I was having a conversation with a buddy the other day, and he was telling me about his last elk (nice 7X7 bull), that he took by patterning the herd.
There was a circuit of three drainages that they followed in a three day pattern, and on the fourth "circuit of three" of the pattern, he ambushed them.
I know bobcats will travel a pattern, and to a lesser degree bears. Whitetails for sure, but elk? I have tried to figure out if it involved a feeding/mineral lick or what, but i am confused as to the set pattern of it. Has anyone else seen a pattern to elk movements (aside from feed high/bed low)?
Elk will move patterns I have seen it in the summer months. Though I am thinking that in order for that to happen in hunting season you must be hunting in an area with zero preasure and no rutting action.
What Randy said. Once pressured, all bets are off.
The only definative pattern I have noticed is if you hunt/pressure elk for three days, on the fourth they will have left the area. They will be back if it's good habitat for them but not for a week or more.
Elk will hang in the same general area year to year but day to day is problematic.
I have seen this type pattern. Not hunting at the time, but camping next to a park they frequented.
Every day after dark the bull brought his harem down to graze under the moon light. The satellites ran around the herd while Mr Big went after them if they got too close. Quite the show...
About 30 minutes before first light Mr Big took the whole circus up into the dark timber and onto private land, which started right at the boundry of timber/grass.
My take on it was that if I were hunting at the time I would have had NO chance to catch them. (...unless I was married to the landowners daughter and maybe not even then...)
That bull knew what was safe as long as ethical hunters were in the area.
Joshua
Randy is correct. I have witnessed it three times during the rut but private land and nearly zero pressure were the key ingredients every time.
Pattern....well, maybe.
I prefer to hunt "areas" where I know they have been in the past. Some days they are there, some days, no.
Always look for new pockets that may hold elk. If I find fresh sign then I add it to my list of places to visit. 90% of the country does not hold elk at any given time.
Pressured elk are not the least bit concerned to move out to parts unknown.
So I think it makes sense to hunt an established area where you have a history of seeing elk and then always adding to your knowledge base.
YMMV
Bob
I live in an interesting area where we had LEH bull hunting for years(with few tags), and two years ago it became a 6pt. or better open season , which runs Sept. 25 to Oct 10. There is general access to a lot of area by vehicle, but huge pockets that are accessible only by foot, or a determined horseman.
Because of the other seasons running simultaneously (deer, moose etc.), there is a moderate amount of logging road traffic from the 10th of Sept. until the 1st of Dec., but there are only a handful of hunters who put in the sweat equity to go back in even one drainage for elk. I know of lots of "shooters" but very few hunters. I guess these elk are relatively un-pressured compared to other elk in more accessible areas.
elk on a normal schedule with no pressure migrate in a general pattern. approx 25 mile area,i have an area that always has elk activity because of the need for water every day.if you find the main water source for them you can pattern them from that.feeding areas vary so its much more of a guessing game where they will be from day to day but for water they will travel as far as they need to get it.if you find a constant water source you have it made.where i have hunted in eastern oregon for a long time,the elk bedding areas pretty much follow a ridge and is a long thicket of scrub brush and juniper that they use.if they arent in one area you just move until you find fresh sign.if they are being pressured then all bets are off.
Water can work but not in most of the Rocky Mountian west. There is water in the bottom of every draw canyon and gully. as well as springs in random places. Elk know where the water is and they know they can go anywhere and find aroung here.
Agree with the others that patterns are gone with pressure.My favorite elk haunts are full of wolves which is just more pressure and spooked elk. Elk re use the same areas at the same season each year though.
As said above, pressure ends the pattern. The key is to pattern the elk when they are pressured. It really is not that hard. Look for the spots no sane human would go. Then go hunt there. Elk move around a lot but when pressured in my area they go to the ugliest hole you can find during the day.
Absolutely agree elk can be patterned but pressure and or breeding season will change it dramatically. For example while living just south of Grand Canyon the bachelor herd of bulls would be in my yard every third day and at other location within two miles on other days. However once the rut started they would bump in search of cows. Later season the same patterns would happen until hunters started their scouting efforts or began to set-up camps. Then all bets were off on where they would be.
In the White mountains here in AZ most of the patterns involve moving in and out of the reservations. It is particularly true for the west side of unit 1. You can listen to them move off the ridges and into the flats at night and then move back in the mornings.
MAP
Yes I have noticed the elk move in a pattern and yes they do alter their pattern if pressured. Where I hunt at least bowhunters don't move elk entirely out of an area, instead elk tend to use less of their range and move to cover sooner in the morning.
One other thing to be aware of is that during the rut bulls will use a certain area year after year. This not usually the same area where they were earlier in the year, but it's next door to it.
Without pressure you can locate a herd and pick up patterns of movement, bedding to feeding, to water and wallows, but with pressure they can travel a long ways. I hunt the dark timber and thick mean stuff where no one likes to go at those times. Also when the elk go nocturnal if you can determine feed areas, you can sometimes ambush them on routes, in and out of the dark timber. We hunt the Idaho Montana border and once pressured, the elk move back and forth across the state boundaries through the saddles.
FerretWyo, nailed it nice & simply put! One thing predictable about elk is they're unpredictable. (grin) Elk will cycle certain areas, be patient & persistent in a given area & it can produce! Find the "spots" they want to go to naturally not where you want them to go too. When it's the latter you must play on their "curiosity" by selective calling to bring them to this area you are at that they had no intentions of heading too!
ElkNut1
You can pattern them to a point but it takes very very little for them to alter it. Your scent anywhere in the area and it can be over. Change of weather, even a small front can change it.
Years ago, when I was actually killing elk, we hunted the same area for several years and had a couple of areas we called 'the bedroom', because rutting was in those areas consistently. This was in wilderness, and with no one else around.
As stated above by a bunch of elk hunters that are much better than me, when there is pressure, all bets are off.
A good way to find elk recently is find out where I am hunting, and then go somewhere else, because I have been elkless for several years.