Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: Hurricane on July 15, 2011, 06:22:25 PM
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Since we drew the quality archery tag for the toutle We have been in the area 3 times in the last 3 weeks and have seen a few herds but no big bulls. Just a 4 X 4 and a 3 X 3. When do the bigger bulls start showing up and hanging with the cows. Thanks Robby
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Mid august but in my area the bull collects the cows and pushes them to where he wants them. :chuckle: So instead of seeing herd of cows you dont see anything. :bash: :chuckle:
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around the 1st of september .i had the mud flow archery cow tag last year 3/4 of the bulls we seen were not with cows. good luck.
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Not many g bulls in that unit. There's alot of elk but big ones are few and far between
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Most bigger bulls will be bachelor grouped up until they shed their velvet, then they'll probably establish some dominance and go their separate ways looking for the cows.
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Thanks for the info. I figured as long as we are finding cows there will be bulls.
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Follow the cows and keep an eye out for lone bulls and groups. The cows are going to stay in their home range no matter how hard the bulls push. So get to know the country so when they disapear you will have an idea of were to look.
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Bulls dont really choose where the herd goes...the lead cow does. Once the bulls begin to shed their velvet its game on and they are after them cows.
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the bulls come with the plates and silverware :)
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the bulls come with the plates and silverware :)
Sometimes i wish they did...that way i wouldnt have to pack em out of those hell holes they always seem to be in!
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The lead cow is the boss of the harem ;)
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The bachelor bands should break up by mid August and some bulls will start to hang more and more with the cows as the calves get more mature. But, you won't start seeing harems develop until some cows start early estrus cycles. One of the reasons the secondary estrus cycle produces best results. The third cycle gets the most aggressive as fewer cows in estrus lead bulls with small harems to roam after additional breed stock.
Big old bulls seem to round up cows earlier. But that is due more to the dominance of the lead cow than it is the herd bull. Keep up with those cows and the bulls will surely come.
In the Toutle the calving grounds are usually very close to the breeding grounds. So if you see cows now you are pretty close to where you need to be. The further east you go the further the distance will be between the two. You should be in good shape come season.
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This is the only forum I've found where knowledge is shared. This is great! I'll probably be seeing you in the toutle this year, so we should keep in touch and share scouting info. I need to get my butt scouting too!
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The lead cow is the boss of the harem ;)
You guys might be right but I have seen bulls tending a harem and drive them away from other bulls. Any cow that tried to go away from the rest quickly got rounded up by the bull. One cow might decide where to go but the bull was the one driving them around and keeping them in a tight pack like a sheep dog.
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yeah sounds like most of your scouting will be while you are hunting .... :tup:
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Just got back from scouting the mudflow tag. On the way out saw a ton of elk feeding in the clear cuts. saw 3 different herds within 1000 yards of each other. The first was about 20 elk (all cows and calfs) , the second group was about 15 and there were cows and 5 bulls (2 4points and 3 3points). The last group was not a herd, but 2 6 point bulls, i would say 1 was in the 290's and the other was in the 270's. Was abel to get up to within 100 yards of the big boys. It was alot of fun. Havent had that much elk action in quiet sometime. And i was also really suprised because everyone keeps telling me that i am not going to get anything over a raghorn for my mudflow tag. So they are in there, just got to be there at the right place at the right time.
