Elk Strategy- Help me with my failed stalk

[csimps]

Hi Ladies and Gents,
I have been a lurker on this forum for quite awhile and have definitely gleaned some awesome information- but I am hoping I can tap into the collective brain that is Hunt Talk to help me with an elk strategy.
The attached image shows the scenario my hunting partners and I were faced with this past weekend. We came across a bedded Bull Elk in a grassy meadow with a couple bedded cows and 1 cow standing and grazing away from us. All of the elk we could see were either facing directly away from us, or quartering away. We checked the wind and it seemed good... not great given the elks location. To make a long story short... we made a move directly forwards from us to the bedded Bull, we were slow and quiet, and closed the distance to about 70 yards with good cover between us and the Bull. When we were about 70yards away a cow elk ran in towards the Bull from off to our left that we had not seen when we were making our stalk... likely winded us....

My question is this: what should we have done? Or what would you have done?
We thought about dropping back and off the ridge and scooting across so that the wind was perfect but we were worried about the noise we would make in the timber. Should we have just stayed put and hoped for the best? Got in a better position and cow called? Sent one guy up instead of 3?

I really appreciate any and all of the help I receive... as 3 novice hunters, this learning opportunity is invaluable.

 

[Muley_Stalker]

It's really hard to know what it looked like with just the drawing. I don't know how thick the trees were and where. My gut tells me I would first go left into the trees and then move up. Are the trees thicker there? Then when I was level with them i'd be upwind. Also, i'd have just one guy moving. Pretty hard for 3 guys moving to not be seen.

Not sure what else without actually seeing a view of the area, but I never compromise when it comes to wind. I'm completely upwind, or I don't move in.

 

[HighWildFree]

You did everything you could have given the information you had at the time. You won't win every encounter you have with elk. Hell,you likely won't even win half of them. The key I've found to being successful in elk hunting is to have lots of encounters.

 

[csimps]

Wow! Thanks for the quick response.
The trees to the left were thick but you could move through them... not a lot of brush... the biggest issue was all of the dry needles, leaves, and twigs on the ground in the trees that we thought would make it hard to remain quiet. I see what you mean with the wind though... elk certainly have a wicked sense of smell

 

[HuntMT16]

Like Elkstalker said, it's hard to say one way or the other without seeing the area in person. My thoughts are that I can see valid arguments to going to the left, or strait in like you did. Don't second guess and beat yourself up too much. There have been plenty of times we have all been busted on a stalk for different reasons, it part of the game.

On the bright side, your seeing elk and getting close, that's more than a lot of people can say.

 

[Muley_Stalker]

Wow! Thanks for the quick response.
The trees to the left were thick but you could move through them... not a lot of brush... the biggest issue was all of the dry needles, leaves, and twigs on the ground in the trees that we thought would make it hard to remain quiet. I see what you mean with the wind though... elk certainly have a wicked sense of smell

Crunchy ground can be walked on, but it has to be done very slowly. It might take an hour to go that 100yds. Taking off your boots helps too.

 

[Bearclaw Bob]

Here is the crux of your problem, you tried to stalk an ELK!!! If it can go wrong, it will go wrong with an elk. Whitetail hunters will tell you that that whiteys are the smartest and toughest to hunt animals on the planet. Good advice, but those people have never gone head to head with an elk!!! Keep trying.

 

[Z Barebow]

You didn't say what time of day. With bedded elk, it may have been midday.

My experience with midday is it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when it swirls.

If you get to the elk before they spot or smell you, you have a chance of coming out on top. If not, you have thundering hooves. That is why they call it hunting.

I hate the sound of thundering hooves. So I move only when thermals are consistent.

 

[COEngineer]

Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you get busted...more often the latter.

Enjoy the experience and keep going until you get lucky!

 

[CATAHOULA12]

I agree fully with Elkstalker.... always get to upwind side. Also, less is more. I get that it's nice to have a partner or two hunting, but stalking is a singular venture...

 

[Zim]

Ya I don't get why you'd try this stalk with someone in tow. Way better chance of getting busted. That was mistake #1. Other than that it's hard to say without seeing the cover available, but 70 yards is pretty darn close to try and skirt to the timber. At that point, if he was bedded I'd likely sit for half hour making sure I had every cow located, then crawl right at him.

 

[Muley_Stalker]

I didn't like the wind direction to do that.

 

[esracerx]

Agreed that Elk are much tougher than whitetail. Usually way more sets of eyes on you. Noise to me at least is probably third on my list behind wind and sight. Lots of things in the woods make noise. Squirrels I swear are some of the loudest. Sometimes no matter how you play it nothing is going to work. Most likely when purely stalking you're not gonna get to that big bull before a cow or something else sees or smells you. Almost always when you're busted it's not going to be the bull. He's paying more attention to his cows and making sure all his ladies are in tow.

If I had bedded animals and the wind not all but directly in my face, I'm backing out and coming all the way around. That wind is going to follow that valley (assuming its a valley...2 ridges...). Its not going to keep on its path. It'll hit you on your right and back side...hit the tree line and now its carrying right towards animals. There's a reason they were bedded the way they were. SMART creatures