Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: mmullins on August 12, 2010, 01:45:00 AM
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This is going to be my 4th year of archery elk hunting. I was lucky enough to get a bull a couple years back. But it seems that the only time that i get on elk is with in the first 3 hours and the last 2 hours of day light. Just curious where everyone hunts during the hot september days. High, low, cover ???? I have a good spot but it seems that they disapear in the lunch hour.
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I like the old cat roads in the thick timber. elk will bed up in the mid day if its hot out. I like to walk dark timber and keep my eyes peeled. :twocents:
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I perfer not to push them in the middle of the day, and focus more on mornings and evenings. Just my :twocents: Especially if you have a good idea where they are taking a nap, and where they will be next.
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dont get after them mid day,I dont mess with the bedding areas
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Mid-day I'm back at camp taking a nap and coming up with a game plan for the late afternoon evening.
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In my dreams...
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mid-day can be good if you can sneak into a good bedding area but by not hunting them mid-day, you'll give them a safe spot so that you'll have elk to hunt in the days ahead. It's a great way to kill an elk but if you don't you might need to find a new herd.
That's during archery season, I'm not sure if they even get to bed in rifle season :chuckle:
A nap sure does feel good in the september heat :)
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You might want to find a secluded wallow during the heat of the day and just sit. You might have some stragglers come through looking for a drink
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:yeah: Seems good. You could also hunt around the bedding areas instead of in them.
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You might want to find a secluded wallow during the heat of the day and just sit. You might have some stragglers come through looking for a drink
When do you feal is the most consistant time of day that wallows are used? I can assume there are a ton of variables, but I stumbled across a heavily used wallow last hunting season and I went back about a month ago and it was already heavily used. I would assume the heat of the day but not sure. There are only two trails going to the wallow...one coming up out of a deep dark canyon and one leading up the hill to another timber patch closer to a road. I think this could be a good stand location but am trying to figure out the best place to set the stand.
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I have a saddle that i like to eat my lunch and hang out on. I fell asleep at 1 p.m. last year and woke up with a cow and spike watching me. They where only 30 yards. no more naps for me :)
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dont get after them mid day,I dont mess with the bedding areas
I totally agree. If you chase them out of their bedding areas then you might have to follow them to the next county before you catch up with them again...
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Sneak in downwind of the patch of bedding timber and do a little cow-calling. if you can get close enough it will usually pay off, but it takes patience and don't just blunder on until you jump them. I usually move about 100 yards an hour and use my optics a-lot. It is a great time to pull in the big herd bull if you can get within a hundred yards.
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I have a saddle that i like to eat my lunch and hang out on. I fell asleep at 1 p.m. last year and woke up with a cow and spike watching me. They where only 30 yards. no more naps for me :)
That is what I like to key in on. A saddle or other restricted travel route. No calling usually, just a place to eat lunch, nap, and keep my eyes peeled. That is if I am in an area where I have already located elk. If the area seems empty, I will spend midday hiking or exploring neighboring meadows, clearcuts, or drainages.
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Thanks for the advice. I have noticed watching Angrey Spike, Primos, and other elk hunting videos and it seems that they harvest elk mid day. The area that i am hunting is only a couple hundred acres so i think i will not push them during the day. There is a lot of sighn in there right now, i went out yesterday and hung my camera hopefully i can patern them!
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Hunting mid-day (especially during the heat of September) is a risk. They feel safe in their bedding areas and seems like there is always one or two cows on alert with their eyes peeled, ears up and nose in the air looking for unusual movement, noise or scent. If you bust them out of their bedding areas, they may move a long way. Much better off to hunt solely in the early morning and late afternoon hours.
