Hunters!

[stickinmaster]

Well I've been looking for new elk turf trying to elude the extra hunters in the area I'm used to hunting. Three weeks ago had a small cougar go through one of my stands. So knowing a cat was in the area (a possible problem to the elk leaving the area) I decided to set another camera a few drainages over from my normal stand. Man the elk were thick there as well, so I decided to give a certain trail a chance at changing my mind.  I show up two weeks later to pull the card and set a stand, 24 hits what the #$%#. Not what i expected! This cat pushed the elk out! still elk in the normal areas though. Well seems as if I cant get away from any hunters right now.

[Kola16]

Well if you hunt with a bow or know someone that does, cougar opens in 11 days

[greenhead_killer]

id love to help you with that problem. its not the cats, i have a pic of two cats in my area, the elk are in there just fine. they go on a rotation. just pattern when they are there and when not but times and dates. they will likely be there in 2wks or 4wk increments. im def not an expert, just what ive been watching with mine

[stickinmaster]

I see more of a six to seven day rotation on the elk in the areas i've been hunting.  This especially occurs when the availability of water changes. Overall i can only watch those elk with certain marks or scares, or the bulls, sometimes you can even see the spikes with familiar cows. Overall you could be right, but I have seen the elk change their patterns to accomodate the predators in the area. And elk on pattern follow other elk. Meaning some are on the 2nd day of their patterns and others are on the 6th day. Despite belief their should always be some elk in a good elk area. No elk for two weeks is my concern  The elk don't want to deal with them just as they dont want to deal with us.

[greenhead_killer]

yeah i hear ya, they no different then the rest of us, just trying to survive

[jburkett]

i think you should hunt the kitty,  you know were to find elk later in the season. and that coug would look great next to the bob cat on your wall.

[Goomsba]

i think you should hunt the kitty,  you know were to find elk later in the season. and that coug would look great next to the bob cat on your wall.

[carpsniperg2]

Cats really move the critters around. Looks well fed!

[str8meat]

do i hear a foxpro calling, maybe "elk calf in distress". 

[stickbuck]

It's amazing how quick the elk stopped coming to my trailcam last September two days prior to the season and I couldn't figure out why. I finally realized the culprit when I started cow calling the first night from my tree stand. Within 2-3 minutes I heard a small branch crack and looked directly under my stand and could see a cougar face staring up at me from five yards. Unfortunately, all I could see was the head and it slinked away into the brush before I could get a shot. Made me very cautious when I was calling from the ground in that area. Hopefully, that cat on your cam will move out and start hunting somewhere else and not screw up your hunt.

[stickinmaster]

Well originally this was gonna be my #one stand. He visited one other time within two hours two days later. So if he sticks to this area he might get a carbon diet. I set the stand up anyways for a possible backup, but mainly didn't want to pack all the gear back. I left the camera there to see if things change up to/till september 1st