Elk bedding areas

[SGM R]

Do Elk use the same bedding area through out the years/seasons? Last weekend during late Bow for deer I came across several elk beds that were all about the same size (see picture) and the area looked very well established, I mean this was not a hasty occupation.

For you Elk-o-holics, can I expect to find elk here next year?

[Elknut1]

 It is certainly an area of interest at the least! Bedding areas are established according to weather such as hot sunny days or inclement weather. Hot times they want areas that keep them the coolest where as cooler & windy & rainy times they may seek out a slightly different area. But just the same the bedding area is a bedding area, take note the time frame when you feel it's being used.

  Elk will not necessarily use the exact spot to bed but will use the general vicinity but yes, they can & do use these same spots, finding them there is the un-predictable part! (grin) Also keep in mind that elk can get up & move around midday for water & light feeding & not return to the same bed but relocate for various reasons such as the sun is now on them where it wasn't earlier in the day. There's different factors why they can & do move around for their personal comfort or staying hid from hunting pressure! Good Luck & great observation!

  ElkNut1

[SGM R]

Hey Elknuts,

This is why I subscribed to this site...Your comments make a lot of sense and have got me thinking about a dozen more questions...I am excited to return to that area and continue to observe the area from a distance. I really want to learn this group of animals and have a understanding of their habits and movement patterns..

Thanks for your comments,

Are you the Elknuts that has the playbook?

Brian

[high country]

I have found that timing is quite dependandt on elk. if you stumbled on hot beds during a time of high pressure, then you have a good thing going. if this was not a high pressure time then the area you found should be analized. you will find elk like the same things in their bedding area....cover is important, but so is the ability to view long distances. escape is a huge consideration as well.....you will rarely find elk where there is only one way out.

typically I find elk will return to the same areas they freequent till pushed out, but as any elk hunter can tell you, elk do odd things that don't always make sense to us.

[bonkellekter]

Bedding areas may change from year to year depending on several different factors. The Elk herd that I have hunted for the last two years have used the same bedding area but I noticed that their route to the bedding area changed due to available vegetation to and from. These Elk are in a very low pressure area. Elk in high pressure areas can be a bit more challenging to pattern and even if you do pattern them their patterns can change very quickly. I would be inclined to check out the area within a few weeks or a month of the season you plan to hunt them in.

[Austrian Hunter]

Hey Elknuts,

This is why I subscribed to this site...Your comments make a lot of sense and have got me thinking about a dozen more questions...I am excited to return to that area and continue to observe the area from a distance. I really want to learn this group of animals and have a understanding of their habits and movement patterns..

Thanks for your comments,

Are you the Elknuts that has the playbook?

Brian

 

[SGM R]

High country and Bonkellekter,

Thanks for your feedback.

You know I've been hunting elk for twenty + years, running from clearcut to clearcut and pushing thru the timber chasin' elk. This year is the first year that I have slowed down enough to really take a look around and ask the question, why are the elk here and why now? Do you think it is old age? and maybe I've slowed down, because I can't go fast anymore?

Thanks again,

[Elknut1]

 SGM R---Yes, I'm the ElkNut that put the PlayBook together! If you have it you will see much in it about bedding areas & how to find them & what ones are daytime bedding areas & which are night time bedding areas. This feature is important when hunting especially midday/evening bedding areas! The bed you show is a daytime bedding area. Did you know that? There's a big difference between the two & when to hunt the areas.

  ElkNut1

[SGM R]

I was hoping santa would bring it for Christmas. I guess I was a bad man! I did not know that this was a day time bedding area, in fact, I'm finding out that I know very little about Elk. My intent is to buy your book and become a subject matter expert on this piece of land near the bedding area in the picture.. Thanks again for all your help and hope all is well in McCall.

SGM R

[MIKEXRAY]

It really depends on what kind of area you are hunting , if the elk will return with any regularity. My father owns property & the elk move in late summer and reside in the valley he lives for one month or so. Until the good browse is gone. Beds every where ! But come Sept hunting you would think the area was thick with elk with all the sign , they are long gone by then & moved on.  On the contrary where I hunt on the east side of the cascades the elk bed down in the same timber area every year / all summer until it snows. I have also found that after a couple of days of hunting season, the bedding areas become higher up the ridge, & deeper in the canyons. Mike

[SGM R]

Mike

I'm not sure what these Elk do yet. They live on a virtual island that is surrounded by small towns and a large city.. I'm not sure if they migrate outside of this area and if they do they don't go far.. I will be excited to find out and I'm looking at trailcams to document my finds..

Thanks for the reply,

[SGM R]

Spent some time poking around this area last weekend and it was all but abandoned..Really quite and no fresh sign. I'll keep checking back and see if I can pattern them.