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It really depends....After years of hunting an area one could pattern Elk, not exactly but you will have ideas where they go when pushed from one spot. Alot of that will have to do with the amount of pressure. If it's not alot then the odds are that they don't go to far. Hunting mid day really depends on pressure and how far I've already hiked, temperature. I've snuck in from down wind....SLOWLEY... and they have just slept. Although it's rare to catch them all asleep at the same time. If they notice you they will investigate and as long as they can't smell you they will usually casually leave because you look like you don't belong and they cant figure it out. If they catch your scent in a swirling wind they will bug out with a quickness....and then depending on pressure may go a ridge or two over to the next "cool" area. That has been my experience :twocents:
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You will see way more midday hunts on TV and vids, because that is when the light is best, not because it is typical.
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You will see way more midday hunts on TV and vids, because that is when the light is best, not because it is typical.
very good point
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I see alot of people talking about not hunting "bedding areas", I may be wrong but Elk don't have "bedding areas" like deer and other animals. They will bed down in mid day but not usually in the same areas day in and day out. I prefer to hunt elk mid day. I've had more up close interactions with elk between the hours of 11am - 5pm than I have in the morning or evening. This is just my opinion and I'm sure some people don't like my techinque but if I was you, like other have said get in the timber, go slow and listen.
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we hunt alot of country, when elk hunting. when we have found elk mid day. it has been on the shady side of the hills or a area with shade and water.
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i always eat lunch in a spot with a vantage or if its dry i eat watching water(wallow or a tank) dont waste your mid day snoozing in a spot with zero chance of seeing a elk. if you are going to take a mid day nap plan it out. a natural funnel is also a good idea
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Mid day in the steepest thickest stuff that you can see and still swing a gun.
We have seen them laying on ground so steep they have two legs extended to stay put.
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the last few bulls that have been taken in our camp have been around noon. i used to go back to camp after the morning hunt to eat lunch and nap but now i stay out all day, plenty of time to be sleeping and lazing around the rest of the year. i am a fan of putting on miles during the midday looking for bulls that are bugling, when you find them it seems like these are the bulls that are the easiest to call in. the bull i called in last year for by brother only took three bugles to kill, was 1130 in the morning, i shot my bull at 1145 and my other brother shot a bull at 130. had four different bulls going crazy last year at 230, all in the same bowl, some of the reasons i hunt from dark to dark now.
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A lot of it depends on where you're hunting and what time of year. I hunt the most in late muzzle loader season, late nov. until dec. 15, because of work its the only time I have off. There isn't a whole lot of light in a day that time of year, so I hunt all day. It seems the elk have been pushed so hard by the bow and rifle hunters that quite often they are up feeding trying to fatten up for the winter, and at any point during the day you might see them. I hunt the west side and spend a good amount of time pushing elk in the thick stuff. Seems like in the west they don't run as far because there is so much cover. My easiest hunt was early december a 4x4 stepped out of the thick firs at 2 in the afternoon and I was able to sneak down and shoot him right in the road. I have chased elk in circles all day in a thick patch of reprod only to see glimpses of them as they spooked off. Got several bulls that way too.
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Was up a draw at noon. Hotter they hell up in the NE corner. Sat down to eat my lunch, I let out a bugle and right away I heard animals up the draw and a big 6x6 walked in. Didn't say a sound, looked around and walked back where he came from. Didn't have a shot at him. :bash: When I'm hunting I carry a Diaphragm in my mouth, I make a cow call every now any then, if there are bedded down elk in the area they think you are another elk. Also, if you jump a heard scream at them with your diaphragm call. We were hunting our way back to camp one time, it was hot and dry just couldn't be quite at all. So I would cow call as I hunted we walked right on to a bedded down heard. I do believe we got that close because I was using cow calls. They jumped up and ran, I screamed at them and a cow came to a dead stop and looked at us, my bow partner shot her. ;)
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Get in your stand, blind or spot early and stay late. I have seen elk all day long in my stand. It makes for a long day in september but it is worth it when you put one in the boiler maker.
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Elk do move during the middle of the day. Check out the times on the photos. I will move about slowly but won't go into their bedding areas until the last day of my hunt. I move, sit and watch, move, sit and watch, repeat.... and loop around to my evening stand. On the last day of my hunt I will go into their bedding area. If I blow them out then I don't care.
