Elk in the smoke

[vandeman17]

Do you guys/gals change your tactics at all when hunting elk in smoky conditions? We were in Oregon this past weekend and it was quite smoky from an 150k acre fire not far away. The mtns were very quiet and we didn't hear a single bugle. I was scheduled to be down there until the 25th but decided to come home for a few days in hopes the smoke might clear a bit. In case it is still present, does anyone have any experience or insight on how it might change elk behavior? We were talking how they might not be quite as active given that their main defense, their sniffer, is just as likely to be dry and irritated like ours was. My hope is that cows coming into estrus will overpower the nasty smoke.

[pd]

I have archery hunted in the smoke before, and my feeling was the animals were super-vigilant, because their olfactory senses no longer worked.  I found the hunting challenging.

[Mfowl]

It's smokey here but I have been getting on elk regularly with my usual tactics. I'd say the dry crunchy conditions hurt more than the smoke. It's like stepping on a bag of potato chips!

[fishngamereaper]

Mild smoke no real change.
Moderate smoke it seems they hunker down. They like filling their lungs with smoke about as much as we do. And they can't hardly smell ya....
Idaho a few years back during some moderate smoke and they weren't vocal at all.  And it seemed we where jumping them from beds allot more than normal. 

[Pathfinder101]

I was deer hunting last night in it, and the smoke was significant.  I would have to say that it has them hunkered down without question.  I saw nothing move but a few does that I kicked out of a draw.  Even right before dark nothing was up and moving/feeding.   

[lemondog]

Smoke, high temps and full moon not good for the Elk hunting.......

[vandeman17]

Smoke, high temps and full moon not good for the Elk hunting.......

Agreed. We were worried our unit might close down because of the fire next to it so I went anyway.

[timberfaller]

Make like you are a CAT making fire line,  they'll run out in front of you! 

[Big6bull]

I’m not a Mask person by any means but a couple years ago chafing elk in the bad smoke I really wished I had A few  n95 mask, it was brutal…

[andrew_in_idaho]

I was out hunting in Idaho last week, elk were bugling all day Wednesday & Thursday, then Thursday evening the smoke blew in and I only heard one bugle the rest of the week.


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[buglebuster]

I was hunting in heavy smoke area all weekend, so much I smelled like a campfire after hunting but the elk were elk. The bulls were screaming and cows mewing all morning. I got a bull to light up later in the morning and he continued to bugle every 5 minutes for over an hour allowing me to sneak in on the herd.

[Shawn Ryan]

Hunted a bit close to the fire. Bull was fully engaged bugling for several days until I had to move my truck because the fire was too close.

[LDennis24]

I was hunting in heavy smoke area all weekend, so much I smelled like a campfire after hunting but the elk were elk. The bulls were screaming and cows mewing all morning. I got a bull to light up later in the morning and he continued to bugle every 5 minutes for over an hour allowing me to sneak in on the herd.

And then....