Elk Are NOT Where You Find Them!!!!

[Elknut1]

   Where in the world did such a phrase evolve, who coined it? (grin) You hear it all the time on the various hunting Sites! It is one of the most mis-used & miss represented statements out there today, almost as bad as "elk don't bugle anymore" Fact is elk are where they should be!!! Elk inhabit specific areas, sure they'll travel from point A to point B but that's about it! Elk will & do inhabit the same areas every single year. If they feed it out they will find like areas they've used forever, not new areas that don't represent the one they just left. Each area is different, find those areas! In other words elk are not found in non elky areas & you can stumble into them by accident where they just won't live!

When forced out of normal hangouts by predators & that includes us humans, they will find their relief areas that in many cases are in deep dark holes where few breathing humans will go after them. Elk live & go about their business in these same areas every year, period!! They are not nomadic like deer. Sure during rutting times elk can move off & get pushed around by each other or hunters but be rest assured they'll be in the coolest areas around or in those relief areas. Insects too can play a part in their areas they'll be found.

I'm referring to archery hunting here, Of course they'll have different hangouts as the weather changes, but they are the same hangouts. I can only think that hunters that feel elk are found just anywhere are guys who know little about elk & what conditions they will be/live in? Look for elky areas & you will find elk, you may have to go to 2-3 but you will eventually find them, their hangouts & water sources. This is how so many plan distant elk hunts via topo maps & internet topography. You look for areas that should contain elk or nearby areas. Don't look for elk where they have no business being!! (grin) I've been wanting to say this for a long time!!! So there!!! (grin)

Elk are NOT where you find them! Sorta!! They are exactly where they should be given the area you hunt!
  What are your thoughts?

ElkNut1

[Elknut1]

 I knew that was coming!!! OK, I deserved it! (grin)

  ElkNut1

[GoldTip]

Elknut, I would fully agree, elk are not where you find them, if that were the case at one time or another there would be elk everywhere, sorta  More to the point I think many of us have found area's that seem completely devoid of elk and area's that we simply stumble onto that seem to hold all the elk in the world and they are seeming to be behind every tree.  

The fact of the matter is that there is a reason for both of those area's, they can't always be easily indentified and I think that may be the reasoning behind the old saying your referring to.  The guys who kill elk every year, generally kill them from the same ridge/drainage/saddle, and whether they specifically know it or not, when they kill one somewhere else, if they paid attention, it's probably much the same sort of place as where they have always killed elk.  Sometimes, for me at least, I can recognize this and sometimes I don't and it's more of a "feeling."

As 30 years of elk hunting has passed and I've killed more elk, it just seems easier, and I don't think thats necessarily the truth, I think as a hunter with lots of time around elk there are many variables that just seem to come together much more quickly, and it's because of that feeling, you just do more things right without even thinking about it.  The brain starts to more readily recognize these area's which will hold elk this year, and next and the one after that.  

[Intruder]

Makes total sense to me. 

[Ray]

How can you ever find elk if they are not where you find them?? 

All the elk I find must be somewhere other than where I found them 

I am not confused 

[KillBilly]

Another facet of Elk areas is that Elk have a total different eating pattern. It is a ruminant species, with a four-chambered stomach, and feeds on grasses, plants, leaves and bark. These needs drive them to move from one feed type to another. They will repeat this pattern constantly every few days.

As is true for many species of deer, especially those in mountainous regions, elk migrate into areas of higher altitude in the spring, following the retreating snows, and the opposite direction in the fall. Hunting pressure also impacts migration and movements. During the winter, they favor wooded areas and sheltered valleys for protection from the wind and availability of tree bark to eat. Roosevelt elk are generally non-migratory due to less seasonal variability of food sources.

[popeshawnpaul]

In my hunting area elk like certain areas and there are dark holes where I know that at least once every 5 days an elk will be.  It may not be the same elk.  I think I've gotten to a point in my hunting area where I can point out areas I know they won't be and a few hot spots there is a good chance they will be.  I know this seems obvious but when I started archery elk hunting I would cover a ton of ground that has a low percentage chance of holding an elk.  I guess every now and then they are just laying in the middle of a huge clear cut so you still have to look where you don't expect them to be...

[WDFW-SUX]

Its really amazes me how they end up in the same spots year after year.....I have some places I used to hunt that I had the bulls down to a 15 min window when they would start bugling.

Some of these spot are withen 30 yards of roads

[MIKEXRAY]

I must be tired, was a little hard to follow. I agree that the elk go back to the same "holes" each year. Pretty weird to me actually. I hunt up HWY 410 & as soon as the snow melts they are right back up at the same spots. I also hunted entirely to much where the elk were suppose to be, Saw them sometimes where they were suppose to be but always saw them everytime where they actually were.

[Wea300mag]

OK, I read this whole thread and I think I understand now.

[Opportunist]

The phrase that always gets me and I've heard it over and over. " ELK YOU KNOW WERE ONCE A PLAINS ANIMAL"

No *censored*! Hell they used to roam from coast to coast. Settlers killed them off in the easy places to hunt and one area was the great plains. This doesn't make them a plains animal, it just means that they used to live there as well as the mountains, valleys, ocean beaches, etc. etc.

Hell, Lewis and Clark lived on them in there winter over at fort clatsop. Someone didn't tell these elk they were lost, obviously since they are a plains animal and shouldn't be on the oregon coast. Stupid elk!

Thanks for letting me rant!

[Slider]

Yes Elk live in Elky area's. But every now and then you find them in the strangest places!!! Hence the phrase.

[Elknut1]

 Strange to who? You or the elk? (grin)

  The phrase "Elk Are Where You Find Them" is very misleading to newer hunters especially. It tends ones mind to assume they could be anywhere on a mtn when in actuality they will be in certain areas & you can bank on it! Other than that they are in transition areas moving to & from bedding/feeding or to the next area. Once a guy has a good 1/2 doz areas under his belt he's fixed for life as long as a subdivision doesn't show up!! (grin) Just making conversation guys!!! (grin)

  ElkNut1