Kwabena

This is going to be my first ever year hunting an primarily going to be scouting. I just have a simple question about scouting and learning an area and noticed that the areas I picked out had lakes and rivers. I'm curious about how a good approach on how to scout those for sign and what radius I should set for it with the diameter of the lake included. Both for elk and whitetails and I will be scouting/hunting during the season to get the rhythm and learn the area. The same for rivers and other water sources. Also what photography equipment you would recommend? I'm planning to get to that opportunity to get back into mobile photography now that I have the means to invest in it. Lenses and gimbals etc. Have anyone tried a spotting scope with a phone for such a thing? And what ISO and f-stops you use? (I'm using an iPhone XS plus using pro cam. Might switch to a DSLR if I can find a mount for the spotting scope if I can find one. I'll take recommendations for that as well. I'm using a Nikon D5300). Going in September for elk hunting btw.

In the case of bumping an animal, I've watched some scouting video where they inadvertently bumped a deer while doing some on the ground scouting. They got in the bed and location where that deer was and tried to see what that deer would see if they were hunting that deer and was approaching that area. A whitetail, from my research, would eventually come back to that spot depending on the amount of pressure during that time If one would to do that to an elk would it be possible for it to do the same or should I do the above, get in the bed or spot where it was laying down, get in its shoes and see what it would see, and possible pursue it if I have enough light and time. If not record that location for a later time as a reference. And if an elk where to be bumped how far would it run? They referred to it as a "bump and dump".

On an unrelated note, I'm thinking about hiring a guide for the first time around. What could I expect from the experience and are they legally allowed to essentially help me hunt/scout the area outside of the areas they picked out? I know this probably sound like a dumb question but I'm new to this so I'm not to savvy about the rules yet. The area is know to contain a lot of black bears so it's a safety consideration as well.

I'll further stress that I'm basically scouting for the season, for the week in Colorado that I'm there. I'm probably scouting for a couple of days not about a week or two before the start of the season, I'm not expecting to take an animal on public land as of yet. Thank you for taking the time to read and have a nice day!

Father Forkhorn

Do this: Put on a pair of boots and go look. There's no way around it. Make a notebook of everything you see that's game-related and where it was. Use an aerial photo.

Then, post back here with what you find, and let people here help you to make sense of it.

Kenstix

Kwabena - when scouting MuleDeer ( which I'm assuming may be what's present where you'll be, but there are W-tail on some areas) Keep in mind that it's Tougher to pattern them on a Habit basis in general , especially if they'se seen pressure. In fact in some muley areas I hunt Ya dont even approach it that way - U try to build the Knowledge as U Note many Random experiences into a sense of their preferences- Food, Travel, Rut, Beds, etc. + how to understand em' + start getting a feel of them. They can cover Alot of turf on bigass ridges frequently. If ya bump out a mature buck Muley in the Dark - Dont count on him returning Anytime soon ( they are not tied to a region as much ) Try to Glass the Beds and by all means ~ dont go walking around in them , Glass them from Afar with Binos . In Fact big ones could care less about returning taking safety over comfort. if U glass+ stalk mule deer much , You may wonder why U dont see the same Deer the Next day ~ U may or may Not and often times Not is the Case. Try to Study what type of forage is in the area in relation to what they they Eat ( Water can be overstated in relation to Mulies as well . p.s. - Pay Attention to where the girlfriends are ( Doe) there are usually some mature bucks around the vicinity during Rut and Season . Deer family - If they Wind u , they're gone . Lope - if they See U , they're thinking about it.

ganthercage

yeah I'd like to see what's gonna happen

Nolan123

Great Post

Rob in VT

Follow the sign. Elk leave a tremendous amount of sign from tracks and droppings to rubs and wallows. Deer also leave similar sign. Every animal needs water so that would be areas to check for sign such as creeks, springs, and lake/pond edges.

I carry a Canon 6D with a 70-300mm lens. Wish I had a larger lens, but this works ok out to 400 yards or so. Editing the photos later can help if you crop and zoom in a bit.