Thanks for everyones input I really appriciate it.

SGM R

[coachcw]

It's true for local elk , they like that spot for a good reason . Don't hunt the beds though , if you bump them you probibly wont find them there for atleast eight days .=

[SGM R]

Thanks Coach! I went back last weekend and the beds did not even look like beds. With all the rain and wind we are having it was hard to discouver the beds. I am going to continue to look into that patch of timber through out the summer winter and summer and try to pattern the elk.

Thanks for your reply.

[fisheral87]

So as far as the picture being a 'Daytime bed',

Timbered
Dark
Cool
Good cover, elevated and range of sight

Correct?

What else am I not thinking about that makes it a daytime bed?

Guess I should buy the book to find out.

[Elknut1]

 fisher, not at all, I'd be happy to share any info at anytime! Most daytime beds are near cover & if hotter temps will be in the coolest stuff around, visual awareness is important to a very small degree at this time of the day. You will find most bedding areas in the tighter stuff up on benches or even smaller flat spots on a fairly steep hillside. A lot depends on the type of country one is hunting. But in the thick stuff like there in WA & here in ID you will see elk bed in many places that us hunters actually stumble on them now & then accidentally because of the dense cover they've chosen.

  Hunting pressure has a lot to do with it as well. Heavily hunted areas will have elk pushed in harder to get to areas.

  Evening to nighttime areas where elk can congregate are generally in the lower & more open areas & generally not far from water & evening/morning wallows, too, they're around parks, meadows & basin areas as well as not far from camping areas where they can be heard vocalizing at night that are near such areas. You will find their beds for the most part in fairly open areas with little cover so they can be aware of any oncoming predators, sure they still use their noses but they still want a keen eye on any approaching danger if it happens their way!

   Hunting bedding areas  is a sensitive issue to some. Many hunt them & don't even know it. If any here have ever come across elk between 11am & 4pm while taking a siesta on the mtn & hear a bull bugle & you go after him where do you think he is? He's in or very near his bedding area yet most won't just head back to camp they will head over towards them & do their best to work that guy! Should you?  A lot depends on the areas you hunt. Is it private to you & you don't have to worry about other hunters that may hunt these elk once you leave? Or is it heavily hunted & you'd best make hay while the sun shines! (grin) The same applies to sitting a midday wallow or waterhole, these are very near bedding areas! Too, consider wind direction, can you approach them without being busted? Things to consider!
   As for us, we kill most of our bulls in or very near the bedding area, why, because this is where herd bulls & satellites tagging along are the most vulnerable! These elk are where they want to be & are not easily pushed out, they are very killable & defensive, especially the herd bull. It's in their transition areas where they are in-between feeding & bedding where it's tough to get them to stop & come check you out unless you are really good at drawing on their curiosity or are very close where you pose a threat to the herd!

  As an example, think back on some of your hunts & encounters where you dogged a herd for a mile or better & all of a sudden the bull took a stand! Most hunters think I finally pissed him off or was able to catch up or finally call him in. In reality in many cases the bull finally reached his destination & yes, that's when he takes his stand under most situations. This can be deadly for him as long as you are not seen or smelled. Killing bulls in these spots is an art, not just luck! Play your cards right & you can kill a very high percentage of your encounters at this time all on OTC hunts on public land!

  Here's 3 herd bulls will called in, in 6 days all out of the bedding area & during peak full moon phase.

  ElkNut1

[ribka]

Great advice elknut1.
I have always been curious when stalking elk and have encountered bulls that seemed to not want to move and stay their ground. Now I know the reason. Have hunted whitetails many years and have used similar techniques when targeting whitetails that you stated above when hunting elk.  The more I hunt elk ( 6 years) the more I realize they have a lot in common with whitetails.

Again great advice

[FureForBulls]

For the last 4yrs I have had the same heard on the west side on the same hill bedding area elk there every year and they won't leave even when pressured, I killed my first bull 100yds from the bedding area

[fisheral87]

I actually had that experience this year. We did have low hunting pressure.  We had hiked all day and were coming out of the basin we had hunted. Came around a grove of trees and there they were, in the wide open all bedded down, it was about 3:30. once you went down the backside of their ridge you hit a creek then continuing up the opposite side it was a short uphill distance to a skid road and some super dark timber.

Awesome experience. I keep playing it over trying to derive all the details.

I do have a question.

We had pushed a herd through some old clear cut and gave them a bit to rest. We had low pressure so they weren't spooked but sorta just kept moving, feeding and doing their thing. We took our time and belly crawled through the brush and young pines to get setup. We were prone under some trees in what I felt was some pretty good cover, never fully exposed just waiting for an opportunity. Then after about 5 minutes you could see the herd as a whole get really anxious, then take off.

