Evening Stands
Elk often move late in the evening, giving you plenty of time to get to transition zones and staging areas before they arrive, but I have taken bulls, moving in open meadows during and after the rut as early as 3:00 in the afternoon on a perfectly clear day. Remember that just because the shadows have crept across the valley doesn’t mean it is sundown. High mountains cast early shadows but sundown, and legal shooting hours, may be a half to three-quarters of an hour later. Wait until the actual sundown to see the bulls and get a shot.
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Late in the afternoon, when the elk are just getting out of their beds in heavy cover, setup along travel lanes leading from the bedding areas to daytime food sources; small openings in the forest; or creek edges near heavy cover. Before sundown hunt the transition zones near open meadows. Staging areas, often downwind and near open food sources are excellent hunting sites at sundown, especially for bulls.
At sundown the elk are feeding primarily in the open and your stand should be along trails leading to the meadows. Bulls move later than cows and often come into the transition zones after sundown, preferring to stay in cover until twilight when they feel secure. If you don’t see bulls in open feeding areas move farther back along their travel routes in heavy cover and forested areas.
Morning Stands
In the early morning, when the elk are still feeding in the open, don’t hunt from stands near open night food sources unless you are sure there are no elk near your stand or you can approach it undetected. Because of the darkness you won’t know if there are elk nearby until it’s too late, and if you spook one elk it will alert all the others in the area. When you do hunt open meadows in the morning try to get there well before daylight so that if you do spook elk the area has time to settle down before more elk arrive. You can also hunt transition zones, heavy cover where elk feed on the way back to bedding areas. Be at your stand before the elk and ambush them on their return.
Before the rut bulls often return to cover well before daylight. Hunt travel lanes back to the bedding area early in the morning, getting there before the bull. Once the rut begins the bulls may return to the bedding areas later because they are looking for cows. Early in the morning you may catch bulls near herding areas or along travel routes on the way back to the bedding area. Hunt known bull bedding areas until late morning, I have seen bulls as late as 11:00 in the morning. Because high mountains keep valleys dark long after sunrise be sure to check legal shooting hour times and arrive at your hunting site at least an hour before sunrise. Your stand should be cleaned of debris and limbs that may brush against clothing or get in the way of shooting.
Stalking
Once you have located elk you may be ready to start the next phase of the hunt. If you are rifle or muzzleloader hunting, and everything goes right, you may have an opportunity at a long shot and the hunt is over. But, if you are shotgun, handgun, crossbow or archery hunting, and you need to get close, your hunting technique should change from glassing or tracking to stalking. Once you feel you are close to the animal begin stalking or still hunting.
Stalking an animal you can’t see is almost the same as still-hunting. Move silently, slowly, from one piece of cover to the next. Take a few steps, then stop and look around before moving again. I try to stop near a tree, bush or rock to use as cover, or to help break up my outline. When you stop take several minutes to look for the animal you are following, and any other game in the area. Don’t expect to see the whole animal, just a part of it. Look for the horizontal line of a back, a color that is out of place, or a large blob of color that catches your eye. Look for a patch of white, or the black of an eye or nose. Look for the twitch of an ear, the flick of a tail, or sign of a rack. In thick cover it may be all you see. If you are hunting in the snow animals can be easy to see. But, they can also look like a large rock. I once walked up on a four point buck lying in a meadow and didn’t realize what it was until I was thirty yards away. Luckily I was wearing white camouflage and was downwind.
The secret to getting close to an animal is by being a good still hunter. Teaching someone how to be a still hunter is hard but I know a Native American who explained it best. He said that the secret to successful still-hunting was not to invade the area around the animal, but to let the animal invade the area around you. That’s excellent advice. While you are stalking or still hunting you should move with stealth, quietly and unobtrusively, so that you go unnoticed as you get near the animal. In most cases the animal probably won’t be coming to you, but if you hunt as if it might be, it will help slow you down and be a better stalker and still hunter.
These Elk Hunting Tips are from an excerpt from the Elk Addict’s Manual, by T.R. Michels.
T.R. Michels is a nationally recognized wildlife researcher, outdoor writer and speaker. He is the author of the Whitetail, Elk, Turkey and Goose Addict’s Manuals, and the Deer Addict’s Manuals. He is also the innovator of the Moon Indicator, which predicts peak monthly movement of deer and elk, based on the forces of the moon; the Daily Deer Movement Indicator, which helps hunters decide when and where to hunt, based on current meteorological conditions; the Rut Indicator, which predicts peak rut activity, based on the forces of the moon; and the Rut Phase Indicator, which helps hunters determine the stage of the rut, and when and where to hunt, by the current deer activity and sign. For a catalog of books and other hunting aids contact: T.R. Michels, Trinity Mountain Outdoors, PO Box 284, Wanamingo, MN 55983. Phone: 507-824-3296. E-mail: trmichels@yahoo.com Website: www.trmichels.com