Summer Scouting Elk From Home

[T.R. Michels]

This is from my book Elk Addict's Manual.
Scouting for Elk
By T.R. Michels
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Information Network
You may not have to be there to scout for elk. Find some local people and use their knowledge to help you locate elk this fall. Once you've found a unit you think you'd like to hunt make a call to the local conservation officer or forester, to find out how many elk they see and where they see them. You should also call the local taxidermy shops and locker plants to find out how many elk they take in and how big the bulls are. Check with the local fly shops and trout fisherman - they often see elk when they are out fishing; when you can't be there. Talk to anyone who might see elk in the area. Put together an information network of local people and let them do most of the observing and scouting for you. Then record all the information in your journal.

Pre Season Scouting
If you plan to hunt that year, and you have the time scout in late August or early September, look for drainages and meadows the elk are using at that time. By this time some of the older bulls will begin bugling in preparation for the rut which makes them easy to locate. Older bulls begin bugling earlier than young bulls, so they can attract cows earlier and breed more cows. Even if the bulls aren't bugling you may spot them, or a herd of cows, and find the areas they use. If the bulls are bugling it helps you find them and their favorite bedding and feeding areas. From August to November the forage patterns of the elk remain relatively the same, and they use many of the same areas, which means you may find elk in the same areas where you saw them when you scouted earlier that fall.

When you are scouting you should also look for areas the cows use, because when the rut approaches the bulls will travel to those areas to find the cows. You should also look for wet wallows near streams, rivers and other wet areas, and dry wallows along ridges and in low-lying areas where bulls wallow and bugle to attract cows. Do a lot of listening and observing on these early scouting trips. Then use your maps to determine where the bulls are, even if you can't see them. When you hear a bull shoot a compass heading, then look for good habitat along the heading on the map - that's probably where the bull is. If you spot bulls feeding or bedding mark the area on your map for use when you hunt later on.

If you can't scout before you hunt be sure to contact your information network when you arrive in the area. Find out where the best places to look for elk are. This cuts down the amount of time you have to scout yourself; the less time you spend scouting for elk, the more time you have to hunt. For this reason you may want to arrive 3-5 days ahead of your hunt, so you can scout, observe and pattern the elk yourself. The more time and effort you put into locating elk and their high use areas before the hunt, the more time you will save locating the elk once you arrive, which will give you more time to hunt, and the better your chances of a successful hunt will be.

Scouting
Scouting is important for hunting any animal. Unfortunately most non-residents, and many residents, do not have the luxury or time to scout an area for elk. For those who cannot scout there are some ways to increase their success rates. The most obvious way is to use the services of an outfitter. By using an outfitter you eliminate the need to scout, because the outfitter does it for you. They scout the area before the hunt, choose the best places to hunt and do the guiding. If you like to become more involved in the hunt you can choose a semi-guided hunt. Some guides offer pack-in and pre-scouting services to lessen the amount of time you have to scout during the hunt. A semi-guided hunt usually involves one guide for each four hunters, with the guide telling you where to hunt, rather than actually guiding you and going along. In this case you do your own daily scouting.

Another option for those who like to do their own scouting is a drop camp. A drop camp is exactly what the name implies: you are taken to the area by the guide, usually on horseback, and dropped off in an area where the camp, tents, cooking gear and firewood are ready for you. You provide your own sleeping gear and food, cook your own meals, and field dress, quarter and pack your game into camp, where the outfitter will pack it out to his headquarters. Usually you will not have horses in camp, and you have to do all of your scouting and hunting on foot. If you choose this type of hunt you should be in good physical condition, have First Aid, CPR and survival training.
If you have the ability and the time to do your own scouting, do it a couple of weeks before the hunt. For archery hunters this may be as early as late August. By this time some of the older bulls have begun to shed their velvet; making rubs and wet or dry wallows; and they may be bugling and associating with the cows. However, many of the bulls may be in bachelor herds by themselves in high alpine meadows.
If you are hunting private land that you can drive on, be sure to stop far enough away from where you expect to see elk that you don't disturb them. If you are using ATV's to get into back country on National Forest land realize that it will alert the elk and drive them out of the area for you and every other hunter who has worked so hard to get into the area without disturbing the elk. If you really want to be successful as an elk hunter don't go into elk country with a motor vehicle. To do a thorough job of scouting you will have to cover a lot of territory; elk home ranges may cover as much as forty square miles. Because of these large home ranges elk don't leave a lot of sign in some of the areas they use. Not finding recent elk sign doesn't mean there are no elk in the area, or that they won't be using it the next day, or the next week.
I hope it helps someone.

God bless,

T.R.