Justhuntitall, This is the perfect meat & potatos elk hunting question. Where do I find them and why are they there? To answer this question we need to move back to June. Cow have calves on the ground and bulls are growing antlers. Nutritional needs are different, so they are in different places, eating different foods. The bulls are building for an up coming rut and the cows are rasing babies, then getting ready to rut. They both go through the summer rebuilding their bodies from winter and preparing for another winter. The 4 basic needs, 1 food, 2 water, 3 cover, 4 range. 1 & 2 I don't think anybody needs help with. 3 Is a changing need. Cover is for temp control and security. 4 Is also changing, they are different place throughout the year, spring, summer , fall and winter. But they need all thoses places or they will die. The most critical are summer and winter range, for they are fighting off starvation. That is a quick over view, if you want more info,ask. Now on to Aug., this is the big month. The bulls shed their velvet, they have their fat caps built, the sperm count is at it's peak and their winter coat is coming in. The cows have their fat caps, their winter coats are coming in and estrus cycles start. This is a really cool time! The elk have two foes, hunters and heat. Hunters can be avoided as you know, but heat can't. This is where canape cover comes in. When the tree branches are so thick that sunlight is blocked out, the temp will stay cool. Add this to a hill with up & down hill air flow and you keep as cool as possible. Since elk with a winter coat can take a lot of cold, but not a lot of heat, they stay in there til the temp comes down or they have to have water. So find a place that has good tree cover and close sheltered water source and boom you have found elk in hot weather. Because of heat they will go nocturnal to feed also. They will go nocturnal to rut because of heat also. The thyroid glan in their neck[bulls] will swell up and kill them in heat if they bugle too much. Answer go nocturnal. When guys ask me what did I do wrong, they were bugling like crazy on Sat. and Sun. nothing. First question I ask, was it cool on sat? And I will get, "Yeah but Sunday was sunny and hot." There you go. Or they will say booth days were the same temp. Then I ask did they bust you, and they say yeah. There you go, they are avoiding you, or they left the area. Now back to cover, I said cover is also used for security. The elk felt pressure from hunters so they went to an area that has good canape cover for heat and is thick enough to hide in, also has good water close and has good escape routes. This usually is a canyon or hillside so the elk can go up, down or to the side to escape. This is pretty basic stuff and there is more to it, but this will give you an idea of what to look for. If you have been hunting the Flat Tops for a while you probably know that very spot. Hope this helps.
Gselkhunter Oh yeah I forgot one statement, you know the place that everybody says if you kill one in there you better eat them there, that's the place!