Hunting Elk Bedding Areas?

[WapitiTalk1]

I've had some interesting discussions with friends on this topic over the years. Should you hunt them or not? At some point in the morning, whether before Mr. Sun peeks over the mountin top, very early in the morning, mid morning, or even mid day as the weather/hunting pressure/moon cycle dictates, the herd "normally" heads to a bedding area 2/3 to 3/4 the way up the sidehill. As with many elk hunting options/strategies, it depends.. It depends on what? It depends on the area you're hunting and many other factors. Perhaps it is the only drainage you're hunting that year. It depends on how thick the area is impacting effective ingress/regress. It depends on the patterns of the particular herd whom are bedding in said area.. A bit cryptic I know, sorry... just trying to spark some elky chat ..

The question is, do you hunt known bedding areas and what are your tactics?

[vandeman17]

It depends on the amount of elk in the area but in general, I won't hunt the actual bedding area but will hunt the fringes. If there is a big bull in the herd, the last thing I would want to do is mess up the bedding area and have the herd head for the next county. I would rather try to catch them going from feed to bed or bed to feed.