We had the wind in our favor. And it is totally possible that they just heard/saw us I suppose. We just worked so hard.  Any thoughts?

Thank yiou for the great info Elknut, I'm still going to buy the book. 

[Elknut1]

 Fisher, Elk as well as any animal in the wild depend on their keen senses for survival. They do not have to see a full silhouette or partial visual of a person or predator approach their way to be alarmed. In such an area as very flat ground on your belly crawling stalk the wind could have easily given you away in a blink of an eye! Or one of you moved or shifted just enough to catch the attention of one or two elk in the group. Being in the belly or crouched position you would easily portray a predator & that alone is cause for their alarm.  In any event you were busted & that's part of hunting at times!

  You may have been better off to sit on the outskirts of the herd & bid your time until they moved into heavier approachable cover or ambush them if you can get a direction of herds movements, if time was a factor & you had to do something to increase your odds to get them come your way then getting out of their sight & in a setup where you could do some calling you could pull some your way, when this is the case the estrus buzz is a phenomenal sound to rely on! It's rarely used by any hunters & ask elk where they are so they can find & hook up with them! We have used this sound on countless of such encounters & it works amazingly well, you just can't use it where they can easily look in your direction & see nothing, cover or obstruction is vital to bring them into your range for them to come close enough to look for this separated cow!

   Here's a clip of a young cow using this estrus buzz sound, it takes practice to duplicate & is best done with a mouth reed. There's quite a bit of info in the Book on this sound & it's various applications! For the record, I call it an estrus buzz for lack of a better term. (grin) This does not mean elk use this sound when they are in estrus or heat!
  Elk Cow Estrus

  ElkNut1

[SGM R]

Man, I about fell out of my chair during the end of that video trying to focus the camera and direct it to that great bull.

Were you calling prior to that cow coming in? she was hot to find a friend!

SGM R

[H2O Elkaholic]

I've found that Elk like to bed in the same kind of places.  They may not be there tomorrow or even next week.  Or even come back there again next year.  But if there are Elk in the area, they will use that area and areas like it, to bed down.  Think it's better to hunt areas like where you encountered the beds, than to concentrate on that one spot.  And even then, you have to hunt where the Elk are.  There's a lot of Elk country that won't have Elk anywhere near on any given day.  And there are those spots that they tend to hang in.  Finding those places they come back to time and time again is special!

Dean
H2O Elkaholic

[carpsniperg2]

wow love the vid she was wanting somthing for sure

[Elknut1]

 The guy that took the footage had sent it to me then called me on the phone for an explanation as he had no clue what was happening! I explained & he elaborated on what took place. Yes, he had been cold calling for a few minutes when he could hear her coming almost a 1/2 mile away squalling all the way. Once she got there she knew she should be seeing something & got real demanding in her tone looking for these cows!

  ElkNut1

[bonkellekter]

I have seen cows do this when they get cut off from the herd and are trying to hook back up with them. Not sure that it has anything to do with them being in estrous but it may.

[Elknut1]

 As I mentioned in an above post, the Estrus Buzz has nothing to do with a cow in estrus or ready to be bred. It's simply a sound used by elk for communication purposes & just happens to be absolute dynamite for bringing elk your way! It's tough to master but worth ones efforts! We have brought many elk our way with this sound, it's like any elk sound to be used, "timing" is everything! This sound can be heard any month of the year as is bugling by both cows & bulls. It's not just a "rutting time" sound!

  ElkNut1

[bonkellekter]

 As I mentioned in an above post, the Estrus Buzz has nothing to do with a cow in estrus or ready to be bred. It's simply a sound used by elk for communication purposes & just happens to be absolute dynamite for bringing elk your way! It's tough to master but worth ones efforts! We have brought many elk our way with this sound, it's like any elk sound to be used, "timing" is everything! This sound can be heard any month of the year as is bugling by both cows & bulls. It's not just a "rutting time" sound!

  ElkNut1

It's funny - I have heard the sound several times but never thought to use it when hunting. Now I can't stop practicing it, I can think of several instances where this sound may have just been the ticket. Also I would like to thank you for working with my wife when she was attempting to buy me one of your bugles for christmas she said you were a really nice and helpful person. (She tried to buy the bugle like 7 times so the bank got dinged 7 times and she was worried that I would find out what she was getting me). She finally got the job done and I have got to say - I have used many of the bugles on the market and none of them produce sounds as good as the chuckler atleast when used with mouth reeds. thanks again

[Elknut1]

 Bone--Thanks for the feedback! I'm happy to hear we treated your wife like we ourselves want to be treated! The Chuckler is a great sounding bugle for sure, we've already brought in truckloads of bulls with it! Thanks!

  ElkNut1