onebigelk

That makes sense Beaverjack, I guess my thinking is skewed toward my background of hunting whiletail here in the east. I wouldn't have to scout here either because i've been hunting the same areas (family farms) for years. I could show up opening day and have a decent chance of seeing deer. But with all the hunters that close, I never know if the deer i saw last year are still around. Whitetails are creatures of habit and they seem to stay in the same areas from year to year. Do you hunt the same areas every year and are those elk always in those areas. I bow hunt so i have 4 months to hunt deer and can take my time. If i only hunted for 1 week in rifle season i definitely would need to scout to find where my best chances were for a short opportunity. Kevin

Hemi

Well...not that I was actually out scouting elk this evening but while checking on one of our secluded broam grass fields I did happen to watch 40 cows with 40 calves (give or take on the calves as too many to actually count) and approx 8 young bulls rangeing from spikes to small raghorns, cruise through the timber on the field edge. They didnt notice me as the wind was blowing to me and I was not in their direct sight. What a noisy bunch. Anyone that has been around 80-90 head ofelk up close knows there is no other sound like it when they are on the move! Even with the dry year the forage is lush in the draws and valleysand the elk are looking like they are in great shape. High percentage of calves per cows this year.Sept 10 cant come soon enough!

muley96

Just for reference, to convert temperature from C to F, double C and add thirty, that will give a rough estimate of the temperature in F.

rather_be_huntin

BJ has a point but only to a point....if that makes sense. In my opinion here are a few scenarios:

1 - General areas. In these areas I would agree 100%. Scouting isn't real productive until just before the hunt starts. I like to show up 3 days early and scout. Before that it's pointless, they just move too much. Even then you must scout from a distance, you can't enter their living space and get busted or they will be gone. Glassing and listening from a distance can be productive though a few days before the hunt starts. Even then however you could be right where you left a bull bugling at night fall the night before the hunt starts and show up to see 10 hunters there the next morning. At that point like BJ says you are relying on your knowledge of the area on tackling the rest of your hunt.

2- Limited Draw Areas for elk only. Even though the elk get limited hunting pressure deer hunters are hitting the hills in droves all fall and drive the elk out often times. In Utah all the archery deer hunts start a few days before the elk hunts start. So while you're sitting at home posting your scouting pics on the internet about the big bull you found there's some guy chasing a muley two point around in camo blowing everything out of your elk honey hole. It'sa mistake hunters often make thinking their season starts a certain day so no one is out disturbing their hunting area. In reality hunters should know all hunts that are happening in their area prior to and concurrent to thier hunt and plan accordingly. It's a mistake to think that just because you have the first elk hunt of the year to think that the elk are undistrubed. For this reason much like scenario number one scouting can be spotty but sometimes can yield good results if you can find an area the deer hunters stay away from.

3- Limited Draw Areas (All species). This means the whole area gets little hunting pressure all year long. There aren't deer hunters all over spooking elk into the deep dark canyons of the back country. It's been proven time and time again that in these areas you can scout throughout the summerand have great success finding some of the bulls right where you left them. If they have food, water, cover and are not disturbed they don't seem to be quite as nomadic. Since they naturally live far from the nearest road they usually aren't disturbed since only hunters venture off to find them. It seems to me that elk behavior in draw areas where hunting pressure is light year after year they don't roam as much and are much more vocal. You can have success scouting these elk. If they aren't right where you left them they are usually only 1 canyon away.

There is a draw only area here in Utah where year after year I can go to the same pockets and find elk. (I have been trying to draw a tag here fro 6 years with no success. For now I just shoot them with a camera) In the general areas that does not happen.

EKM

For sure "learning your way around" isthe best use for scouting that is done any substantial amount of time in advance of the season. A day or two before the season, checking around the drainages for sign to indicate thatelk are even in that drainage can be a big help for last minute adjustments, you don't even have to see any elk, just their tracks.

For too many people, their first DIY hunting trip is really just a scouting trip with guns with a lot of hope thrown in.

IMO, the nextbest use for scouting, especially well in advance of the season,would be just the joy of romping around up in ones favorite elk countryand expanding on the adjacent territory or exploring newroutes just a bit.

IMHO, success on the opening morning of the seasonis largely governed by knowing what you are looking for and where you are going and knowing the strategy you are going to execute when you get there.... best if all this is done with military precision and in the pitch blackness of early early morning.

lethalconnection

Here are a few Alberta prairie Bulls

gselkhunter

Hunting archery I have always felt there is one thing you have to find to kill bulls, cows. If you know where the girls are you know where the boys will be coming to. And hunting an area for years will tell you where they are going to meet up, real good place to be.
Gselkhunter