RE: Late bowseason Elk
First I would start off and find the general area the elk are hanging out in. Also find out if they are just moving through, migrating to their winter range. Or is the area their winter range and there staying until spring. Elk still move around a lot in there winter range, and it can be a huge area. Either way, once I find them I like to spot and stalk using cow and bull calls. Also I have tried an elk decoy and it worked excellent. On that particular hunt, I couldn't get close because the snow was 2 feet deep and crusted. There was no way of sneeking in without spooking the elk. I tried to sneek in, decked out in total white camo. I still don't think the elk saw me, but they could sure hear me, they never ran very far off because the elk calls calmed them down. But I couldn't get under 50 yards, because they were looking for a elk or something that was making all the crunching noise in the snow. After that I tried it with the decoy, holding the decoy up in front of me and I was surprized the elk let me walk right into them. There was a cow, feeding 10 to 12 yards away from me, and she gave me funny looks but never barked or spooked. If you can do this with a friend holding the decoy and you shooting that will work the best. As far as calls go for late season I like to keep it soft and mellow using calls that say to the elk hey here I am and I just want to hang out with ya. Good luck and hope these ideas help, let us know how your hunt turns out. Thanks, idahoelkinstructor