Chasing Elk Part 3: Scouting for Elk

This is a continuation of the conversation between James and Joe from The Fair Chase Podcast, focusing on how to scout for elk.

Catch the full discussion here

James: So Joe, what's your process for scouting an area?

Joe: "Scouting happens both before and after you have your tag. If you're looking at an area you're not sure if you want to put in for, you kind of scout get a general idea and this typically is just like a map. So Onyx, getting a rough idea looking at elevation, look at private versus public, looking at timber, looking at recent burns, things like that, road access, not road access, wilderness versus BLM, blah blah blah. Once you have your tag, you kind of dial in a little bit. Now you're seriously looking at an area, seriously looking at what you're planning on hunting."

James: What do you primarily look for in elk country?

Joe: "What I look at primarily for elk country is a good mix of timber and open areas. So places that I can glass and confirm that there's animals there without just seeing sign or without hearing bugles and things like that. I like kind of that good mix of dark timber but next to open parks. So first thing in the morning I might see him out in the open, last thing before dark I might see him out in the open. You're primarily going to kill them in the timber though."

James: How do you find dark timber using e-scouting tools?

Joe: "Primarily just Onyx, and I use that 3D tool. I'll look at they have filters that show what is the north facing slopes and where that cover is at. You can kind of just see it from the topo though and look at a mix of satellite with topo and find the benches in those dark timbers and that's typically where they're going to congregate to bed at least, that's what I've found."

James: Why do elk like burns?

Joe: "Fresh green up. So a step burn's down, it clears the canopy. A lot of times those big trees are kind of blocking the sunlight from stuff growing up. Say a deer, you burn it down that green comes up, they browse on it. Now that depends too on like the severity of that fire. If it absolutely nukes it like Cameron Peak, it looks like the freaking moon afterwards. That takes a long time to come back to life."

James: What's your big-picture view when you start scouting?

Joe: "The biggest view is going to be my huntable area. So if I have a general tag in Montana, it's half the state. If I have an archery tag in Colorado, it's that unit. And then I'll kind of find little subgroups inside of that, whether that's this ridge system, this canyon, this drainage in my one unit in Colorado, or this unit, this unit, this unit, this unit, this unit in my half of Montana that I can hunt."

James: Do you cut areas out during e-scouting?

Joe: "I don't cut anything out on the computer unless there's something that obviously is glaring like 'Nope, this is a deal breaker.' The only stuff to get cut out is like you can go on Google Maps and see where outfitters have made outfitter camp locations on Google Maps. I don't want to be next to an outfitter that has horses 'cause they'll beat you in there, they're faster. They've been there for a month."

James: Where do you typically find elk during the day?

Joe: "The biggest thing that I look for, that is where most of these elk have been killed from, is that bench that I shoot them on midday. I haven't killed very many early in the morning and haven't killed very many late in the evening. It's typically after they've come back up the mountain after feeding and watering or getting water, whatever they did in the dark, getting up onto that bench where they feel safe and secure and they bed down with their cows."

James: Do you hunt wallows much?

Joe: "The first two years I did and I've kind of found that in the areas that I hunt, at least most of the elk are either getting their water on private at 2 o'clock in the morning, or I've just never had great luck on public wallows. I've had a lot of people set up there. In my experience, I've seen way more mountain and black bear come in to drink than I have elk ever coming to wallow in daylight hours."

James: What's your advice for someone who can only scout once before their hunt?

Joe: "If you can only go once, make your hunt as long as you can and then be extremely mobile. Don't show up with a wall tent and all this gear that you really don't need that inhibits your movement. Just get a U-Haul, be whatever, just be mobile. One of these totes here and a backpack is all that I pack when I fly out to an area to hunt. Don't bring the kitchen sink with you, be able to move because if that isn't the spot that you thought it was, you're screwed."

James: Do you scout during the year prior to hunting?

Joe: "For elk, generally no. It's because I kind of know what to look for and why I'm looking for it. If it's areas that I've been in year in year out, of course, I kind of know the area and I know not so much that there's going to be elk there, but I know that I should see in the first two days and if I don't, I'm out."

James: What does an ideal spot look like when you're e-scouting?

Joe: "Hard to get to, close to private if I'm looking at fourth rifle specifically, close to a food source because you're low elevation because they're coming down. Depending on the weather, but either way, nasty country. I want to put myself in the bull's perspective where I've been fighting the last month and a half for cows, I've been avoiding archer hunters, over-the-counter that have been bombarding me. Where can I go to eat, sleep and survive and not be bothered, be left basically left alone."

Thanks for reading!

If you'd like to watch the full discussion, you can catch it here.