1st Snow . . . No Elk!?

[game4lunch]

Always a snow in archery season. This storm brought 10" and itr seems the elk have "left the building".
Where would they go? And will they return to a spot I saw elk every night for a week?

[wyotimberghost]

I can't believed they moved for just 10" of snow. I've seen them hold to higher ground until several feet of snow was on the ground up above Dubois. Maybe they're smarter animals and they decided to move onto private land where they won't get pressured near as much. The elk in the Bighorns do it all the time.

[lethalconnection]

I know that when there is lots of snow in the mountains or foothills they tend to move down towards where there is less snow so they dont have to dig so much snow to get to the grass but with only 10" of snow thats weird.

[Phil from Maine]

I can not speek for Elk, but, sometimes here deer will hold up for a day
or two on the first snow. They seem like they have left the country and
then all of a sudden they are every where. It appears as though they
are nervous or something on the first snow. And it doesn't seem to matter
if it is 2 inches or 2 feet. They just seem to hold tight in a thicket and
hardly move much. Perhaps this is something that may have happened
in your case. I wouldn't really know as I do not know anything about the
elk.

[121553]

10"s of snow won't push them out. People pressure will though.
There is some truth what Phil says about the first snow. Good luck.

Bobby

[Wheatley]

Wyotimberghost,

The two places you listed are my two favorite spots to hunt. I grew up south of Gillette and love elk hunting above Dubois. We always hunted up the Long Creek Drainage and always did fairly well. It has been dry the last 10 years though and tough to find the elk.

I was deer hunting near east tensleep and had an encounter with one of the largest elk I have ever seen during archery season. Great places.