Backpacking in For Elk - Do You Camp Where You Hunt?

[Sliverslinger]

This year I expect to be backpacking in to the same very large drainage as always for elk. In the past we've camped way up high and a ridge over at a small creek near a lake and then dropped down into the drainage in the morning for our hunt This makes for along hike each day. Also,  I never hear any bugles where we camp because we are near the creek and also well away from the basin the elk tend to be in. Typically we head over there before first light, listen for bugles and then get after them. On many occasions we catch 2-3 bulls bugling back and forth somewhere way down below us, but we know there's several more in the area. They always seem to shut up within the first 20 minutes of daylight well before we've really pinpointed where they are. My gut says there is a lot more bugling going on during the night. My partner and I are talking about moving our camp this year right to the edge of the basin within a half mile to a mile of where we know the elk hang out and away from the creek so that we can hear them throughout the night and better pinpoint their location.

Do you guys ever have camp right in near where you hunt? Also, when you backpack in do you have little fires for getting warm or drying stuff out? If you do camp right near where you hunt, how do you minimize the scent at camp from filling the area as wind currents shift and change throughout the day?

We're trying to weigh the reward versus the risk.

[buglebuster]

We usually hunt right out of camp, and usually here bugles at night. It does make it nice! We NEVER have a fire but have been fortunate enough to not get to wet.

[jackelope]

I'd stick to a minimim of a mile out. Keep the noise to a minimum in camp and be sensible. You'll be fine from there.

[nanum]

We usually pack in and set up a base camp within a mile of where we hunt and then keep a light bivy pack on our backs every day so we have the option to camp close and be into the elk at first light if we are into them heavy the night before.
It works real good. Just simple bivy gear, real light, good sleeping bag with a ground cover and weather depending no shelter just sleep in some heavy timber.

[kentrek]

why do you need to hear the extra noise at night ?? if you dont have a problem finding them during the day(even tho its only 20 minutes) i dont think its gona help much to camp closer..that being said we camp right in the middle of the elk and dont have any issues..sometimes  ...

[Mr Mykiss]

I've read several articles/stories about guys camping within sight (100's of yards) of the herd and then whacking em. I have the same dilemma with an ID elk hunt that I'm planning on doing someday. Do I camp in a location that I could very well have a shot from my tent and I'm within 1/2 mile of the hot spots or do I hike in and out?

[JLS]

If they are shutting up right around first light, get up earlier.  I usually leave the truck at least an hour and more like two hours before legal shooting light.

Camping within a mile or half mile could be fine, or it could be disastrous.  Depends on the thermals and where you are in relation to the elk.  I'd rather walk an extra twenty minutes each day to an area that I know holds elk, versus having to find a new bunch after they blow out of the area when the wind you.

[Bullkllr]

If you do camp right near where you hunt, you definately run the risk of spooking elk.

Considering you hunt the same basin basically everyday (it sounds like), and there are elk in there regularly - I can only see bad things happening from camping too close.
You could find a new camp a bit closer than yours now (but you have probably chosen that one for a reason).
 Or you could do a dry bivouac maybe half-way to your basin.
Or as has been suggested get up earlier.

[Sliverslinger]

Definitely appreciate all the feedback. As it is now, we backpack in quite a ways and have a small base camp that we hunt from each day. The camp is well up above and away from the drainage which has multiple large draws and ridges in it. Usually we come dragging in to camp exhausted  a couple hours after dark, sleep for a few hours and then get back after it. We are way back in away from any roads or trails so sometimes the going is rough. We're either going to move camp closer or take a more mobile approach where we have some cached food and supplies in a central location and after that we just bivy down wherever we end up. i love our setup now, but we waste a lot of miles and a lot of up and down going between camp and that drainage and then climbing back up to camp. Terrain and prevailing wind prevent us from camping below the drainage or really on either side unless we want to bring ropes and harnesses. So it's either in or right on the edge of where we hunt, or its at our current spot. Were just really looking at both conserving some energy and also having a better chance to figure out which large draw the elk are in throughout the basin and think if we can hear more than a burst of bulges right at first light it might be easier. This will be our fourth year there, and we wont hunt anywhere else, but it's a great challenge for sure.

[deerslyr]

Id say you'd be just fine camping on the backside of that basin and then cresting over the ridge to your glassing position before light. That is what I do. Camp just on the back side of where you plan on hunting. Only problem with my spot is the wind is going down hill for the first hour of light as the elk are coming up, and then switches up hill as they are about mid mnt to there bedding area. I still have yet to figure out this dilemma. It may or may not be the same for you.

[pd]

SilverSlinger, I get the impression from a lot of the posts here (advice given to you) that the posters are dry side elk hunters.  You didn't say, but if you are a wet-side (Roosevelt) elk hunter, then your strategy might be really different.  Are you constantly in the rain, and therefore need the fire for warmth and drying?  If so, then perhaps you could be a bit closer to your special basin??  I agree with one of the posts--you might move your main camp to just over the ridge from the basin, and then drop in just before light.  Just saying...

[coachcw]

I'd stay as far away as possible and get in before light. a side angle will give you some options at first light if the termals are draging sent down hill .

[JM]

I'm not sure if you're trophy hunting, but one thing that you might wanna be careful of is letting the old bulls know that you are there. What I've noticed in Idaho is that when the old bucks or bulls get any idea that people are nearby they completely change their patterns. For example the bucks will head straight to there thickest bed or even slip out of the basin and the bulls will go completely silent and stay in the dark timber. You'll still see the smaller bucks and hear the rag horns fighting and bugling, but the seasoned animals will disapear. I've witnessed animals doing this just from stock passing through a saddle or someone having too visible of a fire at night and being too loud.

So if it was me, I would stay as far away from the herd as I can and like someone said earlier just get up earlier and locate em. Another idea would be to pattern them a week or two before the season starts. It'll save you from feeling rushed on opening weekend.

[sakoshooter]

Numerous time over the years we've camped out of our hunting area with elk we've scouted only to have it all blown to heck from another group camping right up close. Maybe they didn't even know the elk were feeding in that area and accidently spooked them or maybe they just wanted to get close to the same elk we were going to hunt but either way they always seem to move to another area.