty. Keep a copy of the book in my office.

Me too....the next to last bull I killed was laying on a "bench" about the size of a small kitchen. The "bench" was along a knife edged ridged and had steep sides [really steep] I killed him as he stood up 75yds away..

There's just over 20 elk in this picture

And here's the same area from that side showing a bench and how deceptive it is from different angles.

bench - anywhere i can sit my ass down!!

above and beyond with the descriptions and pictures. Greatly appreciated! It helps to be able to look at something considering how crazy some of the descriptions can get.

Indeed! All of the pictures and descriptions are quite helpful. Kudos

Ridge:
Dish:
Cut:
Bluff:
Chute:
Bench:
Plateau:
Saddle:
Slide:
Bowl:
Cliff:
Trough:
Escarpment:
Finger:
Flats:
Meadow:
Face:
Wash:
Dip:
Canyon:
Ditch:
Stairstep:
Burn:

Not sure how feasible it is, but there's the list awaiting definitions.... this would be a nice thing to add to my elk hunting binder, not sure how many of these can be described verbally versus requiring pictures? Some are obvious, some clearly very regional.

Thoughts? Would be a good sticky if done, or maybe the boys starting the Seekoutside blog series would be interested....




Actually I missed this... hmmmmm.

I didn't see "Holler" mentioned or "Rise", nor "Borrow Pit" which can be hot spots for game at times.

That's because 'holler's are back east. The rockies ain't got none...... That should get your 'rise'.....

The first time I took my ex-wife, Carol, out to Colorado Elk hunting, I explained to ehr that we would be glassing for Elk, and one of the best places was in "parks". You should have seen the strange look she gave me......

For years afterward, she never missed a chance to rib me about what kind of park I was talking about...