Elkhorn25

New to the site and pretty much Elk hunting in general was hoping to pick the brains of some of the seasoned successful hunters. I hunted Elk last year on a DIY hunt of course its the bet way and learned that the unit I hunted was not what I was looking for out of my Colorado experience. We hunted a unit with good access and ATVs were more intense than anticipated and the only Elk we found were in the unit next to ours screaming like crazy which which takes years to draw and pivate land. I found an area thats more wilderness heavy that I can draw for 1st rifle with 0 pp. My game plane is to do a back pack hunt and get in there 5 days before the season starts to scout and locate Elk since I live in Indiana and wont be able to scout prior. With that said the area I chose to hunt is also steep offers good glassing opportunities and hopfully detering all but the dedicated hunters. I'm hoping to find a evening feed pattern and set up on a feeding area in the evening. As far as mornings go can you usually catch Elk out in the open or is it better to set up on a transition back to bedding? If the pressure in the area is higher then expected I also located several areas that Elk may get pushed or travel through as an escape as a back up incase a pumkin patch starts forming the week prior. As far as midday tactics go I'm sort of lost i don't want to bump located Elk so I want to avoid walking in thick timber blindly I would assume. In first Rifle can I still get them to come into calling maybe sit and do some blind calling midday and morning? The last thing I want to do is be one of those guys at camp midday no need to rush to a mountain house meal. But seriously I have not shot a Elk and I'm bound and determined to get a Bull on public land on a DIY hunt.

Big Uncle

Use binoculars and a spotting scope to avoid stinking up the area that you want to hunt before opening day. Cold camp quietly. Try to find where a band is entering the timber in the morning. They just might come out of that same timber in the evening.

You might get lucky, but more likely you will be seeing lots of orange on opening day if it is an easy draw area. If you camp close to a good water source expect company.

I backpack hunted elk for many years and have been very successful. Get away from your tent and plan on not seeing it in the daylight for the duration. Not much usually happens in the middle of the day but you can use the time to glass opposite slopes for bedded elk. If you spook them they will leave and you will not be seeing them again.

Ridge tops are great places for finding boot prints and horse tracks. Same for the bottoms. You can't out-walk a horse, but the pony soldiers like trails and open areas and like to move around in daylight.

Elkhorn25

The pack into the area I'm hunting is about 4-6 miles depending on where I want to camp and where I find Elk. I have found out only 1 outfitter works that area. I'm looking at only 2 access points 4-7 miles from where I'm planning on hunting and the biologist said that its a pretty decent area. I found out the outfitter took 6 bulls out of one of the main areas I was interested in last year so it looks like I will for sure be competing with them go figure its a great looking spot. do you find Elk stay at least a 1/4 mile from pack trails or will they hide right by them in thick timber? The areas I'm looking to hunt have pack trails in the bottoms but none on the tops. about 1/2 to 2/3 up several fingers there is some open grass areas where it flattens out some around 9500-10500 ft that are surounded by thick pines stands so that is an area that seemed worth glassing for a scouting evening. I also calculated the est bull to hunter ratio in the area at 2:1 after archery & muzz harvest so it seems even with pressure I got a good chance to get on a rag horn.

Big Uncle

Elk know where the pack trails are, and that hunters come from these areas. Your best bet is to go high early each morning in the dark. Finger ridges seem to be favorite bedding areas if they have small relatively flat areas in the timber about 1/3 down from the top. Elk can walk a long way from bed to feed, and usually do.

A guide story:
The hike into the area that I used to hunt the most was about 8 miles from the nearest trailhead. One year the local outfitter strung wire and penned his pack horses about 50 yards upstream from us after we set up the tent and made camp. His main camp was in low spot with good grass and water about a mile away.

If he spotted another hunter stalking a distant elk herd he would either ride straight at the herd or fire rifles to spook the elk. Nobody was going to take one of his bulls if he could prevent it. He did everything he could legally do to make life tough for everyone that was not his client. I knew his cousin and the stories he told me about this guide confirmed what we had seen over the years.

Thankfully most are not like this but "business is business".