Scouting

ML elk season is September 8-16. Had planned on a 5 day scout trip in mid July. I was just reminded that elk may be in different spot/elevation between July and September. My plan is at 10k' to 12k' elevation.

Gonna move those 5 days of scouting in front of the hunt. One trip.
I've been there only once, in October.

Have you got any meat scouting planned?

CO Elkeater said:

ML elk season is September 8-16. Had planned on a 5 day scout trip in mid July. I was just reminded that elk may be in different spot/elevation between July and September. My plan is at 10k' to 12k' elevation.

Gonna move those 5 days of scouting in front of the hunt. One trip.
I've been there only once, in October.

Have you got any meat scouting planned?

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As much as I like being back in Montana I really miss backpack hunting wilderness areas in Colorado. The highest elevation I've ever taken big game at was in Colorado. I took a 300+ class 6X6 bull at 11,500'. I also took ptarmigan at around 12,000'.

I used to scout in July and August all the time. Spotting animals was always a plus but I looked for sign like rubs and old wallows just inside timberline that indicate elk frequent the area around the time of season.

I'm sure you know that even the best elk areas won't hold any elk and suddenly a herd moves in and they're everywhere. That often happened where a friend and I hunted. It was more difficult to access than surrounding areas (and no vehicle access). The first day of season there were often no elk around. Pressure in the easier access areas a few miles away would usually push the elk into the area we hunted. Good luck on your hunt!

I drew a bighorn ewe tag here so I'll start scouting before too long. I haven't set foot in the area I drew for but its not far from home. I look forward to hunting sheep again!

Did a scout a few weeks ago but more to show a buddy the area. We encountered one cow that looked like last years calf and found plenty of last year's rubs.

Your scouting plan makes perfect sense. What unit are you hunting?

Have a cow tag in a unit I am only slightly familiar with. Any other year I wouldn't even scout as the elk are always on the hill after sunrise. This year WATER will be the biggest factor. All the water holes I usually hunt are bone dry. G&F dept has been trucking in water for a month. No rains and I wont hunt at all, they will close the forest tighter than my big sister who can feed a family of 6 on $10.00 a week and save money after the mortgage payment :shocked2:

This year I will watch the weather and make a few trips in and see whats up. I really like sitting at or near water but....?

Just noted my CC hit for deer, all I put in for was BP hunts so we shall see if I draw the trophy tag or the usual (where every year I get at least one chance and have blown it 7-10 times :haha:

As much as I like being back in Montana I really miss backpack hunting wilderness areas in Colorado. The highest elevation I've ever taken big game at was in Colorado. I took a 300+ class 6X6 bull at 11,500'. I also took ptarmigan at around 12,000'.

I used to scout in July and August all the time. Spotting animals was always a plus but I looked for sign like rubs and old wallows just inside timberline that indicate elk frequent the area around the time of season.

I'm sure you know that even the best elk areas won't hold any elk and suddenly a herd moves in and they're everywhere. That often happened where a friend and I hunted. It was more difficult to access than surrounding areas (and no vehicle access). The first day of season there were often no elk around. Pressure in the easier access areas a few miles away would usually push the elk into the area we hunted. Good luck on your hunt!

I drew a bighorn ewe tag here so I'll start scouting before too long. I haven't set foot in the area I drew for but its not far from home. I look forward to hunting sheep again!

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Yes, the best place to be in the heat of summer is high up in wilderness. That is if it's not on fire! But it's not in unit 82 where Im headed to.

One of my most memorable hunts was my late partners sheep hunt. He picked me over 2 others for my boating skill since crossing the Arkansas was required. He brought dear steaks and caught trout for suppers. 3/4 curl ram.

CO Elkeater said:

Yes, the best place to be in the heat of summer is high up in wilderness. That is if it's not on fire! But it's not in unit 82 where Im headed to.

One of my most memorable hunts was my late partners sheep hunt. He picked me over 2 others for my boating skill since crossing the Arkansas was required. He brought dear steaks and caught trout for suppers. 3/4 curl ram.

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Sounds like a great sheep hunt! I don't have the patience to put in for a ram tag and possibly never draw. I put in for ewes and get all the fun of sheep hunting without the long wait (and pressure) of a probable once in a lifetime ram tag.

Have you got any meat scouting planned?

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I'm pretty much a "flatlander" where I'm at, and it's deer not elk :wink: . I will be "scouting" the property where I hunt this coming weekend, but not so much for deer, but for signs of encroachment from poachers. The fellow to the North, who has permission to hunt that property, likes to cross the clearly marked boundary and put bait and other stuff (sometimes he puts his stand) on the wrong property.

I also have to go up to PA in a few weeks to check out some land that belongs to my daughter's boyfriend and his family. He says they haven't hunted it in several years, and I'd be the only guest allowed. I will need to double check with his other family members to be sure, in case I run into another situation of folks not knowing land boundaries.

LD

I'm going on a 3 night backpacking/scouting trip this weekend, but it won't be in my usual/planned area for ML hunting in September. That area is currently on fire... So, this weekend is all about trying to identify Plan B. :cursing:

RE: elk location in July vs. September. I would say they'll be at the same approximate elevation just not likely the same exact location. What I like to do on summer scouting trips is 1) locate the elk (obviously) and 2) check for the locations where they have been traveling between drainages. These locations will usually be a pass that isn't as steep as the surrounding ridges. Since the elk are in large here's right now, should be pretty easy to identify the game trails connecting the different areas. Then, I do a second scouting trip closer to the season. I'm planning on the first weekend of archery season this year. That way I can also get a sense of how many hunters have been in the area prior to ML season.

dsayer said:

That way I can also get a sense of how many hunters have been in the area prior to ML season.

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Here's my favorite scouting stunt:

While you're out and about, mark your map showing all the places you're finding signs of people. Most are not careful in scouting, and in fact make a whole lot of noise in the few days leading up to the opener. And savvy animals know what's coming with that kind of commotion.

You can be about 99% certain that the largest share of the animals will be where the people aren't.

:thumbsup: :hatsoff:

I'm fond of recounting a really funny incident while I was tracking down stray cattle in the Rockies. We try to get them all in before elk season starts, but there are always a few that need a little extra help in finding their way back home. :grin:

It was in fact midday Monday after the Saturday opening day and I was on a big sage flat something like a mile wide and three miles long. There were hills at one end and steep bluffs at the other, with timber running down either side. Out in the middle of the flat was a low knob covered with timber, a place cattle had liked to hide out in years past.

Along the "bluff" end of the flat were several big camps. Did I say big? I meant to say HUGE!!! Several were each a dozen or more camp trailers and camper trucks ringed around a giant central fire pit with whole ranks of ATVs parked everywhere. Guys were lazing around yelling, playing music, running chainsaws. Generally hooting and hollering to beat the band.

I spurred over toward the little timbered knob to check for strays. Along the way I saw sure enough bovine tracks and piles, but also started seeing elk tracks. Really fresh ones.

Just as I got up to the knob all heck broke loose. A herd of about 40 elk including several very nice bulls went piling out one side while my strays went out the other. The elk beat feet all the way across that open sage flat, between the two biggest camps and over the edge of the bluff. I figured World War III was about to break out and spurred toward some granite boulders for cover.

Not a shot to be heard. No break in the commotion from all those "hunters." Darnedest thing I've ever seen.

:rotf: :rotf:

Camps that big are camping and likely partying way more than hunting. Probably any who even saw the elk believed it was a cattle stampede as they swished they're cocktails and puffed they're cigars :shake:

Not many other hunters ever see my camps. Never had more than two others with me.

We have a pretty large group this year but we're quite a ways off the beaten path and usually have the area to ourselves. Of course, now I don't know if we'll be able to hunt in the same place this year. Waiting on the fire...

I like beer, cigars and poker as well as anyone. Part of reason I hunt solo, with my horse.

Are there really that many more western fires nowadays, or has the amount generally been about the same over the last hundred years or so, and just reported more to scare the public about global warming?

smoothshooter said:

Are there really that many more western fires nowadays, or has the amount generally been about the same over the last hundred years or so, and just reported more to scare the public about global warming?

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Whooooeeee! Dunno where you got that line of thought, but lots more fires burning a lot bigger and a lot hotter. Made worse by so many folks building houses out in the bushes. I'm real suspicious that your source has motives.

Used to fight fires for a living back in the 70's, and these things today make most of ours look like campfires. We had nowhere near the air resources, weather forecasting and logistics back then, but it's a very good thing they have them today. Glad I'm too old for that nonsense now.

This is not a scare tactic. Real fire. 14 of them. Unprecedented amount of acres.

Watching the news; crowd of angry protesters who want open borders. I told the wife they aught to round um all up and put them in front of the Spring Creek fire which was started by an illegal alien. He has burned over 100,000 acres.

No global warming; global stupid.

:thumbsup: :hatsoff:

Another contributer is the decades of fire suppression and the subsequent dense regrowth from old fires. This is especially a problem in lodgepole pine. it automatically reseeds itself immediately after a fire. The regrowth is so tight together that you can barely walk through it.